Transcript The Truman Pierce Institute: Making a Difference in Alabama

The Truman Pierce Institute:
Making a Difference in
Alabama
Dr. Cindy Reed, Director
Truman Pierce Institute
College of Education
Auburn University
Who Was Truman Pierce?
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The Truman Pierce Institute is named in
honor of Dr. Truman M. Pierce, an
educational visionary, who served as Dean
for Auburn University’s College of Education
for two decades and made regional and
national contributions to educational arenas.
He especially focused on ways to improve
society and the lives of people across the
state and nation.
Purposes
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To support progress toward meeting the
educational needs of the state and region
To foster collaborative partnerships to improve
education and educational opportunities
To assist in the development and
implementation of professional development
schools/systems in order to stimulate renewal of
higher education and public schools
To improve the conditions within schools and
communities that influence the effectiveness of
leadership, education, and community and
economic development
Current Projects
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West Alabama Learning Coalition
AU/Tallapoosa County Leadership Academy
Instructional Improvement Institute (I3)
Research on the History of Education/Community
Involvement for Kettering Foundation (partnered with AU
Center for the Arts and Humanities)
Educational Policy Research Initiative
Alabama Online Encyclopedia (secondary partners with AU
History Dept., AL Humanities Foundation, and others)
Auburn City Schools/AU Professional Development School
Relationship
On-going research and publications
Support for/creation of partnerships and school-based
programs
Educational assessments conducted for the Alabama
Communities of Excellence Initiative
West Alabama Learning Coalition
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Partnerships among K-12 schools, higher
education, community colleges, and
community/business leaders focused on
simultaneous improvement of K-12 and teacher
education as well as community and economic
development
9 West Alabama (or with similar demographics)
counties [Hale, Sumter, Wilcox, Clarke, Monroe,
Fayette, Macon, Lee-Loachapoka, Tallapoosa]
What has been accomplished?
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Expanded emphasis on need for educational
improvement, economic development, and
community development occurring simultaneously
2 Coalition-wide meetings each year since 1997
Coordinators (PT) hired for each partnership
Monthly coordinator meetings during 2001-2002 and
2002-2003, 2003-2004 academic years
Focus on capacity building
Many new partners added
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Improved Student Learning Opportunities!!
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Progress Made Toward Improved
K-12 Student Learning
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After school and/or Saturday tutoring programs
offered in most partnerships
Future Educator groups founded in 3 partnerships
and more are being created
Distance Education classes offered
Improved libraries
Aquaculture programs created
Career preparation programs/opportunities
Standardized test scores have gone up in most
partnerships
Expanded Involvement of Business
and Community Members
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Banks (United, Frontier, Regions)
Area Businesses (Alabama River Pulp, Alabama River
Newsprint, Frisco City Manufacturing, Scotch Lumber
Company
State and National Businesses (Alabama Power,
Weyerhaeuser, Blue Cross/Blue Shield)
Churches and church groups
Community Agencies (Betterment Assoc., Leadership
NOW, Health Departments, DHR, BAMA Kids, Delta Kappa
Gamma)
Politicians -- several serving as members of planning
teams
AU/Tallapoosa County Leadership
Academy
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Phase I: On-going professional development
for principals and central office administrators
(Began January 2003)
Phase II: On-going professional development
for assistant principals and teacher leaders
(Began February 2003)
Phase III: Student leadership development
opportunities (Began Fall 2003)
Goals
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Prepare the district for accreditation
Develop leadership capacity and vision
within the district
Identify potential leaders from within the
system
Encourage students to consider teaching
and school administration as viable
careers
Conduct research about effective jobembedded professional development
Professional Development Topics
Covered to Date
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Team Building
Creating and Communicating Vision
What Does it Mean to be a Leader in
Today’s Schools?
Preparing for SACS Accreditation
Educational Law
Building Leadership Capacity
Educational Policy Research
Initiative
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Conduct timely, contextually relevant
educational policy research for legislators and
the state department of education
Building upon 6 years of experience doing
policy research for selected legislators
The spring 2003 focus was on policy issues
pertaining to Teacher Recruitment and Retention
for ALSDE
This spring’s focus was on School Safety and
Violence Prevention for Congressman Artur
Davis’ office
Instructional Improvement Institute (I3)
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Built upon successes and lessons learned from
AU/Tallapoosa Leadership Academy and the West
Alabama Learning Coalition
Cost-effective, job-embedded professional
development for administrators, teacher leaders, and
student leaders (traditional and non-traditional) in
four school systems
Monthly professional development focused on
instructional improvement, problem solving,
communicating effectively, and action planning
Creation of principals’ advisory teams and districtwide advisory councils
Creation of school-based grant writing teams
Anticipated Outcomes
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Increased academic performance
Lower dropout rates
Increased grant money
Increased focus on teaching and learning
Grow your own approach to developing
current and future community leaders
Kettering Foundation Research
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Research on the history of education and community
involvement and its influence on public education
In partnership with AU Center for the Arts and
Humanities
Exploration of what roles, if any, experiences and
characteristics of community members play in how
they view a community’s public schools
Public forums to be held for deliberations about
these histories
Pilot phase to include Tallapoosa County School
District and Choccolocco (Calhoun County)
Three-year study to include other communities,
particularly those in West and South Alabama
Alabama Online Encyclopedia
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Lead partners are AU History Department
and the AL Humanities Foundation
Our role is to connect/solicit input from K-12
educators throughout the process
Creation of an Online Encyclopedia of
Alabama that will be useful for education,
research, tourism, and economic
development
Anticipated date of unveiling: Fall 2007
On-going Research and
Publications
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Regular publication of two professional
journals
Monograph series on research important to
educational needs of the state and region
Forums to foster dialogue about teaching,
learning, leadership, and policy
Alabama Communities of Excellence
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Non-profit organization comprised of
businesses, community agencies, social
service agencies, higher education, and
others focused on helping small communities
to improve their quality of life
Competitive process-8 communities selected
the first year
Our role is to help conduct educational
assessments