Great Schools Partnership launches equity ecosystem review, focus groups for Concord School District

On May 14, 2025, the Concord School District Instructional Committee heard a presentation from the nonprofit Great Schools Partnership on an equity-focused ecosystem review, focus groups underway at district schools and a planned five-year professional learning arc aligned to the district strategic plan.

The presentation outlined three main phases: an ecosystem review of policies and systems; focus groups of staff and students to collect what presenters called “street data;” and formation of an advisory committee that will translate findings into actionable goals and timelines. Katie Thompson, managing director at Great Schools Partnership, told the committee the ecosystem review will “theme what we're finding and offer recommendations for next steps.”

GSP said the review includes a policy scan already underway with Duke Albanese, and focus groups that GSP staff have been running at multiple sites, including Concord High School. Gabriela Stitler, a GSP coach, said she has led focus groups and described the district staff as “very student centered” with “really great conversations.” School staff were asked to identify a mix of students for student focus groups; Principal Tim Herbert said Concord High School advisers solicited interest and that 30 students were invited and those who returned parental permission forms were able to participate.

Presenters said the focus-group questions center on belonging and support, academic expectations and rigor, and professional learning. GSP and district staff said they are integrating those qualitative findings with district data sources, including attendance, visits to the nurse, behavioral incident data and assessment results held in the district’s EduCLIMBER data warehouse, to develop an asset map and needs assessment.

The committee discussed how findings will be used. GSP described meeting next with an advisory committee to develop clear, prioritized goals aligned to the district strategic plan and to set targets and evaluation timelines. GSP said drafting actionable steps could take up to a full school year in districts where an advisory committee must be formed from scratch; where a committee already exists the work can move faster. Committee members were told a draft of actionable steps is expected by midyear next school year.

The presentation also described a planned five-year professional learning arc to build district capacity, with district staff trained as facilitators and cohorts of staff leading the work. Presenters tied that professional learning to Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS), social and emotional learning (SEL) and effective instructional practice. The meeting included a reference to a start date for implementation described verbally as 02/19/26; presenters said that date was the target start for the multi-year learning arc.

Funding for the work was described as a combination of district operating budget dollars and federal grant support. Committee members asked about fiscal impact; Assistant Superintendent Kimberly Yarlotte and presenters said Project AWARE, a federal grant program administered by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), is one of the funding sources being coordinated with district operating funds to support the work.

Next steps presented to the Instructional Committee included finalizing focus-group data, a debrief between GSP and district staff, convening the advisory committee to develop goals and targets, and drafting the five-year professional learning plan. GSP said it will share the slide deck for the board packet and return to report progress at a later meeting.

Committee members praised staff and GSP’s work and asked to be included on the advisory committee; presenters encouraged board participation and said students and a range of staff would be invited to serve on the advisory group.