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District partners with Educators Thriving on multi-year well-being survey and professional development
Summary
Educators Thriving presented three years of survey results to the board showing improvements in leadership and culture, while noting persistent concerns about staffing, compensation and foundational supports. The partnership includes districtwide survey administration and targeted professional development.
Hallie Fox, head of research at Educators Thriving, told the board that the organization has partnered with White Bear Lake Area Schools for nearly three years to measure educator well-being and provide professional development.
The nut graf: Educator well-being is being tracked districtwide and used to guide professional development and leadership support. Fox said responsive leadership and school culture are the strongest predictors of educators’ intention to stay in the profession.
Fox said Educators Thriving offers two primary services: direct, research-based professional development for educators and systemwide measurement with continuous-improvement supports for leaders and schools. “When educators have higher well-being, we see not only higher student well-being, lower student distress, but also higher student achievement,” Fox said.
The group has run the districtwide survey for three years, the presentation said, and Fox said White Bear Lake’s responses show steady improvement over that period, especially on measures tied to responsive leadership and supportive culture. The partnership was described as collaborative among the district, the teachers union (the White Bear Lake Area Educators) and Educators Thriving.
Actions and services described include an annual educator well-being survey (inclusive of all staff roles), school-level reports for principals, opt-in professional development sessions (including a first-ever PD for classified staff during workshop week), and 1:1 principal support to interpret school data. Participation goals were described: the organization aims for 80% staff participation across roles.
Board members asked about whether the work is intended primarily to reduce turnover. Fox said the initiative is not a single retention program; it combines PD and system changes and is designed to improve working conditions and educators’ ability to do their jobs. Fox said the survey includes overall job-satisfaction and Net Promoter–style questions and that those measures have improved districtwide.
Board members also asked about correlations with state disciplinary reporting (DIR) and district turnover rates. Fox said the vendor can analyze DIR data by site and that she did not have specific turnover-rate numbers on hand but that the team could provide them.
The presentation highlighted district priorities identified from the survey data: improving leadership and school culture, strengthening communication and shared decision‑making, tightening professional development to meet staff needs, addressing student behavior and aligning processes across sites. The union has led parallel efforts to increase communication between building and site representatives.
Ending: Educators Thriving and district leaders said they will continue the partnership this year with school-specific reporting and ongoing professional development; the board approved moving to the next agenda item.
