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District leaders outline school improvement and 'transformation approach centered on student voice
Summary
District staff briefed the board on a two-path approach to school improvement: statutory compliance under the Washington Integrated Supports Protocol and a deeper school transformation process that uses "street-level" data and student voice to target belonging, attendance and discipline.
District staff told the Franklin Pierce School Board on Tuesday night that the district is aligning school improvement work with state and federal requirements while pursuing deeper, equity-focused 'transformation work centered on student voice.
John Sander, who led the briefing with Dr. Annette Burnett, said state changes require districts to implement the Washington Integrated Supports Protocol by the 2025-26 school year and to embed SMART goals tied to school improvement plans. Sander described a five-step process his teams used this year: comprehensive needs assessment, building community partnerships, priority-setting, SMART goals and short-cycle inquiry measures to track progress.
Dr. Burnett said the district's transformation pathway builds on 'street-level' data gathered directly from students, families and building-level staff to identify 'equity challenges' that are often complex and not solved by single-program fixes. She said the work emphasizes listening and iterative cycles of learning rather than jumping immediately to solutions.
"We're focusing on a small number of high-impact areas ' belonging, attendance and discipline ' so schools can go deeper and authentically involve student voices," Dr. Burnett said, adding that leadership teams for the work may not be limited to principals and that trainers-of-trainers will give building teams tools to carry out listening and action cycles.
Staff said they will move a roundtable meeting from November to December to allow more schools to reach a point where they can share developed equity challenges and listening-and-learning cycles. The district also plans to issue school profile and performance summaries so board members have a consistent reference for district-level and building-level progress.
Board members welcomed the emphasis on student input and asked about supports and accountability for schools that lag. Staff said monthly check-ins and a calendar of deliverables from the transformation leads will provide additional accountability and that the district will provide more staff-level guidance for implementation.
The presenters said the transformation work is intended to be system-wide and iterative: successful practices identified in one building can be extended to others once validated through the listening-and-learning cycles.
The board did not take a formal vote on this briefing; staff said next steps include building-level presentations at a December work session and draft school profiles for board review.
