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Chesney Middle tells Spartanburg District 2 board Visible Learning work has lifted outcomes
Summary
Chesney Middle School leaders told the Spartanburg District 2 board that five years of Visible Learning work — focused on teacher clarity, formative assessment and student ownership — has coincided with rising SC Ready and I‑Ready indicators and changes in classroom practice, and asked the board to continue supporting certification and professional growth programs.
Laura Wyatt, principal at Chesney Middle School, told the Spartanburg School District 2 board at its May meeting that the school’s five‑year Visible Learning initiative has strengthened teacher clarity and student ownership and is reflected in district assessment trends.
"We want our students to know what they're learning, why it's important, what they've already learned, and then what their next steps are in their learning journey," Wyatt said, describing work that moved from rewriting the school’s mission and vision to focusing on formative assessment, teacher clarity, and student self‑assessment.
Wyatt and her instructional coach, Sherry Chisholm, outlined a sequence of changes: common lesson planning, clearer learning intentions and "I can" statements, use of common formative assessments, and structured feedback routines they call "glows and grows." The presenters said those practices let teachers target small‑group instruction and monitor impact.
District data presented by the team showed the percentage of students meeting or exceeding expectations on SC Ready and the share of students in Tier 1 on I‑Ready have risen since 2021, while the share who do not meet standards declined. "You see that rising," Wyatt said of the meeting/exceeding measure, and she called the decline in not‑meeting students "a significant decline" that has boosted the faculty’s sense of efficacy.
Teachers and students described the classroom changes in concrete terms: students use success criteria and self‑reflection to track progress; teachers collaborate in Teaching and Learning Teams to analyze pre‑ and post‑assessments; and student language about learning has shifted so pupils can explain next steps. A student speaker said the assignment board and self‑reflection make it easier to know "what we need to do, what we need to learn."
The presentation included a short video produced by Scenic Rhodes to highlight classroom practices. Wyatt said the school has applied for Visible Learning certification and is awaiting results.
The board also heard related professional‑learning updates: Dr. Hinton summarized district graduate‑degree partnerships and teacher cohorts at USC Upstate and Converse, and Steven O’Linnick reported that the D2 Leads program has completed five cohorts, has more than 100 participants across those cohorts, and will start cohort 6 in August. O’Linnick said cohort 5 included 18 participants representing nine schools and that program alumni have advanced into leadership roles.
Next steps noted for the school included awaiting certification decisions and continuing to scale teacher collaboration and feedback systems across grade levels; board members offered congratulations and no formal action was taken at the meeting on the presentation.
