Listening and Learning Tour draws trends among responses from employees and community members
DURHAM, NC, November 12, 2010 – Superintendent Dr. Eric Becoats recently finished his Listening & Learning Tour. This series of meetings included eight town hall events designed to gather information that will assist with the design of the school district’s new strategic plan.
“This plan will serve as our roadmap toward excellence,” said Becoats.
More than 500 people attended the town hall meetings and 2,400 participated in the online survey. All participants, including principals and staff were asked to offer suggestions and ideas in response to five essential questions. The five questions and corresponding trends are listed below.
Dr. Becoats, along with the district’s leadership team, are currently working to develop the new strategic plan based upon the feedback received. The targeted release date is January 2011.
Question 1: What should become the standard in DPS within the next 10 years? Of those things, what should we have accomplished in three years?
- 80% at or above grade level in three years
- Close achievement gap
- Attract/keep great teachers
- Equal resources/accountability across all schools
- Smaller class sizes
Question 2: What is your role in accomplishing our goals?
- Assure students are rested, nourished, equipped
- Set boundaries and restrict TV
- Join PTA, be active
- Read with your child
- Support teachers, address discipline
Question 3: What is going well?
- Magnet programs
- Early college
- Volunteer program
- Cultural diversity
- Quality of teachers and principals
Question 4: What needs improvement?
- Technology training/purchase/support
- Rethink testing
- Class size
- Mentor program
- Pre-K opportunities
- Parent involvement
Question 5: What innovative ideas can we implement in DPS?
- Greater use of online communications
- Parent Academy
- Laptops for all students
- Project-based learning
- Business partnerships
###
