Thad GittensCertified engage2learn Data-Informed Growth Coach
Thad’s career in education began in 1996 as a middle school math teacher and coach in Galena Park ISD. During his eleven-year tenure within the district, he served as math department chair and was promoted to assistant principal and then principal. As principal, he successfully led the school to earn a TEA ‘Recognized’ rating in 2005. Two years later, he assumed the role of principal in Spring ISD, where he was introduced to the work of one of the most renowned advocates for school transformation, the late Phil Schlechty, who believed that in order to create the most optimal classroom environments and realize students’ fullest potential, public school institutions must morph themselves from ‘teaching bureaucracies’ to learning organizations. Later, he worked with coaches at engage2learn to successfully implement Discovery Approach Learning, which was an instructional methodology in which students were engaged in standards-based projects and were in more control of how they learned & exhibited mastery of their learning, and teachers served as facilitators of learning, at Dr. Edward Roberson Middle School.
In 2015, Thad took on the task of opening a school, Dr. T.C. McCormick Middle School, in Hays CISD, where he was able to use his previous experience to aid in the successful implementation of a non-traditional instructional environment in which teachers were referred to as ‘facilitators’, students were ‘learners’, staff members were ‘educators’, and parents were ‘family partners’. Facilitators used various methods and strategies to promote learner collaboration, critical thinking, and problem-solving in an effort to increase their engagement & achievement levels.
Thad draws on his 22-year career in education, including 19 years in both school and district leadership, to help educators build exemplary learning organizations. He works closely with them to give learners more ownership of their learning, create engaging lessons and develop learners’ ‘future-ready’ skills so they can compete in a global marketplace.
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