4 Ways to Future-Ready | engage2learn

What happens when savvy, forward thinking district leaders collaborate with each other and with us at Engage! to design systems for learning? They get beyond theory to action! Darrell Alexander, Executive Director of Teaching and Learning in Alvin ISD says, “We have been talking about engagement for some time, and maybe that is important for readiness. We were ready to do something that truly changed the student experience and that’s why we joined the Engage Coaches Academy.”

Alvin, Comal, Little Elm, and Mckinney joined Spring, Duncanville, Lytle, Corpus Christi and Texas Tech University in the 2013-14 Coaches Academy and the results have been transformative. Each district has it’s own story and a unique rollout plan. McKinney and Comal both started with one elementary and have plans for training more teachers and leaders each year to expand The Engage! Learning Model across their districts. Those initial elementary schools have flourished. Little Elm started with a team from the high school in the Collaborative Cohort and has a plan to expand to a K-8 STEM campus as well as the rest of the district. I am so excited about their rollout plan!

Alvin spent the year building capacity with campus leaders and then asked for volunteers. They had to make difficult decisions to limit the list of campus leaders that were interested to 7 campuses that will implement in 2014-15. What a great problem to have – too many campus leaders ready to engage!
Even more impressive and exciting to me is that the leaders from each of these districts also “practice what they preach” and model the type of learning experiences they desire for the students in their districts. For example, when they conduct staff development or lead meetings, or even when we were preparing for this presentation, they are always focused on designing and facilitating relevant, engaging learning experiences. They are not leaders that theorize or just talk about transformation or tell teachers what they want, but can’t or won’t do it themselves. They are changing practices, policies, and culture to create true learning organizations systemwide!

If you are ready to move beyond theory and discussion to action, visiting one of these districts and learning from these leaders might be a good next step to true transformation that will ensure your students are future ready!

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