Walk Throughs: How A District Maintains Quality Control of Reforms While Producing Worthwhile Debate and Creative Tension
One of the weakest links in the policy-to-practice chain is the district insuring that new policies–state standards, accountability requirements, or new types of schooling–are fully implemented in schools. Mapleton (CO) is a district where parents can choose any school to send their children. Against the Odds (2010) describes this district of choice and its use of School Support Teams (SST). On May 22, 2011, the Mapleton assistant superintendent confirmed that the SST process described below is still in place.
A typical SST includes one or two central administrators, possibly an educational consultant, the school director, the school’s instructional guide, a lead teacher, and a parent. The director can invite students and other teachers to be part of the meeting with the team, especially the debriefing at the end of each visit. “We try to structure them so that the school’s [staff and stakeholders] outnumber the central administrators. It all happens in their turf and territory.”
Each team is assigned schools and on monthly visits collects evidence from its “walk-throughs….” In addition to