The Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) is focused on transitioning its internal and external work from a compliance approach to a continuous improvement model. To accomplish this transition, the Office of School Quality (OSQ) has requested that our R5CC team develop their capacity to:
Work and communicate effectively as a team
Embed a continuous improvement model in their internal office operations
Embed a continuous improvement model in their work with divisions in Virginia
High-Leverage Problem
Virginia policymakers have articulated a desire to transition from a tradition of compliance to a continuous improvement model of school improvement. VDOE seeks to develop a model of improvement that provides guidance and support for local school districts to improve outcomes for all students. In part, this is being addressed through active partnerships with the State Implementation & Scaling-up of Evidence-based Practices (SISEP) and the National Comprehensive Center. The American Rescue Plan states that “Virginia has entered into an agreement with SISEP to focus on using the science and practice of implementation to strengthen equity within the public school system, support educators and improve outcomes for children, family and communities” (ARP, 2021). Our R5CC team will support these efforts.
Approach to Capacity-Building Services
In Year 5, we will continue to:
Build the capacity of the OSQ team to communicate more effectively using the DISC assessment as a tool
Help transition the internal operations of the OSQ and the work the OSQ does with divisions and across the state agency from a compliance to a continuous improvement model
Continue to support OSQ to implement Year 2 of our 3-year plan of the Networked Improvement Community (NIC) with divisions utilizing evidence-based coaching to help align cross-departmental systems and meet the requirements of multiple and often duplicative continuous improvement approaches
Provide opportunities to reflect and refine practices via a NIC professional learning community, with Kentucky and West Virginia NIC leaders, to improve the implementation process
Support the SISEP team to align the OSQ practices with an implementation science enhanced approach to their continuous improvement of literacy instructional practices, breaking silos down between the OSQ, Multi-Tiered Systems of Support, Special Education, and Literacy Departments
