School district seeks community vision for quality education model.

Byline: Anne Williams The Register-Guard

SPRINGFIELD - Borrowing a term coined by state education leaders in 1999, the Springfield School District has kicked off a four-month quest to identify its own "quality education model."

But Springfield's version of the model will be a little different, officials said.

While a state commission came up with a quality education model to find out what it would cost to provide a solid education and yield high test scores, Springfield wants a collective community vision for the education of its children - one that can better help officials spend scarce funds in the best places, Superintendent Nancy Golden said.

The Springfield Quality Education Model, or SQEM for short, was a chief topic at the board's summer retreat, as well as during Golden's all-staff welcome in late August.

The feedback has been universally enthusiastic, she said.

"This is about what we all believe is a quality education, being the best we can and always moving toward the target," said Golden, who started her job July 1. "I think that's energy-producing. I think people really are very excited about having a vision and a focus."

Golden and consultant Jeff DeFranco gave a presentation on the model at Monday's board meeting.

The effort officially starts today, DeFranco said, and will follow an ambitious time line to a final board adoption tentatively set for Jan. 12.

The first step is to solicit community input and volunteers to serve on a committee made up of district staff, community members and representatives of business and stakeholder organizations. That committee will be aided by six groups of experts, in disciplines such as professional development and assessment, in components of an excellent education.

Student success will be the overarching goal, DeFranco said, with an emphasis on curriculum and instruction. The district wants to know how the community defines that success at every level.

"This is really honed in on what's going on with that student in the building," he said.

Golden acknowledged the grim fiscal realities for Oregon schools, and said some pieces of the model may be unattainable for now. But a goal of the process, she said, is to zero in on the most essential elements of the dream and find ways to pay for them, whether it be through state funds, grants or donations through the newly energized Springfield Education Foundation.

In the coming days, Golden, other top administrators and DeFranco will meet with various community groups to talk about the model. They've already met with one, the McKenzie Business Association, and got an earful about the qualities graduates should possess - and too often do not - when they come looking for work.

That's just the kind of information the district wants, he said.

The time line calls for the Springfield Quality Education Model Committee meetings to begin in early October, with the expert groups meeting weekly through the month. A working draft would be available for public input in mid-November, with a final draft completed in December or early January.

A couple of board members questioned whether the quick pace would give the community enough time to absorb it and offer meaningful input.

"I feel it's important that the process drives the time line, rather than the other way around," Light said.

DeFranco said the district wants to complete the effort on time so it has a starting point to work toward, but that the time line is flexible.

Agnes Stewart Middle School Principal Steve Stermer said the proposal is playing well in his school.

"I would say that curriculum and staff development have kind of been on the back burner, just with the budget challenges here in the last few years," he said. "So I think people are pretty excited that we're actually setting goals that have to do with instruction and curriculum, and excited about working together."

DeFranco, who has a background in educational leadership and public relations, is being paid $9,000 on contract. The district's own head of public relations and communications, Cherie Kistner, recently quit and her position is not presently scheduled to be filled.

MEMBERS WANTED

To serve on the Springfield Quality Education Model Committee, call Jeff DeFranco at 726-3204 or Superintendent Nancy Golden's office at 726-3200.