Local schools will receive aid from $6 million grant By MATT ARMES Staff Writer
The school year may be over, but some local schools are already looking ahead to the fall.
Bowie High School and Samuel Ogle Middle School are two of nine Prince George's County public schools that were recently selected to receive financial aid toward improving organizational effectiveness and drive staff accountability.
County Board of Education Chairman Verjeana M. Jacobs and Superintendent of Schools Dr. John E. Deasy were joined by officials from the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation and the Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation last week to announce the award of grants totaling $6 million that will support the transformation to a "Performance Management" culture in several county schools.
"The Board of Education truly appreciates this investment in the future of our students and we are extremely proud to have the confidence and support of two nationally respected foundations," Jacobs said.
"Because of their investments, our school system will develop a new way of doing business that empowers employees to make the best decisions for children while using new tools and better information to make our entire school system more efficient and effective."
The grants total $4 million from the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation and $2 million from the Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation. The amount of financial aid that will be given to Bowie High and Samuel Ogle was not immediately available.
The support will allow the school system to implement a new Performance Management system - a process used by organizations to regularly assess organizational effectiveness and progress toward predetermined goals and to reward or discontinue certain practices or strategies based on quantified outcomes. The new approach will drive program and staff accountability in every school and all central offices.
"We are moving the system from a 'compliance culture' to a true 'performance culture,' where all participants continuously assess and improve their contribution to the goal of student achievement," Deasy said.
"Performance Management is not a new initiative, but a way to focus our existing work, energy and resources on activities that will yield the highest value for students, like empowering employees with information they need to make the best decisions for children."
According to a recent statement by the county school system, Performance Management will also make a significant contribution to the board of education's new Managed Performance Empowerment Theory of Action by increasing the use of information and data at all levels in the organization to drive decisions.
The Performance Management program is an operating procedure that will offer a number of features to school employees. It will help them improve student, teacher, school and staff performance with timely data related to grades and attendance.
The program will reward employees based on performance through the new Financial Incentives and Rewards for Supervisors and Teachers program.
Additionally, the program will create clarity and transparency for students, parents, teachers, principals and county taxpayers about district and school performance.
"We are honored to be working with PGCPS to support their district transformation and student achievement goals," said Joe Siedlecki of the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation.
"PGCPS and the board of education have an extraordinary level of commitment that makes us confident they will deliver on their vision for the district and its students."
The financial commitments from the foundations will allow the district to develop the processes and tools needed for Performance Management. Ultimately, the district will be able to provide information about each student's academic growth and attendance that teachers and administrators can use to guide instruction and improve student achievement.
The financial aspect of the program will also provide decision-making data to administrative departments, including food services, human resources and transportation, to enhance their efficiency and effectiveness.
"We are proud to support Prince George's County Public Schools as one of the first school districts in the nation to strategically focus all of its offices and all of its resources on the core goal of improving the delivery of teaching and learning," said Eli Broad, founder of the Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation.
"Prince George's County students will be well-served by Superintendent Deasy's and the board of education's commitment to raising district performance."
Neither Bowie High School Principal Jane Spence nor Samuel Ogle Middle School Principal Kathleen Brady was available for comment prior to the printing of this article as they were attending a principal's retreat.
