The School Improvement Consortium will include approximately 100-120 participants, representing key stakeholder groups, described below.

DESE

DESE will serve as the sponsoring agency and will utilize the resources of the regional professional development centers (RPDCs) and other programs/initiatives supported by DESE.

• Organize and maintain the structure of the consortia

• Select and financially compensate mentors

• Hold leadership teams accountable for meeting consortium goals

OSEDA

• OSEDA will provide project oversight and coordination

• Provide a full time project coordinator

• Facilitate the development of the project structure

• Employ necessary mentors

• Assist in the creation of databases to identify prospective Consortium members

• Assist in project evaluation

McREL

McREL will provide both the structure and the content for the consortia by

• Articulating consortium goals
• Delivering professional development
• Providing resources to sustain the consortium
• Providing consultation and technical assistance
• Collecting evaluation data

Regional Coaches/Mentors

Mentors will be recruited and selected by the project coordinator with approval from DESE. They will be educators with established track records of effective training and technical assistance and the ability to provide leadership in accordance with the approved position description. Effective mentors are also critical for consortium success, so McREL will deliver additional days of professional development to mentors, who

• Provide feedback to the sponsoring agency
• Assist McREL in evaluating the relevance and effectiveness of the consortium content
• Provide training, technical assistance, and support as requested by leadership teams

Leadership teams

Leadership teams are comprised of 5–10 key representatives from participating schools and districts. A leadership team may be made up of one or more schools and might include a superintendent, board member, principal, teachers, other district or building leaders, and parents. Leadership teams

• Attend consortium meetings
• Establish goals and improvement plans for districts and schools
• Guide implementation of school improvement plans
• Inform building leaders about consortium progress
• Collect and analyze evaluation data

Building leaders

• Building leaders are typically principals; their key responsibilities include
• Leading efforts to establish goals and a school improvement plan aligned with those goals
• Supporting staff as they carry out specific actions designed to achieve building goals
• Guiding collection and analysis of evaluation data

Building coaches

A building coach is a member of the leadership team that coaches classroom teachers as they work toward achieving building goals. Specifically, building coaches

• Work with the building leader to determine the training and resources teachers need
• Gain expertise in the consortium content strands
• Support classroom teachers as they carry out actions designed to achieve building goals
• Provide feedback to the building leader

Missouri Department of Elementary & Secondary Education

For additional information contact: Howard Jones, Project SUCCESS Coordinator.

Project SUCCESS is sponsored by The Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education