Dowagiac Educational Dream

1. Dowagiac Educational Dream Presented: August 31, 2011 By: Dr. Mark Daniel, Superintendent

2. How did we get to this point? • Disney Way Consortium • Dowagiac City Government • Borgess Lee Memorial Hospital • Dowagiac Union School District • Southwestern Michigan College support

3. Purpose of Disney Way • “Customer Service: The Disney Way” • Bill Capodagli, business expert, keynote speaker, and coauthor of the best-selling book The Disney Way and Innovate the Pixar Way • Walt Disney created an organization that has become the quintessential model for customer service

4. Purpose of Disney Way • Bill Capodagli led us to apply Walt’s Dream, Believe, Dare, Do principles to achieve a Disney Way service culture. • A journey of becoming “customer-centric producers” of our own “shows.”

5. Purpose of Disney Way • Walt Disney once said, “You don’t build the product for yourself. You need to know what people want and build it for them.” • Walt Disney believed in treating customers like guests … he never referred to them as customers!

6. So how do you build a Disney Way Culture? • Dream • Central Questions • What are our ideal schools? • What are our ideal classrooms?

7. Gathering the Dreams • Storyboarding technique • Central Idea • Generates 3 times the number of input • Narrows priority items • Supports consensus building • Who storyboarded? • Nearly all employees • Union High School students and sample DMS • Parent groups • Community group

8. Dowagiac Educational Dream Imagine a place where Students have a passion for learning • a place where the focus is student-centered • a place where students achieve personal goals • a place where each person is valued • a place where our whole community is an educator • a place where children work together and learn from each other • a place where education is one in a hundred

9. Believe: Our Dowagiac students can improve their academic performance by • All students being prepared for Kindergarten • All 3rd graders reading at grade level • All students making at least one year’s growth • All students being taught required state curriculum • All students having hands on lessons with rigor and relevance

10. Believe: Our Dowagiac students can improve their academic performance by • All students learning 21st century skills • Teamwork, collaboration, problem-solving, communication, and technology • All graduates ready for the workforce and/or continued education • All graduates having a dream and plan • All students having a meaningful relationship • All of us contributing to student success

11. Dare Can we place in motion and implement what we believe? • All students ready for Kindergarten • Early Childhood-Great Start program • Dedicated site at Justus Gage for Cass County • Governor Snyder • Kindergarten resources pooled at Justus Gage with best practices shared by all students

12. Dare Can we place in motion and implement what we believe? • All 3rd graders reading at grade level • Reading Recovery program for all 1st graders needing assistance • Dedicated teacher training • Elementary teachers and paraprofessionals use Reading Recovery strategies to reinforce and continue reading progress in all grades

14. 2010 - 2011 • Instruction within the entire first grade has changed • Out of 52 students only 6 are reading below grade level • 12 at grade level • 34 above grade level • Out of those 34 students above grade level 22 are reading at the end of second grade level or higher

15. 2010 - 2011

16. Dare Can we place in motion and implement what we believe? • All students making one year’s growth • Governor Snyder • RTI-Response to intervention • PDCA Davenport Model • Increasing student engagement • New teacher evaluation model • Instructional Leadership-Classroom Walk-through • Academic coaches/Advocates

17. Dare Can we place in motion and implement what we believe? • State approved curriculum taught by all teachers • Consistent • Transparent • Data-driven lesson adjustments – common assessments (Title I Audit)

18. Dare Can we place in motion and implement what we believe? • All students having hands on lessons with rigor and relevance • Project based learning • www.bie.org

19. Dare Can we place in motion and implement what we believe? • All students learning 21st century skills • Teamwork & collaboration • Problem-solving • Communication • Work Ethic • Citizenship, Respect and Responsibility • Technology • Rochester High School video

20. Dare Can we place in motion and implement what we believe? • All graduates ready for the workforce and/or continued education • Dual credit, vocational, and internship opportunities • All graduates having a dream and plan • Career Plans beginning in 7th grade thru 14th grade • Governor Snyder

22. D0 Taking the risk and making it happen • To implement what we dream, believe, and dare in a market driven system we need to DO the following: • Create a 21st century educational system • A student centered model • Students assisting students • Teachers facilitating learning with more student interaction and less lecturing • Using technology to create a learning environment (Steelcase video)

25. D0 Taking the risk and making it happen • To implement what we dream, believe, and dare in a market driven system we need to DO the following: • Reduce our overhead and operational expenses • Administration Bldg shares City Hall • Combining elementaries into one bldg saving on maintenance and repairs • Creating a 6th-12th grade school by adding classrooms to the Dowagiac Middle School • Sketches

31. Dream, Believe, Dare & Do Our students, our community, our livelihood . . . Dowagiac a one in a hundred place to live and learn. Thank you. Your future support is greatly appreciated.