Strategic Priorities and Objectives

Priority 1: Whole-Child Focused

Columbus City Schools will design and implement curriculum with a holistic approach, so that students find their education more relevant, rewarding, and rigorous.

• Objective 1: Implement a Curriculum Delivered by Highly-Skilled Teachers
• Objective 2:Ensure Students Demonstrate Portrait of a Graduate Attributes
• Objective 3: Ensure Students Have Access to Their Neighborhood School

Objective 1: Implement a Curriculum Delivered by Highly-Skilled Teachers

Objective 1: Columbus City Schools will ensure students are taught and learn from a guaranteed and viable curriculum delivered by highly-skilled teachers.

Strategies

1. Develop and implement a district curriculum management plan.
2. Implement a Learning Management System to access curriculum resources and professional learning.
3. Provide professional development support related to the core instructional framework.
4. Create an MTSS Implementation Rubric and provide professional development for authentic use.
5. Align School Improvement Plans to the curriculum and MTSS process.

Objective 2:Ensure Students Demonstrate Portrait of a Graduate Attributes

Objective 2: Columbus City Schools will ensure students demonstrate Portrait of a Graduate attributes as defined by the Portrait of a Graduate PreK-12 Continuum.

Strategies

1. Introduce and reinforce Portrait of a Graduate attributes in the school community.
2. Develop performance assessment tools consistent with the Portrait of a Graduate competencies for the PreK-12 Continuum.
3. Develop and provide rich resources for all teachers in the Learning Management System focused on developing Portrait of a Graduate attributes.
4. Create the requirements for the Portrait of a Graduate Seal.
5. Teacher committees will create PreK-12 Continuum components for each subject and grade.

Objective 3: Ensure Students Have Access to Their Neighborhood School

Objective 3: Columbus City Schools will ensure all students have access to their neighborhood school or school of choice.

Strategies

1. Integrate Universal Design for Learning (UDL) practices across the district.
2. Strengthen practices of serving students in general education settings to the greatest extent possible.
3. Strengthen strategies for serving students in their neighborhood school or school of choice to the greatest extent possible.

Priority 2: Equitable Opportunities for All

Columbus City Schools will ensure equitable outcomes for all students and employees, in order to create communities that promote excellence, personal and professional growth, and a culture of belonging.

• Objective 1: Implement a Comprehensive Equity Model
• Objective 2: Implement a Systemwide Attendance Improvement Strategy
• Objective 3: Implement a Human Capital Strategy

Objective 1: Implement a Comprehensive Equity Model

Objective 1: Columbus City Schools will implement a comprehensive equity model that utilizes data to develop high leverage strategies to transform systems that impact equity across all organizational levels.

Strategies

1. Collect metrics related to achievement, discipline, attendance, and program access to identify and decrease  disproportionality trends across student groups. 
2. Solicit and analyze annual stakeholder data to inform progress towards providing equitable opportunities and a welcoming environment to students, parents, staff  and all CCS community members.
3. Create opportunities to collect student experiences and identify evidence-based practices that cultivate classroom equity.
4. Develop and implement a comprehensive professional development plan that focuses on building the cultural proficiency skills of all employee groups.
5. Create a continuous improvement process to support the capacity of district departments to improve equitable outcomes, including the equitable allocation of resources to sustain those outcomes.

Objective 2: Implement a Systemwide Attendance Improvement Strategy

Objective 2: Columbus City Schools will implement a systemwide attendance improvement strategy focused on prevention and early intervention to reduce the chronic absentee rate.

Strategies

1. Establish a centralized district attendance team with responsibility for ensuring attendance is aligned with academic improvement strategies and for analyzing districtwide attendance and absenteeism data.
2. Develop an attendance manual that includes how to use data to establish goals, tiered strategies and interventions, effective school teams, root cause analysis, and specifies roles and responsibilities of all district and school-based staff, including teachers.
3. Implement a year-round attendance communications campaign for both internal and external audiences to promote a culture of attendance.
4. Build the capacity of all staff and community partners to take a data-driven, tiered approach using actionable data.
5. Promote shared accountability and continuous improvement for attendance with all stakeholders.

Objective 3: Implement a Human Capital Strategy

Objective 3: Columbus City Schools will implement a human capital strategy to further develop a high-quality staff that is culturally responsive and increasingly reflects the cultural background of its students.

Strategies

1. Develop standardized hiring processes, hiring manager guides, and training for hiring managers to mitigate bias during the hiring process.
2. Utilize market analysis, student demographics, and external data sources to inform department goal setting.
3. Create pipelines of opportunity for all employees to ensure diverse populations in all positions.

Priority 3: Strong Learning Communities in Every Region

Columbus City Schools will strengthen a high quality, interdependent set of learning communities so that within and among these centers of growth are reliable sources of support, identity, and hope.

• Objective 1: Strengthen Building-Based Leadership Quality
• Objective 2: Improve Student Learning Experiences
• Objective 3: Implement a 21st Century School Culture

Objective 1: Strengthen Building-Based Leadership Quality

Objective 1: Columbus City Schools will strengthen building-based leadership quality across all its schools through the implementation of the Wallace Principal Pipeline strategies.

Strategies

1. Partner with pre-service programs to provide high-quality training aligned to district priorities.
2. Elevate standards for selective hiring and leadership placement.
3. Coach and mentor principals via on-the-job evaluation and support.
4. Center supervision with a growth-orientation for principals.

Objective 2: Improve Student Learning Experiences

Objective 2: Columbus City Schools will provide more flexibility, choice, and relevant course offerings for improved student learning experiences.

Strategies

1. Develop additional Career Technical Education (CTE) pathways aligned with industry needs and student interests.
2. Provide more rigorous/specialized offerings -- such as AP, IB, STEM -- aligned with student interests.
3. Increase student access to learning via more flexible schedules.
4. Research and expand early childhood programming.

Objective 3: Implement a 21st Century School Culture

Objective 3: Columbus City Schools will collectively improve the district’s implementation of a 21st century school culture.

Strategies

1. Incorporate more student voice and choice in their learning, school culture, and governance.
2. Implement research-based strategies that explicitly reinforce a culture of high expectations for each student, regardless of student background.
3. Provide differentiated, ongoing staff development to recognize the presence of trauma, the role trauma plays, and the implementation of regulation and support strategies to help reduce its negative impact.
4. Provide staff development and collaborative time focused on teaching, modeling, and practicing social emotional learning (SEL).

Priority 4: Authentic Engagement

Columbus City Schools will actively engage all stakeholders to ensure that every experience with the district engenders mutual trust, develops quality relationships, and strengthens collective support for the benefit of our students.

• Objective 1: Grow and Strengthen School-Based Family Engagement
• Objective 2: Develop a Multi-Tiered Engagement Strategy for Marginalized Students
• Objective 3: Promote and Strengthen Community Engagement

Objective 1: Grow and Strengthen School-Based Family Engagement

Objective 1: Columbus City Schools will grow and strengthen school-based family engagement.

Strategies

1. Develop school-based family engagement teams.
2. Evaluate school environments based on the National Network of Partnership Schools Six Standards of Family Engagement.
3. Ensure each school has a Family Ambassador and monitor their efforts to regularly engage families.
4. Effectively tell the story of Columbus City Schools and the accomplishments of its students and staff.

Objective 2: Develop a Multi-Tiered Engagement Strategy for Marginalized Students

Objective 2: Columbus City Schools will develop a multi-tiered engagement strategy for marginalized students and their families (including, but not limited to, New American/immigrant families, displaced students, and other historically underserved youth).

Strategies

1. Implement professional learning about the cross-section of culture and intrinsic motivation.
2. Empower student-led advisory groups to inform strategies for engaging peers in school life.
3. Leverage the Bilingual Engagement Liaisons through our ongoing partnership with ETSS to connect more deeply with our New American families and community.
4. Evaluate and refine existing channels and methods of communication with families and explore emerging communication opportunities.

Objective 3: Promote and Strengthen Community Engagement

Objective 3: Columbus City Schools will promote and strengthen its ecosystem of community engagement, increasing the depth and quantity of resources and partners in each region.

Strategies

1. Effectively communicate partnership-provided supports and resources available to students and families in each region.
2. Develop further the number of community partners registered in the Columbus City Schools Partnership Registry each year and harness the registry to grow district- and school-based partnerships.
3. Organize and promote employee engagement opportunities that support Columbus City Schools students and families.