Speaking at the District 7 school board community meeting Tuesday at Spalding Drive Elementary in Sandy Springs, Wade said the school system has set goals to graduate 90 percent of seniors on time by 2017. Other objectives are to make sure 85 percent of seniors are competitive for admission to colleges in the University System of Georgia and 100 percent of seniors are career-ready when they graduate.
To accomplish these goals, the district has set forth a strategy for teachers that will hold them accountable, as well as praise those who consistently meet or exceed performance requirements.
“The journey we’re on is to become a best-in-class school district,” said Wade. “We have to start with our people.”
The new performance management system is called GO and centers on growth and opportunity.
“Of all our 14,000 employees, we found that most of them only met with their supervisors once or twice a year and felt they received no meaningful feedback,” said Wade.
To create an environment of growth and opportunity, the system has laid out three points in its theory of action: have employees set goals, have employees’ expectations be clear and monitored and provide frequent feedback to employees about their work.
The system will also include a provision for corrective action. Corrective action will result in increased monitor-ing, a development plan and documentation. From there, employees may either continue on the performance man-agement system or exit the school system.
Wade said getting the system fully integrated was a three- to four-year project.
A meeting attendee asked Wade if any programs were being addressed for the home.
“We figure our biggest impact is our people,” said Wade. “Research shows that the schoolhouse owns 44 percent of the impact on student learning. Are we 100 percent sure on the 44 percent? There are other variables, but are we taking care of that 44 percent?”
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