Summit IV Held in Two AL Regions

Summit IV was hosted in two Alabama regions. West Summit IV was held on September 29, 2022 at the Hale County College & Career Academy and was hosted by Hale County Schools, Superintendent Micheal Ryans and Kids First Education, LLC. Central Summit IV was held on October 6, 2022 at ADIT, Montgomery, AL and was hosted by Kids First Education, LLC.

Summit participants engaged in high-level conversations and activities to understand how to develop infrastructure elements that when used can ramp up instructional coaching and improve instruction and scholar academic achievement. The summit furthers the work to unify strategy and the commitment among the 17 Black-Belt County school systems to collaboratively develop and implement a framework for Coaching for Culturally Responsive, Relevant, and Equitable Instruction and Classrooms.

Alabama Black-Belt Children's Region explained: Collective alliance of Superintendents and Leaders from the seventeen traditional Alabama Black Belt Counties empowering one another to collaboratively implement unified strategies to systematically improve learning outcomes for black students in Black Belt County school systems and to collectively advocate from differentiated, needs-based funding, programs, and/or services for all Black Belt school systems.

Rationale: Despite national, state, and local leadership, classroom instructional strategies, and various programs and services, significant reading and math performance gaps continue to exist among black and white students in Alabama’s public schools in the Black Belt as per Alabama Department of Education’s (ALSDE) historical summative reading and math assessment data.

Participants explored how to use components of the Framework to Coach for Culturally Responsive, Relevant, and Equitable Instruction and Classrooms. See except below.

Dallas County School leaders shared how the district is intentionally infusing classroom instruction that is culturally relevant, responsive, and equitable.

Interim Bullock County Superintendent Michael King, share our Bullock County Schools has integrated cultural responsiveness in its purposeful planning lesson plan template.

Expert ELA Head Coach, Reeda Betts, Kids First, LLC provided explicit instruction for the systemic use of academic vocabulary as a exemplar for an infrastructure element that when implemented will improve instruction and scholar academic achievement.

Summit V will be held in New York, May 9-11, 2023, as superintendents, board members, central office leaders, higher education leaders, and a state school board member from Alabama participate in the Harlem Children's Zone Practitioner's Institute.

Black-Belt County Superintendent Leadership, Equity, and Legislative Summit III - June 19, 2022

Invited County School Systems: Barbour, Bullock, Butler, Choctaw, Crenshaw, Dallas, Greene, Hale, Lowndes, Macon, Marengo, Montgomery, Perry, Pike, Russell, Sumter, and Wilcox.

Superintendents and district leaders from the 17 Black Belt County School Systems are invited to convene at the School Superintendents of Alabama (SSA) Summer 2022 Conference. Summit III will be held on Sunday, June 19, 2022 from 1-3pm in Salon FGH.

During this Summit III, I will provide a follow-up to the May 5th Summit II to share what district teams discussed and learned. As well, you and I will engage in deep conversations about this work to answer any questions you have and to ensure our central and school leaders are informed of this work, are on board, and informed of next steps for summer 2022 and for the fall.