Based on a belief that providing all students with the best opportunities for academic success requires a constant focus on improvement, the North Dakota Department of Public Instruction (NDDPI), in partnership with the Region 11 Comprehensive Center, released the latest version of its School Renewal Guide for North Dakota Public Schools.
Using the methodology of improvement science, the guide is designed to be a problem-solving mechanism to help school renewal teams align their goals and initiatives to outcome measures. It breaks down the process into three phases and helps the team consider each of the following questions:
1. What specifically are we trying to accomplish? (What is the exact problem we’re trying to solve?)
2. What change practice might we introduce, and why?
3. How will we know that our change(s) are improvements?
Each section includes explanations, guides, examples, and tools for the school renewal team, as well as a variety of usable templates and protocols within the appendices. While created to support North Dakota schools identified for either Targeted Support and Improvement (TSI) or Comprehensive Support and Improvement (CSI), the guide provides a step-by-step process for any school leadership team looking to engage in continuous improvement efforts.