Celebrating Another Semester of Collaboration with Flint Community Schools
Since its inception in 1997, the Office of K-12 Outreach has shown a unique ability to reach every corner of the state and collaborate with a wide variety of partners in its work, “developing and implementing customized support for schools and districts in Michigan seeking to turnaround their schools and rapidly improve student achievement.” Beyond just displaying a wide breadth of impact and touching many organizations, though, K-12 Outreach has strived to foster meaningful relationships with the entities it has engaged. Emblematically, over the last decade, the Office of K-12 Outreach has been fortunate enough to cultivate a deep and transformative partnership with Flint Community Schools (FCS).
This relationship has historically included MSU facilitation of professional learning concerning diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) essentials for FCS educators, summer retreats for FCS administrators, technical assistance involving district data and evaluation efforts, consulting regarding the development of FCS strategic plans, and leadership coaching funded by the C.S. Mott Foundation covering topics from responding to the academic and social effects of the COVID-19 pandemic to advancing curriculum reforms to managing organizational change (May 2024 In Focus newsletter; November 2023 In Focus newsletter; July 2023 In Focus newsletter; July 2022 In Focus newsletter; April 2021 In Focus newsletter; August 2020 In Focus newsletter). During the Fall 2024 semester, the Office of K-12 Outreach and Flint Community Schools sustained and deepened this partnership. Visibly, it was on display at events related to two initiatives in particular – the start of the 2024-25 Fellowship of Instructional Leaders (FIL) program year and a December 2024 retreat for the Flint Board of Education.
As discussed in the November 2024 In Focus newsletter, the 2024-25 FCS Fellowship of Instructional Leaders (FIL) kicked off last month. Since 2014, this co-designed, Flint-specific professional learning series has brought together instructional leadership teams from Flint Community Schools and coaches from MSU’s Office of K-12 Outreach. Generally speaking, at these events, district educators and administrators have gathered on various Saturdays throughout the school year to “learn practical approaches to lead a continuous improvement process that builds leadership within the staff to strengthen the needs (social, emotional, and academic) of the whole child” (MSU Fellowship). Through presentations, the dissemination of cutting-edge education research, structured individual and group reflection, the cross-district sharing of success strategies, meaningful activities, and work time revolving around building and district goals, the Flint FIL has worked to “[increase] the coherence of the school’s instructional systems,” “[build] and [develop] professional community,” and “strategically [utilize] existing resources and [respond] to state and local requirements” across the district (MSU Fellowship).
At the November 9th inauguration of the 2024-25 FCS FIL, MSU facilitators and FCS instructional leaders prioritized reviewing the essential elements of direct instruction, considering how direct instruction supports the “launch” component of Flint’s instructional model, outlining the skills necessary to be a collaborative member of an instructional leadership team, and planning how Fellowship participants can share insights and diffuse knowledge from the FIL with individuals in their home schools and across the district. To accomplish these ambitious goals, the K-12 Outreach planning team, including K-12 Outreach Director Dr. Bryan Beverly and Outreach Specialists Becky Stauffer, Dr. JoAnn Andrees, Patty Trelstad, and FCS administrators jointly designed a comprehensive agenda for the day. In the morning, this blueprint included some norming and expectation setting for this session and forthcoming ones, an activity involving reflecting on past professional learning experiences and connecting them to hopes for the future, a review of best practices around direct instruction and the launch of lessons based on insights from educational psychology and research, and a comprehensive analysis of existing district pedagogical practices. In accordance with the Fellowship’s emphasis on connecting professional learning with action and organizational change, the afternoon included instructional leadership team time to plan how to incorporate, share, and model the day’s lessons and cross-building discussions of how the day’s content would inform district goal attainment in the future. Looking ahead, upcoming Flint Fellowship sessions will continue this work tied to direct instruction as participants dig into each stage of Flint’s instructional model, including “launch,” “explore,” “summarize,” and “reflect.”
FCS instructional leaders at the November 9th FIL
Another recent component of the MSU-FCS partnership involved K-12 Outreach planning and facilitation support connected to this month’s FCS Board of Education retreat. From Friday, December 13th, to Sunday, December 15th, K-12 Outreach representatives, including Dr. Bryan Beverly and Dr. JoAnn Andrees, joined Flint board members, administrators, community partners, and stakeholders for rapport building, strategic planning, and rich collaboration regarding the district’s future and how it can continue to fulfill its mission of “develop[ing] a community of learners who are prepared to live, work, and contribute to an ever-changing society” (FCS Overview). On the first day of the retreat, the attendees analyzed various data sources to review the current state of Flint Community Schools, reflected on everyone’s “why” for engaging in this work, and celebrated some recent accomplishments that could inform future efforts. To ensure that the retreat’s goals were met, its second day included discussions about how school consolidation and repurposing can enhance students’ experiences while maximizing resources, what infrastructure upgrades that reimagine existing facilities to meet the needs of Flint scholars and staff entail, how leaders can transform unused spaces to benefit the community, and what building a new high school would involve. In covering these items, the retreat included presentations from partners like the Flint Center for Educational Excellence, Plante Moran, Thrun Law Firm, and the Flint Government Relations Team. Finally, to close the retreat, MSU facilitators and Flint administrators earmarked some time to review FCS’ progress on their Partnership Agreement with the Michigan Department of Education, district finances, Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) Fund spending, and human resources. At the conclusion of the weekend’s retreat, the board members in attendance had a clear, community-informed vision for Flint’s near- and long-term future.
After the upcoming winter break, the Office of K-12 Outreach will continue its collaboration with Flint Community Schools. This work will include added 2024-25 Fellowship of Instructional Leaders sessions, further comprehensive district support through the C.S. Mott Foundation, more coaching via the Flint Center for Educational Excellence, and supplementary consulting on the district’s data and evaluation needs. The Office of K-12 Outreach is grateful to the talented and engaged educators and administrators of Flint Community Schools for this chance to support positive educational experiences for Michigan’s youth. Along the way, K-12 Outreach coaches and staff members are excited to learn from ongoing successes in this district and take that learning to other institutions in the state. Down the road, additional updates about this partnership and related featured events will be included in future editions of the In Focus newsletter.
Snapshots from the December Flint retreat