Author name: Kennedy Kilpatrick

Your Improvement Plan Lifeline – Building a Yearly Calendar to Keep Your District and Schools on Track

District and school improvement planning may seem like a daunting task. The process can be  overwhelming, and deadlines can sneak up. Especially when everyone is already buried under 100 other priorities. So – plans get rushed, data analysis feels reactive, and meaningful strategies sometimes fall through the cracks. A clear, organized, yearly, continuous improvement planning […]

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Lessons from Albert Einstein: Three Steps to Reimagine a Happy New School Year

Have you ever seen the famous black and white photograph of Albert Einstein with his tongue sticking out? If not, a quick internet search of this photo would provide a meaningful visual as you read this blog. The described picture of Albert Einstein was on display in my science classroom for my entire teaching career.

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Monitoring What Matters: Keeping Your Continuous Improvement Plans on Track

“Monitoring progress is critical in the continuous improvement process.”– Lesli Laughter, Continuous Improvement Without Continuous Stress Monitoring the progress of the actions and goals in your district or school improvement plan isn’t just a checklist item or an administrative task—it’s a powerful tool for reflection, action, and growth. Progress monitoring is a systematic and ongoing

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Dismantlement of the U.S. Department of Education: Potential Impacts & Next Steps

A few weeks ago, at a national grants management conference, a panel of representatives from the Office of Inspector General (OIG) spoke on the topic of federal grant accountability. Among other things, they emphasized the critical nature of maintaining complete and accurate evidence of adherence to federal statute. Essentially, the message was, “Now is NOT

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Teach Me How to Budget: 5 Steps to Efficient School-System Budgeting

I grew up watching my mom budget our family finances. I learned a lot from her example. She taught me to prioritize greatest needs first, eliminate purchases that are no longer relevant or necessary, and make your money do what you need it to do. In other words, we are the boss of money. Money

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Problems to Priorities: A Strategic Approach for Focusing Your Plan on What Matters Most

Like many districts and schools, you’ve started the Comprehensive Needs Assessments process for next school year. You and your team have analyzed your current data, and now you have a list of problems to solve. How do you decide which problems to tackle first in next year’s improvement plan? Prioritization is key. Here’s a strategic

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“Title I Can Pay for That!”

“Title I can pay for that.” These words sound like nails on a chalkboard to every Federal Programs Director across the nation. Teaching colleagues and administrators that Title I funds have specific allowable uses can be challenging. It is especially difficult to make our non-federal friends understand the Supplement, Not Supplant methodology we follow. How

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Still Writing an Improvement Goal for Every District Policy?

Here’s how to save time while still meeting State and Federal qualifications. We all want to see district and school improvement — and the continuous improvement plan plays a key role in setting goals, defining strategies, and guiding action throughout the year. But as you’re writing district and school plans, is it necessary to create

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Capturing the (AI) Edge in Education

By Cindy Gibson, Chief Learning Officer  “In any given moment we have two options: to step forward into growth or step back into safety.” –Abraham Maslow Our educational technology company, 806 Technologies, has been on a journey from its founding (a district improvement plan on a disc), to a robust, cloud-based school software solution leveraging

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