JDS Reform: Starting with Data

Is your school’s today the same as its yesterday? Enrollment dropping—staff morale sinking—parents frustrated—do you know why?

One thing’s for certain: we cannot afford to stand still in today’s demanding, competitive educational environments. When every Jewish child counts and the tectonic plates of the educational landscape continue to jostle and shake, how do you know what moves to make to ensure you’re delivering the best your system can provide?

The answer lies in research. Data-based decision making is as relevant to schoolwide reform as it is to effective instruction.

At the Tucson Hebrew Academy, we implemented a comprehensive process to seek input on the thoughts, feelings, perceptions and experiences of our constituents. This process may just be something that assists your school’s evolution as well.

Establish a sense of urgency and hunger for data with the board of trustees. Once the board understood the need, its strategic planning committee launched an effort to rebrand the school that has become one of the most powerful agents of reform THA has seen in years. Our board [1] hired a local firm for this work. With or without a consulting firm, the following steps will support any school’s efforts to gather this critical data.

Identify your constituents. Whom do you want to learn from? We selected current students, parents and employees, alumni and alumni parents, parents who moved their children before they graduated, parents who looked at THA but chose another school, and parents of current preschoolers in our local synagogue and JCC programs. We then branched out to lay and professional community leadership, including every rabbi with a synagogue in town, Jewish federation and foundation leadership, and others.

Determine what you want to learn. A subcommittee worked with the consultants to develop questions for input. Asking the right questions is essential.

Collect data. We used focus groups, interviews and online surveys. We invited participation via email, the school website and social media. 388 people participated.

Analyze and report data. A comprehensive report was presented to our board and strategic planning committee. From there, data was shared with employees by the head of school and will be formally shared with families.

Rally the troops! Based on what we learned—our strengths and opportunities—I was empowered to move forward with key community and school leadership to identify reform initiatives for THA. Here was the moment to develop a shared vision to address our needs. This included a great deal of face time and the establishment of a new entity at THA: the site Leadership Team, consisting of teachers and other school employees.

Make the data your driver. Our decisions are based on two things: what is best for children, and what the data tells us. This empowers leadership to focus intently on what is in the best interest of the future of the school.

What did we learn, and what are we doing about it? Essential findings included great positives: relationships with teachers and students, our sense of community, and the quality of our academic program. Past efforts and accomplishments provide us a powerful platform for renewal. Our key priorities revolved largely around communication and outreach, as well as the (real or perceived) need to improve the quality of our secular, Judaic and Hebrew programs. Cultural reform on many levels was urgent, including professional standards and expectations, inclusive and effective problem solving, and a refocus of energy and efforts towards a team mentality to support students, teaching and learning as top priorities.

To that end we implemented strategies to reconnect administration with faculty and parents, and the school in general to Jewish community agencies and leadership. We adopted routinely scheduled communication practices that focused on practical information and school/student happenings. An open door policy was established and initiated with a widescale “listening tour” to reach out to parents, employees, clergy, and agency and lay leadership. We expanded programming with partner organizations and synagogues. We established higher standards for customer service and professionalism across the board, increased teacher collaborative time as expectations for excellence and accountability were raised, and emphasized professional development for individuals and the instructional team as a whole.

We continue to work towards refinements that take time to develop and implement. We’re revising our mission and retooling our image. Leadership has established a seismic cultural shift that the community has embraced with enthusiasm. A sense of renewal, energy, capacity and collaboration feeds our spirits. Standing on the great strengths and accomplishments of the past, armed with powerful data and vision, we build towards a brighter future for our students and Am Yisroel.