‘Racing to Results’ the theme of School District initiative
The School District of Lee County has a theme for the 2026-2027 school year that starts next Tuesday – Racing to Results – a focus on increasing student achievement.
“It starts with the premise that all children can learn. Each and every child can learn. Then it goes back to here is the benchmark. Here is how we are teaching it,” Superintendent Dr. Denise Carlin said.
Chief Academic Officer Dr. Nathan Shaker said the focus this year is doing three things incredibly well – become stronger by becoming experts in specific targeted areas, grow and enhance their skills and move on to the next set.
The Lee in 3 initiative was discussed during Monday’s school board workshop. The focus areas include professional learning communities in both the classroom and school, high-quality instruction and accountability.
The PLCs are groups of teachers who meet to discuss topics such as student data and progress monitoring, so instructional decisions become intentional. The group also allows teachers to become proactive, rather than reactive as there is greater consistency across classrooms.
The PLCs will focus on three main components – teacher collaboration, data and sharing effective instructional strategies, so instruction is consistent across the same grade level and subject areas.
All the strategies lead to measurable results, which provide opportunities to celebrate successes, address challenges and make strategic adjustments. The continuous improvement cycle focuses on increasing student achievement.
Carlin said benchmarks will be assessed each week and a plan will be made on how students did or did not perform. She said they do not want to wait until three times a year.
“It’s an ongoing cycle and it informs instruction and it’s really important to do it frequently,” Carlin said.
Lee in 3 is a guide for school leaders of what resources are out there at the district level. Shaker said they are tools for supporting implementation and monitoring.
Chief of Schools Dr. Colleen Timm said accountability is a huge component because if they do not monitor the instruction, they do not know if teachers are meeting the benchmarks for each student. She said quarterly data chats are conducted with school administrators and regional associate superintendents holistically at the schools to see if they are meeting the marks.
Attendance, grades, dashboards, and assessments will be monitored to make sure the student is meeting the rigors of what is expected on each level.
Carlin said the district does not have any D or F schools and has the additional goal of reducing the C schools from 30 to zero.
“I love when there is a challenge thrown in front of me,” she said. “Lee in 3 is the secret sauce of how we got rid of D and F schools. We plan effectively, inspect what you planned and look at how the children did. It’s a very simple recipe, it’s difficult to do, but it can be done on behalf of all students’ learning.”