Creating student-centered systems is the key to student success

Image credit: Wright AssociatesAcross the country, there are countless stories of how students, parents, school leaders, community groups, and teachers must advocate aggressively to get the resources they need to support K-12 students in their communities, because existing systems and processes are inadequate.  

Because some families are more effective and successful than others at this type of advocacy, this creates an inconsistent educational experience within and across student populations. This variability erodes trust between school systems and communities and strains staff, resulting in polarization, gridlock in decision making, and leadership turnover.   

We can and we must do better to improve student outcomes. It’s time to rethink and redesign the learning and work environments, processes and culture that produce these outcomes. 

Charles E. Wright Jr. is managing director of Wright Associates and author of The Education Imperative. He was previously Deputy Superintendent for Seattle Public Schools.I have over 25 years of experience helping leaders of complex organizations accelerate attainment of transformational results that have a social impact, including serving as Deputy Superintendent of the Seattle Public Schools. In my work with school districts across the country, I focus on finding ways to inspire, catalyze, support, and lead transformative change that creates student-centered systems. 

Aligning systems to better support students  

In a student-centered system, every expectation, practice, process, program, subsystem, engagement, training, and decision is aligned to effectively support every student holistically, to achieve significantly better academic, behavioral, health, and life outcomes.  

This holistic approach is in sharp contrast to visions that focus primarily on students as learners. A student-centered system embraces a “One System, One School” culture that is unified in its support of students and adults getting the assistance they need to thrive. This system also creates a vibrant, collaborative, service-oriented workplace that fosters creativity and is considered a great place to work.  

A strong commitment to a coherent student experience drives the formation of an education ecosystem built upon partnerships and alignment with the community-based organizations, agencies, post-secondary providers, and employers that support and provide opportunities for students.   

The Education Imperative 

In my book, The Education Imperative, I describe some of the impacts of this type of transformation on students, families, and staff when their school district community accelerates their efforts to become more student-centered.  

For illustration, the story begins with a new superintendent coming to a school district that has struggled with years of instability, dysfunction and leadership turnover, and the strategic steps he and the district leadership take, which include:  

• Equipping leaders and staff with practices that help them improve their wellbeing, personal performance and enthusiasm for their work, as well as student outcomes 
• Resolving underlying issues (mindsets, incentives, etc.) and working through previously challenging conversations that contributed to undesirable outcomes
• Mindfully examining existing processes and structures to address long-standing service delivery inconsistencies, gaps in supports for students who are neurodiverse, and the need for a learning environment that promotes heart centered connections with students  
• Using a “One System, One School” culture lens to redesign processes for core services that impact students, teachers, and families  
• Establishing routines for implementing and improving the use of new processes and technologies that support new ways of work  
• Forging new ways of working with federal, state, county, and city-level partners to support the district’s transformation  
• Creating feedback loops that allow leaders to closely monitor performance and the satisfaction of all stakeholders, and to make timely course corrections 
• Providing more and better resources to parents, teachers, families, administrators, and community partners 

When school districts take steps like these to lead transformative change and organize themselves and community partners around a holistic, student-centered vision, they can achieve significantly better academic, behavioral, health, and life outcomes for every student.  

Charles E. Wright Jr. is managing director of Wright Associates and author of The Education Imperative. He was previously Deputy Superintendent for Seattle Public Schools.