Implementor Spotlight — Lake County Schools

“SIFA data has helped us take a closer look at the way we lead, how we identify what our teachers need, and most of all, how we are using data to problem solve. After reviewing our schools’ SIFA data, we knew immediately where our focus should be. We could also see the successes we need to celebrate. We began our journey in the fall of 2022. Our schools completed the School Implementation Fidelity Assessment (SIFA) with the guidance of Tennessee Supports Center Educational Consultant. Our schools’ fall SIFA Data results, based on the essential components of Leadership, Assessment, Data-based Decision Making, and Instruction and Invention, were lower than we expected. This caused us to pause and really think about how we, as a district, were leading our schools. We reviewed each of our schools’ SIFA data, and then, we reviewed each schools’ annual implementation plan that was developed based on the SIFA data.

The district team was now able to identify where we needed growth, what professional development we needed to provide our teachers, and it identified supports the District Leadership Team needed to provide the School Leadership Team. In the spring of 2023, each of our schools completed the Spring SIFA. In comparing the fall data to the spring data, all of our schools made marked improvement. We credit this improvement to knowing and putting into action what we needed to do to show growth. The SIFA provided a pathway for our schools to follow. We are looking forward to seeing more growth with the upcoming fall SIFA. Moving forward, our next steps are to meet with our Tennessee Supports Center Educational Consultant to identify any targeted learning opportunities provided by Tennessee Supports Center that will strengthen our process.”