» Wardlaw Continuous Improvement

Spartanburg Academic Movement’s Wardlaw Institute for Continuous Improvement held its inaugural conference on Oct. 19 to celebrate the achievements of schools and educators that have embedded CI science – historically used in manufacturing settings to improve processes. The Institute is named for John T. Wardlaw, a community leader with a deep understanding of how robust local data can drive positive change. Wardlaw’s family has graciously invested in SAM’s CI work, which allows CI coaches to work with individual teachers and celebrates growth and impact.

National speaker and author Dr. Lee Jenkins gave the keynote address urging teachers to find things they’re already doing to spark joy. Teachers can embed continuous improvement science to improve attendance, decrease discipline referrals and improve student academic performance.

More than 90 Spartanburg and Cherokee County administrators, educators and nonprofit organizations participated in CI breakout sessions during the morning and CI awards were given in the afternoon. This year’s nominees for CI Teacher of the Year for Growth were Teresa Dawkins (Lone Oak Elementary School), Kristy Turner (Mary H Wright Elementary School), Marie Scott (Abner Creek Academy) and Katy Quinn (Jesse Bobo Elementary School).

AWARD WINNERS INCLUDED:

Katy Quinn, Jesse Bobo

Elementary School — 2022

CI Teacher of the Year for

Growth.

Marie Scott, Abner Creek Elementary School — 2022 CI Teacher of the Year for Impact.

Vanessa Briggs, EP

Todd Elementary — 2022 CI Pioneer of the Year award.

Emily Dean, Abner Creek

Academy — 2022 CI Coach of the Year Award. In addition, Fairforest Middle School received the 2022 CI School of the Year for Growth award. Fairforest began using Continuous Improvement in the math department for sixth grades in 2020. Today, CI work has expanded to include all grade levels for math.

Cleveland Academy of Leadership earned the 2022 CI School of the Year for Impact. Cleveland began its CI journey during the 2017/18 school year. In 2017, the school had a 6.7 percent proficiency rating for third graders reading at or above grade level. Cleveland now has a 39 percent proficiency rate for third graders reading at or above grade level – surpassing the 30 percent proficiency set for them in 2017.

JOHN T. WARDLAW INSTITUTE FOR CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT

CHERYL BROADNAX AWARD

This year, SAM presented the Cheryl Broadnax Award for Continuous Improvement to the Four Schools Project. Cheryl Broadnax, StriveTogether’s senior director of district improvement, helped SAM lead the initial training efforts in Spartanburg and allowed SAM to sustain our work and implement the Wardlaw Institute. Cheryl passed away this past year following a courageous battle with colon cancer.

The first Cheryl Broadnax Award for Continuous Improvement Award honored the work of the Four Schools – Mary H Wright Elementary School, Jesse Bobo Elementary School, Lone Oak Elementary School and Cleveland Academy of Leadership — for their collective reading proficiency rates. These four schools, with the highest rates of poverty in the county, were identified by their superintendents as needing interventions to meet state testing benchmarks and student academic achievement.

When the CI work began in 2017, those schools were collectively at a 14.66 percent proficiency rate for third-grade reading. At that time, SAM set a goal for the four schools to reach 30 percent proficiency by 2021 and then COVID hit. Despite challenges, the Four Schools collectively exceeded their goal as 32.36 percent of third graders are proficient readers as benchmarked by SC READY testing.