Trailblazing District Leaders Share Power Insights for CCMR Success
Leaders from three Texas school districts shared their insights on how they are using powerful technologies, tools, and processes to help more high school students get college and career ready. The panel discussion took place at the Spring 2022 Lunch and Learn session at the Dallas College Garland Center on April 19, part of an ongoing series of learning summits hosted by Economic Mobility Systems (EMS) for educators and community leaders focused on improving college and workforce outcomes across Texas.
EMS College and Career Solutions Director Dr. Tonni Grant facilitated the panel, which included Dr. Autumn Boyd, Executive Director Postsecondary Outcomes, Aldine ISD; Robin Johnson-Ford, Director Advanced Academics and CCMR, Desoto ISD; and Dr. Usamah Muhammad-Rodgers, Deputy Chief of Strategic Initiatives, Dallas ISD.
Each of the district leaders discussed how they have addressed specific CCMR-related issues with College and Career Solutions, utilizing a set of tools and processes that includes CCMR dashboards and Salesforce case management.
Addressing foundational challenges
Aldine’s Dr. Autumn Boyd kicked off the discussion by addressing some of the foundational challenges that her district faced when they decided to utilize the case management tools. First, they needed to provide their internal staff with clarity between CCMR and HB3 Outcomes Bonus metrics, which are related but distinct. Then, they needed to organize their data in a centralized location to enable them to track CCMR and HB3 Outcomes Bonus progress.
While a CCMR Task Force created the opportunity to build a common language and understanding around CCMR and HB3 Outcomes Bonus metrics, the Salesforce platform allowed for the team to take a strategic and targeted approach towards improving the organization of data. The result: a team that has clarity on their HB3 Outcomes Bonus goals and the ability to monitor progress towards those goals in real time.
“The precondition for this leadership work is to get data organized well and activated in reports across the district. We are energized around the power of case management; however, we are now beginning to understand where we are with CCMR in real time.”
Dr. Autumn Boyd, Aldine ISD.
Scaling up effectively to ensure student success
Once a school district has started up with their case management tools, how do they effectively ensure that every student is successful beyond high school graduation? Desoto’s Robin Johnson-Ford responded to issues related to scaling up effectively, describing the district’s initial needs and challenges: large high schools, reams of data, but no case management or real time insights.
With College and Career Solutions’ support, the Desoto team effectively harnessed the power of case management tools to give their school administrators access to real-time progress monitoring and reporting. More than that, personalized student pages now enable advisors to access insightful data that can be moved into personal plans of action, helping to ensure each student’s success.
Aligning and accessing data to drive change faster
Having the most experience with Salesforce Case Management, Dallas’ Dr. Rodgers focused on how her district is further aligning and accessing their data to drive and accelerate change. Their work has focused on improvements in two areas: financial aid and TSI testing, with a third area, Associate Degree alerts, on the horizon.
To improve the tracking of the submission and completion of financial aid, the team has targeted support for their PTECH/ECHS students, with streamlined communication, increased matching, enhanced case management, and Learning Network support. On TSI testing, the district is integrating CLEVER to track leading indicators like pre-assessments, as well as increase reporting and progress monitoring in this area.
“Change management in a large district like Dallas ISD requires accurate, timely, and meaningful data activated across and down the organization in a coherent way. EMS helping us with Salesforce has made this leadership work possible and our students are the beneficiaries.”
Dr. Usamah Rodgers, Dallas ISD.“From my previous role at Fort Worth ISD, it is a privilege to show up with these leaders in the way I needed when I sat in these roles. Leading equity work in college and career readiness really requires the tools and support that EMS provides.”
Dr. Tonni Grant, EMS
About EMS College and Career Solutions
EMS College and Career Solutions helps school districts empower students and build strong real time case management solutions to dramatically improve equitable college and career outcomes. College and Career Solutions provides a set of tools and processes that includes helping school district set up and manage Salesforce, an effective case management tool for college and career work.