Laing Sets Into Motion Goals For Racine School District

The dawn of a new school year along with a change of leadership has created a sense of renewal throughout the . 

It has also created an opportunity for the interim administrator Ann Laing to put into motion a trio of dependent goals that, if successful, will change the trajectory of learning throughout the district. These goals begin with an internal cultural shift that may seem subtle to the outside community.  

"We at central office have tended to work in insulation from each other and work in silos," Laing said during a one-on-one interview at the beginning of the school year. "I am working with people on creating teams so we can be aligned."

This move toward the team approach is geared to aligning the district to be focused on improving instructional practices, Laing explained in a conference room in the district central office.  

"This is so we can improve student achievement. We have to make sure that we are aligning everything we do with instructional practices. That means we know how to look at and interpret data and we know what that data says about the needs with our students," she said. "The next step is to use the best instructional practices to mesh with that data so we deliver the best instruction to kids."

Ultimately, the goal is to improve not just the academic achievement of the student, but also engage them as learners along with improving their social and behavior skills.

"Every step of the way, kids have to learn new social skills, the biggest change for kids is when they hit middle school," she said. "Middle school has a whole different social set-up. Kids have a whole different mindset when they enter middle school and their brains operate differently when they are in middle school." 

Racine Unified's economic diversity creates a unique set of challenges for Laing and the administration when attempting to improve achievement and social and behavior skills. Many of the high arching goals Laing spoke of rely on parental involvement, an element that can range from nil in some homes that are struggling financially to a well-rounded support structure from parents. 

"One of the missing pieces that we have is the parent involvement with their children," said Laing, who noted the district has a parent liaison who helps parents understand the importance of talking, reading and playing with their children. 

"All of that is important for learning. At the elementary level, we often have more parent involvement than we do at the high school and middle school level. We still need more though. We need parents to connect more with their kids," she added. "Parents do the best that they can, but we have some parent with three jobs and they are doing three jobs while their kids are being cared for by other people."  

The economic diversity among individual schools empowers principals, teachers and staff, who fundamentally understand the unique needs of and have the biggest impact on their student body, according to Laing. Each school has developed its own improvement plan that outlines two or three goals they need to accomplish.  

"Where we intersect with that is providing professional development that they need to achieve their goals," she explained. "Each school has a different set of needs. No two schools are exactly alike."