Lorraine Monroe Leadership Institute
Identifying the Education Innovations with Greatest Impact
When educator Lorraine Monroe launched The Lorraine Monroe Leadership Institute (LMLI) to improve the effectiveness of schools for all children, she was uniquely positioned to do so. Based on an unusual level of experience in New York City school system as a teacher, principal, and working for superintendents, Ms. Monroe shaped an innovative approach to school improvement - empowering principals (and, in turn, teachers) on time management, curriculum development and accountability of students and staff.
LMLI Vice President Lonnetta Gaines recalls that, "after some three years of delivering training, coaching, and tools to staff in a variety of schools, we wanted to know if those principals were in a better position to lead, manage resources and train and support teachers, and which interventions were working best."
Seeking an objective but experienced team for its evaluation, LMLI hired TCC Group to design and implement its evaluation.
Probing Research Generates Insightful, Practical Recommendations
Aiming to satisfy LMLI's tight timeframe and need for concrete data, TCC Group consultants designed an inventive research approach to evaluate the effectiveness of LMLI strategies. They selected comparison schools (based on demographics and geography) for each of the LMLI schools for test score comparisons and interviewed and met in groups with principals and teachers in LMLI schools.
"The TCC consultants responded quickly and with enthusiasm, with a research plan that was realistic, practical and would work for us long term. Most importantly, they left a good impression on our principals and their staffs, which was vital. All in all, TCC's work was a field-based course in educational research for us," says Gaines.
The research findings reaffirmed the importance of LMLI's focus on working with principals on standardized testing and sparked recommendations for several program changes. "We extended our services to reach the full staffs of the schools directly, rather than expecting principals and their leadership teams to pass on their LMLI learnings to teachers, and increased our emphasis on math," commented Gaines.
Clear Direction, Valuable Data and Stronger Relationships
With the help of the TCC Group team, LMLI was able to assess its work in only five. As a result, LMLI is already receiving a far better response from teachers and anticipates stronger results in standardized test results in its schools.
However, the gains from working with the TCC Group have extended even beyond strengthening LMLI's program and results. "The TCC evaluation has been very useful to us in both program development and fundraising. We look forward to a continuing relationship with TCC," Gaines said.
