« Big D | Main | OOOO Oklahoma »
December 03, 2005
Really Big D
My other visit in Dallas was with the Superintendent of the Dallas Independent School District, Dr. Michael Hinojosa. Now here were talking really big D. DISD http://www.dallasisd.org/ has over 110,000 students with the district's demographics having changed dramatically over the years. As in many large cities, what was years ago was a predominately white middle class community has undergone inner city changes to first a predominately African American community to now a mix of Hispanic, African American, a few Asian students and 6% Caucasian. There's also an 87% low income rate (free and reduced lunch).
Dr. Hinojosa knows he has challenges. His first comments were that he was the seventh superintendent in the district in ten years and one of those superintendents lasted four years. You can do the math on this one. He laughingly said he had been there six months which was longer than some of his predecessors.
But the man is not daunted with the challenges. He spent time showing me his test results and explaining how he planned to motivate and change what wasn't working to what needed to be working. His issues were many of the same ones I've mentioned that I've found in visiting with districts-poverty, non-English speakers, special education, and high schools.
He was particularly clear about his high schools. He showed me a chart in his conference room that designated which schools, mostly high schools, need the most improvement. He had a plan for improving them and they were already showing some gains. He was out visiting schools every Wednesday and expecting to see what he wanted from those schools on his visits.
Dr. Hinojosa has vision and energy, two things that it takes to run any big school district. He invivited me to come back in three years and see what was happening. I assured him I'd be watching him make these differences well before three years, but I'd really like to come back to this district.
We talk about leadership being a key to any school or district in becoming a great school. If you've read the book Good to Great by Jim Collins http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0066620996/103-1267314-8811821?v=glance&n=283155, you know it takes a real effort from the top down to make things happen. This one has the earmarks of getting there even with its challenges, maybe even because of its challenges.
Posted by Dr Joni at December 3, 2005 05:33 AM