A Wilmington Learning Collaborative performance assessment found room for improvement. WLC members reviewed the assessment at its Wednesday meeting.
The WLC operates across nine schools in three districts in Wilmington with the goal of improving student outcomes. Councilmembers discussed putting a strategic plan together at Wednesday’s council retreat to better communicate its goals and role in the community.
WLC Chair Helen Anderson said she and her team are trying to analyze structural flaws and figure out what they need to do to get positive results.
“My goal in the conversation and bringing it back to the community is to remember that our community was sold on this organization to do some work for Wilmington children, and we want outcomes,” Anderson said. “And so every time I sit at a table, any room I'm invited to, it is about children and bringing it back to my community.”
Anderson added she wants Wilmington schools to invite the community into problem solving and continue to work on solutions for the schools’ long-term issues.
Red Clay Consolidated School District Superintendent Dorrell Green said one step the WLC needs to take is improving communication with educators and the public.
“While it can feel overwhelming at times, there [are] a lot of positives to say about the work that we have been able to do thus far,” Green said. “And it's really looking at where those trends are, those bright spots, and how can we replicate it across, again, the three districts and nine schools so that the community does see outwardly facing positive aspects of it.”
Some WLC members say then-Gov. John Carney made promises to the community that the organization may not have the power to follow through on.
Council members discussed composing a strategic plan that identifies goals within the Collaborative's jurisdiction, such as improving communication and partnerships, as well as clarifying the roles played by the Department of Education, districts, WLC and Redding Consortium.
“I think for me, the biggest part of the conversation is understanding that we are all needed to fix it,” Anderson said. “This wasn't broken overnight. It's not going to be fixed overnight… And I feel like in Delaware, especially in Wilmington, our children aren't getting those same opportunities that I had, like field trips and guest speakers coming in that look like them that are telling them that you can be anything that you want. I feel like we've lost a lot of that. And it's not on just the schools to fix it. It is the community.”
The WLC’s next Council meeting March 4 at 6 p.m.
