Other Reform Efforts

OIP Teams

Photo used with permission from The Independent and IndeOnline.com.

Implementation of the OIP team structures and procedures was slow, but progress accelerated over the past six or seven years under the leadership of district administrators and teacher leaders. Massillon’s OIP teams are immersed in improvement planning, data analysis and interpretation, instructional planning (especially at the TBT level), conversations about promising instructional strategies, and self-directed professional development. The DLT, BLTs, and TBTs provide vital feedback and support to each other. The OIP work is complex and requires a high level of persistence, and, for the most part, Massillon’s educators seem enthusiastically engaged with it.

Massillon’s OIP teams have had a significant impact within the district. The teams have:

• reduced the isolation that often affects educators,
• facilitated communication and alignment within and between grade levels,
• increased trust,
• promoted discussion of instructional strategies,
• increased educator collaboration,
• helped teachers use formative assessments more effectively,
• supported efforts to monitor educators’ and teams’ implementation of agreed-upon strategies, and
• increased risk-taking.

Although the use of OIP teams has increased overall in the district, team performance seems somewhat inconsistent. Some OIP teams are just getting established, and some are not functioning as effectively and productively as others. Despite delays in getting all the teams “up and running,” the Massillon City School district strongly supports the OIP team initiative and conveys confidence that the team structure will lead to positive outcomes for the district.