Article VIII, Section 1 of the Virginia Constitution declares that “The General Assembly shall provide for a system of free public elementary and secondary schools for all children of school age throughout the Commonwealth, and shall seek to ensure that an educational program of high quality is established and continually maintained.”

It’s a lofty goal, but the Virginia Constitution is unhelpfully silent about what a “high-quality” education is, how to provide it, or how to keep it relevant and effective during changing times. To be fair, the Constitution recognizes that high quality is a moving target, which is why “continual” maintenance of the program is important to ensure that it adapts and stays relevant to our changing world.

When it comes to providing that high-quality education, Falls Church City enjoys many natural advantages. We’re a small but wealthy division. More often than not, our problems are “good” problems: we do not confront the need to close schools because of declining enrollments, for example. When we talk about what makes FCCPS special, we need to keep such advantages in mind.

FCCPS has not been complacent. We’ve worked over the years to find a way to provide that high-quality education and to adapt it over time. For me, as a parent and former school board member, the “secret sauce” of FCCPS is that we have used our many advantages to “take the long view” and to develop effective models and curricula over the course of years and even decades. This process has not been linear, and it has not been easy. Things that look inevitable in retrospect were actually fraught with uncertainty, and a lot of patience and persistence went into the end result.

There are several examples of this:

First, long-term leadership stability has been key: over the past 75 years, FCCPS has only had nine superintendents. That works out to an average tenure exceeding eight years.

Leadership continuity helps the division focus on educating students. It also provides a firm foundation for steady innovation and growth over time. The value of leadership continuity is difficult to quantify, but a 1985 study of superintendent turnover found that having to replace the superintendent “is a disruptive event because it changes the lines of communication, realigns relationships of power, affects decision-making, and generally disturbs the equilibrium of normal activities” (pg. 88).[1]  Another study found that “Leadership is second only to classroom instruction among all school-related factors that contribute to what students learn at school.”[2] In short, continuity in leadership at FCCPS avoids corrosive disruption and ensures steady progress in teaching and learning over time.

Facilities planning is another example of taking the long view.

By the 2000s, it was clear that GMHS would need to be replaced. When, how, and for how much were the three big questions. There was a temptation just to “do something,” but it became increasingly apparent that piecemeal solutions (which had been a frequent occurrence at GMHS over the years) would be both ineffective and expensive. At the same time, however, starting from a clean sheet of paper seemed fantastic and unaffordable.

Fortunately, the School Board and City Council demonstrated great vision when they purchased the 25-acre Flagg parcel at Leesburg Pike and Haycock Road, where Meridian and MEH now stand. They bought it 75 years ago for what now seems like the bargain price of $40,000. Large blocks of land have always been scarce in Falls Church, and buying this tract provided us with badly needed scale.

As a result, this purchase ultimately gave Falls Church City the ability to explore creative ways to finance a new high school by using commercial development of part of the land to finance a new high school. But there was one problem: while Falls Church owned the land, the land was under the jurisdiction of Fairfax County, which controlled the process for approving new construction projects. As you might guess, this meant Falls Church’s plans to renovate or rebuild the high school faced an uphill climb because of opposition by neighbors. This was especially the case for any proposal that might seek to finance development through economic development of a portion of the high school site.

The sale of the Falls Church water system offered the opportunity to solve this jurisdictional problem. As part of the deal, which closed in early 2014, the MEH and Meridian sites became part of Falls Church City, opening the way to a renovated MEH and a new Meridian High School. The Board, led by Chair Susan Kearney, worked tirelessly behind the scenes to make the boundary readjustment part of the deal’s terms. They knew that Falls Church City had to have jurisdiction over the parcel if there was to be any hope for a successful commercial development plan. And they were right: this persistence and vision opened the way for the redevelopment plan that culminated in the new Meridian High School. But it took time, commitment, and patience.

The third and final example of the “long view” hypothesis is the International Baccalaureate (IB) program. While FCCPS adopted IB over 50 years ago, it took several decades of planning and persistence for FCCPS to realize the goal of becoming a K-12 IB division in 2012.

The many strengths of IB include its flexibility, its focus on project-based learning, its emphasis on creating lifelong learners, and its global perspective. As a result, IB is adaptive enough to change over time while still delivering consistent results in learning outcomes. Yet the success of IB was never a given. It took persistent advocacy, most notably by Lou Olom, to launch the program, which was approved in 1981. IB quickly became a success story. By the end of the 1990s, nearly 90% of GMHS students took at least one IB class, and over two dozen seniors received IB diplomas by the turn of the century.

But there were challenges: the IB program as structured was not for everyone. There was a limited number of courses, and IB diploma requirements were rigid and not suitable for everyone because of the tradeoffs they demanded. These issues gave some the opportunity to criticize the IB program as elitist and insufficiently inclusive.

A tremendous amount of work that went into expanding IB beyond GMHS over the years. It was a long and sometimes difficult process, which meant that it was not until the second decade of the 21st century that FCCPS went  go “all-in” on IB. It was an audacious step that required substantial time, resources, and effort to train staff, roll out PYP and MYP, and secure the necessary certifications.

It also took time to get community buy-in. The success of the effort was not a given. Fortunately, taking the long view provided FCCPS with the strength it needed to keep going. One of the biggest challenges came in May 2016, when the Board faced a $1M budget gap. Some suggested cutting IB coordinator positions to close the gap. In retrospect, this work session was an inflection point in the history of IB. All of the building principals came to the Board work session to voice their support not just for the IB coordinators but for the larger K-12 IB vision as well.

The principals had seen the long-term benefits of IB. MEH Principal Ty Harris said that MYP made students “more confident.” In addition, “teachers have become more confident, more collaborative and more reflective.” He closed by saying that MEH “lives and breathes the MYP framework.” GMHS Vice Principal Kevin Clark noted that IB transcends the model of “what kids need to know when they graduate” and focuses instead on “who do we want our kids to be when they graduate? We want them to be balanced, principled, reflective, caring risk-takers.”

He also praised the commitment of the teachers and staff: “it’s hard work to go from a mindset of ‘how do we get through this material?’ to ‘how do we get kids to think and communicate?’” He also emphasized the value of a K-12 IB curriculum: “instead of having 30% of your kids participating in the diploma program, there’s a whole school approach. This is every kid having to develop those traits.” Mt. Daniel Principal Kathy Halayko explained the power of IB to transform a curriculum into an “edutopia” that helps students to focus “their thinking and learning.“ But FCCPS was at a crossroads with IB: “We have to commit to this,” she said.

Fortunately, the Board provided the requested support. This enabled FCCPS to continue providing the training and professional development for the IB transformation. Finally, in early 2017, FCCPS received its certification as a PK-12 IB division. Taking the long view had once again paid off.

I asked Dr. Noonan recently: “Is IB working?” His answer: “It is absolutely working.”

He noted that we have more IB diploma candidates—74—than ever. In addition, he noted that FCCPS has also been authorized to offer the Career-related Programme (CP). Many students will soon be obtaining the CP certificate as well. In the K-10 space, our teachers are focused on inquiry as their approach using the IB approach to teaching and learning. Finally, he said, “the profile of a learner is evident among all of our graduates.”

When it comes to leadership, facilities, and curriculum, taking the long view has served FCCPS, our community, and, most of all, our students.

Sources:

• [1] Miskel, C., & Cosgrove, D. (1985). Leader succession in school settings. Review of Educational Research, 55(51), 87 at 88.
• [2] Leithwood, K., Louis, K.S., Anderson, S., & Wahlstrom, K. (2004). How Leadership Influences Student Learning: Center for Applied Research and Educational Improvement, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at 5. Available here.