Dr. Calondra Hines is leading the St. Louis Park school district through a strategic plan grounded in equity. She uses the responses of youth and community to create a system that meets the education needs of all students, regardless of their ethnic or racial background.
Years before she accepted the position of superintendent, the St. Louis Park school district caught her attention. After graduating from the University of Minnesota, she entered the education field and worked with some of its administrators.
When she learned they were looking for a new superintendent, “I jumped at the opportunity,” she says. Researching the district revealed a strategic plan that aligned with her values.
“It is really about how we see our students and reckon with the historical harm that has happened to our different ethnic groups over the years,” she says of the plan’s racial equity focus. “We [must] begin to dismantle the systemic institutional racism that is established within every educational system.”
She became superintendent during the final year of a five-year strategic plan. Before her arrival, the plan produced equity structures for students.
Their Youth Data Analyst (YDA) internships provide students paid summer work. They are guided by Dr. Silvy Un Lafayette, the district’s director of assessment, research and evaluation.
The first cohort of YDAs focused on the gifted and talented program. They found that while 49% of students were youth of color, their gifted and talented program was predominantly white.
By analyzing data, they found a process that segregated students beginning in first grade. The resulting change: “Instead of having identified [gifted and talented] students by an assessment in elementary school, all students receive talent development through a course,” says Hines.
Every student is challenged to think and apply reasoning at a higher level, as only gifted and talented students had been in the past. Students are exposed to leadership during middle school as a part of their high school transition.
“Every eighth grader takes a keystone class that helps students with identifying themselves as a leader and a scholar,” says Hines.
Minnesota has instituted cultural competency as part of the teacher evaluation process. Teachers entering the classroom are formally evaluated three times per year during their first three probationary years.
This includes a pre-evaluation, classroom observation, and post-evaluation process with rubrics based on Zaretta Hammond, Dr. Gholdy Muhammad, and Gloria Ladson-Billings’ culturally responsive learning techniques.
With the current strategic plan expiring this school year, the district is creating a plan for the 2025-2030 school years. Equity will remain the district’s focus. “I would say that we are well ahead of most districts when it comes to embedding culturally relevant pedagogy into our teacher evaluation tools,” says Hines.
When it comes to diversifying the teaching staff, the district faces the same obstacle that most districts face: a predominantly tenured staff. “The beauty of St. Louis Park is that it is a destination district, so when teachers come, they tend to stay,” Hines explains.
Low turnover equates to few open positions. But Hines is intentional about making sure job postings get out to teachers of color.
“[We] understand that students do better when they see a teacher or have just one teacher that looks like them,” she says. “But the reality is we’re in the state of Minnesota, and the majority of our teachers are white.
“So how are we building the mindset and the skill set of our current teachers to see the gift and talents of each student and putting their biases aside so that they don’t cloud how they view a student?”
Outside of keeping steadfast to their strategic plan, Hines will focus on the accomplishments of the last five years. “We haven’t done a good job of articulating and showcasing the things that we have done and the results that we have received,” she says.
Those accomplishments include increasing student achievement and diversifying their international baccalaureate courses. She will also highlight a teaching force that is willing to step up as leaders in classrooms, at their schools, and in supporting cross-district learning initiatives.
Schools across the state will have to contend with a budget reduction next year. Wanting to ensure students are at the center of their processes, student advisor groups will meet with Hines twice per year to give feedback on what is important to keep and what is okay to cut.
“Since I’ve been in administration, we have underestimated what students can do,” she explains. “Sometimes the adults have to get out the way, and we have to listen to the students and… follow their guidance.”
The YDA’s findings from last year were implemented during the current school year. She is excited about the results of their work. Both student and community input will continue to drive the changes the district makes.
“If we are going to ask people about their perspective and their opinions [and] give us recommendations, we should take that and do something with it, not just marvel over the fact that we have this information,” Hines says.
“We don’t disregard the voices of the people who are most marginalized, and we are here to help… They [need to] see that their efforts to come to the table are not in vain.”
Vickie Evans-Nash welcomes reader responses to vnash@spokesman-recorder.com.
They are not looking at the school rankings. With all of these new programs, why have the academic ratings dropped from top 5 in the state to less than top 250 in the state? This is about learning to learn and not just entitled equity. Lots of bad choices happening.