Watch CivicCon live: Learn how to lead a school out of low performance

Kevin Robinson, Pensacola News Journal
Updated ·3 min read

How do you lead a struggling school out of low performance?

According to veteran leader and educator Angela Bush, you start by focusing on people.

Thursday at a free CivicCon event, Bush will discuss her work at Erwin Middle School in Jefferson County, Alabama. When Bush became principal of Erwin Middle School in 2019-2020 school year, the institution was ranked in the bottom 5% in Alabama and had been identified as a Comprehensive Support and Improvement school by the state Department of Education due to poor attendance and academic performance.

By the end of the Bush's four-year tenure, Erwin Middle School came had off the CSI list for the first time, earned its first passing school grade and was ranked No. 5 of 15 middle schools in its district.

Bush's mantra throughout the turnaround, and throughout her career, has been, "When you value people, you will yield positive results.” At Erwin, Bush helped improve performance by building partnerships with the community, assembling a diverse group of teachers, counselors and coaches to identify and own improvement goals, and by giving students agency and incentives to become better learners.

Dig deeper: How one of Alabama's worst-ranked schools had its best year - and what Pensacola can learn

All told, Bush and her team reportedly:

  • Increased academic achievement by 33% from fall to winter 21-22, leading to the school getting off the CSI list for the first time

  • Decreased the academic deficit by 24% of students performing below grade level

  • Decreased parental contacts for chronic absenteeism by 37% the last two years

  • Decreased student discipline by 42.9% within two years

  • Increased teacher attendance by 5%

  • Increased the local school budget by 600% through community outreach and partnerships

  • Increasedcommunity support by 900% in three years

  • Increased parental involvement in PTA from 0 to 20 over the past three years.

Bush received a bachelor of arts and master’s degree in English Education from Alabama A&M University. She continued her graduate studies at the University of Montevallo, receiving an educational specialist degree in teacher leadership, before attending Samford University and earning an educational doctorate degree in 2012.

Over her nearly 30-year career, Bush has served as a high school teacher and elementary and middle school principal before being promoted to her current role as an area director for the Jefferson County school system, in which she provides oversight and support for 15 area elementary schools.

Bush will discuss more about her work at Erwin Middle School during a CivicCon presentation 6-7:30 p.m. at the REX Theatre, 18 N. Palafox St. in downtown Pensacola. The event is free and open to all.

The presentation will also be livestreamed on the News Journal's Facebook page and at pnj.com.

Registration for the event is available by searching CivicCon at eventbrite.com. Those who register online can submit a question for Bush.

CivicCon is a partnership with the News Journal to help empower citizens to better their communities through smart planning and civic conversation. More information about CivicCon, as well as stories and videos featuring previous speakers, is available at pnj.com/civiccon.

This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: How to lead a school out of low performance | CivicCon