It’s no secret that public education in our region and across the country is undergoing of a great deal of change. From new superintendents in our districts, a new Board of Regents Chancellor and a statewide review of the Common Core Standards to a new nominee for Secretary of Education in Washington, the face of education is changing.
As public education evolves, so too must our organization.
For more than 20 years, Questar III has developed and implemented strategic plans to guide our work – taking large goals and focusing them into specific areas for growth and improvement. In that time, we have made significant progress, but to continue this success, we must be more strategic, more creative and more collaborative to unleash the full power of the BOCES.
Our first priority is ensuring we provide to our districts and students the highest quality services possible in the most cost-effective manner. This means we must always be evaluating ourselves and looking for ways to improve the work that we do each and every day.
In September, we launched a new framework to guide our day-to-day and long-term operations- The Leading Edge. The Leading Edge is based on The Advantage by Patrick Lencioni. It answers six fundamental questions about our organization and work:
- Why do we exist?
- How do we behave?
- What do we do?
- How will we succeed?
- What is most important right now?
- Who must do what?
Answering these questions allows us to focus our efforts so that we are not only in tune with the needs of our districts – to whom we are ultimately accountable – but also to be sure we recognize and understand what is happening around us.
Ultimately, this framework comes down to why we exist as an organization – to change lives, realize dreams and do together what cannot be done alone.
So, what have we done so far to implement this new framework? Most importantly, we began on-boarding our staff to The Leading Edge over the summer. Building this culture from the inside is key to its success in our organization. Our Administrative Leadership Team read Lencioni’s book, and we’ve held several follow-up sessions for staff to answer any questions and delve deeper into The Leading Edge.
Secondly, we are continually working to develop the capacity of our staff. This includes a new orientation program for new staff, new training opportunities for current staff and reconvening our PDP committee to guide and plan professional development across the organization.
As I’ve shared previously, we are diligently working to review all of our programs and services per board policy approved last school year. As we begin to review our CTE and Special Education programs, we are tapping into outside resources to obtain a larger perspective than we might have on our own. We are also beginning to implement recommendations from the 2015-2016 program reviews and our Superintendent Listening Tour, which includes the Dimensions of the Superintendency, a new PD program for new or aspiring superintendents. This review process allows us to make sure our programs and services are relevant and efficient – supporting the success of our districts and ultimately our students.
The fourth major goal of The Leading Edge is building and maintaining facilities. A large part of this is the Building Modernization Project to replace the Rensselaer Educational Center in Troy. This work is ongoing, and we will share more information on this as it becomes available in the coming months. This goal also includes additional work planned for Columbia-Greene Educational Center and Sackett Educational Center. All of this work is aimed at expanding student opportunities now and into the future as well as ensuring our facilities are safe and efficient.
Since it was founded as three different county BOCES in the 1950s and 60s, the organization that became Rensselaer-Columbia-Greene BOCES in 1977 and Questar III in 1994 has transformed itself many times. That transformation and evolution continues.
The changing landscape of public education requires educational service providers like Questar III to be on the cutting edge of innovation. This is why we have initiated a more engaging and meaningful planning process through The Leading Edge.
It is my hope that through this process, we will continue to strengthen and improve our organization, and in turn, the programs and services we provide to students and districts through our region and state.
