Achievement and Integration

Instructional Coaches

Type of Strategy:  Career/college readiness and rigorous coursework for underserved students, including students enrolled in ALC.  Equitable access to effective and more diverse teachers.

Description:  Willmar Public Schools is implementing an evidence-based, comprehensive Standards-Based Learning Approach (SBL) and Focused Teacher Evaluation Growth Model (FTEM) to accelerate student achievement.  A SBL approach centers on proficiency scales that include a progression of learning for the MN academic standards.  The proficiency scales bring clarity to students and teachers about what it is students should know and be able to do and where they are at in the learning progression.  The proficiency scale is the hub of student learning and connected to classroom planning, instruction, assessment and feedback.  The FTEM focuses on 23 essential elements that lead to effective teaching.  The model provides staff an instructional framework with instructional techniques and strategies for facilitating, deepening, and evaluating student learning.  Both approaches focus on building teacher expertise and take a student-outcome perspective.  Instructional coaches will provide instructional support for teachers and students within these models that will decrease racial and economic achievement disparities in the content areas.  This will include modeling of evidence-based strategies with students that will affect student achievement.  Instructional coaches will also compile and sort data reports from various sources (secure reports, Viewpoint, Pearson, etc.) to share with staff members to monitor achievement disparities.

Instructional coaches will provide long-term sustained job-embedded professional learning and coaching for teachers in order to increase student engagement and learning, especially for students from traditionally underserved groups.  Professional development will focus on the Willmar Public Schools (WPS) Instructional Framework and the components of Standards-Based learning, which include strategies for exceptional learners and equity and access to the content.  Each element/strategy in the WPS Instructional Framework includes teacher instructional techniques for equity and access that support the desired effect for teachers and students.  Coaches will provide large group training focused on these effective teaching practices as well as work with staff through PLCs and coaching cycles.  During coaching cycles, teachers will work alongside a coach to self-rate, set goals, select elements/strategies from the instructional model to implement, receive feedback on the implementation, and reflect on the process.  This cycle allows for teachers to self-select effective teaching practices that they would like to grow in to increase student outcomes.  Instructional coaches will support teachers in being diverse in their skill sets and coach effective instructional practices.

Cultural Liaisons

Type of Strategy:  Family Engagement initiatives to increase student achievement

Description: Cultural liaisons will build positive relationships between staff and families by facilitating communication between school staff and families from a range of racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic backgrounds. The intent is to empower families from all racial, ethnic, and economic backgrounds to work with schools to improve achievement for their students. The liaisons will engage in the Check and Connect program, an intervention used with K-12 students who show warning signs of disengagement (attendance, behavior, and course performance). Liaisons will build trusting and caring relationships with students and provide mentorship to them. They will track students' attendance, behavior, and English Language Arts grades and will regularly check in with students to celebrate successes, problem-solve areas for improvement, connect students to resources within the school, and engage with families about school progress. Liaisons will participate in monthly meetings to deepen their understanding of the program and collaborate with other mentors.

Willmar Public Schools is part of the West Central Achievement and Integration Collaborative, which includes Atwater - Cosmos - Grove City Public Schools, BOLD Public Schools, Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg Public Schools, MACCRAY Public Schools, Montevideo Public Schools, and the New London-Spicer School District.

As a member of the West Central Achievement and Integration Collaborative, Willmar participates in a number of collaborative activities.

Summer GAMMA Course

Type of Strategy: Innovative and integrated pre-K-12 learning environments. 

Description: GAMMA is a collaborative mathematics program that brings together students and teachers from Willmar, a racially isolated district, and its partnering districts. Each year, students entering grades 6-8 participate in a five-day learning experience centered on mathematics, with an overarching focus on self-identity, community, equity, and integration. The program is intentionally designed for students of all ability levels to avoid academic tracking or segregation. By integrating students across racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic backgrounds, GAMMA creates equitable learning environments that support the development and practice of culturally responsive strategies, increase cross-cultural understanding, and promote inclusive academic engagement. Through hands-on, inquiry-based problem-solving, students explore mathematical concepts using multiple and varied representations. Activities emphasize elaboration, questioning, and explanation, offering experiences that differ from traditional academic-year math instruction. On the fifth day, students participate in a field experience connected to the week's themes. A primary objective of GAMMA is to foster positive relationships among students from diverse racial, ethnic, and economic backgrounds while simultaneously strengthening their mathematical understanding.

Summer STEM/Robotics Course

Type of Strategy: Innovative and integrated pre-K-12 learning environments. 

Description: The STEM/Robotics course is a collaborative science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) learning experience between Willmar, a racially isolated district, and all our partnering districts. Teachers and students in grades 6-8 from all the districts will come together for an annual ten-day learning experience focused on STEM concepts, along with overarching themes of self-identity, community, equity, and integration. This is for students of all ability levels. By intentionally integrating students across racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic backgrounds, the course increases opportunities for students to understand, apply, and practice culturally responsive strategies through collaborative problem-solving and shared learning experiences. Students will explore STEM & Robotics concepts through interactive large- and small-group learning that uses hands-on problem-solving activities, inquiry, explanation, elaboration, and questioning around the project they are working on. Teachers will facilitate team-building activities, establish roles and responsibilities within teams, guide students in reaching consensus, creating timelines, and presenting a finished product collaboratively. To support positive cross-district relationships, a guest speaker will engage students in topics such as character development, integration, mental health, or the impacts of social media, providing shared experiences that promote empathy and understanding. Teachers will embed the speaker's content through guided reflection and discussion, helping students connect these concepts to their teamwork and STEM projects. A primary objective is to establish positive relationships between students of different racial, ethnic, and economic backgrounds while developing their STEM skills.