Spartanburg Academic Movement Conference
Contributor: Lynne Shackleford,Director of Communications, Spartanburg Academic Movement (SAM)
This year marks a key milestone for the Spartanburg Academic Movement – a key convenor and backbone support system to advance economic mobility through partnerships, collaboration, and data-driven improvement.
As we prepare to celebrate our 10th anniversary in October, we pause to celebrate how far our community has advanced in recognizing the importance of supporting a cradle-to-career continuum that starts before a child is born. As our community embraces strategies like Hello Family, which aligns parents of young children with the resources they need, our community prepares Spartanburg families for success. With data-sharing agreements in place with local school districts, SAM uses data to measure child success with key indicators for kindergarten readiness, third grade reading, eighth grade math and high school graduation. Beyond graduation, SAM convenes our seven local colleges and universities to support student success beyond graduation with post-secondary academic coaches to ensure college readiness and persistence.
To support our outcomes measures, SAM offers three strategic programs to fill educational and community gaps to increase educational opportunities for children and families. The Center for Resilient Schools and Communities, located in the heart of the Northside community, offers trauma-informed training for teachers and other district staff in all seven school districts.
SAM’s Out-of-School Time Collaborative offers training for quality after-school program providers in the county and the Wardlaw Center for Continuous Improvement trains educators in Continuing Improvement methods centered on data to drive student success.
This year, SAM and Strategic Spartanburg will host the Wardlaw Institute for Continuous Improvement Summit on Oct. 18 for educators and community members to develop continuous improvement skills. The Summit will offer community partners an opportunity to learn alongside educators and learn how continuous improvement methods can drive economic mobility.
With national, regional, and local speakers, the conference offers a rich opportunity for the community to understand the work of SAM and Strategic Spartanburg, including how data is used to drive our work.
SAM will recognize local schools, educators and nonprofit organizations that are making strides in continuous improvement. Registration will be available soon. For more information, email lshackleford@learnwithsam.org.
To learn more about SAM’s work, visit our website at learnwithsam.org.
