Cisco Systems Case Study
I spent a few days recently in San Jose, California at the Cisco Systems campus participating in a new National Superintendents Leadership Network which comes out of a newly created partnership between the Schlechty Center and Cisco Systems. Cisco Systems, one of the largest global companies located in the Silicon Valley became involved with the center after they (Cisco) donated $40 million to help rebuild many Katrina ravaged Mississippi and Louisiana schools. Their approach was to ensure that as the schools were rebuilt through their 21st Century Schools Initiative, they were built around a quality systems approach such as ours. This led to them selecting the Standard Bearer and consequently the Schlechty approach as a model and an organization to partner with. They (Cisco) are in the process of writing (and documenting within) a white paper (a series of case studies) about quality systems change and how focusing on engagement throughout the system impacts students and changes pedagogy in education. After hearing what we have been about for the past eight years and in reading the center’s case study about us, they requested a visit and some interview time with some of our folks. The visit was led by Dr. Peg Maddocks, the Director of the 21st Century Schools Initiative in Cisco’s Global Education Services Division. She brought with her a contract writer hired by Cisco to capture their experiences in the “White Paper”. This will be similar to the visit by the Video Journal of Education team and the visit by Lennie Hay that resulted in the case study entitled: Changing the Quality of Student Experiences: The Fife Way. They will be meeting with a number of staff from around the district. They will also be getting out into some of the schools as well as they want to see firsthand the “Walls That Teach” , the student work as well as the overall climate of our buildings and to meet as many staff as possible. This should be another great opportunity for us to do some quality self reflection about the work that we have going on around here and for it to be recognized by a top ten Fortune 500 company is something that I think we can all be proud of once again.
Thanks again,
Steve
Dr. Steve McCammon
Superintendent
Click here to view Dr. McCammon participate in a Cisco Systems National Talk Show Panel entitled; “What Have We Learned About Learning From Business?”
Filed under: District News and tagged Achievements, Superintendent
After taking part in the event where Dr. Schlechty spoke this past spring and hearing about the Cisco Systems Case Study, I am looking forward to following these stories. I am also very excited to see that what our kids are doing now will make a difference in future years for many other children. Thank you Fife Schools for all that you are working on to help not only our children, but children everywhere.
Thanks Mrs. Simmons for taking the time to be involved in our district. We appreciate your encouragement. Stop by our blog again soon!
Elaine Smith
WOW Coordinator
Mrs. Simmons,
I am so pleased to hear that you were in attendance at our Education Summit this past spring.Dr Schlechty is truly one of the great thinkers of his time and our work with his center is paying huge dividends in so many ways in our school district community. As I am sure you can tell, we are very proud of the work of the Fife School District. I believe very strongly in what you are saying about the fact that this work will make a difference in the lives of our students now and in the future in a myriad of ways. We are teaching our students to think beyond simple testing and to take ownership of the quality of thier work. I encourage you to follow our progress and I thank you again so much for taking the time to engage in our new communication format. We are only better as a school district when our parents and greater community engage deeply in our efforts.
Thanks again,
Steve McCammon
Superintendent of Fife Public Schools