Donna Moe is the Assistant Director of Research, Evaluation, and Assessment in Intermediate District 287 which provides customized student services and educator resources for students throughout Minnesota. As part of her role as Assistant Director, Donna oversees assessments and works with school leaders to “utilize data to drive instruction.” Donna and Intermediate District 287 have used the Comprehensive Assessment of Leadership for Learning (CALL) system the past three school years to assess year-to-year school-wide leadership effectiveness, support professional growth, and support school improvement planning. Read more about how an innovative district used an innovative leadership assessment tool.

Each spring, with support from the CALL Team and the District leaders, the school leaders in Intermediate District 287 administer the CALL assessment as an end-of-year activity. The school leaders and district leaders then have time over the summer and into the following school year to work together and analyze the CALL action-based data. Donna and the school leaders utilize each feature of the CALL Data Reporting System including viewing schools’ data in the aggregate. As Donna explained, the CALL Reporting system “…adds a visual element. The principals can focus on their Top 10 strengths and Top 10 challenges, and schools can compare themselves to the district results as a whole.” Intermediate District 287 is a unique school district engaging in innovative work, and the CALL Team worked closely with Donna to customize the CALL tool to meet their needs and support their work.

The CALL system is a formative assessment of school-wide leadership, and the school leaders in Intermediate District 287 use it for that purpose. According to Donna, “Our schools use the CALL results in their school improvement plans and [Professional Learning Communities]. We are able to track data at the school-, role-, and district-level to make improvements.” Principal supervisors such as Donna use tools such as CALL to support their work to develop school leadership. Moving forward, Donna will continue to use CALL to support district-wide school improvement: “It aligns with our strategic plan and as a support tool for our principals….I would like to offer more in-depth training on using the strategies and resources for improvement.”