Studer Group and School District of Janesville

The School District of Janesville is pleased to continue its partnership with the Studer Group, an outcomes based health care consulting firm. The goal is to work together to transfer effective evidence-based tools and processes from health care to a public school setting. CEO Quint Studer has long-standing ties to Janesville, including tenures as a special education teacher at Parker High School and a hospital administrator in the area. Mr. Studer has already generously donated thousands of dollars toward training staff, administration, and Board members. The Board of Education in February 08 with a 9-0 vote approved the “free of charge” contract with the Studer Group. This contract has an estimated value of $1.2 million over the next three years and makes School District of Janesville a “Demonstration District” to study the effectiveness of proven health care techniques in education.

By partnering with the Studer Group, the School District of Janesville intends to make significant district-wide improvements in several areas, including the following:

Improve leadership at the district and school levels by reducing leadership variance;

• Focus leadership on evidence and results;
• Involve representative staff in the development of standards of excellence;
• Measure improvement effectively;
• Apply proven/successful health care techniques “prescriptive ‘to dos’” to the School District of Janesville
• 'Take the School District of Janesville from “Good to Great”’
• Involve parents and students at a higher level in the form of more feedback and Communication and
• Unite all in our community’s efforts to provide a world class education for each student.

To facilitate the implementation of Studer Group concepts, a steering committee meets weekly to track progress and provide preliminary planning for next steps. In addition, regular updates are provided to the Board of Education and the “at large” Studer Group committee with requests for involvement and input. Currently, activity is focused in several areas with training from Studer Group personnel, including:

• Revamping the Superintendent’s, Directors, and Principals Evaluation;
• Making adjustments to the hiring process for Principals and Administrators;
• Gathering data and taking new measurements where necessary to establish a “baseline” for the School District of Janesville which will include student, staff, and parent perceptions and
• “Rounding”: a technique that will enable administrators to systematically “check in” with each staff member on a rotating basis. These “check ins” will let the administrator know:   

•  if the staff member needs materials or equipment to do his or her job properly;
•  what is working well for each staff member;
•  what could be improved for each staff member and
•  who has been particularly helpful to each staff member.

Many thanks to Mr. Quint Studer for his generosity and his conviction regarding the School District of Janesville!