Area Instructional Offices

Beginning in the 2002-2003 school year, the six existing regional offices were reorganized into instructional areas. The primary mission of the instructional office is to support schools in improving instruction and building accountability for staff and the school leadership teams.

Each area office is led by an instructional officer who is in charge of two teams-an instructional support team and a management support team. The instructional support is comprised of a group of highly qualified instructional leaders with content expertise in reading, mathematics, and technology. The instructional support team is charged with providing

• Assistance in implementing initiatives within the reading and mathematics framework.
• Assistance in implementing the goals and strategies outlined in the CPS Education Plan.
• Instructional coaching and mentoring.
• Support for building professional learning communities at the school level.
• Organizing study groups for common problems and providing common professional development activities.
• Analyzing student data and monitoring of school improvement plans.
• Planning and monitoring of the implementation of district level initiatives.

The new organization emphasizes:

• Use of formative and summative data for continuous monitoring of instruction.
• A system of reciprocal accountability that emphasizes the mutual dependence of the school and leadership team.

Instructional officers conduct regular instructional walk-throughs and meet regularly with leadership teams to evaluate progress on goals. The instructional teams are intended to increase both support and accountability for instructional improvement. The instructional officer in each area is responsible for monitoring and evaluating principals and submitting ongoing reports on schools. All area instructional officers report to the Chief Education Officer.

To ensure that the instructional officer is able to concentrate on issues directly related to teaching and learning, day-to-day operations unrelated to instruction are assigned to a director of management support who reports to the instructional officer. The director of management support is responsible for day-to-day operations such as facilities management, transportation, and day-to-day resolution of issues related to Board policies and procedures.