ECISD leaders take on challenge of rigorous Holdsworth leadership programs

Leadership development has been an area of focus in Ector County ISD’s strategic plan for the past five years and this semester three district leaders – Superintendent of Schools Keeley Boyer, Executive Director of Leadership Mauricio Marquez, now Chief of Schools, and Executive Director of Human Resources Matthew Spivy – completed the 18-month Leadership Collaborative training through the Holdsworth Center. The experience was provided through generous grants from the Permian Strategic Partnership (PSP) and the Scharbauer Foundation, both recognizing the importance of investing in education leaders to ensure student success and community prosperity.

The Holdsworth Center philosophy is driven by the belief that great leaders can push student achievement levels to new heights, and Holdsworth partners with Texas public school districts to help educators become experts at leadership and to grow stronger leaders within their own systems.

“Through our partnership with the Holdsworth Center, we have defined what leadership looks like in ECISD,” Boyer said in a news release. “We have improved our leadership pipelines and have developed and implemented high leverage strategies for preparing our future school leaders.”

“The 18-month journey was rigorous, challenging but certainly an amazing experience,” said Mr. Marquez. “I’m truly blessed to have had the opportunity to continue to learn and grow through this experience of participating in the Holdsworth Leadership Collaborative.”

The participants did not work in isolation. They collaborated with leaders from other Texas school districts, gaining different perspectives for similar situations and concerns. Out of this training came an ECISD task force dedicated to defining the core characteristics and skills an ECISD leader should possess. ECISD’s Leadership Definition is now centered upon expectations of great leaders to Evolve (grow), Empower (others), and Excel (culture of excellence) in their role.

“I believe one of the greatest aspects of the Holdsworth Center experience was the focused collaboration,” said Dr. Spivy. “This helped us narrow our focus and develop a pathway to ensure that our district leaders Evolve, Empower, and Excel in leading and serving the students of ECISD.”

In addition to the Leadership Collaborative, nine ECISD principals and their leadership teams are in the final stages of the Holdsworth Campus Leadership Program and another five assistant principals recently completed the Holdsworth Aspiring Principals Program, a program designed to help school districts build a strong bench of future principals. The training sets up school district leaders to focus on a specific, localized instructional challenge that a school or district identifies.

Earlier this month, Denise De Loera, a principal intern at Pease Elementary and a participant in the Aspiring Principals program, was recognized by the Holdsworth Center as a Champion of Hope, a celebration of the inspirational growth of those in Holdsworth programs.

“We believe that investing in educational leadership is fundamental for securing a prosperous future in the Permian Basin,” said Tracee Bentley, President and CEO of the PSP. “The Holdsworth Center has proven to be an exceptional partner, equipping public school leaders with the tools, skills and top tier training we need to elevate the quality of education in our region. Our continued partnership provides a valuable opportunity to ensure all students across the Permian Basin have access to the education they need to succeed. Congratulations to Dr. Boyer, Mr. Marquez, Dr. Spivy and Ms. De Loera for completing the program and for being leaders in education for our community. We are proud to partner on this important work with ECISD.”

Locally, ECISD’s leadership development pipelines include principal interns, principal fellowships, an aspiring principal academy, and the Principals Incentive Allotment which pays significant dollars to the most effective principals each year.

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