When a district agrees to participate in District Continuous Improvement (DCI), an important collaboration begins. The district, DESE, and Regional Professional Development Centers work together to establish a state-wide coordinated system that supports effective teaching and learning and achieves exceptional student outcomes for all Missouri students. Participating districts experience the following benefits of participation.
- Districts engage in an in-depth implementation and evaluation of integrated academic and behavioral practices leading to improved instruction and student learning.
- Districts build internal capacity and expertise to support ongoing district/school-based coaching.
- Districts participate in regional and statewide meetings, sharing lessons learned, and insights with each other.
- Districts engage in a data-driven process.
- Districts gain access to online tools that provide timely data regarding implementation. (For more detailed descriptions of the benefits of participation, see the Blueprint pages 6-7.)
The resources in this Getting Started Section (Blueprint pages 9-10) assist all participating districts in their efforts to achieve the DCI goals and, most importantly, improve student outcomes.
What are the Goals of DCI?
- Establish an environment supportive of instructional change through the enhancement of structures and processes at the systems level.
- Implement an evidence-based framework for instruction, which includes components that have a demonstrated positive impact on teaching and learning outcomes.
- Improve student outcomes through incremental, yet impactful changes at the district, building, and classroom levels.
In this section, you will find the following materials and documents.
Blueprint: a road map for leading districts through the DCI Framework, addressing all stages of the process from early implementation through sustaining and scaling up. It is a guide for developing educational systems to achieve exceptional outcomes for all students.
Step-by-Step: provides guidance and recommendations for how to implement the DCI Framework.
Administrator’s Coaching Guide: provides support for establishing a “district-wide” approach to professional learning through coaching. This guide focuses on key aspects of effective coaching and information leaders need to create the conditions necessary for embedding coaching in the district.
Implementation Zones Guide: provides a data-driven approach to describing district- and building-level implementation processes and outcomes. This guide provides and in-depth description of Implementation Zones, including the data and criteria used for zone placements. See the Blueprint for a more in-depth explanation of the Implementation Zones.
DCI In Action: highlights districts from each Implementation Zone – districts at differing points in the DCI journey. The “advice from the field” sections relate experiences from administrators, teachers, and the statewide support team.
Infographics and Practice Profile Compilation: infographics provide an easily digestible glance at each topic in graphic format. Practice Profiles not only provide educators with concrete examples of the “how-to” but also serve as a vehicle for self-monitoring implementation and growth.
Implementation Survey: list of action steps that districts are expected to accomplish throughout the three-year commitment. This checklist outlines action steps critical for systems-level change.
Implementation Practice Profile: implementation criteria formatted into a rubric structure with clearly defined practice-level characteristics. The practice profile provides a useful picture of implementation levels and helps districts understand how to achieve the highest levels of implementation.
DCI Invoice and Expense Forms: documents that are a required part of DCI participation. For help completing these documents, please contact Gwen Deimeke, Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, at gwen.deimeke@dese.mo.gov.