The Department of Excellence, Equity, and Leadership (DEEL) in Pitt County is responsible for administering the R3 program. R3 is an advanced program that stands for recruit, retain, and reward. The R3 program has been positively impacting PCS for seven and a half years. There are five goals of the R3 program that are designed to positively impact students, teachers, test scores, etc. PCS has outperformed other ATR districts in the state in Reading, Math, and Science due to the R3 Initiative.
The first goal of R3 is to expand the career pathways model. Over the past year, 1,300 educators have been impacted by this program which makes over half of the school system of Pitt County. The program has had a great impact on teacher retention as well as keeping advanced role teachers. R3 lowers the amount of having to get teachers replaced which ultimately saves money.
The second goal of R3 is to create a culture of coaching. The program wants to expand coaching to administrators such as principals and assistant principals. In addition, the program provides training so that principals and assistant principals are able to coach others. This will save funds by eliminating the cost of new instructors for coaching because these administrators are able to train others. Principals are leaders which is why they have positively impacted results through this program.
The third goal of R3 is to address professional learning. This concept has shown to be a great strength through recent reports and grants. The vision for professional learning is called CPLP also known as Comprehensive Professional Learning Path. According to a recent survey administered in Pitt County, about 80% responded highly with “somewhat effective” or “highly effective” when asked “How effective is PCS professional learning at helping you fulfill your potential as an educator?” The goal moving forward is that there will be more learning opportunities for classified staff. This goal will be accomplished through the creation of an onboarding process for all new staff to identify the new training of information we expect teachers to know when they begin at the designated school.
The fourth goal of R3 is related to continuous improvement between teachers and students. Currently, there are nine focused inquiry teams (FIT) that provide insight or information on how there is a need for continuous improvement. These teams are composed of principals, assistant principals, instructional coaches, school counselors, and social workers. These FIT teams investigate problems relating to school and teacher attendance as well as ideas on how to increase these numbers.
The fifth goal of R3 is to meet the needs of all students and staff. This program consists of equity partners that look into examining data in different ways. In addition, the equity partners address and identify gaps in performance that should be discussed. THe goal will also be achieved through uncovering awareness. The program promotes meeting the needs of all through unconscious bias training and behavior-changing Conversations: Harvesty Diversity training. These training sessions will provide insight on how to have difficult conversations on large issues.
The R3 program was put in place to promote excellent educators as well as ensure success for all children. The goals of this program reflect ways to positively impact the development of students and teachers. Surveys and scores have indicated the R3 program has improved scores in Reading, Math, and Science. The R3 program recruits, retains, and rewards principals and teachers which will lead to student success.
