{"id":245017,"date":"2026-04-24T17:11:07","date_gmt":"2026-04-24T17:11:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/245017\/"},"modified":"2026-04-24T17:11:07","modified_gmt":"2026-04-24T17:11:07","slug":"leading-meaningful-change-in-our-local-schools","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/245017\/","title":{"rendered":"Leading meaningful change in our local schools"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>On Saturday, April 18, 2026, a cohort of K-12 teachers from the Sarasota and Manatee<br \/>\n                  school districts celebrated completing University of South Florida\u2019s Project T2L3:<br \/>\n                  Transforming Teaching and Learning Locally through Leadership. This innovative pilot<br \/>\n                  program was designed to strengthen school leadership and improve student outcomes<br \/>\n                  and teacher retention through collaborative leadership development. \u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Over the course of five semesters, participants not only earned master\u2019s degrees in<br \/>\n                  educational leadership, but also graduate certificates in exceptional student education<br \/>\n                  (ESE) and state certifications as educational leaders. Thanks to a gift from the Charles<br \/>\n                  &amp; Margery Barancik Foundation, all participants received full scholarships.<\/p>\n<p class=\"article-pullquote article-pullquote-left\">\u201cThe investment in these aspiring leaders will bring immediate benefit in student<br \/>\n                  success through leaders committed to and prepared to support each and every child.<br \/>\n                  This work places the USF College of Education and our partners at the forefront of<br \/>\n                  innovative practice that can have impact locally, state-wide and nationally.\u201d Brianne<br \/>\n                  Reck\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The program was developed after Brianne Reck, an associate professor of educational<br \/>\n                  leadership and policy studies and Campus Dean of the College of Education Cheryl Ellerbrock<br \/>\n                  met with leaders from Sarasota and Manatee school districts to identify shared workforce<br \/>\n                  needs and opportunities for collaboration. Those conversations led to a cohort\u2011based<br \/>\n                  model that brings together university faculty, multiple school districts and community<br \/>\n                  partners to build leadership capacity among practicing educators.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Launched in fall 2024, the pilot cohort included teacher ambassadors, behavior specialists,<br \/>\n                  interventionists, reading coaches and ESE liaisons. To accommodate working educators,<br \/>\n                  coursework was delivered online during the week, with in\u2011person weekend sessions.<br \/>\n                  Participants also completed a two\u2011semester administrative practicum capstone in local<br \/>\n                  schools.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cProject T2L3 is a testament to the power of partnership,\u201d said Reck. \u201cThe two districts,<br \/>\n                  university and a local foundation came together to support teacher leaders as they<br \/>\n                  developed the knowledge and skills that will enable them to make an immediate impact<br \/>\n                  on student learning, teacher retention and school improvement. They took on real challenges<br \/>\n                  such as chronic absenteeism, developing literacy for learning, student behavior management<br \/>\n                  and built teacher capacity to use high impact instructional strategies.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The graduation celebration included a gallery walk to share the results of the students&#8217;<br \/>\n                  capstone projects. Interim Regional Chancellor Brett Kemker welcomed attendees to<br \/>\n                  the event and invited them to engage with these emerging leaders as they explore innovative<br \/>\n                  solutions and see firsthand how leadership is driving meaningful change in our local<br \/>\n                  schools and community.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>With the first cohort complete, USF has begun evaluating the program\u2019s design and<br \/>\n                  outcomes to determine its potential for replication within the university\u2019s Educational<br \/>\n                  Leadership and Policy Studies Program and as a model for other institutions. Graduates<br \/>\n                  will be tracked over the next three years to assess career advancement and continued<br \/>\n                  impact in local school districts.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe pilot allowed us to test and refine a partnership model for educational leadership<br \/>\n                  preparation that strengthens and streamlines the leadership pipelines for our local<br \/>\n                  districts,\u201d said Reck. \u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>By combining academic preparation, district partnership and ongoing evaluation, Project<br \/>\n                  T2L3 aims to meet evolving community needs while developing the next generation of<br \/>\n                  educational leaders.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/t2l3-cory-medium.png\" alt=\"Cory Bernaert\"\/>Cory Bernaert shared his research during the T2L3 Practicum Showcase Gallery Walk<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/t2l3-john-medium.png\" alt=\"John Annis\"\/>Barancik Foundation Interim President and CEO John Annis talks to Brandy McCormack<br \/>\n                           about her research<\/p>\n<p>Photography by Gwendolyn Herndon<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"On Saturday, April 18, 2026, a cohort of K-12 teachers from the Sarasota and Manatee school districts celebrated&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":245018,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[135,137,136],"class_list":{"0":"post-245017","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tampa","8":"tag-tampa","9":"tag-tampa-headlines","10":"tag-tampa-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/245017","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=245017"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/245017\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/245018"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=245017"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=245017"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=245017"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}