Dr. Chris Hartley serves as a Deputy Executive Director at the California Collaborative for Educational Excellence (CCEE). His primary role is leading and supporting the CCEE Center of Transformative Systems for Equitable Educational Outcomes and efforts to build capacity and improve accessibility within the CA Statewide System of Support.
Transitioning to CCEE from the role of serving as Humboldt County Superintendent of Schools, his background and service is focused on meeting the needs of children and youth throughout the K-12 system. Through efforts focused on networking and collaboration, he has developed and built relationships and partnerships with multiple regional and statewide agencies and organizations. He strives to improve student outcomes by supporting innovative strategies that maximize resources, align initiatives, build and foster partnerships and cohesion, while utilizing improvement science practices.
With 32 years in education, Chris originally began as a teacher in high school level alternative education programs, and ultimately transitioned to high school principal, founder and principal of a charter school, and Superintendent for the Northern Humboldt Union High School District. Every student must have accessibility to a rich and meaningful learning experience. Serving and advocating for the needs of students in rural communities with a focus on building relationships among diverse community members and educators has proven instrumental in successful program design and implementation during his career.
Investing in and fostering the professional growth of individuals and teams leads to organizational improvement and growth. Dr. Hartley has practical experience leading organizational improvement efforts that align with student improvement outcomes. Serving as a District and County Office Superintendent has grounded Dr. Hartey in the importance of relationship building and focus on empowering individuals to lead and serve.
As a practitioner, Chris is excited to be part of the team at CCEE and looks forward to serving students in the state by serving as a partner in transformational planning and innovation. His knowledge and experience serving students and communities experiencing high levels of trauma is founded on sound understanding of MTSS practices and a sense-based approach to designing effective intervention and support efforts.
Trenches story: lots of examples, like when there is trauma or a devastating incident. Health of staff, f. ex. There are instances as principal where there’s such an incident. As HS & a student passed away from an accident. Strongest source of resilience was students. Capitalize on st. leadership & empower them. Harness what st’s can provide for us. Don’t take it for granted.
Talk about your work and part of your journey until your current position is supporting schools from the state level. Now they are working for a state agency. Direct service to schools & districts. He’s working to go from districts to becoming accessible at school sites. Has been in position for 2 years. CA has a massive statewide system of support. It’s a massive system of support. Helps district in improvement journey. He creates the access point scaffolding through county agencies. Many things can go sideways. Backwards map it. Utilize county offices. Before you improve the system, you need to see it. Look at work in 3 tiers, coordinating, are we building coherence. Another tier is collaboration- we’re in the relationship business. Don’t fall into silos. Last tier- are we integrating our work? Is it accessible? Infinite mindset- it’s a process for continuous improvement. He went to the Breaking Barriers conference 11/13 to talk about it. Provide supports that are outlined in legislation.
How has past work as a teacher in high school level alternative education programs, and ultimately transitioned to high school principal, founder and principal of a charter school, and Superintendent for the Northern Humboldt Union High School District shaped the work you do now? Started working w/ at-risk 9th graders. Understood importance of caring, compassion & what st’s face when not at school. Help educators grow in their own career. It drove him to work w/ what we have to be innovative & solve complicated situations. Tackle probl’s w/ optimism. Initiatives happen at the speed of trust. Opened a district-sponsored charter in 2004. It was important to find st’s who weren’t fitting in. The kids needed a place to find home. He learned to think about education in non-traditional ways. District he was also supt. of (2000 students, Humbolt country).
Advocacy work is focused on small, rural districts: They have created a leadership institute. Sessions w/ leaders across the state. F. ex. how to work w/ school board. Community & network. Superintendent in rural district wear many hats. Most rural students in-person. there is flexibility for most rural communities. Advocate for internet access. Equity to internet access will always be somewhat of an issue. They found some creative, short-term fixes. It’s like a utility. Teachers delivered paper packets during COVID. Doesn’t have the current internet access data. While it’s seen as a utility today, often they have to go through legislators. Many students have long days, leave at 6 get home at 5. There are many great positives w/ being in a rural community-there’s no 1 size fits all. What are the needs of the kids in our community. Resilience in the community.
Core working group & community engagement initiative starting in the new year. MTSS plays a role in prioritizing student’s health needs. Give and build community connections- how safe do families really feel? Their experiences in school weren’t great. communities he serves is based on the adults needs, ACES, that mirrors students. Priorities moving forward- mental & emotional supports. Communities he’s worked in have high levels of st. & family trauma. We need to effectively address the needs of st’s & families. St’s need more than just academic support today! They want to integrate supports on sites. IT’s localized as to how it’ll look. CCEE helps coordinate, collaborate, and highlights success stories. They work closely w/ county offices of edu. CA has done a lot of encouraging work.
out of everything: no matter the initiative, ppl make programs, we’re better together than not. Potential & willingness to support each other is the foundation for organizational cultures that provide support. Click To Tweet Create an atmosphere on sites that’s accessible. People, in any position, make programs.
Where can ppl find you online: Chris Hartley – CCEE (ccee-ca.org) his email is there as well View this episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/gwRD4PnOpo0
https://outofthetrenches.podbean.com/e/episode-293-dr-chris-hartley/
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