#35 Guest: Dr. Jymil Thompson, Superintendent & Dr. Jodi Colman, Assistant Superintendent of Dorchester County Public Schools (MD)

“DCPS 23, no more.” Dorchester County Public Schools (MD), a rural district of ~4,500 students, posted Maryland’s biggest 3rd-grade ELA jump: +22 points (27% → 49%) and climbed to 19th statewide in ELA in a single year.

In this episode of Implement Change in Education, Superintendent Dr. Jymil Thompson and Assistant Superintendent Dr. Jodi Colman share what actually changed inside the system.

Key takeaways:

- You can’t “intervene” your way out of a Tier 1 problem → they put instruction at the center

- Coaching > evaluation: "You can't evaluate people into better performance. You have to coach them."

- Remove barriers to instructional leadership (e.g., restructuring so admins can get back into classrooms)

Listen now (and feel free to share with a leader trying to move outcomes districtwide).