I’ve always thought that being an architect would be a pretty cool job. You need a unique skill set that combines math and artistry. You need to be able to work with clients, sell them on your vision, and stay within budget. You need to use different technologies and software to design structures and big machines to build those structures. You have to be able to lead a team so they work in concert toward your vision. You have to know the latest regulations, laws, and trends so that your building meets standards, has the least environmental impact, and is de rigueur. And, if you’re renovating an existing structure, you must figure out how to enhance its existing strengths while creating something distinct and new enough to be worth the investment. In short, being an architect is about managing an enormously complex task while leading people to support your vision.
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Achieving a shared vision for student learning and adult practice requires a similarly multifaceted skill set. So superintendents who want to transform their systems through an equity lens would do well to think of themselves as architects — in this case, architects focused on renovation rather than building anew. Aaron Spence, who’s been superintendent of schools in Virginia Beach, Virginia, since 2014, has shown over these past nine years how to be an architect of equity.
A solid foundation
Virginia Beach City Public Schools (VBCPS) serve about 66,000 students on the southeast tip of Virginia. It’s a Navy town with a lot of military families who decided to put down roots after serving. The 87 schools serve a rapidly diversifying student body that is 46% white, 23% Black, 6% Asian or Asian/Pacific Islander, 13% Latinx, and 44% economically disadvantaged. The community takes great pride in its schools, and most families and employees have been largely happy.
When Aaron Spence arrived as superintendent nine years ago, returning to the community that raised him, the system didn’t need an overhaul, but it did need some improvements. VBCPS wasn’t broken. However, the increasingly diverse student population and new standards of achievement were bringing additional challenges. The district had a strong foundation that had been built to serve the needs of the past. If it was going to stand strong in the future, that foundation and everything built on top of it would need to be checked and reinforced.
Aaron returned to Virginia Beach after serving as chief high school officer in Houston, Texas, and as superintendent of Moore County Public Schools, a small district in North Carolina. Having grown up in the city and having a father who served in the Navy, he knew the community and the culture and was proud to return to serve and lead. At the same time, his experience in different states and settings had opened his eyes to how leaders can transform systems through bold action and deliberate strategies. Terry Grier, the superintendent in Houston when he was there, mentored and supported Aaron, showing him what was possible for an equity-minded leader. Mark Edwards, a former National Superintendent of the Year who led the Mooresville, North Carolina, school district when Aaron was in the state, demonstrated how to use the strategic planning process to drive a transformation agenda. So, when Aaron returned home, with all the high expectations of a prodigal son, he brought a vision for Virginia Beach that was supported by experience and knowledge of good practices.
A clear and immediate mission
When Aaron started in VBCPS, the school board was in the end phase of a strategic planning process. He asked it to extend the timeline so that he could weigh in, but the immediate work before them was evident: get the schools fully accredited. Sixteen schools — all of which were in more impoverished areas — were not fully accredited by the state. This was Aaron’s clearest and most immediate mandate.
The urgency to get all schools fully accredited gave Aaron an initial mission that the community could understand. Starting a superintendency with a transformative equity agenda can be risky, especially in a community that takes great pride in its schools. By attending to the immediate desire for full accreditation, Aaron could build trust in his leadership and relationships with internal and external stakeholders — which is exactly what he did.
Starting a superintendency with a transformative equity agenda can be risky, especially in a community that takes great pride in its schools.
To help the community understand the reality of the situation, Aaron shared maps showing where the 16 schools were and the demographic makeup of the students and the surrounding areas. He used these maps to illustrate to the community that their beloved system wasn’t serving all students well. He didn’t need to spell out that the system was designed in an inequitable way; he just had to show them the facts.
Aaron also started using an architectural metaphor to share his vision. He compared their work in VBCPS to building a cathedral. No one ever looks at the floor of such a grand structure, as the ceiling, stained glass, gargoyles, and ornate arches are what people turn their gaze to. But if the floor doesn’t provide a strong foundation, none of the beauty and majesty will last. Full accreditation was the floor for Aaron. Once that was achieved, he could turn the system’s attention to fulfilling a broader vision for transformation.
Time for transformation
After regaining full accreditation for all schools in the district, Aaron focused on his transformational equity agenda. Like all superintendents I’ve talked to about their equity-based leadership moves, Aaron started with data. He made public the fact that too many kids of color, students with disabilities, and English learners were experiencing disproportionately poor outcomes across multiple measures, such as student achievement and graduation rates. But he didn’t stop with percentages and averages. Aaron worked with his principals to ensure that every data point was an entry point to a student’s story. One of my mantras about data is that it should be used to “name names.” Educators shouldn’t just focus on numbers and “red-yellow-green” rankings of students. Rather, they should use data to understand who every child is and what they need to succeed. Aaron’s strategy has rested on that idea.
Aaron also worked with principals to overhaul their approach to school improvement planning. Taking a cue from Mark Edwards, Aaron revamped his school improvement planning process to be more deliberate and child-focused. He and other senior leaders sat with principals as they reviewed their status and progress and developed new approaches. He made sure they were focused on the whole child and not on immediate, short-term gains of state standardized tests. And he backed up his stance by putting resources where they were most needed. Because Aaron had cultivated good relationships with principals by doing things like hosting small group breakfasts and spending quality time in their schools, they knew his values and understood his strategies. So, when he had to take resources from some schools so that others with more vulnerable kids could have what they needed, they understood his reasons and supported the move.
Aaron also has worked to embed equity within the VBCPS system itself. He and the board created an equity policy that spells out very specific actions. There’s a requirement to do an equity assessment, for instance, and an expectation that curriculum will be culturally responsive. He’s also elevated a diversity, equity, and inclusion office with a cabinet-level leader who has a strong portfolio and the authority and resources needed to do the work. A revitalized equity council of stakeholders, including educators, community members, parents, and students, engage with division leadership to provide input and ensure that they’re doing what they said they would.
An ongoing effort
When I asked Aaron about his work to drive an equity agenda, he described it as a process that never ends. After nine years, he’s finding new holes to patch, and he’s constantly making upgrades and renovations. In the last few years, Aaron has turned the system’s attention to social-emotional learning. For Aaron, every student in Virginia Beach must be “known, seen, heard, and loved.” Every child – and adult – must feel they belong within a supportive school community. He wants all children to know they belong in Virginia Beach City Public Schools. After all, equity-based leadership is not just about improving students’ learning in the moment but about giving them a foundation to thrive in their future.
I imagine most great architects, like most school superintendents, find that there are only so many ways to renovate a building. Sure, some come up with incredibly innovative ideas that they can bring to fruition, but most take what they know and what they’ve seen others do and put their distinctive stamp on it. Aaron has done exactly that in Virginia Beach, drawing on his experience, the models of others, and application of research. What’s so interesting about the Virginia Beach story is not that it rests in radical ideas about what’s possible. Rather, it’s grounded in a deliberate and intentional laying of a foundation that supports a grand structure. The real work is in laying the bricks before you build the ornate arches.
This article appears in the November 2022 issue of Kappan, Vol. 104, No. 3, pp. 56-57.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Joshua P. Starr
Joshua P. Starr is the managing partner at the International Center for Leadership in Education, a division of HMH, based in Boston, MA. He is the author of Equity-based Leadership: Leveraging Complexity to Transform School Systems.
