Sarah Mikkelson Zeigler

Partner with metro and southeastern Minnesota school districts and sites prioritized for support under Minnesota's ESSA Plan to provide equity driven continuous improvement guidance and support. Deeply engage at all levels of education systems: District Leadership, Administration, site leadership teams, instructional coach teams, Professional Learning Communities, and community partners . Activities include facilitating needs assessments, strategic planning, site improvement planning and implementation monitoring, leadership coaching, quantitative and qualitative data analysis, culturally responsive instructional leadership, equitable resource distribution, standards audits, restorative practices, professional development provider and support aligned to new education legislation, COMPASS, and MnMTSS.

Provided site leadership aligned to many aspects of day to day operations via the development and implementation of a focused and coherent continuous improvement plan rooted in the Culturally Proficient School Systems framework. Coordinated and supported Professional Learning Communities; collaboratively led the Building Leadership Team; organized and facilitated the site literacy, math, PBIS, and Culture & Climate committees; provided ongoing professional development via monthly staff meetings and professional development days; conducted formal and informal instructional coaching; modeled lessons; served as the MathCorp Coach; facilitated data days and instructional walkthroughs. Received a grant to start and advise a student leadership group. Collaborated with families and community partners through both outreach and inreach. Additionally, I was an active member of the district literacy coach team supporting the implementation of the new literacy curriculum grounded in the Science of Reading.

As a member of the district's Teaching and Learning departments, I ensured alignment to recommended best practices for each core component of MDE's Q Comp program and guaranteed compliance of our district's plan with Q Comp expectations required by state statute. Directed effective implementation of our district's Q Comp/TDE plan. Trained and managed the district's team of CICs (Continuous Improvement Coaches). Coordinated and facilitated district wide job-embedded professional development practices aligned to strategic goals for prioritized district focus areas. Utilized implementation science to inform continuous improvement efforts at district and all site levels. Served as a member of several district and site level teams. Collaborated with site administrators, guided processes for PLCs/Collaborative Teams, facilitated and submitted comprehensive program reviews, and engaged deeply with data collection, analysis and decision making.

Supported professional development and effective teaching via TDE/Q-Comp processes. Facilitated goal writing, action plan implementation, and progress monitoring for licensed staff and all collaborative teams (PLCs). Partnered regularly with site administrators to provide instructional leadership. Delivered district wide and site based professional development. Conducted formal observation cycles using a coach approach. The tools of cultural proficiency, cognitive coaching, and the Danielson framework were used to provide formative feedback to all licensed tenured staff at two elementary schools as well as additional individuals at a variety of sites upon request. Grew greatly myself through coaching others!

Modeled teaching strategies aligned to best practice. Trained staff to engage effectively as peer reviewers. Provided staff development. Facilitated professional learning community activities. Served as a formative evaluator. Guided personalized professional growth plans.

Sixth grade, science specialist and fourth grade teacher. Embraced hands-on, minds-on teaching and learning strategies to cognitively engage students and spark a love for social and academic learning.