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Profile: DAVID MOORE

David Moore has made fast turnarounds a hallmark of his career, but the leader of Florida鈥檚 School District of Indian River County was surprised by the speed in which he was named one of four finalists for 91制片鈥檚 National Superintendent of the Year award.

鈥淚 had been the state superintendent of the year for six days when I was notified, so my first reaction was, 鈥榃ell, that was quick鈥�,鈥� Moore says. 鈥淏ut then we just went back to work.鈥�

Moore, who took over as Indian River鈥檚 superintendent 44 days before schools were shut down due to COVID-19, has helped the district make significant strides in just five years. Ranked 38th of 67 school districts by Florida鈥檚 stringent accountability system when he arrived, Indian River is now ranked ninth, twice with Grade A status and with the highest rate of improvement in the state for three consecutive years. The district鈥檚 graduation rate is 96 percent.

鈥淗e鈥檚 leading the way in terms of accountability and data-driven improvements that all types of businesses should emulate, much less schools that didn鈥檛 used to be accountable,鈥� says Barbara Hammond, co-founder of The Learning Alliance, an Indian River County nonprofit that helps the district on reading initiatives. 鈥淲hen it comes to leadership, he shouldn鈥檛 be the exception. He should be the norm.鈥�

Bill Daggett, founder and chairman of the International Center for Leadership in Education, says Moore has a 鈥渦nique ability to embrace the weight of the past鈥� 鈥� how the community and educators feel about the schools 鈥� while dealing with the accountability, staffing and safety 鈥減ressures of the present.鈥� He considers Moore a master at balancing the state鈥檚 accountability requirements with the 鈥渟kills, knowledge and attributes students need in the workplace and society.鈥�

Moore understands that culture trumps strategy, Daggett says, adding, 鈥淚f you can鈥檛 create a culture to bring your board, staff and community along with you, you鈥檒l never be successful at creating a school system that works for all students.鈥�

Moore made his name as a turnaround specialist while working as a principal and then as an assistant superintendent in Miami-Dade County, the nation鈥檚 fourth largest school district. Working under then-Superintendent Alberto Carvalho, he developed what he calls a 鈥渧ery structured way of work鈥� that helped eliminate all of Miami-Dade鈥檚 F-rated schools in two years and all but one of its D-rated schools in three.

鈥淵ou have to invest in the people who are in our schools and have an unwavering belief that they can be successful,鈥� Moore says. 鈥淲hen you accelerate an individual鈥檚 understanding of what good instruction looks like and then work with teachers in real time in classrooms to provide very specific support, which allows them really to disaggregate the data and recreate the educational experience.鈥�

Moore says he sought the job in Indian River, a suburban school district seated in Vero Beach with 17,200 students, because he wanted to have a 鈥渃onstant touch on the things that were the absolute most important, which is building leaders and instructional leadership that promotes teaching and learning.鈥� But COVID-19 forced a major shift for everyone in a district that already was struggling and did not have a strategic plan.

鈥淢y team and I absolutely leveraged COVID because things had to change, regardless of the pandemic,鈥� Moore says. 鈥淲e were very intentional in creating problem solvers who could be comfortable with embracing change and doing things differently. And as we came out of the pandemic, we said we鈥檙e not going back to normal and the way things were. And we never have. We鈥檙e only accelerating it.鈥�

Glenn Cook is a freelance writer in Alexandria, Va.