OrthoWorx to Fund Academic Leadership Development Program

Warsaw, Ind., June 26, 2012 – OrthoWorx announced today that it will fund an academic leadership development program that will assist school administrators and principals in improving their classroom observation and coaching skills. The program, which was identified as a need in the original Cambridge Education study funded by OrthoWorx, also coincides with implementation of new statewide requirements for annual teacher performance evaluations.

The program will include group training and individual coaching for administrators and secondary observers in the Warsaw Community Schools Corporation. The OrthoWorx funding also includes a workshop on academic leadership and performance evaluation that will be offered to surrounding school corporations.

“Experts tell us that student learning is most directly affected by the quality of the teaching they experience in the classroom,” said Brad Bishop, OrthoWorx Executive Director. “By helping area academic leaders with their new responsibilities on performance evaluations and providing best practice training in effective classroom observation is a way in which we can help drive even better outcomes for area students.”

“It is exciting to see the leadership and cooperation between educators and community leaders in Warsaw,” Superintendent of Public Instruction Dr. Tony Bennett said. “They are working hard to improve learning opportunities for students, which will strengthen the local workforce and economy. This partnership is a tremendous example for school and business leaders around the state.”

According to Dr. Craig Hintz, Warsaw Community Schools Superintendent, “We appreciate the OrthoWorx partnership as we continue to implement our new strategic plan and strive for system-wide improvements. We have great teachers in our system and we believe this will allow us to support them further in their efforts to provide the very best in classroom instruction. We want the Warsaw Community School system to be a national model for educational excellence and this is an important part of realizing that goal. In addition, the Effective Classroom Observation training will provide us a greater foundation for launching our new evaluation system and will further assure consistency of approach by evaluators across the corporation.”

OrthoWorx and its consultant will work with WCS and surrounding schools to schedule the training over the next several months.

About OrthoWorx

OrthoWorx (www.orthoworxindiana.com) offers community-based strategic initiatives in collaboration with the orthopedic industry and other stakeholders aimed at ensuring that the Warsaw region continues to reap the social and economic benefits that derive from its position as The Orthopedic Capital of the World™. These initiatives were launched in 2009 with initial support from Lilly Endowment.