How do you take a middle school from its opening day surrounded by Tennessee cornfields to being ranked the #1 middle school in its county and #24 in the state? For Bethany Wilson, principal of Gladeville Middle School in Gladeville, TN, the answer didn’t lie in the brand-new building or the shiny equipment. It was built on a foundation of joyful learning and a relentless focus on student growth.

In our latest episode, Wilson sits down with Daniel Rock and Erin Anderson Williams to discuss how she maintained Level 5 TVAAS growth for five straight years by moving from an attitude of “I work” to “We work.”

TVAAS: Closing Gaps and Changing Trajectories

For those outside of Tennessee, TVAAS is a value-added assessment system that measures student growth. Dr. Wilson views this data not as a weapon, but as a road map for success.

At Gladeville, growth is a priority for every student. For high-flyers, it’s about exceeding prior year performance with focused, incremental goals. For struggling students, it’s about flipping the narrative to show them that success is attainable – even if they aren’t hitting proficiency yet. As Wilson puts it, seeing a student move from the 30th to the 50th percentile is a celebration that changes a life.

Even in schools outside of Tennessee, using this data-based, goal-focused process in working with students to improve growth can make a huge difference in the lives of students.

From Doing to Leading

One of the most candid moments of the episode is Wilson’s reflection on her first year. Used to the grind of being an assistant principal, she found herself trying to work her way into success through sheer volume.

A supervisor’s piece of advice changed her perspective: “You’re not an AP anymore.”

This shift in her role required her to:

• Build Capacity: Sharing knowledge and inviting more people to the table.
• Distribute Leadership: Moving from writing strategic plans herself to letting the leadership team own the work.
• Embrace Self-Awareness: Recognizing her Type A flaws and surrounding herself with team members who provide balance and approachability.

When she allowed her team to help, she felt the difference not only in her workload but in the school’s success.

PLCs: It’s the People, Not the Agenda

At Gladeville, a Professional Learning Community is not a meeting; it’s a culture. Wilson notes that the most successful teams in her building are the ones who talk all day – sharing materials, texting ideas and refining lesson plans collectively.

The driving force behind these PLCs is a shared ownership of results. When a teacher sees success, the expectation is to share it across the hallway so every student benefits.

“We should be building that ship that we can all sail in any sort of waters,” she explains. That’s why she believes in sharing successes. If they are doing something right in sixth grade science, for example, they don’t just share it with the whole sixth grade science team… they share it with the whole district.

The Vision of Success

By focusing on the right work – goal setting, data literacy and intentional instruction – Gladeville has seen a natural decrease in discipline issues. When students know their teachers believe in them and keep their goals at the forefront, they fall in line with that vision.

Hear More From Bethany Wilson

To learn more great tips from Wilson, make sure to listen to her full podcast episode. Or, if you will be attending our Making Schools Work Conference in Nashville July 14-17, you can sign up to participate in our pre-conference Leadership That Works Learning Community to hear Wilson’s featured presentation.*

* Add-on fee of $200 includes three pre-conference sessions, coffee and lunch on Tuesday, two featured networking events, one deep dive general session with personalized coaching and action planning, and SREB coaching team support throughout the conference.

And make sure you catch every episode of our podcast by liking and subscribing to the Making Schools Work Podcast wherever you listen to your podcast.