Oregon Lighthouse Project

You care about increasing learning for the students you serve, and you want research-based information on how the school board can do that. The Oregon Lighthouse Project is what you're looking for. It is an intensive in-district fully customized board professional development program to help you fulfill your leadership role around student achievement. 

Since 2008 our staff has researched and assessed the quality of this professional development as it was being utilized in other states around the country. Starting in 2010, we began providing Lighthouse training to K-12 school boards. If you are looking for a long‐term professional development opportunity to help align your district and community in its work toward increasing student achievement and the elimination of performance gaps, this is a program that could interest you. 

"School boards in high-achieving districts are significantly different in their knowledge and beliefs than school boards in low-achieving districts. And, this difference appears to carry through among administrators and teachers throughout the districts, according to results of a research study released in September 2000 by the Iowa Association of School Boards (IASB)." 

Oregon Lighthouse Project participants have experienced many great benefits:

"The Lighthouse Project fundamentally changed the relationship between the Superintendent, administrators, educators and the Board. We spent so much time learning with and from one another that when it came to focusing the work of the Board our efforts and expectations were completely aligned. The Board is so well-informed about data and what needs to be done to improve student learning. They believe in our staff and in every child being able to learn and succeed. They understand their role in improving student learning and pursue that purpose tirelessly. We have already seen results in our second year and I have high hopes for our future as we continue the work we began in the Lighthouse Project."

- Dawn Granger, Superintendent, Coos Bay School District

"Our involvement in the Lighthouse Project has raised the awareness of the Board and Superintendent Team regarding the need to focus on improving instruction as the key strategy for raising student achievement."..."The Board has increased their monitoring of progress of achievement initiatives. There is now a greater focus on measuring results and accountability."

- Mike Scott, Superintendent, Hillsboro School District

"Most, if not all of our board members are community leaders with a vast history of serving on boards, city councils and in leadership positions in civic organizations or the military, yet the Lighthouse training was an incredibly valuable tool to help us discover how to work better together, how to solve problems and most importantly how to learn together as a team."..."As a result of the Lighthouse training, every board member understands how important it is to encourage and support continuous learning for our children, teachers, administrators and board members."

- David Stevens, Board chair, South Umpqua School District

“The Lighthouse Project has been an excellent program for our Board of Directors. Professional development for board members is all too uncommon, especially when it happens in your own board room. Even more importantly, the Lighthouse Project assists board members in their quest to identify the WHAT and WHY of their work. Our board is now more focused than ever on student achievement and their role in helping our district improve learning levels through stronger leadership and improved instruction.”

- Jon Peterson, Superintendent, Pendleton School District

For information on what a Lighthouse Board looks like, click here. For information on an abbreviated program, please check out our scholarship program.