Every superintendent has an ambitious goal for their school district. For this leader, it’s to be the No. 1 school district in Florida. If trends continue, Martin County will likely be there soon.
Martin County School District Superintendent Michael Maine is in his second year as the top educator in the district. This year, he wants his staff to know that anything short of excellence is not good enough for kids, reiterating his determination to become the best district in the state.
“It’s a bold goal, but we have the types of students and staff to be able to get this done,” says Maine.
Historically, the district has been graded at an A level but in recent years the number of schools that are considered “struggling” has grown. Maine, who describes himself as a pioneer of innovation, has a plan to get every one of his his 16,000 students back on track.
When he first arrived at the district, he made a promise to do things differently and avoid the status quo. So, he encourages his staff to push “the genius in every child.”
“It is our responsibility to tap into that genius as educators, and find ways to ignite that genius and inspire them to go and do great things,” he says.
Not every student is going to excel in math and science, but they may excel in theater or music, he adds. It’s all about finding ways to support each of those types of students in their journeys along their desired pathways.
Priorities for 2024-25
This year, Maine’s focus is on the individual student, including providing a strong support strategy to his English language learners and students with disabilities.
“As educators, we tend to feel bad for these scholars and we want to water down the content or ‘meet them where they’re at,'” explains Maine. “For us, the innovation is around keeping those high expectations, building in scaffolded supports to be able to then get those students to perform at those levels we know they can perform.”
That process includes finding ways to provide teachers and staff with the professional development necessary to achieve this goal. Also, utilizing technology to translate content into languages that allow students equitable access.
“For us, it’s about finding those pieces of technology and then training our teachers on how to use them and not be afraid of embracing ChatGPT and other AIs—and saying to teachers, ‘Let the students use them,'” says Maine.
He’s advocated against AI bans in his classrooms because he knows students are already using it at home and in college. Instead, he communicates to students that their schools use monitoring software to regulate academic integrity.
The district is also steering away from what many leaders would call your traditional libraries and instead creating “hubs of innovation.”
“We are retrofitting all three of our high school media centers,” says Maine. “Let students podcast, let students push each other and talk about topics they wouldn’t otherwise talk about.”
Getting teacher buy-in
To be an innovative leader like Maine, you have to earn the support of your teaching staff. If they’re not willing to be ahead of the curve, you likely won’t see the progress you are expecting.
“It’s about making sure that we have a very strategic focus on future readiness and making sure our teachers understand what future readiness means for students and what pathways and resources we need to provide,” says Maine.
This has led Maine to implement professional development days for teachers to engage and network with one another and share best practices. Newer teachers are also given strong mentors and opportunities to observe veteran teachers in the classroom.
“For me, it’s having a robust system for support, professional development that’s ongoing and making sure that we’re building capacity our new teachers who are often career changers,” he says.