The Core Collaborative Learning Network
June 30, 2022
The Core Collaborative (TCC) extends a warm welcome to our new Executive Director of Operations, Katie Smith. Katie will join our team full time starting on August 1, 2022.
In her new role, Katie will oversee the implementation of internal procedures and processes that address our network’s most critical areas of need, with an emphasis on human capital and a focus toward our future. Working closely with our professional learning team, Katie will support consultants in the field and bring continuity to our professional learning pathways through TCC’s core values, beliefs, and agreements.
Katie brings extensive expertise and skills to our team:
- Bachelors in Secondary Education from Vanderbilt University
- Masters in School Improvement and Leadership from Olivet Nazarene University
- Assistant Principal of Curriculum and Instruction, Chicago Public Schools
- Curriculum Coordinator, Chicago Public Schools
- Coordinator of Assessment- Research for the Lyons Township School District in LaGrange, IL
- Built a system of professional learning anchored in evidence based practices
- Built and managed the district’s data warehouse
- Coordinated and administered district state-national assessment
- Core Collaborative Impact Team Pathway Lead and consultant for the last four years.
Katie has presented at many national conferences, including the Visible Learning Institute and Learning Forward’s Annual National Conference for the past six years. Katie is also a 2013 graduate of the Learning Forward Academy. The academy aims to increase leadership skills around the Standards for Professional Learning and collaborate around problems of practice about critical topics in education including culturally sustaining instruction, social and emotional learning, and personalized learning with evidence-based solutions.
We are eager to have Katie join our team, and are confident she will influence our greater community of amazing educators in this new role.
Katherine Smith is the Executive Director of Operations for The Core Collaborative.
Formerly, Katie was the Coordinator of Assessment and Research at Lyons Township High School District 204 just outside Chicago, IL, where she built a system of professional learning anchored in evidence based practices, managed the district’s data warehouse and was instrumental in partnering with educators to cultivate assessment- capable learners.
As a partner consultant, Katie has partnered with the Core Collaborative in an effort to refocus the work of district professional learning communities on student learning. Through long-term strategic planning, intentional professional learning on the formative assessment process, and a focus on the implementation of IMPACT Team protocols, Katie has supported district IMPACT Teams as they have successfully built their capacity to partner with all students in the learning process.
Katie is personally passionate about the concept of reaching all students. In her previous role with District 204, Katie served on the Equity and Achievement Team, working to create equitable academic opportunities for students from low socio-economic backgrounds. Previously, as an Assistant Principal of Curriculum and Instruction at Bogan High School, and as the Curriculum Coordinator as well as the Social Science Chair at Fenger Academy High School in Chicago Public Schools, Katie worked with the faculty to align curriculum to rigorous standards, develop balanced common assessments, and implement common instructional practices across disciplines to address specific literacy skills. At both underperforming high schools, Katie worked with the faculty to expand the number of Advanced Placement courses offered, increase student enrollment in Advanced Placement courses, and enhance student performance in these courses.
As a graduate of Learning Forward’s Academy Class of 2013, Katie has studied change theory and adult learning principles in depth. She welcomes the opportunity to partner with adults in learning in order to make a positive difference in the lives of all students. Katie lives in the Midwest with her husband and three daughters.
