Alicia Thompson is the first woman and first person of color to serve as superintendent of Wichita Public Schools, Kansas’s largest school district. Her major achievements include guiding the district through the COVID-19 pandemic, raising graduation rates, and expanding the district’s career technology programs. Alicia started out as an elementary school teacher and went on to building-level and district-level leadership. She retired at the end of the 2022-2023 school year.
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Kevin Carlson: A superintendent retires after a 31-year career in the same district she attended as a child, where her mom taught when she was pregnant with her. Surprisingly, hers is a leadership story of change, and for her, there's no place like home.
Today's episode: “Leading Through Challenges: Recommendations for Sustaining Change.”
I'm Kevin Carlson, and this is Teachers Talk Shop.
Dr. Alicia Thompson: Whether you're trying to stay where you are and that kind of thing, you want to grow and develop and to be the best you can. Mentorships are great, right? But if you're also looking to move your trajectory up within the organization, sponsorship is something else. And it's important to have both.
Kevin Carlson: That is Dr. Alicia Thompson. She's the first woman and first person of color to serve as superintendent of Wichita Public Schools, the largest district in Kansas.
Alicia started out as an elementary school teacher and went on to building-level and district-level leadership. As superintendent, she guided the district through the COVID-19 pandemic, raised graduation rates, and expanded the district's career technology programs. She retired at the end of the 2022-2023 school year. Benchmark Education’s Dr. Jennifer Nigh sat down with Dr. Thompson recently to discuss practical solutions that promote wellness and drive lasting change.
Dr. Jennifer Nigh: Well, welcome Dr. Thompson. I am so excited that you are joining us today to talk about all things leadership, and who better to do that than you? So welcome. We're so excited that you're here today.
Dr. Alicia Thompson: I'm glad to be here.
Dr. Jennifer Nigh: Thank you. All right, well, let's start our conversation. Tell us a little bit about yourself.
Dr. Alicia Thompson: All right. Well, I am from Wichita, Kansas, right in the middle of the United States of America, in Wichita, Kansas. And I was born and raised here, and I am a proud product of the Wichita Public Schools, which is interesting because that's where I spent my entire career. So I was born and raised in Wichita. My mom was a teacher in the Wichita Public Schools, to the point where when she was pregnant with me in the Wichita Public Schools, I almost was born in one of the buildings in Wichita Public Schools.
Dr. Jennifer Nigh: And I bet mom loves to talk about that!
Dr. Alicia Thompson: Absolutely! So I am definitely a Wichita Public Schools kid. I transitioned all the way and graduated from one of the schools here in Wichita. Then I left Wichita and went to a Historically Black College and University in Langston, Oklahoma. So I graduated from Langston University, and then I came back to Wichita again and began to, during the summers, I would come and become a paraprofessional in the summertime doing summer school sessions and those kinds of things. And then I came back as my first teaching position in the Wichita Public Schools, teaching Kindergarten, the most brilliant level ever!
So I taught Kindergarten. It was fantastic to be able to do that. And so I moved up the ranks in the Wichita Public Schools, becoming a teacher. I was a lead teacher; I was an instructional coach; I was an assistant principal; I've been a principal. Then I went to the district level and was doing professional development for the entire district. I moved to an assistant superintendent of elementary schools, supporting 60 elementary schools at the time, and then became the superintendent of the Wichita Public Schools. And it's interesting because I am the first person of color and the first woman in 150 years of that school district being in existence. So I definitely consider myself a history maker in the Wichita public schools, as well.
Dr. Jennifer Nigh: I agree!
Dr. Alicia Thompson: That district consists of about 50,000 students, and 109 languages are spoken in the homes of the students that we live from 90 countries of origin. We definitely are a diverse urban school system in the middle of a red rural state. So it's kind of interesting for that dynamic, as well, within the school district.
I am currently retired. I spent 31 years in the school district and retired last year. So this was my first year being retired. And midway through my retirement, I was approached by the university. And so I work now as an associate vice president at Wichita State University, which is a D1 university research school, and I work with PreK-12 connections in the state and abroad and making those connections, as well as working with the community around the university, because this university sits right in the middle of a community. And so I do a lot of work in our community, as well. So I am really enjoying my new position—a little bit different, but I still get to have good contact and a lot of engagement with PreK through 12 throughout the state.
Dr. Jennifer Nigh: That's incredible! So many things to unpack there. One of the things that really stands out to me is the fact that, how ingrained in the community you are, being that you are a product of that school district and that community. And not a lot of people can say that. So I imagine that gave you some really insightful and interesting perspectives on not only what it's like today and when you were serving as superintendent and now in your position at the university, but also how it's probably changed since the time that you were growing up. So that's an incredible perspective to really have.
So let's dive into that a little bit more, because leadership is most certainly part of who you are, given that you may not have initially aspired to be a superintendent, but those leadership foundations were obviously set very early when you were being an assistant principal and principal and coach and leader, teacher, leader, etc. So let's talk a little bit more about that leadership aspect, and let's hone in on your time especially as superintendent. What were some of the things that you were most proud of during that tenure, and what were some of the biggest challenges you faced?
Dr. Alicia Thompson: Yeah. Well, being a superintendent in a school district where you grew up in has its challenges as well as advantages. One of the things that I—so I knew a lot of the things that teachers and people wanted when I walked into the job. So some of the successes have been—we did not have a strategic plan, I know, for at least 25 years or so and we didn't have a lot of direction. We were kind of working in silos and those kinds of things. So we built from scratch a brand-new five-year strategic plan with goals and outcomes and missions and values and all those kinds of things that people gravitate to so that we can all be marching in the same order and have some direction there. And that was a huge success within the school district. And because of that, we were able to really listen to what our stakeholders and our staff and students wanted, and were able to build a lot of pathways for career and technical education classes, early college programs for kids who were thriving academically and were going on that college pathway. We were able to increase student achievement. We were able to also build infrastructure around early literacy to get our kids prepared earlier on so that as they matriculated through, we weren't playing that catch-up all the time that we were doing without that work being put there. So those are some of the huge successes that we had within the school district in my tenure.
But we also had some challenges during that time, as well. You know, I was leading during COVID. Lord have mercy, that was a rough time. And then transitioning to the political landscape that changed over that time during that COVID piece, thinking about teacher shortage, and the causes of that is lack of respect, the workload, too much high-stakes testing, the inability of our teachers to be creative, and the teacher pay. I mean, all of those were wrapped up in that. And then the boards being elected, you know, we were supposed to be bipartisan, but we were no longer that way. People were being elected in for their political agendas and coming in and really changing how we were able to do our work. During that time, also, we had declining enrollment, which then decreased the funding, and then again, that led to teacher pay and then not being able to take care of our buildings. So those aging buildings were not being taken care of the way that they were supposed to.
So all of that, while we were moving in a positive direction before COVID came, but then COVID came and then the landscape changed, and there were just lots of dynamics that came with being a leader in that space during those times. And we're still, to be honest, a lot of that is still resonating with people and leaders today.
Kevin Carlson: After the break: Mentors and sponsors. Stay with us.
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Dr. Jennifer Nigh: My mom was a teacher; I was born here; my kids go to school and are graduating from here. It's a smaller community and a lot of those shifts and a lot of those challenges really are similar things that I hear about as a parent in this district, as a community member in this district. And I imagine that what you experienced is not too dissimilar from a lot of other districts in the country. And I have to wonder if a lot of those challenges are some of the reasons why we're also seeing that crisis of really strong, amazing individuals in leadership positions, like principals and superintendents, that are leaving the field and really creating a crisis. Can you talk a little bit about that, and are you seeing that? And what are you hearing about as a, as a leader in this industry or in this field?
Dr. Alicia Thompson: Well, I can tell you, it's really sad, actually, because there are a lot of good teachers, a lot of good administrators, superintendents, even good board members, because of all of the things that I've mentioned before, are running away from education, which is really sad. I can tell you, though, that in order for—you know, there's got to be some things we can do as a community and as a country to be able to stop the bleed, is what I call it. And I think a lot about things that I am now involved in and have been since I've been retired, which has been having great mentorships, advocates, sponsors, if you will, in even having the opportunity to have wellness kinds of things built into contracts as it relates to teachers, as it relates also to administrators and people who are in the education arena to be able to take care of themselves so that they can take care of the others. And when I think about mentors, those are just people that are kind of like advisors, people that you can call and talk to and really have somebody to bounce ideas off of and those kinds of things.
So that's a great space. But you also, as educators, need someone that's in a space that's advocating for you when the teachers are not in the room and when administrators are not in the room, that you're advocating and building up education and the teaching profession and the education profession as a whole. Those are important people and things that need to be in place for leaders so that they can stay, and that they have a support system built around them. And now, what I did not do, but towards the end of my profession, I did, I wished I would have done earlier, again, which is negotiating some wellness things inside of contracts, not only for myself but also for teachers. And what I mean by that is, like, vacation days, right? We have them built in, but you should be mandatory—have to use them.
Dr. Jennifer Nigh: Use them! Isn’t that our culture, right? We have them but—
Dr. Alicia Thompson: We get penalties for not using them, right? We’ve got to have opportunities to use them. Also, wellness days. What is happening when we have our district in-service days or things of that nature? How do we build in wellness activities or things that will help teachers, administrators be able to then take care of themselves? And not only just professional development around that, like, your skills or your how-to-build lessons, but what are professional development about how you take care of yourself as a teacher should be built in to professional learning for all people that work within the education arenas?
And then getting into “like groups,” I should have mentioned networks. Oh my God, networks are important. You know, I also should have—and towards the end, I did—get into groups, like groups. So there could be women groups, it could be teacher groups, it could be groups that are like you, that teach English or people that teach math. Getting into those groups, going to conferences, mingling, interacting, getting on Zoom calls with people with like jobs, of like positions that you have, so that you can hear each other's story. It makes you feel like you're not alone in the struggle, right? And what are you doing to make it through? Those kinds of conversations are critical to sustain yourself and to keep that wellness and to also have an outlet for yourself. And I just think those are important pieces if we are going to retain, recruit, and sustain what we have with our teachers and administrators in education.
Dr. Jennifer Nigh: Yeah. Well, what I really hear there that I think is so powerful is that as an administrator, you're prioritizing that, or your advice is to prioritize that not only for yourself and to help teachers and educators and principals to do that, but you're demonstrating the value of that yourself, because I think a lot of times, especially maybe like a new teacher, they're just starting out in their career and they may not know that that's something that they can and should advocate for. So coming into a district that has leadership that is valuing that and encouraging it and providing the support so that you can have that professional learning that's not just about pedagogy—which we know, of course, is incredibly important—but also about yourself as a professional.
I imagine that that would be incredibly empowering and something that, if I think back to my career, I would have loved to come in and say, “Oh yeah, I want to be here, because we're not only doing amazing things as educators, but we're doing amazing things to support ourselves as professionals.” So I think that's really, really powerful. I love that.
The other thing, I want to go back to your comment about mentors and the reason that struck me—and I'm going to tell a real quick story, real quick. But my very first position was as a second grade teacher, and I feel that my undergrad and teacher ed that I went through was spectacular. But as I was sitting there in front of these second-graders as a 22-year-old knowing absolutely nothing, I was like, “What do I do?” And fortunately, I was not far from the university and the individuals that I considered mentors, and I was fortunate to go back to them, and they guided me through that first year of teaching just as a mentor. So your comment about that is really powerful because I don't know if I could have survived without that support. So tell me a little bit more about how mentorship has been supportive in your role as a superintendent, but also how you advocated for that in your district.
Dr. Alicia Thompson: Yeah. Mentors are kind of cool because they're kind of like your best friend or they're like your sounding board, right? But they're also—can be, like, for instance, I'll give you some examples. When I was a superintendent, I had a mentor, right? And the mentor would come to my school district, walk through with me hand in hand, I call it the correct professional development, where you're not just sitting and getting, but that you're co-teaching me how to go about my journey as a leader, as a teacher—it's the exact same thing. So when you think about the best practices for professional development, it really is kind of like mentorship, right? You have the opportunity to go into a classroom or go into a setting, whatever that is, as a principal or a leader, and have someone walk hand in hand with you and you co-teach, co-construct things together, so that you are learning as you're doing. That's how people learn and that's how people grow, right? Not just sometimes you sit in and getting at something and then going back and not really understanding how to go back and implement what it is that you just sat and learned about.
Dr. Jennifer Nigh: I think that safe space to make mistakes too and ask questions that you may not feel comfortable asking everybody, but having that person that you know, like, “Okay, maybe I should know this, but I don't. Can I ask you?” And you have that safe space, and most of the time it's probably questions anybody would have, but being able to leverage that person for that, I'm sure, was powerful.
Dr. Alicia Thompson: That's right. And what was even more powerful is having, I talked a little bit about sponsors or advocates or whatever word you want to use for it, because, you know, when you're a person that's looking to have some upward mobility or wanting to become not just a teacher, you may want to be a paraprofessional, but now you want to move to a teacher, or you want to move from a teacher to an assistant principal or teacher coach or that kind of thing—sometimes you need sponsorship, right? So that's somebody that knows you or may not know all about you but sees that you have something that is of value to the organization of some sort. And maybe they could be a voice for you in rooms where you're not. So if they're talking about, “We're looking for a principal for this particular school,” that person would be able to say, “Hey, I know someone that we might want to consider or give an opportunity to,” and can escort you into spaces that will allow you to be able to show your talents and strengths, to be able to get upward trajectory in the profession, if that's what you choose to do.
So again, it's important for whatever role you're trying to accomplish, whether you're trying to stay where you are and that kind of thing, you want to grow and develop and to be the best you can. Mentorships are great, right? But if you're also looking to move your trajectory up within the organization, sponsorship is something else. And it's important to have both, right? You need both if you're going to try to move up the ranks, you're going to want to have both. And that's what I have found to be helpful in my profession and how I was able to stay within the spaces within the school district and be able to move to all of those positions within the school district, is by having a mentor and having some type of a sponsor to help me maneuver through the system to move up in those spaces.
Dr. Jennifer Nigh: And did you, in your situation, did you have to seek out those individuals on your own, or were those like—was that a concept that was already developed within your district so that when you moved into that role, you already had that mentor in place, but maybe you were bringing along your advocate, or is that something you sought out and found on your own?
Dr. Alicia Thompson: Interesting you asked that question because, again, remember when I talked about getting into those networks of people where there's professional development and opportunities to meet and greet people? I had never heard of a sponsor or an advocate, right? I learned that by being in one of the networks—and they talked about the importance of that, and if you didn't have them, you needed to figure out how to get those things in place so that you have both things working for you as you wanted to move through the ranks, right? Well, that's where I learned that from. And again, that's why I say it's important as a person in the education profession, is to wrap yourself around resources and tools and networks of people that can help you to grow and to learn how to do what it is that you're wanting to do.
Kevin Carlson: After the break: Early literacy. Stay with us.
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Dr. Jennifer Nigh: All right. I want to take just a couple minutes to switch gears. Something you said earlier in your introduction really piqued—well, a lot of things did—but you were talking about how your district and the positive were making growth, and you also commented on early literacy. Can you tell me a little bit more as a superintendent, what surrounded those initiatives in really valuing early literacy so that it wasn't always playing catchup? We were putting those foundations in place early.
Dr. Alicia Thompson: Yeah, it’s—again, one of the things we do a lot of in Wichita Public Schools is listen to the teachers. They always say, and I think we always listen, but that's where we got it from. You know, we know that our third grade teachers, fourth grade teachers, all middle school and high school, they're, "The kids are coming behind, the kids are coming behind, they're all behind, they're all behind.” Well, we needed to get to the root of that, right? Why are they coming behind? Well, you go back and you look to see what is happening all along the continuum in the school district. And what we found was, is that even though kids come into school districts behind—and we always found that when we took our first Kindergarten assessments, kids came in behind according to the data that we collected—so we knew that they were already coming behind, but we also saw that we were losing ground even when they came. You would think that they were coming and they were moving, right? But then what we saw, the data told us, is that we still had some holes and gaps in our early literacy programming, right?
So we didn't have the right curriculum, we weren't focusing in on the right pedagogy, and to the depth of what we needed to get them to, in order to be strong, have that stronger foundation of how to read, so that then they can read to be able to learn, right? And so what we did was, we did a lot of research, we looked at curriculum, we looked at our teaching strategies and the different components of what—and it is science, how that works, how the brain works, and we learned all of that. And then we did professional development with teachers so they understood that. And then we built that strong foundation in our early literacy programming, which allowed us then to be able to start to see kids being on grade level or moving towards grade level in a different kind of way, so that when the kids move to the other grade levels, we weren't just filling in gaps and trying to get kids up to speed and trying to close those gaps.
Dr. Jennifer Nigh: Yeah, or put a Band-Aid on it.
Dr. Alicia Thompson: Putting a Band-Aid on it, yeah. Not really getting where we wanted to get to. So we just invested. When I talk about invest, we're not just talking about professional development; we're talking about money, people. All the resources went in that space and we betted on that, right? And we begin to see over the last, next three years, you know, how things begin to catch itself up. Now you're starting to see better readers and mathematicians show up, right, in third, fourth, fifth grade, and that has been important for us.
And again, it all goes back to relevant curriculum, allowing teachers to have curriculum where there's engaging, where kids are able to discover, where there's hands-on experiences, where there's technology, where kids can engage with all of those things we had to build. But guess what? You’ve got to build that throughout your entire system, because once kids learn, are taught that way and are there, you’ve got to keep that going throughout the entire system, right? So it's a big chore, but it definitely is showing fruits of the labor of the work that was put in place in that space.
Dr. Jennifer Nigh: Yeah, that's really exciting because what you're commenting on is that there's no one thing that's going to solve a problem like that. There's no one curriculum that's going to do everything. There's no one professional development thing that's going to do everything. It is this orchestra of many different pieces that need to come together to see that sustained growth.
And the other thing you mentioned is, this sounds like this did not happen over a year or a semester. This was a long time of really building and scaffolding and putting the right pieces in place to finally see those results happen. And I think that's a great testimony, and I imagine a lot of districts are facing that right now. We know that literacy scores are oftentimes not where we want them. And you went back and you saw where the holes were, you didn't just put a Band-Aid on it and say, “Well, let's try this, or let's try this.” No, let's systematically see where we're struggling and then let's put a comprehensive plan in place, and let's give it time to work and see the benefits of that. So that's a really, really powerful story and experience. And kudos to you all for doing that.
Dr. Alicia Thompson: Yeah, because you can't intervention yourself out of it. There’s not enough interventions in the world to get you out of it.
Dr. Jennifer Nigh: Yes, yes! Absolutely. Great.
Well, this has been a very enlightening conversation. Your experience as a leader and the advice you have to districts that have been or are in very similar situations, your advocacy for educators and principals, and the strategy that you put around solving problems like early literacy so that you can see student growth eventually, is phenomenal. And I really, really appreciate you sharing that expertise and advice and some of your personal stories.
Any last words of advice you'd like to provide our listeners?
Dr. Alicia Thompson: Well, I don't know if it's advice, but I definitely want to just give a shout-out to people, to the people in education and particularly teachers. Teachers are the backbone of this country, and if it were not for teachers, we would not have the things that we are afforded today. I know that sometimes they go unrecognized in that kind of a format, but I admire teachers and people in the education field and I want you to hold on, because I know the pendulum swings all the time in education—you go from one extreme to the other, and I hope at some point we can get into the middle and be able to support teachers and value education as a country more. I know we value it, but more. And to pay our teachers and educators more, because they are worth it.
So I'm going to leave with that comment, and any advice that I would have is to continue to encourage people to go into the education profession, because it definitely is a worthy profession that impacts all aspects of this world. And so I just want to thank and encourage us to keep fighting the good fight.
Dr. Jennifer Nigh: I love that. What wonderful words to end on.
Dr. Thompson, thank you so very much. You're greatly appreciated.
Kevin Carlson: Thank you, Dr. Alicia Thompson. Thank you, Jen Nigh. And thank you for listening to Teachers Talk Shop.
If you enjoy listening to this show, there is much more to explore on our website, Teachers Talk Shop.com. Check out other episodes for more thought-provoking conversations and expert insights. Get inspired, stay informed, and keep learning with Benchmark Education's Teachers Talk Shop podcast.
For Benchmark Education, I'm Kevin Carlson.