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Photos by Erin Nelson.
Chris Pennington, the outgoing principal at Louis Pizitz Middle School, stands in his office April 19. Pennington has been selected to head assessment development for the Vestavia Hills City Schools.
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Photos by Erin Nelson.
Charts indicating different functions of statistical tests is seen on a monitor in Pennington’s office.
After two years as the principal of Pizitz Middle School, Chris Pennington is transitioning this summer to a new role in Vestavia Hills City Schools.
Pennington will become the director of assessment and accountability at the central office, where he will analyze program data from across the school district, provide feedback to principals and help make changes as needed.
Pennington said there is a need to interpret data gathered from programs for which the school system pays, including iReady, Read180 and more. Those programs are used for intervention and enrichment purposes. The district needs to know if it is receiving a return on investment and if students are benefiting from the programs.
Having Pennington in this role is designed to free up already busy principals from having to gather it. He can gather it, analyze it for them, present it to then and let them determine how best to go forward with it.
“My job is to help the Board of Education to ensure our students achieve at the highest level possible,” Pennington said.
While he was working to earn his doctoral degree after taking the head job at Pizitz, Pennington found he really enjoyed “messing” with data and using it to analyze school resources and help students and staff.
“I just love analyzing situations and determining why is this the way it is,” Pennington said.
If certain programs utilized by the school aren’t performing at their highest level, the next question becomes, “Why not?” and the school system must determine what to do with the program, Pennington said. His new role will give him a “truer” look at the data, accounting not just for the high achievers in the school system but understanding how many students need extra help, he said.
“I get to dig in there and start learning the different programs,” Pennington said.
School officials can compare data to previous years, or even a group of years, to measure academic growth, and Pennington can even narrow that data down to demographic information, allowing him to see if a particular group of students is performing better than another.
Bringing relevant data to administrators at each school is beneficial and helps him answer questions about how to best utilize the relevant programs to achieve students’ highest possible growth, he aid. It also allows principals and other school leaders to work together to improve academics for all students, he said.
“Everyone else can join in on the change,” Pennington said.
However, as he gets set to begin his new job in July, it won’t be an easy transition. Leaving Pizitz will be “very tough,” he said.
For the first time in 31 years, he won’t have what he called a “direct connection” with students, and that won’t be easy. Still, he’s excited about moving to the central office and taking on a new challenge.
“It wasn’t an easy decision, but I am excited for the opportunity it has for me,” Pennington said.
Pennington came to Pizitz in the summer of 2019, replacing Meredith Hanson, who took on a new role as director of personnel for the school system. Pennington served as principal for two school years.
