Accomplishments – God is in the Details!

Speaker:    Guest speaker, Navy Recruit Training Command, Great Lakes, IL. (An honor shared by First Lady Michelle Obama.)

Abbott Laboratories (employees)

Texas Regional Education Service Centers (20 Regions).

University of Texas speech on Are You in A Pickle? Lessons Learned Along the Way: Student’s Performance and Achievement Gaps, recorded by (CSPAN Books).

National and state conventions and conferences: American Association of School Administrators, National Association of Elementary School Principals, National Association of School Boards, American Supervisors of Curriculum and Development, McGraw-Hill Annual Conference, National Alliance of Black School Educators, National Association of Mental Illness (NAMI) and Central Texas African American Family Support Conferences.

Spokesperson: Addressed U.S. Congress regarding Testing and Full Funding for Special Education (NAFIS).

Addressed the Texas Mental Health Sub-Committee at the state capital.

 International: South Africa (Johannesburg) to schools, learning centers and foster care.

United Kingdom (Oxford University) led to the collaborative publication, Developing the Effective Principal, by Aspen Publishers.

United Arab Emirates (Abu Dhabi), spoke to middle school educators for girls and AKA Sorority.

Author:

● Kirkus Reviews – https://www.kirkusreviews.com/author/patricia-pickles/
● “Are You in A Pickle? Lessons Learned Along the Way: Students Performance Achievement Gaps” (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07957CFZV/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_va%20pi_tkin_p1_i0)
● “Chronic Mental Illness: A Living Nightmare”

● The Effective Principal, Aspen Publishers

Writer: At the national and state levels, publications were featured in academic and leadership journals: American Association of School Administrators, National Elementary Principals’ Association, National Association of School Boards, The Reading Teacher, Exemplary Practices in Education, American Supervisors of Curriculum and Development.

Creator:

Created the Writing To- Read -To -the -Principal Program.

Designed the PAAPTS Model for Improving academic performance and closing the achievement gap.

Performance – God is in the details!

● Only 3% of public-school superintendents overseeing Pk-12 school systems in the United States were African American females.
● Recognized nationally as an educational czar: improving students’ performance and closing achievement gaps among socioeconomic and racial barriers became her brand.

Pflugerville ISD

● In one year, moved (7) Pflugerville ISD schools to the next level, from Satisfactory to Recognized and from Recognized to Exemplary.
● Pflugerville ISD, under my leadership, created the first community school foundation program in the district
● Collaborated with the Texas State Department of Education, child care, and Head Start to design a model early childhood program in Pflugerville ISD for the state of Texas – Offering full day PreK, for indigent children and families – at no cost to families.

Portland Public Schools

● Received the highest pay in the district for meeting and surpassing performance goals.

● Improved student performance in Portland Public Schools, even among the lowest performing students.
● Collaboratively led high school reform efforts which led to a grant from Bill Gates.

● Appointed by the governor and superintendent of public instruction to collaboratively oversee the Oregon Leadership State Steering Committee and efficient use of federal Reading First Funds.

North Chicago Community School District #187

● Received $10,000 for meeting and exceeding performance goals.
● Took North Chicago Public School District #187 from a low performing district to the top 6.5% in the state
● District #187, removed all schools from the academic failing list and removed district from the financial watch list.
● Oversaw first 5 year teacher contract in North Chicago School District #187.
● Upgraded: technology, libraries, school construction projects ( including the resurrection of one school) and upgraded curriculum, instruction and assessment practices, all at no cost to the district. Federal grants received and Bills enforced by working with individuals such as Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL), Congressman, John Porter (R-IL) Mark Kirk (R-IL) Jesse Jackson, Jr. (D-IL) and at the state level; Senator Terry Link (D-IL), Eddie Washington (D-IL), Susan Garrett (D-IL), and numerous local government and community partners.
● Oversaw first performance-based teachers’ pay plan in the state of Illinois.
● Collaboratively created and implemented the first Pk-12 school mandatory uniform policy in the state of Illinois. Testified to U.S. Congress on Testing and Full Funding for Special Education.

Texas Department of Education (TEA)

Under State Superintendent Skip Meno and Deputy Superintendent Jay Cummings, was the first Senior Director for Early Childhood and Elementary Education for the Texas Department of Education. One of three senior directors chosen statewide to lead the Pk-12 public schools’ Texas Mentor Network Initiative.

Dallas ISD

Created the Writing-To-Read-To-The Principal Program which was featured on CNN. Featured in Ebony Magazine for improving students’ performance.

Credentials and Expertise:

She was one of 30 school principals selected to present at the Oxford International Round Table on Leadership at Oxford University. She was one of 35 participants selected to attend the Superintendent’s Summer Leadership Program at Harvard.

Post-doctoral studies include Harvard Summer Institute for New Public-School Superintendents, Stanford University – Leadership Transformation and Effectiveness, Fordham in New York – Annual Summer Institute for Principal Leadership and Development (attendant and consultant).