University Place schools chief and UW Tacoma lecturer receives statewide honor

Patti Banks, superintendent of the University Place School District and an instructor at the University of Washington Tacoma, has been named the 2012 Washington State Superintendent of the Year.

The Washington Association of School Administrators recently selected Banks for the honor, citing, among other things, her success at reducing the achievement gap between low-income students and those from middle- and high-income families.

Banks was nominated by Ray Tennison, past president of the Simpson Investment Company and former chairman of the UW Tacoma Advisory Board. He noted Banks’ unwavering commitment to improve student achievement by expanding student opportunities to learn, providing a rigorous curriculum and fostering high-quality instruction.

“The result of her work is dramatically improved outcomes, across the system over time,” Tennison wrote in his nomination letter.    

Banks has been superintendent of University Place Schools since 1999. She has also taught at UW Tacoma as a part-time lecturer since 2003 in the Educational Administrator program and the Teacher Certification program.

Fourteen of Banks’ past students from the administrator program praised the superintendent for being “the rare professor who consistently models exceptional instructional practices.”

“Patti is an intelligent and motivating leader who champions the equality and betterment of all school children,” the principals and other school leaders wrote in a letter supporting Banks’ nomination. “She persistently searches for ways to remove inequities and to provide opportunities for disadvantaged students.  She explicitly challenges her UWT students to do the same.”

Although higher poverty rates tend to lead to lower test scores, that’s not happened under Banks’ leadership, the school administrators’ association said.

University Place schools’ rate of low-income students has doubled from 18 percent, when Banks became superintendent, to the current 36 percent. Nonetheless, the district’s middle-grades math test scores for both low-income and non-low-income students have improved, and SAT scores now surpass state and national averages.

Banks said she makes time to teach at the university for two reasons.

“I believe that effective principals with deep knowledge of quality instruction are essential to improve student achievement and close achievement gaps,” she said.

“Second,” she added, “I believe it is important for school leaders to be leaders of learning in their organizations. By teaching at the UW Tacoma, I stay current in educational research, and have the opportunity to learn from, as well as teach, many dedicated educational professionals who bring a wide range of experience to the program.“

Banks will represent Washington state in the National Superintendent of the Year Program sponsored by the American Association of School Administrators. The national award-winner will be announced in February.