Transcript Document

Great Principals at Scale: Creating District Conditions
That Enable All Principals to Be Effective
Gina Ikemoto, PhD
Gina Ikemoto, PhD
California County Superintendents Educational
Services Association (CCSESA)
October 30, 2014
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We envision a day
Newthere
Leaders
when
is
educational excellence
and equity in America –
We envision a day when
when our country’s
there is educational
public schools ensure
excellence and equity in
that every student is
America—when our
prepared for success in
country’s public
college, careers, and
schools ensure that
citizenship.
every student is
prepared for success in
college, careers, and
citizenship.
New Leaders Approach
Leadership Development Programs
Partner with districts and charters to develop future school leaders and support
principals during their critical first years on the job.
• Emerging Leaders Program for teacher leaders
• Aspiring Principals Program
• Principal Institute for early tenure support of APP graduates
• Leadership Practice Improvement Program for principals and their
leadership teams
District & State Services
Engage directly with districts and states across the country to design and implement
policies and practices that support great leadership at scale.
Policy & Thought Leadership
Engage with school systems, states and the federal government to advise on
leadership policies; share our learning and expertise with the education community
through research publications and tools
New Leaders Presence
Nationwide, we have developed 1,000+ leaders who currently serve over 300,000
students – 90 percent of whom are students of color and 85 percent of whom are from
low-income households.
Through our consulting and policy engagements, we impact thousands of additional
educators and students across the country.
Objectives
 Objectives:
 To share findings from the Great Principals at Scale
report
 To identify strategies for sharing findings with districts
 To identify state strategies for supporting effective district
conditions
Overview of Report Findings
Gina Ikemoto, PhD
Principals Matter
 The difference
between having an
average and an
above-average
school principal can
impact student
achievement by as
much as 20
percentage points
Current Conditions Often Hinder Principal Success
• Districts should enable
principal success ….
• But too often, they
hinder principals …
Project Methodology
We drew on a literature review and
expertise from practitioner and
research experts to create a
framework outlining 15 conditions.
Conditions Framework
Strand 1
• Condition 1.1
• Condition 1.2
• Condition 1.3
• Condition 1.4
• Condition 1.5
Strand 2
Expertise
from
Practice
Research
• Condition 2.1
• Condition 2.2
• Condition 2.3
Strand 3
Expertise
from
Research
• Condition 3.1
• Condition 3.2
• Condition 3.3
• Condition 3.4
Strand 4
• Condition 4.1
• Condition 4.2
• Condition 4.3
Expert Advisory Group Members
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Craig Benes, Chicago Public Schools
LeAnn Buntrock, University of Virginia
Darden/Curry Partnership for Leaders in
Education
Mike Copland, Bill and Melinda Gates
Foundation
Hilary Darilek, District of Columbia Public
Schools
Troyce Fisher, Iowa Department of
Education
Jane Hannaway, National Center for
Analysis of Longitudinal Data in Education
Research, American Institutes for Research
Kimi Kean, Oakland Unified School District
Mike Knapp, University of Washington
Kenneth Leithwood, University of Toronto
Paige Maclean, Achievement First
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Leigh McGuigan, TNTP
Nakia Nicholson, Fairmont Heights High
School, Principal George’s County
Kathy O’Neill, Southern Education Regional
Board
Glenn Pethel, Gwinnett County Public
Schools
Michelle Pierre-Farid, Cleveland
Metropolitan School District
Amy Slothower, Get Smart Schools
Jody Spiro, The Wallace Foundation
Pamela Tucker, University of Virginia Curry
School of Education, University Council for
Educational Administration
Carl-Anthony Watson, The Wallace
Foundation
Courtney Welsh, NYC Leadership Academy
Effective Leadership Conditions Framework
Process for Reviewing Findings
Presenter
Audience
For each strand, I will
describe the condition
and how the status quo
is typically problematic
and in need of
improvement
At the end of the presentation for each
strand, consider one district and rate
that district on each of the 3-5
conditions as:
 Highly developed
 Developed
 Somewhat developed
 Least developed
 Don’t know – lack information
about my district
 Don’t know – description of the
condition is unclear
After each slide, I will
pull up a poll for you to
rate a district on that
strand
Strand 1: Alignment Among Goals, Strategies,
Structures, and Resources
Effective conditions include…
Strategic Plan: District has a strategic plan
that identifies clear & ambitious goals
&strategies for achieving the goals
Organizational Structures:
Organizational structures and staffing
aligned to the strategic plan
Budget Alignment: Organizational budget
is aligned to the strategic plan
System Resource for School Support:
Curricula & data are aligned to the strategic
plan & support its implementation
Goal Monitoring: Districts have systems
for monitoring progress toward goals and
expectations
But, too often….
Goals lack wide stakeholder input and buy-in;
strategies shift frequently; plans include laundry list
of initiatives
Outdated structures, silos and redundancies create
inefficiency and confusion for school leaders
Tough decisions to deprioritize or discontinue
existing functions are rare
Principals and teachers have to create aligned
curricula and tools themselves
Districts fail to know when strategies are failing and
lack ability to make mid-course corrections
Strand 2: Culture of Collective Responsibility, Balanced
Autonomy, and Continuous Learning and Improvement
Effective conditions include…
But, too often….
Collective Responsibility: District
central offices and schools function as
collaborative team members working
towards the same goals
Central office plays a hierarchical command and
control role. Interactions are focused on
compliance. It is not safe to point out poorly
conceived or implemented district policies.
Balanced Autonomy: Principals have
discretion to meet the needs of their
schools balanced with the necessary
tools, support, and oversight
Principals are required to implement policies
designed without their input even when they are
detrimental for a particular situation.
Continuous Improvement: District
values organizational learning and
continuous improvement
Districts do not collect information about
implementation and cannot make mid-course
corrections.
Strand 3: Effective Management and Support for
Principals
Effective conditions include…
But, too often….
Principal Role Definition: Principal role has
been defined in a way that is feasible within
resource constraints and enables leaders to
make teaching and learning a priority
Ineffective central office functions are simply waste
principals’ time; Meanwhile new instructional
leadership responsibilities have been layered onto
existing responsibilities
Principal Performance: Principal standards
are research-based and the evaluation
process is fair, transparent, rigorous, and
aligned to the standards
Principal managers have differing expectations for
principals; lack of clear expectations hinders open
conversations about priorities and frank feedback.
Professional Learning: Principal
professional learning opportunities are ongoing, high quality, and focused on
principals’ needs
District PD for principals typically involves
workshop-style meetings where one-size-fits-all
content is delivered to principals
Principal Managers: Principal
supervisors have the capacity and
bandwidth to effectively manage and
support principals
Principal managers lack knowledge and/or time to
develop principals. Caseloads average 24 schools.
Strand 4: Systems and Policies to Effectively Manage
Talent at the School-Level
Effective conditions include…
But, too often….
Staffing Decisions: Principals have
authority to hire, reassign, or dismiss
school-based staff
Principals are not allowed to build their own teams.
They are forced to take on excessed teachers or
bargaining agreements allow teachers to choose
their school and grade/subject placements based
on seniority
Teacher Performance: Teacher
performance is assessed through a
transparent, fair, rigorous process, according
to research-based standards and including
student outcomes
Assessment systems are burdensome and timeconsuming; rules limit principals’ ability to observe
and provide feedback.
Human Resource Systems: Human
resource systems enable schools to attract,
hire, and retain top-quality candidates at all
levels
HR departments focus on transaction processing;
hiring processes are burdensome & time
consuming; lack capacity to support recruiting
The Conditions that Matter Most
Conditions Framework
Strand 1
• Condition 1.1
• Condition 1.2
• Condition 1.3
• Condition 1.4
• Condition 1.5
Strand 2
• Condition 2.1
• Condition 2.2
• Condition 2.3
Strand 3
• Condition 3.1
• Condition 3.2
• Condition 3.3
• Condition 3.4
Strand 4
• Condition 4.1
• Condition 4.2
• Condition 4.3
Balanced Autonomy: Principals have
discretion to meet the needs of their schools
balanced with the necessary tools, support,
and oversight
Principal Role Definition: Principal role has
been defined in a way that is feasible within
resource constraints and enables leaders to make
teaching and learning a priority
Principal Management & Development:
Principal managers have the capacity to
effectively manage and develop principals
Staffing Decisions: Principals have authority to
hire, reassign, or dismiss school-based staff
Toolkit
In addition to the report, there is a full
suite of diagnostic and planning tools
• Rubric that delineates the quality of
implementation and development of
specific conditions.
• Survey that provides evidence of key staff
member (principals and central office staff)
perceptions of how the district is
performing against the framework.
• Analytic supports:
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Conditions and tool map
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Conditions and indicators list
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Examples of evidence
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Guiding questions
Communicate the diagnostic
process and goals
Data collection
(survey and rubric)
Pre-read report and
data reports
Interpretation process to identify
trends and root causes
Action planning
Strategies for Sharing Findings
Gina Ikemoto, PhD
Strategy 1: Presentation & Self-Assessment
 Use slides or executive summary to review findings
 Have participants self-assess in the moment
 See assessment rating form
 Have participants identify 3 areas of strength and 3
areas of weakness
 If multiple participants from the same district, have them
build consensus first
 Have districts plot their strengths and weaknesses and
share out strengths
Strategy 2: Action Planning Session
Identify two areas of weakness. For each one, answer the following
questions:
 Do you think others in the district have a common vision of what
effectiveness looks like?
 If not, how could you build a common vision?
 Do you think others in the district agree that this condition is an
area of weakness?
 If not, what data/information could you gather to inform an
evidence-based diagnosis?
 Brainstorm: What steps could you take to improve this condition?
Decide: which next steps do you commit to acting on?
Strategy 3: Cabinet Inquiry Project
 Encourage district leaders to study report with cabinet
and implement tools
 Use survey and/or rubric to collect data and assess
 Create and implement an action plan
Poll
 Open question: Can you think of other strategies for
sharing the report and moving district leaders to action?
 Which strategy do you intend to use (choose all that
apply):
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None
Strategy 1
Strategy 2
Strategy 3
Other Strategy
State Strategies that Support District
Conditions
Gina Ikemoto, PhD
State Support for Strand 1
Strand 1: Alignment among goals, strategies,
structures and resources so that the work of
every staff member is supporting system-wide
goals focused on increasing student
achievement
 Increase the timeliness and
predictability of state budget
processes while providing
districts with support in
aligning resources to
strategic priorities
California
California’s Local Control
Funding Formula (LCFF) gives
school districts, charter schools,
and county offices of education
new funding streams. This
promising new formula replaces
the old district income with base,
supplemental, and concentration
grants. The rollout plan is slated
to take eight years, by which
districts will receive 20 percent
more funds for low-income,
English learner, and foster youth
students. Schools will have
broad discretion over how ot use
the base grants.
State Support for Strand 2
Strand 2: Culture of collective
responsibility, balanced autonomy,
and continuous learning and
improvement.
 Model state-wide culture
of collective responsibility,
balanced autonomy and
continuous improvement.
Massachusetts
In Massachusetts, the state and its
districts work together as partners.
According to the RAND study, as the
state increased its collaboration with
districts by listening to, validating, and
addressing their concerns, the state
gained credibility, thereby encouraging
more districts to collaborate with it.
One state staff member said, “Our face
has grown friendly,” and a Springfield,
MA district staff member agreed, saying
“It was like having inside help … the state
was becoming a real partner in our work
and not an adversary or just a
compliance organization.”
State Support for Strand 3
Strand 3: Effective management and support for principals,
including roles and responsibilities that are feasible and
continuous opportunities for principals to grow and receive
feedback.
 Promote and fund
effective principal
evaluation, support, and
development by sharing
models with districts and
using principal managers
as a key lever.
Delaware
Delaware requires that all principal
supervisors become “Credentialed
Evaluators” in order to be
responsible for evaluating principals.
State Support for Strand 4
Strand 4: Systems and policies to effectively manage talent at the
school level.
Tennessee
 Ensure state personnel
laws and policies enable
districts and principals to
manage human capital
effectively, including
cultivating a robust
pipeline to the
principalship.
Tennessee developed a new set
of assistant principal selection
tools to drive new
understandings of the assistant
principal role and alignment to
the Tennessee Instructional
Leadership Standards (TLIS).
Gina Ikemoto, PhD
Q&A
For more information
 For full copies of the executive summary, report, and toolkit,
you can visit:
 www.newleaders.org/newsreports/greatprincipals-at-scale
 Or contact:
 Gina Ikemoto ([email protected]), Executive
Director of Research and Policy Development
 Lori Taliaferro ([email protected]), Executive
Director of District Services