Transcript Slide 1

1
Let's Get Serious!
Together, we can ALL
profit from our diversity
Stevan J. Kukic, PhD
VP, Strategic Sales Initiatives
Cambium Learning/Voyager
[email protected]
The Problem
2
WE TALK AND TALK AND
COMMISERATE AND
TALK AND, OFTEN, TAKE
NO SUSTAINABLE
ACTION TO SOLVE OUR
DIVERSITY PROBLEMS.
Beyond his worries about intervention, Seward
had little faith in the efficacy of proclamations
that he considered nothing more than paper
without the muscle of the advancing Union Army
to enforce them.
“The public mind seizes quickly upon theoretical
schemes for relief,” he pointedly told Frances,
who had long yearned for a presidential
proclamation against slavery, “but is slow in the
adoption of the practical means necessary to give
them effect.”
Goodwin, 2005
As Albert Einstein
said:
“The significant
problems we face
cannot be solved by
the same level of
thinking that created
them.”
Circle of
Influence
Circle of
Concern
We are all
caught up in an
inescapable
web of
mutuality.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
And now for something completely different!
 A major economic “reset”
 Barely civil politics
 Stimulus money from the American
Recovery and Reinvestment Act
 A new preK – 12 Comprehensive
Literacy Act – The LEARN Act
 Reauthorizations of ESEA and IDEA
Pres. Obama’s Five Pillars of Educational Reform
March 10, 2009
 Investing in early childhood initiatives
 Adopting world class standards in every state
 Recruiting, preparing, and rewarding
outstanding teachers while getting rid of
teachers who do not get results
 Promoting innovation and excellence
 Providing quality higher education for every
American
Stimulus Money
 The stimulus money, in the absence of an
appropriate whole system reform conception, will
fail.
 There is already evidence that states will find ways to
use stimulus money to alleviate budget cuts in other
areas, and even if the money is spent on intended
strategies, these strategies themselves are
incomplete, partial remedies.
Fullan, 2010
10
The Comprehensive Literacy Bill:
The LEARN Act
 Maintaining the research based principles of
Reading First
 Literacy basis of ESEA Reauthorization
 Using RtI (Multi Tier System of Supports – MTSS)
 Defining Evidence Based Practice
 From a coalition led by the Alliance for Excellent
Education to Rep. Polis (D-CO) to the Congress
MTSS in the LEARN Act
MULTI-TIER SYSTEM OF SUPPORTS
The term ‘‘multi-tier system of supports’’ means
a comprehensive system of differentiated
supports that includes evidence-based
instruction, universal screening, progress
monitoring, formative assessment, and
research-based interventions matched to
student needs, and educational decision making
using student outcome data.
Evidence Based Practice Definition
13
The term “evidence based” means
those practices, instruction,
interventions that have
independent validation that
they will produce gains in
student outcomes when used
with fidelity.
The Reauthorizations are coming! Soon!
ESEA
 Change name (to Every Child a Graduate)
 RtI
 Growth model
 Inclusion of ALL (NAEP limits on exclusion of EL &
SWD)
 Sub group to student group
 Eliminate 2% rule (Harkin, 5/5/09)
 Common standards
US Department of Ed on ESEA:
A Blueprint for Reform-Priorities

College and Career Ready Students-raising standards for all
students, better assessments, a complete education

Great Teachers and Leaders in Every School-effective
teachers and principals, our best teachers and leaders where they are
needed most, strengthening teacher and leader preparation and
recruitment

Equity and Opportunity for All Students-rigorous and fair
accountability for all levels, meeting the needs of diverse learners,
greater equity

Raise the Bar and Reward Excellence-fostering a race to the
top, supporting effective public school choice, promoting a culture of
college readiness and success

Promote Innovation and Continuous Improvementfostering innovation and accelerating success, supporting, recognizing,
and rewarding local innovations, supporting student success
15
The Reauthorizations are coming! Soon!
IDEA
 One law?
 MTSS (RtI) for all
 LD in the law
 Students with Disabilities in accountability
 Maintain stimulus level of funding (Harkin, 5/5/09)
It’s much easier to
ride the horse in the
direction it’s going.
Gabie Frazier 2009
Improving Education in the United States
In 1980, the United States had one of the most
accomplished public education systems in the world.
Over the past 30 years, it has slipped while other
countries have steadily passed it. All this while
quadrupling its education expenditure.
How fascinating!
Fullan, 2010
18
NAEP Reading & Math (age 9) scores and
cumulative textbook spending
$ 40 Bn
300
290
Cumulative Textbook
Sales
280
$ 32 Bn
270
$ 24 Bn
260
250
240
$ 16 Bn
230
NAEP Math
NAEP Reading
220
210
200
1982
1984
1986
1988
1990
1992
1994
1996
1998
1999
2000
2002
How U.S. Schools Stack Up
Rank
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Country
FINLAND
SOUTH KOREA
NEW ZEALAND
AUSTRALIA
JAPAN
GERMANY
CZECH REPUBLIC
U.S.
Rank based on reading, science, and math scores
Days in School
187
204
194
198
210
193
194
180
Intelligence Report, Parade.com, 2009
As You Know….
On a national basis, 68% of 4th grade students are below
proficient in reading performance. The problem is more acute with
English Learners, Special Education and economically disadvantaged
students – where between 8 to 9 out of 10 students perform below
grade level. These three important sub-groups account for
over 40% of all students
A one-standard deviation increase in educational achievement
is estimated to increase GDP by two percent 1
Nationally, only 7 in 10 students are successfully graduating
from high school 2
1 Education Quality and Economic Growth, The World Bank
2 EPE Research Center, 2008
The Early Catastrophe
Extrapolated to the first four years of life, the average
child in a professional family would have accumulated
560,000 more instances of encouraging feedback than
discouraging feedback, and an average child in a
working-class family would have accumulated 100,000
more encouragements than discouragements. But an
average child in a welfare family would have
accumulated 125,000 more instances of prohibitions
than encouragements. By the age of 4, the average child
in a welfare family might have had 144,000
fewer encouragements and 84,000
more discouragements of his or her behavior than the
average child in a working-class family.
Hart & Risley, 2003
The Racial Achievement Gap
On average, black and Latino students are roughly
two to three years of learning behind white students
of the same age. The racial gap exists regardless of
how it is measured, including both achievement (e.g.,
test score) and attainment (e.g., graduation rate)
measures.
McKinsey & Co., 2009
All things being equal, a low-income student in the
United States is far less likely to do well in school
than a low-income student in Finland.
McKinsey & Co., 2009
The educational
achievement gaps in the
United States have
created the equivalent of a
permanent, deep
recession in terms of the
gap between actual and
potential output in the
economy.
McKinsey & Co., 2009
What can we do?
Let’s get serious!
It’s about how you
live your life.
Pausch, 2008
Trustworthiness
Character
Competence
•Integrity
•Technical
•Maturity
•Conceptual
•Abundance
Mentality
•Interdependency
Be
Do
1993 Covey Leadership Center, Inc.
The Heart, Art, and Science of Teaching
One must first
have the heart for
teaching. One can
then learn the
science and the
art of teaching.
Dea Allan, 2010
Confidential
THE Conundrum of American Public Education
We can, whenever we choose, successfully teach all
children whose schooling is of interest to us. We
already know more than we need to do that. Whether
or not we do it must finally depend on how we feel
about the fact that we haven’t so far.
Ron Edmonds, 1982 in DuFour et al., 2004
Conquering the Conundrum
Science without Passion is uninspiring.
Passion without Science is self centered.
Science with passion is THE key to student
success!
Kukic, 2008
Rosa Parks
Change is
good.
You go first!
Judy Elliott, 2004
The only person
who likes
change is a
wet baby.
Always do right (things right).
This will gratify some people
and astonish the rest.
Mark Twain and Stephen Covey
Mindset
Fixed
v.
Growth
Dweck, 2007
The fixed mindset limits achievement. It fills
people’s minds with interfering thoughts, it makes
effort disagreeable, and it leads to inferior learning
strategies. What’s more, it makes other people into
judges instead of allies.
Dweck, 2006
Marva Collins: She defined the growth mindset!
On the first day of class, she
approached Freddie, a left-back
second grader, who wanted no part of
school. “Come on, peach,” she said to
him, cupping his face in her hands,
“we have work to do. You can’t just
sit in a seat and grow smart…I
promise, you are going to do, and you
are going to produce. I am not going
to let you fail.”
Dweck, 2006
My success and..education can be
companions that no misfortune can
depress, no crime can destroy, and no
enemy can alienate. Without education,
(one) is a slave…Time and chance come
to us all. I can be either hesitant or
courageous. I can...stand up and shout:
“This is my time and my place.
I will accept the challenge.”
School Creed
West Side Prep
Marva Collins, Founder 1987
Four critical questions to prove
you are a PLC
1.
What is it we want all students to learn—by
grade level, by course, and by unit of
instruction?
2.
How will we know when each student has
acquired the intended knowledge and skills?
3.
How will we respond when students
experience initial difficulty so that we can
improve upon current levels of learning?
4.
How will we respond when students learn
quickly so we can improve their current levels
DuFour, et al., 2004
of learning?
Important achievements require a clear focus, all-out
effort, and a bottomless trunk full of strategies.
Plus allies in learning.
This is what the growth mindset gives people, and
that’s why it helps their abilities grow and bear fruit.
Dweck, 2006
Dominant Discourse
It is the language of the educated, the language of the
ruling and decision-making class.
Those who master this language can influence others
and are the least susceptible to being manipulated by
those who wield language for unwholesome purposes.
Delpit, 1995
I Have a Dream
…We have come to
this hallowed spot
to remind America
of the fierce
urgency of NOW…
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
August 28, 1963
I Have a Dream
…We have no time
for the
tranquilizing drug
of gradualism…
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
August 28, 1963
Desegregation will break down the legal
barriers and bring men together physically,
but something must touch the hearts and souls
of men so that they will come together
spiritually because it is natural and
right…True integration will be achieved by
true neighbors who are willingly obedient to
unenforceable obligations.
Dr. Martin Luther King
The Standard
All policies, programs, and practices are considered
through the lens of “How does this impact student
learning?”
Those that encourage learning are embraced.
Those that interfere with learning are discarded.
DuFour, et al., 2004
If it works, don’t break it.
If it doesn’t work,
break the sucker!
Kukic, 1993
Covey, 2004
We can, whenever we choose, successfully teach all
children whose schooling is of interest to us. We
already know more than we need to do that. Whether
or not we do it must finally depend on how we feel
about the fact that we haven’t so far.
Ron Edmonds, 1982 in DuFour et al., 2004
The Truth
Every organization is
perfectly aligned for
the results it gets.
SEE
GET
DO
What can we do?
Let’s get serious!
A successful school, like successful business is a
cohesive community of shared values, beliefs, rituals
and ceremonies.
The community celebrates it’s saga by telling the
stories of heroes and heroines who embody the core
values of the community.
Human bonds are forged to release a
powerful synergy of shared responsibility.
All members are involved as the adversarial mentality
is supplanted by a spirit of cooperation and mutual
commitment.
Brendtro, et al, 1990
Brendtro, et al, 1990
What we need to develop is a
Sustainable and Coherent
System of Services that results in
improved student achievement
That’s all…
In theory, there is no
difference between theory
and practice.
In practice, there is.
Yogi Berra
The problem:
Building the plane while it’s flying.
We must tackle all
aspects of reform
at the same time.
Alberto Carvalho
Superintendent-Miami Dade, 2010
Systems trump programs.
McCarthy, 2002
62
Fullan has shown that real change
is possible but only by taking a
truly systematic approach.
Senge in Fullan, 2010
Five Promises
The America’s Promise Alliance
1.
Caring adults who are actively involved as parents,
teachers, mentors, coaches, and neighbors
2.
Safe places that offer constructive use of time
3.
A healthy start and healthy development
4.
Effective education that builds marketable skills
5.
Opportunities to help others by making a difference
through service
Balfanz, et al., 2009
Components of a Comprehensive System
to Ensure Success
 School Achievement


Academic skills (developing core reading, writing, and mathematics skills)
Course performance (doing quality course work, competing assignments,
doing well on tests, etc.)
 School Engagement



Attendance (coming every day)
Behavior (conforming to the expected norms of behavior)
Effort (trying hard, participating in learning, not giving up)
 Life outside of school




Health supports for students and their families
Child Care
Homelessness
Foster care
Balfanz, et al., 2009
Cultural Shifts for Developing the Culture of a
Professional Learning Community
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
From a focus on teaching to a focus on learning
From working in isolation to working collaboratively
From focusing on activities to focusing on results
From fixed time to flexible time
From average learning to individual learning
From punitive to positive
From “teacher tell/student listen” to “teacher
coaching/student practice”
From recognizing the elite to creating opportunity for
many winners
DuFour, et al., 2004
Relationship between collaborative goal setting, board alignment, allocation of resources, and nonnegotiable goals
for achievement and instruction
Nonnegotiable Goals
For Achievement
Nonnegotiable Goals
For Instruction
Collaborative
Goal Setting
Board Alignment
Allocation of
Resources
Marzano and Waters, 2009
Wichita Public Schools
District-Level Non-Negotiables
The culture of PLC is embraced, expected, and supported at
the school and district level as operationalized by the MTSS
innovation configuration MATRIX.
District level standard protocols; in the areas of academic
and behavior assessment, curriculum, intervention,
instruction, and operations; are established, implemented
and supported with fidelity.
The focus of Professional Development is expecting and
supporting fidelity of implementation.
Results-driven leadership is expected and supported.
The System
Big Ideas for Whole-System Reform
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
All children can learn
A small number of key priorities
Resolute leadership/stay on message
Collective capacity
Strategies with precision
Intelligent accountability
All means all
Fullan, 2010
68
Elements of a Successful Reform
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
A small number of ambitious goals
A guiding coalition at the top
High standards and expectations
Collective capacity building with a focus on instruction
Individual capacity building linked to instruction
Mobilizing the data as a strategy for improvement
Intervention in a nonpunitive manner
Being vigilant about “distractors”
Being transparent, relentless, and increasingly
challenging
Fullan, 2010
69
70
 Carl Cohn became superintendent in 1992.
An Example!
 Cohn worked on bringing things together
Long Beach
Unified
School District,
CA
 Cohn made instruction the main focus.
(LBUSD)
centrally with respect to vision, high
expectations, and standards.
 In LBUSD, building the district’s capacity for
data driven decision making was a key
component in designing interventions and
support systems that achieved results.
Between 1999 and 2002, the
number of fifth graders reading
at grade level increased from
6.7% to 53.5%.
Fullan, 2010
Factors That Seem to Influence Sustainability
of High-quality Implementation
 Teachers’ acceptance and commitment to the program; the presence of a strong
school site facilitator to support them as the teachers acquired proficiency in its
execution
 Unambiguous buy-in on the part of all staff at the school; empower teachers to
take ownership and responsibility for the process of school change; schools or
districts must agree to follow procedures designed to ensure high-fidelity
implementation and agree to collect data on implementation and student
outcomes.
 Feelings of professionalism and self-determination among teachers; teachers are
provided with professional development (training, in-class coaching, and prompt
feedback) that leads to proficiency.
 Programs are perceived by teachers as practical, useful, and beneficial to students.
 Administrative support and leadership; instructional practice is valued by the
school leaders; administration provides long-term support for professional
development to teachers and assessment of implementation and student
performance.
Denton, Vaughn & Fletcher, 2003
PLC Essential
Characteristics
RTI Fundamental
Elements
Focus on Learning &
Collaborative Culture
Collective Responsibility
Focus on Results
Universal Screening & Progress
Monitoring
Action Experimentation
Systematic Intervention &
Decision Protocols
Collective Inquiry
Research-Based Core Program
& Interventions
Buffum, et al., 2009
Kansas Multi-Tier System of Support: MTSS
Behavior
• Student centered planning
• Customized function-based interventions
• Frequent progress monitoring to guide
intervention design
• Supplemental targeted function-based interventions
• Small groups or individual support
• Frequent progress monitoring to guide intervention
design
Academics
• More intense supplemental targeted skill interventions
• Customized interventions
• Frequent progress monitoring to guide intervention design
•
•
•
Supplemental targeted skill interventions
Small groups
Frequent progress monitoring to guide intervention
design
• All students, All settings
• Positive behavioral expectations
explicitly taught and reinforced
• Consistent approach to discipline
• Assessment system and data-based
decision making
• All students
• Evidence-based core curriculum & instruction
• Assessment system and data-based decision
making
KSDE, 2007
Kansas MTSS Service Delivery Model;
www.kansasmtss.org
Clark County Response to Instruction
Framework (Academic and Behavior)
Intensity of Resources and Services
Data
Tier III
Ongoing professional
Access
development
To general
making
education curriculum
Parent communication
Additional intensive, focused
Interventions
Intensive behavior intervention
for individual students
Progress monitoring
problem-solving
based decision
Tier II
Access to general education curriculum
Additional individualize/small-group intervention
Targeted behavior supports for students at risk
Progress monitoring
Tier I
Access to the general education (standards-based) curriculum for All students
High-quality, differentiated instruction
School-wide and classroom positive behavior supports and expectations to
include effective classroom management
Universal screening/Benchmarking and progress monitoring
Intensity of Resources and Services
Collaborative
Continuous
School
Improvement
Data-based
Decision
Making
Clark County
Integrated Model of RTI
for Continuous
School Improvement
Tier
III
•Research-based
Intervention
•Progress
Monitoring
•Access to general
curriculum
•Progress
monitoring
Tier II
Professional
Learning
Communities
•High Quality
Instruction
•Differentiated
Instruction
Assessment and
Accountability
•Universal Screener
•Progress Monitoring
•State and District Assessments
provide global indicators of
instructional efficacy
General
Education
Instruction
Adapted from Deshler & Johnson
(2009)
STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT PYRAMID OF INTERVENTIONS
Georgia Department of
Education
Offices of Curriculum
and Instruction and
Teacher/Student
Support
TIER 4
SPECIALLY DESIGNED
INSTRUCTION/LEARNING
Targeted students participate in:
-Specialized programs
-Adapted content, methodology,
or instructional delivery
-GPS access/extension
TIER 3: SST DRIVEN INSTRUCTION/LEARNING
Targeted students participate in:
-Individual assessment
-Tailored interventions to
respond to their needs
-Frequent formative assessments
-Consideration for specially designed instruction
only when data indicates a need (e.g. gifted or
special education services)
TIER 2:
NEEDS BASED INSTRUCTION/LEARNING:
STANDARD INTERVENTION PROTOCOLS
Targeted students participate in instruction that:
-Is different from Tier 1
-Uses established intervention protocols
-Provides enhanced opportunities for extended learning
-Uses flexible, small groups
-Includes more frequent progress monitoring
-Addresses needs in all developmental domains (academic,
communication/language, social etc.)
TIER 1
STANDARDS BASED CLASSROOM INSTRUCTION/LEARNING
All students participate in instruction that is:
-In the general education classroom
-Standards-based
-Differentiated
- Evidenced-based
•Guided by progress monitoring & balanced assessment
-Planned to address all developmental domains (academic,
communication/language, social etc.)
Atlanta Public Schools
Response to Intervention Model
Tiers I and II Interventions are facilitated in the general education
environment by grade level and department teams. Documentation
from each tier is utilized to make decisions regarding interventions
and movement between tiers.
Tier III Interventions and services are facilitated by the Student
Support Team (SST). The SST Chairperson ensures the process is
followed and team decisions are made according to the outcome of
data, indicating student progress.
Tier IV Interventions and services are facilitated through
specialized programs or instructional delivery models such as the
Program for Exceptional Children, English Language Learners, or
Gifted Instruction.
78
In effect, large-scale status-oriented summative
assessments appear to be relatively ineffective in
providing information that can be used to make
instructional decisions regarding individual students.
We agree that a value-added or growth model should be
the primary type of data used by districts and states to
analyze their effectiveness.
Marzano and Waters, 2009
The research reported
here [analyzing 250
studies] shows
conclusively that
formative assessment
does improve learning.
Black and Wiliam, 1998
Four Phases
To set and monitor nonnegotiable goals for achievement using a
formatively based, value-added system of assessment
Phase 1: Reconstitute state standards as measurement
topics or reporting topics
Phase 2: Track student progress on measurement topics
using teacher-designed and district-designed
formative assessment
Phase 3: Provide support for individual students
Phase 4: Redesign report card
Marzano and Waters, 2009
Early Intervention Changes Reading Outcomes
Reading First Assessment Committee 2000, based on Torgesen data
5
Reading grade level (GE)
5.2
Low risk on
early screening
4.9
With researchbased core but
with extra
instructional
intervention
3.2
With researchbased core but
without extra
instructional
intervention
4
3
2.5
2
High risk on early
screening
1
1
2
3
Grade level corresponding to age
4
What is your reality?
Generic Models Another Reality
A
FEW
need
Intensive
instruction
Most will benefit from
Intensive Instruction
SOME need
more support
NEARLY ALL
work in core curriculum
Some need
more support
A few
learn
easily
The Big “BIG” Idea of RtI
DECIDE WHAT IS IMPORTANT FOR STUDENTS TO
KNOW
TEACH WHAT IS IMPORTANT FOR STUDENTS TO
KNOW
KEEP TRACK OF HOW STUDENTS ARE DOING
MAKE CHANGES ACCORDING TO THE RESULTS
YOU COLLECT
Dave Tilly, Heartland AEA; 2005
The single greatest determinant of learning is not
socioeconomic factors or funding levels.
It is instruction.
A bone-deep, institutional acknowledgement
of this fact continues to elude us.
Schmoker, 2006
Instructional Design Questions
1. What will I do to establish and communicate learning goals, track student
progress, and celebrate success?
2.What will I do to help students effectively interact with new knowledge?
3. What will I do to help students practice and deepen their understanding of new
knowledge?
4. What will I do to help students generate and test hypotheses about new
knowledge?
5.What will I do to engage students?
6.What will I do to establish or maintain classroom rules and procedures?
7. What will I do to recognize and acknowledge adherence and lack of adherence to
classroom rules and procedures?
8. What will I do to establish and maintain effective relationships with students?
9.What will I do to communicate high expectations for all students?
10. What will I do to develop effective lessons organized into a cohesive unit?
Marzano, 2007
Recommendations for ELLs
1.
Screen for reading problems and monitor progress
2.
Provide intensive small-group interventions
3.
Provide extensive and varied vocabulary instruction
4.
Develop academic English
5.
Schedule regular peer-assisted learning opportunities
Gersten, et al., 2007
SWPBS is about….
http://www.pbis.org
The Five Dysfunctions of a Team
Inattention
to
Results
Avoidance of
Accountability
Lack of
Commitment
Fear of
Conflict
Absence of
Trust
Lencioni, 2002
Members of Truly Cohesive Teams:
 Trust one another
 Engage in unfiltered conflict around ideas
 Commit to decisions and plans of action
 Hold one another accountable for delivering
against those plans
 Focus on the achievement of collective results
Lencioni, 2002
Bonding
Bonding depends upon
everyone being bound
to a set of shared
purposes, ideas, and
ideals that reflect their
needs, interests,
and beliefs.
Sergiovanni, 2000
We do not really see through our eyes or hear through
our ears, but through our beliefs. To put our beliefs on
hold is to cease to exist as ourselves for a moment—
and that is not easy. It is painful as well, because it
means turning yourself inside out, giving up your own
sense of who you are, and being willing to see yourself
in the unflattering light of another’s angry gaze. It is
not easy, but it is the only way to learn what it might
feel like to be someone else and the only way to start
the dialogue.
Delpit, 1995
Courageous Conversations
Singleton & Linton, 2006
98
 The fact that schools are geared primarily to serve
monolingual, White, middle class and Anglo clients
is never questioned. Arciniega, 1977
 We must re-create the present system so that it, in
turn, reshapes the possibilities for the great majority
of schools. Darling-Hammond, 1997
Three Critical Factors to Close the
Achievement Gap
99
 Passion: The level of connectedness educators to
anti-racism and school transformation work
 Practice: The essential and institutional actions
taken to effectively educate every student to his or
her full potential
 Persistence: The willingness of the school
system to “stick with it” despite slow results, political
pressure, new ideas, and systemic inertia, or
resistance to change
Singleton & Linton, 2006
Passion with Practice and Persistence
100
Passion is the cornerstone of anti-racist
leadership. Emboldened with passion,
enabled with practice, and strengthened by
persistence, we can create schools in which
all students achieve at higher levels,
achievement gaps are narrowed, and the
racial predictability and disproportionality
of high and low student achievement are
eliminated.
Singleton & Linton, 2006
Four Agreements of Courageous Conversations
101
Stay engaged
Speak your truth
Experience discomfort
Expect and accept non-closure
The Courageous Conversation
Compass
Moral: Believing
Intellectual: Thinking
Emotional: Feeling
Social: Doing
Singleton & Linton, 2006
102
After a few decades of research on
training, teachers, Joyce & Showers
(2002) began to think of training and
coaching as one continuous set of
operations designed to produce actual
changes in the classroom behavior of
teachers. One without the other is
insufficient.
Fixsen, et al., 2005
It ought to be remembered that there is nothing
more difficult to take in hand, more perilous to
conduct, or more uncertain in its success, than
to take the lead in the introduction of a new
order of things.
Because the innovator has for enemies all those
who have done well under the old conditions,
and lukewarm defenders among those who may
do well under the new.
Machiavelli
Covey’s Four Imperatives of Great Leaders
FOCUS ON RESULTS
+
INTERPERSONAL SKILLS
=
EFFECTIVE LEADERSHIP
Roles and Skills of a Literacy Leader
Jones, Burns, and Pirri, 2010
There is not a single documented case of a school
successfully turning around its pupil achievement
trajectory in the absence of talented leadership.
Similarly, we did not find a single school system
which had been turned around that did not possess
sustained, committed, and talented leadership.
McKinsey and Company Report, 2007
In comparing levels of decentralization in
thirty-nine countries that were involved in
Trends in International mathematics and
Science Study (TIMSS) they note that
“decentralization comes at a cost of less
curricular consistency among a nation’s
classrooms.”
Of the thirty-nine countries they compared,
the United States was the most decentralized.
Baker and LeTendre, 2005
Site-Based Management
While there are different definitions of the
term, school-based management can be
viewed conceptually as a formal alteration of
governance structures, as a form of
decentralization that identifies the
individual school as the primary unit of
improvement and relies on redistribution of
decision making authority as the primary
means through which improvements might
be stimulated and sustained.
Malen, Ogawa, and Kranz, 1990
Summary of Findings Regarding Site-Based Management
There is little evidence that school-based
management produces substantial of
sustainable improvements in either the
attitudes of administrators and teachers or the
instructional components of schools…There is
little evidence that school-based management
improves student achievement.
Malen, Ogawa, and Kranz, 1990
Based on the McKinsey and Company Study, we
believe that the ten best-performing school districts
in the world, as measured by the PISA, are exemplars
of the leadership responsibilities and practices
reported here and in our book School Leadership
That Works (Marzano et al., 2005)
Marzano and Waters, 2009
A highly effective school leader can have a
dramatic influence on the overall academic
achievement of students.
Marzano, Waters, & McNulty, 2005
Our findings clearly point to the efficacy of tight
coupling regarding achievement and instruction at
the district level.
Tight coupling clearly appears to hold great promise
as the necessary ingredient for a district-level effect
on student achievement.
Marzano and Waters, 2009
Beyond Islands of Excellence
The Findings
1.
Districts had the courage to acknowledge poor performance and the will to seek
solutions.
2.
Districts put in place a systemwide approach to improving instruction—one that
articulated curricular content and provided instructional supports.
3.
Districts instilled visions that focused on student learning and guided instructional
improvement.
4.
Districts made decisions based on data, not instinct.
5.
Districts adopted new approaches to professional development that involved a
coherent and district-organized set of strategies to improve instruction.
6.
Districts redefined leadership roles.
7.
Districts committed to sustaining reform over the long haul.
Learning First Alliance, 2003
Five District-Level Leadership Responsibilities
1.
Ensuring collaborative goal setting
2.
Establishing nonnegotiable goals for
achievement and instruction
3.
Creating board alignment with an support of
district goals
4.
Monitoring achievement and instruction goals
5.
Allocating resources to support the goals for
achievement and instruction
Marzano and Waters, 2009
Our findings regarding
nonnegotiable goals for
achievement and
nonnegotiable goals for
instruction are defining
features of effective
district leadership in
that they should be the
centerpiece of a
comprehensive district
reform effort.
Marzano and Waters, 2009
While it is true that schools are unique and must
operate in such a way as to address their unique
needs, it is also true that each school must operate as
a functional component of a larger system. It is the
larger system – the district – that establishes the
common work of schools within the district, and it is
that common work that becomes the “glue” holding
the district together.
Marzano and Waters, 2009
Based on our findings, we assert that in a high
reliability district, the right work in every school is
defined (at least in part) by the district—every
student will demonstrate high achievement as a
result of access to high-quality instruction.
Marzano and Waters, 2009
“Ready, fire , aim” is a more fruitful sequence if we
want to take a linear snapshot of an organization
undergoing major reform. Ready is important; there
has to be some notion of direction, but it is killing to
bog down the process with vision, mission, and
strategic planning before you know enough about
dynamic reality. Fire is action and inquiry where
skills, clarity, and learning are fostered. Aim is
crystallizing new beliefs, formulating mission and
vision statements, and focusing strategic planning.
Vision and strategic planning come later.
Fullan, 1993
Advice for District Leaders
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Know the Implications of Your Initiatives
Maintain a Unified Front
Keep the Big Ideas in the Forefront
Use What is Known About Acceptance of New
Ideas
Communicate With “Sticky Messages”
Manage Personnel Transitions
Marzano and Waters, 2009
Final Recommendations to District and
School-Level Leaders
 Take stock of your current practices and
approaches.
 Benchmark your use of these practices against
implementation in the best-performing school
districts in the world.
 Use your findings and recommendations as the
foundation for your own professional development.
Marzano and Waters, 2009
Striking the right balance between district
direction and school support, and superior
execution of the responsibilities and practices we
have presented, may be the difference between a
failed system and one that delivers on the
promise of opportunity and hope for all children
through high-reliability education.
Marzano and Waters, 2009
Nine Key Characteristics to Develop Effective
Sustainability Plans
1.
Adopt a systems perspective when approaching the
challenge of sustaining change.
2.
Identify, early on, the critical elements of the literacy
initiative that need to be sustained.
3.
Begin planning for sustainability at the outset of the
initiative and ensure that the implementation includes
monitoring of all the critical elements.
4.
Ensure that the critical elements are completely in place
before the school attempts to sustain them.
Jones, Burns, and Pirri, 2010
Nine Key Characteristics to Develop Effective
Sustainability Plans (cont.)
5.
Understand the obstacles to sustainability and recognize
strategies that can help to overcome them.
6.
Establish distributed leadership throughout the school.
7.
Ensure that there is a strong organizational culture.
8.
Realize the funding roles that emerge during different
cycles of the change process and understand how they
apply tot the literacy change initiative.
9.
Inaugurate ways that the organization can maintain,
extend, and adopt the changes over time.
Jones, Burns, and Pirri, 2010
The real question is , Are we serious enough to
work together in favor of the schools our future is
asking for?
I have no doubt that the young people are.
Senge in Fullan, 2010
129
To know and not do
is really not to know.
Covey, 2002
Making All Systems Go
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Resolute Leadership
Intelligent Accountability
Collective Capacity
Individual Capacity
Moral purpose/High Expectations
These five components represent a complex resource, one
that compounds and multiplies its effect through
interrelated use.
Fullan, 2010
131
Stop doing the wrong things:
They are wasteful distractors.
Limit the number of core initiatives.
Fullan, 2010
132
What we know v. What we do
 The five basic components of early reading v.
constructivist ideology for all students
 Making decisions based on data v. making decisions
based on tradition
 Evidence based and responsive teacher certification
v. academic freedom
 Diagnosing for special education using Response to
Intervention v. IQ/Achievement discrepancy
Confidential
The student achievement gap can be
solved only when the adult gap between
what we know and what we do is
reduced to zero.
We can do this.
It is a matter of will, not skill.
Kukic, 2009
Bold Action to Get Serious Results
 Commit together to data based decision making 100% of the time. No
more ideologically based decisions.
 Establish district level nonnegotiables related to assessment, curriculum,
intervention, instruction, & positive behavior supports.
 Commit to using curriculum, interventions, technology, services that have
external validation that they work with target students.
 Never purchase materials primarily because of the amount of free stuff
your system gets.
 Implement all curricula and interventions with fidelity.
 Implement a replacement core for students who continue to achieve below
the 30th percentile.
 Build and sustain a Multi Tier System of Support focused on improved
performance for all.
What can we do?
Let’s get serious!
Wichita Public Schools
District-Level Non-Negotiables
The culture of PLC is embraced, expected, and supported at
the school and district level as operationalized by the MTSS
innovation configuration MATRIX.
District level standard protocols; in the areas of academic
and behavior assessment, curriculum, intervention,
instruction, and operations; are established, implemented
and supported with fidelity.
The focus of Professional Development is expecting and
supporting fidelity of implementation.
Results-driven leadership is expected and supported.
What are your non negotiables?
Live with intention.
Walk to the edge.
Listen hard.
Practice wellness.
Play with abandon.
Laugh.
Choose with no regret.
Appreciate your friends.
Continue to learn.
Do what you love.
Live as if this is all there is.
Mary Anne Radmacher, 2008
WONDER
By Natalie Merchant
Doctors have come from distant cities just to see me.
Stand over my bed, disbelieving what they’re seeing.
They say I must be one of the wonders, God’s own creation.
And as far as they see, they can offer no explanation.
Newspapers ask intimate questions, my confessions.
Reach into my head to steal the glory of my story.
They say I must be one of the wonders, God’s own creation.
And as far as they see, they can offer no explanation.
I believe fate smiled and destiny laughed as she came to my
cradle, “Know this child will be able.”
Laughed, as my body she lifted, “Know this child will be gifted.
“With love, and patience, and with faith, she’ll make her way.
She’ll make her way.”
People see me, I’m a challenge to your balance.
I’m over your heads. I…I confound you and astound you
to know I must be one of the wonders, God’s own creation.
And as far as you see, you can offer me no explanation.
I believe fate smiled and destiny laughed, as she came to my
cradle, “Know this child will be able.”
Laughed, as she came to my mother,
“Know this child will not suffer.”
Laughed, as my body she lifted,
“Know this child will be gifted.”
“With love, with patience, and with faith, she’ll make her way.
She’ll make her way. She’ll make her way.”
Go for it!