Transcript Document

Leadership in Education: A Journey
International School Leadership: a
division of the Ontario Principals’
Council
Dr. Joanne Robinson
Focus for Today
1. Background information about OPC and
the Ontario education system
2. Principals as the key to student success
3. The changing role of the principal
4. Challenges and opportunities for school
leaders
Ontario has:
• 40% of Canada’s 33.6 million people (it is the most populous province)
• 60% of 225,000 immigrants who come to Canada annually
• Over 1 million square kilometres of land
• 2.1 million students
• Almost 126,000 teachers (unionized teaching and support staff)
• About 5,000 schools in 72 school districts
• Funding of $20.2B (CDN) in 2010-11 (40% increase compared to 2002-03)
• Principals are not unionized but supported through OPC
• Budget announced this spring allocates $22.8 billion for education – 45%
increase since 2002-03
What is the Ontario Principals
Council?
1. A professional association representing
elementary and secondary vice-principals and
principals in the public education system in
Ontario.
2. Three main roles on behalf of our members:
• Advocacy
• Consultation, advice and legal support when
necessary
• Professional learning and training
3. Relatively young organization, since April 1, 1998
4. Not part of the government, political but nonpartisan
Programme for International Student
Assessment (PISA) 2009
 From 65 countries, only Shanghai, China scored significantly
better in reading. In mathematics Ontario scored very well.
 In Ontario, the difference in achievement between students in
the top socio-economic quarter and the lowest quarter was
half the OECD average.
 Within Canada, Ontario has the highest proportion of
immigrant students.
Elementary Outcomes: Achievement Results
150,000 more students at provincial standard
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4 key levers for
elementary reform:
1. Improving
classroom
teaching and
learning
2. Improving school
effectiveness
3. Leadership
capacity building
4. Research and
evaluation
Secondary Outcomes: Achievement Results
6 key levers for
secondary reform:
1. Leadership
infrastructure
2. Engaging and
relevant
programming
3. Effective instruction
4. Focused
Interventions for
students at risk of
not graduating
5. Legislation and
policy development
6. Research,
monitoring and
evaluation
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Ontario
The exemplar for high performance is established and
transparent:
 District Effectiveness Framework
 School Effectiveness Framework
 Leadership Framework
 Standards of Practice for Teaching
 Curriculum Expectations
 Growing Success (Assessment)
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Professionalism
Ontario College of Teachers:
 Teacher certification
 Principals qualification program
 Supervisory Officials qualification program
 Additional qualifications
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Ken Leithwood’s Theory of Action
LSA
Initiatives
Rational
Path (Academic press,
Disciplinary climate, TLCPs)
Emotions
Path (Efficacy,
School-wide
Experience
Trust)
Leadership
Practices
Student
Learning
Organizational
Path (Time, PLC
,TLCPs))
Family
Path
(Expectations,
Reading
Classroom
Experience
Ontario Leadership Framework
Leadership is the exercise of influence on
organizational members and diverse
stakeholders toward the identification
and achievement of the organization’s
vision and goals.
Ontario Leadership Domains
 Setting Direction
 Building Relationships and Developing People
 Developing the Organization
 Improving the Instructional Program
 Securing Accountability
Personal Leadership Resources
 Cognitive
 Social
 Psychological
Leadership Frameworks
• Inspire a shared vision of leadership in schools and
boards
• Promote a common language that fosters an
understanding of leadership and what it means to
be a school and system leader
• Identify the practices and competencies that
describe effective leadership
• Guide the design and implementation of
professional learning and development for school
and system leaders
Setting Direction
• Build a shared vision
• Identify specific, shared short-term
goals
• Create high expectations
• Communicating the vision and goals
Building Relationships and
Developing People
Providing support and consideration for
individual staff
Stimulating growth in the professional
capacities of staff
Modeling the school’s values and practices
Building trusting relationships with and
among staff, students and parents
Developing the Organization
Build collaborative cultures and distribute
leadership
Structure to facilitate collaboration
Building positive relationships with families
and communities
Connect the school to wider environment
Maintain a safe and healthy environment
Allocate resources to support the vision and
goals
Improve the Instructional Program
Staffing the instructional program
Providing instructional support
Monitoring progress in student learning
and school improvement
Buffering staff from distractions to their
work
Securing Accountability
Building staff members’ sense of
internal accountability
Meeting the demands for external
accountability
PERSONAL LEADERSHIP RESOURCES
COGNITIVE RESOURCES:
• PROBLEM-SOLVING EXPERTISE
• KNOWLEDGE OF EFFECTIVE SCHOOL AND CLASSROOM
PRACTICES THAT AFFECT STUDENT LEARNING
SOCIAL RESOURCES:
• PERCEIVE AND MANAGE EMOTIONS
• ACT IN EMOTIONALLY APPROPRIATE WAYS
PSYCHOLOGICAL RESOURCES:
• OPTIMISM
• SELF-EFFICACY
• RESILIENCE
Principals and Student Achievement
Vivane Robinson
Dimension One: Establishing goals and expectations
 Specifies the importance of a strong sense of
purpose
 Talks enthusiastically about what needs to be
accomplished
 Talks optimistically
 Describes a compelling vision for the future
Dimension One: Establishing goals and expectations
 Expresses confidence that goals can be
achieved
 Talks about their most important values and
beliefs
 Includes setting, communicating, and
monitoring of learning goals, standards, and
expectations
 Involves staff and others in the process so
that there is clarity and consensus about the
goals
Dimension Two: Strategic resourcing
 Includes aligning resource selection and
allocation to priority teaching goals
 Includes provision of appropriate expertise
through staff recruitment
 This may be particularly important in regions
where there is a chronic resource shortage
and the principal influence will be critical
Dimensions Three: Planning,
coordinating and evaluating teaching
and the curriculum
 Direct involvement in the support and
evaluation of teaching through regular
classroom visits and formative and summative
feedback to teachers
 Direct oversight of the curriculum through
school-wide coorfination across classes and
year levels and alignment to school goals
How?
 Discussions about explicit achievement standards for
the subjects they teach
 Asking for evaluation results or progress of their
students in a subject (like reading)
 Make suggestions about the choice of instructional
methods in the subject
 Encourage collaboration among teachers
 Initiate professional development for teachers
 Make suggestions about the content that must be
covered in the subject
Dimension Four: Promoting and
participating in teacher learning and
development
 Effective leadership not only promotes but is
actively involved in professional development; the
leader participates as the lead learner
 Principals are more active participants in teacher
learning and development and discussions of
teaching and learning
 Effective leaders are more accessible and
knowledgeable about instructional matters
Dimension 5: Ensuring a safe and
orderly environment
 Reduce distractions and external pressures
and interruptions
 Clearly and consistently enforced social
expectations and discipline codes
 Establish an orderly and supportive
environment both inside and outside the
classroom
 Protecting time for teaching and learning
Student-Centred Leadership
 The ability to apply relevant knowledge to the
appropriate situation
 Taking complex problems and seriously
engaging others in solutions
 Mentoring and coaching others to lead
complex problem-solving processes
 Building relational trust and building trust
while tackling tough situations
Tri-Level Focus
SCHOOL
Professional
Learning
Communities
DISTRICT
INSTRUCTIONAL
LEADERSHIP
Principal
Learning
Teams
LEADING
STUDENT
ACHIEVEMENT
INSTRUCTIONAL
LEADERSHIP
INSTRUCTIONAL
LEADERSHIP
PROVINCE
LSA STEERING TEAM
(ADFO, CPCO, OPC, EDU, CSC)
Leadership and capacity building related to
instruction – Focus, alignment and coherence
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Levers to successful improvement
systems
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
A small number of ambitious goals
A guiding coalition at the top
High standards and expectations
Investment in leadership and capacity
building related to instruction
Mobilizing data and effective practices as a
strategy for improvement
Intervention in a non-punitive manner
Reducing distractions
Being transparent, relentless and
increasingly challenging
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Three Main Findings:

It’s a system thing, not a single thing

Prescribe adequacy, unleash greatness

Common but different
Good to Great – focus on building professional
capacity
Great to Excellent – focus on learning through
peer collaboration and innovation
Ontario: sustained improvement, from 2003-2009
moved from “good” to “great”, now moving from
“great” to “excellent”.
McKinsey Report (2010)
School Effectiveness Framework
◦
Assessment for, as and of Learning
◦
School and Classroom Leadership
◦
Student Voice
◦
Curriculum, Teaching and Learning
◦
Programs and Pathways
◦
Home, School and Community
Partnerships
School Improvement Planning
2. Smart Goals
3. Targeted, Evidence
Based Strategies
1. Needs Assessment
•
Student achievement
data
•
Demographic data
•
Program data
•
Perceptual data
•
Analysis of data
4. Resources
5. Professional
Learning
8. Evaluation
6. Monitoring
7. Responsibility
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Benefits of a Framework
Common Language
Flexible Approach
Platform for Team-Building
Guide for Professional Learning
Powerful Self-Reflection Tool
ONTARIO LEADERSHIP FRAMEWORK
SETTING DIRECTION
BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS AND DEVELOPING PEOPLE
DEVELOPING THE ORGANIZATION TO SUPPORT DESIRED
PRACTICES
IMPROVING THE INSTRUCTIONAL PROGRAM
SECURING ACCOUNTABILITY
Core Leadership Capacities:

Developing Expertise in Using Data:
- Gathering, Analyzing, and Making Decisions

Setting Goals Collaboratively

Promoting Collaborative Learning Cultures

Engaging in Courageous Conversations:
- Providing and Receiving Feedback Effectively

Aligning Resources with Priorities
Professional Learning Cycle
Plan
Reflect
Act
Observe
High Yield Strategies (School Wide)
•
•
•
•
•
Differentiated Instruction
Three Part Lessons
Higher Order Thinking Skills
Moderated Marking
Assessment for Learning
Principal as Instructional Leader
Think, Pair, Share
Using the outline of the Ontario Leadership
Framework, identify what you already do in one
domain.
Identify the greatest challenge to being an
instructional leader in that domain
Identify two specific things you will implement
immediately and track the success