Transcript Creating Action-Packed Action Plans

Putting Together Action-Packed
Action Plans
ACT Meeting October 15, 2003
We’re growing!!
A little history…
Administrator meetings
 Shift from “Laundry List” to Learning
Staff development
Modeled learning-based meetings
 Active and collaborative
 Shared leadership
Embedded support for site activities
 Expanded attendance beyond principals
Assistant Principals
ETAP/STAP
Resource Teachers
Department Chairs and Grade level leads
Today’s Goals:
Participants will…
Understand the importance of
action plans within the context of
school improvement and teachers’
Individual Performance Goal (IPG)
process
Understand the elements of
effective action plans
Develop strategies to facilitate the
action planning process
A little about planning…
“Have a plan. Follow the plan,
and you'll be surprised how
successful you can be. Most
people don't have a plan.
That's why it's is easy to beat
most folks.”
- Paul "Bear" Bryant, football coach, University of
Alabama's Crimson Tide
Planning within the
context of high stakes…
Planning is a process of
choosing among those many
options. If we do not choose
to plan, then we choose to
have others plan for us.
Richard I. Winwood
The purpose of action
planning in CUSD
To more narrowly define a specific
area for growth in teaching and
student learning
 Manageable
 Do-able
 Measureable
To frame the year’s work/efforts
It’s all about student achievement
Learning Goals
Random
Acts of
Improvement
Learning Goals
Aligned Acts of
Improvement
(integrated and
results oriented)
The Process…
Set
Goals
(IPG’s)
Reflect
and
Revise
Learnin
g Team
Instruction
Implement
and
Monitor
•
•
•
•
•
SMART
Goals
Examines
data from:
Specific•CST
Measurable
•CORE
•Common
Attainable
Assessments
Results-oriented
Time Specific
Develop
Actions
What are our guiding questions?
•What
our
studentto
• Whatisdo
wegoal
wantfor
students
learning?
learn?
•Why
gap
exists
• Howdo
dowe
wethink
knowthe
they
are
between
our current reality and
learning?
our goal?
• What do we do when they’re
•What
can
we
do
to
close
the
not learning?
gap? (IPG)
•What are the steps that we can
take in this effort (action plan)?
Getting from reality to our goal:
Example 1
Is the curriculum
we teach truly
aligned to the
standards?
Are we ordering
and prioritizing our
instruction
effectively?
Standards 3.2 and 3.3
Standards
3 and 4
“I will use my knowledge of
the subject to plan units and
instructional activities that
demonstrate key concepts
and their interrelationships
so that 95% of advanced
students and 75% of
students (overall) in regular
science demonstrate
mastery on a departmentdesigned common
assessment.
Breaking it into steps…
 Action Steps:
 As a team, we will examine the content standards and the
blueprints to determine the critical standards that students
need to know
 We will research strategies for organizing curriculum (e.g.
book study, research articles, professional journals, Teacher
Support Network)
 We will complete training in Understanding by Design offered
by the district
 We will develop three units based on the UBD template
 We will develop a common assessment utilizing concepts
from UBD
 We will collectively examine student work completed
following the units of instruction
Example 2
Standard 1.2
Are we using
effective teaching
strategies?
Are the tools/
materials we use
effective in delivering
our instruction?
Are we meeting the
needs of our struggling
students?
Standards
1 and 4
“I will use a variety of
instructional strategies
and resources to respond
to students’ diverse
needs so that 75% of my
students in the lowest
quartile (as identified
through the language
usage portion of the
CORE test) show
improvement in at least
three features as
measured by the
Developmental Spelling
Analysis by June ‘04
Breaking it into steps…
 Action Steps:
 I will attend Word Study training offered through the
district
 As a team, we will utilize the Developmental Spelling
Analysis (DSA) to establish a baseline for instruction
 We will implement Word Study strategies and
materials for 20% of our total literacy block
 We will examine student writing samples as a team to
determine the transfer of word knowledge
 We will use the DSA at least two times per year
School Team
Huddle
Choose one action plan
example to discuss…
What characteristics make this an
effective action plan?
What other things might we consider as
we create our own action plans?
Getting ready for the
meeting
Gathering Tools
Data
Guiding Questions/flowchart
CSTP “placemats”
Research/articles
Formal and informal (e.g.
“success stories”)
Starting with the end in
mind…we want to develop
action plans that…
Link directly to goals focused on improving
student learning (based on data)
Provide methods for going beyond what we
have already done
Have some basis in research/best practice
Embed ongoing reflection
Seem reasonable in terms of time and
resources
Planning Meeting
Process
Establishing the Group’s Goal
Establishing Norms
Group Norms
Use existing norms
“Can we agree on the following:”
 Be on time
 Be “here”
 Listen actively
 Participation for all
 Be aware of your “talk time”
 Stay focused on our goal
Planning Meeting
Process
Establishing the Group’s Goal
Establishing Norms
Gathering Input
Discussion
Group Brainstorming
Affinity Process
Reaching Consensus
 Fist to Five Check
Fist to Five Check
 5 fingers
 All for it…I can be a leader for this decision
 4 fingers
 All for it…you can count on me to support this no matter
what
 3 fingers
 For the idea…I will support it in concept, but may not be
out in front of the gang leading its implementation
 2 fingers
 I’m not sure…but I trust the group’s opinion and will not
sabotage the decision
 1 finger
 I’m not sure…can we talk some more?
 Fist
 No…we need to find an alternative
Looking back at our goals…did
we develop action plans that…
Link directly to goals focused on
improving student learning?
Provide methods for going beyond what
we have already done?
Have some basis in research/best
practice?
Embed ongoing reflection?
Seem reasonable in terms of time and
resources?
Now that you
have your plan…
Implementing the plan…
Plans are only good
intentions unless they
immediately degenerate
into hard work.
 Peter Drucker
Ongoing review and revision of
plan based on student data…
I have not failed. I've
just found 10,000
ways that won't work.
Thomas Edison, inventor
Sometimes, we just need
to rethink things…
'Here is Edward Bear, coming
downstairs, now, bump, bump,
bump, on the back of his head
behind Christopher Robin. It is as
far as he knows the only way of
coming downstairs, but
somewhere he feels there is
another way, if only he could stop
for a moment and think of it.'
 A A Milne
End of Year Reflection…
It's what you learn after
you know it all that
counts."
John Wooden
We’re in the end
zone…