Fostering A Positive School Culture Through Collaborative Administrative Practices

A Framework for Excellence: The Role of Administration

Session Goal

 To outline ways in which Central Office personnel can foster school-level collaborative administrative practices and support the district mission and goals

Key Terms…

 Collaborative  Distributed 

“Loose-Tight”

Structures & Processes

District Importance

“Excellent schools in poor districts implode over time, whereas, poor schools in excellent districts get better.” -Linda Lambert

Vision

A Leadership Framework

THOUGHTS

Shared Knowledge

What Collaboration

Common Beliefs

Why EMOTIONS Trust How

Collective Commitments

ACTIONS

Shared Knowledge Through Strategic Focus

THOUGHTS

Shared Knowledge Vision Collaboration

Strategic Focus

These…

   Policies Practices Procedures

Should Align With…

   Ensuring that all students learn Results-Orientation Collaborative Culture

Structural Changes

 An academic program supportive of all students’ learning  A system for monitoring student progress  Job-embedded professional learning

An Academic Program 1.

2.

3.

How are all students placed in academic classes?

How do collaborative teams refine and consistently follow the agreed upon pacing of a guaranteed and viable curriculum?

How are all students provided necessary interventions?

“Loose-Tight”

 The Central Office should be “tight” on supporting school sites in making these and “loose” in providing school, sites the autonomy to make the accompanying structural cultural changes changes

Monitoring Student Progress 1.

2.

What systems and processes are used to frequently provide collaborative teams with timely data on student learning?

How are results used to provide support and feedback to collaborative teams?

“Loose-Tight”

  The Central Office is “tight” on the need for schools to support each overarching central office goal Yet “loose” on each school’s action steps and respective SMART goals  Then monitoring, support, and feedback occur continuously

Professional Learning 1.

2.

3.

4.

How is collaboration time embedded during the school day?

How are support and coaching services provided to collaborative teams for their professional learning?

How is professional development, job embedded and guided by students learning results?

How do tools and routines guide the work of collaborative teams?

“Loose-Tight”

  Again it is critical that the Central Office shift its focus and resources to be “tight” on ensuring school sites make structural changes to allow for job embedded professional learning And “loose” in providing school sites with the autonomy needed to make necessary cultural changes

Common Beliefs Through Distributive Leadership Vision

EMOTIONS

Common Beliefs Why Trust

1.

2.

3.

Common Beliefs Through Distributive Leadership Establish common beliefs Indentify and articulate the fundamental purpose of the district and the big ideas to achieving that purpose Trust- encourage organizational autonomy within defined parameters

“Loose-Tight”

  Loose leadership practices promote collegiality by providing a collaborative team with the autonomy to develop values and beliefs that drive their team and classroom practices Tight leadership practices promote accountability by requiring a collaborative team to produce artifacts that articulate their focus on student learning

Collective Commitments Through Collective Efficacy Collaboration

ACTIONS

Trust How Collective Commitments

“Loose-Tight”

  Tight leadership is exhibited by focusing the efforts of collaborative teams within the defined parameters While loose leadership will simultaneously be exhibited by allowing the teams to design, implement, and refine tools and routines to collectively engage in the continuous improvement of student academic achievement

Conclusion

Educators want solutions that are exotic and easy, but in reality the answers are simple and hard to do.