INTEGRATING IMPROVEMENTS: how three principals leveraged professional learning to reshape school culture Jessica G. Rigby & Anita Lenges University of Washington Jessica: Principals are supposed to lead and shape the culture of schools. This has an impact on schools and student achievement. We are investigating what that looks like, and how that is focused on high quality instruction. Culture and high quality instruction are not separate from that. How do you reshape school culture to be about high quality instruction? Here we are going into some ways that principals do that.

AGENDA AIM: learn about three specific leadership actions principals used to shape their schools’ instructional cultures towards collaboration and collective learning. What to learn to improve math instruction What are Math Labs? Julie: Building Teacher Leaders Cindy: Making Practice Public James: Developing Share Vision of Practice Framework for school transformation Application to your context Note that these aren’t the ONLY ways to do this or even necessarily the BEST ways for every context—they highlight three ways these principals intentionally shifted their schools’ instructional cultures.

What do teachers need to learn in order to improve math teaching and learning? You don’t need to improve culture, and THEN work towards improving instruction. You can change culture through the work.

Teachers learn mathematics Math Knowledge for Teaching (MKT, Ball & Bass, 2000; Hill, Schilling, & Ball, 2004) Common content knowledge Specialized content knowledge Knowledge of content and students Knowledge of content and teaching We have a shared understanding that teachers need to enhance our content knowledge.

Teachers learn inquiry-oriented pedagogy: NCTM Mathematics Teaching Practices Establish mathematics goals to focus learning Implement tasks that promote reasoning and problem solving Use and connect mathematical representations Facilitate meaningful mathematical discourse Pose purposeful questions Build procedural fluency from conceptual understanding Support productive struggle in learning mathematics Elicit and use evidence of student thinking Also, to improve math teaching and learning, teachers need to learn Ambitious Teaching Practices.

Teachers learn a new way of learning together: learning, not performing Develop professional community that includes risk-taking (Bryk, Sebring, Allensworth, Luppescu, & Easton, 2010) Deprivatize practice (Kruse, Louis, & Bryk, 1995) Reconstitute power relationships (Kazemi, 2008) Talk concretely and precisely about teaching practice to build shared language and enable collegiality and rigor of experimentation (Little, 1982) Create shared meaning of practice (Horn & Little, 2010) Content and Pedagogical knowledge are both in the head and in practice. So we also have to learn new ways of learning together They also learned about how to work together – Teaching can be thought of as an improvisational performance. It is an art, a science, a craft. It is complex Learning to teach is lifelong, because it is complex and because the field is growing and learning If we stay in performance mode, we are always trying to do our best. But you can’t learn new things unless you move into a learning space. Learning spaces demand a different stance toward an activity. Learning zones are spaces where we are trying to learn and grow. Performance zones are spaces where we are not learning and growing but we are trying to do our best and not make mistakes. Teachers could create a learning space, but if principals expect performances then teachers won’t be able to do this work. So there has to be clarity and agreement on when they are learning and when they are performing. Learning labs are definitely about learning. you might have other times in your practice that is also about learning. But clarity is helpful among principals and teachers about when they are in each space.

Turn and Talk What kinds of learning structures support educator learning about high-quality practice while also reculturing the school to create a productive learning environment for students and educators? The principals in this paper used a professional learning model, Math Labs, to work on knowledge in practice while concurrently developing a culture that supports both Teacher learning and Student learning

Math labs create opportunities for teachers to try out, practice, and reflect on instruction and student thinking. A Math Lab is a structure that is designed to develop teachers’ mathematical knowledge, pedagogical knowledge, and to shift the ways that teachers, coaches and principals work together on practice. They can take place over the period of a half day or a day. They are environments for being experimental about practice. This allows us to actually try out new things together with the intention of improving practice.

Teaching Practice and Instructional Activity The Learning Cycle 4 Analyze 1 Introduce Teaching Practice and Instructional Activity 3 Enact 2 Prepare Labs are designed around a cycle that allows us to investigate teaching ideas at multiple levels. We begin by thinking through a teaching practice or content idea that we want to work on together and we set the practice inside an instructional activity. We introduce the practice or the activity, planning together a short lesson to try with children, try it out with children, debrief our learnings—And then often from that will arise something else that we want to investigate--which leads us to beginning a new cycle… McDonald, Kazemi & Kavanagh, 2013

Instructional Activity The Learning Cycle Instructional Activity 1 Introduce Introduce Teachers, coaches and principals learn about a new instructional activity, teaching practice, or content idea Might involve watching video, reading a protocol, reading an article, or participating in a modeled activity We begin in the unpacking stage by thinking through a teaching practice or content idea that we want to work on together. We examine content and practice standards, have an opportunity to read research on mathematical thinking, introduce the practice or the instructional activity that we will try out-this can involve watching a video or teachers engaging in the activity as learners, and unpack that activity. McDonald, Kazemi & Kavanagh, 2013

Instructional Activities Instructional Practices Instructional activities, teaching practices and content ideas that could be worked on in a Learning Lab Instructional Activities Instructional Practices Content Ideas Leading a number talk Launching a story problem Leading a solution strategy discussion in math Leading discussion Using “talk moves” Eliciting and responding to students’ ideas Representing students’ mathematical ideas How kids learn about fractions How children’s problem solving can support place value understanding These are some that we have experience with trying. Turn and Talk – What are some things you might consider working on in a school you are strongly connected to?

Instructional Activity 2 Prepare Instructional Activity The Learning Cycle Prepare Try the activity with children Co-plan the moves they will make, the questions they will investigate and what they will listen for in children’s participation They might rehearse the lesson in this phase as well 4 Analyze In the co-planning phase, We prepare to try the activity with students We anticipate how students might engage with the mathematical ideas We co-plan the moves we will make, the questions we will investigate, and what we will listen for in students’ participation We might rehearse the routine in this phase as well 3 Enact McDonald, Kazemi & Kavanagh, 2013

Instructional Activity 3 Enact Instructional Activity The Learning Cycle Enact Teachers and leaders try out their activity with children Children’s ideas become a resource for teacher learning They might talk during the lesson to confirm ideas, get help, and make changes to their plans as they go (Teacher Time Out) Who teaches? Pass the pen Spontaneous switch – want to try something out Sit with the students “You can’t look good and get better at the same time” - Jessica McDonald, Kazemi & Kavanagh, 2013

Instructional Activity The Learning Cycle 4 Analyze Instructional Activity Analyze Teachers & leaders debrief their lesson Focus on the ideas that emerged from children Teachers & leaders consider the complexity of the teaching practices in play how the moves they made affected what students said, did and might have learned Teachers and leaders make commitments to try out practices in their own classrooms McDonald, Kazemi & Kavanagh, 2013

Turn & Talk What do you understand about Math Labs? What questions do you have? 30 minutes in

THE JOURNEY OF THREE SCHOOLS Principals used math labs to develop three change-making elements for instructional improvement in their schools: Building Teacher Leadership Making Practice Public Developing a Shared Vision of Practice 5 minutes How three principals used Math Lab structures to shift key educatinoal cultural elements

Developing Teacher Leaders Julie Ray, former Principal Lakeland Elementary Building Teacher Leaders 5 Minutes

What needed to change in instructional practices? The learning goal was not clearly connected to the task. Gradual release was focused heavily on “I Do”. Teacher talk was dominant in most rooms. Students were working passively on worksheets. Teachers worked in isolation in many grades.

How did I use math labs to promote teacher leaders to build instructional capacity? JuJuJU Collaborative lesson design Unpacking student learning goals Taking risks co-teaching in other grades

Leadership Actions to Develop Teacher Leaders Initial teacher selection Spread learning Teacher→ teacher support

Outcomes of Teacher Leadership Inquiry cycles in PLCs to unpack student learning goals & design problem based tasks. Anticipated students thinking & developed questions to scaffold student thinking. Focused on student-to-student talk 3 teachers started math labs 1st year/8 teachers in math labs 2nd year Shared with whole staff at staff meetings, PLCs, and PD & shifted practice in all classrooms Transformed PLCs to a shift in lesson design & informing instruction Transitioned from number talks tasks to build student talk in core instruction

Making Practice Public Cindy Dracolby Principal, Camelot Elementary School

From Labs to Whole School: Intentionally Co-Planning Lessons Starting with a focus on student thinking Co-planning during Labs Co-planning during PLCs

From Labs to Whole School: Intentionally Co-Teaching Designing portions of lessons together in Labs Co-teaching during labs Co- teaching once per week in regular practice Voluntary video-taping and sharing of lessons “Opening my classroom allowed observation of my students in their regular learning environment, giving me insight as to what worked well and what I might like to change.”

From Labs to Whole School: Teachers’ Understanding of Math Concept Development Through Grades Lab participants: cross grade-levels (PreK through Fifth Grade) Using same instructional activity across grade levels “Observing and teaching in various grades showed how a concept can be developed through the grades.” Whole school understanding of how a mathematical concept develops through the grades

Developing a Shared Vision of Practice James Crawford, former principal at Valhalla Elementary Before Math Labs: teachers were not paying close attention to student thinking and were not carefully planning lessons 5 minutes

Developing a Shared Vision of Practice Labs focus on collaborative lesson planning First year: Two grade levels; six teachers Worked together to plan with a focus on student talk, sharing with staff Second year: All teachers in the school were in a lab Focus on student talk as well as other elements of lesson planning: student thinking, launching tasks, purpose, student conceptions and struggles, questioning

Developing a Shared Vision of Practice Shift in Culture: teachers initially hesitant to participate in a new vision of practice were more willing to explore new ways of planning, teaching and learning, had increased trust, and higher expectations for their students.

APPLICATION TO YOUR PRACTICE Turn + Talk What about these individuals’ leadership actions was salient for you? What can you take from these principals’ experiences to your own contexts? 5 minutes

THANK YOU! Questions? Jessica Rigby | jrigby@uw.edu Anita Lenges | alenges@uw.edu 5 minutes