ESD Regional Workshop Year 2 Workshop 1

WSLA Year 2 ◆ Workshop 1

GOALS for the Day: Refocus our Academy work for the second year Refresh the leadership needed for the implementation of the Academy work in the second year Continue to examine the implementation of our Theory of Action Deepen our understanding of the Problem of Practice, Theory of Action, Evidence of Progress and Cycle of Inquiry and their relationship to our work Determine our team’s growth in the first year of WSLA

NORMS We Will Always treat each other with respect Actively listen to each other Encourage everyone to fully participate Be respectful of each other’s time and perspectives Stay focused, involved and productive Be committed to be here ready to work – on time and with little distraction Find ways to celebrate successes Have fun and enjoy the time with our peers

WSLA Problem of Practice How can we create and lead a system that ensures effective instruction for all students, integrates multiple initiatives—i.e., Common Core, TPEP, Smarter Balanced—and results in sustained high levels of learning?

Since last May . . . Moving into this year: A Facilitated Discussion ROUND 1: What is my personal leadership commitment to advancing this work? What is/are my first step(s) to fulfilling that commitment ROUND 2 What is our district leadership commitment to advancing this work? What is/are our first steps to fulfilling that commitment—to solving the POP?

WSLA Curriculum Strands

Team Reflection As we approach the Problem of Practice, what evidence do we have that we’re working in every strand?

WS Leadership Academy: Reflect JOURNALING: What do you hope to accomplish this year? How does the work you hope to accomplish align with the data you and your colleagues have reviewed in developing your Theory of Action? Why is the work you will be doing this year the right focus for your district?

POPCORN OUT . . . What do you hope to accomplish this year? What common themes do we hear in our hopes for accomplishment?

WITH AN ELBOW PARTNER How does the work you hope to accomplish align with the data you and your colleagues have reviewed in developing your Theory of Action?

Superintendent Leads This Conversation Why is the work we will be doing this year the right focus for our district? Let’s summarize in 1 - 2 sentences our team’s understanding of why this work is the right work.

What growth have you made? In your district teams: Review where you placed yourself on the WSLA Rubrics Determine if you are still in that same place List the steps you will need to take this year to move forward on the rubrics

What growth have you made? Be prepared by 11:00 to share: An “aha!” or new insight your team has experienced as part of this activity; The steps you plan to take, in light of that insight, to move the work forward [Take a break when needed]

Sharing with Colleagues Ahas! and Steps to move forward

REVIEWING THE INSTRUCTIONAL CORE Let’s think about: How does the Instructional Core (IC) affect our work and how does the IC directly apply to the your POP and District’s TOA? What evidence do we have that we are focusing on the Instructional Core? Do we have the right steps in our TOA to make a significant difference in the learning for all of our students? What else do our staff members need to learn?

Instructional Core In its simplest terms, the instructional core is composed of the teacher and the student in the presence of content. It is the RELATIONSHIP among the teacher, the student, and the content – NOT the qualities of any one of them by themselves – that determines the nature of instructional practice, and each corner of the instructional core has its own particular role and resources to bring to the instructional process. The INSTSRUCTIONAL TASK is the center of the instructional core. Simply stated, the instructional task is the actual work that students are asked to do in the process of instruction – NOT what teachers THINK they are asking students to do, or what the official curriculum SAYS that students are asked to do, but what they are ACTUALLY doing.

Instructional Core Principle 1: consequence of improvements The first principle of instructional improvement is that increases in student learning occur only as a consequence of improvements in the level of the content, teachers’ knowledge and skill and student engagement

of the instructional core, you have to change the other two Principle 2: The second principle of instructional improvement follows from the first: If you change any single element of the instructional core, you have to change the other two to affect student learning.

If you can’t see it in the core, Instructional Core Principle 3: The third principle of instructional improvement: If you can’t see it in the core, it is not there

The Task Predicts Performance Instructional Core Principle 4: The fourth principle of instructional improvement is that: The Task Predicts Performance

Instructional Core the real accountability system is in the tasks Principle 5: The connection between doing the right thing and knowing the right thing to do leads to the fifth principle: the real accountability system is in the tasks that students are asked to do

Instructional Core Principle 6: We learn to do the work by DOING the work, NOT by telling other people to do the work, NOT by having done the work at some time in the past, and NOT by hiring experts who can act as proxies for our knowledge about how to do the work

Analysis before prediction Prediction before evaluation Instructional Core Principle 7: This leads to the seventh principle: Description before analysis Analysis before prediction Prediction before evaluation

Use these as lenses for team work Elmore’s Seven Principles Strand: Lead Coherent System-wide Support for Learning Strand: Focus on Learning

Team Time How does the Instructional Core (IC) affect our work and how does the IC directly apply to our POP and our District’s TOA? What evidence do we have that we are focusing on the Instructional Core, providing system-wide support for learning, and focusing on learning? Do we have the right steps in our TOA to make a significant difference in the learning for all of our students? What else do our staff members need to learn?

BREAK

The Cycle of Inquiry (Copland, 2009)

Evidence What evidence are we looking for? Who will be looking for the data? When? Who will be analyzing/interpreting the information? When? How will we share the results of what is found with others: the board, community and staff?

Reflection In Your WSLA Journal: What did I learn today? What did my team learn today? Structure

A CLOSING THOUGHT “Without continual growth and progress, such words as improvement, achievement, and success have no meaning.” Benjamin Franklin

Back in Your District: Thinking and Planning Together Coaches will facilitate a conversation that elaborates on today’s work:  What action steps have you taken since last June?  What results have you seen from you action steps so far?  What specific evidence will you be gathering and analyzing this year?  In terms of organizing ourselves for the year ahead, what are our specific priorities? Who will take the lead on these priorities?  What specific planning model and/or graphic organizers will we use to assist us in advancing this work?

Before You Leave Reminder: Evaluations forms will come to you electronically Schedule time with your team to meet prior to our next workshop Structure