These materials were produced with Title I, Part A funds and are in the public domain.

The MI Excel Statewide Field Team at Calhoun Intermediate School District proudly recognizes our partners in this work: Eastern UP Intermediate School District Gogebic Ontonagon Intermediate School District Muskegon Area Intermediate School District We are grateful for their willingness to share their expertise with us and the entire state. Thank you!

Talent Management: Strategic Placement Kendra Feldhusen, MI Excel Statewide Field Team

Systemic Reconfiguration Dramatic Improvement in Student, Teacher, and Leader Performance in a short amount of Time. The Blueprint: Systemic Reconfiguration

Session Description How does a district define the talent needed to successfully meet the academic and non-academic needs of each student? How does the district recruit, hire, and assign talent in a way that is aligned to student need? The Talent Management Infrastructure's ground floor, Strategic Placement, creates systems and processes to ensure that alignment. In this session, participants will explore how to create this part of the system which focuses on the organizational structures needed to increase adult capacity.

Session Outcomes Participants will: Develop understandings of the Talent Management District System; Connect these understandings to Strategic Placement; Review the tools and resources that support the installation of Strategic Placement during the Mechanical Level of installation.

Connector – With Your Table Group . . . Brainstorm your definitions and/or characteristics of: Create one definition of Talent Management Strategic Placement Talent Management Strategic Placement

Developing Understandings of Talent Management District System

Talent Management Purpose This system is concerned with finding, identifying, developing, and keeping the talent required to impact student, teacher, and leader performance in districts where systemic reconfiguration purposefully disrupts current practice to create a new structure of coherent and aligned district and building systems to ensure success for all students.

Connections to Research Why is Talent Management Infrastructure Critical to Dramatic Improvement in Student, Teacher, and Leader Performance? Given that, 17% of beginning teachers leave the profession in their first five years (U.S. Department of Education’s National Center for Educational Statistics, 2015) “Teacher training programs across Michigan have seen dramatic enrollment declines, threatening to create even more hard to staff areas”, (Detroit Free Press, 2015) it is incumbent upon us to ask ourselves, what is our current process for retaining our high- performing teachers and leaders?

Connections to Research There’s a significant decline in available candidates (MASA Turning the Tide on Talent Shortage; A Strategic Plan to Revitalize Careers for Michigan’s Current and Future Educators, March 18, 2019) Enrollment in Michigan’s educator prep programs is down and declining. The number of certificates earned is down and declining. The certificates granted are not a match for the existing vacancies. Candidate quality (preparation and temperament) is perceived by some as declining. Education careers have been “de-valued” by the public and by educators who discourage students from entering the profession. Students are actively encouraged to pursue other careers (skilled trades, STEM, etc.)

Connections to Research “Why Great Teachers Quit and How We Might Stop the Exodus,” K. Farber, 2011. Six recommendations to stop the exodus. Provide leadership and growth opportunities for teachers. Cultivate collaboration in schools. Create humanity in schools for students and teachers. Solicit teacher feedback and use it in decision making. Plan for a better work/life balance. Create an environment that compensates master teachers who continue to grow, evolve, and perform. Why might the Blueprint be premised on a growth and support model?

Talent Management Visions Individually, define VISION Share your definition with an elbow partner Why might we create visions for what we want our talent (human resources) to look, sound, and act like?

Talent Management Visions We need to consider and determine the adult competencies and behaviors necessary for central office, building leaders, and teachers to embrace and enact the visions for high-quality instruction and the intense student support network to come alive in the district. It is important for the adults in the district to all demonstrate the leadership competencies and expertise needed to support systemic reconfiguration and to effectively respond to the district’s commitment to “dramatic improvement in student, teacher, and leader performance in a short amount of time.” (Chandler & Frank, 2015)

Talent Management Visions Elbow partner conversation . . . What might be the difference between: Qualifications Knowledge and Skills Competencies

Talent Management Visions In the Blueprint online warehouse there are example profiles (visions/competencies) for the superintendent/central office, building principals, instructional leaders, and teachers. The profiles list nineteen to twenty-four areas of expertise in the following categories: achievement, impact and influence, monitoring and directiveness, self-confidence, team leadership, analytical thinking, conceptual thinking, developing others, initiative and persistence, and planning ahead.

Talent Management Visions Examples of the expertise/competencies described in the profiles: The strong desire to achieve outstanding results in a short amount of time. The skill to foster collective responsibility by mobilizing structure, strategies, practices, and the use of resources for the ongoing evaluation and improvement of instruction. The competence to collect and analyze appropriate data sources to inform decisions. The talent to help create and thrive in a professional environment that is one of mutual respect, teamwork, and accountability. And, The drive to prioritize student learning needs over the customs, routines, and established relationships that can stand in the way of necessary change.

Connect Your Understandings to Floor 1 - Strategic Placement

Talent Management Strategic Placement Strategic Placement defined: “as the equitable allocation of talent aligned to student need.” Discuss with an elbow partner: What might be an example of this in a district?

Talent Management Strategic Placement Table Activity - Divvy up EoP, Perception, Artifact, and Observation Assessment Tools When Floor 1 is fully installed, what might Strategic Placement look and sound like? What connections might be made to the research? Chart your thinking (making thinking visible) Be ready to share AH-HAs, important points, notices, wonderings

Connections to Resources that Support Strategic Placement

Talent Management Strategic Placement – Planning Tools How might the planning tools support your district in ensuring Strategic Placement is installed with fidelity at scale? What might your district team need to know or have access to for successful planning? If your district has already installed Floor 1, Strategic Placement, what planning tool decisions might need to be revisited?

Talent Management Strategic Placement – Profiles & Data How might your district begin to build shared understanding of your district-adopted profiles for each position? How might your district begin to collect competency data? What might this process look like? How might your district utilize competency data to guide strategic placement decisions? Be prepared to share your thinking whole group

Talent Management Reflection Make eye contact with someone from across the room. Share something that you want to be mindful of when installing and building shared understanding of your district’s vision for Talent Management. Share something that you’re most excited about when Talent Management is at-scale in your district.

Talent Management References Education Resource Strategies, Breaking the Cycle of Failure: Strategic Staffing in Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, case study 2009, http://www.erstrategies.org/library/breaking_the_cycle_of_failure_in_cms. Lane, B. (2012). Emerging practices in rapid achievement schools: Analysis of 2010-2011 level 4 schools to identify organizational and institutional practices that accelerate students’ academic achievement . Retrieved from http://www.instll.com. Lane, B. (2014). Turnaround practices in action: An analysis of school and district practices, systems, policies, and use of resources contributing to successful turnaround in Massachusetts’ level 4 schools. Retrieved from http://www.instll.com. Player, D., Hambrick Hitt, D., & Robinson, W. (n.d.). District readiness to support school turnaround: A users’ guide to inform the work of state education agencies and districts. Retrieved from http://www.darden.virginia.edu/uploadedFiles/Darden_Web/Content/Faculty_Research/Research_Centers_and _Initiatives/Darden_Curry_PLE/district-readiness-to-support-school-turnaround.pdf. Turning the Tide on the Talent Shortage - A Strategic Plan to Revitalize Careers for Michigan's Current and Future Educators. Michigan Association of Superintendents and Administrators, 2019, p. 2, gomasa.org/2019/03/19/masa-releases-turning-the-tide-on-the-talent-shortage-a-strategic-plan-to-revitalize- careers-for-michigans-current-and-future-educators/. Zavadsky, H. (2012). School turnarounds: The essential role of districts. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Education Press.

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These materials were produced with Title I, Part A funds and are in the public domain.