Building A New Box To Think In Raymond J. McNulty, President International Center for Leadership in Education Waukesha, Wisconsin Nov 15, 2010

The Boston Globe Ray, reading the paper on your Kindle or online just isnt the same!

Almost everyone wants schools to be better, but almost no one wants them to be different.

Teacher – Student Comparisons T – I make learning exciting for my students. 86% S – My teachers make learning fun. 41%

The future is not some place we are going to, but one we (you) are creating. The paths are not found, but made, and the activity of making them, changes both the maker and the destination. --John Schaar

Henry Ford quote… If I had asked the public what they wanted, they would have said a faster horse.

The Horse The Automobile

Current System Something Different

We have been the OBJECTS of change for an extended period of time now.

Superman ?

Stop waiting for Superman! … EDUCATORS –Can and must become the SUPER HEROS!!!

WE need to become the AGENTS of change.

School leadership is a disposition for taking action.. International Centers Definition of Leadership

Why I do this work….

The work becomes more difficult. School improvement is a process of uncovering and solving progressively more difficult challenges around student learning (low hanging fruit theory) This requires new learning from the adults.

Detecting improvement Changes in student performance lag behind changes in the quality of instructional practices. Changes in the classrooms are visible before you see them in external measures. Leading and Lagging Indicators

First practice must change, then policy will change.

So whats stopping us? How do we get ahead?

THEMES Strategic Plan and Strategy The Challenge We Face Why Is It So Hard To Change? Best Practices, Next Practices and Innovation Empowerment Closing Thoughts

THEME Strategic Plan and Strategy

Just because you have the word strategic in your plan, it doesnt mean you have a strategy.

Strategic Planning v. Strategy Strategic plans are designed around large numbers of goals and initiatives. (usually too many) Strategy is a set of actions an organization chooses to pursue in order to achieve its objectives.

Strategic Planning v. Strategy Strategic planning is intended to be the vehicle for developing strategy. Strategy is about filtering the noise in these complex systems and deciding what must be done on behalf of the students and learning.

Strategic Plan Strategy Takes a broad incremental approach Includes discrete, unrelated initiatives Addresses an external audience Focuses on doing a few things well Integrates a few key initiatives Addresses an internal audience

THEME The Challenge We Face

In many cases, our efforts to transform education look much like the original system.

SHREDDIES

We have a flawed perspective of always listening to our best customers… They tell us how good the system is working for them!

BANKING Sears IBM Digital…. In Search of Excellence Xerox

Schools are Improving School Improvement

Schools are Improving School Improvement Changing World

National Essential Skills Study

NESS Study Subgroup Rankings ELA Skill: Write clear and concise directions or procedures. GroupRank Overall9 Business/Industry2 Other Non-educators10 English Language Arts Teachers Other Educators8

NESS Study Subgroup Rankings ELA Skill: Write clear and concise directions or procedures. GroupRank Overall9 Business/Industry2 Other Non-educators10 English Language Arts Teachers25 Other Educators8

NESS Study Subgroup Rankings ELA Skill: Give clear and concise oral directions. GroupRank Overall7 Business/Industry3 Other Non-educators9 English Language Arts Teachers Other Educators7

NESS Study Subgroup Rankings ELA Skill: Give clear and concise oral directions. GroupRank Overall7 Business/Industry3 Other Non-educators9 English Language Arts Teachers28 Other Educators7

NESS Study Subgroup Rankings Math Skill: Apply the Pythagorean Theorem to right triangles. GroupRank Overall20 Business/Industry29 Other Non-educators31 Mathematics Teachers Other Educators24

NESS Study Subgroup Rankings Math Skill: Apply the Pythagorean Theorem to right triangles. GroupRank Overall20 Business/Industry29 Other Non-educators31 Mathematics Teachers4 Other Educators24

NESS Study Subgroup Rankings Math Skill: Understand accuracy and precision of measurement, round off numbers according to the correct number of significant figures, and determine percent error. GroupRank Overall12 Business/Industry3 Other Non-educators10 Mathematics Teachers Other Educators8

NESS Study Subgroup Rankings Math Skill: Understand accuracy and precision of measurement, round off numbers according to the correct number of significant figures, and determine percent error. GroupRank Overall12 Business/Industry3 Other Non-educators10 Mathematics Teachers30 Other Educators8

The primary aim of education is not to enable students to do well in school, but to help them do well in the lives they lead outside of school.

Weve created false proxies for learning… Finishing a course or textbook has come to mean achievement Listening to lecture has come to mean understanding Getting a high score on a standardized test has come to mean proficiency

Learning should have its roots in.. Meaning, not just memory Engagement, not simply transmission Inquiry, not only compliance Exploration, not just acquisition Personalization, not simply uniformity Collaboration, not only competition Trust, not fear

Basic Knowledge/Skills English Language (spoken) Reading Comprehension (in English) Writing in English (grammar, spelling, etc.) Mathematics Science Government/Economics Humanities/Arts Foreign Languages History/Geography Are They Really Ready To Work? Applied Skills Critical Thinking/Problem Solving Oral Communication Written Communication Teamwork/Collaboration Diversity Information Technology Application Leadership Creativity/Innovation Lifelong Learning/Self Direction Professionalism/Work Ethic Ethics/Social Responsibility

We forget some of the most important issues when we try to change (transform) our work.

We need more artists, so heres our plan. REQUIRE ALL HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS TO TAKE MORE ART!

We need more scientists and mathematicians, so heres our plan. REQUIRE ALL HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS TO TAKE MORE MATH AND SCIENCE!

What Works Best? REQUIRE MANDATE FORCE EMPOWER CREATE PASSION MOTIVATE

Mullis

MOTIVATION EMPOWERMENT

MOTIVATION

Motivation is a key ingredient for success in learning.

Empowerment and Motivation are soft words, people often question their importance because we cant accurately measure them.

We live in a world obsessed with science, predictability and control. Some people believe if we cant measure something, it must not count!

We must consider the possibility that if we cant purely measure something, it might be the very most important thing!

Talking with kids… Its not us against them!

THEME Why is it so hard to change?

The more successful a system is, the more difficult it is to recognize when it must change. By example, market leaders are the last ones to transform. The American Education System, The market leader during the industrial era!

Market Leader Thinking Dominant logic: Thats the way we do things here.

Mental Locks We dont need to be creative for most of what we do (driving, shopping, business of living). So staying on routine thought paths enables us to do many things without having to think about it. Our training in school life has taught us that there is one right answer.

The Right Answer

The Second Right Answer What is the answer? What are the answers? What is the meaning of this? What are the meanings? What is the result? What are the results?

The Right Answer Thats not logical

SOFTHARD

Logic Metaphor Dream Reason Precision Humor Consistency Ambiguity Play Work Exact Approximate Direct Focused Fantasy Reality Paradox Diffuse Analysis Hunch Generalization Specifics Child Adult

SOFT Metaphor Dream Humor Ambiguity Play Approximate Fantasy Paradox Diffuse Hunch Generalization Child HARD Logic Reason Precision Consistency Work Exact Reality Direct Focused Analysis Specific Adult

SOFT Shades of gray Hard to pick up Many answers Flood light, diffused HARD Black and white Easy to pick up Right answer Focused like a spot light

Cat - Refrigerator

THEME Best Practices, Next Practices and Innovation

AYP Research Based Successful Practices Tight Critical PointRemain Tight Tight Empower Tight Loose

Best Practices to Next Practices

Best practices allow you to do what you are currently doing a little better, while next practices increase your organizations capability to do things that it has never done before.

Best Practices Research Based Imitation Copy Replication Successful Practices Network

Best Practices Read 180 I Can Learn Learning Together

NEXT PRACTICES

Best practices allow you to do what you are currently doing a little better, while next practices increase your organizations capability to do things that it has never done before.

Expertise can sometimes be a road block to problem solving and the development of Next Practices. Experts see their points as critical to resolution, without sometimes valuing the thinking of others.

SystemInnovation

Sustaining Innovation Next Practice

Disruptive Innovation

Marshmallow Challenge

NEXT PRACTICE THINKING The Iterative Process Versions Create a disciplined, managed space for development of new ways to accomplish difficult tasks

Its very tough to get people to work in a system that is transforming itself because : not easy not linear not predictable requires deep commitment requires high levels of thinking requires high levels of collaboration

College and Career Readiness Defined Cognitive strategies: Intellectual openness; inquisitiveness; analysis; interpretation; precision and accuracy; problem solving; and reasoning, argumentation, and proof. Content knowledge: Understanding the structures and large organizing concepts of the academic disciplines, resting upon strong research and writing abilities. Academic behaviors: Self-management, time management, strategic study skills, accurate perceptions of ones true performance, persistence, ability to utilize study groups, self- awareness, self-control, and intentionality. Contextual skills and knowledge: Facility with application and financial-aid processes and the ability to acculturate to college. David Conley

Next Practices Penn Foster Princeton Review Expert Space Expert 21

The Learning Criteria to Support 21st Century Learners ©

More Next Practices

Multiple Reading Scaffolds

Lexile Level:

Spanish Translations

THEME Empowerment

Empowerment is a soft word, people often question its importance because we cant accurately measure it.

The Candle Problem

Daniel Pink : Motivation Autonomy Mastery Purpose

Motivation and Empowerment Passion to work for reasons beyond money and status Strong drive to achieve Optimism, even in the face of failure Organizational commitment

Blooms Application C D A B 20 th Century 21 th Century

THEMES Strategic Plan and Strategy The Challenge We Face Why Is It So Hard To Change? Best Practices, Next Practices and Innovation Empowerment Closing Thoughts

The system is not to blame, we are, for not adapting it to our ever changing world.

I cant imagine anything worse than looking back at the opportunity before us in education and thinking we blew it!

Building A New Box To Think In Raymond J. McNulty, President International Center for Leadership in Education Waukesha, Wisconsin Nov 15, 2010