Change Leadership A Practical Guide to Transforming Our Schools Presented by: Suzette Cook Title I School Improvement Coordinator West Virginia Department of Education Title I Directors’ Meeting October 4, 2010

Gingerbread Man What drives you crazy? What do you want to take away? let go of? What gives you indigestion?

Block Party Read and reflect upon what your quote means to you and your work Share your quote and your insights about its implication for your work with your tablemates Share ideas and questions

Caught between the imperative of preparing students for the next half-century and the political mandate for short-term performance improvement on standardized tests, many educators are dropping by the wayside but a few are stepping forward with new leadership skills and vision. Working with such leaders, Tony Wagner, Bob Kegan and their colleagues have created an invaluable guidebook for those with the courage to have conviction without answers and the openness to learn together. Peter Senge, author The Fifth Discipline

There is no school for leaders. that will teach them exactly how There is no school for leaders that will teach them exactly how to make their district into one that will leave no child behind.

Seven Disciplines for Strengthening Instruction Urgency for instructional improvement using real data Shared vision of good teaching Meetings about the work A shared vision of student results Effective supervision Professional development Diagnostic data with accountable collaboration

Seven Disciplines for Strengthening Instruction These seven disciplines are not a buffet, where a district can choose one or two for implementation without regard to the others.

Your system – any system – is. perfectly designed to produce the Your system – any system – is perfectly designed to produce the results you’re getting.

If every system is designed to produce exactly the results that it does, then perhaps before we try to improve our system, we need to better grasp its current design.

Seven Disciplines for Strengthening Instruction Rate Your District 1.The district creates understanding and urgency around improving all students’ learning for teachers and community, and it regularly reports on progress. Data are disaggregated and transparent to everyone Qualitative (focus groups and interviews) as well as quantitative data are used to understand students’ and recent graduates’ experience of school.

Seven Disciplines for Strengthening Instruction Rate Your District 2. A widely shared vision of what is good teaching is focused on rigorous expectations, relevant curricula, and respectful relationships in the classroom. 3. All adult meetings are about instruction and are models of good teaching.

Seven Disciplines for Strengthening Instruction Rate Your District 4. There are well-defined standards and performance assessments for student work at all grade levels. Teachers and students understand what quality work looks like, and there is consistency in standards of assessment. 5. Supervision is frequent, rigorous, and entirely focused on the improvement of instruction. It is done by people who know what good teaching looks like.

Seven Disciplines for Strengthening Instruction Rate Your District 6. Professional development is primarily on-site, intensive, collaborative, and job-embedded and is designed and led by educators who model best teaching and learning practices. 7. Data are diagnostically at frequent intervals by teams of teachers to assess each student’s learning and to identify the most effective teaching practices. Teams have time built into their schedules for this shared work.

The realities of today’s economy demand not only a new set of skills but also that they be acquired by all students.

Framework for Effective Instruction 3 Rs Rigor: Mastering Core Competencies Relevance: Connecting the Curriculum Through Real-World Applications Respectful Relationships: Finding the Key to Motivation

One of the hardest aspects of charting the course… is identifying the ways that we might also create obstacles that get in the way of our own plans.

Obstacles to Improvement v. Momentum for Improvement Reaction Purpose Focus Compliance Engagement Isolation Collaboration

The Final Word Reaction Transforms to Purpose and Focus – pg. 65 to top of pg. 68 Compliance Transforms to Engagement – pg. 68 to middle of pg. 71 Isolation Transforms to Collaboration – middle of pg. 71 to top of pg. 74

The Final Word Identify a timekeeper Read your assigned passage Identify one ‘most’ significant idea/quote from the text to share – have a ‘back-up’ First person – share selected idea/quote and why – 3 minutes Second person – respond – 1 minute Third person – respond – 1 minute Fourth person – respond - 1 minute First person – The final word – 1 minute Begin new rotation

Fortune Cookie ‘Break’ Open your fortune cookie – but don’t share your fortune with anyone Think of how this ‘fortune’ may relate to you and your work – jot some notes if you wish/for sharing

The forms of our personal challenges. are not infinitely different The forms of our personal challenges are not infinitely different. There is more than one crater on the dark side of the moon, but not an endless number.

If we, as leaders, deny ourselves the If we, as leaders, deny ourselves the opportunity to ‘grow on the job’, how likely is it that those around us, those who work for us, are going to feel genuinely entitled to this same right themselves?

Arenas of Change Competencies – of adults Conditions – of learning and teaching for students and adults Culture – of classrooms, schools, districts Context – understanding global, state, and community realities and re-visioning what all students need to know

4 Cs Diagnostic Tool Conditions Competencies Culture Context

Back to the Future Conditions Competencies Culture Context

The prime function of a leader is to keep the hope alive. John W. Gardner