Dr. Timothy Mitchell Rapid City Area Schools ASBSD/SASD

“Leadership and learning are indispensable to each other” John F. Kennedy Words never spoken Speech to be delivered November 22, 1963-Dallas,TX

Decreasing costs and increasing student achievement can not be opposing goals. Resource allocation needs to be part of the solution. The hardest part is winning the support for these bold and necessary decisions.

Working smarter as a school or school system does not require a larger school budget

Consider the following questions: *Is there evidence that school structures based upon standardization are more effective that school structures that are differentiated based on actual student needs? *Lastly, is there any evidence in the private or public sector that employees do not need frequent training and quality supervision throughout their career?

Consider the following questions: *Have researchers ever shown that teacher isolation is more educationally effective strategy that teachers collaborating toward common goals? *Is there evidence that top-down management is more effective that teacher problem-solving and leadership at all levels of the school system?

The answer to each question is “NO”. There is no research that supports the claim that high employee performance is based on isolation, top down management, standardization and lack of employee training.

The Big Idea The learning dynamics that a teacher establishes in his/her classroom is similar to the learning dynamics a principal/instructional leader establishes in his/her school, and is similar to what a superintendent does to promote learning within the district leadership team.

Strengthening the adult learning will benefit students: *When School Boards learn *When Central Administrators learn *When Building Administrators learn *When Schools and departments learn *When individual teachers learn

Overarching Theory When a school systems learns, continuous improvement enables educators to close achievement gaps and ensures that all students grow and develop as learners.

Creating team time does not guarantee improvements Structural change is not cultural change. Simply altering the schedule to provide time to meet does not create conditions for learning.

“School leaders and teachers need to create schools and classroom environments in which error is welcomed as a learning opportunity, in which discarding incorrect knowledge and understanding is welcomed, and in which teachers feel safe to learn, re-learn, and explore knowledge and understanding” J. Hattie

What Do We Need to Do? *Listen, listen, listen *Be willing to display fallibility *Invite participation & dissent-value open and honest communication *Reframe failures as learning opportunities

Step 1-Recognize that schools were designed in a different era and for different goals Step 2-Start a dialogue on how to restructure schools in ways that will foster all students learning at high levels

In order to disagree, learn from mistakes, successfully manage conflict, and continually learn, the systems needs sufficient: Trust Capacity Building for ALL educators Collaboration in All directions Leadership at all levels

Drivers that make matters worse Accountability Promoting Individual Solutions Technology-as an end ALL Fragmented Strategies

Divers that make matters better: Capacity Building Group Solutions Focusing on the Quality of Instruction Integrated or Systemic Strategies

*Provide a safety net for taking risks *It is necessary for the system to achieve beyond capacity *Need to pay attention to the needs of the educators

“Without collaborative skills and relationships, it is not possible to learn and continue to learn as much as you need to be an agent of societal improvement” Michael Fullan

*Increases the overall quality of teaching *Increases organizational sustainability *Increases the ability to adapt and solve problems *Builds consistency, predictability, planning and accountability *Increases collective capacity

The knowledge about effective practice becomes more widely available and accessible on a daily basis Working together generates commitment

Groups solve problems at a much deeper level than individuals Groups will perform better than individuals working alone

*Quality teaching has a positive impact on student learning *Teaching competencies can be taught *Professional learning can increase teacher competencies in ways that will result in increased student learning

*Feedback is a powerful means to increase student learning *Must change the rules that influence feedback (authority roles) *Obstacle: The inability to provide specific and honest feedback

Each new hire can have a huge impact on a school, either positive or negative

“It is no longer sufficient to have one person learning for the organization. It’s just not possible any longer to figure it out from the top. The organizations that will truly excel in the future will be the organizations that discover how to tap people’s commitment and capacity to learn at all levels of the organization” Peter Senge

Skill Set Act on their core values Inspire confidence Build an inclusive network Demonstrate sincere inquiry Support risk taking

*Good ideas can come from anywhere *Include as many people as they can in key decisions

Ability to support leadership everywhere is one of the key determinants of whether or not a system will break through current limitations

“There is nothing more difficult to plan, more doubtful of success, nor more dangerous to manage than the creation of a new order of things…Whenever his enemies have the ability to attack the innovator they do so with the passion of partisans, while the others defend him sluggishly, so that the innovator and his party alike are vulnerable” Niccolo Machiavelli

Personal Capacity Political Risk Practicality Personal Risk Emotional Impact Social Impact

*Debris Field *Too Many Initiatives *The Tyranny of or *Lack of the Four Main Drivers: Trust Capacity Building for ALL educators Collaboration in All directions Leadership at all levels

How do we increase educator capacity in order to provide a more effective education for all students in all schools?

Overarching Theory When a school systems learns, continuous improvement enables educators to close achievement gaps and ensures that all students grow and develop as learners.

“Leadership is about going somewhere. If you and your people don’t know where you are going, your leadership doesn’t matter.” Ken Blanchard