Chapter 6- Sustaining the SI Process Chapter 7- Embedding Change in the Culture of a School

Take a minute… And define, in your own terms, what School Improvement is.

GOALS Represent measurable milestones Provide FOCUS Are a driving force for change

GOALS Must be constantly visited, be alive Are ports of call along the journey of continuous improvement Assess progress toward your vision

GOALS Foster on-going accountability Provide a reason for celebration

S.M.A.R.T. GOALS SSpecific MMeasurable AAttainable RResults-oriented TTime-bound

S.M.A.R.T. Goals Tips for establishing Team SMART Goals: 1. Ensure your team’s goal is aligned with the broader, overarching school-wide goal. 2. Clarify the level of achievement students were able to attain in previous years – working from data Ex.-78% earned the grade of C or higher in Algebra I in and 65% in Using the SMART Goal Setting Worksheet, set a SMART Goal that challenges your team to improve student achievement over past performance.

Evaluate this goal : 90% of students will be proficient in math by the end of the year.

Question - Do the goals that have been developed in your schools meet the standards for being SMART goals?

QUESTION - Faculty frequently see goal-setting as something that HAS to be done, but has little to do with the real world of the day- to-day life of their school. (State mandated SI plan) Is continuous improvement really valued by your schools? (Or is it simply seen as something we have to do?) If no, then what?

School Improvement Planning Process Gather All data pertinent to student achievement Study Where are we now and where do we want to be? Plan Design a plan to get where we want/need to be? Do Implement the plan

So, what do you value? What do you plan for in your district? What behaviors do you model for students in your district? What do you monitor in your district? What questions do you ask? What do you celebrate in your district? What takes priority in resource allocation in your district? Time allocation? What faculty and staff behaviors are you willing to confront in your district?

Please reflect - When something is truly a priority in an organization, people do not simply hope it happens; they develop and implement specific plans to ensure that it happens. What gets planned for and monitored in your schools?

Math Assessment Calendar GradeFirst QuarterSecond QuarterThird QuarterFourth Quarter K:All Students - October 29,2008- January 21, 2009March 19, 2009May 27, st :All Students -October 29,2008-January 21, 2009March 19, 2009May 27, nd :All Students - October 29,2008- January 21, 2009March 19, 2009May 27, rd :All Students - October 29, January 21, 2009March 19, 2009May 27, rd MEAP 10/14/08 3 rd MI ACCESS 10/13-11/21/08 3 rd :All Students 4 th :All Students - October 29,2008- January 21, 2009March 19, 2009May 27, th MEAP 10/14/08 4 th MI ACCESS 10/13-11/21/08 4 th :All Students

Celebrating WINS! 1. Be mindful of your early wins – RESULTS!!! 2. Make the results - Visible to staff, students, parents Unambiguous – no argument over the results Clearly related to the change effort/goal

Schools that are successful in implementing significant change regard collaborative time for teachers as a “critical resource”, “an essential tool” that enable teachers to enhance their individual and collective effectiveness. Purpose must be made explicit Accountability based on results must be built in

Chapter 7- Embedding Change in the Culture of a School

Creating a collaborative environment… has been described as the single most important factor for successful school improvement initiatives and the first order of business for those seeking to enhance the effectiveness of their school.

Two Forms of Change in a PLC Technical Technical Collaborative time Common Assessments Data Educational Technology Support Classes Cultural Cultural Positive or Negative? What cultural work needs to be done in order to get to the technical change?

Common Misconceptions about Technical Changes Changing the structure will lead to higher levels of learning (“rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic”) Technical changes make up for poor instruction or unprofessionalism Technical changes will “fix” kids or “fix” schools which are broken (i.e.: dress codes, longer school days)

Two Underlying Assumptions in a PLC…  All children can learn  All children will learn because of what we do

Altering beliefs, expectations, and habits that have gone largely unexamined for many years is a complex, messy and challenging task.

The most effective strategy for influencing and changing an organization’s culture is simply to identify, articulate, model, promote and protect shared values.

Reflective dialogue is critical to a change effort. It represents a purposeful attempt to make conscious that which is unconscious. When teachers become more aware of their school’s culture, they will be better able to shape that culture.

What are the stories “we tell ourselves”?

Changing the “stories”- Share accounts of individual or team efforts that illustrate the principles of a learning community Testimonials Student stories Celebrations

What is the distinction between restructuring and reculturing that the authors identify in Chapter 7?

Fullan – “re-culturing” Form follows Function Modeling; Coaching Commitment – at all levels, support Allow for “Implementation Dip” Protect “coherence” – complex change does not / should not be chaos Focus on purpose; incremental change Focus on what/why we can (not what/why we can’t) May be non-linear but must be focused, directed