A Systematic Approach for School Wide Sustained Growth Mark Cerutti – Director of Secondary Education – Elk Grove Unified School District

What are you doing right now and how did you decide to do it? How do you determine – – –What to do? – –Who should do it? – –When should it be done? – –What are the risks of doing it? – –What are the risks of not doing it?

No Options and Necessities Wasting time, material or human resources is not an option Employing inefficient action is not an option Measuring efficiency and accuracy of actions is a necessity

Characteristics of a proven model All decisions emanate from the school’s Mission and Core Values Four integrated key elements of leadership focus A balance of process/system with people power in the school

The flexibility of the model is key Fitting a school’s unique environmental and organizational characteristics into the model Not losing sight of the four key elements Evaluating the school’s present condition and the level of leadership required for each key element

Key Elements of Leadership for Sustained Growth

An example of the Sustained Growth Model in action Florin High School – –As each slide is reviewed, keep your school in mind and begin to apply the information to your specific situation

Florin High School Mission and Core Values Essential Teaching and Learning Questions Professional Learning Communities School Wide Focus “Effectively support the ongoing development of our collective teaching & learning practices, resulting in every student meaningfully connected to school and experiencing academic success” Steering Committee Technology Action Team Professional Learning Action team Parent/Community Action Team School Climate Action team Use of Effective Monitoring and Project Management Strategies

Our Mission : “Inspiring and Educating Our Diverse Community to Achieve Excellence”

FHS Core Values PROFESSIONALISM PROFESSIONALISM –Florin High School Staff Values: Professional behaviors and qualities we instill in our students. Professional behaviors and qualities we instill in our students. Autonomy and innovation while encouraging and supporting collaboration. Autonomy and innovation while encouraging and supporting collaboration. STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT –Florin High School Staff Values: High expectations for academic achievement and personal growth. High expectations for academic achievement and personal growth. Meeting individual student needs and offering varied paths for student success. Meeting individual student needs and offering varied paths for student success. FLORIN HIGH COMMUNITY FLORIN HIGH COMMUNITY –Florin High School Staff Values: Parents, community members and local businesses as partners in the education of their children. Parents, community members and local businesses as partners in the education of their children. A safe and inviting campus. A safe and inviting campus. INSTRUCTIONAL PRACTICE INSTRUCTIONAL PRACTICE –Florin High School Staff Values: Critical thinking and problem solving as the focus of instruction. Critical thinking and problem solving as the focus of instruction. The use of engaging instructional practices. The use of engaging instructional practices.

School Wide Focus Describe what you are doing for students Describe what you are doing for students Be succinct Be succinct Make it understandable to all Make it understandable to all Highlight key words/phrases Highlight key words/phrases Reference it often Reference it often

Florin High School Focus “Effectively support the ongoing development of our collective teaching and learning practices, resulting in every student meaningfully connected to school and experiencing academic success.” “Effectively support the ongoing development of our collective teaching and learning practices, resulting in every student meaningfully connected to school and experiencing academic success.”

Effective Teams Professional Learning Communities –A focus on student learning –A collaborative culture –Collective inquiry into research-based best practice –Action orientation – professional learning by doing –All members mutually accountable for targeted results Dufour – Professional Learning Communities at Work Dufour – Professional Learning Communities at Work

Effective Project Management Ensuring talk is moved to measured and evaluated action Date Source – Knowing what to look for Date Source – Knowing what to look for Data Analysis Results – Converting data to meaningful information Data Analysis Results – Converting data to meaningful information Design, Development and Implementation – Knowing what to do and why you’re doing it Design, Development and Implementation – Knowing what to do and why you’re doing it Program/Initiative Evaluation – Knowing how you’re doing (Logic Model of Program Evaluation) Program/Initiative Evaluation – Knowing how you’re doing (Logic Model of Program Evaluation) Professional Learning Needs – Making sure we have what it takes to get the job done Professional Learning Needs – Making sure we have what it takes to get the job done –Human Performance Technology – International Society for Performance Improvement

A Focus on Essential Teaching and Learning Questions What are we supposed to teach? What are we supposed to teach? –Standards- based content How do we prioritize, sequence and deliver our instruction? How do we prioritize, sequence and deliver our instruction? –Curriculum mapping and instructional design How do we know they’re learning? How do we know they’re learning? –Formative and summative assessment/progress monitoring What do we do when they’re not learning? What do we do when they’re not learning? –Academic intervention and support

Florin High School – Integration of the Sustained Growth Model Steering Committee Action Teams Departments, Specialized Academic Programs (CA Partnership Academies, NJROTC, AVID) Grade Level/Course Specific Teams – –All are assessed in terms of the five characteristics of a PLC

Steering Committee School-Wide Governance School-Wide Governance Collaborative Leadership Collaborative Leadership Essential Communication Link Essential Communication Link Open Membership Open Membership

Action Teams Technology, School Climate, Professional Learning, Parent/Community Partnership Technology, School Climate, Professional Learning, Parent/Community Partnership –Teacher led; Administratively supported –Data based –Gap/cause identified –Progress monitored –Results communicated

Technology Action Team Purpose Statement: To effectively manage the procurement and utilization of technologies and to support all stakeholders to ensure an efficient flow of accurate communication. Purpose Statement: To effectively manage the procurement and utilization of technologies and to support all stakeholders to ensure an efficient flow of accurate communication Areas of Focus: Areas of Focus: –School Loop management and evaluation –Web Site Management and updating –Education Technology Professional Learning –Panther Access Card Support

Professional Learning Action Team Purpose Statement: Support PLC development in their work to ensure every student is meaningfully connected to school and experiences academic success. Purpose Statement: Support PLC development in their work to ensure every student is meaningfully connected to school and experiences academic success Areas of Focus: Areas of Focus: –Support and monitor the development and implementation of SMART goals for all PLCs. –Provide needed time and structure for sharing results and /or recommendations of our PLC work –Provide needed time and structure for sharing results and /or recommendations of our PLC work –Support PLC leaders in facilitating these teams by providing: data support data support leadership support leadership support goal-writing goal-writing

School Climate Action Team Purpose Statement: Support and lead efforts to ensure students, parents, staff and all stakeholders are positively connected to Florin High School which is: Purpose Statement: Support and lead efforts to ensure students, parents, staff and all stakeholders are positively connected to Florin High School which is: –Safe, Respectful and Clean –Academically Rigorous –Culturally Diverse Areas of Focus: Areas of Focus: –Researching master schedule options with a focus on small learning communities –Pilot Targeted Student Project –Saturday School Program Improvement –Minute bell case study project –School events and activities promoting cultural awareness

Parent/Community Partnership Action Team Purpose Statement: Collaborating with our essential partners/stakeholders to ensure the optimal learning experience of all students. Purpose Statement: Collaborating with our essential partners/stakeholders to ensure the optimal learning experience of all students Areas of Focus: Areas of Focus: –Implementation of DeVry and Siemens Partnerships –Expansion of CPAs –ASSETS –Continued expansion of partnerships

Why consider this model? The principles of the Sustained Growth Model originated in the biological sciences and have been used by successful businesses for over 30 years

It’s a proven model for sustained growth - Peace Corps Nature Conservancy AmeriCorp Intel Cisco

The Sustained growth model enables you to: Accurately predict points of delayed growth Quickly and accurately identify barriers to continued growth Replicate or originate to overcome barriers Minimize the duration of the plateau Maximize the duration of the gain

Understanding Sustained Growth It is not perfectly linear in nature It is series of steps of varying width and height

Understanding Sustained Growth Point of Delayed Growth Minimize duration of plateau by eliminating barriers to growth Maximize Duration of the Gain Point of Best Practice Replication or Innovation

Effective Leadership Must: Have an explicit “making a difference” sense of purpose Use strategies that mobilize many people to tackle touch problems Be held accountable by measured indicators of success, and Be ultimately assessed by the extent to which it awakens people’s intrinsic commitment, their sense of moral purpose. - Adapted from Leading in a Culture of Change, Michael Fullan, 2001

“Whatever one’s style, every leader, to be effective, must have and work on his or her moral purpose. Moral purpose cannot just be stated; it must be accompanied by strategies for realizing it. Those strategies are the leadership action that energize people to pursue a desired goal. - Adapted from Leading in a Culture of Change, Michael Fullan, 2001

Distributed Leadership, in which formal leaders widely distribute leadership responsibilities among various groups in the organization, plays a crucial role in generating school reform and instructional improvement. Richard Elmore Building a New Structure for School Leadership

Improve your ability to accurately predict success and growth Determine correlations among actions and results Reduce reactivity Increased target, pro-activity Eliminate random acts of improvement Increase targeted, measured interventions

Ready for Learning Ready for Change Ready for Resistance Ready for Frustration Organization Change Capacity Personal Change Capacity - Douglas B. Reeves,

Move to the upper right quadrant! Doug Reeves – – –Organizational Change Capacity Ready for Change – –Learning Leadership Leading – High results and High Understanding

Learning Leadership - Only by evaluating both cause and effect can educators understand the complexities of student achievement and the efficacy of teaching and learning practices. (Adapted from the work of Doug Reeves) High Scores Student Achievement Low Scores Lucky High Results Low Understanding Leading High Results High Understanding Losing Low Results Low Understanding Learning Low Results High Understanding Understanding what improved student performance Low LevelHigh Level

Are you ready to accept the challenge of sustained growth?

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