California Reading First Superintendents’ Summit III Ready, Set, Go: Successful Leadership in a Reading First School Michael Romero, Director District Reading Programs Los Angeles Unified School District October 2005

Successful School Leadership The following actions were implemented to drive instructional and cultural change: Articulated specific and clear expectations of teachers Embraced role as instructional leader Considered myself a learner in the school community Understood the design of the reading/language arts program.

Successful School Leadership Conducted focused daily classroom visits Focused consistently on improving teachers’ instructional practice in a constructive manner Attended professional development regularly Participated as facilitator, cheerleader and clarifier at meetings and not just as a listener

Full Implementation of the Reading/Language Arts Program Ensure that the District’s adopted reading/language arts instructional program is fully implemented with fidelity Protect the reading/language arts program from disruptions for a minimum of 2.5 hours per day Organize and support weekly, collaborative, grade-level teacher meetings to analyze data and student work to plan the instructional program and plan professional development “next steps”

Keys to Creating a Culture for Academic Success “Weed the Garden” Take small focused steps, one layer at a time Celebrate small wins Recruit the best and brightest Choose the right people for the right job Clear the roadblocks for teachers, minimize excuses

The Foundational Triangle Decodables Blending Dictation Reading-Writing-Thinking Communicating-Analyzing Skills for a full and productive life in the twenty-first century Phonemic Awareness Word Knowledge Vocabulary Academic Language Reading First Action Seminars Purpose: Empower school-site leadership teams to assess the implemented curriculum and to plan next steps for professional development. Structure: eight monthly team meetings (4 - 8 p.m.) Content Focus; The inner core of the of the foundational triangle.

3-Day Lesson Study Conducted ongoing 3-day Lesson Studies to study the lesson together with grade-level teams, coach and administrators as a site-based professional development model for teaching and learning Ensures that teachers will have opportunities to learn, practice and apply so that they are able to make specific changes in their own pedagogy

grade-level teachers determining the focus of the work which leads to by analyzing formative assessments to identify a targeted assessment subtest by identifying curricular components that instruct the content of the targeted assessment subtest grade-level teachers collaborating to the Direct Instruction of the program components identify analyze observe practice plan which results in teachers refining their instructional practice thereby improving achievement on targeted assessment subtest and increasing student learning Lesson Study Professional Development Model inside the classroom outside the classroom begins with

Los Angeles Unified School District District Reading Programs