How to move a large district forward with efficiency and effectiveness Jeff Heller & Mike Jaszczak Parma City Schools November 1, 2012

 Jeff Heller    Mike Jaszczak  

 Background:  Parma City School District in  Challenges faced  The importance of building trust with stakeholders

 Maximizing your Transformation/Leadership team  Cultivating district teacher leaders  Backwards designing benchmarks and building subcommittees  Building internal capacity for transformation

Maximizing your Transformation/ Leadership team

 Are the right people at the table?  Directors: Do you have who you need in order to properly align resources and implementation? No rubber stamping!  Teachers: At least 50% membership, preferably chosen by Association. No nodding heads!

 The Collaborative Norms  Equity of voice  Confidentiality  Be present  Honor the time  Active listening  Respect for other perspectives

 What is the vision for this team and its work?  Who is setting this vision and creating a sense of importance/priority?  Shared voice. Why are teachers at the table?  Voices from the field / New perspectives  Facilitate a sense of buy-in  Take shared ownership of the work – not just more on central office’s plate.

Cultivating District Leadership Teams

 Teachers released 40% to 50% to oversee aspects of district transformation  Benefits  More experts with dedicated time to oversee the work  Inexpensive alternative to hiring more directors  Keeps decision-making grounded by classroom perspective  Helps potential teacher leaders transition into central office leadership, Association leadership, or other such high-impact roles.  Encourages such potential leaders to stay within the district.  Higher buy-in. Teachers have a MEANINGFUL voice in the process.

 PCSD currently has five District Teacher Leaders  District Facilitator of Race to the Top  Lead Resident Educator Coordinator  Performance Plus Lead Trainer (IIS)  (2) Peer Assistance Review Teacher Consultants

Backwards Designing Benchmarks and Building Subcommittees

1. Where does your district need to be by 2014? 2. What needs to happen each quarter in order to get there? 3. Set precise and simple action goals. 4. Establish a committee and responsible point person 5. Meet monthly to measure progress and trouble-shoot.

 Each subcommittee is headed by a member of our RttT Transformation Team.  All Transformation Team members must sit on at least one subcommittee  Monthly Transformation Team meetings are 2.5 hours long. 1 hour is allocated to subcommittee updates/reports out.

 Performance Plus (Area B)  Training modules  Training implementation  Database management  College & Career Readiness (Area C)  Coordination w/ Colleges and trade schools  Teaching & Learning (Area C)  Core roll out  Curriculum Writing Teams  District Leadership Team (Area D)  TBTS  Prof Development  Equity Subcommittee (Area D)  Resources  Effective instruction  Ratios  Least restrictive enviroment  Evaluation Team (Area D)  Rewarding Outstanding Teachers  Performance Based Compensation  Peer Assistance Review Team (Area D)  OTES  Assisting struggling teachers  Resident Educator Program (Area D)  Student Growth Measures (Area D)  Protocols  Communication  Pilot Groups  Research  Pilot Teams  PCSD currently participates in six

Building Internal Capacity

 Content Area Coaches  Specialists working in Central Office  Deliver Core Curriculum roll-out training  Facilitate curriculum writing and alignment  Are liaisons between central office and teachers of content  Data Coaches  One to three teachers per building  Experts in value-added and IIS utilization  Paid a regular stipend to offer onsight assistance to peers as needed

 District Leadership Team 1. Made up of all Central Office directors, one administrator per building, and one member from each Building Leadership Team. 2. Effective transmission of communication between DLT and BLT on a monthly basis. 3. BLTs monitor teacher progress and concerns, articulate findings and identified areas of need upward to DLT. 4. Professional Learning opportunities, district directives, and district policies are shaped in response to this feedback. 5. DLT Steering committee: Smaller group of DLT members that sets the agenda for DLT meetings.

The Results

 Three years rated as an EXCELLENT district  One of only two districts in the state rated EXCELLENT with over 7,000 students and over 40% free and reduced lunch  Graduated out of the Ohio Improvement Process.  On-target or ahead for nearly all Race to the Top assurances and upcoming state mandates.  Sustainable internal structure for facilitating continued change