1. The Will to Lead: Creating Healthy School Culture
Anthony Muhammad, PhD

2. Is Change Necessary?
“Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.”
—Albert Einstein

3. Two Forms of Change
Technical–structural (skill)
Cultural (will)

4. Will and Skill
Culture
Pedagogy

5. High Will and High Skill
Low Skill
High Skill
Low Will

6. Cultural Change
“Structural change that is not supported by cultural change will eventually be overwhelmed by the culture, for it is in the culture that any organization finds meaning and stability.”
Schlechty, Shaking Up the Schoolhouse:
How to Support and Sustain Educational Innovation
(2001), p. 52

7. Human Beings are Complex!
Hard Fact #1
Human Beings are Complex!

8. Transformational Leader
The transformational leader (at all levels) is determined to lead a person into better behavior rather than being satisfied with identifying and criticizing current behavior.

9. What qualities do leaders need to possess to transform behavior?

10. The Will to Lead Aligning the Philosophy Managing Frustration
Creating a Culture of Collaboration
Institutionalizing Cultural Health
Hollie and Muhammad, The Will to Lead, the Skill to Teach (2011)

11. School Culture
“School culture is the set of norms, values, and beliefs, rituals and ceremonies, symbols and stories that make up the ‘persona’ of the school.”
—Deal & Peterson, 2002

12. Healthy School Culture
“Educators have an unwavering belief in the ability of all of their students to achieve success, and they pass that belief on to others in overt and covert ways. Educators create policies and procedures and adopt practices that support their belief in the ability of every student.”
—Kent D. Peterson in Cromwell, 2002

13. School goals guide behavior.
Prescriptive
Commitment
Belief in all students
School goals guide behavior.
Reflection
Analyze data
Confront brutal facts.
Prescription
Collaborative
Disciplined practice

14. Apprenticeship of Observation
Educators have been socialized in their field since childhood and adopt the norms
The average educator was a good student
Educators subconsciously protect a system that was of personal benefit
Educators implement practices that protect the system (academic obstacle course)
(Lortie, Schoolteacher: A Sociological Study, 1975)
I assume that this information is a paraphrase from a book. Please let me know if this is so.
Also, we need the title of the work.

15. How would our society respond if the Achievement Gap were reversed?
Predetermination
Perceptual (Everything is relative)
Intrinsic (Victims remain victims)
Institutional
How would our society respond if the Achievement Gap were reversed?

16. You can’t hold people accountable for what you haven’t made explicit.
Hard Fact #2
You can’t hold people accountable for what you haven’t made explicit.

17. Aligning the Philosophy - Developing Shared Purpose
The mission question challenges members of a group to reflect on the fundamental purpose of the organization, the very reason for its existence. The question asks, “Why do we exist?” “What are we here to do together?” and “What is the business of our business?”
DuFour and Eaker, PLC at Work, 1998

18. Developing Mission Who are your students?
What are the areas where their lives could be enhanced through education?
What will you collectively commit to focus on in order to enhance their lives?
Mission must have a SERVICE ORIENTATION!

19. Who are Your Students? Levey Middle School - 2001 97% African-American
72% at or below National Poverty Line
80% of families are headed by single mothers
25% - 40% annual student mobility rate
State achievement scores well below state averages

20. Levey Middle School Mission
“We will work collaboratively to ensure that each student is prepared for post-secondary education”

21. New Frontier 21 School A Fresh Approach
Character Education
Community Service
And
Connection to
Private Sectors
Public and
Partnership
Parental
University Partnerships
Academic
Skills
Professional Learning Community

22. Nine Core Beliefs
Schools are places built for the education of children, not for adult employment.
Schools play a major role in the future life success of students and their community.
Education is a profession, and educators should conduct themselves as professionals.
Education is a mission, and educators should conduct themselves as missionaries.
Schools are a communities’ most precious institution, and they have the power to transform a community.
Children are at the center of everything that we do, and our practice should reflect their best interest.
We believe that schools must partner with other members of the community in order for the educational experience to be optimal.
We believe that character is important and that schools can help shape a child’s character.
We believe that service to the community is important and that it is essential in a democratic society.

23. Pause to Think
Are you and your colleagues clear on your fundamental purpose?
What would be evidence that your school has a clear and concise shared purpose?

24. A highly frustrated staff is a highly unproductive staff.
Hard Fact #3
A highly frustrated staff is a highly unproductive staff.

25. Human beings are complex!
Managing Frustration
Human beings are complex!

26. Toxic School Culture
“Educators believe that student success is based on students’ level of concern, attentiveness, prior knowledge, and willingness to comply with the demands of the school, and they articulate that belief in overt and covert ways. Educators create policies and procedures and adopt practices that support their belief in the impossibility of universal achievement.”
—Kent D. Peterson in Cromwell, 2002

27. Descriptive and Deflective

28. “Frustration” – The Root of a Toxic Culture
Frustration = “A feeling of anxiety as a result of the inability to perform a task”
A mismatch between skill set and task
Causes people to deflect blame onto others and create covert alliances with people experiencing similar struggle

29. Inappropriate preparation
Recipe for Disaster
Inappropriate preparation
Poor support system
Task overload

30. Culture of Complaint
Complaining becomes a crutch or coping mechanism for high levels of frustration
There is little to no evidence that complaining in isolation is detrimental to an organization
Complaining becomes damaging when it becomes a habit

31. The Culture of Complaint Two V’s
Venting
Validation

32. Time Out!
“To be a good teammate, your responsibilities must be more important than your rights”
Orr, J. (2009). Our Top Ten Favorite John Wooden Quotes. Christian Science Monitor. Boston, MA.

33. Problem solvers Complainers Real Difference Healthy Culture
Toxic Culture
Problem solvers
Complainers

34. Good to Great, Jim Collins
What do great corporations/organizations do differently than good/average organizations?
They seek and confront the “brutal facts”
They get the right people on the “bus” and sit them in the “right seats”

35. The Quandary (Muhammad, 2009) Tweeners Believers Survivors
Fundamentalists
(Muhammad, 2009)

36. Success for All Students
Believers
Objective:
Success for All Students

37. The Believers Very intrinsically motivated
Flexibility with students (academically and behaviorally)
Mission driven/connection to school or community
Willing to confront negative talk and attitudes towards children, but only under extreme circumstances
Varied levels of pedagogical and professional skill

38. Pause to Think!
Is your school culture focused on success for students or the needs of the adults?
Are your Believers politically active or docile?
Are your Believers active in the informal culture?

39. To Find Comfort Zone Within the Organization
Tweeners
Objective:
To Find Comfort Zone Within the Organization

40. The Tweeners Loosely-coupled with the school mission
Enthusiastic about the idealistic nature of school, but have not quite hit the tipping point
They stay out of school and district politics
Follows instructions as given by administration creating a ‘Wall of Silence’ (considered “good” teachers)
One extreme experience (Moment of Truth) can swing them to be a believer or a fundamentalist

41. Pause to Think!
Do you have a significant amount of turnover among your Tweeners? If so, why? If not, what do you do to support and retain them?
Who supports your Tweeners when they have their “Moment of Truth”?

42. Survivors
Objective:
Survival

43. Survivors
Overwhelming nature of the job or life has caused clinical depression (Burnout)
No political or organizational aspirations
Create subcontracts with student to broker a “cease-fire” agreement
Little to no professional practice is evident
All members of the organization agree that they do not belong in the profession
Removal and treatment is the only possible remedy

44. Pause to Think!
Do you have colleagues that you feel may be Survivors or in the process of becoming a Survivor?
If so, have you reached out to him/her? Has administration addressed the issue?
How have your Survivors impacted students?

45. Maintain Status Quo (Leave Me Alone!)
Fundamentalists
Objective:
Maintain Status Quo
(Leave Me Alone!)

46. Fundamentalists
Believe not all children can learn ( Social Darwinists)
Believe that school reform is a waste of time
Believe in autonomy and academic freedom
Organize to resist threat(s) to status quo
Believe that gaps in learning are due to outside forces (students, parents, administration)
Have varied levels of pedagogical skills

47. Methods: The Three “D’s”
Defame
Disrupt
Distract

48. Pause to Think!
Do you have an active group of Fundamentalists at your school? If so, how have they affected the culture?
Do your Believers challenge your Fundamentalists?
Have you witnessed any of the three D’s? If so, how has it affected your school?

49. The Real Difference Believers Fundamentalists
Goal: Success for Every Student
Accepts that change (the right change) is necessary to improve student performance
Student interest is more important that personal interest (Public Servant)
Goal: Maintain Status Quo
Rejects any substantive change if it clashes with personal agenda
Self-interest is more important than student interest (Self Servant)

50. The Current State of School Reform
The Clash
Fundamentalists
(need for stability/predictability)
School Improvement
(need to change to meet organizational goals)
Stalemate

51. Pause to Think What are your most prevalent frustrations?
How do you and your colleagues typically respond when they are frustrated?
Does your leadership relieve or add to your frustrations?

52. Creating a Culture of Collaboration
Why Collaborate?

53. Teacher Isolation
The crush … of our myriad daily events and duties kept us from collaborating on such obvious and challenging concerns as how to teach composition more effectively, and how to make literature more exciting…and so we worked consciously and unconsciously toward our own goals, within the limitations of what each of knew or did not know.
Mike Schmoker
This fits schools and teachers across America today.

54. A Collaborative Culture
“School improvement doesn’t happen by getting everyone to come to the auditorium and testify to their belief that all children can learn -- not if it means sending everyone back to the classroom to do what they’ve always done.”
Elmore (2002)
Real improvement comes when you visit a classroom where somebody is doing the same thing you are -- only better. That’s where the real conversation, the tough conversation about improvement takes place. Whether you’re a beginning teacher or a veteran, the important thing is to focus on the next stage of improvement.
YET, there is tremendous autonomy at the same time. We’re not advocating one size fits all solutions - each team must work individually. Loose/tight
USE Collaboration and Privatization Handouts here………

55. Leadership at Every Level
Healthy School Culture
Teacher
Building
Leadership
District
State and Federal

56. Two Important Subcultures: Managerial and Collegial

57. Being correct is no substitute for being effective.
Hard Fact #4
Being correct is no substitute for being effective.

58. Creating Healthy Cultures: A Two-Way Street
Collegial
Managerial
Control the language of the informal organization.
Remove emotional tone (culture of complaint) from informal interactions.
Focus peers on mission and problem solving.
Develop and maintain healthy organizational vision.
Develop and maintain healthy policies, practices, and procedures.
Institutionalize organizational health.

59. Adult Drama
Dysfunctional social interactions between adult professionals within a school environment that interfere with the proper implementation of important policies, practices, and procedures that support the proper education of students

60. Collaborative Teams of Teachers
Forming
Norming
Storming
Performing

61. Pause to Think
How well do teachers and site leaders collaborate in your school and/or school district?
In your school and/or district, is being effective more important than being correct?

62. Institutionalizing Cultural Health
Moving the bus forward

63. Healthy cultures are two-way streets.
Support
Accountability

64. Fundamentalist: Change is not easy.
“Drop Your Tools” Research
People persist when they are given no clear reason to change.
People persist when they do not trust the person who tells them to change.
People persist when they view the alternative as more frightening.
To change may mean admitting failure.
(Maclean, 1992)

65. Good Leaders Transparently communicate purpose. Foster collaboration.
Build capacity.
Hold people accountable.

66. Why PLC?

67. What is a PLC?
“A Professional Learning Community is a group of educators committed to working collaboratively in ongoing processes of collective inquiry and action research in order to achieve better results for the students they serve. PLC’s operate under the assumption that the key to improved learning for students is continuous, job-embedded learning for educators” DuFour, et. al, 2006

68. Three Big Ideas Ensuring that Students Learn Collaborative Culture
Focus on Results

69. Six Characteristics Shared Mission, Vision, Values, and Goals
Collective Inquiry
Collaborative Culture
Action Orientation and Experimentation
Continuous Improvement
Focus on Results

70. Reflection
Rate your current level of effectiveness in each one on the six characteristics of a PLC using a Likert scale of 1-5, with 1 being ineffective and 5 being very effective.
Discuss how you can improve the two weakest areas of performance for the school year

71. What Results Matter? LEARNING
What do we want students to learn?
How do we know if they have learned?
How do we respond when students do not learn?
How do we respond when students have learned?

72. Practical Application of the Concepts:
Building a PLC from the Ground Up

73. Teacher Curriculum Review Critical Data
Choose Goals (No more than four/five)
Identify best literature/research that helps increase staff ability to meet goals
Develop study questions that applies the research to school’s current reality
Prepare study guide for teachers and pace their curriculum for the entire school year

74. SMART Goals
S – Strategic/Specific M – Measurable A – Attainable R – Results-Oriented T – Time bound

75. Learning Centers
Use staff meetings as “learning centers”, not for announcements and trivia
Make sure that study sessions are used to find solutions for your problems, not for complaints about the current state of your school.
Be prepared to answer the nay Sayers
Tie the information learned in your book studies to the vision for the school
Suggested Reading: Nothing’s Impossible, Lorraine Monroe, Turning Points 2000, Anthony Jackson, Getting Started, Eaker, DuFour and DuFour, Transforming Schools, Zmuda and Kuklis

76. Levey “10 Week Cycle” 10 Weeks Collaborate Instruct/ Assess
Analyze Results
Intervene
Plan
10 Weeks

77. What do we want students to know?
Identify “Essential Standards/Outcomes”
Pace them per quarter
Identify instructional material necessary to ensure mastery of standards by the students

78. Reflection
How does your school currently answer the question, “What do we want students to learn?”
Is it systematic or random?
How often do teachers get an opportunity to develop shared understanding of the curriculum?

79. How do we know if they have learned?
Develop common formative assessments
Common assessments measure if students can performed the desired tasks
Common assessments should be given at least each quarter in each core subject matter
Common assessments should not exceed 25 questions
Assessments should be developed by the teachers that teach the content
Assessment questions should assess a deep cognitive level

80. How do we respond when students don’t learn?
Timely
Mandatory
Directive

81. Pyramid of Intervention
Intensive Support
For students who have not responded to first two levels
Track student progress weekly
Intensive
Supplemental Instruction and Support
Identify students with common assessment data, grades, and environment data
Supplemental
Base Program
Base Program—
For all students
Daily best practice
Should address the needs of at least 75% of your students. 81

82. Pyramid of Intervention What do we do when students do not learn?
Homework lunch
In-school tutors
Student Support Specialist
After-school tutoring
Student Success Plan
Title 1 Summer Institute
University Summer Program
???????????

83. Discussion What do you currently offer at Tier 1?
What’s working at what needs to be improved?

84. Levey Results Reading 2000 – 30% Proficient (State Avg. 68%)
Math
2000 – 31% Proficient (State Avg. 54%)
2006 – 81% Proficient (State Avg. 62%)

85. Other Levey Victories Named a National Blue Ribbon School
Chosen as a NASA Explorer School in 2005
school year, 0 students failed one or more academic classes, down from 150 in 2001
school year, 62 student suspensions, down from over 3000 during the school year
52% of Levey students are on the honor roll
18 charitable student service learning projects completed during the school year
Trailblazing “Hip-Hop” class that links literacy to pop culture
Business course and student run store offered for students in grades 6, 7, and 8 – “The Levey Dollar Store”

86. Next Steps
After participating in today’s session, what are your next steps?
Identify three specific goals/targets and put into action for next school year

87. Two Must-Reads for Follow-Up

88. Keyword -Dr. Anthony Muhammad
Contact Information
Website:
Twitter:
@newfrontier21
Facebook:
Keyword -Dr. Anthony Muhammad