1. ESD Regional Workshop Year 1 Workshop 1

2. Welcome to the Leadership Academy
ESD 101
Year 1 Teams:
Colville
Dayton
Harrington
Inchelium
Newport
Oakesdale
St. John/Endicott

3. Welcome to the Leadership Academy
ESD 101
Year 3 Teams:
Davenport
Freeman
Nine Mile
Ritzville-Lind
Tekoa

4. Norms Please help us start and end on time
Please respect the views of others
Please be PRESENT
Please silence cell phones
Please close open during breaks only
Please avoid side conversations
Please maintain a cordial and collaborative tone
Please prepare to “OPT IN”

5. Goals For The Day: YEAR ONE
Learn about the Washington State Leadership Academy
Develop common language:
Working as a system
Problem of Practice (POP) and Theory of Action
Practice attributes of effective teams
Examine the urgency of our work

6. Goals For The Day: YEAR THREE
Share your experiences in and understanding of WSLA with the Year One team
Renew your WSLA team experience
Explore a new planning tool—The Results Pyramid—for implementing and monitoring your Theory of Action
Use Team Time to ground yourself in the Year 3 work

7. FOUR CORNERS CONVERSATION
Form pairs at your assigned starting corner:
Round 1:
Pair off to answer the question. Choose a partner who is NOT in your district.
Round 2:
One member of the pair moves clockwise to the next question; the other partner moves counterclockwise;
Round 3:
Move to one of the remaining two questions that most interests you;
Round 4:
Move to the question you have not yet answered
Janice:
Focusing Activity: Four Corners Conversation
This :activity invites participants to meet with people from other districts and to share interesting tidbits about their professional journey.
Divide into 4 groups (numbering off is the easiest way)
Place a sheet of easel paper with one of the following questions in each corner of the room:
Talk about your first job in education: tell a funny or meaningful story?
Why do you do the work you do?
What is a meaningful piece of advice you received in your journey?
If you could wave a magic wand and change one thing about education today—nationally, regionally, in your classroom—what would you change?
Assign each group to one corner of the room where they will go through 4 rotations. Oral instructions:
Round 1 - Pair off to answer the question. Plan to choose a partner who is NOT in your district. (Plan to use about 4 minutes for each rotation)
Round 2 – One member of the pair moves clockwise to the next question; the other partner moves counterclockwise;
Round 3 – Move to one of the remaining two questions that most interests you;
Round 4 – Move to the question you have not yet answered

8. What Have I Gotten Myself Into???
Learning about WSLA or . . .
What Have I Gotten Myself Into???
Page 4 of the Handout
Part 2:
Year 1: Asks question in round robin format
Year 3: Responds with their wisdom based on WSLA experience
Part 1:
Year 1: Brainstorm your questions about WSLA
Year 3: Consider the questions in Part 1 of the Protocol

9. WSLA Curriculum Strands

10. BREAK

11. Why Change?
Click the black box when in slide show – movie should play. Let me know if it doesn’t and we will problem solve.

12. The difference is that some fly, while others walk.
ALIGNMENT
All birds
have wings –
The difference is that some
fly, while others walk.

13. Slide 2 - Slide of geese
Click first to show picture and ask participants to brainstorm some possible leadership captions for the picture.
Have participants share ideas.
Click and actual caption, "Say, we are organized the same, but they are making greater progress."
Ask participants, "What are the implications for leaders? For schools?  Are schools organized the same but some make greater progress? Why?  What does working as a team have to do with making greater progress?  Is alignment important?    How could a school benefit from the concept of a distinct moving in a common direction?
“Say we’re organized the same, but they are making greater progress.

14. ARE WE ENGAGED IN . . .
Random Acts of Improvement?

15. District-wide plan Clearly articulated Intentional & focused
K-12 curriculum instruction
assessment plan
District technology plan
District budget plan
School improvement plans
District strategic plan
Direction of Flight
District-wide plan
Clearly articulated
Intentional & focused
District professional
development plan
Slide 13 - Slide of Alignment
Click on slide. 
What are the implications/messages participants can take away from the slide/graphic? Why is system wide alignment or coherence important?  
What role does planning play in system wide alignment? 
What efficiencies that can be achieved through alignment? 
Teacher and principal
evaluation plans
Compensatory
education plans
District transportation plan
District special services plan

16. SMARTER BALANCED TPEP COMMON CORE DISTRICT INITIATIVES
K-12 curriculum instruction
assessment plan
SMARTER BALANCED
TPEP
District technology plan
District budget plan
COMMON CORE
School improvement plans
District strategic plan
Direction of Flight
District-wide plan
Clearly articulated
Intentional & focused
District professional
development plan
Slide 3 - Slide of Alignment
Click on slide.  What are the implications/messages participants can take away from the slide/graphic? Why is system wide alignment or coherence important?   What role does planning play in system wide alignment? What efficiencies that can be achieved through alignment? 
Teacher and principal
evaluation plans
DISTRICT
INITIATIVES
Compensatory
education plans
District transportation plan
District special services plan

17. Thinking with Your Coach
Back in your district, we ask you and your coach to think about these questions.
Why is system-wide alignment or coherence important?  
What role does planning play in system-wide alignment? 
What efficiencies can be achieved through alignment? 
What steps are needed to reach alignment?

18. Reflection Step 1: Reflect independently in your WSLA Journal
What steps have we already taken in our district to integrate the work?
What steps are needed?
What can I, personally, offer to this team in that effort?
Step 2: Discuss as a group

19. If we’re to get through this maze of pressures and questions,
it will take all of us in a truly collaborative fashion

20. GROUPS OR TEAMS? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0hV65KIItlE 3 elements
Work Interdependently
Goal
Mutually Accountable = Team
settled for working in groups v. creating truly collaborative teams….

21. Team or Group?
Discuss in your district teams:
What evidence do we have that would allow us to be described as a team rather than a group?
What steps can we take to improve our work as a team?

22. What’s Around the Bend?

23. SETTING THE STAGE A PARABLE…..
Once there was
a little town on a river………
Join with two people from different
districts:
What message do you perceive in the parable?
How is it relevant for our work in closing achievement gaps and ensuring all students learn at high levels?

24. What might be our issue “around the bend?”
A PARABLE…..
In Your District Team:
What might be our issue “around the bend?”

25. AM Review Take 5 minutes to discuss this morning’s work in your team:
Thoughts and questions about WSLA?
Reflection on activities?
New learning?

27. AN OVERVIEW Working on Problems of Practice
Start with a problem of practice
Framing a “learning” problem or challenge
Reframing to go deeper
Working with and from data
Develop a systems-level plan and theory of action
Intentionally connect the plan to the problem
What’s the rationale for the strategies you are using?
Identify evidence of progress
How will you know that you are making progress on the problem?
Who will be responsible for gathering/analyzing evidence? When?
Take focused action
Implement the plan on a timeline
Understand what happened
Gather and analyze data to assess progress and inform the next cycle
Walk quickly through the various dimensions of this approach
THIS IS THE CYCLE OF INQUIRY, BUT WE’RE NOT CALLING IT THAT UNTIL WORKSHOP 2 (TRYING TO AVOID THE “OVERWHELMED FACTOR” OF WORKSHOP 1)
Table discussion – share out ideas from the group – how this is applied to our work specifically
“Plan implemented with fidelity” vs “are the students really learning because of what we have done”
Presumes that there is NO END STATE – we will continuously improve and continuously go around the cycle of inquiry – what is the new learning here at this point vs have we reached our goal – end of story

28. START WITH A PROBLEM OF PRACTICE
“A problem well put
is half-solved”
-- John Dewey
Much written about problems and problem solving.
Quote from Dewey suggests that the way in which the problem is framed initially is the critical step in solving
If you get the problem right, you have a fighting chance to get something done. Taking time on the frame of the problem, asking the deep questions that challenge all of our thoughts will give us a basis for good actions

29. What’s the Problem?

30. Developing a Problem of Practice
Characteristics of a Strong PoP
Identifies a learning issue or achievement gap for students
Frames the challenge as a question to be answered
Considers “root causes”
Helps others to see the problem as a system issue requiring a system solution
Focuses the work

31. Developing a Problem of Practice
A Strong PoP AVOIDS:
Embedding blame in stating the problem
Embedding preconceived solutions in stating
the problem

32. An Example: Getting to PoP
Attempt #4:
How will the school district fully support all kindergarten teachers to know and use instructional practices in literacy that ensure kindergarten students who enter speaking a primary language other than English will be reading at or above grade level by the end of kindergarten?
Attempt #3:
How do we ensure that kindergarten students who enter school speaking a primary language other than English will be reading at or above grade level by the end of kindergarten?
Attempt #1:
Kindergarten students come to school with widely different levels of reading readiness.
Attempt #2:
How to ensure that all kindergarten students will be reading at or above grade level by the end of kindergarten?

33. WSLA Foundational Problem of Practice
Something to get you started:
How can we create and lead a system that ensures effective instruction for all students, integrates multiple initiatives, i.e., Common Core, TPEP, Smarter Balanced Assessments… and results in sustained high levels of learning?

34. POP Protocol Part ONE Understanding the POP \
STEP 1: Read the WSLA POP and underline a key word or phrase that MOST resonates with you. (individually)
STEP 2: Share what you underlined with your team and why:
What conclusions can we draw about our team’s CURRENT focus on this POP?
How do we define the key terms?
How might this POP provide the foundation for creating our own PoP, for aligning with work we’re already doing?

35. BREAK

36. Team Protocol: Part TWO: The Leadership Piece
STEP 1: Brainstorm Responses
In your district, what are the critical leadership roles, attributes, skills, and knowledge that must be present to CREATE AND LEAD A SYSTEM that results in SUSTAINED HIGH LEVELS OF STUDENT LEARNING?
STEP 2: Individual Reflection and Team Conversation
What leadership strengths do I bring to the POP Team?
How and where do my strengths align with the POP?

37. YOUR Problem of Practice
SHARE
What are your initial thoughts about the focus of your PoP, about the language to include?
How can you use the WSLA PoP as the foundation for your district’s PoP?
What do you believe you are doing now that might form the basis for writing your PoP?
What evidence you will collect before deciding your next steps to focus your PoP?

38. BACK IN YOUR DISTRICT Before your next WSLA Workshop
Before your next WSLA Workshop
Individually review the WSLA Two-Year Outcomes and Rubrics document and mark (highlight or check) where you think your district is right now on each element and bring your marked document to the next workshop.
2. Meet with your WSLA Coach to dig deeper into the POP

39. Reflection Reflect in your WSLA Journal:
Reflect in your WSLA Journal:
What instructional strategies and/or content have you learned today that you or your team will use to improve student learning?
What are the connections between your leadership learning today and changing student learning outcomes?

40. This is a typical kindergarten class—it may look like a kindergarten class in your districts.
Look at these happy faces. We want each one of these students to remain happy, to learn to high standards, and to graduate from high school.
Select one student in this kindergarten class that you would like to mentor all the way until graduation. Focus on that student. Think about what it would take from you to get that student to walk across the stage on graduation night.
CLICK SLOWLY 10 TIMES—ONE STUDENT WILL BE REMOVED WITH EACH CLICK:
As you click say something like: Is your student still with us?
Is your student one that was lost?
Did you do everything possible to keep your student in school until graduation?
What else did you need to do?
WHEN THERE ARE ONLY 20 STUDENTS LEFT—CLICK AGAIN

41. AND ALL THE KINDERGARTEN STUDENTS RETURN:
This is where they started.
CLICK THREE TIMES: The 30 kindergarten students fade into 20 older students.
This is what became of that kindergarten class.
I ask again, did we all do everything we could for each student?
Did we understand the urgency of this work?
Does each child matter?
Are we willing and able to do whatever it takes?
CLICK SLOWLY 10 TIMES AS THE KINDERGARTEN STUDENTS RETURN AS SENIORS.
As you click:
The graduation class could look like this.
This is what it can be.
We have the power to make it happen.

42. THEN CLICK ONCE: The kindergarten students return and fade into the 30 seniors.
Our urgent goal: Each student graduates!

43. “As we work together to restore hope to
the future, we need to include a new
and strange ally—our willingness to be
                             disturbed. Our willingness to have our beliefs and ideas challenged by what others think. No one person or perspective can give us the answers we need to the problems of today. Paradoxically, we can only find those answers by admitting we don’t know. We have to be willing to let go of our certainty and expect ourselves to be confused for a time.”
Margaret Wheatley
Turning to One Another

44. Please complete the ELECTRONIC Evaluation when you receive it.
Next WSLA Workshop:
November 1, 2016