1. Leading Instructional Change: Tools to Boost Student Achievment
Cary B. Riches, Ed. D @dr_riches
Director, Curriculum & Instruction, PK-12
Brandywine School District
Wilmington, DE

2. About Me High School ELA/Reading Teacher/ESL Instructional Coach
Instructional Principal- Vocational Technical High School
Supervisor of Programs
Director of Curriculum & Instruction PK-12
Mom

3. Goals
Discuss relationship between leadership, change theory, and achievement
Provide an honest discussion of instructional change focused on literacy
Provoke your thinking about how to create and nurture conditions for change in your school
Provoke your thinking about the relationship between qualitative variables and quantitative data

4. Two Districts- Same Struggle
Vocational Technical
4 High Schools, ~5,000 students
32% Poverty Rate
Instructional Principal
Reading Proficiency 58%
Reading Proficiency 68%
Closed the Achievement Gap
Brandywine
16 Schools, ~11,000 students
42% Poverty Rate
Diverse Population( 54% White, 46% minority)
1 PK
9 Elementary (KN-5)
2016- Reading Proficiency KN % DIBELS
2019- Reading Proficiency KN % DIBELS
3 Middle Schools (6-8)
3 High Schools (9-12)

5. 2018 SMARTER BALANCED- Reading

6. 2018 SAT Data

7. What variables impact student achievement? Research Says…

8. It Isn’t the Changes That Do You In, It’s the Transitions.

9. Tools: Purpose, Process, Product (Brand)
Purpose- do teachers know the “Why?”
What are the data telling us?
Process-what structure do you have in place to support instructional change?
High Quality Instructional Materials
High Quality Professional Learning
Product- what do you want to see? Have you clearly stated EXACTLY what you expect to see and hear?
Instructional Brand

10. Biggest Barriers to Instructional Change
Lack of Purpose- Why?
Lack of Trust
Lack of Knowledge
Lack of Communication
Lack of Buy-in
"Like it or not, all teams are potentially dysfunctional. This is inevitable because they are made up of fallible, imperfect human beings."
Lencioni, P. (2007). Conquer team dysfunction

11. Why are we doing this work?
Could your teachers clearly define the WHY behind a change in instructional practice?
Can you clearly define the WHY?
This is where your data have to tell the story. Data-driven decisions.

12. Leaders Establish a Purpose- WHY?
Identify a Problem?
Too many students are reading below grade-level?
Establish a Sense of Urgency
This is a problem because literacy is a gateway to future success. The ability to read and write at or above grade level is a civil right.
Establish a Purpose for Professional Learning
The purpose of this professional learning is to learn how to increase our students’ reading ability.

13. Setting Up the Process for Instructional Branding
You have to be clear about what it is you want teachers to do.
You have to provide them the materials they need,
You have to schedule time for them to learn and practice and you MUST participate,
You have to observe them to support full implementation,
And you have to allow for mid-course corrections.

14. Leaders Communicate Student Outcomes
Communicate the Student Achievement Outcomes- what are they, exactly?
How will we measure student reading growth?
How and when will we assess students’ reading ability?
What is acceptable reading growth?
When and how will we analyze our data?

15. Communication Do you have an established Communication Plan?
What does regular communication look like and sound like?
How will you communicate? Format
How often?
Put it on your calendar
Monthly Newsletter- same message
Every Professional Learning – same message

16. KN-5 Bookworms Reading & Writing
At every faculty meeting/professional learning/PLC…
“In BSD Elementary Schools we use Bookworms to teaching reading and writing because we believe all students should read and write at or above grade-level. We believe that the ability to read and write at or above grade-level is a civil right.”

17. 6-12- Secondary Literacy Template for Instruction
At every faculty meeting/professional learning/PLC…
“In BSD Secondary Schools we use the Secondary Literacy Template to teaching reading and writing because we believe all students should read and write at or above grade-level. We believe that the ability to read and write at or above grade-level is a civil right.”

18. Secondary Literacy Template
15-20 Minutes of Building Background Knowledge (Before-Reading)
30-60 Minutes of Literacy Instruction with Text(s) (During-Reading)
PALS
Reciprocal Teaching
Listen-Read-Discuss
Reading Guides
Questioning the Author
Writing, Composition & Synthesis
Self-Regulated Writing Strategies- Genre Specific
10-20 Minutes of Summary Writing (After-Reading)

19. We all see things a little differently

20. Communicate “Ad Nauseam”
When you are sick and tired of saying it, most people are hearing you for the first time.

21. Buy-in: what does that mean?
Buy-in from teachers is important, but buy-in is usually misunderstood
Leaders build the sense of urgency around the problem
Leaders set up processes that help teachers understand the problem. Data tell the story.
The Leader needs to be in control
Teachers buy-in when they trust the leader

22. Buy-in is about Strong Leadership
Buy-in is not about shared decision making; it’s about believing in and trusting a leader and his/her ability to make something happen.

23. Franklin Delano Roosevelt
“It’s a terrible thing to look over your shoulder when you are trying to lead-and find no one there.”
Franklin Delano Roosevelt

24. What does research tell us about the change process?
Change is situational. Transition is psychological.

25. Ending, Losing, Letting Go
Letting go of the old ways of doing things is hard. The first phase of change is helping people deal with loss.

26. Define What’s Over and What Isn’t
Directly communicate what is over.
Communicate EXACTLY what you want to see.
Bookworms
Secondary Literacy Template
Good teachers don’t stop doing anything. They do all the old and the new things and will eventually burn out.
Teachers make their own decisions about what to discard and what to keep, and the result is inconsistency and chaos.

27. The Second Phase of Change
The Neutral Zone
The old way of doing things is gone, but the “new” isn’t fully operational.
Don’t let your guard down during this phase.

28. The Third Phase of Change
The New Beginning
Own the new vision
Teachers start to experience the new energy
Discover the new sense of purpose
Change begins to work

29. Change is Hard
When give the option to change or collect proof why one shouldn’t change, most people start collecting proof.