1. Creating High Impact Schools Key Leaders Network—North October 18, 2011 Cullman, AL

2. Alphabet Soup! Alphabet Soup! ABPC — Alabama Best Practices Center KLN — Key Leaders Network PCN — Powerful Conversations Network SLN — Superintendent Leaders Network FA — Formative Assessment FF — Formative Feedback

3. Guiding Questions 1.How are we transferring our learnings from KLN sessions to our work in our district? 2. How will we proceed in collecting evaluation data regarding the effectiveness of the transfer of learning from PCN/KLN in the schools of our district?

4. Guiding Questions, cont’d 3. In what ways can we use the partnership principles and practices associated with “Impact Schools” to optimize professional learning and growth in our schools and district? 4. How can I incorporate formative assessment into my work with teachers and/or school leaders as we partner to improve adult performance in our schools?

5. Guiding Questions, cont’d 5.How can we transfer the experiences and learnings of today to our colleagues back home?

6. Norms Collective Responsibility ▫Collaboration ▫Each of us is responsible for all of our students. Participation ▫Monitor your talk. ▫Encourage and support others. Respect ▫Put cell phones on vibrate. ▫No side-bar conversations. Time ▫Begin and end on time. ▫Take care of your own creature comforts.

7. Activity #1: Team Time—Recapping Our Use of KLN Learnings from 1 st Session WHAT? Team conversations focusing on use of materials, strategies, or learnings from our first KLN session WHY? To consolidate our experiences and prepare for reflective conversation with colleagues from other districts HOW? Name a facilitator to lead your district team in a conversation focusing on questions provided in Activity #1; all take notes to prepare for next activity

8. Activity #2: Sharing Our Experiences— Reflective Questioning WHAT? Sharing experiences related to transfer of KLN resources and learnings to your district and/or school WHY? To learn from individuals in other districts and to practice important communication skills HOW? Using the Reflective Questioning protocol, each member of a triad shares reflections while another member interviews the speaker, and a third member serves as observer

9. Debrief Reflective Questioning with Members of Your District Team What did you learn from colleagues from other districts? How did the Reflective Questioning protocol support reflection and dialogue? What were the benefits of using this protocol? In what contexts and for what purposes, if any, might you use this protocol in your work?

10. New Learning Forward Standards for Professional Learning DATA: Professional learning that increases educator effectiveness and results for all students uses a variety of sources and types of student, educator, and system data to plan, assess and evaluate professional learning.

11. R EACTION How do participants respond to professional development as it occurs? K NOWLEDGE What principles, facts, techniques and skills did participants acquire? U SE To what extent, if at all, are participants using the knowledge & skills acquired through professional development? I MPACT To what extent, if at all, does the professional development lead to improved results for students? BEGINNING OUR THINKING ABOUT AN EVALUATION DESIGN

12. Activity #3: Evidence for Our Evaluation WHAT?Generating data collection ideas for 4 levels of evaluation WHY?To assist individual teams in designing an evaluation that works for their district HOW?Neighborhood Gallery Walks involving each table brainstorming ideas for one of the assigned levels followed by a gallery walk to visit 3 tables in your “neighborhood” focusing on different levels

13. Activity #4: Team Dialogue About Our Evaluation Design WHAT?Team dialogue to initiate design of evaluation plan for 2011-12 ABPC activities WHY?Commitment to determining what difference our investment of time and effort are making for teachers and students HOW?Refer to Activity Sheet #4 as you begin thinking about the parameters and basic features of an evaluation design that will serve the needs of your district

14. Begin with the End in Mind “Keep in mind that good evidence is not that hard to come by if you know what you are looking for before you begin. If you do a good job of clarifying goals up-front, most evaluation issues pretty much fall into line.” —Tom Guskey, Evaluating Professional Development, p. 88.

15. Team Dialogue Guiding Questions: 1. Which of the four levels can we realistically implement during this school year? 2.If your team decides you cannot fully implement this design, what data might you begin collecting/isolating to prepare for evaluation of impact, for example, for the 2012-13 academic year?

16. Unmistakable Impact Partnership Principles Form the “Heart of Professional Learning” Equality Choice Voice Reflection Dialogue Praxis Reciprocity

17. Dialogue—Definitions Original Greek Meaning: “logos” = meaning“dia” = through “Dialogue is a form of communication where meaning moves back and forth between and through people.” “Dialogue is thinking together.”—David Bohm “Dialogue is a mutually humanizing form of communication.”—Paulo Freire

18. Read Martin Buber’s Quote and SAY SOMETHING Turn to p. 39 in Unmistakable Impact; find the sentence in the first full paragraph beginning with the words “As Martin Buber (1970) explained....” (3 rd sentence in this paragraph). Read the remainder of this paragraph, then turn to an elbow partner, and say something about this excerpt. Next, listen to your conversation partner say something to you about the same quote.

19. Freire’s 5 Requirements for Dialogue #1: Humility Turn to p. 39. Look at paragraphs beneath the heading, “Humility” on this page. Which of the sentences in these paragraphs really “speak to you?” Highlight these, and be ready to share with whole group.

20. Freire’s 5 Requirements for Dialogue #2: Faith “Dialogue is never manipulative; it is grounded in free conversation between people who respect each other as equals.” (p. 40)

21. Freire’s 5 Requirements for Dialogue #3: Love “Dialogue is only possible if we have empathy for others.” (p. 41)

22. Freire’s 5 Requirements for Dialogue #4: Critical Thinking “If we truly want to learn from a conversation, we are wise to go into it looking for ideas that disprove our way of thinking rather than looking for confirmation that our opinion is correct. “Dialogue is the thinking approach to communication.” (p. 42)

23. Freire’s 5 Requirements for Dialogue #5: Hope “Dialogue cannot occur when people are paralyzed by hopelessness. Dialogue can only flourish in situations where there are many possibilities. “In part this means that a conversation that is dialogical must be open-ended. If I come to you with a plan, and I expect you to implement it, I am not engaging in dialogue.” (p. 42)

24. Norms for Engaging in Dialogue Listen Actively Question to Expand Understanding Respect Divergent Views Suspend Judgment Voice Your Personal View

25. LISTENING “Dialogue is not just talking with one another. More than speaking, it is a special way of listening to one another—listening without resistance... It is listening from a stand of being willing to be influenced.” — Sarita Chawla

26. QUESTIONING Do I understand the speaker’s thinking, or do I need to ask questions to get behind his/her thinking? What are we leaving out of this conversation? What am I personally curious about? What kinds of wonderings do I have?

27. RESPECTING “Respect is not a passive act.” “At its core, the act of respect invites us to see others as legitimate.” --William Isaacs, Dialogue, pp. 110-111.

28. Respecting means— Accepting that another has something to teach us Seeing the potential that another carries within Honoring people’s boundaries to the point of protecting them

29. SUSPENDING JUDGMENT “Suspension means that we neither suppress what we think nor advocate it with unilateral conviction.” --Isaacs, p. 134

30. How do we go about suspending judgment? To suspend is to change direction, to stop, step back, see things with new eyes, to loosen one’s grip, to gain new perspectives

31. VOICING “Finding your voice in dialogue means learning to ask a simple question: What needs to be expressed now?” –Isaacs, p. 159

32. Activity #5: Exploring 5 Other Partnership Principles—Jigsaw WHAT? Deepening your understanding of equality, choice, voice, praxis, and reciprocity WHY? To expand our shared understanding of partnership principles and their relationship to professional learning HOW? Jigsaw Cooperative Learning activity; see Activity Sheet #5.

33. Organizing for Jigsaw I.Forming a “Home Team.” 1. Count off as directed by your facilitators. 2. Gather with others of your same number at designated table. 3.Decide who will go to which of the 5 expert groups. That individual should take the colored index card corresponding to his/her principle. 4.Read about your assigned principle, highlighting and preparing to discuss it with others.

34. Organizing for Jigsaw II.Working in your “expert” group. 1.Find 1-2 others who have your assignment. Hint: Hold up colored index card to find a match. 2.Talk about your chosen principle, using guiding questions on Activity Sheet #5. 3.Take notes so that you can share back with the “home” team of which you are a part. III. Return to your “home” group for sharing around about the 5 partnership principles.

35. The Final Partnership Principle: Reflection “Reflection stands at the heart of the partnership approach, but it is only possible when people have the freedom to accept or reject what they are learning as they see fit.”—p. 37

36. Reflection (p. 37) Looking Back—thinking about an event that has passed, how it went, and what we might have done differently Looking At—thinking about what we are doing in the midst of the act itself; monitoring how well an activity is going, making adjustments in real time Looking Ahead—thinking about how to use an idea of strategy in the future; explore how an idea might be shaped and modified to fit future action

37. Activity #6: Looking Ahead—How might I incorporate partnership principles into my work to nurture professional learning? WHAT? Individual reflection, looking ahead to potential use of partnership principles; sharing in district team WHY? Need to make meaning of content introduced over past hour; opportunity for individual choice and commitment HOW? Individual reflection, using questions for reflection on Activity Sheet #6; district team sharing, as desired

38. Activity #7: “The Principal As Formative Coach”—4 A’s Text Protocol WHAT? Considering the potential of formative coaching by instructional leaders WHY? Formative coaching is aligned with partnership principles for professional learning and growth; this article provides a vignette of what formative coaching might look like HOW? 4 A’s Text-Based Protocol

39. "Teams are more effective when they have clarified expectations regarding how they will work together, translated those expectations into collective commitments, and use the commitments to monitor their working relationships on an ongoing basis." (Garmston & Wellman, 1999; Goleman, Boyztzis, & McKee, 2002; Katzenbach & Smith, 2003; Lencioni, 2005; Patterson, et al, 2008) p. 76, DuFour & Marzano, Leaders of Learning

40. Taking It Home— Team Work Plan for Creating Impact Schools I.Transfer:—What will you share with whom about the partnership principles and “principal as formative coach”? II.Support to Schools:—How can your KLN team work with PCN schools to support their transfer of learnings from PCN? III.Team Data Collection Tasks:—How can we proceed in finding out the current level of practice in our targeted schools related to Knight’s “core” or “guiding” questions?

41. Reflection and Feedback Please complete the session feedback form as completely as possible. Your suggestions are welcomed.