1. Priority School (SIG) TA Session Cohort IV
C Corbett Education Consulting LLC
Virginia Department of Education
Priority School (SIG) TA Session Cohort IV
VDOE — Office of School Improvement
Holiday Inn Airport– Sandston, VA
February 19, 2014
Julie Corbett,

2. 3 Year Process to Build Capacity
Year 3 Year 2 Year 1
I do
We do
You do

3. Shifting State Role: Compliance to Support
Conference Calls & Webinars
Technical Assistance Sessions
VDOE Contractors
Indistar Monitoring

4. Sample Organizational Structure
How often does the ILP team, the school’s principal (and/or leadership team), and the external Lead Partner meet?
What does an action plan look like?
Objective; action step(s); by whom; with help from; status report due; deadline
Tool: School restructuring: What Works When, Learning Point Associates, 2010, tool 13
Superintendent
External Lead Partner Project Manager
VDOE
ILP Team
(crucial district staff
Internal Lead Partner
Field Staff
VDOE Contractor
Key:
School Principal & Leadership Team
Transformation Team Members

5. Division of Responsibilities
Who’s responsible for what?
How do the entities hold each other accountable?
How do the entities share specific responsibilities?
Are all of the roles covered?
Are the right people on the bus?
Are the right people in the right positions on the bus?
VDOE, External Lead Turnaround Partner, Internal Lead Partner, school principal, leadership team, supporting partners
Transformation plan creation
Facilities
Instruction
Human Resources
Non-instructional support services
Extra-curricular activities
Evaluation of progress
Building/campus operations
State and federal compliance
IT/Data
Enforcement of consequences
Finance/budgets
* Lead Partner, Mass Insight Education and Research Institute, 2010

6. Roles & Responsibilities
Lead collaborative school-based improvement team
Develop leadership skills of strong teachers and junior administrators
Communicate regularly with all other team members to ensure school needs are addressed
Act as the Change Leader
School Principals
External Lead Partners
Internal Lead Partners
VDOE Contractors
Provide overall guidance, timeline, resources, & support for implementation
Provide additional staff and capacity building services, with decreasing intensity over time
Monitor implementation of all action steps, work of partners, and obligations noted in the MOU
Communicate needs from the field to the VDOE
Share learnings with other facilitators
Connect the local team to other supports and services at VDOE (help streamline the system)
Have the authority & direct contact with the superintendent to make timely decisions
Communicate with superintendent & school board about process and changes
Facilitate changes within the district to allow autonomy at the school level

7. Strands & Indicators (Transformation Model)
Content Area
# of Indicators A
Establishing & Orienting the District Transformation Team 4 B
Moving Toward School Autonomy 6 C
Selecting a Principal & Recruiting Teachers 8 D
Working with Stakeholders & Building Support for Transformation 7 E
Contracting with External Providers F
Establishing & Orienting the School Transformation Team 2 G
Leading Change H
Evaluating, Rewarding, and Removing Staff 22 I
Providing Rigorous Staff Development 11 J
Increasing Learning Time K
Reforming Instruction
TA01, TA02, TA03 3
Total 96

8. Expectations Work in the best interest of the students
Contribute to a collaborative environment
Challenge the status quo
Attend & participate in all required Technical Assistance sessions, meetings and conference calls
Implement with fidelity
Everyone must do the work
Ensure efforts are aligned & work towards the same goals
Over communicate with each other & outsiders
Work towards sustainability
Picking and choosing indicators is not an option, all 93 must be included in the overall plan, but focus on the ones that directly address the school’s needs

9. 5 Whys (and a What)
1. Why are our division leadership team meetings unproductive?
Answer: We spend too much time talking about personal things and sharing stories

10. 5 Whys (and a What)
1. Why are our division leadership team meetings unproductive?
Answer: We spend too much time talking about personal things and sharing stories
2. Why do we spend so much time talking about personal things and sharing stories about what happens in schools.
Answer: We don’t have a focus for our meetings.

11. 5 Whys (and a What)
1. Why are our division leadership team meetings unproductive?
Answer: We spend too much time talking about personal things and sharing stories
2. Why do we spend so much time talking about personal things and sharing stories about what happens in schools.
Answer: We don’t have a focus for our meetings.
3. Why don’t we have a focus for our meetings?
Answer: We aren’t organized and don’t have an agenda?

12. 5 Whys (and a What)
1. Why are our division leadership team meetings unproductive?
Answer: We spend too much time talking about personal things and sharing stories
2. Why do we spend so much time talking about personal things and sharing stories about what happens in schools.
Answer: We don’t have a focus for our meetings.
3. Why don’t we have a focus for our meetings?
Answer: We aren’t organized and don’t have an agenda?
4. Why aren’t we organized or have an agenda?
Answer: We don’t have a process for developing an agenda?

13. 5 Whys (and a What)
1. Why are our division leadership team meetings unproductive?
Answer: We spend too much time talking about personal things and sharing stories
2. Why do we spend so much time talking about personal things and sharing stories about what happens in schools.
Answer: We don’t have a focus for our meetings.
3. Why don’t we have a focus for our meetings?
Answer: We aren’t organized and don’t have an agenda?
4. Why aren’t we organized or have an agenda?
Answer: We don’t have a process for developing an agenda?
5. Why don’t we have a process for developing an agenda?
Answer: Because we don’t know who’s in charge.

14. So, what are we going to do about it?
5 Whys (and a What)
1. Why are our division leadership team meetings unproductive?
Answer: We spend too much time talking about personal things and sharing stories
2. Why do we spend so much time talking about personal things and sharing stories about what happens in schools.
Answer: We don’t have a focus for our meetings.
3. Why don’t we have a focus for our meetings?
Answer: We aren’t organized and don’t have an agenda.
4. Why aren’t we organized or have an agenda?
Answer: We don’t have a process for developing an agenda.
5. Why don’t we have a process for developing an agenda?
Answer: Because we don’t know who’s in charge.
So, what are we going to do about it?

15. 5 Whys (and a What)
We spend too much time talking about personal things and sharing stories.
2. We don’t have a focus for our meetings.
Prioritization
Strategic plan
Develop focus
3. We aren’t organized and don’t have an agenda.
Templates
Meeting Norms
4. We don’t have a process for developing an agenda
Templates
Meeting Norms
5. Because we don’t know who’s in charge.
Clarification of roles & responsibilities

16. 5 whys and a what
Select a problem or issue you’re currently struggling with
Work through the 5 whys
Connect to Indistar indicators
What are you going to do about the root cause?
How are you going to address each level of the whys?
Who is accountable and responsible for changing the conditions?