District and School Transformation Division Professional Development for School Leaders Session 7 Changing the Lens: Examining Evidence and the Impact

Welcome & Video

Objectives Participants will: extend strategic and cultural leadership practices by examining evidence and impact ; develop strategies for intentionally changing school culture; continue developing skills in conducting student- centered observations; develop questions to improve professional practices in specific areas of focus; and examine student work to identify instructional trends.

Culture and Achievement

Defining Culture A set of rules [spoken or unspoken] which give meaning and order to the world around us. - Hay Group Education

Where are we now? You possess a healthy culture which you value. You wish to protect it. You possess a culture with pockets of success with clear and appropriate ways of dealing with the environment. However, these are not shared and are open to challenge. You possess a culture of survival. Decisions are not guided by appropriate shared principles. There are periods where assumptions gradually lose touch with reality. Others…

School leaders must: understand the culture of their schools provide cultural direction be able to “re-culture” the school, if needed, to align to goals of improvement create processes to ensure the school’s identity (vision, mission, values, belief and goals) actually drive decisions inform the culture of the school. North Carolina Standards for School Executives

Why is developing the school culture crucial to changing the lens? Even when introduced with new “solutions” if they run counter to the culture of the school they will be reshaped to fit the underlying reality. - Hay Group Education

What is your school’s underlying reality?

Mission Statements... Establish an organization’s purpose Must be communicated formally and informally Must be understood at both a philosophical and operational level

Activity Consider your school’s mission statement. Fill in the chart explaining what the mission statement looks like “in action”. Examine the impact of the mission statement on teaching and learning in the school.

School Mission Statement What does it look like in the school? (Operational Behaviors) Impact

A Culture for Learning Hay Group Education study to define and measure culture 4,000 teachers in 134 schools Thirty value statements

Activity: Thirty Value Statements Choose the top 6 value statements that most closely align to your mission and vision statement (highlight them using a highlighter) Identify the top 6 that currently exist in your school (others may be present but focus on those that are defining features of the school). Highlight these statements using a different color highlighter; circle those that are the same.

Culture and Performance Research Study Low ImprovementHigh Improvement High Attainment“Cruising”“Moving” Low Attainment“Sinking”“Improving” Hay Group Education

“Moving” Schools Measuring and monitoring targets and test results A hunger for improvement – High hopes and expectations Raising Capability – Helping People Learn – Laying foundations for later success Making sacrifices to put students first Working together – Learning from each other - Sharing resources and ideas – Investing in others Setting achievable goals and realistic expectations – Incremental improvements Hay Group Education

“Sinking” Schools Measuring and monitoring targets and test results Focusing on value added – Holding hope for every child – Every gain a victory Recognizing personal circumstances- Making allowances – Toleration – It’s the effort that counts Warmth- Humor- Repartee-Feet on the ground Experimenting-Trying new things- Looking to the next big idea Hay Group Education

Activity: Table Talk Discuss similarities and differences between the top 6 value statements of “sinking” and “moving” schools. Thoughts, implications…

Intentionally Changing a School’s Culture “Things do not happen. Things are made to happen.” John F. Kennedy

Intentionally Changing a School’s Culture  Challenge your ideals and aspirations by questioning. What is your theory of education? How do you believe people learn? How do expectations and teaching affect the way people learn? How good can we be (in 6 months, in a year, in 3 years)?  Examine the gaps between your current culture and your ideals. Would your staff select the same top 6 values that you did?  Develop an action plan to leverage your strengths or close the gaps using both formal/conscious and informal/unconscious modes of communication.

“Cultural leadership implies understanding the school as the people in it each day, how they came to their current state, and how to connect their traditions in order to move them forward to support the school’s efforts to achieve individual and collective goals.” North Carolina Standards for School Executives

Leveraging Strengths S W O P S trengths W eaknesses O pportunities P roblems StrengthsWeaknessesOpportunitiesProblems (Reflect back on your change garden) In terms of developing an “ideal” school culture or making your mission statement a true driving force in daily work and actions, analyze your school using SWOP.

Break

Propose 3 Strategies 1.A quick win (something that can be done in the school tomorrow with relative ease) 2.Something that can be implemented over the course of a semester or year but will have a dramatic or powerful impact 3.One idea that is “visionary” and reflects the highest ambitions for the school

StrategyEvidence (What will it look like?) Impact 1. Quick Win 2. Year long 3. Visionary Intentionally Changing a School’s Culture

Monitoring Success and Shaping School Culture Goal Action Result ≠ Goal Evidence/Impact Result = Goal Evidence/Impact New Action Repeat Action Action becomes a new belief that shapes the culture

“The thing I have learned… is that culture is everything.” Louis V. Gerstner, Jr. former CEO IBM

Identifying the Impact of Instruction on Students

Specific Criteria We must always observe for impact on student learning. Sometimes it is appropriate to focus on the impact of specific elements of teaching and learning in order to support developmental growth.

Areas of focus may come from… School Improvement Plans Professional Growth Plans School mission statement PLC’s Previous observations/teacher evaluation instrument Conversations with the teacher Teaching and learning criteria established by the staff Recognized student needs Instructional shifts

Evidence – SO WHAT? What’s the impact? What’s the outcome? So what? How do you know?

Standard IV: Teachers facilitate learning for their students Differentiation What does it look like in the classroom? For Visual Learners For Auditory Learners For Kinesthetic Learners Review handout

Focus of your observation Select an area you will focus on during your observation Make a list of what that might look like in the classroom.

Teaching and Learning Teaching ………………..Learning Cause….………………...Effect Teaching ………………..Impact

Evidence – SO WHAT? What’s the impact? What’s the outcome? So what? How do you know?

School Video-observations Share list Watch video 1 Record evidence/impact on observation sheet Debrief Discuss the evidence and impact you observed.

Lunch

School Video-observations Share list Watch video 2 Record evidence/impact on observation sheet Debrief Discuss the evidence and impact you observed.

Student Work

Activity: Analyzing Student Work Objective: Use your student work to look for indications of the quality of teaching and learning in the following areas: - key instructional shifts (see handout) - feedback to students - quality of questioning.

Activity Continued: Analyzing Student Work In pairs, choose which schools’ samples to begin analyzing. Independently analyze the 5 pieces of student work. Record evidence and impact independently. Using your evidence and impact statements, calibrate the findings and identify trends in student learning. Repeat for the second school.

Break

The Solution is in the Question

Feedback through Questioning Lead teachers to improvement through questioning. Ask questions about specific areas for improvement or specific areas of focus.

Student-centered Questions Differentiation: How did teaching cater to the different learning styles of students in the class? How were students supported in this lesson? How might you develop and adapt instruction and resources to support (named individual or group) further?

Student-centered Questions Formative Assessment: What opportunities for assessment were built into the lesson? What assessment information did you collect from the lesson? What does it tell you about students’ learning and future needs?

Student-centered Questions Student Behavior: How did (named individual or group) apply themselves to the learning activities? How might you adjust the lesson to improve the attitudes and behaviors of students? What was the balance between teacher- directed learning and independent student learning in the lesson?

Activity: Asking Focused Questions Develop student-centered questions about a specific area for improvement to ask the teacher from your video observation. Share your questions with your video partner. Share suggestions. Find another partner in the room and share and collect.

What is next? What is typically your next step after a post conference with a teacher? Develop a collaborative plan with the teacher. This plan is short and focuses on a very specific area for improvement.

Review this sample plan. What do you notice?

“Efforts and courage are not enough without purpose and direction.” John F. Kennedy

How has your lens changed?