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, jcorbett@corbetteducation.com, 312-479-7119

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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?

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 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? 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?

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

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?