From Ordinary to Extraordinary: The Role Each of Us Must Play Raymond McNulty, Senior Fellow ICLE, Chief Learning Officer Penn Foster

"You don't have to change the student population to get results; you simply have to change the conditions under which they learn."   - Pedro Noguera  

How do you get good at what you do? The great seem to have the ability to work through their weaknesses. Being just a slight bit better makes all the difference in the world. Diligence Doing it right Ingenuity

Why do humans fail? Ignorance, we do not have all the knowledge. The knowledge exists but we do not use it correctly.

The best become the best because they never stop learning.

Carrot and stick vs. Coaching You can’t be successful today by being alone, autonomy does not get you to be great! Its about discipline Its about collaboration Cowboys to Pit Crews

Independent Interdependent Collaboration Turf Protector Active w/ focus Little Buy In Extraordinary Ordinary

SUCCESS BY DESIGN NOT BY CHANCE

Simply said, we get what we design for!

BIG QUESTION If you could get each of the professionals in your school to do two or three things: very well consistently that would impact learning positively What would those two or three things be?

Theme Third Key Trend It’s All About a System!

Aligned for Success Educators in a School System

Instructional Leadership Organizational Leadership Teaching Student Achievement Instructional Leadership Organizational Leadership

Teaching How students learn Instructional strategies Content Relationships Assessment to guide instruction Rigor and relevance

Effective and Efficient Practices John Hattie… Effective and Efficient Practices John Hattie…. Visible Learning Synthesis of over 800 meta-analyses relating to achievement.

Effect Size 1.0 indicates one standard deviation typically associated with advancing children’s achievement by two or more years (improving the rate of learning by 50%) Hattie set a bench mark of .40 as the minimal desired effect

Some data Student expectations of self 1.44 Providing formative evaluation .90 Teacher Clarity .75

Teaching Embrace rigorous and relevant expectations for all students (+.75) Build strong relationship with students (+.72) Possess depth of content knowledge and make it relevant to students (+.69) Facilitate rigorous and relevant instruction based on how students learn (+1.28) Use assessments to guide and differentiate instruction (+.90) Demonstrate expertise in use of instructional strategies, technology, and best practices (+.60) Use Varied, ongoing Assessments to Inform and differentiate Instruction (+.90) Make content meaningful to l learners (+.69) Cultivate Caring relationship with students (+.72) Engage in Targeted and Sustained Professional Growth (+.62) Embrace rigorous and relevant expectations for all students (+.75)

Organizational Leadership Structure and systems Build leadership Selection, support, evaluation Vision Data systems Culture

Organizational Leadership Create a culture Establish a shared vision Align organizational structures and systems to vision Build leadership capacity Align teacher / administrator selection, support, and evaluation Support decision making with data systems Adjust the Organizational Structure Leverage Data Systems

Instructional Leadership Literacy and math Data-driven Curriculum Provide professional growth High expectations

Instructional Leadership Use research to establish urgency for higher expectations Align curriculum to standards Integrate literacy and math across all content areas Facilitate data-driven decision making to inform instruction Provide opportunities for focused professional collaboration and growth Use Data to Guide Instruction Create Teacher Selection, Support and Evaluation System Integrate Literacy and Math across Curriculum Align Curriculum to Standards Use Data to set High Expectations

Instructional Leadership Organizational Leadership Teaching Student Achievement Instructional Leadership Organizational Leadership

If we want to be serious about students’ learning, we need to be serious about our own learning. We need to continually seek and accept ideas, help, and criticism.

COMMON MISTAKES Misdiagnosing problems… are they technical which require a skill… or culture which require people to clarify priorities and learn new ways of thinking and behaving. (change hearts and minds) Not teaching collaboration… but fostering it. Getting defensive

COMMON MISTAKES Avoiding conflict…. Leadership requires, heart, stomach and skill. Thinking you need to have all the answers. Trying to go it alone.

Looking Forward Focused and coherent adult learning Allowing people to be all that they can be, thru collaborative focused efforts Build in-house capacity

A Common Mistake Mount Rainier

Solid Implementation Focus Fidelity of Implementation Leading and Lagging Indicators

Proportions of students scoring in each decile of the MCAS 8th grade ELA distribution

Proportions of students scoring in each decile of the MCAS 8th grade Math distribution

MCAS math gains 8th to 10th grade, compared to others from the same 8th grade decile (School Rank Percentile)

MCAS ELA gains 8th to 10th grade, compared to others from the same 8th grade decile (School rank percentile/100)

The Leadership It Takes Leadership that Combines Passion with Competence: All educators effectively cultivate not only a sense of urgency but also a sense of possibility, built on demonstrated expertise among people in key positions and their commitment to continuous improvement. Ron Ferguson, “Closing the Achievement Gap”

Leadership that Combines Passion with Competence Sense of possibility The Power of the Teacher We CAN make a difference

Jon Saphier, Research for Better Teaching “Nothing is as important as a teacher and what goes on between the teacher and the children, minute to minute, lesson to lesson, day to day.”

It’s All About Instruction “…the single greatest determinant of learning is not socioeconomic factors or funding levels. It is instruction.” Results Now by Mike Schmoker “The single most influential component of an effective school is the individual teachers within the school.” Robert Marzano Always hear expression “Instructional Leader” – It is THE most important part of the job. To see real improvement in student achievement, as Schmoker says so bluntly – “It’s About Teaching, Stupid.” On some educational issues, research is divided. On the impact of instruction, the evidence is indisputable.

The Leadership It Takes Streamlined and Coherent Curriculum: The district purposefully selects curriculum materials and places some restrictions on school and teacher autonomy in curriculum decisions. The district also provides tools (including technology) and professional development to support classroom-level delivery of specific curricula and high yield strategies. Ron Ferguson, “Closing the Achievement Gap”

We had to look in the mirror and ask ourselves… WHAT are we teaching? HOW are we teaching it? HOW do we know our students are learning it?

Leadership That Provides a Streamlined and Coherent Curriculum purposefully selects curriculum places some restrictions on teacher autonomy… provides professional development to support classroom-level delivery of specific curricula and high yield strategies. We ALL do it THIS way!!!

Leadership That Provides a Streamlined and Coherent Curriculum Restructuring Committee targets the Literacy Skill Smaller subgroup drafts training script, brings draft to the full committee, revisions made We roll out to faculty – step one: Interdisciplinary group training Follow up in depts – how to implement in content area

OPEN RESPONSE STEPS TO FOLLOW 1. READ QUESTION CAREFULLY. 2. CIRCLE OR UNDERLINE KEY WORDS. 3. RESTATE QUESTION AS THESIS (LEAVING BLANKS). 4. READ PASSAGE CAREFULLY. 5. TAKE NOTES THAT RESPOND TO THE QUESTION. BRAINSTORM & MAP OUT YOUR ANSWER. 6. COMPLETE YOUR THESIS. 7. WRITE YOUR RESPONSE CAREFULLY, USING YOUR MAP AS A GUIDE. 8. STATEGICALLY REPEAT KEY WORDS FROM THESIS IN YOUR BODY AND IN YOUR END SENTENCE. 9. PARAGRAPH YOUR RESPONSE. 10. REREAD AND EDIT YOUR RESPONSE.

Nothing was left to chance! So then what… Follow up the Interdisciplinary Training. Next step – HOW to bring this into the classroom Lessons developed Implemented according to a calendar Nothing was left to chance!

The Open Response calendar of implementation is as follows: As a follow up to this activity, I am requiring Department Heads to collect from each teacher at least one student sample from each of the teachers’ classes. The student samples should include: Student Name Teacher Name Date Course Name and Level Period A copy of the reading selection and question Evidence of the student’s active reading All pre-writing work that the student has done, e.g. webs A copy of the written open response The new scoring rubric and completed assessment   After you have collected the samples from each teacher and have had the opportunity to review them for quality and completeness, please send them to me in a department folder with a checklist of your teachers. Again, please be sure that your teachers clearly label their student samples. The Open Response calendar of implementation is as follows: Nov 2-6: Social Science, Social Sci Biling. Nov 30-Dec 4: Wellness, JROTC Dec 14-18: Science, Science Bilingual Jan 11-15: Business, Tech, & Career Ed. Jan 25-29: Math, Math Bilingual Feb 22-26: Foreign Lang, Special Ed Mar. 7-11: English, ESL Mar 20-24 Family &Cons. Sci, ProjGrads Apr 5-9: Music, Art

The Leadership It Takes Clear, Shared Conceptions of Effective Instruction: The district identifies key ideas concerning effective instructional and supervisory practice and works to establish them as a “common language” for approaching instructional improvement. Ron Ferguson, “Closing the Achievement Gap”

Rigor/Relevance Framework® Bloom’s Evaluation Synthesis Analysis Application Comprehension Knowledge (NOUNS) Revised Bloom’s Applying Creating Evaluating Analyzing Understanding Remembering (VERBS)

For us this means: We ALL do it THIS way! Leadership That Provides a Clear, Shared Conception of Effective Instruction …identifies key ideas concerning effective instruction and supervisory practice and works to establish them as a “common language” For us this means: We ALL do it THIS way!

The Leadership It Takes Organizational Structures and Personnel that Embody Capacity to Teach and Motivate Adults: The district maintains routines and structures within which adult educators engage teachers and administrators in continuous improvement of instructional and supervisory practices. Coaching, observing, and sharing make it difficult for individuals to avoid the change process, and the push for adaptive change spurs resisters to leave their comfort zones or eventually depart from the district. Ron Ferguson, “Closing the Achievement Gap”

Leadership That…Embodies the Capacity to Teach and Motivate Adults One of the BEST workshops ever (or as we say in Brockton, it was WICKED AWESOME): Faculty Expo

Leadership That…Embodies the Capacity to Teach and Motivate Adults

Leadership That…Embodies the Capacity to Teach and Motivate Adults

Leadership That…Embodies the Capacity to Teach and Motivate Adults

Leadership That…Embodies the Capacity to Teach and Motivate Adults “Awesome workshop, I can use the activities tomorrow in my class!” “Colleague to colleague…I felt valued.” “Teachers as experts…loved it!” “Hands on – practical, useful, THANKS!” “Informative, in fact, this is the first time I’ve understood special ed in 33 years!” “This helped me understand my students.”

Brockton High’s turnaround FOUR STEPS: Empowered a team Focused on Literacy – Literacy for ALL, NO exceptions Implemented with fidelity and according to a plan Monitored like crazy!

From Ordinary to Extraordinary: The Role Each of Us Must Play Raymond McNulty, Senior Fellow ICLE, Chief Learning Officer Penn Foster

BHS Literacy Workshop April 28th 2011 Reading Visuals

Reading Visuals Workshop Literacy Objectives We will READ to gather information and to understand a concept and construct meaning from a visual. We will REASON to interpret and explain tables, charts or graphs and to identify and explain patterns and to make predictions.

Agenda Opener – Think and Pair. Reading Visuals presentation Practice using Reading Visuals 5 step process Discussion and feedback Closer – Think, Plan, Share Ask opening question (relevant)

What We Know There are several types of visuals used in all classes and on both the science and math MCAS exams. Students often attempt to answer the questions without fully understanding the content of the visual.

Reading Visuals The process of reading a visual begins with understanding and analyzing the given information BEFORE attempting to answer the questions or solve a problem.

Reading Visuals Introductory Information Title Key or Legend Labels and parenthetical information Correlations Teachers practice the skill Wait time 3 min

5 Steps for Reading Visuals Identify the type of visual Determine the topic of the visual Examine the given information from the visual (including all introductory text) Develop predictions, deductions, inferences or conclusions about the visual Analyze the questions and determine the information needed from the visual

Your Turn 5 Steps for Reading Visuals Create groups of 4-5 people Use the 5 steps to analyze the visual provided Record your group’s responses to all 5 steps on the large sheet of paper at your table Share your responses with another group using the same visual Select a speaker to report out to the whole group Report findings

Cut the questions and have them appear separately

Closer Think – Plan – Share Identify a visual or type of visual you will use to teach students the Reading Visuals Steps. Describe how the steps for reading visuals will help your students improve their reading and reasoning skills.

We have the power to improve student achievement! Thank you

Leadership That Insists on Data Driven Decision Making and Transparency Teachers and administrators analyze student performance… …summarize data by (subgroup)… reducing gaps and tracks progress …emulate practices from successful schools

What gets monitored is what gets done! Leadership That Insists on Data Driven Decision Making and Transparency What gets monitored is what gets done! Admin Team observed the implementation (remember the calendar) Faculty used school wide rubric to assess the students Student work was collected and reviewed by admin and by faculty according to a question protocol

CONTENT FORM 8 Response contains a clear thesis and insightfully answers all parts of the question. Response provides relevant and specific textual evidence. Explanations of evidence are clear and accurate, and demonstrate superior understanding of the material. 4 Response contains sophisticated and effective use of transitions and strategic repetition indicating complete control of the material. Response is logically and effectively organized in its thesis, paragraphing, and sequencing of examples. Response contains clear sentence structure with few or no errors. 6 Response contains a clear thesis and adequately answers all parts of the question. Response provides relevant but general textual evidence. Explanations of evidence are mostly clear and accurate, and demonstrate good understanding of the material. 3 Response contains adequate but simplistic use of transitions and strategic repetition. Response is organized in its thesis, paragraphing, and sequencing of examples. Response contains clear sentence structure with no distracting errors. LEGIBILITY 1 Easy to read Difficult to read Response contains a thesis but only partially answers the question. Response provides a mix of accurate and inaccurate textual evidence. Explanations of evidence are vague and/or demonstrate limited understanding of the material. 2 Response contains some inappropriate use of transitions and strategic repetition. Response demonstrates lapses in the organization of its thesis, paragraphing, and/or sequencing of examples. Response contains lapses in sentence structure that interfere with the clarity of thought. Response contains a thesis but only minimally answers the question. Response provides insufficient and/or largely inaccurate textual evidence. Explanations of evidence are unclear and/or demonstrate minimal understanding of the material. Response contains incorrect or inadequate use of transitions and strategic repetition. Response reflects minimal organization of its thesis, paragraphing, and/or sequencing of examples. Response contains major errors in sentence structure. LENGTH Sufficient Insufficient Response is incorrect. Response contains insufficient evidence to show understanding of the material. Response is off-topic and/or contains irrelevant content. Response contains no evidence of transitions and strategic repetition. Response reflects no organization. Response contains little to no evidence of sentence structure. Evaluated by: Self Peer Teacher (Circle One) SCORING 13-14 = Advanced 11-12 = Proficient 8-10 = Needs Improvement 0-7 = Failing

Response provides relevant and specific textual evidence. CONTENT FORM 8 Response contains a clear thesis and insightfully answers all parts of the question. Response provides relevant and specific textual evidence. Explanations of evidence are clear and accurate, and demonstrate superior understanding of the material. 4 Response contains sophisticated and effective use of transitions and strategic repetition indicating complete control of the material. Response is logically and effectively organized in its thesis, paragraphing, and sequencing of examples. Response contains clear sentence structure with few or no errors. 6 Response contains a clear thesis and adequately answers all parts of the question. Response provides relevant but general textual evidence. Explanations of evidence are mostly clear and accurate, and demonstrate good understanding of the material. 3 Response contains adequate but simplistic use of transitions and strategic repetition. Response is organized in its thesis, paragraphing, and sequencing of examples. Response contains clear sentence structure with no distracting errors. LEGIBILITY 1 Easy to read Difficult to read Response contains a thesis but only partially answers the question. Response provides a mix of accurate and inaccurate textual evidence. Explanations of evidence are vague and/or demonstrate limited understanding of the material. 2 Response contains some inappropriate use of transitions and strategic repetition. Response demonstrates lapses in the organization of its thesis, paragraphing, and/or sequencing of examples. Response contains lapses in sentence structure that interfere with the clarity of thought. Response contains a thesis but only minimally answers the question. Response provides insufficient and/or largely inaccurate textual evidence. Explanations of evidence are unclear and/or demonstrate minimal understanding of the material. Response contains incorrect or inadequate use of transitions and strategic repetition. Response reflects minimal organization of its thesis, paragraphing, and/or sequencing of examples. Response contains major errors in sentence structure. LENGTH Sufficient Insufficient Response is incorrect. Response contains insufficient evidence to show understanding of the material. Response is off-topic and/or contains irrelevant content. Response contains no evidence of transitions and strategic repetition. Response reflects no organization. Response contains little to no evidence of sentence structure. CONTENT: 8 Response contains a clear thesis and insightfully answers all parts of the question. Response provides relevant and specific textual evidence. Explanations of evidence are clear and accurate, and demonstrate superior understanding of the material. 6 Response contains a clear thesis and adequately answers all parts of the question. Response provides relevant but general textual evidence. Explanations of evidence are mostly clear and accurate, and demonstrate good understanding of the material. Evaluated by: Self Peer Teacher (Circle One) SCORING 13-14 = Advanced 11-12 = Proficient 8-10 = Needs Improvement 0-7 = Failing

As a follow up to this activity, I am requiring Dept As a follow up to this activity, I am requiring Dept. Heads to collect from each teacher at least one student sample from each of the teachers’ classes. The student samples should include: Student Name Teacher Name Date Course Name and Level Period A copy of the reading selection and question Evidence of the student’s active reading All pre-writing work that the student has done A copy of the written open response The scoring rubric and completed assessment After you have collected the samples from each teacher and have had the opportunity to review them for quality and completeness, please send them to me in a department folder with a checklist of your teachers. Again, please be sure that your teachers clearly label their student samples.

As a follow up to this activity, I am requiring Department Heads to collect from each teacher at least one student sample from each of the teachers’ classes. The student samples should include: Student Name Teacher Name Date Course Name and Level Period A copy of the reading selection and question Evidence of the student’s active reading All pre-writing work that the student has done, e.g. webs A copy of the written open response The new scoring rubric and completed assessment   After you have collected the samples from each teacher and have had the opportunity to review them for quality and completeness, please send them to me in a department folder with a checklist of your teachers. Again, please be sure that your teachers clearly label their student samples. After you have collected the samples from each teacher and have had the opportunity to review them for quality and completeness, please send them to me in a department folder with a checklist of your teachers. Again, please be sure that your teachers clearly label their student samples.

Protocol for comparing student work Review the student work samples using these questions: What did you notice about how the rubric was applied? What did you notice about grading consistency within these samples? Compare these samples against the anchor paper. In what ways do these samples meet or fail to meet the standard established in the anchor paper? What do the student responses indicate about the effectiveness of the assignment? How could it be improved? What feedback would you provide to the teacher? …………………………………………………………….. OVER TIME WE ADD: Did you find evidence of growth over time? What did you notice about consistency across classes, departments, from teacher to teacher? Evaluation is not just about the teachers – it’s also about the students. Examining student work will provide information on the consistency of standards across the school. Here are some questions to consider when reviewing student work. Tell story about Mr. Romero “declaring competency”

Instructional Leadership Use research to establish urgency for higher expectations Align curriculum to standards Integrate literacy and math across all content areas Facilitate data-driven decision making to inform instruction Provide opportunities for focused professional collaboration and growth Use Data to Guide Instruction Create Teacher Selection, Support and Evaluation System Integrate Literacy and Math across Curriculum Align Curriculum to Standards Use Data to set High Expectations

Leadership That Provides a Streamlined and Coherent Curriculum For us, instruction focused on literacy across ALL content areas… NO EXCEPTIONS!!!

Leadership That Provides a Streamlined and Coherent Curriculum Restructuring Committee targets the Literacy Skill Smaller subgroup drafts training script, brings draft to the full committee, revisions made We roll out to faculty – step one: Interdisciplinary group training Follow up in depts – how to implement in content area

OPEN RESPONSE STEPS TO FOLLOW 1. READ QUESTION CAREFULLY. 2. CIRCLE OR UNDERLINE KEY WORDS. 3. RESTATE QUESTION AS THESIS (LEAVING BLANKS). 4. READ PASSAGE CAREFULLY. 5. TAKE NOTES THAT RESPOND TO THE QUESTION. BRAINSTORM & MAP OUT YOUR ANSWER. 6. COMPLETE YOUR THESIS. 7. WRITE YOUR RESPONSE CAREFULLY, USING YOUR MAP AS A GUIDE. 8. STATEGICALLY REPEAT KEY WORDS FROM THESIS IN YOUR BODY AND IN YOUR END SENTENCE. 9. PARAGRAPH YOUR RESPONSE. 10. REREAD AND EDIT YOUR RESPONSE.

Nothing was left to chance! So then what… Follow up the Interdisciplinary Training. Next step – HOW to bring this into the classroom Lessons developed Implemented according to a calendar Nothing was left to chance!

The Open Response calendar of implementation is as follows: As a follow up to this activity, I am requiring Department Heads to collect from each teacher at least one student sample from each of the teachers’ classes. The student samples should include: Student Name Teacher Name Date Course Name and Level Period A copy of the reading selection and question Evidence of the student’s active reading All pre-writing work that the student has done, e.g. webs A copy of the written open response The new scoring rubric and completed assessment   After you have collected the samples from each teacher and have had the opportunity to review them for quality and completeness, please send them to me in a department folder with a checklist of your teachers. Again, please be sure that your teachers clearly label their student samples. The Open Response calendar of implementation is as follows: Nov 2-6: Social Science, Social Sci Biling. Nov 30-Dec 4: Wellness, JROTC Dec 14-18: Science, Science Bilingual Jan 11-15: Business, Tech, & Career Ed. Jan 25-29: Math, Math Bilingual Feb 22-26: Foreign Lang, Special Ed Mar. 7-11: English, ESL Mar 20-24 Family &Cons. Sci, ProjGrads Apr 5-9: Music, Art