Leadership: Connecting Vision With Action Presented by: Jan Stanley Spring 2010 Title I Directors’ Meeting

Overview Relationship between district leadership and student achievement District leadership responsibilities related to student achievement District commitments that impact student achievement

WV Goals for Education Consistent and equitable gains in student achievement Increasing high school graduation rates Ensuring college and career readiness Preparing all students with the global 21 skills necessary for success in the 21st century

What is the relationship between district leadership and student achievement?

Leadership Framework Create a Purposeful Community Positive Culture Communication Build Relationships Visibility Create the Focus Curriculum, instruction and assessment Ensure a disciplined and safe environment Connect the resources to the goals Recognize the magnitude of change Exhibit flexibility Act as a change agent Optimize opportunities Monitor and evaluate initiatives

Change is Required How is it viewed? Current Status Extension of the past Within the existing paradigms Consistent with current values and beliefs Implementing with existing knowledge and skills Necessary for Improvement A break with the past Outside of the existing paradigms Conflicts with current values and beliefs Requires new knowledge and skills to implement

Leading the Change Process Identify the need for change Create demand Implement Manage personal transitions Monitor and evaluate

What district leadership responsibilities are related to student achievement?

District Leadership Responsibilities Collaborative goal setting process Non-negotiable goals for achievement and instruction Alignment of board of education goals with district goals and board of education support for district goals Monitoring the goals for achievement and instruction Use of resources to support goals

Collaborative goal setting process s Include all relevant stakeholders Conduct an extensive needs assessment Require involvement of all building level administrators Share the draft goals with school leadership teams Reach consensus on the district goals and communicate expectations to all stakeholders

Non-negotiable goals for achievement and instruction Identify the non-negotiable goals for achievement and instruction Set specific achievement targets for the district as a whole, individual schools and for subgroups within the district Inform all staff members of the goals Create an action plan to achieve the goals (district strategic plan) Adopt a broad, but common framework for instructional design Establish a common instructional vocabulary Expect consistent use of research based instructional practices in each school

Alignment of board of education goals with district goals and board of education support for district goals Ensures the goals remain a top priority Makes certain no other initiatives detract attention from the achievement goals Guarantees adequate resources are allocated to accomplish goals Assumes all board members are committed to the adopted goals and not their own interests and district expectations Provide professional development for board members

Monitoring the goals for achievement and instruction Ensure highly qualified and highly effective teachers are in every classroom and highly effective administrators are in every building Provide differentiated professional development for teachers in both pedagogy and content based on need Determine what instructional and management strategies are being used by teachers and evaluate the effectiveness on student achievement Develop a district set of instructional design questions and a rubric to use for a teacher profile Involve teachers in action research through the professional learning communities to determine the effectiveness of instructional strategies Permit teachers to observe “master teachers”

Use of resources to support goals Consider the four basic resources: Time Personnel Money Materials Dedicate money to professional development for both teachers and administrators Ensure that school based professional development is occurring and aligned to the district goals

What are the three critical commitments a district should consider related to student achievement?

Commitments for Improving Achievement Develop a system of individual student feedback Ensure effective teaching in every classroom Build background knowledge for all students, particularly those most at risk

Develop a system of individual student feedback Evaluative vs. descriptive feedback Common formative assessments of each learning target Professional learning communities meet periodically to discuss teaching strategies and the student achievement results –track student progress on learning goals Training for teachers in standards based grading Standards based report cards

Ensure effective teaching in every classroom Examine effective pedagogy-develop instructional design questions –What strategies do I use to help students effectively interact with new material? –What strategies do I use to engage students in learning? –What strategies do I use to help students practice and deepen their understanding of new knowledge? Conduct action research –Strategy should be selected by the PLC –Action research can be formal or informal

Ensure effective teaching in every classroom Establish a structure and format for the professional learning communities –Describe the strategy tried –Describe the effect on student learning and present evidence –Describe how the strategy was used in a lesson –Describe areas of improvement for the teacher

Ensure effective teaching in every classroom Have teachers observe master teachers applying instructional strategies –Identify “master teachers” –Overall effectiveness in teaching is defined in terms of student learning –Teachers observe “master teachers” based on a specific instructional design question-student engagement

Ensure effective teaching in every classroom Monitor the effectiveness of individual teaching styles –Conduct at the district and school levels –Provide descriptive feedback-capitalizing on strengths and for improving weaknesses-to teachers –Focus on student learning as apposed to using specific strategies as criterion for effective teaching –Collect data on teachers as well as students –Develop goals for improvement –focus on student engagement and learning

Build background knowledge for all students Differentiate between “academic” background knowledge and social knowledge Recognize differences in vocabulary knowledge based on socioeconomic levels Develop district conceptual academic terms Provide direct, explicit instruction in academic terms that is consistent across the district

Concluding thoughts No one questions the pace, the scope and the implications of change in today’s world. Change is the one constant of which we can all be certain. Questions for district leaders Are you as a leader willing to examine the district practices and consider alternatives likely to produce improved results? Will the changes result in improvement? Are you as a district leader willing to commit yourself to continuous improvement?

Acknowledgements This presentation was developed based on the research of the following individuals: Greg Cameron, M.A. Robert Marzano, Ph.D. J. Timothy Waters, Ed. D.