1. Building High Quality Schools in West Virginia… Bridging Research and Practice September 16 th, 2011 Committed Staff

2. BELIEVE Work Hard, Play Hard

3. The school leader should assess the strengths and challenges of the staff and identify members who are not fully committed to the turnaround efforts. The school leader needs to understand the commitment of each staff member. Cultural Surveys/Inventory- School Generated and through WVDE, Title I High Yield Diagnostic Review- WVDE, Title I, Resa II Data gathered was shared transparently with staff and discussions and decisions were and are made on what is in the best interest of children.

4. The school leader should spend considerable time getting to know teachers and their individual skills, personality, knowledge, background and goals. The school leader needs to understand the commitment of each staff member. Interests Inventories- RESA 2 Personality Identifiers North, South, East, and West. True Colors Professional Development Sessions- School, RESA, Title I, WVDE Retreats (school and out of school) This data and these experiences have provided wonderful opportunities to better understand ourselves as well as those whom we spend a great deal of time with. Understanding ourselves and others assists us in better working environment and we also use some of this information in our classes to help our students be more tolerant and understanding of their classmates.

5. Professional Development to help staff reach the schools goals is an essential element of all school reform efforts and should be part of turnaround schools. Smart Goals - School, RESA IPI- RESA, County, School Book Studies- Harless Center, County, School Data Driven Decisions- WVDE, Title I, RESA, County, School Student Data Notebook- School Strategies learned and implemented are modified to meet the need of individuals who can best be served by the specific strategy.

6. Successful practices by a committed staff: Collaborative Teaming Horizontal/Grade Level team meetings - weekly Vertical team meetings – monthly Data Driven Decisions Student Centered Instruction Successful practices supported by a committed staff: Active parent involvement Celebrations After school programs

7. Resources for your consideration For Teachers: Green Light Classrooms- Allen Collaborative Teaching- Murawski Tucker Signing- Tucker For Teams: Tool Time for Education- Langford Int. Successful Team Building- Liptak Shaping School Culture- Peterson Soup- Gordon For Principals: Leading in a Culture of Change- Fullan What Great Principals Do Differently- Whittaker The Six Secrets OF Change- Fullan

8. Come see us or schedule a visit to your school. kllking@access.k12.wv.us