Eastern Metropolitan Region Principal Forum

1. Eastern Metropolitan Region Principal Forum Leading Literacy March 2 2012 Keay Cobbin

2. My Goal To share what I have learned working with literacy leaders who have been successful in affecting change in teaching and learning that has resulted in better outcomes for students.

3. Leading Second Order Change • Represents a dramatic departure from the ‘expected’ to the ‘unfamiliar’ • Requires new knowledge and skills for successful implementation. • Changes the culture Marzano, R. J. , & Waters, T., & McNulty, B. A. (2005)

4. My Key Beliefs About Children • Every child can learn to read, write and orally communicate at high levels • Every child has the right to learn in a rich, active and supportive literacy environment About Teachers • The underlying motivation for most teachers is the success of their students • Teachers need high quality continuous professional development About Leaders • There is a direct relationship between significantly improving outcomes for students and effective literacy leadership by principals and other leaders in the school. About Literacy • Our understandings of literacy continuously evolves – we need to keep learning

5. “There is only one conclusion that can be drawn about a transformation that changes everything, changes everyone, represents a departure from the familiar, demands the acquisition of new skills, and continues for ever: this transformation requires substantive change – real change - and real change is real hard!” DuFour, R., DuFour, R., Eaker, R., & Many, T. (2010)

6. Create a vision Are deeply involved in the learning Build their teachers’ capacity Effective Literacy Leaders Ensure internal accountability exists Understand the change process

7. Create a vision Effective Literacy Leaders

8. “A vision helps clarify the direction in which an organization needs to move. The vision functions in many different ways: it helps spark motivation, it helps keep all the projects and changes aligned, it provides a filter to evaluate how the organization is doing, and it provides a rationale for the changes the organization will have to weather.” Kotter, J., (1995)

9. Createa vision that is … • shaped by an understanding of the current research around literacy processes. • shaped by an understanding of the current research into literacy pedagogy.

10. Shaped by an understanding of the current research around literacy processes Teaching Readers Essential Knowledge and Understandings • The evolving understanding of the reading process • The comprehension strategies that readers use to construct meaning • Extended time for students to read • Critical role of ‘substantive talk’ • The importance of motivation and choice • The strong correlation between vocabulary knowledge and comprehension

11. Shaped by an understanding of the current research into literacy pedagogy • The Gradual Release of Responsibility “All the explicit instruction in the worldwould not make strong readers unless accompanied by lots of experience applying their knowledge, skills and strategies during actual reading”.Pearson, (2006) • Formative Assessment • Transferability of skills

12. “What you do with your vision after you create it will determine your success. … so you need to communicate it frequently and powerfully and embed it within everything that you do.” Kotter, J., (1995)

13. Create a vision Build their teachers’ capacity Effective Literacy Leaders

14. Build Their Teachers’ Capacity • “Leaders who call upon others to engage in new work, achieve new standards, and accomplish new goals have a responsibility to develop the capacity of those they lead to be successful in meeting those challenges.” DuFour, R., DuFour, R., Eaker, R., & Many, T. (2010). • For every performance I demand of you, I have an equal responsibility to provide you with a unit of capacity. Elmore, R. (2010) • Professional Development – 19th out of 134 influences on student achievement. Hattie, J. (2009)

15. Build Their Teachers’ Capacity • High quality, continuous, well planned professional learning over an extended period of time • Well-detailed professional learning plan that articulates: • the new knowledge and skills teachers will acquire • what teachers will be doing differently in the classroom • the contexts for learning • resources • projected impact on student learning • indicators of success /progress at various points – small wins • how the impact of the PL will be measured – student achievement measures

16. Build Their Teachers’ Capacity • Time for learning • Professional Reading • Resources • Engagement of external support when/if required • Professional Learning Communities

17. Build Their Teachers’ Capacity Professional Learning Communities - the deprivatisationof practice “… an ongoing process in which educators work collaboratively in recurring cycles of collective inquiry and action research to achieve better results for the students they serve.” “… the key to improved learning for all students in continuous job-embedded learning for all teachers.” DuFour, R., DuFour, R., Eaker, R., & Many, T. (2010). Learning By Doing A Handbook for Professional Learning Communities at Work

18. Create a vision Build their teachers’ capacity Effective Literacy Leaders Ensure internal accountability exists

19. Ensure Internal Accountability • They (principals) are not just accountable for creating the conditions in which results might happen – accountability presumably resting with teachers – but rather they are responsible to ensure that results do happen. Leithwood, K. (2010)

20. Ensure Internal Accountability Internal Alignment of Responsibility Expectations Accountability Individual Responsibility Collective Expectations Accountability Elmore, R. (2010)

21. Ensure Internal Accountability Internal Alignment of Responsibility Expectations Accountability Individual Responsibility Collective Expectations Accountability Elmore, R. (2010)

22. Create a vision Build their teachers’ capacity Effective Literacy Leaders Ensure internal accountability exists Understand the change process

23. UnderstandChange • Change is a slow, difficult, and gradual process for teachers • Most teachers oppose radical adjustments to their current practices. • Willingness to adopt an innovation is often largely affected by the perceived magnitude of the change. • Embrace resistance – it is a natural part of change! “…redefine resistance as a potential positive force” Fullan, M. (2002)

24. Professional Development and Teacher Change -what is the change process for teachers? Change in Teachers Classroom Practices Change in Student Learning Outcomes Change in Teachers’ Beliefs & Attitudes Professional Development Guskey (2002)

25. Phases of Learning Take on leadership role in this area Phase V The Inventing Phase Phase lV The Culminating Phase Return to Phase l in a new area of learning Phase lll The Cultivating Phase Phase ll The Clarifying Phase Phase l The Initiating Phase Jan Burkins (2007)

26. Create a vision Are deeply involved in the learning Build their teachers’ capacity Effective Literacy Leaders Ensure internal accountability exists Understand Change

27. Deeply Involve Themselves in the Learning • “Professional development was more effective when the school leadership supported opportunities to learn, where there was access to relevant expertise, and when opportunities were provided to meet to process new information.” • “Specific dimensions of instructional leadership that had greatest effects on student outcomes were promoting and participating in teacher learning and development John Hattie (2009)

28. Deeply Involve Themselves in the Learning • “..you never put people in a group without participating in some way yourself…” • “The point is, learn to think of yourself as a leader of learning, and try to model the practice you expect other people to engage in.” Elmore, R. (2010)

29. Deeply Involve Themselves in the Learning • Leaders have the greatest influence on outcomes for students when they participate in and promote the professional learning of their teachers. Lloyd, Claire A., Robinson, Viviane, M. J., & Rowe, Kenneth, J. (2008)

30. Create a vision Are deeply involved in the learning Build their teachers’ capacity Effective Literacy Leaders Ensure internal accountability exists Understand the change process

31. Final Words “Identify those values, traditions, and practices that you will preserve, not just those you will change.” Pull the Weeds Before You Plant the Flowers “I will not ask you to implement one more initiative until we take some things off the table. Then Listen. It might be the first round of applause you have had in a while.” Reeves, Douglas, B., (2009)

32. Some Key References • Burkins, J. (2007). Coaching For Balance . Newark, DE: International Reading Association • DuFour, R., DuFour, R., Eaker, R., & Many, T. (2010). Learning By Doing A Handbook for Professional Learning Communities at Work • Elmore, R. (2010). Leading the instructional core. In Conversation. Volume 11, Issue 3 • Fullan, M. (2002). Principals as leaders in a culture of change. Educational Leadership. • Guskey, T. (2002). Professional development and teacher change. Teaching and Learning Theory and Practice. Vol. 8, No. 3/4 • Hattie, J. (2009). Visible Learning. New York, NY: Routledge • Kotter, J., (1995). Leading change: why change transformation efforts fail. Business Review. • Leithwood, K. (2010). Evolving perspectives: leaders and leadership. In Conversation. Volume 11, Issue 2 • Lloyd, Claire A., Robinson, Viviane, M. J., & Rowe, Kenneth, J. (2008). The impact of leadership on student outcomes: an analysis of the differential effects of leadership types. Educational Administration Quarterly 2008; 44; 635 • Marzano, R. J., & Waters, T., & McNulty, B. A. (2005). School Leadership That Works • Reeves, Douglas, B., (2009). Leading Change in Your School How to Conquer Myths, Build Commitment, and Get Results. Alexandria, VA: ASCD • Pearson, D. (2002). Effective practices for developing reading comprehension, from What Research Has to Say About Reading Instruction. Newark DE: IRA