Leadership For School Improvement

1. Leadership For School Improvement

2. Leadership • Big Ideas: • Who leaders are in schools • What leaders do in relation to four improvement plan components

3. Who are leaders? • Vision to see it • Belief that we can get there • Help to do it Hord, S. M. (2000). Leadership for changing schools. Austin, TX: Southwest Educational Development Laboratory.

4. Who are leaders in our schools? Formal leaders (e.g., principals, assistant principals, central office staff assigned to support the school)

5. Who are leaders in our schools? Teacher leaders (e.g., classroom teachers, department chairs, reading and math coaches) Others (e.g., counselors, librarians)

6. “Teachers who are leaders lead within and beyond the classroom, identify with and contribute to a community of teacher learners and leaders, and influence others toward improved educational practice.” Katzenmeyer, M., & Moller, G. (2001). Awakening the sleeping giant. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin

7. What do leaders do? • Communicate clear expectations • Build capacity • Monitor and review SEDL. (2005). Working systemically to increase student achievement in reading and mathematics. Austin, TX: Author. Retrieved July 27, 2006, from http://www.sedl.org/ws/.

8. What Leaders Do Communicate clear expectations Build capacity Monitor and review

9. “Great leaders have an internal compass and know which direction they want to take. They always have it in mind and use every activity and event as an opportunity to demonstrate the desired direction. These are leaders with a vision. Others get lost in complexity and behave more like weather vanes than compasses—switching direction depending on the prevailing winds.” Prothroe, N., Shellard, E., & Turner, J. (2003). A practical guide to school improvement: Meeting the challenges of NCLB. Arlington, VA: Educational Research Service, p. 86.

10. What Leaders Do: Communicate clear expectations Say Do

13. Expectations about what? • Achievement of all students • Professional development • Teacher mentoring • Parent involvement • Use of data for decision making • Implementation of improvement plan

14. Reflect a moment to yourself… On how you, as a leader, communicate clear expectations in what you SAY and DO about one or more of these areas. Using the list on the previous slide, write an expectation you communicate clearly on a sticky note and put it next to the aligned arrows.

15. Reflect a moment to yourself… On how you, as a leader, want to communicate your expectations more clearly about one or more of these areas Write this expectation (from the list) on another sticky note and put it next to the unaligned arrow.

16. What Leaders Do Communicate clear expectations Build capacity Monitor and review

17. Capacity: A definition • Competency/power/fitness/ability • Power to grasp and analyze ideas and cope with problems

18. What do we need to know about how people change in order to build capacity?

19. Learning = Change

20. When asked to change, people will have different concerns: • Self • Task • Impact

21. Self Concerns • Want to know the personal impact of using research-based strategies • “I would like to know more about the strategy.” • “How is this going to affect me?” • “I’m concerned about whether I can do them.”

22. Task Concerns • Concerned about how use of new strategies will be managed in practice • “I seem to be spending all of my time getting materials ready.” • “Where will I find the time to plan my lessons or take care of the record keeping required to do the strategies well.”

23. Impact Concerns • Interested in the impact on students or the school • “How is the use of these strategies going to affect students?” • “I’m concerned about whether use of these strategies will help students learn better.”

24. What are the concerns at your school?

25. What are the concerns at your school?

26. Strategies to Address Concerns • Self • Task • Impact

27. Ways to Build Capacity If not a workshop, then what? Richardson, J. (December/January, 2001). Tools for schools. Oxford, OH: National Staff Development Council.

28. “Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself.” Leo Tolstoy

29. What Leaders Do Communicate clear expectations Build capacity Monitor and review

30. Bernhardt’s Model of Data Categories Demographic School Processes Perceptions Student Learning Bernhardt, V. (2004). Data analysis for continuous school improvement (2nd ed.). Larchmont, NY: Eye on Education.

31. Bernhardt’s Model of Data Categories Examples: Enrollment Attendance Dropout rate Ethnicity Gender Grade level Language proficiency Demographic School Processes Perceptions Student Learning

32. Bernhardt’s Model of Data Categories Demographic Examples: Perceptions of learning environment Values and beliefs Attitudes Observations School Processes Perceptions Student Learning

33. Bernhardt’s Model of Data Categories Examples: Criterion-referenced tests Norm-referenced tests Teacher observations Authentic assessments Demographic SchoolProcesses Perceptions Student Learning

34. Bernhardt’s Model of Data Categories Example: Description of school programs and processes Description of meetings Descriptions of parent-teacher conferences Demographic School Processes Perceptions StudentLearning

35. Data Trends Time adds a dimension that usually increases understanding of data trends

36. Intersecting Categories of DataProvide Deeper Understanding

37. Bernhardt’s Model of Data Categories Demographic Demographic/ Student Learning Data Tell us: whether specific groups of students are learning at the same level or not Student Learning

38. Your Turn…Find your colored circles

39. What two categories of data would tell us… whether student perceptions about a school program are favorable Adapted from: Bernhardt, V. (2004). Data analysis for continuous school improvement (2nd ed.). Larchmont, NY: Eye on Education.

40. Bernhardt’s Model of Data Categories School Processes Perceptions School Process/Perceptions Data Tell us: whether student perceptions about a school program are favorable Adapted from: Bernhardt, V. (2004). Data analysis for continuous school improvement (2nd ed.). Larchmont, NY: Eye on Education.

41. What two categories of data would tell us… the impact of student perceptions of the learning environment on student learning Adapted from: Bernhardt, V. (2004). Data analysis for continuous school improvement (2nd ed.). Larchmont, NY: Eye on Education.

42. Bernhardt’s Model of Data Categories Perceptions/Student Learning Data Tell us: the impact of student perceptions of the learning environment on student learning Perceptions Student Learning Adapted from: Bernhardt, V. (2004). Data analysis for continuous school improvement (2nd ed.). Larchmont, NY: Eye on Education.

43. What two categories of data would tell us… whether a program is making a difference in student learning results Adapted from: Bernhardt, V. (2004). Data analysis for continuous school improvement (2nd ed.). Larchmont, NY: Eye on Education.

44. Bernhardt’s Model of Data Categories Student Learning/School Process Data Tell us: whether a program is making a difference in student learning results School Processes Student Learning Adapted from: Bernhardt, V. (2004). Data analysis for continuous school improvement (2nd ed.). Larchmont, NY: Eye on Education.

45. What two categories of data would tell us… about student participation in different programs and processes Adapted from: Bernhardt, V. (2004). Data analysis for continuous school improvement (2nd ed.). Larchmont, NY: Eye on Education.

46. Bernhardt’s Model of Data Categories School Process/ Demographic Data Tell us: about student participation in different programs and processes Demographic School Processes Adapted from: Bernhardt, V. (2004). Data analysis for continuous school improvement (2nd ed.). Larchmont, NY: Eye on Education.

47. Now try these…

48. Checking Your Understanding of Data Categories Example 1: Is there a relationship between student attendance and state test results?

49. Bernhardt’s Model of Data Categories Demographic student attendance Student Learning math achievement

50. Checking Your Understanding of Data Categories Example 2: Is there a difference in student achievement results by program participation?