Vision for a Successful High School by Shelley Klein, 2013

1. Vision for a Successful High School byShelley Klein, 2013

2. A culture of continuous learning & growth for all stakeholders engaged in constructing their own knowledge.

3. Improving Student Learning Research • Engaging students in constructing their own knowledge (Schletchy,1997; Schon, 1987; York-Barr, et al, 2004) • Classroom teacher most important school factor • Effective Principal is second (Leithwood, et al, 2004; Marzano, Waters & McNulty, 2005).

4. School Focus = Designing high quality learning opportunities • Professional learning communities (PLCs) can improve school culture (Garmston & Wellman, 2009).

5. Build Relationships: Collaborate, Partner, Reflect, Plan & Act • Hord (1997) shares how powerful and energizing teachers are when engaged in reflective practice together. • Sharing experiences, about implementation common goals, increases teacher knowledge and increases student learning (Firestone, 1996).

6. Engage Staff: Collective, Regular, Context-specific Learning • Fullan (2010), for system change all of the school community needs context knowledge, PLC knowledge, change process knowledge and the commitment to continuous learning.

7. Addressing Inequities: Teaching & Learning Support for Students • In PLCs teacher identify student needs and problem solve, exploring ways to improve the quality of the teaching and learning (DuFour, et al, 2010).

8. Promote Culture: Improving Teaching and Learning • Systematic process need to be put in place, time to collaborate, timely data, resources to support the school wide focus on improving the quality of student learning (Ash & Persall, 2000).

9. Effective Principal • Focus on creating knowledge in teachers and students and what does that knowledge look like, assessments (Crowther, et al, 2002). • DuFour, et al, 2010 asks what do we want students to know and how will we know they know it? • Principals cannot be experts in all areas, develop teacher leaders especially in the PLCs.

10. Strengths and Roles • Role as Organizer: Assist leadership encourage and support use of content area PLC • Role as Relator: Build trusting relationships for open and honest communication and resolve conflicts. • Role as Achiever: Assist school & PLCs setting common outcomes and systematically collect and analyze student results and set improvement goals. • Role as Learner: Share research with all stakeholders to build their knowledge and understanding.

11. Personal Goals and Responsibility • Nurturing open and honest dialogue with all stakeholders, • Developing system processes for gathering, analyzing and sharing meaningful and appropriate data, • Expanding the professional skills of teachers through actualization of content collaborative groups to develop and implement the Common Core State Standards to improve instruction and assessment, • Continuing to encourage and practice reflective learning with the staff and students, and • Fostering real-life problem solving and critical thinking skills with my students.

12. What will this look like at SMHS? • Principal and teacher leaders encourage & support PLCs, open and trusting dialogue, focus on implementing CCSS and team work. • Teachers engage in designing high quality teaching including technology, CCSS practices and real-world projects and presentations. • Use of current data and research in best practices. • Student outcomes collectively shared & analyzed, use of reflective practice to form new goals. • All stakeholders communicating to build knowledge and support for student learning.

13. References • Ash, R. & Persall, J. (2000). The principal as chief learning officer. National Association of Secondary School Principals, 84(616), 15-22. • Crowther, F., Kaagan, S., Ferguson, M. & Hann, L. (2002). Developing teacher leaders: How teacher leadership enhances school success. San Francisco. CA: Corwin Press, Inc. • DuFour, R., DuFour, R., Eaker, R. & Many, T. (2010). Learning by doing: A handbook for professional learning communities at work. Bloomington, Ind: Solution Tree. • Firestone, W. (1996). Images of teaching and proposals for reform: A comparison of ideas from cognitive and organizational research. Educational Administration Quarterly. 32-2, 209-235. • Fullan, M. (2010). All systems go: the change imperative for whole system reform. Thousand Oaks. CA: Corwin. • Garmston, R. J., & Wellman, B. M. (2009). The adaptive school: A sourcebook for developing collaborative groups. Norwood, MA: Christopher-Gordon Publishers, Inc.

14. Hord, S.M. (1997). Professional learning communities: Communities of continuous inquiry and improvement. Austin, TX: Southwest Educational Development Laboratory. Retrieved from http://www.sedl.org/pubs/catalog/items/cha34.html • Hord, S. & Sommers, W. (2008). Leading professional learning communities: Voices from research and practice. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press. • Leithwood, K., Louis, K., Anderson, S., & Wahlstrom, K. (2004). Review of research: How leadership influences student learning. Toronto: University of Minnesota. • Lencioni, P. (2005). Overcoming the five dysfunctions of a team: A field guide for leaders, managers, and facilitators. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. • Reeves, D. (2011). Finding your leadership focus: What matters most for student results. New York. NY: Teachers College Press. • Schlechty, P. (1997). Inventing better schools: An action plan for educational reform. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass Publishers. • Schӧn, D. (1987). Educating the reflective practitioner. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. • York-Barr, J., & Duke, K. (2004). What do we know about teacher leadership? Findings from two decades of scholarship. Review of Educational Research, 74(3), 255-316. • York-Barr, J., Sommers, W., Ghere, G. & Montie, J. (2006). Reflective practice to improve schools: An action guide for educators. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.