Academy of Pacesetting States

1. Seeing Change Through to the Classroom Academy of Pacesetting States Orientation to the Summer Session - 2009

2. Academy of Pacesetting StatesSeeing Change Through to the Classroom The Center on Innovation & Improvement Partners Virginia Department of Education Center for School Improvement and Policy Studies (Boise State University) Regional Comprehensive Centers Location The Chauncey Conference Center, Princeton, NJ  July 19-24, 2009 Supported in part by the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Elementary and Secondary Education. Award #S283B050057

3. Participating States and Regional Centers Alaska, Alaska Comprehensive Center Arkansas, Mid-Continent Comprehensive Center Idaho, Northwest Comprehensive Center Illinois, Great Lakes West Comprehensive Center Louisiana, Southeast Comprehensive Center Michigan, Great Lakes East Comprehensive Center Montana, Northwest Comprehensive Center Oklahoma, Mid-Continent Comprehensive Center Virginia, Appalachia Regional Comprehensive Center

4. Regional Center Representatives Gerry Briscoe, Alaska Comprehensive Center Janie Russell, Mid-Continent Comprehensive Center Kit Peixotto, Northwest Comprehensive Center Monique Chism, Great Lakes West Comprehensive Center Darlene Morgan Brown, Southeast Comprehensive Center Bersheril Bailey, Great Lakes East Comprehensive Center Cathryn Gardner, Northwest Comprehensive Center Sarah Hall, Mid-Continent Comprehensive Center Keith Smith, Appalachia Regional Comprehensive Center

5. Academy Faculty System Leader Strand • Carol Chelemer • Susan Hanes • Tom Kerins • Carole Perlman • Sam Redding Instructional Specialist Strand • Kathy Kurpeikis • Brenda May • Nancy Protheroe • Change Agent Strand • Mary Keith • Barbara Kennedy • Steve Schenck • Facilitators • Bernadette Anderson • Marcia Beckman • Lisa Kinnaman • Maureen Mirabito • Marilyn Murphy • Pam Sheley Guests Little Planet Learning (Host of Thursday Evening BBQ): Don Gilmour, Bill Nelson U.S. Department of Education: Rosie Kelley High Schools That Work: Coryell Duty, George Johnson, Sharon Stone, Scott Warren

6. State Teams Louisiana Tasha Anthony, School Improvement Supervisor Brenda Jeans, Instructional Supervisor Janet Langlois, Section Leader Donna Nola-Ganey, Assistant Superintendent Ralph Thibodeaux, Deputy Director of High School Redesign Michigan LaskaCreagh, Instructional Specialist Linda Hecker, NCLB Consultant Abby Hilgendorf, Instructional Specialist Michael Nauss, Contract-High Priority Schools Elizabeth VanDeusen-McLeod, Consultant Montana BJ Granbery, Division Administrator/Title I Director Jack O’Connor, Director of Statewide System of Support David Stringfield, Instructional Coach KathiTiefenthaler, Reading First Specialist Marg Watson, School Coach Oklahoma Karyn Hutchens, Executive Director—Teacher and Professional Development Cindy Koss, Assistant State Superintendent—Standards and Curriculum Jackie Mania, Program Specialist-School Support Mary Pearson, Executive Director-Title I/School Support Jennifer Watson, Team Leader—Office of Standards and Curriculum Virginia Michael Hill, Partnership for Achieving Successful Schools Coordinator Yvonne Holloman, Division Level Support Teresa Lee, Special Education Instructional Specialist Kathleen Smith, Director—Office of School Improvement Veronica Tate, Title I Specialist Alaska Charlie Crangle, Technical Assistance Coach Dawn Elizabeth Davis, Education Specialist II Amelia Ludeman, Education Associate II Leslie Morse, Deputy Commissioner Jonathan Paden, State System of Support Administrator Arkansas Alice Barnes-Rose, Assistant Commissioner Stephen Brodie, Public School Program Advisor Deborah Coffman, Associate Director of Professional Development Devonda Cox, Special Assistant to the Commissioner Kathryn Lavender, ACSIP Supervisor Idaho Tony Feldhausen, Capacity Builder Marybeth Flachbart, Deputy Supt.—Student Achievement/School Improvement Earnie Lewis, Capacity Builder Deb Pfost, Regional School Improvement Coordinator Rosie Santana, Regional School Improvement Coordinator Illinois Dawn Camacho, Dawn, Principal Consultant Gina Hopper, Division Administrator—Grants and Programs John (Mark) Williams, Division Administrator-Career Development and Preparation Maureen Richel, Instructional Specialist Terry Rusin, Consultant 

7. Presentations Instructional Leadership, Gordon Cawelti Indicators of Effective Instruction, Larry Kugler Rapid District Improvement, Brett Lane Tough Decisions: School Closures and Staff Dismissals, Julie Kowal Change in Big Districts, Heidi Ramirez Bold Ideas: State as Change Agent, Paul Pastorek School Turnarounds, Lauren Morando Rhim * Restructuring that Worked, Dana Brinson, Tommie McCarter, Lindsay Krey * Note: Tommie McCarter and Lindsay Krey are principals of schools in this study that have dramatically turned around.

8. Week at a Glance Sunday Orientation, Strand Meetings Monday – Thursday (with slight variations as per agenda) • 7:00 Breakfast • 7:30 - 8:15 Table Tasks with Role-Alike Groups • 8:15 Welcome and Introduction • 8:15 - 9:45 Presentation, Q & A • 10:00 - Noon Strand Sessions • 12:00 -1:00 Lunch • 1:00 - 3:00 Strand Sessions • 3:15 - 4:30 State Team Meetings • 4:30 - 6:00 R & R • 6:00 Dinner • 6:45 - 7:45 Presentation, Q & A Friday – Planning and Presentation of Elevator Pitch

9. Procedures • You have lots of materials • We will ship them home for you—your personal Pacesetter library • Don’t carry them all—your Strand faculty will tell you which ones you will need • The Workbook should always be at hand • Bring Patterns of Practice for Monday morning—Larry Kugler • Friday is official Pacesetter shirt day – for team pictures • Your Workbook includes a section for you to record your daily reflections • The evaluation form in the back of the Workbook should be filled in throughout the week, while sessions are fresh in your mind and so you don’t miss the bus on Friday • For your State Team meetings • Your Regional Center team member will facilitate and keep notes • Begin with each Strand reporting briefly (3 minutes each) the lessons learned and takeaways from the day • Spend 10 minutes reviewing the System Leader’s work on the SSOS rubric and discussing it • Work on the State Team Plan Development document in the Workbook • Your thoughts will evolve through the week, and you will amend what you have previously done • You have lots of ground to cover, so stay on track and keep moving • Your Chief State School Officer has received a letter asking him/her to meet with your team soon after you return

10. Objectives of the Academy of Pacesetting States The objectives of the faculty and partners of the Academy of Pacesetting States are to provide: • A learning community for state teams from states intent upon leading the way to rapid improvement of districts and schools. • Training, consultation, and support to enable states to reach their goals for high quality Statewide Systems of Support that build local capacity to initiate and sustain rapid improvement that brings all classrooms to an optimal level of performance. • Training, consultation, and support for state teams to develop skilled experts in three critical areas: • System Leaders who administer the Statewide System of Support and coordinate its components (including the people who carry it out); • Change Agents who understand not only effective operational practices, but also the dynamics of change in an educational setting; and • Instructional Specialists who understand effective classroom instruction and how it can be cultivated in districts and school systems to reach a critical mass of instructional excellence.

11. Objectives of the Academy of Pacesetting States The objectives of the member states of the Academy of Pacesetting States are to: • Take full advantage of the opportunities to share talents and experiences with other states, the Academy faculty and partners. • Develop and achieve bold plans of action to: • Elevate the effectiveness of the Statewide System of Support; • Build local capacity to initiate and sustain rapid improvement that brings all classrooms to an optimal level of performance; • Create strong programs of Change Agents and Instructional Specialists to serve as Catalytic Teams to rapidly improve districts and schools in ways that show substantial effects in classroom instruction and student learning.

12. To Meet the Objectives Member states: • Send teams of five for the full week of the summer session; • Participate in monthly days of distance learning; • Hold monthly conference calls with Academy faculty and their regional centers; and • Return for a meeting and advanced training the following summer.

13. Measures of Success • Improvement of Statewide System of Support as indicated by rubrics-based evaluation; • Achievement of Plan of Action as approved by the Chief State School Officer; • Evidence of impact on classroom instruction, local capacity to initiate and sustain rapid improvement.

14. Central Themes

15. Spheres of Influence on the Instructional Core

16. Theory of Action (Change)

18. Building Local Capacity Culture of Candor • Leadership • Effective Teams • Collegial Coaching/Learning • Open scrutiny of data from both sides of equation • What students learn • What adults do that affects what students learn Indicators of Effective Practice • Guideposts for effective practice • Plain language, behavioral indicators • Aligned with research base • Drivers of planning and improvement • Necessary in a Culture of Candor

19. Catalytic Teams Change Agents and Instructional Specialists serve as Catalytic Teams in a well-coordinated system of support to rapidly improve districts and schools in ways that show substantial effects in classroom instruction and student learning.

20. The ultimate goal in school improvement is for the people attached to the school to drive its continuous improvement for the sake of their own children and students.

21. Greeting from Secretary Arne Duncan I am pleased to send greetings to the participants in the Academy of Pacesetting States. President Barack Obama and I believe that preparing young people for success in life is both a moral obligation of society and an economic imperative for our country. Children have only one chance for an education, and the youth who are in school now need a better education today if they are to thrive and succeed tomorrow. That’s why we must continue to emphasize the importance of education to the future of our young people and to our nation’s standing in the world. You will face challenges ahead as States focus on the difficult task of turning around chronically low-performing schools. This academy brings together a dynamic mix of State education leaders, instructional leaders, and change agents to learn what works best in meeting these challenges and how to move forward in implementing crucial changes in the nation’s education system. As we take on these challenges, your efforts can help States meet the educational reform assurances in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The President has written about the unfinished work of perfecting our country that falls to each of us. “It’s a charge we pass on to our children, coming closer with each new generation to what we know America should be.” The participants in this academy have important work to do. Best wishes for a productive and memorable gathering.

22. We have important work to do.