SUPERINTENDENT’S ROUNDTABLE DISCUSSION:

1. SUPERINTENDENT’S ROUNDTABLE DISCUSSION: “Building Leadership and Sustainability for SMT Reform” Based on: Leadership and Sustainability:System Thinkers in Action(Fullan, 2004) November 5, 2004

2. Discussion Goals • To explore and discuss new approaches for addressing challenges for leadership and sustainability in: • Standards-based Curriculum & Instruction • Systemic Organizational Change • Raising the Bar on Student Achievement • To explore opportunities for vertical and horizontal networking within and across school districts Discussion Format • Overview of Fullan’s Leadership and Sustainability • Follow-up discussion and Q&A • General discussion / Next steps

3. Leadership in a Culture of Change • Successful leaders at all levels in learning organizations understand: • Mission and purpose • Nature of change processes • Importance of knowledge building • Importance of coherence in transforming systems, cultures, and contexts • Importance and value of system thinkers • Leadership for sustainability emphasizes: • Attention to both short term and long term results • Creating a foundation for capacity building and sustainability • Focusing on reform priorities • Developing and supporting systemic leaders

4. Defining Sustainability “Sustainability is the capacity of a system to engage in the complexities of continuous improvement consistent with deep values of human purpose…It is not just the outcome of continuous improvement we need to observe, but we must also understand the key characteristics of systems that display dynamic sustainability.” Fullan, 2004 “Sustainability does not simply mean whether something will last. It addresses how particular initiatives can be developed without compromising the development of others in the surrounding environment now and in the future.” Hargreaves and Fink, 2002

5. Fullan’s Eight Elements of Sustainability • Public service with moral purpose • Commitment to changing context at all levels • Lateral capacity building through networks • Intelligent accountability and vertical relationships (encompassing both capacity building and accountability) • Deep learning • Dual commitment to short-term and long-term results • Cyclical energizing • The long lever of leadership

6. Fullan’s Eight Elements of Sustainability (cont.) • Public Service with Moral Purpose • Raising the bar / closing the achievement gap • Treating people with respect by being supportive, responsive and demanding • Altering the environment for the better • Developing a central vision, mission, and purpose • Changing the Context at All Levels • Increasing purposeful interaction between, among, and across all levels and systems • Developing learning systems capable of continuous progress • Changing the context to promote short term gains, high expectations and high performance throughout the system • Creating a context in which new ideas and beliefs are expressed, nurtured and welcomed by schools and school systems

7. Fullan’s Eight Elements of Sustainability (cont.) 3. Lateral Capacity Building • Encouraging establishment of networks in schools • Networking laterally – across schools, districts, and school systems • Sharing ideas and solving problems using networks 4. Intelligent Accountability – Building Vertical Relationships • Providing needed support systems and resources • Providing accountability and self evaluation tools • Engaging the whole system in these processes • Supporting emerging accomplishments, and identifying and disseminating valuable ideas and emerging patterns • Gathering, analyzing, distributing and utilizing quality data to improve teaching and learning • Monitoring progress at all levels

8. Fullan’s Eight Elements of Sustainability (cont.) 5. Deep Learning • Learning from data and experience • Promoting continuous improvement • Collective problem solving of complex problems • Emphasis on data-driven teaching and learning, including: • Permission to fail – Some things don’t work! • Capacity to act on data in a timely fashion • Capacity to sustain accomplishments and to break through plateaus 6. Dual Commitment to Both Long-Term and Short-Term Results • Evidenced by actions to obtain desired results, including corrective actions taken and interventions undertaken, as needed • Achieving short-term results to obtain needed fiscal and human resources and build system and community support • Simultaneously working toward long-range goals and short-term objectives

9. Fullan’s Eight Elements of Sustainability (cont.) 7. Cyclical Energizing • Creating a balance which builds capacity to sustain high performance • Building individual and collective energy • Creating energy to deal successfully with periodic plateaus required for breakthroughs and progress, and to support new ideas • Understanding the cyclical nature of progress • Working with new ideas to build capacity, progress and sustainability 8. The Long Lever of Leadership • Creative leaders use research as a guide to building capacity and sustainability. • Skilled leaders not only energize but are energy creators “Give me a lever long enough and I can change the world.” Archimedes “To mobilize the system in the direction of sustainability, leadership at all levels must be the primary engine.” Fullan

10. Supporting Research on District Leadership • Based on other long-term work by Fullan and research associates (Fullan, Bertani and Quinn, 2004). • Identified ten key research-based lessons which stand out as important elements in successful district-level leadership. • Overlaps with and should be considered as preconditions for Fullan’s Eight Elements of Sustainability. • Most districts have not achieved these levels as of yet.

11. Ten Research-Based Lessons on District Leadership • Leading with a compelling, driving conceptualization • Collective moral purpose • The right bus - Getting the right people in the right place • Leadership for capacity building • Lateral capacity building • Ongoing learning • Productive conflict • A demanding culture • External Partners • Growing financial investments

12. Research-Based Lessons on District Leadership (cont.) 1. Leading with a compelling, driving conceptualization • Understand the direction a system needs to go in and how to get there • Build a coalition of leaders • Work with teams of people • Create a coherent strategy • Build engagement and commitment at all levels 2. Leadership with a Collective Purpose • Commitment to raising the bar and closing the gap on student achievement • Commitment to treating people ethically while demanding excellence of adults and students in the system • Commitment to improve the whole district not just one’s school or classroom • Constantly communicating one’s mission, vision, and purpose • Commitment from everyone to take responsibility for achieving their role in changing the larger context

13. Research-Based Lessons on District Leadership (cont.) 3. The Right Bus - Getting the right people in the right place • Reorganizing roles so the focus is on teaching/learning • Building professional learning communities and partnerships • Dealing effectively with issues that distract from teaching/learning 4. Leadership for Capacity Building • Building capacity for assuming new roles • Building capacity for working in teams • Building capacity for learning in context through daily interaction and job-embedded learning

14. Research-Based Lessons on District Leadership (cont.) 5. Lateral Capacity Building • Building capacity within and among schools to learn from a broad group of peers across schools and districts • Expands capacity to access new ideas 6. On-going Learning • Focuses on these elements/questions: • Are people learning (energized)? • Should policy, strategy, structure and roles be altered based on feedback? • What is the level of teacher, student, parent, principal, and community ownership, morale and satisfaction? • Is there ongoing assessment of whether strategies and policies are working or if they are need to be improved?

15. Research-Based Lessons on District Leadership (cont.) 7. Productive Conflict • Built-in checks and balances to assess data driven reform and the status of continuous improvement and help system identify good conflict and bad conflict • Non-negotiable commitments that include: raising the bar, closing the gap, ongoing development and professional capacity, and transparency of result 8. A Demanding Culture • Includes high levels of trust • Also incorporates rigorous standards, high pressure, effective support and action taken to address ineffective teaching/learning

16. Research-Based Lessons on District Leadership (cont.) 9. External Partners • Seeks active partners such as business groups, foundations, community based organizations and university networks to build professional capacity 10. Growing Financial Investment • Deploying existing resources in the service of capacity building • Focusing on teaching and learning • Seeking out and attracting new resources • Using resources effectively to build capacity and sustainability

17. Effective Leaders • Are enthusiastic, positive critical thinkers • Inspire others • Are willing to scrutinize their practices • Wish to improve on their previous best • Practice skillful and balanced management of system energy • Recognize that creating new leaders promotes continuity, capacity building and sustainability for the system

18. 1. The Reality Test– put system thinking into practice 2. Moral Purpose– raising the bar & closing the gap in student achievement 3. Get the Basics Right–focus on literacy and numeracy, including scientific/technology literacy 4. Design Every Policy, Whatever the Purpose, to Build Capacity 5. Provide Opportunities for People to Interact and Have Input in the Big Picture–across all levels 6. Practice Intelligent Accountability–use data and assessments as evidence for accountability at all levels 7. Provide Incentives for Lateral Capacity Building & Collaboration–build networks 8. Create Leaders at All Levels–district, school, parent, IHE, community 9. Communicate the Big Picture–Communicate! Communicate! Communicate! 10. Take Action to Increase Financial Resources for Education Effective Guidelines for System Thinkers and Leaders: Summarizing Fullan’s Leadership and Sustainability

19. Discussion Session: Challenges and Conundrums Fullan’s Eight Elements of Sustainability (Slide #5) 1. How accurately does Fullan’s approach reflect your own perceptions and understanding of leadership development for sustainability? What’s missing, if anything, or what does he fail to address? 2. How can districts integrate and sustain district priorities and still meet federal and state mandates (e.g., NCLB)? What are the other challenges in actualizing Fullan’s approach? 3. What steps must leadership take to structure the organization and energize the participants to achieve capacity building and sustainability for: administrators, teachers, students, parents, and community groups? 4. What similarities (and differences) characterize the first five traits (moral purpose, changing context, lateral capacity building, intelligent accountability, and deep learning) and the remaining three (short- and long-term goals, cyclical energizing, and lever of leadership)?

20. Discussion Session: Challenges and Conundrums Ten Research-Based Lesson/Preconditions (Slide #11) 5. Are Fullan’s ten preconditions achievable in your district? Why or why not? 6. What aspects of the preconditions present the most challenges for district leaders? How can they be resolved? Effective Guidelines for System Thinkers and Leaders (Slide #18) 7. How does one develop system thinkers system-wide? What are the challenges? 8. What is the reality test for sustainability? Building capacity? Creating leaders at all levels? Getting the basics right?