Changing the Culture for Teaching and Learning

1. Changing the Culture for Teaching and Learning AASB October 21, 2007 Cathy Gassenheimer

2. Objectives To deepen understanding about what students need to be successful in today's and tomorrow's world To learn more about 21st Century Learning and why it is important to schools and to Alabama's future To explore and learn more about Professional Learning Communities and why they are essential to improved teaching and learning.

3. A Look Into the Past...1940�s In 1943, a social studies test was developed and administered to seven thousand college freshman nation-wide. Only 29% knew that St. Louis was located on the Mississippi. Only 6% knew the thirteen original states of the Union. Some thought Lincoln was the first president.

4. A Look Into the Past...1950�s A proficiency test given in 1951 to eighth-graders found that more than half could not calculate an 8 percent sales tax on an $8 purchase.

5. A Look Into the Past...1960�s A 1961 report by the Council for Basic Education claimed that a third of ninth graders could only read at a second or third grade level.

6. Who Is the Net Generation?

7. Characteristics of Millenials Connectedness More Team-Oriented More Consensus Driven Preferred to be �Part of a Pack�

8. Characteristics of Millenials Everything on Demand Need for Immediate Feedback...in �Digestible and Entertaining Soundbites� In the Workplace They Expect to Move Up Rapidly

9. Characteristics of Millenials Free to �be� More Involved Parents Seeking Balance in Their Lives More Adaptable Require More Feedback Want to be Engaged

10. Implications for Learning �They have changed the dynamics of the classroom.� Stephanie Dupaul, Director of Admissions for the Cox School of Business

11. Implications for Learning �They are very consensus-driven and supportive of each other, which creates harmony, but you do have to push them to speak out more often.� -Stephanie Dupaul

12. Implications for Learning They expect their classroom experience to be more fast paced, inclusive and discussion oriented.

13. Implications for Learning Traditional lecture styles have become less desirable.

14. Implications for Learning �They can multi-task...they manage a case discussion and CNBC simultaneously, apparently able to use multiple channels in their brains.� Stephanie Dupaul

15. Education and the Economy Since WWII, worker productivity has grown more slowly in the U.S. than in other industrialized countries. National Center for Education Statistics, Education and the Economy: An Indicators Report, (1997).

16. Education and the Economy High Paying Jobs Will Continue to be Knowledge/Innovation Based 2004 Engineering Grads: China-500,000; India-200,000; US-70,000 2003 US granted patents: Of top 10 companies receiving patents, only 3 US

17. Education and the Economy �The sky is not falling; nothing horrible is going to happen today. The U.S. is still the leading engine for innovation in the world...But there is a quiet crisis in U.S. science and technology we have to wake up to. The U.S. today is in a truly global environment, and those competitor countries are not only wide awake, they are running a marathon while we are running sprints. If left unchecked, this could challenge our preeminence and capacity to innovate.� �Shirley Ann Jackson, President of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

18. Education and the Economy Children need a broad education that is strong in math and science and equally strong in the liberal arts. In the current economy, innovation and synthesis are supremely important. "You never know where that inspiration is coming from," Friedman said. Music, art and literature "are the rivers of inspiration, and we don't want them to dry up."Thomas Friedman, Author of The World Is Flat

19. Workforce Readiness High School Graduates Over 40% of employers rate new entrants with a high school diploma as �deficient� in their overall preparation for entry-level jobs. Are They Really Ready to Work? (2006).

20. Workforce Readiness College Graduates 65% of employers rate new entrants with a 4-year college degree as �adequate� in their overall preparation for entry-level jobs. Are They Really Ready to Work? (2006).

21. Schools have to prepare every child... What does that mean?

22. Applied Skills Needed for Today�s Work Environment High School Graduates Need Skills In... Professionalism/Work Ethic Teamwork/Collaboration Oral Communications Ethics/Social Responsibility Critical Thinking/Problem Solving Written Communications Diversity Creativity/Innovation Lifelong Learning

23. Public Opinion Strategies National Poll 88% of voters say they believe that schools can and should incorporate 21st century skills into the curriculum. 66% of voters say they believe students need more than just the basics of reading, writing, and math; schools also need to incorporate a broader range of skills. 53% say they believe schools should place an equal emphasis on 21st century skills and basic skills. Public Opinion Strategies and Peter D. Hart Research Associates (2007)

24. 21st Century Skills Are Vitally Important Providing all students with 21st century skills and making education relevant to today�s world are critical to closing both the achievement gap and the global competition gap. -Public Opinion Strategies and Peter D. Hart Research Associates (2007)

25. Framework for 21st Century Learning

26. Grid for 21st Century Learning

27. Paradigm Shift!

28. Shift #1 Shift focus from TEACHING to LEARNING

29. �School mission statements that promise �learning for all� have become a clich�. But when a school staff takes that statement literally � when teachers view it as a pledge to ensure the success of each student rather than a politically correct hyperbole � profound changes begin to take place.� Rick DuFour, On Common Ground, pg. 32

30. Shift #2 Shift focus from INTENTIONS to RESULTS

31. �Of course, this focus on continual improvements and results requires educators to change traditional practices and revise prevalent assumptions. Educators must begin to embrace data as a useful indicator of progress. They must stop disregarding or excusing unfavorable data and honestly confront the sometimes-brutal facts. They must stop using averages to analyze student performance and begin to focus on the success of each student.� Rick DuFour, On Common Ground, pgs 41-42

32. 3 Levels of Curriculum (Marzano,2003) The Intended Curriculum � what we intend for each student to learn The Implemented Curriculum � what is actually taught The Attained Curriculum � what students actually learn

33. � A school that is truly committed to learning for all would take steps to address all three levels. Every teacher would be clear on what students are to learn. Procedures would be in place to guarantee that every student has access to that intended learning...Every student�s attainment of the intended outcomes would be carefully monitored.� Rick DuFour, Whatever It Takes, pg. 25

34. Shift #3 Shift focus from ISOLATION to COLLABORATION

35. �Despite compelling evidence indicating that working collaboratively represents best practice, teachers in many schools continue to work in isolation. Even in schools that endorse the idea of collaboration, the staff�s willingness to collaborate often stops at the classroom door.� Rick DuFour, On Common Ground, pg. 36

36. Professional Learning Communities: Four Critical Questions What do we want each student to learn? How will we know when each student has learned it? How will we respond when students don�t learn? How can we accelerate the learning for all students?

37. PLC�s Require Two Types of Change: Structural Change � Changing policies, procedures, programs and rules of a school. Cultural Change � Changing the assumptions, beliefs, values, expectations, and habits that drive the day-to-day work of the school and shape how its people think, feel, and act.

38. Which Is Most Important?

39. �Structural change that is not supported by cultural change will eventually be overwhelmed by the culture, for it is in the culture that an organization finds meaning and stability.� -Phil Schlechty

40. Through New Eyes: Putting a Professional Learning Community into Practice

41. Part 1 Questions: How does the school respond when it becomes apparent that the student is not succeeding? What message is the school sending to Johnny? How would you describe the school�s culture? What are the assumptions, beliefs, expectations, habits and values that seem to drive its day-to-day work?

42. Part 2 Questions What is the same in Part 1 and Part 2? What is different? How does the school respond when it becomes apparent that the student is not succeeding? What message is the school sending to Johnny? How would you describe the school�s culture? What are the assumptions, beliefs, expectations, habits and values that seem to drive its day-to-day work?

43. Table Discussion As Board Members, what should be our response to our schools when students are not succeeding? As Board Members, what can we do to help district and school leaders discuss these 4 critical questions: What do we want each student to learn? How will we know when each student has learned it? How will we respond when students don�t learn? How can we accelerate the learning for all students?

44. �The true mission of a school is revealed by what people do, not by what they say. Therefore, educators committed to bringing their mission statements to life in their school are relentless in examining every practice, procedure and decision and in asking, �Is this consistent with our mission of higher levels of learning for all students?�� On Common Ground

45. �When educators learn to clarify their priorities, to assess the current reality of their situation, to work together and to build continuous improvements into the very fabric of their collective work, they create conditions for the ongoing learning and self-efficacy essential to solving whatever problems they confront.� Learning By Doing