Key Leaders NetworkSession #2—October 2013

Alphabet Soup!

ABPC Alabama Best Practices Center

KLN Key Leaders Network

PCN Powerful Conversations Network

SLN Superintendent Leaders Network

IPP Instructional Partners Pilot

ACCRS AL’s College-and Career-Ready Standards

FA Formative Assessment

Partners with the Alabama State Department of Education Initiatives

Guiding Questions

How do Leithwood and Seashore Louis’ findings deepen and/or expand our understanding of distributed leadership?

To what extent do we value and intentionally use the four core leadership practices identified by Leithwood and Seashore Louis?

How can we share leadership across these four core leadership practices to ensure effective transitions associated with implementation of ACCRS?

Guiding Questions

What are we learning from our colleagues and peers as we co-create this community of practice?

The authors of Linking Leadership to Student Achievement identify “developing people” as one of the four core leadership practices. In what ways are we using our learning from KLN sessions to “develop people” in our district? How are we working with our PCN and/or other leadership teams to accomplish this core practice as defined by these authors?

Activity 1: Reconnecting Across Our KLN Community

Individual Reflection

District Team Dialogue

Meeting and Greeting

What did you learn from your colleagues?

Key learnings from 1st KLN?

Interest in a particular guiding question?

Hoped-for accomplishments resulting from KLN participation

Previewing the Day

Review guiding questions

Highlight agenda

Consider Chapters 4-5 of Linking Leadership to Student Learning

Think about your responsibilities as an active learner

Norms for Dialogue

Listen actively

Employ questioning to seek deeper understanding

Respect other viewpoints

Suspend judgment

Voice what needs to be said to advance the dialogue

Focus for “Distributed Leadership in Action”(Chapter 4, Linking Leadership to Student Learning)

Who participates in leadership for school improvement?

What patterns or “arrangements” does the distribution of leadership roles and actions take?

How is responsibility for “core” leadership functions spread among people?

How is leadership distribution related to school improvement goals?

(p. 43, Leithwood & Seashore Louis)

Findings Related to the Strength of Collective Voice from Teachers

1. Principal’s orientation to teacher input

2. Organizational structures enabling input

Key Point: Say Something

“. . . It is important to distinguish the formal allocation of leadership roles and responsibilities from . . . the planful alignment of leadership sources, practices, and influences. Formal bureaucratic structures do not necessarily require or facilitate the kind of consensus building, communication, interaction, and collaboration that we would associate with the deliberate alignment of leadership influence and practices.” (p. 49)

Distribution of Leadership Determined By Principal’s Beliefs & Feelings Related to:External and internal influence on school

direction setting

The nature and scope of school goals for improvement

Sources and uses of professional expertise required for the accomplishment of school goals

Latitude for participation in the enactment of different dimensions of leadership practice

Activity 2: Implications for Policy and Practice

What? Close Reading and Quad Questioning

Why? To think about the implications of distributed leadership for your setting

How? Use close reading strategies to reread your assigned portion of this section. Frame a question related to what this might mean for distributing leadership in your school or district context. Share around.

Close Reading

“Close reading is purposefully reading a text several times in order to analyze and gain a deeper understanding of the text.”

“Reading something enough times so you can understand it, explain it to someone else, and ask and answer questions about it using evidence from the text.”

http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/top-teaching/2013/04/investigating-nonfiction-part-2-digging-deeper-close-reading

Close Reading

1st Reading: Read to identify key ideas and details.Circle key ideasUnderline supporting details, if any.

2nd Reading: Craft and structureDig deeper, focusing on text features,

organizational patterns, and content vocabulary

3rd Reading: Integration of knowledge and ideasGo even deeper, connecting to ideas from

other texts or sources or to experiences

Core Practices: The Four Essential Components of the Leader’s Repertoire(Chapter 5, Linking Leadership to Student Learning)

Central Question: Which leadership practices enacted by principals are considered by principals and teachers to be most helpful in supporting and improving classroom instruction?

Claims Supported by Evidence in This Chapter

Read the 5 claims.

Select the claim that you believe to be most important for your work, and think about:

What does this claim mean to you?Why do you consider this claim to be

important in your work?

Be ready to share with an elbow partner.

Activity 3: Overview of Four Core Leadership Practices

What? IQ Pairs

Why? To provide an initial understanding of the authors’ framework for leaders

How? Individually read, reflect, and dialogue following protocol outline on page 4 of your Activity Packet.

Lingering Questions

What questions, if any, emerged from the pair dialogue in which you participated?

What would you like to continue thinking and talking about related to leadership issues that were addressed?

Activity 4: Deepening Our Understanding of Core Leadership Practices

What? Highlighting Instructionally Helpful Practices

Why? To deepen your understanding of one of the four core practices

How? Collaboratively inquire into a selected core practice using protocol provided on page 5 of the Activity Packet.

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Implementation of the Common Core State Standards: A Transition Guide for School-level Leaders

http://www.aspeninstitute.org/publications/implementation-common-core-state-standards-transition-guide-school-level-leaders

Indicators of High-Quality Transition #1: A team that includes classroom teachers and administrators leads and is accountable for common understanding and implementation of the CCSS.

#2: The leadership team establishes common expectations for CCSS-aligned instructional practice. School personnel use observation tools to support and assess this practice in mathematics, English language arts, science, social studies, and technical subjects.

Indicators of High-Quality Transition

#3: Ongoing professional learning, including feed- back and coaching systems, is focused on deepening educator knowledge of and facility with the CCSS.

#4: School personnel use data from a CCSS- aligned assessment system (including interim/ benchmark and summative assessments as well as ongoing collection of student work) to inform instruction and gauge effective implementation of CCSS.

Indicators of High-Quality Transition

#5: Instructional resources, whether purchased or developed, are aligned to the CCSS.

#6: Families and communities are engaged in supporting the success of the CCSS.

#7: Decisions about staffing, time, and spending reflect a prioritization of the CCSS.

Organize Your Teams

Facilitator

Recorder/Reporter

Time Monitor/Materials Manager

Directions Clarifier

Activity 5: Applying Core Practices to Implementation of Common Core State Standards

What? Team Analysis

Why? To evaluate usefulness of 7 indicators of high-quality transition from a leadership perspective

How? Form heterogeneous teams of four, with a representative from each of four “expert” groups related to core practices. Use template on page 6 of Activity Packet to guide discussion. Prepare to share.

Gallery Walk

Designate one team member to stay with team wall chart.

Taking your activity packet, move to the chart to the right of your team’s station.

Listen to team reporter, taking notes on page 7 of Activity Packet.

Application: District Team Reflection and Planning

What? Reflection and Planning with District Team

Why? To collaboratively consider how you can transfer specific resources and activities to individuals and teams within your district

How? Individual reflection followed by collaborative discussion (using templates on pages 8-10).

Team Talk: Sharing SuccessesAs a district team, generate

successful strategies or approaches you are using at either the school or district level that are producing intended results.

Select one of these to explicate using the guide on page 9 of the Activity Packet.

Each individual on district team should be ready to share with other colleagues.

Activity 6: Sharing Successes

Stand up, and form teams of 3 individuals, each representing a different district.

Share around the success analyzed in your team.

Allow up to six minutes for sharing and discussion about each of the successes presented.

Return to district team, and exchange ideas gleaned from triad sharing.

Team Talk:Consultation Requested

Generate a list of challenges or issues that you are currently confronting in your school or district.

Select one for team analysis. Use the form provided on page 12 of Activity Packet to analyze this issue.

Be ready to share your analysis with colleagues from other districts.

Activity 7: Consultation Requested

Move to a space where you can work with your paired team.

Decide which team will present first.

Presenting team talks about their challenge using analysis emerging from team dialogue.

Other team(s) listens actively taking notes.

Listening team poses questions and engages in dialogue with presenting team.

Exchange roles.

Question for District Team Dialogue

How are we coordinating efforts with our PCN teams and/or other teams in our district focused on school improvement and quality implementation of ACCRS?

Final Reflection and Feedback

Complete individually and silently.

Please respond to open-ended items.

ABPC will use this as formative assessment to improve future sessions.