Puyallup Leadership August 21 2008

LeadershipPuyallup School District Leadership

Team

August 21, 2008

[email protected]

COLLABORATION IS KEY!

“A community is known

by the schools it keeps”

Shaker Heights School District

Mr. Johnson

“I wish I could be a brother like that.”

“Higher”

“Your bottom line is

your front line.

It all comes from people”

Casey Stengel, manager of the New York Yankees, commented after winning the 1958 World Series,

“I couldn’t have done it without my

players.”

Thoughts on time . . .

“He who is first will later be last, for the times they are a changing.”

Bob Dylan

Times waits for no one.

The leader is you. The time is now.

We need leaders!

Core values required of leaders include:

optimism,

hard work, and

strength of character.David McCullough

(2008)Harvard Business

Review

Leadership

What is it?

“It’s just one darn thing after another!”

“The role of leader is to “mobilize people to

tackle tough problems.”

Heifetz (1994)

“Leadership Matters!”

It matters a great deal in leading a learning culture where staff and students improve in practice and

performance.

Every leader is telling a story about

what he or she values.

What do you value?

EDWARD R. MURROW -

This I Believe . . .

Break

Leadership . . .

Good leaders change organizations.

Great leaders change people.

Leadership is . . .

Management view:

“Doing things right.”

Leadership View:

“Doing right things.”

Leadership is . . .

“Doing right things right.”

Kenneth Leithwood, 2004

As a leader, what are the

“right things?”

What evidence do you have that you are

“doing the right things right?”

Leadership

What is the purpose of leadership?

What is the purpose of leadership?

“The improvement of instructional practice and performance.”

(Elmore, 2006)

Leadership

How do leaders influence the improvement of instructional practice and performance?

Leadership Accountability

The necessary condition for success of school leaders in the future will be their capacity to improve the quality of instructional practice.

Richard Elmore, June 2006 Conference paper, OECD, (p. 6.)

What is improvement?

Improvement is increases in quality and performance

over time.

Richard Elmore, June 2006 Conference paper, OECD, (p. 6.)

Practice must be based on atheory of action.

A theory of action is a set of logically connected statements that connect the actions of leaders with their consequences for quality and performance in the organization.

They must be stated in order to be shared, and they have to be evaluated against evidence of their success in order to be judged.

(Chris Argyris and Donald Schon, 1978)

Leadership is . . .

The relentless pursuit

in the improvement

of practice.

June 26, 2002 Seattle P.I.

Germany ends South Korea’s dreamThree-time champs will face

Brazil or Turkey in final

BY JERE LONGMANThe New York Times

“South Korea was playing out a fantasy, while Germany is one of the world’s powers. Victory is a relentless expectation, not a delirious wish. While South Korea had a nation’s support, it could not match Germany’s skill and conviction.”

A recent report (2007) from McKinsey & Company titled, How the World’s Best-performing School Systems Come Out on Top, concludes that :

1) the quality of an education system cannot exceed the quality of its teachers, and

2) the only way to improve outcomes is to improve instruction.

Great Schools Consist of . . .

Great teachers doing

great teaching.

McKinsey & Company (2007)

Great teaching consists of . . .

Teachers’ knowledge and skill,

Students’ engagement in their own learning, and

Challenging and meaningful content (Rigor).

PELP Coherence Framework (2006)

What does rigor look like?

It has a clear purpose.It is important to know.It challenges students to think and learn.It can be applied.It articulates a plan for the teacher to measure what

has been learned.It includes a plan for students to evaluate and

improve their own work.It contains elements of personal and peer respect.

(Wagner, 2006)

Students achieve when:

there is a culture of high expectations,

teachers know how and when learning occurs, and

schools identify and support struggling students.

Urquhart, 2008McREL, Changing Schools

McKinsey & Company’s 2007 Report Findings . . .

Get the right people to teach,

Support their growth of their knowledge and skills, and

Ensure that every student performs to his or her potential.

The Role of Leadership in Highly Effective Schools

Hire well

Develop people

Intervene early and often

Create a “high reliability” system(failure is not an option for any student)

McKinsey & Company ( 2007)

One child who does not learn what is needed for future success is

one child too many.

Urquhart, 2008

McREL, Changing Schools

Schools DO make a difference…

All Children CAN LEARN; and the school controls the factors to assure the student mastery of the core curriculum !

Effective Schools Research (1990) of Ron Edmonds, Larry Lezotte, Wilbur Brookover, and Michael Rutter

An analysis of research conducted over a 35 year period demonstrates that…Schools that are highly effective produce results that almost entirely overcome the effects of students backgrounds…

Schools

Do Make a Difference!

Marzano (What Works in Schools, 2004)

Demographics

are not

Destiny

Professional Learning Communities

“Professional Learning Communities offer the most powerful conceptual model for transforming schools to meet the new challenges!”

Richard DuFour

PLC Defined… (Richard DuFour)

Educators committed to working collaboratively in ongoing processes of collective inquiry and action research to achieve the highest results for all the students they serve..

Professional Learning Communities

“Professionals do not work alone; they work in teams… to accomplish the goal—to heal

the patient, win the lawsuit, plan the building.”

Arthur Wise: Teaching Teams: a 21st – Century Paradigm For Organizing America’s Schools

There is no research that supports having educatorswork in isolation leads to improvement in student

achievement?Richard Dufour

Key to school success:

Teacher collaboration

This includes a focus on student learning, teacher planning, defining

operational norms, conducting action research, developing assessment terms, clarifying content expectations (rigor),

and working on their instructional strategies together.

Key Components of PLC:

1. Collaborative Effective Teams

2. Collective Inquiry—learning together!

3. Action Oriented and Experimentation

4. Drive for Continuous Improvement

5. Results Oriented!

HAND IN HAND…WE ALL LEARN

“There are two kinds of schools: Learning Enriched Schools and Learning Impoverished Schools. I have yet to hear or see of a school where the learning curves…of the adults were steep upward and those of the students were not. Teachers and students go hand and hand as learners…or they don’t go at all!”

Roland Barth

This is the essence of a Professional Learning Community

When people begin to act, people begin to hope. When people gain hope, they begin to act differently. When people act differently, they begin to experience success. When people begin to experience success, their attitudes change. When people’s attitudes change, they begin to affect each other.

Even if we have a collaborative environment – are we leading “smart:”?

The Center for Educational Effectiveness

Principles That Guide Our Professional Learning Community

• We trust and are trustworthy.• We support risk taking and view unexpected results as opportunities

to learn.• We act with integrity and treat each other with respect.• We value and seek diversity and the participation, initiative and

opinions of others.• We solicit, provide and use regular feedback and communication in

every direction.• We foster joy, laughter, celebration and health.• We support personal growth and continuous learning for all.• We work in cooperation with each other and depend on teamwork.• We have a personal responsibility to do our best work for each other.• We strive to resolve conflict in an open effective and timely way.

Leadership

Break

Leadership Priorities

Please select one or two leadership phrases or comments that most align with your view of leadership and reflect the culture of where you work, or would like to work.

Share with a colleague or at your table why you selected the phrase of comment.

Had you arrived

in a Mercedes, it

would’ve been a major

religious experience.

I’m trying to think of something to rite.

But, I can’t think of anything to rite.

I’d like to think of something to rite,

But, I hope it’s better than what I just rote.

One Child’s Attempt at Writing

“Ha ha ha, Biff. Guess what? After we go to the drugstore and the post office, I’m going to the vet’s to get tutored.”

Please list some of the characteristics of an

organizational culture where people and

programs improve.

Characteristics of a culture where people and programs improve

1. Collegiality – the way adults treat each other.

2. Efficacy – feelings of ownership or ability to influence decisions.

3. High expectations – of self and others.

4. Experimentation – new ideas are valued and acknowledged.

5. Trust and confidence – mutual respect and trust are practiced.

Characteristics of a culture where people and programs improve, continued

6. Tangible support – efforts are recognized and supported.7. Humor – smiles and laughter are encouraged and

modeled.8. Shared decision–making – people will support what

they develop.9. Protection of what’s important – a focus on learning is

promoted.10. Traditions are valued – celebrations of traditional

activities.11. Open and honest communication – practiced, rewarded,

promoted.

Creating the Magic at Walt Disney World

“The highest customer satisfaction is recorded in those areas of the company where cast members rate their leaders as ‘outstanding’ at coaching, recognition and

listening, empowerment.”

Leadership

With a partner, share evidence of how you have:

coached someone to improvement,

listened for understanding,

recognized the efforts of others, and

empowered staff.

Thoughts on Leadership• Listen to me• Put me in the game• Some assembly is required• Stay on main street• Inspire me• Share the big picture• I’ll perform when I’m “on stage”• Make me feel special• Bring out the best in me• Coach me

Principles of Effective Leadership

1. Live in the awareness of what unites us.

Why are we together?

What are our core values?

What is our purpose?


2. Foster Openness

Transparent and open

Trust building

We get what we give

What information do we have that would help make their job better?


3. Provide for dissent

Provide for disagreement and debate

Good for people - good for the organization

If you don’t, people will find a way to communicate their disagreement – they will not go quietly (parking lot discussions)


4. Diversity makes us better

People

Opinions

Opportunity to expand ideas

None of us are as smart as all of us

We are more alike than different


5. Value-driven versus rule-driven

Rules provide structure, accountability

Must have rules, laws, structure

However, don’t be driven by rules, be driven by your values which lead to rules, structure, flexibility, adaptability, change

Bend, but don’t break the rules


6. A shared sense of proportionality

Don’t let an issue become bigger than it should be, or smaller than it should be

A lot of human capital is wasted on issues that really don’t matter

How do you weigh issues in your district with regard to what really matters? Are they measured against your core values? What are we here for?


7. Grace and truth

Truth builds and honors trust

Trust is the cornerstone of growth, change, improvement

Grace – assume good intent

Be tolerant – hold high expectations

Give people the benefit of the doubt

Don’t assume negative intentions

Leadership

Break

“Hello, I’m Cayle Sharratt – part of the mess you inherited from the previous administration.”

“I understand you’ve achieved name recognition in the principal’s office.”

“Cayle, I see you left room for improvement.”

We go to sleep in the present,

We wake up in the future.

OPPORTUNITYISNOWHERE

1,00020

1,00030

1,00040

1,000 10

4,100

We must adjust to changing times,

but cling to unchanging principles

Unchanging Principles

With a partner, please identify some “unchanging principles” in your personal and professional lives?

What are some of the big rocks you want to be sure you put into your jar each day?

Unchanging Principles

IntegrityRespectAccountabilityServiceFaithTrustGratitudeHopeLeadership

There is no place like hope

When you have hope for tomorrow, you have the power to

change today.

“Hope is not merely helpful; it is

indispensable.”Daniel Coyle

“Lance Armstrong’s War

2005

Hope is the thing with feathers.

Emily Dickinson

“Hope is a walking dream”

Aristotle

“Nothing can be done without hope and confidence.”

Helen Keller

“Never talk about defeat. Use words like hope,

belief, faith and victory.”

Norman Vincent Peale“Positive Thinking Everyday”

“The grand essentials to happiness in this life are

something to do, someone to love, and something to

hope for.”Joseph Addison

“Light From Many Lamps”

1. Is your school a place of hope?

2. What evidence do you have that hope is alive for staff and students?

3. What does hope look like in your school?

Wahluke

“A long walk, slowly, uphill”

Mattawa

“Where is it?”

We could learn a lot from crayons:

Some are sharp, some are pretty, some are dull, some have weird names, and all are

different colors,

But they all have to learn to live in the same box.

I believe in things unseen . . .

I believe in the message of a dream.

“More Alike Than Different”

Whatever It Takes: How a PLC Responds When

Kids Don’t Learn

Rick DuFour

[email protected]

Becky DuFour

[email protected]

Keys to Effective Teams Collaboration embedded in routine practices Time for collaboration built in school calendar Teams focus on key questions Products of collaboration are made explicit Team norms guide collaboration Teams pursue specific and measurable

performance goals Teams have access to relevant information

- Rick DuFour

Data Do Not Always Inform

Leaders can suffer from the DRIP syndrome – Data Rich, Information Poor. Data alone will not inform professional practice. Data can become a catalyst for improvement only when we have a basis of comparison.

- Rick DuFour

To Inform and Impact Professional Practice, Ensure All Leaders Receive:

Timely and frequent information on the achievement of their students,

In meeting an agree-upon standard, on a valid assessment, in comparison to others,

On a valid assessment, In comparison to others.

- Rick DuFour

Sharing Data: Beginning of Community

Collecting data is only the first step toward wisdom, but sharing data is the first step toward community.

- Henry Louis Gates, Jr.

- Rick DuFour

Key to Improved Results

Powerful, proven structures for improved results already exist. They begin when a group of educators meet regularly as a team to identify essential and valued student learning, develop common formative assessments, analyze current levels of achievement, set achievement goals, and then share and create lessons and strategies to improve upon those levels.

- Mike Schmoker

- Rick DuFour

Formative Assessments Can Improve Student Learning

A review of over 250 articles by researchers from several countries established that improving formative assessments raises achievement. Few initiatives in education have had such a strong body of evidence to support a claim to raise standards.

- Paul Black, et. al

- Rick DuFour

Formative Assessments Can Improve Student Learning

A focus on the use of formative assessment in support of learning, developed through teacher learning communities, promises not only the largest potential gains in student achievement, but also provides a model for teacher professional development that can be implemented effectively at scale.

- Dylan William and Marnie Thompson

- Rick DuFour

Barriers to Learning Community

Inability to establish clear and focused educational purpose and goals.

- Rick DuFour

Seeing with New Eyes

Sometimes the art of discovery isn’t finding new lands, it is seeing with new eyes.

- Marcel Proust

- Rick DuFour

Assumptions Driving the Culture of the District/School PLC

The fundamental purpose of the district/school is to ensure student learning. All of our practices, policies, and procedures must be assessed on the basis of their impact on learning.

We can help students be successful. Our collaborative efforts do have an impact on student learning.

- Rick DuFour

The Combined Impact of Teacher and School on Achievement After Two

Years Average Teacher in an Average School

Ineffective Teacher in an Ineffective School

Most Effective Teacher in Most Effective School

50th percentile

3rd percentile

96th percentile

- Rick DuFour

Consensus

We have arrived at consensus when all points of view have been heard, and the will of the group is evident – even to those who most oppose.

- Rick DuFour

A Willingness to Lead

A common failing of leaders at all levels is the failure to be emphatically assertive when necessary. Abilities to persuade, build consensus, and utilize all the other arts of influence are important – but they don’t always do the job. Sometimes it simply comes down to using the power of one’s position to get people to act.

- Daniel Goleman

- Rick DuFour

Practices of a professional learning community

Rick DuFourIn praise of top-down leadership. (2007)

The School Administrator, 10(64), 38-42

Students learn more when:

Those who teach them are very clear and very committed to ensuring each student acquires the intended knowledge, skills, and dispositions of each course, grade level and unit of instruction.

- Rick DuFour


Teachers check for understanding on an ongoing basis and use frequent team-developed common formative assessments rather than individually created summative assessments.

- Rick DuFour


School has timely, directive and systematic interventions that guarantee them additional time and support for learning when they experience difficulty.

- Rick DuFour

Teachers work in collaborative teams rather than in isolation if their teachers stay focused on the right work.

- Rick DuFour


Members of those collaborative teams work interdependently to achieve specific, results-oriented goals linked to student learning, goals for which they are mutually accountable.

- Rick DuFour


Each teacher has the benefit of frequent and timely information on the achievement of his or her students, user-friendly information that helps the teacher determine the strengths and weaknesses of various instructional strategies.

- Rick DuFour


Professional development in the school is job-embedded and structures are in place to help teachers learn from one another as part of their routine work practice.

- Rick DuFour


“One of the essential responsibilities of

leadership is clarity.”

- Rick DuFour

Another is to

“make a decision!”

- Rick DuFour

“They must build continuous improvement

processes into the routine practices of each school.

- Rick DuFour

They must demonstrate fierce resolve and consistent commitment to a sustained direction over an extended

period of time.

- Rick DuFour

And very significantly,

they must be emphatically assertive when necessary and use the power of their position

to get people to act in ways that are aligned with the

mission of higher levels of learning for all.”

- Rick DuFour