Encourage Excellence

Central School District 51March 10, 2009

We can complain because rose bushes have thorns, or rejoice because thorn bushes have roses.

- Abraham Lincoln

Rose Bushes with Thorns

NCLB ESEA

ARRA AYPRTT GSA IGAP

ISBE ISATSTS

Rose Bushes with Thorns

Reauthorization of NCLB (ESEA)Focus on charter schoolsIncreased accountabilityClear and accurate performance

measuresCommon Standards

Reauthorization of NCLB (ESEA)

Focus on Charter SchoolsHigher standards than traditional public

schoolsEmbedding charter schools in public school

districts

Reauthorization of NCLB (ESEA)

Increased AccountabilityFunds based on competition and performanceStudent achievement tied to teacher and

principal evaluations (AFT on-board with this)Performance-based payLess job security for tenured teachers

Reauthorization of NCLB (ESEA)

Clear and Accurate Performance MeasuresOut with AYP In with Growth Model

Reauthorization of NCLB (ESEA)

Common Standards48 states have signed on to establish

common standards in Reading and Math (Alaska & Texas)

National curriculum???

Winning Teams

Leadership Talent High Expectations Shared vision/goals Work Ethic Accountability Commitment to

Continuous Improvement

Continuous Improvement

Random Acts of Improvement Vs.

Aligned Acts of Improvement

Random Acts of Improvement Leadership lacks focus Talent lacks direction Expectations are not

known No shared vision/goals Work ethic = individual

focus No accountability No commitment to

continuous improvement

Aligned Acts of Improvement Leadership is focused Talent is shooting at the same

target High expectations for success Evidence of shared

vision/goals Work ethic = team focus High level of accountability Commitment to continuous

improvement

Thorn Bushes with Roses

Professional Learning CommunitiesA system for aligned acts of improvementProvides direction amidst all the confusionWe were ready for RTIWe new how to respond to RTT

The Stockdale Paradox

"This is a very important lesson. You must never confuse faith that you will prevail in the end—which you can never afford to lose—with the discipline to confront the most brutal facts of your current reality, whatever they might be.”

– James Stockdale (CMH)

Our Reality

Moving target of expectations New mandates Economic/Financial crisis Technological revolution

Our Response…through a systemic approach… Leadership is focused Talent is shooting at the same target High expectations for success Evidence of shared vision/goals Work ethic = team focus High level of accountability Commitment to continuous improvement

Encourage Excellence

What questions do you have?

Professional Assumptions

All of us want to do our best and help students learn If you do not want every student to learn,

please raise your hand If you strive to come to work every day and do

a mediocre job, please raise your hand EVERYONE wants to succeed

Professional Assumptions

Research and data should guide our decisionsThis assumption sometimes scares people

because it sounds like we must wait for research to dictate all of our actions

Research should guide our decisions but not dictate our decisions

Professional Assumptions

Reading is the foundation of success in school Above all other subjects, reading is fundamental to

school success Reading is much more than sounding out words

(phonics), it requires comprehension Students will not succeed in math, history, chemistry,

or any other subject unless they can read the text before them

It is everyone’s job to teach reading!

Professional Assumptions

Early intervention is better than remediation Nothing is more demeaning than failing in school We must coach the student to success Success breeds success! The feeling of failure is inherent when practicing

remediation Remediation is better than nothing!

Professional Assumptions

There is nothing wrong with having to reteach a lesson Our teaching does not hit the target every time We have failed when we keep going and ignore the

fact that our teaching did not hit the mark Reteaching does not mean doing the same thing

again If a child does not learn the way we teach, we must teach the

way the child learns!

Professional Assumptions

We must develop, communicate, and be passionate about a shared vision It is impossible for us to be successful if we

do not understand where we are going“A person who aims at nothing is sure to hit

it.” (unknown)

Historical Perspective(Purpose of Public Schools)

Historical School DevelopmentSelect and Sort

Thomas Jefferson Horace Mann

Factory model Fredrick Taylor

Education Reform(Need for Reform)

National Education Reports/Initiatives Recent Reports/Initiatives

Aspen Report …beyond NCLB

America’s Perfect Storm…Three forces changing our nation’s future

Tough Choices or Tough Times

American Reinvestment and Recovery Act (ARRA)

Going Deeper

Consensus is a basic ingredient of successConsensus means that all people have been

heardConsensus has been reached when the will of

the group is evident to everyone Especially those who oppose the solution or idea

the most

Education Reform(Need for Reform)

National Education Reports/InitiativesHistorical Reports / Legislation

Coleman Report…background > school

Nation at Risk…national security risk

NCLB…ALL students will learn

Aspen ReportBeyond NCLB

If all students are to be prepared for success in the global economy, it is time for federal law to reflect more widely the reform agenda already under way in the nation’s best schools and in leading districts and states. (p. 6) -Alliance for Excellent Education (February, 2010). Don’t leave accountability behind: A call for ESEA reauthorization. Retrieved March 8, 2010 from http://www.aspeninstitute.org/policy-work/no-child-left-behind

America’s Perfect Storm: Three forces changing our nation’s future

1. The Divergent Skill Distributions2. The Economy3. The Demographic Trends

- Alliance for Excellent Education (February, 2010). America’s perfect storm: Three forces changing our nation’s future. Retrieved March 8, 2010 from http://www.ets.org/portal/site/ets/menuitem.1488512ecfd5b8849a77b13bc3921509/?vgnextoid=e9f3d944c8b70110VgnVCM10000022f95190RCRD&vgnextchannel=f993d944c8b70110VgnVCM10000022f95190RCRD

America’s Perfect Storm: Three forces changing our nation’s future

Professional and management/support jobs up for grabs in the global marketplace

Increased competition for low-wage jobs from growing immigrant population

America’s Perfect Storm: Three forces changing our nation’s future

2. The Economy

Manufacturing’s share of total U.S. Economy1950 = 33.1%1989 = 18.2%2003 = 10.7%

- Alliance for Excellent Education (February, 2010). America’s perfect storm: Three forces changing our nation’s future. Retrieved March 8, 2010 from http://www.ets.org/portal/site/ets/menuitem.1488512ecfd5b8849a77b13bc3921509/?vgnextoid=e9f3d944c8b70110VgnVCM10000022f95190RCRD&vgnextchannel=f993d944c8b70110VgnVCM10000022f95190RCRD

America’s Perfect Storm: Three forces changing our nation’s future

Education Reform(Early Reform Models)

Restructuring of SchoolsAccountability for Outcomes

Top-down mandates Excellence Movement

Improved Professional Practice Total Quality Management Site-based Management

Continuous Improvement (Successful Reform Models)

90/90/90 Schools Beat the Odds Schools Baldrige Quality Initiative Professional Learning Communities

Evolution of Professional Learning Communities Learning Organizations

Building Capacity Senge (1990), The Fifth Discipline

Learning Communities Shared Mission, Vision, Values, and Leadership Hord, McLaughlin, Sergiovanni

Professional Communities Staff Collaboration DuFour, Eaker, Many

Evolution of Professional Learning Communities

Professional Learning Communities (PLC) “collaborative teams whose members work

interdependently to achieve common goals linked to the purpose of learning for all”

(DuFour, DuFour, Eaker, & Many. 2006. p. 3)

Evolution of Professional Learning CommunitiesThree Corollary Questions1. What do we want students to learn?2. How will we know when they learn?3. How will we respond when they don’t

learn?

(DuFour and Eaker, 1998)

Leadership

“Without a competent caring individual in the principal’s position, the task of school reform is very difficult. Reform can be initiated from outside the school or stimulated from within. But in the end, it is the principal who implements and sustains the changes through the inevitable roller coaster of euphoria and setbacks.” (Gerstner, Semerad, Doyle, & Johnston, 1994, p. 133)

Leadership

Role of the Principal Facilitator / Leader / Partner DuFour and Eaker (1998) stress the importance of the

actions and beliefs of the principal to create success for a PLC:

1. Principals should lead though shared vision and values rather than rules and procedures.

2. Principals should enlist faculty members in the school’s decision-making processes and empower individuals to act.

3. Principals should provide the staff with the information, training, and parameters to make good decisions.

4. Principals should be results-oriented.5. Principals should concentrate on posing the right questions rather than

imposing solutions. (pp. 13-16)

Culture

Seymour Sarason in The Culture of the School and the Problem of Change (1995) found that all public schools possess relatively similar organizational cultures which serve to protect school personnel from external change interventions.

Culture

Teaching in Isolation

“God didn't create self-contained classrooms, 50-minute periods, and subjects taught in isolation. We did - because we find working alone safer than and preferable to working together’’

(Ronald Barth, 1991, pp. 126-127).

Culture

Teaching in Isolation “Teaching has been described as the second most

private act in which adults engage. In fact, schools have been characterized by some critics of public education as little more than independent kingdoms (classrooms) ruled by autonomous feudal lords (teachers) who are united only by a common parking lot.”

(DuFour and Eaker,1998, p. 115)

Culture

Structural change that is not supported by

cultural change will eventually be overwhelmed by the culture, for it is in the culture that any

organization finds meaning and stability"

(Schlecty, 1997, p. 136)

PLC Framework

PLC Elements 1. Mission, Vision, and

Values2. Building Capacity3. Collaboration4. Continuous

Improvement

Framework Authors Senge Newmann & Wehlage Louis, Kruse, & Marks Hord Fullan DuFour, DuFour,

Eaker, & Many

PLC Element 1

Mission, Vision, and ValuesDescribe the Fundamental Purpose

“High levels of learning for all students”Mission states the fundamental purposeVision paints a mental picture of the purposeValues define the actions and beliefs of the

purpose

PLC Element 2

Building Capacity Individual and OrganizationalReflective Awareness Aptitude for GrowthExperimentation and Research

PLC Element 3

Collaboration Individual and Group LearningFocused on the Fundamental PurposeTime Purpose for Collaboration

PLC Element 4

Continuous ImprovementFocus on the Fundamental PurposeProvide a systematic process for staff and

studentsShared Personal PracticeAction Orientation

References Barth, R. (1991). Restructuring schools: some questions for

teachers and principals. Phi Delta Kappan, 73, 123-128. DuFour, R., & Eaker, R. (1998). Professional learning communities at

work: Best practices for enhancing student achievement. Bloomington, IN: National Educational Service.

DuFour, R., DuRFour, R. B., Eaker, R., & Many, T. (2006). Learning by doing: A handbook for professional learning communities at work. Bloomington, IN: Solution Tree.

Fullan, M. (1993). Changing forces: Probing the depths of educational reform. Levittown, PA: The Falmer Press

Gerstner, L., Semerad, R., Doyle, D. P., & Johnston, W. (1994). Reinventing education: Entrepreneurship in America’s public schools. New York: Harper Collins.

Hord, S. M. (1996). School professional staff as learning community. Austin, TX: Southwest Educational Development Laboratory.

References Kotter, J. (2005). Our iceberg is melting. Privately published by the

author. Louis, K. S., Kruse, S. D., & Marks, M. (1996). Teachers’

professional community in restructuring schools. American Educational Research Journal. 33(4), 757-798.

Newmann F. & Wehlage, G. (1995). Successful school restructuring: A report to the public and educators by the center for restructuring schools. Madison, WI: University of Wisconsin.

Sarason, S. (1996). Revisiting the culture of the school and the problem of change. New York: Teachers College Press.

Schlechty, P. (1997). Inventing better schools: An action plan for education reform. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Senge, P. M. (1990). The fifth discipline: The art and practice of the learning organization. New York: Doubleday/Currency.