Building a distributed leadership model for systemic change in an MSP project

NSF LNC Conference February 2013

Distributed Leadership

• What are characteristics of distributed leadership

• What are examples of distributed leadership in your project?

• What are non-examples?

• What is a 1-2 sentence definition

Pairs or Triads

F ray e r M o d e l 4. Definition: 1. Characteristics:

Distributed Leadership

2. Examples from your project: 3. Non-Examples:

Distributed LeadershipForms of collaboration practiced by the principal, teachers and members of the school’s improvement team in leading the school’s development.”

(Heck & Hallinger, 2009)

LeadershipResearch shows that leaders primarily exert their influence by setting directions for school improvement, cultivating shared goals and norms, developing human capacity, and modifying structures to create conditions to support student achievement.

(Leithwood and Riehl 2005)

Distributed LeadershipLeadership is not simply a function of what a school principal, or indeed any other individual or group of leaders, knows or does. Rather it is the activities engaged in by leaders, in interaction with others in particular contexts around specific tasks. (Spillane, 2004)

Two key aspects:1. Leader-Plus Aspect: Leading in

schools involves more than just the principal. How individuals, as a collective , are arranged in carrying out the work of leading and managing.

2. Leadership Practice Aspect: Practice is not just about actions of individual leaders, but about interactions of leaders, followers and their situation.

Questions:1. How do MSP’s actively engage district

and site administrators in a model of distributed leadership with teacher leaders to collectively support systemic project implementation, scaling and sustainability?

2. How is leadership distributed in a district and how does it influence school outcomes particularly around science education?

Todays Focus:

Sharing strengths and weaknesses of the IMSS District Leadership Institute structures, processes and products which have evolved over the first three years of the grant.

Integrated Middle School Science Project (IMSS)

• CSU East Bay – Hayward, CA

• 10 Districts

• 33 middle schools

• 4 County Offices of Education

• 60 Science Teacher Leaders

• 30 K-12 site and district administrators

• 230 middle school science teachers

Stakeholders/Partners

• INSERT DISTRICT COACH MODEL

Summer IMSS Science Inquiry

Institute July 2012: 60

M.S. Sc ience T eacher Leaders

receive prof ess ional

development in sc ience content ,

sc ience prac t ices and f ormat ive assessment

T eachers in tegrate sc ience

content , prac t ices in to

cur r icu lum and develop

f ormat ive assessments

Lesson Study Facilitators

TrainingSeptember 2012 and

Quarterly: 12-18 facilitators trained to

lead or co-lead lesson study groups in academic year.

IMSS Lesson Study Collaborative

LaunchSeptember 2012:

80-100 teachers in 24 LS groups

IMSS STEM Leadership Institutes

Quar ter ly s tar t ing

Oc tober 2012: 8 D is t r ic t ST EM

Leadership T eams (80

admin is t rators and teachers )

meet quar ter ly to p lan how to

suppor t sc ience teaching and

learning in thei r d is t r ic ts .

P i lot PDs .

Academic Year Professional

Development: Qu art er ly PD f o r T each er L ead ers

Qu art e r ly L S F aci l i t a t o rs

T ra in in g s

M o n t h ly L esso n St u d y M eet in g s

Dis t r ic t Based IM SS PD: 2- 3

d ays p er year f o r 14 d is t r i c t M .S.

sc ien ce t each ers f o r each d is t r i c t

Lesson Study Symposium

April 2013

IMSS STEM Leadership

Institute Exhibition May 2013

IMSS Summer Institute 2013

July 2013

(4-5 days)

2012-2013 Integrated Professional Development Map

Setting the Foundation

Establishing Goals

Supporting the Work

Reflecting on Progress

IMSS District Coaching Model

(Adapted from the ConnectEd coaching model and Crane, 2010) IMSS 2012

A. Setting the Foundation B. Establishing Goals Sample Outcomes Sample Outcomes

Trusting relationships established /coaching is accepted by district IMSS leaders

Clear commitment, roles, and responsibilities identified (teacher leaders, district/site admin., coach)

A collaboratively developed coaching plan aligns with the district plans from IMSS STEM Institutes.

Vision, goals, and desired teacher and student science outcomes have been established with key stakeholders including focus and outcomes for district science professional development and lesson study.

C. Supporting the Work D. Reflecting on Progress Sample Outcomes Sample Outcomes

The goal of every student having well developed science content knowledge and science practices influences site/district policies and practices as well as the allocation of resources

Data is gathered and used to validate progress, identify strengths and weaknesses, and inform district/site leaders and IMSS project.

Plans and practices are modified based on data, progress, and changing circumstances

A System of Integrated Science

Education

Roles 2012-2013 2011-2012

 

Oct. 24, 2012 Jan. 14, 2013 May 13, 2013 Oct 27, 2011 Feb 3, 2012 May 14, 2012

Teachers 23 33 n/a 22 21 22

Principals 17 15 n/a 14 16 9

District Admins 9 11 n/a 8 9 8

TOTAL 49 59 n/a 44 46 39

Leadership Institute Attendance By Role

Leadership Interactions

District Leadership Institute Series Goals:

1. Understand the IMSS program and how it can be leveraged for systemic change in science education.

2. Identify needs and capacities for science education and design system changes to continuously improve.

3. Build leadership capacity for science in each district at all levels of the organization.

4. Build a network learning community or community of practice between districts and IMSS partners to improve science education.

Objectives and expected outcomes for the 2011-2012 institutes:

October 27, 2011:

• Learn: Goals of Project

• Understand: Stanford Design School Process for designing systems changes

• Take Action: Needs and Capacity Assessment- Interviews

• Build Network: Districts discuss context and capacities

February 3, 2012

Learn: Client centered process for implementing systems changes.

Understand: Inquiry-based science teaching and learning.

Take Action: Review evidence gathered, reconsider and reaffirm or change focus

of district/site work.

May 14, 2012

Understand: Role of leaders at all levels in supporting change in science

teaching.

Learn: Hear the experience of teacher leaders and their perception of the

actual and potential impact of site and district leaders on their work.

Take Action: Review current status of site and district work and plan next

steps.

Objectives and expected outcomes for the 2012-2013 institutes:

October 24, 2012

Understand: Roles of leaders in system change.

Learn: How to integrate literacy (CCSS) and inquiry (NGSS) into curriculum,

instruction and assessment.

Take Action: Develop IMSS science professional development plan for this

academic year.

January 14, 2013

Understand: How Common Core and NGSS will impact science classes and the

roles of leaders.

Learn: How teachers integrate NGSS and Common Core into their curriculum and

instruction

Take Action: Review and revise iMSS districts’ professional development and

recruitment plans.

May 13, 2013

• Learn: Argumentative Writing and Science (Writing Project)

• Understand: Review roles and actions of leaders and leadership team (role

alike)

• Take Action: Share out results of professional development plan

• Build Community: Review plans for summer and academic year 2013/14

 

• INSERT DISTRICT COACH MODEL

Survey Item DateTeacherLeadersMeans

SiteAdministrators

Means

DistrictAdministrators

Means

Overall Satisfaction with day 10/12 4.4 4.4 4.4

  1/13 4.1 4.1 4.2

I feel good about IMSS science PD plans we made for 2012-

201310/12 4.5 4.6 5.0

  1/13 4.2 4.6 4.6

It is beneficial for my organization and me to partner

with IMSS10/12 4.8 4.6 5.0

  1/13      

We have enough support at the school site level to make

our plan work.10/12 4.0 4.0 4.4

  1/13 4.0 4.3 4.4

We have enough support at the central office level to make

our plan work.10/12 4.1 4.1 4.4

  1/13 4.0 4.2 4.6

I felt like I was part of a strong learning community today. 10/12 4.6 4.6 4.9

  1/13 4.5 4.5 4.4

2012-2013 District Leadership Institute Survey Results

DLI Findings 2011-2013 • Need to analyze beyond satisfaction ratings

--Ratings ranged from 4.6 to 4.14/5

• Ratings differ: TL vs site vs district administrator

-- Central office administrators had highest general ratings-- Gradual drop in all three groups-- Probing indicators of progress will occur in spring 2013

• Since May 2012, increased perceptions regarding:

-- Support available for teams though teachers least clear

• Iterative process of setting expectations & implementing

-- Feeling part of strong learning community (LC) appears to help deal with bumps along the way-- Role of team facilitator needs more study in light of context changes between year 2 and year 3 & dosage effect differences

Survey Item sampling:Survey item:

Oct 2011

Feb 2012

May 2012

Oct 2012

Jan 2013

It is beneficial for my organization and me to partner in this project. 5 4.8 4.7 4.8 4.4

I feel good about the IMSS science PD plans we made 4.2 4.7 4.2 4.6 4.4

I am clear on what is expected of me related to our IMSS plan this year. 4.5 4.4 3.9 4.4 4.3

I am clear on the steps our group will do before the next Leadership Institute 3.9 4.4 3.8 4.1 4

I felt like I was part of a strong learning community today. 4.7 4.7 4.5 4.6 4.5

The facilitators were conducive to our work today. 4.7 4.7 4.5 4.8 4.3

My overall satisfaction with today's institute. 4.6 4.6 4.2

4.4 4.1

1.0

1.5

2.0

2.5

3.0

3.5

4.0

4.5

5.0

October 2011 February 2012 May 2012 October 2012 January 2013

1 =

Stro

ngly

Dis

agre

e

5 =

Str

ongl

y A

gree

"I feel good about the progress we made with our IMSS Science PD Plans"

Teacher Leaders Site Administrators District Administrators

Jan 2013 DL member reflections

Deborah Sims

Assistant Superintendent

Fremont Unified School District

One district’s work at distributing leadership and supporting systemic change.

FUSD’s Theory of Action: Shared Leadership at All Levels – Excellence in Education

Richard Elmore states, “the problem of

scaling up school improvement,

whether it is in a school or a school

system, is one of capacity building and

specialization. Building a broad base

of capacity is not possible if control is

limited to a few individuals. The

solution is the broader distribution of

leadership.”

The goal of every student having well developed science content knowledge and science practices influences site/district policies and practices as well as the allocation of resources.Structures to Support the WorkTeachers Learning, Leading, and Coaching Science professional development and

lesson study Release time for collaborative planning

and classroom visitations

District Leadership Team Lead Teachers Principals Director of Secondary Education Assistant Superintendent of

Instruction Superintendent Board of Education Trustee

Alignment of District Resources

Coherence of the Work

Transitioning to the Common CoreIMSS Leadership Team

Awareness and Building Content KnowledgeStrategic Planning

Professional Development Teacher Leaders

ELA – Argumentative Writing Science Teachers

Standards Crosswalksand

Development of Secondary Writing Assessment Pilot

Rubric & Scoring Process ReflectionAssessment Protocols andDiscussion Protocols Mapping

Mapping Leadership Networks and Interactions

• How effective are these interactions in terms of leadership?

• How does your project support these interactions/networks and the work of leaders?

In pairs, share out your sketch and discuss the following two prompts:

Mapping Leadership Networks and Interactions

• Who are the leaders in your project?

• How do they interact?

Individually Sketch Out Key Leaders/Groups and Interactions

Next steps

• New structures and roles can change the leadership practice in schools and districts.

• Scaffold into leadership positions and develop more than just principals.

• Tools and methods for documenting leadership practice and interactions

• Has helped us begin to interpret and reflect on leadership practice in our project

© 2012 IMSS. All Rights Reserved.