Chapter 6- Sustaining the SI Process

Chapter 7- Embedding Change in the Culture of a School

Take a minute…And define, in your own terms, what School Improvement is.

GOALS

Represent measurable milestones

Provide FOCUSAre a driving force for change

GOALSMust be constantly visited, be alive

Are ports of call along the journey of continuous improvement

Assess progress toward your vision

GOALSFoster on-going accountability

Provide a reason for celebration

S.M.A.R.T. GOALSS SpecificM MeasurableA AttainableR Results-orientedT Time-bound

S.M.A.R.T. GoalsTips for establishing Team SMART Goals:1. Ensure your team’s goal is aligned with the

broader, overarching school-wide goal.

2. Clarify the level of achievement students were able to attain in previous years – working from data

Ex.-78% earned the grade of C or higher in Algebra I in 07-08 and 65% in 06-07.

3. Using the SMART Goal Setting Worksheet , set a SMART Goal that challenges your team to improve student achievement over past performance.

Evaluate this goal:90% of students will be proficient in math by the end of the year.

Question -

Do the goals that have been developed in your schools meet the standards for being SMART goals?

QUESTION -Faculty frequently see goal-setting as

something that HAS to be done, but has little to do with the real world of the day-to-day life of their school. (State mandated SI plan)

Is continuous improvement really valued by your schools? (Or is it simply seen as something we have to do?)

If no, then what?

School Improvement Planning Process

So, what do you value?What do you plan for in your district?What behaviors do you model for students in

your district?What do you monitor in your district?What questions do you ask?What do you celebrate in your district?What takes priority in resource allocation in

your district? Time allocation?What faculty and staff behaviors are you willing

to confront in your district?

Please reflect-When something is truly a priority in an organization, people do not simply hope it happens; they develop and implement specific plans to ensure that it happens.

What gets planned for and monitored in your schools?

Math Assessment CalendarGrade First Quarter Second Quarter Third Quarter Fourth Quarter

K:All Students -October 29,2008- January 21, 2009 March 19, 2009 May 27, 2009

1st:All Students -October 29,2008- January 21, 2009 March 19, 2009 May 27, 2009

2nd:All Students -October 29,2008- January 21, 2009 March 19, 2009 May 27, 2009

3rd:All Students -October 29,2008- January 21, 2009 March 19, 2009 May 27, 2009

3rd MEAP 10/14/08

3rd MI ACCESS10/13-11/21/08

3rd:All Students

4th:All Students -October 29,2008- January 21, 2009 March 19, 2009 May 27, 2009

4th MEAP 10/14/08

4th MI ACCESS10/13-11/21/08

4th:All Students

Celebrating WINS!1. Be mindful of your early wins –

RESULTS!!!2. Make the results -

Visible to staff, students, parentsUnambiguous – no argument over the results

Clearly related to the change effort/goal

Schools that are successful in implementing significant change regard collaborative time for teachers as a “critical resource”, “an essential tool” that enable teachers to enhance their individual and collective effectiveness.

Purpose must be made explicitAccountability based on results must be built in

Chapter 7-

Embedding Change in the Culture of a School

Creating a collaborative environment…

has been described as the single most important factor

for successful school improvement initiatives

and the first order of business for those seeking to enhance the effectiveness of their school.

Two Forms of Change in a PLCTechnical Technical

Collaborative timeCommon AssessmentsDataEducational TechnologySupport Classes

CulturalCulturalPositive or Negative?What cultural work needs to be done in order

to get to the technical change?

Common Misconceptions about Technical Changes

Changing the structure will lead to higher levels of learning (“rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic”)

Technical changes make up for poor instruction or unprofessionalism

Technical changes will “fix” kids or “fix” schools which are broken (i.e.: dress codes, longer school days)

Two Underlying Assumptions in a PLC… All children can learn

All children will learn because of what we do

Altering beliefs, expectations, and habits that have gone largely unexamined for many years is a complex, messy and challenging task.

The most effective strategy for influencing and changing an organization’s culture is simply to identify, articulate, model, promote and protect shared values.

Reflective dialogue is critical to a change effort. It represents a purposeful attempt to make conscious that which is unconscious. When teachers become more aware of their school’s culture, they will be better able to shape that culture.

What are the stories “we tell ourselves”?

Changing the “stories”-Share accounts of individual or team efforts that illustrate the principles of a learning community

TestimonialsStudent storiesCelebrations

What is the distinction between restructuring and reculturing that the authors identify in Chapter 7?

 

Fullan – “re-culturing”Form follows FunctionModeling; CoachingCommitment – at all levels, supportAllow for “Implementation Dip”Protect “coherence” – complex change does

not / should not be chaosFocus on purpose; incremental changeFocus on what/why we can (not what/why we

can’t)May be non-linear but must be focused , directed