ead 806 evolving practice of school leaders

EAD 806 The Evolving Practice of School Leaders

Historical analysis of K‐12 school leadership. Comparative analysis of leadership and school improvement. Leadership theory. Ethical leadership. Critical thinking and reflection of ones own leadership. (MSU Catalog, 2008) Course Instructors Dr. Christopher Dunbar, Professor Dr. Susan Printy, Associate Professor Dr. BetsAnn Smith, Associate Professor

EAD 806 Syllabus

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Department of Educational Administration Michigan State University

EAD 806: The Evolving Practice of School Leaders Lansing Leadership Academy

Spring 2009 Dr. Chris Dunbar [email protected] 404 Erickson Hall (517) 353‐9017 Office hours by appt

Dr. BetsAnn Smith [email protected] 409 Erickson Hall (517) 353‐8646 Office hours by appt

Dr. Susan Printy [email protected] 407 Erickson Hall (517) 355‐4508 Office hours by appt

Credits: 3 semester credits Day / Time: Wednesdays @ 4:30pm Location: Pattengill Middle School, 626 Marshall St., Lansing, MI 48912 EAD 806 – Historical analysis of K‐12 school leadership. Comparative analysis of leadership and school improvement. Leadership theory. Ethical leadership. Critical thinking and reflection of ones own leadership. (MSU Catalog, 2008) Overview: EAD 806 facilitates student awareness and understanding of three key concepts as they relate to school leadership: 1) School and classroom culture, 2) Instructional leadership, and 3) Relational leadership. The course is divided into three units, each of which provides direct links to the needs of Lansing and Battle Creek Public Schools.

Leadership and Student Achievement in Urban Schools (Dunbar)

Elements of Instructional Leadership (Smith)

Relational Leadership and Skill Development (Printy) Course Requirements Attendance: Regular attendance and informed participation are crucial to your own development, but they are equally important to the progress made by the rest of the class. This is especially true when completing the course units in a compressed timeframe, as we are doing. Please make every effort to attend class regularly. Writing details: Some assignments have certain conventions that you must follow. For all assignments, it is important that your work be crisp and clean, without redundancy or grammatical and spelling errors. Some helpful hints for extended prose: First, writing needs a strong organizational plan. 1) Tell me what you are going to tell me. 2) Tell me. 3) Tell me what you have told me. Second, do not expect your reader to “fill in the blanks.” Make sure that everything that is in your mind finds its way to the paper. We have high expectations for your final products and you should take advantage of opportunities for consultation so that you meet these expectations. For all papers, we are looking for clear, logical expression, free of jargon and informal speech patterns. You should follow APA style (check Google). We are very approachable and willing to provide feedback on your writing.

EAD 806 Syllabus

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Academic integrity: The principles of truth and honesty are recognized as fundamental to a community of teachers and scholars. The University expects that both faculty and students will honor these principles and in so doing protect the validity of University grades. This means that all academic work will be done by the student to whom it is assigned, without unauthorized aid of any kind. (See General Student Regulation 1.00, Scholarship and Grades in the Spartan Life Handbook, for specific regulations.) For our part, we will exercise care in the planning and supervision of academic work, so that honest effort will be positively encouraged. Required readings (Available through online booksellers.) Kohl, H.R. (1995). ‘I won’t learn from you’ And other thoughts on creative maladjustment. New York,

NY: New Press. (On‐line price: $7‐$12) Bennis, W. G. (2003). On becoming a leader: The leadership classic. Revised edition. Reading, MA:

Addison‐Wesley Publishing. (On‐line price: $12‐$15) Donaldson, G. A. (2004). Cultivating Leadership In Schools: Connecting People, Purpose, and

Practice. New York, NY : Teachers College Press. (On‐line price: $19‐$28) All additional readings will be available on Angel as pdf files. You should find this class on your “My Angel” page. (www.angel.msu.edu). Grades: 4.0 (Superior); 3.5 (Excellent); 3.0 (Good); 2.5 (Fair); 2.0 (Poor). Once grades have been submitted to the registrar’s office, they can only be changed by the course instructor through written application. Schedule of activities The calendar on the following pages identifies each week’s instructional focus. Please come to class prepared to discuss the assigned readings. In addition, other readings and detailed assignments will be available either in class or via the Angel website.

EAD 806 Syllabus

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Calendar, Key Topics, ISLLC Standards, and Link to Lansing Needs

Knowledge, Skill Area

Sample Texts, Activities Link to

Lansing Needs Alignment to 2008 ISLLC

Unit 1: Leadership and Student Achievement in Urban Schools w/ Professor Chris Dunbar

Jan 28, 2009

Understanding diverse Learners

Lisa Delpit The Silenced Dialogue; Teachers Others Folks Children. Article provided

Tools to understand cultural differences and issues of power enacted in the classroom,

ISLLC 1,2

Feb 4, 2009

All students can learn

Herbert Kohl “I Won’t Learn from You” Required text

Tools to enhance understanding of culture, diverse learners.

ISLLC 1,2,4,5

Feb 11, 2009

School Culture and Climate

Power point on School culture and climate utilizing work by T. Deal. Pwr Pt. provided

Tools to assist in establishing a effective school culture and climate for all students

ISLLC 1,2,5

Feb 18, 2009

School Leadership

Warren Bennis “On Becoming A Leader” Required text

Tools for self reflection around capacity to lead

ISLLC 1,2,5

Feb 25, 2009

Visiting Expert from Lansing

TBA – Lansing Leaders

Unit 2: Elements of Instructional Leadership w/ Professor BetsAnn Smith, 2009

Mar 4, 2009

Observing Instruction and Giving Feedback I

Evertson: Looking into Learner Centered Classrooms Protocols: Focus on Results model, Downey 3‐minute model, Conducting observations & walkthroughs; using protocols, giving feedback (role played & real).

Tools, routines and leadership skills for instructional observation, monitoring and feedback

ISLLC 2, 3, 4,5

Mar 11, 2009

Observing Instruction and Giving Feedback II

Leahy et al.: Classroom assessment: Minute by minute, day by day. Protocol: IFL’s Learning Walk Conducting observations and walkthroughs; using protocols giving feedback (role played and real).

Tools, routines and leadership skills for instructional observation, monitoring and feedback

ISLLC 2, 3, 4,5

Mar 18, 2009

Communicating Agreement and Disagreement

Protocol: Agreement, Disagreement journal & debrief Observing, discussing leader, teacher decisions and actions

Tools, routines and leadership skills for leader engagement with teachers, parents and others.

EAD 806 Syllabus

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Knowledge, Skill Area

Sample Texts, Activities Link to Lansing Needs

Alignment to 2008 ISLLC

Mar 25, 2009

Assisting Professional Learning Groups

Planning, leading a consultative feedback session to a teacher work group Reading TBA Protocol: Consulting protocol

Connecting leadership to teacher development and instructional improvement

ISLLC 2, 3, 4,5

Unit 3: Relational Leadership and Skill Development w/ Professor Susan Printy

Apr 1, 2009

Relational leadership, shared purpose, action‐in‐common

Donaldson, Cultivating Leadership in Schools Personal reading guide Protocol: Chalk talk

Understand change process; creating buy‐in; know staff as human beings; use community knowledge to improve achievement; moving forward in rough times; motivate individuals and teams; personal and professional characteristics of leaders

Apr 8, 2009 LANSING SPRING BREAK

Apr 15, 2009 (MSU faculty at annual AERA conference)

Visiting Expert from Lansing etc.

Monitoring, Feedback and Support for improved instruction in the Lansing Schools

Apr 22, 2009

Vision; Communication of Vision; Leadership styles; Leadership ethics

Leithwood et al, How Leadership Influences Student Learning Protocol: The Final Word On the Use of Power – Center for Creative Leadership

Communication skills personal and professional characteristics of leaders; value of expectations

ISLLC 1, 2, & 5

Apr 29, 2009

Leadership and Professional Communities Distributed leadership Educational philosophy

Donaldson text; Elmore – Improving the Instructional Core; Printy – Distributed Leadership Activities to understand teaching and leading cultures; facilitation skills; leadership routines

Importance of consistency and routine; bringing diverse viewpoints to discussions; impact student achievement; personal and professional characteristics of leaders

ISLLC 2, 3, 4, & 5

May 6, 2009

Planning and target setting for continued mentorship and learning ISLLC 1 & 5

Educational philosophy; Individual Professional development plans – advising

EAD 806 Assignment

Overview: Learning to Look, Question, Interpret and Motivate

A 3 part cycle of lesson observation, interpretation and feedback 5 Observations, 2 Conferences

Observation Cycle 1 – Any classroom, but the same room on all 3 occasions.

a. Question seeking (not judging) about race, class, culture and membership in classroom life and learning What questions of race, class, culture and membership does this lesson raise for me?

b. Question narrowing: exploring further a select number of questions from your first observation. Looking more at questions, A, B and C, what other questions of race, class, culture and membership does this lesson raise for me?

c. Documenting: selecting a specific observation purpose and recording a lesson using a protocol or log appropriate to that focus. Developing instructional data – sharing conferencing with learning team.

Observation Cycle 2 – A different classroom, but the same room on both occasions.

d. Narrowed question seeking: observe a class with any issue from recent readings that challenges your current knowledge and skill set as your focus. What questions about this issue does this lesson raise for you?

e. Share your questions with the teacher and hold a conversational conference with the teacher that stimulates helpful thought and reflection on instructional practice. Communicating well, providing support and motivation.

Observation Cycle 3 – Observation and Conference

f. Documenting: document a lesson with alignment to learning standards or instructional strategies as your focus. Developing instructional data – sharing/ conferencing with learning team.

g. Provide feedback that stimulates thought and assists a teacher forward in his or her practice Communicating well, providing support and motivation.

EAD 806 Form

Page: ______ Date: School: __________________________ Grade: Subject: __________________________ Teacher: ___________________ Room #: Period: _________ Observer: ___

Observation Title: ______________________________________________

Time Log

Description: What do I see? What do I hear? Describe, do not judge.

Question Seeking: What questions does this raise for me? What do I wonder?

EAD 806 Form DESCRIBING WHAT IS OBSERVED ABOUT LEARNERS AND LEARNING

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A) PURPOSE OF CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT: Teacher maintains control as an end in itself.

Teacher actively engage students in learning,encourage self‐regulation, and build community

1………………..….……………2………………..….……………3………………..….……………4………………..….……………5 What evidence supports this assessment? What did you see and/or hear that led you to this rating?

B) MORAL PURPOSE OF LESSON Students follow directions and learn compliance.

Students develop autonomy, capacity for self regulation and sense of responsibility.


C) SOCIAL PURPOSE OF LESSON Students work alone, conforming to a fixed set of acceptable behaviors.

Students are interdependent, may work collaboratively or alone; Teacher allow a wider and

more divergent range of acceptable roles and behaviors


EAD 806 Form DESCRIBING WHAT IS OBSERVED ABOUT LEARNERS AND LEARNING

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E) ACADEMIC PURPOSE OF LESSON Students learn discrete facts and skills through sequential development of lesson.

Students learn multiple concepts, facts,and skills, often embedded in larger projects and problems


EAD 806 Handout

LEARNING TO LOOK‐ PORTFOLIO DUE May 5th, 2009

Activity Portfolio Submission Everything in this column is included in your final portfolio and turned in.

Observation Cycle 1 – Any classroom, but the same room on all 3 occasions. Observation A: Question seeking

Raw observation notes Observation reflection summary

Observation Cycle 1 Observation B: Question narrowing

Raw observation notes Observation reflection summary

Observation Cycle 1 Observation C: Documenting a specific

action, behavior, issue.

Raw observation notes/protocol Observation reflection summary

Observation Cycle 2 – A different classroom, but the same room 2x Observation D: Narrowed question

seeking

Raw observation notes/protocol Observation reflection summary

Observation Cycle 2 Conference E: Conversational conference

Conference planning notes Conference summary

Observation Cycle 3 – Observation and Conference Observation F: Documenting alignment

Raw observation notes/protocol Conference summary

Observation Cycle 3 Conference G: Providing feedback

Conference planning notes Conference summary

plus….. Grand Summary‐Reflections on Learning to Look

(3 pages)

Describe important strengths and challenges you discovered about yourself as o An observer of classroom teaching and learning o As an educator providing feedback on instruction to a teacher

Addressing your challenges, what are some specific goals and processes for developing your skills for being a thoughtful and confident instructional leader? And who could you go to for mentoring?

EAD 806 Handout LEARNING TO LOOK OBSERVATION, CONFERENCE PORTFOLIO SCORING GUIDE

Initial Emerging Developed Highly Developed

Documentation (primarily observations C, D & F)

Alignment between observation purpose and actual notes taken weak or uneven. Observation notes are unclear and insufficient in focus and/or detail to function as useable evidence

Alignment between observation purpose and actual notes taken adequate. Observation notes mostly clear with some deficits – using the notes as evidence is possible but difficult in places.

Alignment between observation purpose and actual notes taken strong. Observation notes are clear and sufficient; the notes function as evidence.

Notes are fully aligned with the observation focus/purpose Observation notes offer clear and detailed. evidence

Observation Reflections

Reflections are thin, hurried, do not respond to prompts, do not link to conference notes/data, do not speak to observer skill development and self‐as leader understandings.

Reflections more substantial but procedural in tone and content. References to observation notes/data made. Most prompts addressed. Effort to identify and consider observer skill development and self‐as leader understandings adequate but modest.

Reflections are substantial and largely thoughtful. Key prompts are addressed, with additional prompts added and considered. Clear and consistent references to observation notes/data. Attention to observer skill development and self‐as leader understandings are evident in the reflection.

Reflections are thoughtful and thorough, additional prompts added and considered, consistent reference to specific observation notes/data. Attention to observer skill development and self‐as leader understandings much evident

Conference Reflections

Reflections are thin, hurried, do not respond to prompts, do not link to conference notes do not speak to communication and feedback skills, do not push leadership self understanding.

Reflections are more substantial but procedural in tone and content. References to conference notes made. Most prompts are addressed. Effort to speak to communication and feedback skills, leadership self‐understanding modest.

Reflections are substantial and prompts and added reflections are thoughtfully addressed with clear and consistent references to conference notes. Attention to observer skill development and self‐understanding are evident in the reflection.

Reflections are thoughtful and thorough, additional prompts added and considered w/ consistent reference to Conference notes. Attention to observer skill development and self‐understanding are much evident in the reflection.

Grand Summary

Personal strengths, challenges and learning gains not well identified and considered. Goal setting, future learning and mentoring not clear.

A few personal strengths, challenges and learning gains are adequately considered. Specific learning goals are identified but no clear plans for practice and mentoring provided.

Personal strengths, challenges and learning gains thoughtfully addressed, specific learning goals are identified and plans for practice and mentoring are considered.

Personal strengths, challenges and learning gains thoroughly and thoughtfully addressed, specific learning goals are identified and clear plans for practice and mentoring are provided.

EAD 806 Handout

EAD 806 Handout

Name: __________________________

LEARNING TO LOOK OBSERVATION, CONFERENCE PORTFOLIO FEEDBACK

1. Documentation (primarily observations C, D & F) Initial Emerging Developed Highly Developed

2. Observation Reflections Initial Emerging Developed Highly Developed

3. Conference Reflections Initial Emerging Developed Highly Developed

4. Grand Summary Initial Emerging Developed Highly Developed Other…………

EAD 806 Communications

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Dear Cohort Members All: This is a collection of observations, thoughts and musings upon reviewing all of the portfolios (spring and summer) that the cohort has completed. I think there is much in these portfolios to build upon.

From 806: Learning to document Learning to document activity in a classroom is a challenge and a skill that comes with practice. There are many ways of doing it and many tools are emerging, including systems that work from hand held devices. I do like to start people off with unstructured scripts. They function as windows to our sevles, what we tend to focus on, pay attention to, etc. Our conscious and unconscious selections also remind us of the difficulty of capturing the complexities of teaching and learning processes from observation, even when it is very well done. Some of you experimented across the process to develop methods that would more effectively assist you to document particular events. Others worked through practice to become more fluent in a particular method. It is well worth sharing your experiences and efforts with each other‐ the total experiences and efforts of the cohort are very impressive and instructive. Everyone certainly learned how difficult it is to capture all that is said and done in a classroom! The thicker description you can learn to record, the better, but you can often do this by developing a sampling orientation –your record moves from samples of exchanges to samples of problems worked on to samples of observations about engagement levels, etc. It mostly comes down to practice with a particular method. Most all of you were quite attentive to student engagement and found methods for marking it. The nature of teacher questioning was another common focus. Quite a few of you (more often high school teachers) but probably less than half overall, developed observation records that: 1. Carefully recorded the disciplinary content students were engaged in by noting key topics, key skills,

lesson objectives (if present in the lesson) by recording sample problems, by collecting handouts detailing the tasks students were engaged in (or not engaged in.) This may have been an artifact of the way the observation logging was presented. Still, it is worth reflecting on the following: What framing do we give, or what context do we give our observations and discussions of teaching and learning when we do not make strong connections to these matters?

2. Because the assignment emphasized learning to describe more than to judge what was observed, it

made sense that noting the intellectual quality and challenge of the observed instruction was not common. But I noticed few of your questions considered these issues as well.

For those who paid attention to questioning, there was some of this – some noted whether questions were open ended or asked for some level of higher order thinking. But, it was more common to attend to who answered questions (boys, girls, the engaged versus unengaged) then to note the quality of the question.).

Q: What are our thoughts on this?

3. Similarly, some of you struggled to consider if you could gain evidence of student understanding, or whether the instruction might qualify as “teaching for understanding.” But most of you focused on

EAD 806 Communications

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recording the actions and words of teachers. Now, this is natural‐ it is easier and doable to record what 1 person does,

Still…………. Q: After all your collective experiences, do you have new insights on how this might be accomplished and why it might be worthwhile? How would it change observations and the conversations that flow from them?

Again, all of these patterns may be natural outcomes of the open, exploratory question generating approach I gave this observation process. I just want to raise the issues for discussion. (Also there are elements to post recording analysis than the act of recording, though when they were important to us, we want to recorded the types of actions etc. that would serve as evidence. Conferencing Most of you conferenced with a positive and willing colleague, but I was impressed with the number of you who went ahead and entered into more challenging conference settings and interactions. The main observation I developed while reading through your summaries and reflection re/ conferencing, was the difficulty of engaging in good follow up question 4. It may be fruitful to revisit your summaries and reflections to find occasions where did do this, and

where you did not. How much sustained discussion did you support? What might some good follow up questions been? This is a great skill; you see in strong and skilled leaders‐ they learn how to press in a bit to not skid along the surface of important issues. It is another area in which are comfort zones and patterns are challenges.

USING 806 OBSERVATION PORTFOLIOS AS DATA

It may be valuable to engage in some analysis of the observation portfolios as forms of data. Cohort members could ask:

1) What do we see ourselves drawn to? 2) What did we document and reflect on? 3) What sort of evidence did we develop? 4) What challenges did we note? 5) Can we tell from our observation logs if student were learning? 6) What did we not seem drawn to? 7) What did we not document? 8) What did we learn from this unstructured approach? How might it influence how we develop

our observation skills and orientations? 9) What can we learn by analyzing what we documented and reflected on against Elmore ‘s

directive to lock our attentions to questions of content quality, pedagogy and student engagement?

Looking at our conversations summaries and reflections:–

1) Did we support a substantive conversation? 2) Were there places in the conversation where a follow up question might have improved the

quality of the conversation? 3) How could we learn to develop are skill for probing, follow up questions?

Take care all! BetsAnn

Assignment

Leading Without Authority: A Plan for Action Situation: Imagine that when you return to school in the Fall of 2009, you find that your work setting has changed rather dramatically. First, your school has closed and you find yourself at a new school with new colleagues. (Alternatively, you are at the same school, but nearly 1/3 of the teaching staff and students are new to this building.) Second, you have a new principal. He/she has prior experience as a principal at the same level and has a decent reputation as a school leader. You have not previously worked with her/him. Third, you have been learning about leadership, school culture, and quality instructional programs through a Wallace Foundation Fellowship program academic courses. Additionally, you had a solid internship program during the summer that provided some practical insight into the challenges and pervasive dilemmas of schooling in your district. Task: The situation above might or might not become reality in a few short months. However, as your leadership assignment for EAD 806, take the perspective that you can see into the future. Prepare a document that details how you – from a position of informal leadership – can take steps to assist in the development of a positive learning culture for the students and adults in your school. Drawing on perspectives in Donaldson or other class readings and resources, come up with 5 concrete actions that you will put into place during the fall 09 semester. Structure of each action: For each action, please address the following elements.

What you will do?

With whom you will undertake the action?

What evidence might suggest that this action is needed?

The rationale for your action (why are you doing it and why do you think it will improve conditions?)

How long will you continue? Will you adapt your plan? What would indicate things are better or worse? How will you know when to stop?

Will you let your principal in on what you are doing? Why or why not? Will you enlist the assistance of colleagues? Why or why not?

What else is important for me (your instructor) to know about this planned action? What skills or knowledge do you still need to ensure your competent action?

Note: each action can be on a separate single, spaced page. The more detail you lay out at the current time will be positively correlated with the likelihood that you will actually carry out these actions in the fall. Try to push some actions into the purposive and action‐in‐common streams of Donaldson’s Leadership Model. Consider the use of other resources such as SBI feedback and protocols. DUE: April 29, 2009 Do you prefer paper or in Angel dropbox?

EAD 806: The Evolving Practice of School Leaders Lansing Leadership Academy

Spring 2009

Samples of Student Work

EAD 806 Sample Student Work #1

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Leading Without Authority: A Plan for Action Situation: When I return to my school in the Fall of 2009, I find that my work setting has changed. Due to school closings and layoffs, we have cut three classroom teachers. In the fall, at least one new position will be added. Additionally, in the middle of the 2008‐09 school year the district Spanish Immersion program was moved to our school. The program includes a preschool and kindergarten class. In the fall, we will add a 1st grade Spanish Immersion class. I have served as in informal leader in the building in the past. My experiences have included being School Improvement Team Chair and member, Literacy Coach, and District‐wide Elementary English Language Arts Co‐Chair. Having spent the previous year as a 2nd grade classroom teacher, I did not take a strong leadership position. However, in the Fall my position will change to Literacy Teacher. I will take a more formal leadership role. I have been learning about leadership, school culture, and quality instructional programs through Wallace Fellowship program academic courses. I had a solid internship program during the summer that provided some practical insight into the challenges and pervasive dilemmas of schooling in my district. It is my goal to work with the current administrator. It is my hope to fully integrate any new teachers and the Spanish Immersion teachers and families into our school community. The following actions will help me attain those goals. Bibliography Donaldson, Gordon, Cultivating Leadership in Schools, New York: Teachers College Press, 2006. Kruse, Sharon, et al., Building Professional Community in Schools. National School Reform Faculty, www.nsrfharmony.org .


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Action for Implementation

Meet with School Improvement Team and principal to share ideas for bringing school community together.

Volunteer to join School Improvement Team for the coming school year.

Share protocols for building learning communities (National School Reform Faculty, www.nsrfharmony.org )

Begin planning for developing learning communities Article: Building Professional Learning Communities (Kruse, et al.) Review Professional Learning Communities survey, make adjustments to give to staff to drive our work.

Share ideas for Action‐in‐Common and begin to get buy in from this group. This group will determine AIC based on data and teacher input.

Staff Involved Principal

School Improvement Team (SIT)

Literacy Coach

Evidence of Need At the beginning of each school year, it is important that leadership articulates their common vision and goals for the school community. At our school, we will be integrating a new Spanish Immersion program. Additionally, there will be teaching staff new to the building and some personnel have changed positions. Although it is important for all school communities to bring together leadership to begin a school year, it is even more critical for this school with the many changes.

Rationale “Leaders make public the purposes of the organization: the core goals of the organization, the reasons it was formed and the effects it seeks to produce.” (Donaldson, p. 88) Any time a group comes together for the first time with any new players, leaders must revisit previous purpose or present new purpose. Meeting with the principal and becoming part of the decision making body of a building is imperative for me as an informal leader.

Timeline/Assessment May 2009‐ meet to set agenda for Professional Development meetings in August, 2009, review protocols for Creating Learning Communities August 2009‐ Facilitate Learning Communities Protocol, Give Professional Learning Communities Survey to incoming staff


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A Literacy Committee will be continued and refocused to evaluate our school‐wide literacy focus and how we address needs of all students.

Create agenda for grade level meetings

Use assessment data to determine agendas for meetings

Determine need for school‐wide professional development

Facilitate PD

Implement recommendations from Elementary English Language Arts Steering Committee

Review Writing Curriculum


Literacy Coach

Interested teachers to sign up in the fall‐ seek grade level representation

Evidence of Need Dynamic Indicators of Basic Elementary Literacy Skills (DIBELS) scores show ^ than 20% of students at each grade level below Bench Mark Developmental Reading Assessment (DRA) scores show ^ 30% of students not at grade level reading benchmark. MEAP Writing scores not at level

Rationale Teachers working together for Action‐in‐Common will have vested interest to create strategies with the support of principal to implement actions to improve instruction.

Timeline/Assessment Meet monthly beginning in August. Adjust agendas to meet needs of students as year progresses. Meet in June to determine progress for the following school year. Review Literacy Assessments and MEAP scores throughout school year. Review sign in sheets to determine teacher participation


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Host Welcome Back to the best job in the world party!!! All staff (not just new staff) is introduced. Each year is a new one. We will not simply introduce the new. We all introduce ourselves. Fun activity: Pass out a collection of pennies from a range of years. Each staff member randomly selects a penny and will share with the group something that happened to them in that year.

Staff Involved Every person that works at our building!

Evidence of Need Have you looked at the staff photo? These people need some pepping up!

Rationale Relationships, relationships, relationships!!! “If leadership is to thrive, the relationships among the school’s members must be sufficiently strong to withstand the stresses and to seize the opportunities the school will encounter.” (Donaldson, p. 67)

Timeline/Assessment When is the first time we come together? Once that is established, the first thing we do together is celebrate who we are.


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Share readings related to literacy instruction with staff in an informal and non‐threatening manner.

Offer summer title for all/any interested‐ be open to suggestions, but consider Ralph Fletcher, as that is who we began to work with during this school year.

Share relevant articles from The Reading Teacher on a monthly basis. Share one article with all teaching staff, and share articles of interest with individuals.


Teaching staff

Evidence of Need Dynamic Indicators of Basic Elementary Literacy Skills (DIBELS) scores show ^ than 20% of students at each grade level below Bench Mark Developmental Reading Assessment (DRA) scores show ^ 30% of students not at grade level reading benchmark. MEAP Writing scores not at level

Rationale “Leaders are constantly at ‘bridging’ the practical, daily work of members with the ideals for the school’s purpose.” ( Donaldson, p. 89) All books and articles would be selected to both support the Action‐in‐Common of the school, but would also support individual members’ interest. Hopefully, this builds teacher knowledge and contributes to the whole group.

Timeline/Assessment Monthly‐ professional readings Survey and consider conversation at grade level meetings to determine if readings are being cited in conversations.


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Attend Elementary English Language Arts Steering Committee monthly meetings

Share needs of our elementary school

Participate in actions for the good of the district

Report back to school

Staff Involved Literacy coach (me)

Staff

Principal

Evidence of Need Staff has seemed disconnected form district decision making in the past. I will commit to sharing staff needs at the district level

Rationale To keep our school focused on Action‐in‐Common, we will use recommendations from this committee that should be aligned with state standards.

Timeline/Assessment Meetings are held monthly. I will share information between and enact actions as decided by SIT based on student progress on assessments.


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Leading Without Authority: A Plan for Action Situation I am an English teacher at <<School Name>>. In addition to teaching, I also serve as the School Improvement Team chairperson, and I coordinate and facilitate the administration of the district‐mandated standardized tests for our English and math classes. It is fall of 2009, and my school setting has changed dramatically. Nearly one‐third of the teaching staff and students are new to the program, and we have a new principal. I have been with the alternative program for seven years, and I have been working on my leadership skills through academic courses and an internship over the summer. Therefore, I believe I am in a unique position to provide high school with practical insights and leadership to develop a positive learning culture in this time of transition. Actions 1. Establish professional learning communities 2. Assist in the organization and implementation of “advisory groups” for students 3. Re‐visit/re‐write vision and mission statements 4. Organize informal “breakfast sessions” for staff 5. Plan an after‐school tutoring program


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Action #1: Establish professional learning communities Part of a leader’s job is to create structures for regular staff interactions regarding learning and teaching (Knapp, Copland, & Talbert, 2003), and I will do my best to see that these structures are put into place. Per our school improvement plan, we will form groups of interested teachers and instructional assistants who will make a commitment to meet at least once a month throughout the school year. The groups will meet outside of regular school hours, and participants will receive extra pay. These groups may be departmental or cross‐disciplinary, depending on instructional needs. We have such a small staff that we could form one group to become better informed about research‐based instructional strategies, or we could break off into smaller groups to work on more specialized issues and instructional practices. For example, our English and social studies departments have expressed interest in working on a joint curriculum, whereas our math department would like to set up a “lesson study” program with teachers from another alternative school. Our groups will be structured by the members themselves, unless funds become available for an outside facilitator (i.e. a college professor, a retired master teacher, etc.). Asking teachers to take charge of their own professional development is a form of collaborated distribution of leadership, where all become leaders who work together at one time and place (Printy, 2008). Each group will set its own goals and track its own progress. Students will be involved if and when it is deemed appropriate, and administrators are welcome to either participate or observe throughout the whole process. The groups will meet at least eight times during the school year, but they are encouraged to adapt their schedule to their needs and the needs of their students. They can add an online component, on which to share documents and have discussions, to add more depth to their meetings, or to substitute for in‐person meetings. For the past seven years, I have heard many great ideas from my colleagues for the improvement of our school’s learning culture, yet very few of them come to fruition. We simply do not have the time, in general, to deal with our day‐to‐day problems and to spend quality time on restructuring and improving our instructional approaches. We are too busy putting out fires, and the time we do spend together is usually informal and unstructured as we deal with immediate problems. Creating groups that meet on a regular basis outside of the school day, along with the incentive of extra pay, will give our teachers and instructional assistants a chance to really sit down, figure out what we need to improve the instruction and culture in our school, and a forum in which to discuss the current research and trends in education that will fit into our school (Donaldson, 2006). Traditionally, our students’ test scores have been poor. If time was spent in our learning communities to find better ways to prepare students for these assessments, then scores might improve. Also, our classes tend to be isolated islands of instruction, with little to no connection in content between any of them. With more time in these groups to plan cross‐curricular units and activities, students may have an easier time learning the concepts from exposure to different perspectives and approaches encountered in a variety of subject areas. By creating professional learning communities, we will ensure that quality time is being spent by teachers and instructional assistants to improve strategies for instruction. Ideally, the groups will not just spend time researching and discussing best practices, but they will also try new approaches in their classrooms, share their experiences, brainstorm ideas for improvement, and collect and interpret data. Teachers who work closely together “form working relationships with one another that can be extraordinary influences on the school.” (Donaldson, 2006).


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Action #2: Assist in the organization and implementation of “advisory groups” for students In order for a student to develop a positive connection with at least one adult in the building and to help them take charge of his or her educational career, it is necessary for him or her to be placed into an “advisory group” with a small group of other students and an adult mentor. The mentor will act as a liaison with adults invested in the student, such as parents, guardians, other teachers, and administrators. The mentor will most likely be a teacher, but could also be an instructional assistant, administrator, or other staff member (depending on what their respective contracts will allow). This action will require me to work with the counselor, school improvement team, principal, and other teachers to come to a consensus about what the advisory groups should accomplish and how they should be facilitated. Ideally, advisory groups will meet on a regular basis and focus on tracking each student’s academic progress toward graduation. We would have to outline a basic “curriculum” for the mentors to follow, such as a checklist of tasks to cover with the students, so they do not feel like this concept is adding to their workload. They will, however, be expected to become leaders within their own groups and find the best ways to serve their particular groups of students. This type of shared ownership is representative of a collective distribution of leadership, which takes place when individual leaders are interdependent but perform their responsibilities separately (Printy, 2008). Attendance rates at our school have typically been poor, which indicates that students may need better connections with adults at school and more reasons to think that coming to school can positively impact their futures. Perception data in the past has shown that students appreciate the relationships they have formed with adults in our school, but many students feel that they have no power over their educational paths. They don’t understand the graduation requirements, their transcripts, or what they need in order to be employable. Advisory groups can address these issues directly, with mentors working one‐on‐one with students and explaining how everything fits together. This will empower students to take charge of their academic achievements, and it will help them feel supported by the adults around them. Also, the advisory groups will provide a chance for students to get to know a small number of classmates well. The advisory groups will be formed as soon into the school year as possible, and the first meetings will center on building relationships, interpreting transcripts, and planning a specific path toward graduation for each student. As the year progresses, the meetings could decrease in frequency based on staff and student needs. School Improvement Team meetings could be used as a forum to discuss concerns such as the time commitment of advisory groups, how effective they are in boosting attendance, and whether or not they are making a positive impact on the school culture. Advisory groups should be disbanded when the time is used for non‐academic activities, or when the students and/or staff fail to see the value in meeting. Surveys can be used throughout the year to gauge the perception of advisory groups by students and staff, and the results can be used to inform discussion. The principal should be involved in facilitating the creation of advisory groups, as she will have to approve modifications to the daily schedule, the assignment of students to different mentors, etc. I will need to do some research on how groups like this are run in other schools to get an idea of what might work and what might not for our population. I will also need to spend time getting input from other staff members about what they would like to see in the advisory group curriculum and how much time and effort they would are willing to give.


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Action #3: Re‐visit/re‐write vision and mission statements As SIT chair, I will create a sub‐committee to address our program’s vision and mission statements. The committee will be composed of at least one person from each of the following groups: teachers, students, instructional assistants, support staff, secretaries, administrators, and parents. Because our program has gone through four administrators in four years, and the district keeps changing its mind about what our purpose is, we have lost focus of where we want to be headed and how we will get there. In a situation with many new staff members and students, it is even more critical to get everyone on the same page about what our purpose is as an organization. I agree with Donaldson’s notion that the first thing a leader does is “articulate a vision and value system for the school that staff and constituents recognize as good and as consonant with their own purposes” (Donaldson, 2006). Having solid vision and mission statements will not only keep teachers pointed in the right direction, but they will also give students something to aim for and “remind everyone of the philosophical direction of the school” (Donaldson, 2006). Right now, we do not have an official vision statement. A vision can be defined as our "preferred future," and the mission is our "core purpose for being." For example, our vision could be something like "Provide unique opportunities that lead students to lifelong success." Right now, our current mission is:

The mission of Education Options is to provide rigorous, relevant curriculum within a safe, positive, personalized school culture in order to ensure that all students are prepared to become contributing members of the community.

Ideally, the vision and mission statements should be written in clear language that resonates with all stakeholders, and they should be easily understood and remembered. Also, it is not just enough to write the two statements and publish them on letterhead. The vision and mission need to be incorporated into the school culture, where they are accepted, at least on some level, by students and staff alike. There needs to be some sort of advertising blitz as we move into the third stream of leadership, where everyone shares the belief that we have actions‐in‐common and we’re all working for the good of students and staff alike (Donaldson, 2006). I would like to see this task finished by the end of the first marking period (nine weeks into the school year) so that we can work on moving from merely having words on paper to having real sentiments to guide our expectations and instructional practices. We will start by having the sub‐committee meet and develop rough drafts of both statements, but eventually I would like to have more widespread input into the process to ensure that many voices are heard and represented in the final products. I need to do more research to find effective ways to get students and staff to “buy into” new vision and mission statements and make them an integral part of the school culture.


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Action #4: Organize informal “breakfast sessions” for staff To build relationships between all staff members, I want to start an optional routine of meeting every payday in the staff lounge for a quick breakfast. All staff members will be invited and encouraged to attend, and we will take turns bringing refreshments. At the beginning of the year, the meetings will be very informal and offer opportunities for people to share tidbits from their lives outside of school. They will also provide time for interactions between people who normally do not see each other everyday. This low‐risk setting will be ideal for building trust among all staff members (Donaldson, 2006). I will encourage the principal to attend all of these breakfast sessions and be available for informal conversations about issues of concern. I would like to see the meetings evolve into short problem‐solving brainstorm sessions, but that will require good relationships to be built first. The principal could then use the conversations from these breakfasts to inform her daily priorities, staff meeting agendas, problem‐solving tactics, etc. With new staff coming onboard, it will be important to learn how each person fits into the team as a whole. This means learning each person’s strengths, weaknesses, communication style, personality, and interests. Without learning about the person, it is nearly impossible to find a place for him or her within the organization where he or she can make the most effective and positive impact. Building relationships with colleagues does not happen overnight; therefore, it is important to schedule time in which informal conversations can shed light on what makes the person tick, so to speak. Also, facing and overcoming challenges throughout the school year will require that leaders depend on their relationships with their coworkers (Knapp, Copland, & Talbert, 2003). Ideally, the breakfast sessions will take place throughout the school year. If people lose interest in attending these gatherings, perhaps we can find another non‐threatening way to convene as a group. The breakfast time slot is a good one because we have to be at school early anyway, but we can find other ways to creatively meet. We can plan lunch hour potlucks, or quick 15‐minute “happy hours” after school on Fridays to greet the weekends. It is important that we make time to meet regularly to maintain our relationships, and it does not really matter what we happen to be doing. Just spending time interacting without expectations and responsibilities looming over us can help strengthen our bonds. Thinking long‐term, I believe it would be beneficial to the staff to learn how to use the Situation‐Behavior‐Impact model of giving feedback. In my experience, conversations in informal settings like the breakfast sessions can lead to talk of business matters, and it would be helpful for staff to have safe, effective ways to talk about issues of concern with their colleagues without harming relationships. The SBI model offers a way to give focused relevant feedback about workplace issues that might grow in negative directions if left unaddressed. I can envision myself having a bagel in one hand, speaking with a colleague and saying, “During our SIT meeting yesterday, I noticed that you interrupted me a few times. I felt frustrated, and I sensed that others were also irritated. You’ve got great ideas to share, but let’s work on not overlapping during the conversation.” I could leave it at that, or arrange to have a longer conversation later during which we could talk about hand signals or other ways to facilitate discussions at meetings. The only way the SBI model will work, however, is if everyone is trained. I would like to learn more about this feedback method and see if I could either train the staff myself or find an expert to come in during a professional development session.


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Action #5: Plan an after‐school tutoring program <<School name>> is an alternative high school, and its students have not been successful in traditional academic environments. As a result, many of them have fallen behind and need some way to recover credits to graduate on time. Their reasons for failing courses are varied, but most can be attributed to attendance problems that stem from their personal responsibilities outside of school, from working to support their families to taking care of their own children. Having an after‐school tutoring program will give participating students the extra academic help and guidance they need to fulfill their graduation expectations on time. It will be a two‐hour, twice‐a‐ week voluntary program staffed by a certified teacher, and we will offer help with transportation home if necessary. This is a paid position for the teacher, as outlined in our school improvement plan for next year. The program will also serve to create a more positive and powerful instructional culture within our school, which will eventually help us produce more capable graduates (Elmore, 2008). We conducted a pilot of this tutoring program this year, and I think it has been an important asset to our school. Many students used the program, especially when they had been absent and needed to catch up on missing work. Nearly all of our students struggle with academic performance and need to pass the classes in which they are enrolled to avoid getting even further behind; therefore, it makes sense to give them regular opportunities for extra one‐on‐one help. I believe that more students should take advantage of this tutoring, so I feel like important components of the program should be recruitment and advertising to get more students involved. If we had many students who used the tutoring program on a regular basis, I believe we would see improved academic achievement. To implement this action, I will submit the proper paperwork to hire a qualified teacher, work with the principal and school improvement team to ensure that the program is helping the greatest numbers of students, and lead a committee to explore ideas for expanding the program. For example, the tutoring program could become mandatory for students identified as failing during the first marking period; they would attend the program for remediation of basic skills in math and English. It could also be used as a time and place for students to take online courses, with highly qualified teachers facilitating the courses. Our students need credits in all of the core content areas and at all grade levels. To be able to do this effectively, we need to offer more than one delivery method. This will enable us to give more students opportunities to earn their credits. Having multiple class formats will allow students to choose the ones that will work best for their schedules and learning styles. An online option through Blackboard, for example, will be attractive to our students because they will be able to work at their own pace and on their own time. The tutoring program will continue throughout the year, unless we find that students are not attending on a regular basis. If numbers of students dwindle, we will target struggling students and strongly suggest to them (and their parents/guardians) that they attend the program to improve their academic progress. We will know that the program works when we have too many students for one teacher to work with.


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Works Cited

Donaldson, G. A. (2006). Cultivating Leadership in Schools. New York: Teachers College Press. Elmore, R. F. (2008). Improving the Instructional Core. Cambridge: Harvard University Graduate School of Education. Knapp, M. S., Copland, M. A., & Talbert, J. E. (2003). Leading for Learning: Reflective Tools for School and District Leaderss. Seattle: Center for the Student of Teaching and Policy. Leithwood, K., Louis, K. S., Anderson, S., & Wahlstrom, K. (2004). How Leadership Influences Learning. Minneapolis: Learning from Leadership Project. Printy, S. P. (2008). Distributed Leadership: A Quick Tour of Theory and Practice. East Lansing: Michigan State University.

EAD 806 Course Evaluation

EAD 806 Supplementary Evaluation A. We find it helpful to know what “clicks” with our students in terms of readings used in courses.

1. What readings did you find particularly helpful for how you approach your current work? 2. What readings do you anticipate referring to when you are in a principalship?

3. What readings particularly challenged your current understandings or assumptions about educational practice?

B. Similarly, we seek your insight related to learning activities used in EAD 806.

1. What activities did you find particularly helpful for how you approach your current work?

2. What activities/practices do you anticipate using when you are in a principalship?

3. What activities particularly challenged your current understandings or assumptions about educational practice?

Next fall and spring, you will have the opportunity to take two classes (EAD 811, 812) that focus on the work of school improvement. While we will generally follow the same curricula we use in on‐campus classes, we intend to customize as possible for the Lansing/Battle Creek context. Will you provide ideas or insight for us to use in our planning? What topics related to school improvement are “essential”? What questions do you have? What do you need to learn how to do? What resources can you suggest? Thanks for allowing us to participate in your learning journey and for sharing your best thoughts with us!

BetsAnn, Susan, and Chris

ead 806 evolving practice of school leaders

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