ellen goldring department of leadership, policy & organizations peabody college, vanderbilt...
TRANSCRIPT
Ellen Goldring Department of Leadership, Policy & Organizations
Peabody College, Vanderbilt University
Learning Centered Leadership for Learning-Centered Schools
April 11th, 2008
AgendaAgenda
• What is learning-centered leadership?
• What behaviors and actions can we take?
• Starting the process: The LEAD Action Planning Cycle
We are learners too!
Fish is Fish
“The first step in learning, I decided was unlearning, casting off old habits and assumptions. No one had ever explained this to me. . . the unlearning happened by necessity, almost by force.”
J. R. Moehringer, The Tender Bar
“So after a day in which I was part cafeteria manager, registrar, disciplinarian, social worker, procurement officer, nurse, human resources officer, and chief financial officer of a multi-million-dollar budget, I took some time to reflect on the primary job I have ahead of me this year: being the instructional leader of a school that must raise its test scores by 10 percentage points across the board, or face increased sanctions under the federal No Child Left Behind Law.”
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=14442740
- Principal Lisa Moreno, one of 170 new principals in the Chicago public school system this year. Since 2004, more than 350 of the school system's principals have retired. Like Chicago, many other school systems across the country are facing the same turnover, as baby boomer principals near retirement age.
How do you spend your time?
•Political Leadership (community)
•Managerial Leadership (building, finances, paperwork)
•Instructional Leadership
•Planning/setting goals
•Own professional development
•Other
How principals report spending their time: Spring 2005. Based on 5 log reports
School type: Middle School Political leadership
Managerialleadership InstructionalLeadership Planning and SettingGoals Professional grow th
Other
School type: Elementary Political leadership
Managerialleadership InstructionalLeadership Planning and SettingGoals Professional grow th
Other
School type: High School Political leadership
Managerialleadership InstructionalLeadership Planning and SettingGoals Professional grow th
Other
Leadership
• Leadership matters.
• In difficult times, leadership matters even more.
• In periods of significant organizational transition, leadership is the major controllable factor in explaining organizational performance.
Leadership
• Instructionally-focused and change-
oriented leadership are especially
effective frames for education.
• Team leadership seems to offer promise
for enhancing organizational performance.
Learning –Centered LeadershipLearning –Centered Leadership
• Staying consistently focused on learning, teaching, curriculum, and assessment
• Making all the other dimensions of schooling (e.g., administration, organization, finance) work in the service of improved student learning
Learning Centered Leadership
I. Vision for LearningII. Instructional ProgramIII. Curricular ProgramIV. Assessment ProgramV. Communities of LearningVI. Resource Acquisition and UseVII. Organizational CultureVIII. Social Advocacy
I. Vision for Learning
A. Developing vision
B. Articulating vision
C. Implementing vision
D. Stewarding vision
II. Instructional Program
A. Knowledge and involvement– Understand learning needs of individuals
(teachers, students, parents)B. Hiring and allocating staffC. Supporting staff
– Arranging, providing professional development to support and develop expertise; provide resources; offer incentives
D. Instructional time
III. Curricular Program
A. Knowledge and involvement
B. Expectations, standards
C. Opportunity to learn
D. Curriculum alignment
IV. Assessment Program
A. Knowledge and involvement
B. Assessment procedures
C. Monitoring instruction and
curriculum
D. Communication and use of data
V. Communities of Learning
A. Professional development
B. Communities of professional
practice
C. Community-anchored schools
VI. Resource Acquisition and Use
A. Acquiring resources
B. Allocating resources
C. Using resources
VII. Organizational Culture
A. Production emphasis
B. Learning environment
C. Personalized environment
D. Continuous improvement
VIII. Social Advocacy
A. Stakeholder engagement
B. Diversity
C. Environmental context
D. Ethics
Leadership Behavior FrameworkCore
ComponentsKey Processes
Planning Implementing Supporting Advocating Communicating Monitoring
High Standards for StudentPerformance
RigorousCurriculum(content)
QualityInstruction(pedagogy)
Culture ofLearning &ProfessionalBehavior
Connectionsto ExternalCommunities
PerformanceAccountability
Definitions of Core Components
• High Standards for Student Learning —There are individual, team, and school goals for rigorous student academic and social learning.
• Rigorous Curriculum (content) —There is ambitious academic content provided to all students in core academic subjects.
• Quality Instruction (pedagogy) —There are effective instructional practices that maximize student academic and social learning.
• Culture of Learning & Professional Behavior —There are integrated communities of professional practice in the service of student academic and social learning. There is a healthy school environment in which student learning is the central focus.
• Connections to External Communities —There are linkages to family and/or other people and institutions in the community that advance academic and social learning.
• Performance Accountability — Leadership holds itself and others responsible for realizing high standards of performance for student academic and social learning. There is individual and collective responsibility among the professional staff and students.
Definitions of Key Processes
• Planning—Articulate shared direction and coherent policies, practices, and procedures for realizing high standards of student performance.
• Implementing—Engage people, ideas, and resources to put into practice the activities necessary to realize high standards for student performance.
• Supporting—Create enabling conditions; secure and use the financial, political, technological, and human resources necessary to promote academic and social learning.
• Advocating—Promotes the diverse needs of students within and beyond the school.
• Communicating—Develop, utilize, and maintain systems of exchange among members of the school and with its external communities.
• Monitoring—Systematically collect and analyze data to make judgments that guide decisions and actions for continuous improvement.
Our Conceptual Model
Figure 1. Learning-Centered Leadership: Core components & Key processes
Key processes
Core components Planning Implementing Supporting Advocating Communicating Monitoring
High Standards for Student Learning
Plans rigorous growth targets in learning for all students.
Recruits highly qualified faculty to meet performance goals for both academic and social learning.
Supports teachers in meeting school goals.
Challenges low expectations for students at risk of failure.
Discusses information with faculty on progress toward achieving school goals and student learning targets.
Uses data from multiple sources to monitor student learning.
Rigorous Curriculum (content) Plans the schedule to support a rigorous curriculum for all students.
Coordinates teacher collaboration to implement a rigorous curriculum.
Supports participation in professional development that deepens teachers’ understanding of a rigorous curriculum.
Advocates that all programs for students with special needs deliver a rigorous curriculum.
Discusses state/district curriculum frameworks with faculty.
Monitors student work products to assess the rigor of the curriculum.
Quality Instruction (pedagogy) Plans opportunities for teachers to improve their instruction through observing each others’ instructional practices.
Implements the use of research-based instructional strategies.
Allocates instructional resources to maximize the quality of instruction.
Advocates additional instructional opportunities for students most in need.
Communicates with individual teachers about the quality of their instruction.
Uses data to monitor the quality of instruction.
Core components
Planning Implementing Supporting Advocating Communicating Monitoring
Culture of Learning & Professional Behavior
Plans strategies to develop shared beliefs about professional practice.
Implements school-wide rules and consequences to manage student behavior.
Encourages teachers to learn from their most effective colleagues.
Advocates a culture of learning that respects diversity of students.
Communicates with students about the aspects of a positive culture focused on learning.
Monitors disciplinary data to make determinations about school culture.
Connections to External Communities
Plans with social service agencies for safety nets in support of student learning.
Implements programs to involve families in the educational mission.
Secures additional resources through partnering with external agencies to enhance teaching and learning.
Promotes mechanisms for reaching families who are least comfortable at school.
Discusses the results of student achievement tests with parents.
Collects information about the needs and interests of parents.
Performance Accountability Develops a plan for individual and collective accountability among faculty for student learning.
Builds behavioral and academic accountability measures with input from faculty.
Allocates time to evaluate faculty for student learning.
Challenges faculty who attribute student failure to others.
Discusses with teachers on an individual basis their students’ achievement test results.
Monitors teachers’ procedures for keeping track of student learning.
Leadership Action GoalsFrom each core component select up to 2 or 3 specific leadership behaviors that you and a team can implement that you believe are most important given your school's priorities and needs. Once you have selected these behaviors, rewrite them as behavioral objectives or actions.
1. I will _____________________________________________________.
2. I will ______________________________________________________.
3. I will ______________________________________________________.
Describe Evidence and Data to Monitor Implementation and Change
LIST Learning Centered Leadership Behavior
Establish Processes for Implementation
Articulate Challenges and Needed Supports
LEAD Action Planning Cycle
Figure 4. LEAD Action Planning Cycle Guide
List Learning Centered
Leadership Behavior
Establish specific steps for implementation:
who will be involved in
implementing the behavior, how?
Anticipate Challenges and needed
supports
Describe Evidence and Data to Monitor Implementation and Change
Data We Have Data we need to Collect
Who should be involved in data collection and monitoring
• Plans opportunities for teachers to improve their instruction through observing each others’ instructional practices.
Meet with teachers to arrive at understanding of quality instruction
Who should we observe
Review master schedule
Work with grade level team leaders to establish protocol and set goals
Teacher resistance Time How will we use
the information What are our
shared understanding of quality instruction
Current teacher evaluation observations
sharing observation protocols
changes in instruction
Teams of teachers
Building CommunityBuilding Community
• Taking collaborative action as a school and community – Need to discuss shared values and aspirations
• Choosing where to begin is important – Establish priority and focus direction – Ask questions—inquiry minded
• Recognize important data– Which data are relevant – How can we use it to keep focused and learn