School Leadership for Students With Disabilities

Project #H325A120003

Anchor Presentation #5 for the Course Enhancement Module

Provides Instructional Leadership

Facilitates Inclusive Culture

(2 parts)

Facilitates Collaboration

Involves Parents & Community

Academic &

LifeOutcome

s

School Leadership

District Leadership

Objectives

1. Explain the importance of a collaborative culture for student and teacher success.

2. Describe characteristics of collaborative work by school professionals.

3. Describe key leadership practices for principals to promote and sustain collaboration.

4. Identify major structures that enable teachers and specialists to collaborate in support of inclusive education.

A Collaborative Culture: Why Does It Matter?

• Schools with collaborative cultures produce greater student learning outcomes (Anrig, 2015; Bryk, Sebring, Allensworth, Luppescu, & Easton, 2010; DuFour, 2004; Gruenert, 2005; Mourshed, Chijioke, & Barber, 2010).

• A supportive collaborative culture improves teacher retention and development (Hattie, 2012; Singh & Billingsley, 2001).

Maximizing Impact

“The key to generating widespread impact on student learning then, resides in mobilizing the group to work in specific, intense, sustained ways on learning for all students. We have seen that this work involves teachers working together to examine individual student progress, decide on and implement best instructional responses, learn from each other what is working, and build on what they are learning.” (Fullan, 2014, p. 67)

Inclusive Services for Students With Disabilities Require Collaboration

• To create a sense of collective responsibility for all students.

• To contribute the varied expertise and perspectives necessary to serve students with complex learning and behavioral needs.

• To support teachers in their planning and problem solving.

Activity A: Describing a Collaborative Culture

Work with a partner and write your responses to the following questions:1. What would you expect to see in a school

with a collaborative culture that you may not observe elsewhere? List specific activities that would be taking place.

2. If you spoke with teachers, what may they report about their experiences?

Concepts of Collaboration(Friend & Cook, 2012)

Definition: Interpersonal collaboration is a style for direct interaction between at least two co-equal parties engaged in shared decision making as they work toward a common goal.Essential Features:• Mutual goals.• Parity among participants.• Voluntary participation.• Shared responsibility for decision making.• Shared resources.• Shared accountability.

Interstate School Leaders Licensure Consortium (ISLLC)

Proposed Standards (CCSSO, 2014)

Standard 6: Professional Culture for Teachers and Staff

An educational leader promotes the success and well-being of every student by promoting professionally normed communities for teachers and other

professional staff.

Functions: A. Develops productive relationships and trust.B. Nurtures a commitment to shared goals.C. Provides for collaborative work.D. Facilitates shared ownership.E. Develops collaborative leadership skills.F. Promotes a climate of collective efficacy. G. Fosters and supports the growth of trust.H. Nurtures a culture of shared accountability.

Activity B:Defining the Principal’s Role

If collaboration is so important, what can principals do to promote and sustain collaborative cultures within their

schools?

1. Review the ISLLC Proposed Standard (2014) addressing professional culture (handout).

2. In a small group, consider similarities between the ISLLC standard and the Friend & Cook list of essential characteristics of collaboration. What common elements or themes are evident?

3. Now brainstorm a list of very specific actions a principal may take to facilitate a collaborative culture.

4. Then, as a group, identify what you believe to be the five most important actions.

Leadership Practices That Support Collaboration

1. Modeling collaborative leadership.2. Emphasizing and aligning collaborative

expectations for teachers throughout career development.

3. Ensuring that the structures exist for teachers to work collaboratively.

4. Providing resources to enable and sustain collaboration.

Activity C:Discussion of Key Leadership Practices

1. How well did the actions you identified in your small groups align with the four key practices emphasized in the research literature?

2. Do any of the practices on the list surprise you? Why?

3. Which of the practices may present the greatest challenges for principals? Why?

1. Modeling Collaborative Leadership

• Articulate a vision of a collaborative professional learning community (PLC; DuFour, 2004; Fullan, 2014; Shepherd & Salembier, 2011; Sullivan, 2012; Waldron & McLeskey, 2010).

• Actively engage faculty, family, and community members in school governance (Kohm & Nance, 2009; OECD, 2014; Wilhelm, 2013).

• Participate regularly in professional development (PD) and teaming activities with staff (Fullan, 2014; Hattie, 2009; Shepherd & Salembier, 2011; Sullivan, 2012).

2. Aligning Collaborative Expectations

• Hire teachers and specialists who demonstrate commitment to collaboration (Fullan, 2014; Sullivan, 2012).

• Emphasize collaboration throughout mentoring and induction of novices (Billingsley, 2010; Pugach et al, 2009).

• Include assessment of collaborative behaviors in evaluations of teachers and specialists, and recognize contributions (CCSSO, 2011; Fullan, 2014).

• Provide ongoing PD for collaboration across the career continuum (Billingsley, 2010; Hattie, 2012; Sullivan, 2012).

3. Ensuring Structures for Collaboration

• Maximize opportunities for collaborative work within familiar structures like grade level/departmental teams and PD (OECD, 2014; Pugach & Johnson, 2002).

• Provide access to support teams and consultants to help teachers plan and problem solve interventions to meet challenging student needs (Friend & Cook, 2012; Pugach & Johnson, 2002; Walther-Thomas, Korinek,

McLaughlin, & Williams, 2000). • Mobilize specialists for co-teaching in inclusive

classrooms (Bauwens & Houcade, 2003; Friend, 2014; Murawski & Dieker, 2013).

Activity D:Sharing Collaborative Experiences

1. Pick a familiar structure, such as grade level/departmental team, lesson study, PLC, or PD, which has been a positive experience for you.

2. Describe to a partner a time when teachers were working together collaboratively. Who was involved? What work were they doing? How were they interacting? What made this such a positive experience?

3. What similarities and differences do you note across your two examples?

Additional Support Structures for Teachers to Meet Student Needs

• Teacher assistance or support teams.• Multi-tiered system of supports

(MTSS)/Response to Intervention (RtI).• Collaborative consultation. • Co-teaching.

Support Teams

• Known by a variety of names, such as teacher assistance teams, school-wide assistance teams, and instructional support teams.

• School-based, problem-solving teams to help teachers identify and plan interventions for academic or behavioral problems interfering with student success (Walther-Thomas, Korinek, McLaughlin, & Williams, 2000, p. 140)

RtI as MTSS

“Response to Intervention integrates assessment and intervention within a multi-level prevention system to maximize student achievement and to reduce behavior problems. With RtI, schools use data to identify students at risk for poor learning outcomes, monitor student progress, provide evidence-based interventions and adjust the intensity and nature of those interventions depending on a student’s responsiveness, and identify students with learning disabilities or other disabilities” (National Center on Response to Intervention, 2010, p. 2).

Activity E:Who Can Serve as Consultants?

Concern Colleagues With Expertise to ShareAcademic progress in core curriculumLanguage skillsBehavior managementSocial skillsMotor skillsCareer/vocational skillsAttendance Health issues

Complete the inventory (handout) to identify specific resources in your school to help address common concerns.

Co-Teaching(Friend, 2014)

• Co-teaching is a structure or model for delivering instruction to students in an inclusive general education classroom. The focus of co-teaching is providing access to the curriculum.

• Essential features:o Professionally licensed teachers.o Shared instructional and related responsibilities.o Shared responsibility for all students in the class.o A single shared classroom.o Active teacher interaction using varied approaches.

Activity F:Co-Teaching in Action

1. View the videohttps://m.youtube.com/watch?v=8pIe6CZX6PM

2. Discuss specific ways that these teachers try to maximize the advantage of having two teachers in the classroom.

3. How does this example compare/contrast with your own observations of co-teaching?

4. Providing Resources• Build into the schedule adequate time for collaboration (Billingsley, 2010;

Billingsley et al., 2009; Friend & Cook, 2012; Raforth & Foriska, 2006; Scruggs, Mastropieri, & McDuffie, 2007; Sullivan, 2012).

• Provide clerical and record keeping support (Raforth & Foriska, 2006). • Ensure manageable caseloads for co-teachers and consultants (Friend &

Cook, 2012; Walther-Thomas et al., 2000).• Support ongoing PD on collaborative skills and processes (OECD, 2014;

Raforth & Foriska, 2006; Scruggs, Mastropieri, & McDuffie, 2007; Shepherd & Salembier, 2011).

• As regulations permit, allocate resources flexibly to serve students (Knoff, Haley, & Gonzales, 2011).

• Support effective collaborators for taking on leadership roles and compensate them with salary increases and/or reduced loads (Raforth & Foriska, 2006).

Summary

• A collaborative culture contributes substantially to student learning and teacher retention and development.

• Principals play a major role in creating and sustaining a collaborative culture by:o Modeling collaborative leadership practices.o Aligning expectations for collaboration throughout the career

continuum.o Ensuring teachers have access to structures that enable

collaborative work.o Providing resources, especially time for collaboration.

Activity GPersonal Takeaways From This Session

Take a few minutes to reflect on what we have discussed, and then write your responses to the following questions in your notes.• What is the most important thing you have learned

about the principal’s role in facilitating collaboration?• What will you do as principal to promote a more

collaborative culture in your school? Identify one to three specific actions you plan to take as a result of what you have learned today.

References Are Provided in a Handout