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The Why of CLI and How to Find Yours

January 8, 2019 by cliweb

Simon Sinek, marketing consultant, and motivational speaker uses a model for “inspirational leadership” where at the center of three circles is the “golden circle;” essentially, the “why.” With his book, Start with Why, Simon Sinek provides examples of how famous leaders communicated their why and were able to have success when others were unable. The principles they used can apply to individuals, small groups, or even conglomerates. For example, a company has a Why, each team in that company has a Why, and every individual on that team has a Why.

The WHY of any organization isn’t about making a profit. Instead, it is the purpose, cause, or overall belief of the group. It is not uncommon for an organization to confuse the WHY with another circle, the HOW or the WHAT. Members of the team may not even know WHY they exist because the focus is on making a product or how to provide a service. But, make no mistake that the WHY is the reason an organization exists. Clearly communicating the WHY is the best chance one has to get all interested parties involved.

The HOW sets an organization apart from others that share similar characteristics. It is a unique twist on a service or product that could provide a step above competitors. Most affiliated with the organization understand the HOW because there is considerable energy there to create the best WHAT possible.

Finally, the WHAT is known by all in the organization. Whether it is a product or service, people naturally look at the end result. In this case, the WHAT is the outer circle.

In all types of work, change must take place to keep up. Providing a strong reason for making a change, and communicating it clearly with staff, will ease much of the pushback from those the change will effect. Providing your “why” will hopefully inspire staff to follow because they will have a purpose.

The WHY of CLI

Identifying the parts of your Golden Circle can be easier by seeing a relatable example. Refer to the one below showing the WHY, HOW, and WHAT for Curriculum Leadership Institute.

Finding Your Own Why

Authors David Mead and Peter Docker have published the book Find Your Why to assist organizations in digging deeper to determine the Why. They believe a good Why statement is

Simple and Clear for understanding and sharing with others.
Free of Whats but includes the real reason people love the organization.
Includes a Human Service Component and Impact for Others.
In Affirmative Language to provide inspiring words.
Important to Feel Right.

The first step in creating a Why is to fill in the blanks: To _____ so that _____. The first blank should include the contribution intended for others, and the second blank should be the impact as a result of that contribution. It could take a few drafts to find that perfect Why, so have your pencil sharpened and revise until it resonates and feels right! Here is a shortened example from CLI’s Why to get you going. To impact learning for students through professional development so that students receive a quality education.

Why Even Have a Why?

While it may be difficult to determine your Why, it is critical for clarity of a focus and vision. There is a reason the Why is the golden circle in the center of all of the circles. Once the Why is identified, it becomes part of the culture. Developing strategies, hiring employees, and communicating with a purpose will be simpler once the Why becomes the focus for all.

Does Your District Have All the Pieces in Place to Improve and Maintain Teaching and Learning?

November 6, 2018 by cliweb

Improvements in teaching and learning can be rather challenging to come by and to maintain over time, and in order to make systemic changes within your district, you need to have all staff on board and prepared to do their part. The graphic below illustrates the relationships between the various working groups throughout the process.

Much like puzzle pieces fit to create a complete design each of these working groups must complete their assigned duties (part of the systematic process) to achieve and maintain results. Evaluate your curriculum, instruction, and assessment practices to determine if your district has each of these pieces in place. If they were in place at one time, are they still actively in place and fully functional?

Throughout our experiences, we have found that these steps and these engaged professionals are critical to accomplishing the foundations of a district aligned curriculum, intentional instruction, and valid, local assessment. Maintaining these quality cornerstones to improve student learning requires systematic attention with engaged professional staff members.

Fidelity to the New Curriculum

October 2, 2018 by cliweb

In scientific research, certain conditions need to be followed carefully in order to have reliable results. Procedures are put in place to ensure variables are isolated because the influence of extraneous variables can greatly affect the outcome of an experiment in a favorable or negative way. Implementing a new curriculum is similar to conducting a scientific investigation in that it is important to follow a set procedure. Conditions need to be controlled, and progress needs to be carefully followed and monitored so the results are accurate.

Clarification: Curriculum is not the same as a textbook, textbook series, or program. Rather, it includes the unit outcomes and individual learning targets (components) that supplemental resources like textbooks or programs must align.

Focus on the Curriculum

With the external mandates of ever-higher expectations for student achievement, school officials are tempted to try a variety of methods, strategies, and programs to gain rapid results. Sometimes a combination of programs is put into place with the hope of greater gains in student learning. However, greater gains are not always the result, even when using research-based programs with proven success. Instead, several variables are thrown into the mix with the lack of fidelity to one method or program. A conglomeration approach doesn’t allow for educators to determine what really is making the difference. Furthermore, the mixture can even produce negative results. For example, it may seem like it would be helpful, but adding new resources or other instructional programs while implementing a new curriculum creates divided attention for the teachers. When a new program is put into place at the same time as a new curriculum, it is hard for teachers to know what to “follow,” or how to merge the two, and it is impossible to determine which is truly affecting the results. If a new program is adopted within the district, it is recommended to pilot the program through another curricular area, or if that isn’t possible – to wait another year for adoption, until the new curriculum has been validated.

Supporting the Long-Range Plan

One of the first steps of action a Curriculum Coordinating Council (CCC) performs is developing a long-range plan for the district. The CCC purposely staggers developing curriculum for the areas of math, language arts, social studies, and science so only one core area is implemented during a school year. Not only does this help preserve the sanity of teachers responsible for multiple content areas, but it allows the new focus to be on one core area per year.

Also included on the long-range plan is the validation of the new draft curriculum. Throughout year two of the cycle, all teachers of the target subject are expected to frequently provide feedback to Subject Area Committee (SAC) members so needed changes can be made to the curriculum before it is adopted as a final product. Teachers are specifically looking to see if students struggle with a particular outcome or component and if the pace proceeds as expected so the curriculum will be completed by the end of the year. They should also note additional materials needed or professional training that would supplement instructional requirements within the curriculum. Collecting this information allows the SAC to make changes to the draft curriculum and request any necessary professional development training. It also allows the committee members to help guide the selection of supporting resources, which takes place during year three of the long-range plan.

Assessing the Curriculum for Results

During the year a new curriculum is implemented, students may have some growing pains due to increases in expected knowledge or skills. Teachers may have to review some concepts to get students ready to learn or create stepping stones when skills are expected at earlier levels. The pains of the transition from the old to the new curriculum decrease in the following years. In the meantime, frequent checks of student understanding must take place not only to guide instruction but also to help validate the curriculum. Assessing student learning exclusively on the curriculum is critical. If new resources or old assessments are utilized instead of tightly aligned assessments, results are invalid and we won’t know the true impact of the curriculum. Reliable results are needed before changes can be made and the curriculum approved as a final document.

By modeling the carefully placed steps of scientific study, a newly adopted curriculum can be implemented with validity and reliability. Fidelity to the curriculum has to be the priority in order to gain the desired results.

Photo Credit: Louis Reed

Leaders Hungry for Details of Systemic Change

September 4, 2018 by cliweb

In July 2018, we were invited to present at the Southern Region Leadership Conference in Biloxi, Mississippi, hosted by the Mississippi School Board Association. The goal for our two sessions was to help district leaders from Mississippi, Louisiana, and Arkansas prioritize specific take-home steps for their districts to build and establish systemic leadership for curriculum, instruction, and assessment. Reflecting upon the group and individual interactions both during and after the sessions, we believe that we achieved the level of interest for which we were striving! District leaders were excited about the specific implementation details for creating systemic leadership and questions for evaluating their current leadership processes for curriculum, instruction, and assessment.

While not a comprehensive list by any means, we present this list of questions to initiate and open a dialogue regarding district-wide academic processes among stakeholders within a district. These challenging questions could help an administrative team affirm or evaluate their current curriculum structures and processes. The questions are posed from a first-person perspective from within a district.

Do we have an academic structure in place to ensure that our curriculum processes are district-based rather than site-based?
Do we have a model or system of processes we follow, as a district, for alignment of curriculum, instruction, and assessment?
Does our current model or system of processes have a built-in reporting method so that documentation is readily available for accreditation visits or mandated reports (ESSA, AdvancED, etc.) without having to spend an extra amount of time and expense to prepare such evidence?
Have we, as a district studied change theory sufficiently to support first and second order changes within the district?
Do we need outside help to establish a systemic, shared-decision making culture for these issues?
Do we have a district-wide, board-approved policy for how curriculum, instruction, assessment, and student learning decisions are made to ensure stability when there are administrative staff changes?
Do we have a structured timeline (long-range plan) to indicate the cycle of curriculum development, resource adoption, and the writing of local assessments for every subject area?
Do we have a district-wide, representative body of stakeholders (various levels of administration, teachers, specialists, board members, community members) that meets regularly rather than leaving the responsibility to a single person to address such things as:
- Acceptable grading practices
- Assessment use (security and administration)
- Accountability requirements to assure implementation of the district curriculum
- Instructional alignment to the curriculum
- Definitions of mastery
- Use of data from assessments
What roles do the building principal or other administrators play as instructional leaders within the district?
Do we have consistency in what is taught and what is expected of students within the same grade level or course regardless of the teacher, building, or year?
How are new staff members prepared to follow the model/procedures before they begin teaching in our district?
How does the district ensure that the required use of the curriculum is put into practice with fidelity?
Do we have valid, local assessments to use as data for timely intervention for students who are struggling?

Although not exhaustive, these are some examples of questions that the Curriculum Leadership Institute Model for School Improvement provides support in answering. Click here for a rubric to determine where your district’s current strengths and weaknesses are in addressing these critical issues.

Photo Credit: Jamie Street

Changes in Professional Development Due to ESSA Requirements and Title Funding

August 6, 2018 by cliweb

ESSA, PD, and Funding The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) recently completed a year of full implementation. While the law is authorized to continue programs from the Elementary and Secondary Schools Act until 2020, there is speculation that funding amounts could change or even be eliminated due to priorities in the annual budget. Even though educators must play the waiting game in order to plan, it is still important to know the features of the law as there have been some key changes.

Title Funding

Formulas for Title II funds have been and will continue to be adjusted until 2020. The past formula rewarded districts with larger populations of students. The new formulas show a gradual increase in order to place a stronger emphasis on funding for districts serving children living in poverty.

Movement of money between specific Title programs is expanded to allow support for other activities. One hundred percent of Title II and Title IV funds (21^stCentury Schools) can be transferred into Title I funds to improve basic programs and ensure economically and socially disadvantaged students. Title II and Title IV programs can also have transfers between them. However, no money can be transferred out of Title I to another Title program.

Professional Development

Use of Title II funding for professional development has been expanded beyond teachers of “core academic subjects.” All teachers, counselors, librarians, and paraprofessionals are now included as well as support for principals, superintendents, and teacher leaders.

ESSA also recognizes the importance of staff collaboration and job embedded skills. Immediate application of those new skills has a greater impact on instruction which transfers to an increase in student learning.

Another point that has been emphasized is that professional development must be data driven, show results, and have follow-up. One-shot training without accountability is discouraged.

According to ESSA, funded programs must be evidence-based. This may include any activity, strategy, approach, or intervention that shows a statistically significant effect on student learning.

Professional development should be customized to the needs of a district. One size does not fit all when meeting the needs of any learning community.

Find Funding, Get Creative

“Educators need to be encouraged to choose PD that challenges them and gives them a hard-earned sense of accomplishment.”
~ Debbie Silver, Former Louisiana Teacher of the Year

It may be hard to predict what happens in the future with Title funding at the national level, but local leaders have to continue to provide opportunities for teacher growth as that will directly affect student learning. If Title funding is unavailable, the general fund and grants from private organizations may be the best options.

Utilize neighboring districts to pool your resources together. Create a small learning consortium while sharing skills of teachers and dollars.

If possible, offer choices for learning. Allow teachers to participate in a local professional development day where they can select their topic. It will require more planning but positive results and use of the new skills are more likely to happen. Utilize local educators as experts as well as those outside the district. It is empowering to the presenters, establishes professional respect for their expertise in content and skills, and promotes the development of leadership capacity throughout the district.

Getting Experienced Help

For more than 25 years, the Curriculum Leadership Institute (CLI) has provided challenging and quality professional development through partnerships with over 85 school districts across the United States. The continuous follow-up allows for a customized approach to meet a district’s needs while building leadership capacity throughout a district. The systems approach is evidence-based. Collaboration is not only encouraged, it is required for success. Teachers, principals, superintendents, board members, and parent representativesfrom across the district meet regularly to discuss academic issues and make recommendations for student learning, school improvement, and accreditation requirements. It is easy to see how CLI meets the ESSA expectations for professional development. If you need or would like assistance, please give us a call at 620.794.1431 or email us at info@cliweb.org. We would love the opportunity to visit with you, establish a partnership, and help put you on the map!

Build-A-House: An Educational Analogy

May 1, 2018 by cliweb

The processes of curriculum, instruction, and assessment schools should use to assure student learning might be compared to the steps of building a house. Let’s look at those steps and compare them to best practices in education… from what is established at the district-level, through all the stages of curriculum, instruction, and assessment, to what is mandated of schools by the state or other accrediting agencies.

1. You wouldn’t hand over your hard-earned money to a contractor and simply say, “Go build me a house.” You would decide ahead of time what kind of house you wanted, and, in general, what the finished house would be like. In other words, you would have a plan or blueprint that describes the overall building project.

Equivalent: The initial blueprint is like a district mission statement with student exit outcomes.

2. The next thing to be decided is all the elements of the plan and who will execute them, such as a plumber to do the plumbing, carpenters to do the carpentry, electricians for electricity and so forth.

Equivalent: The subjects for which there will be established curriculum need to be decided upon and are often listed in a district mission statement. Qualified teachers are needed to teach those subjects.

3. Let’s select one element of the house-building project (like one subject area) to use as our example. Let’s take plumbing, and follow it all the way through. The plumber would have to know, before beginning any actual work, specifically what the overall plumbing requirements are for this particular house.

Equivalent: The plumbing is like one subject – let’s use math as our example; the overall requirements are the Subject Mission Statement for math.

4. The plumbing job then would be divided into specific projects: the master bath, the half bath, the kitchen, and so forth. The plumber looks at the purpose of each room to determine its specific plumbing needs, and how each is related to the whole project.

Equivalent: Specific courses (algebra, geometry) and grade levels (3rd grade math, 4th grade math) of the subject are identified, and purposes (or focus areas) are determined for each, so that it’s clear where each fits in accomplishing the mission of the whole K-12 math subject area.

5. Before beginning work on a particular room, the plumber decides what must be accomplished to meet the plumbing needs for that room’s purpose. If working on a master bath, the things to be accomplished include putting pipes in the walls, a drain for the shower, installing fixtures, and so forth.

Equivalent: The “room” is like one particular grade level or course; the things to be accomplished are the high achievement unit outcomes for that grade level or course.

6. Now the plumber looks at each one of those things to be accomplished, and decides the details of actually doing it – the specific tasks or steps that need to be done. To put pipes in the walls, the workers will have to measure, drill holes, fit brackets, and so forth.

Equivalent: These are like the components – or smaller “steps” – of a high achievement unit outcome.

7. The plumber must decide how to approach the work. In what order will he do the steps? What techniques will he use for each task, and what tools will he need?

Equivalent: The teacher must plan instruction, including the order in which things will be done, strategies to use, and materials that will be needed.

8. The plumber must know ahead of time what his criteria are for quality. As each task is finished, he checks to see that it has been done properly before proceeding to the next step. Errors are corrected along the way – alternative parts or procedures are used where necessary, or work is redone for better quality. When all of the steps are successfully completed, the plumber checks to see that the plumbing does indeed work as it should.

Equivalent: Teachers set criteria for quality student work. Formative assessments are given throughout instruction. Students not succeeding receive corrective assistance; others participate in enrichments when appropriate. A summative assessment then tells whether the whole outcome has been met; again correctives and enrichments are used as necessary.

9. The plumber also adheres to building and environmental codes, keeps informed about quality materials and procedures, and provides owners with instruction on care and use of plumbing.

Equivalents: Standards and other mandates are met; staff development is pertinent and on-going.