Curriculum Leadership Institute

Pathways to School Improvement

E-Hints Related to Governance and Leadership

Below is an archive of E-Hints related to the governance and leadership of curriculum, instruction, and assessment work. We welcome you to use them to make improvements district- or schoolwide, or share them with a colleague who might benefit.

Thank you for ensuring that your staff is doing what's best for kids!

Leadership Tip - Participate in the development of curriculum. Select a subject area that you are most familiar with and be an active member of that committee. You'll have a better understanding of what is involved and how the curriculum is intended to be used.

The Excitement and Challenge of Beginning a New School Year

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A year ago at this important time of the school year, we published an E-Hint including checklists for starting the school year with immediate curriculum, instruction, and assessment needs at the forefront.  This E-Hint is still relevant for kick-starting these efforts for the new year: Checklists to Begin the School Year.

Reviewing the status of ongoing initiatives and planning for the current year should become routine.  In the years following the development of curriculum documents, the implementation of curriculum, and the writing of assessments, there are often other initiatives that must come into play to further improve student learning.  While we at Curriculum Leadership Institute (CLI), caution school districts about starting too many initiatives at once, there is a time and place where outside support for improving instructional strategies, improving the implementation of a new resource, using data analysis strategies to effectively critique our efforts, or other needs must be addressed.

With the beginning of a new school year on the horizon, evaluate decisions about when to start new initiatives, who will be affected by the change, and the intended result.  While examining time-allocation for any new initiative, planners should consider the impact on the staff.  Administrators must be very careful to ensure a plan that does not overload any particular staff member, or group of staff members, to the point of limiting their effectiveness in the classroom.  Teachers will continue to have all of the responsibilities of everyday management of the classroom. When the district starts something new, it necessarily impacts and potentially increases the amount of time needed for managing the classroom. Whether the new initiative requires study time, learning a new instructional strategy, finding better methods of accomplishing the same teacher tasks, learning new software programs, or implementing a new schoolwide effort, teachers must continue to do all that they have been doing in addition to anything new. Providing time for teachers to learn, discuss, and evaluate effectiveness of new strategies is critical to ensure fidelity to the effort.  When that time is provided, it makes all the difference.  The new initiative needs to be added to the checklist of the ongoing tasks, in detail, so that the potential impact on staff members is clear to all involved.

A visual display, such as a spreadsheet that can be color coded or sorted by various attributes such as teachers, time of year, related efforts, etc., helps planners “see” when the same teachers are impacted repeatedly in a short time span.  Visuals help call attention to “pink flag cases” where instruction may be so significantly impacted that the benefit of the work or training time becomes questionable.  In order to make the visual display most helpful, include the type of training, the teachers impacted, other efforts that are closely related to each training or work session, and the recommended time of the school year for the training.  Then, with planning and discussion, the dates can be scheduled to the best advantage of all staff and the potential negative effects of doing too much at any one given time are greatly reduced.  The resulting professional development calendar is designed including these dates, bene-fitting both the staff involved and student learning.

For the best start possible, it is important that ALL initiatives are evaluated in terms of time required and impact on the school or district as a whole. Adjustments to schedules and assignments are made to maximize the many necessary efforts needed, allowing teachers to grow in their ability to assist student learning, while managing all of those efforts and responsibilities that do not change with a new year.

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A Handy Guide for Annual Recognition

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download_pdf_smRecently, another educator used a really great metaphor about taking time to “mow the lawn” now and again. Mowing the lawn is perhaps one of the least hated chores that we have to do. Maybe it’s because freshly cut grass smells so nice or because we also get in a little workout, but very likely it is due to the sense of instant gratification we feel when we take a look back at our progress.

Here we are in May and the end of the year is quickly approaching. The amount of hard work that has taken place with regard to curriculum, instruction, and assessment has, no doubt, seemed overwhelming to those who have participated in the process. But there are also many stakeholders who were not on the Curriculum Coordinating Council (CCC) or a Subject Area Committee (SAC) and who may not fully understand what has taken place.

So, take a moment to “mow the lawn.” Put together some sort of communication, whether it be an article in your district newsletter, an article in the community newspaper, or a video for the district website that highlights district curriculum, instruction, and assessment achievements from the past year. Don’t forget to present this as part of your report to the School Board at the next meeting; it is essential that they see the progress that the district has made!

Some questions to consider when “mowing the lawn:”

  1. Looking back at our year, what have we accomplished?
  2. What has been our greatest achievement? In other words, what makes us most proud?
  3. What role(s) did people play in each achievement?
  4. What excites us about the opportunities ahead?

To assist in answering these questions, below you will find a list of potential achievements from three stakeholder groups: CCC, SAC, and teachers. Look through each category and highlight the achievements that have been accomplished this year. Use the following lists to highlight the achievements of which you are most proud!

Potential Governance (CCC) Achievements

  • Created a set of operating procedures for curriculum, instruction, and assessment work.
  • Developed or revised a Long Range Plan to meet the needs of the district and align with state requirements.
  • Created or revised the District Mission and Vision statements as a guide for all work within the district.
  • Drafted or finalized a mastery statement as a foundation for making decisions regarding curriculum, instruction, and assessments.
  • Determined requirements for implementing the curriculum through classroom instruction and assessments.
  • Analyzed educational best practices to determine the effectiveness of current grading practices and grade reporting and offered researched solutions for consideration, discussion, and implementation.
  • Analyzed educational best practices to determine the effectiveness of extended learning opportunities and offered researched solutions for consideration, discussion, and implementation.
  • Prioritized professional development opportunities for upcoming years.

Potential Curriculum and Assessment (SAC) Achievements

  • Gathered information from all teachers within a content area about what is currently being taught.
  • Interpreted state standards to determine what they really mean.
  • Created a Subject Mission based on the desired profile of a graduating student regarding this content area.
  • Determined what is essential at each grade level and clarified the horizontal and vertical progression.
  • Drafted a guaranteed and viable curriculum to include outcomes and components that are high-priority, grade-appropriate, essential and focused, and are aligned to state standards.
  • Revised curriculum according to teacher feedback.
  • Drafted common outcome assessments aligned to the curriculum.
  • Revised common outcome assessments according to teacher feedback.

Potential Classroom (Teacher) Achievements Related to Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment

  • Drafted a Pacing Guide for teaching the curriculum and kept notes that can be used to write next year’s Pacing Guide
  • Organized materials and/or gradebook by outcome.
  • Used the new/draft curriculum and provided feedback to the Subject Area Committee.
  • Created instructional plans in alignment with the current target subject within the district curriculum
    • Developed formative assessments to determine if students are ready to move on
    • Aligned teacher strategies and student activities to promote student engagement
    • Created differentiation and enrichment opportunities to move students toward mastery of curriculum.
  • Provided feedback about potential resources with regard to their alignment to the curriculum.
  • Used common outcome assessments and analyzed student data to differentiate or revise instructional plans to ensure mastery for all students.
  • Provided feedback to the Subject Area Committee regarding the draft common outcome assessments.

Celebrate another successful year!

Book Briefing: The Other Side of the Report Card

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download_pdf_smIn honor of School Library Month, this E-Hint is inspired by a new book: The Other Side of the Report Card: Assessing Students’ Social, Emotional, and Character Development by Maurice Elias, Joseph Ferrito and Dominic Moceri (2016).  As curriculum developers, we know that academic learning should be thoughtfully planned, and that instruction and assessment should be carefully aligned to standards.  However, we may occasionally ask ourselves, “What about the other aspects of development, for example, self-management and social awareness? Shouldn’t we be planning for personal growth too?”  These other areas of growth are a primary concern for the “whole child” education movement, which attempts to include a child’s physiological needs, safety needs, and belonging needs.

One of the most prominent education news stories recently was teacher Kyle Schwartz’s rise to “viral fame” simply because she asked her students, “What do you wish your teacher knew about you?” and Tweeted their responses. Many of Kyle’s students revealed that relational, emotional, and physical challenges were creating learning hurdles in their lives that they needed to overcome, and they appeared to be relieved to share these challenges.  Through empathy and the sharing process, a social bridge was built between her and her students. We might go so far as to conjecture that Kyle’s empathy earned her social capital within her class, which could lead to an increase in motivation and learning.

The Other Side of the Report Card provides evidence (Chapter 8: Literature Review and Resources) that distinctively human characteristics such as communication and listening skills, empathy, and evaluating possible outcomes, may be taught, however the primary focus for the authors is the documentation of such learning. Perhaps given growing awareness of bullying and student suicide, districts might want to consider building a Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) and Character Education (CE) curriculum.  This book is an excellent examination of how that process might be initiated and student growth assessed.

The authors begin with definitions of SEL and Character Education, referring often to the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL) which has defined key competencies and outcomes. A number of Likert rating systems and rubrics are provided demonstrating how skills may be quantified and evaluated. Case studies are provided as OSORC-smallexamples. (One is the Open Circle SEL Curriculum where students rate themselves using a three-point scale on skills such as cooperating with and encouraging others.) School Leadership Teams (SLTs), similar to the Subject Area Committees (SACs) within the CLI Model, are encouraged for the tasks of: specifying behaviors, creating a model for reporting skill development, report card design, and implementation. A key takeaway for implementation is that, “a deductive approach is needed in order to focus on the specific behaviors to be rated.”

In the meantime, even if a formal Social and Emotional Learning and Character Education curriculum has not been implemented, instructors could still apply a meaningful self-assessment of the quality of their own interactions within their classrooms.  Simple questions might include these: “Am I demonstrating empathy to my students? How well am I building bridges and social capital in the classroom? Am I demonstrating character qualities that I’d like to see in my students?” Finding specific answers and examples to answer these questions may lead to personal growth and improved learning for everyone.

For more detailed information, see Austin Independent School District’s SEL curriculum based on the CASEL Core Social and Emotional Competencies and CASEL’s free online guides for Effective Social and Emotional Learning Programs.

Transformational Change with the CLI Model

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download_pdf_smAs an educator, you are often called upon to lead change efforts within your district.  Even if you have not implemented the CLI Model, you know that all educators can be change agents and you have most likely already determined that in education, change is sometimes the only constant as you attempt to find new ways to reach students, manage buildings, and serve communities.

The research on how to make change in organizations is abundant.  There are many “types” of change by definition; but, for simplicity, we have narrowed it down to the two basic types:  first-order and second-order.

First-order change is typically less traumatic in terms of individual reaction and is sometimes referred to as developmental change.  It may mean simple adjustments to what you are already doing while still staying on the same path.  It is simply improving upon what you already have.  First-order change is reversible, meaning if it doesn’t work out of the gate you can stop doing it, which also makes it reactionary change.  These types of changes do not necessarily require new learning to take place and staff members are usually open to trying them because of these factors.  However, there is danger when districts start and stop changes frequently—staff may think “this, too, will pass,” and they will not fully commit to making the change work.  This can also lead to teacher confusion about which “thing” they should really be doing.

On the other hand, second-order change requires shifting to a new way of seeing things.  This type of change is typically referred to as transformational change and is viewed as more radical.  It is fundamentally different than what you have done in the past and it is irreversible, meaning once you start down the path, you can never return to what you have done previously.  New learning is required and some staff members may be hesitant to support the change because there is no “safety net” as with a first-order change. During a second-order change, it is vitally important for the district’s top leaders to be on board and supportive of both the change itself and the staff they work with.  For example, in a school district that has only one of four administrators on board, the change will be very difficult to realize.  Transformational change is difficult even when all leaders are on board; so taking the time to build capacity and educate leaders on the benefits and possible challenges of the change is an important initial step.transformational change arrow

Although the adoption of a detailed school improvement process like the CLI Model is most likely a transformational change for a significant portion of a professional staff, keep in mind that a first-order change to one person may be a second-order change to another.  Knowing your staff is key to understanding what the reaction to either type of change may be and preparing for success of change.  If an educator’s fundamental beliefs are not challenged (first-order change), they may show more cooperation and less resistance than educators who must adapt to new ideas about teaching practices and their roles in the classroom.  Deep philosophical changes (second-order) can produce resistance initially; however, with a safe, structured process in place that includes good communication, teachers and administrators eventually align their beliefs and practices to the reform effort, or they move on.  In terms of resistance within groups of people, research from renowned education author and scholar, Everett Rogers, shows that:

8% will be innovators.
17% will be leaders.
29% will be early adopters.
29% will be late adopters.
17% will be resisters.

In other words, it isn’t natural for 100% of your staff to be on board with a second-order change immediately.  Although some will jump on board as leaders and early adopters and see the value of a change such as using the CLI Model, in many cases, much legwork must be done in order to lead the majority of your people to believe in it.  The key is providing ongoing two-way communication opportunities, appropriate staff development, and an empathetic ear coupled with a firm belief in moving forward with the change.

Choosing a School Improvement Strategy

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download_pdf_smWhether your district is already working with CLI, or is considering that possibility, it is important to know why CLI is the right choice in this new era of school improvement.  CLI’s comprehensive and multi-dimensional Pathways to School Improvement Model fits nicely with all new and emerging recommendations for meeting standards and expectations.

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During the original NCLB era school district leaders could choose an improvement strategy focused primarily on gathering and using data about student learning, and ensuring that students meet adequate yearly progress (AYP) goals as measured on a state’s assessments.   Board members and a district’s administrative team often chose an improvement strategy that emphasized the internal development of classroom and grade level or subject area “common” tests.  Such tests were to be aligned with state standards in NCLB’s designated subjects, initially mathematics and reading.  The logic behind this kind of school improvement seemed clear:  Tests identify what students should know or do, so instruction should be designed and delivered to ensure that students do well on those assessments.

Any outside individual or organization asked to help the district achieve that type of measured accountability had to guarantee progress in achieving AYP.  That usually meant improving the effectiveness of local techniques for gathering data and using them appropriately.   It also meant raising the ability of teachers to create classroom learning targets and helping students meet them on standards-aligned local tests.

Changes Caused by the Common Core, NGS, C3, and Other State Standards

Although not all states have adopted or kept the new, more nationally accepted State Standards, they influence the general discussion about school accountability in new and complex ways.  What emerges from those discussions are novel ideas of what schools should be like, most of which involve much more than what was included in the original NCLB era.  In a nutshell, here are four ways conditions are different and how CLI can meet the new challenges:

  • Teachers: The standards are now centered on the importance of students being prepared for college and careers, and that requires teachers to be more than instructional guides for helping students do well in specific and narrow learning outcomes.  Teachers must now create a scholastically deep and meaningful learning environment that includes theories, applications, and dynamic involvement with the subject.  That means both the preservice and ongoing preparation of teachers must be more comprehensive, intense, and involving.
  • Accreditation: Leaders in both education and business now realize the importance of a PK-12 district in developing, maintaining and implementing a well-articulated and sequentially coherent academic program.  No longer do key organizations that approve public school programs isolate their attention on individual buildings alone, or ignore the internal decision-making and action-taking dynamics required to make programs run smoothly.  The primary school accreditation association in the United States is AdvancED, which evaluates these internal processes at the district level and assists in identifying areas of strength and weakness as well as goal-setting to improve.  The CLI Model aligns almost perfectly with the AdvancED standards with the exception of tangential aspects such as budget priorities.
  • Assessment/Student Expectations: The media have been reporting on debates concerning what public school students should know or do, and a consensus is emerging that traditional fill-in-the-bubble multiple choice assessments are losing favor as a sole means for measuring student academic skills.  Assessment organizations such as ACT, PARCC, SBAC, and SAT have made it clear that students should also be able to score well on performance-based assessments that show college and career readiness, although there is some debate about the formatting and weight of these types of questions.
  • Scholastic Behaviors: It’s unclear how pervasive the less measurable aspects of school improvement can become, but such professional organizations as the National Education Association are capsulizing important student behaviors as they prepare to become productive and reflective college students, job holders, citizens and leaders.   The NEA refers to them as the “Four Cs,” which stand for critical thinking, communication, collaboration and creativity.  These four behaviors are either inherent to or supportive of Bloom’s Taxonomy of Learning Domains, which are also a significant part of the CLI Model.

School improvement isn’t easy; however, CLI advocates that all districts can empower themselves to meet the challenges through well-planned and implemented processes.  School improvement is always a top priority for every school district!

There’s Something To See Here

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download_pdf_smFull of hope and excitement, we once again find ourselves at the beginning of a new school year!  As reality hits and task lists grow, the excitement may soon fade; however, there are still spectacular things happening all over the country in education, as Jay Harnack, Superintendent in Sublette County School District #1, Pinedale, Wyoming reminds us in his recent blog (reprinted here with his permission).  Are you celebrating your fireworks?

Posted on August 12, 2015 by Jay Harnack

If you’re a fan of 80’s comedies like I am, you count Naked Gun as one of the classics.  The “Nothing to See Here” scene in this film is one of my favorites.   Police Lt. Frank Drebin arrives on the scene of an exploding fireworks factory (where there is plenty to see) and emphatically states, “Move on, nothing to see here, please disperse!”   As a movie character, its Drebin’s propensity to miss the obvious that makes him funny.

Well folks, there are a lot of fireworks going off in terms of student performance in Wyoming, and I sincerely hope that we aren’t about to have Drebin moment.

As an educator, I’ve been keen to point out that test results are merely a snapshot in time, and the success of students should not be based solely on these kinds of tests.

After the Wyoming Supreme Court cases on education funding significantly increased the funding level for all school districts, the expectation from legislators and the media was that student performance would rapidly increase.  It didn’t, and during this time it was quite common to hear concerns from legislators and the media that Wyoming was not getting a good “bang for the buck” when it comes to education.  And in truth, we weren’t.  But like all good investments, the return on the investment is rarely immediate.

Wyoming educators of all description have asked for patience, noting that change takes time.  As a superintendent, I can speak personally to the fact that change in education does take time.  This is an industry that deals with human performance factors, and changing the factors that positively influence teaching and learning requires a lot of professional development, as well as changes in practice and behaviors; endeavors that are certainly time intensive.

But fireworks are beginning to go off.   A press release from the Wyoming Education Association noted that Senators Coe and Wasserburger, along with Representatives Northrup and Connolly, returned from the Council of State Governments-West (CSG West), and shared some positive numbers regarding education in Wyoming, that were presented to them in late July. Senator Coe and Representative Northrup are the co-chairs for the Education Committee. Dr. Julian Vasquez Heilig, Professor of Education leadership and Policy Studies at the California Sacramento State University presented numbers to the CSG-West showing Wyoming leading the Western states in NAEP/TIMSS Science scores and sixth in the world. Wyoming’s NAEP/TIMMS Math scores also ranked first in the Western states and eighth in the world.  The statistical calculations by the National Center for Educational Statistics also show that Wyoming is statistically tied for number two in the world in Science, behind Finland.

Unlike our state-wide student assessments, the NAEP/TIMMS test is a stable, nationally recognized assessment, given world-wide.  Unlike our current state-wide student assessment, it can be used to make comparisons between the performance of Wyoming students and students in other states and countries.

The gains made by Wyoming schools the past few years, particularly in Math and Science, are no joke.  Second in the world in Science!  Sixth in the world in Math!   These results represent a lot of hard work by educators all across Wyoming, and I can only wonder if the same degree of effort will be made by our legislators and newspapers in acknowledging our successes, as was exerted in noting the lack of progress.   There are some significant fireworks to see here, and I genuinely hope that, collectively, we don’t seek to temper the good news.

FireworkThat being said, there’s a broader point to be made.  As an educator, I’ve been keen to point out that test results are merely a snapshot in time, and the success of students should not be based solely on these kinds of tests.  It was all too easy for our critics to point to selected test scores and say that Wyoming education was failing.  It would be just as easy for the K-12 education community to note these high scores and take our foot off the gas.  Neither success, nor failure, are permanent states of being in education, and an over-reaction to either is detrimental to continuous improvement.

These scores are great news.  They are fireworks.  They are definitely something to see, and we should celebrate them.  They are not however, arrival at our destination, or the finale.  They are a way point on the road to continued success, just as failure is a different kind of way point on the same road.    We still have a lot of work to do, but when educators, legislators, and members of the media all begin to place both failure and success within the context of process, rather than product, I believe we will ignite even greater student achievement growth in Wyoming.