Building A New Box To Think In

Raymond J. McNulty, President

International Center for Leadership in Education

Waukesha, Wisconsin

Nov 15, 2010

The Boston Globe

Ray, reading the paper on your “Kindle” or online just

isn’t the same!

Almost everyone wants schools to be better,

but almost no one wants them to be different.

Teacher – Student Comparisons

T – I make learning exciting for my students.

86%

S – My teachers make learning fun.

41%

“The future is not some place we are going to, but one we (you) arecreating. The paths are not found,

but made, and the activity of making them, changes both the

maker and the destination.”--John Schaar

Henry Ford quote…

• “If I had asked the public what they wanted, they would have said a faster horse.”

The Horse

The Automobile

Current System

Something Different

We have been the OBJECTS of change for

an extended period of time now.

Superman ?

Stop waiting for Superman! … EDUCATORS –Can and

must become the SUPER HEROS!!!

WE need to become the AGENTS of change.

School leadership is a disposition for taking action..

International Center’s Definition of Leadership

Why I do this work….

The work becomes more difficult.

• School improvement is a process of uncovering and solving progressively more difficult challenges around student learning

(low hanging fruit theory)

This requires new learning from the adults.

Detecting improvement

• Changes in student performance lag behind changes in the quality of instructional practices. Changes in the classrooms are visible before you see them in external measures.

• Leading and Lagging Indicators

First practice must change, then policy

will change.

So what’s stopping us?How do we get ahead?

THEMES• Strategic Plan and Strategy

• The Challenge We Face

• Why Is It So Hard To Change?

• Best Practices, Next Practices and Innovation

• Empowerment

• Closing Thoughts

THEME

• Strategic Plan and Strategy

Just because you have the word strategic in your plan, it doesn’t

mean you have a strategy.

Strategic Planning v. Strategy

• Strategic plans are designed around large numbers of goals and initiatives. (usually too many)

• Strategy is a set of actions an organization chooses to pursue in order to achieve its objectives.

Strategic Planning v. Strategy

• Strategic planning is intended to be the vehicle for developing strategy.

• Strategy is about filtering the noise in these complex systems and deciding what must be done on behalf of the students and learning.

Strategic Plan -- -- Strategy

• Takes a broad incremental approach

• Includes discrete, unrelated initiatives

• Addresses an external audience

• Focuses on doing a few things well

• Integrates a few key initiatives

• Addresses an internal audience

THEME

• The Challenge We Face

In many cases, our efforts to transform education look

much like the original system.

SHREDDIES

We have a flawed perspective of always listening to our best

customers… They tell us how good the system is working for

them!

BANKING

• Sears

• IBM

• Digital…. “In Search of Excellence”

• Xerox

Schools are Improving

School Improvement

Schools are Improving

School Improvement

Changing World

National Essential Skills Study

NESS StudySubgroup Rankings

ELA Skill: Write clear and concise directions or procedures.

Group Rank

Overall 9

Business/Industry 2

Other Non-educators 10

English Language Arts Teachers

Other Educators 8

NESS StudySubgroup Rankings

ELA Skill: Write clear and concise directions or procedures.

Group Rank

Overall 9

Business/Industry 2

Other Non-educators 10

English Language Arts Teachers 25

Other Educators 8

NESS StudySubgroup Rankings

ELA Skill: Give clear and concise oral directions.

Group Rank

Overall 7

Business/Industry 3

Other Non-educators 9

English Language Arts Teachers

Other Educators 7

NESS StudySubgroup Rankings

ELA Skill: Give clear and concise oral directions.

Group Rank

Overall 7

Business/Industry 3

Other Non-educators 9

English Language Arts Teachers 28

Other Educators 7

NESS StudySubgroup Rankings

Math Skill: Apply the Pythagorean Theorem to right triangles.

Group Rank

Overall 20

Business/Industry 29

Other Non-educators 31

Mathematics Teachers

Other Educators 24

NESS StudySubgroup Rankings

Math Skill: Apply the Pythagorean Theorem to right triangles.

Group Rank

Overall 20

Business/Industry 29

Other Non-educators 31

Mathematics Teachers 4

Other Educators 24

NESS StudySubgroup Rankings

Math Skill: Understand accuracy and precision of measurement, round off numbers according to the correct number of significant figures, and determine percent error.

Group Rank

Overall 12

Business/Industry 3

Other Non-educators 10

Mathematics Teachers

Other Educators 8

NESS StudySubgroup Rankings

Math Skill: Understand accuracy and precision of measurement, round off numbers according to the correct number of significant figures, and determine percent error.

Group Rank

Overall 12

Business/Industry 3

Other Non-educators 10

Mathematics Teachers 30

Other Educators 8

The primary aim of education is not to enable students to do well in school, but to help them do well in the lives they lead outside of school.

We’ve created false proxies for learning…

• Finishing a course or textbook has come to mean achievement

• Listening to lecture has come to mean understanding

• Getting a high score on a standardized test has come to mean proficiency

Learning should have its roots in..

• Meaning, not just memory

• Engagement, not simply transmission

• Inquiry, not only compliance

• Exploration, not just acquisition

• Personalization, not simply uniformity

• Collaboration, not only competition

• Trust, not fear

• Basic Knowledge/Skills

• English Language (spoken)

• Reading Comprehension • (in English)• Writing in English • (grammar, spelling, etc.)• Mathematics

• Science

• Government/Economics

• Humanities/Arts

• Foreign Languages

• History/Geography

“Are They Really Ready To Work?”

Applied Skills

•Critical Thinking/Problem Solving

•Oral Communication

•Written Communication

•Teamwork/Collaboration

•Diversity

•Information Technology Application

•Leadership

•Creativity/Innovation

•Lifelong Learning/Self Direction

•Professionalism/Work Ethic

•Ethics/Social Responsibility

We forget some of the most important issues when we try to

change (transform) our work.

We need more artists, so here’s our plan.

REQUIRE ALL HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS TO TAKE MORE ART!

We need more scientists and mathematicians, so here’s our

plan.

REQUIRE ALL HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS

TO TAKE MORE MATH AND SCIENCE!

What Works Best?

• REQUIRE

• MANDATE

• FORCE

• EMPOWER

• CREATE PASSION

• MOTIVATE

Mullis

MOTIVATIONEMPOWERMENT

MOTIVATION

Motivation is a key ingredient for success in learning.

“Empowerment and Motivation” are soft words,

people often question their importance because we can’t

accurately measure them.

We live in a world obsessed with science, predictability and control.

Some people believe if we can’t measure something, it must not

count!

We must consider the possibility that if we can’t purely measure something, it might be the very

most important thing!

Talking with kids…

It’s not us against them!

THEME

• Why is it so hard to change?

Why is it so hard to change?

• The more successful a system is, the more difficult it is to recognize when it must change. By example, market leaders are the last ones to transform.

• The American Education System, “The market leader during the industrial era!”

Market Leader Thinking

• Dominant logic: “That’s the way we do things here.”

Mental Locks

• We don’t need to be creative for most of what we do (driving, shopping, business of living). So staying on routine thought paths enables us to do many things without having to think about it.

• Our training in school life has taught us that there is one right answer.

• The Right Answer

The Second Right Answer

• What is the answer?

• What are the answers?

• What is the meaning of this?

• What are the meanings?

• What is the result?

• What are the results?

• The Right Answer

• That’s not logical

• SOFT • HARD

• Logic• Metaphor• Dream• Reason• Precision• Humor• Consistency• Ambiguity• Play• Work• Exact• Approximate

• Direct• Focused• Fantasy• Reality• Paradox• Diffuse• Analysis• Hunch• Generalization• Specifics• Child• Adult

• SOFT• Metaphor• Dream• Humor• Ambiguity• Play• Approximate• Fantasy• Paradox• Diffuse• Hunch• Generalization• Child

• HARD• Logic• Reason• Precision• Consistency• Work• Exact• Reality• Direct• Focused• Analysis• Specific• Adult

• SOFT

• Shades of gray

• Hard to pick up

• Many answers

• Flood light, diffused

• HARD

• Black and white

• Easy to pick up

• Right answer

• Focused like a spot light

Cat - Refrigerator

THEME

• Best Practices, Next Practices and Innovation

AYP

Research Based Successful PracticesTight Tight

Critical PointRemain Tight TightEmpowerTight Loose

Best Practices to

Next Practices

Best practices allow you to do what you are currently doing

a little better,

while next practices increase your organization’s capability to do things that it has never done

before.

Best Practices• Research Based• Imitation• Copy• Replication• Successful Practices Network

Best Practices

• Read 180

• I Can Learn

• Learning Together

NEXT PRACTICES

Best practices allow you to do what you are currently doing

a little better,

while next practices increase your organization’s capability to do things that it has never

done before.

Expertise can sometimes be a road block to problem solving and

the development of “Next Practices”.

Experts see their points as critical to resolution, without sometimes

valuing the thinking of others.

System Innovation

Sustaining Innovation

Next Practice

Disruptive Innovation

Marshmallow Challenge

NEXT PRACTICE THINKING

• The Iterative Process

• Versions

• Create a disciplined, managed space for development of new ways to accomplish difficult tasks

It’s very tough to get people to work in a system that is transforming itself

because :

• not easy

• not linear

• not predictable

• requires deep commitment

• requires high levels of thinking

• requires high levels of collaboration

College and Career Readiness Defined

• Cognitive strategies: Intellectual openness; inquisitiveness; analysis; interpretation; precision and accuracy; problem solving; and reasoning, argumentation, and proof.

• Content knowledge: Understanding the structures and large organizing concepts of the academic disciplines, resting upon strong research and writing abilities.

• Academic behaviors: Self-management, time management, strategic study skills, accurate perceptions of one’s true performance, persistence, ability to utilize study groups, self-awareness, self-control, and intentionality.

• Contextual skills and knowledge: Facility with application and financial-aid processes and the ability to acculturate to college.

David Conley

Next Practices

• Penn Foster

• Princeton Review

• Expert Space

• Expert 21

The Learning Criteria to Support 21st Century Learners ©

More Next Practices

Multiple Reading Scaffolds

Lexile Level:Lexile Level:600-800600-800

Lexile Level:Lexile Level:800-1000800-1000

Lexile Level:Lexile Level:1000-12001000-1200

Spanish TranslationsSpanish Translations

THEME

• Empowerment

“Empowerment” is a soft word,people often question its

importance because we can’t accurately measure it.

The Candle Problem

Daniel Pink : Motivation

• Autonomy

• Mastery

• Purpose

Motivation and Empowerment

• Passion to work for reasons beyond money and status

• Strong drive to achieve

• Optimism, even in the face of failure

• Organizational commitment

1 2 3 4 5

456

321

Bloom’sBloom’s

ApplicationApplication

CC D D

AA B B

20th Century

21th Century

THEMES• Strategic Plan and Strategy

• The Challenge We Face

• Why Is It So Hard To Change?

• Best Practices, Next Practices and Innovation

• Empowerment

• Closing Thoughts

The system is not to blame, we are, for not adapting it to our ever

changing world.

I can’t imagine anything worse than looking back at the opportunity before us in

education and thinking we blew it!

Building A New Box To Think In

Raymond J. McNulty, President

International Center for Leadership in Education

Waukesha, Wisconsin

Nov 15, 2010