Leadership in Reading First: A principled team
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Transcript of Leadership in Reading First: A principled team
Leadership in Reading First: A principled team
Sharon Walpole
University of Delaware
Introductions and Some History
1997-98: Data for Beat the Odds study collected1998-99: Beat the Odds study data analyzed;
dissertation data collected; REA authorized1999-00: Instructional coordinator with experienced
principal; REA federal reviewer; REA staff visits; REA work in Iowa and Georgia
2000-01: Instructional coordinator with inexperienced principal; Reading Rockets documentary filmed
2001-02: REA coordinator at neighboring school2002-03: Move to Delaware2003-04: LC Handbook; Reading First in Delaware2004-05: Reading First in Georgia; ERRFTAC consultant
What’s Happening with Coaching?• Several different models that vary as to their focus
(school or classroom) and their content (reform or improvement)
• IRA is teaming with researchers interested in coaching (e.g., Rita Bean, Cathy Toll, Camille Blachowitz, Sharon Walpole) to survey coaches and produce a descriptive document– General stance: Coaches need ongoing support in a
variety of areas• IRA and NCTE are teaming to draft standards for
coaching (Bean, Walpole, Farstrup)• One sure thing – coordination is essential
What’s Happened in DE?
Year 1: Developed PD plan for coaches and beginning state-level monitoring
Year 2: PD for coaches separated from monitoring
Reapplication: Individualized plans for each district
Year 3: PD for coaches and principals together plus additional PD for coaches
Literacy Coach’s FocusIn Data Analysis
ProgramEvaluation
Regrouping
Form needs-basedgroups for classroom
instruction
Assign children to interventions
To what extent is my program keepingBenchmark children at benchmark?
Choose instructional emphasis
To what extent is small-group workmoving strategic children to benchmark?
To what extent is my program movingIntensive children to benchmark?
To what extent are classroom effectsapparent?
Literacy Coach’s FocusIn Data Analysis
Regrouping
Form needs-basedgroups for classroom
instruction
Assign children to interventions
Choose instructional emphasis
Which DIBELS reportsshould I use?
Do you have curriculum materials to accomplish this?
Literacy Coach’s FocusIn Data Analysis
ProgramEvaluation
To what extent is my program keepingBenchmark children at benchmark?
To what extent is small-group workmoving strategic children to benchmark?
To what extent is my program movingIntensive children to benchmark?
To what extent are classroom effectsapparent?
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
K 1 2 3
At Risk
Some Risk
Benchmark
State-Level Year-End Data, 2004-05
General Impressions
1. We are increasingly successful in prevention-based instruction in Kindergarten
2. We need to continue to experiment in intervention, particularly for second and third grade
Consider time, focus, and explicitness for needs-based work?Consider additional intervention programs?
Cross-Sectional Analysis
How well are the kindergarten children this year doing compared to last year?– Did they start out stronger or weaker?– Did they make more or less progress between
fall and winter?
And yes, these are different children, but the teachers are the same and the program is the same
For Kindergarten
Beginning of kindergarten status includes weighted combinations of measures
Middle kindergarten directs attention to initial sound fluency
End of kindergarten directs attention to phoneme segmentation fluency
*You have to look at your own data, considering all measures, to really evaluate your program
State K Cross-Section
Fall 2003 Winter 2004 Spring 2004
I
31%
S
43%
B
26%
I
30%
S
40%
B
30%
I
24%
S
34%
B
42%
Fall 2004 Winter 2005
(ISF)
Spring 2005
(PSF)
I
30%
S
42%
B
27%
I
15%
S
46%
B
38%
I
8%
S
18%
B
74%
For first grade
Beginning of first grade status includes weighted combinations of measures
Middle first grade directs attention to nonsense word fluency
End of first grade directs attention to oral reading fluency
*You have to look at your own data, considering all measures, to really evaluate your program
State 1 Cross-Section
Fall 2003 Winter 2004 Spring 2004
I
33%
S
32%
B
36%
I
32%
S
30%
B
39%
I
25%
S
30%
B
45%
Fall 2004 Winter 2005
(NWF)
Spring 2005
(ORF)
I
19%
S
29%
B
53%
I
13%
S
40%
B
48%
I
16%
S
26%
B
58%
For Second Grade
Beginning of second grade status includes weighted combinations of measures
Middle second grade directs attention to oral reading fluency
End of second grade directs attention to oral reading fluency
*You have to use the cognitive model of assessment to interpret these data
State 2 Cross-Section
Fall 2003 Winter 2004 Spring 2004
I
27%
S
32%
B
42%
I
32%
S
18%
B
50%
I
38%
S
22%
B
40%
Fall 2004 Winter 2005 Spring 2005
I
21%
S
32%
B
47%
I
22%
S
19%
B
59%
I
26%
S
20%
B
54%
For Third Grade
Third grade data include only oral reading fluency
*You have to use the cognitive model of assessment to interpret these data
State 3 Cross-Section
Fall 2003 Winter 2004 Spring 2004
I
25%
S
31%
B
44%
I
33%
S
34%
B
33%
I
28%
S
40%
B
33%
Fall 2004 Winter 2005 Spring 2005
I
26%
S
35%
B
40%
I
27%
S
31%
B
42%
I
20%
S
38%
B
41%
Cohort Analysis
Given children’s experience at your school over time, to what extent is your instructional program actually accelerating literacy growth over time?
(and you are right when you say it’s not EXACTLY the same children if your population is highly transient)
State Cohort K-1
Fall 2003 Winter 2004 Spring 2004
I
31%
S
43%
B
26%
I
30%
S
40%
B
30%
I
24%
S
34%
B
42%
Fall 2004 Winter 2005
(NWF)
Spring 2005
I
19%
S
29%
B
53%
I
13%
S
40%
B
48%
I
16%
S
26%
B
58%
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
F03 W04 S04 F04 W05 S05
K-1 Benchmark %
State Cohort 1-2
Fall 2003 Winter 2004 Spring 2004
I
33%
S
32%
B
36%
I
32%
S
30%
B
39%
I
25%
S
30%
B
45%
Fall 2004 Winter 2005
(ORF)
Spring 2005
I
21%
S
32%
B
47%
I
22%
S
19%
B
59%
I
26%
S
20%
B
54%
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
F03 W04 S04 F04 W05 S05
1-2 Benchmark
State Cohort 2-3
Fall 2003 Winter 2004 Spring 2004
I
27%
S
32%
B
42%
I
32%
S
18%
B
50%
I
38%
S
22%
B
40%
Fall 2004 Winter 2005 Spring 2005
I
26%
S
35%
B
39%
I
27%
S
31%
B
42%
I
20%
S
38%
B
41%
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
50
F03 W04 S04 F04 W05 S05
2-3 Benchmark
Questions for Leaders
• To what extent have you set and communicated the plan?
• To what extent are teachers understanding and implementing the curriculum?
• How are they using time?• How are they monitoring progress and adjusting
their instruction and groupings?• How well are they using intervention options?
For Coaches
If you’re not getting the results you want, you have to do something different.
Start with yourself
Work more closely with administration.
Spend more time in classrooms.
Focus your pd time on differentiation.
What leadership lessons have been learned at ERRFTAC?
PD on PD – a tall order
1. Respectful of participantsCombination of formal presentation and time for you
to talk and plan
2. Informed by the research on PDContent, process, context
Teacher change, student achievement
Evaluation
3. Concrete example
4. Time for reflection
What do you bring to your team?What do you need from your team?• SBRR knowledge of development?
• SBRR knowledge of instruction?
• Research on adult learning?
• Research on professional development?
• Research on school change? Teacher change?
• Research on leadership?
• Experience in these areas?
Guskey, T. R., & Sparks, D. (1996). Exploring the Relationship between Staff Development and Improvements in Student Learning. Journal of Staff Development, 17(4), 34-38.
Content
Process
Context
Quality of StaffDevelopment
Parent Knowledge/Practice
Connections withFamilies
TeacherKnowledge/Practice
School CultureSupervision/Evaluation
AdministratorKnowledge/Practice
Parent Education
School Policies
ImprovedAchievement
Planning for Quality
Content
Process
Context
Quality of StaffDevelopment
Impact of Quality
Quality of StaffDevelopment
Parent Knowledge/Practice
Connections with Families
Teacher Knowledge/Practice
School Culture Supervision/Evaluation
Administrator Knowledge/Practice
Parent Education
Road to Achievement
Parent Knowledge/Practice
TeacherKnowledge/Practice
AdministratorKnowledge/Practice
School Policies
ImprovedAchievement
From Staff Development to Student Learning
(Guskey & Sparks, 1996)
Content
Process
Context
Quality of StaffDevelopment
Parent Knowledge/Practice
Connections withFamilies
TeacherKnowledge/Practice
School CultureSupervision/Evaluation
AdministratorKnowledge/Practice
Parent Education
School Policies
ImprovedAchievement
Successful School Reform is …
Specific The program is sufficiently detailed.
Powerful The program produces results.
Authoritative Leadership is involved and informed.
Consistent The program is uniformly implemented.
Stable The program is not changed without reason.
Desimone, L. (2002). How can comprehensive school reform models be successfully implemented? Review of Educational Research, 72,433–479.
A teacher change process(Guskey, 1986)
Change teachers’ beliefs and attitudes
Study student outcomes
Change teachers’ practices
PD TargetAreas
Bottom Line: Student Achievement
+ Teacher Practice
Organizational Support
Participant Learning
Participant Reactions
Thomas Guskey, Educational Leadership, March 2002.
Ongoing Evaluation of PD efforts
Joseph Murphy, in Leadership for Literacy: Research-Based Practice, PreK-3 (2003, Corwin Press), summarizes key qualities possessed by principals of schools where achievement is strong.
The Effective RF Principal
An effective principal
A Real School story . . .
(how I got into the schoolwide business)
The More-Effective Principal And in real life . . .
The More-Effective Principal The Less-Effective Principal
The More-Effective Principal The Less-Effective Principal
Setting Goals
The More-Effective Principal My principal
Has a more child-centered vision Knew every child and
every family
Sets manageable, realistic goals Targeted a specific
dimension
Sees student performance as central Collected, analyzed his own
data
Expresses goals in measurable terms Talked the numbers,
questioned
Uses goals for planning Not the feds, not the
district . . .
Asks parents & staff to help set goals Had a “kitchen cabinet”
Communicating Goals
The More-Effective Principal My principal
Periodically reviews & discusses Established the concept
of state of school
Actively clarifies goals Served as a sounding board
Has teachers who know goals Created excitement and shared
vocab
Has teachers who see themselves Believed in his staffas good instructors
Promoting Quality Instruction
The More-Effective Principal My principal
Insists on certain teaching strategies Established a schoolwide
reading
program
Favors interactive teaching Corrected my modeling
Assigns teachers on the basis of Regularly switched
grade levelsimproving achievement
Supervising Instruction
The More-Effective Principal My principal
Relies little on formal observations MBWA
Values informal visits and meetings Every classroom every
day
Often reads about instruction Sometimes crazy things!
Often provides specific feedback Reading specialist himself
Counsels and assists poor teachers Including out of teaching!
Allocating Instructional Time
The More-Effective Principal My principal
Carefully sets time allocations 90 minutes, cross grade
Coordinates time allocations Entire school schedule reframedacross teachers
Schedules more instructional and fewerReading instruction never
cancelled
non-instructional activities
Insists on time for basics DIET of words, fluency,
comp
Protects uninterrupted block Every day, every classroom
Coordinating the Curriculum
The More-Effective Principal My principal
Is highly involved in curriculum After reading, writing, then
science and
alignment social studies
Is concerned with the continuity Empowered gifted
education specialistof curriculum from grade to grade
Monitoring Student Progress
The More-Effective Principal My principal
Supports testing programs Taught me about progress
monitoring
Provides test results to teachers Regrouping from the office In a timely manner
Discusses results with groups and Constant evaluation of
groupingindividual teachers
Encourages teachers to use test Used student achievement
results toresults to plan instruction discuss instructional quality
Setting Expectations
The More-Effective Principal My principal
Holds adults accountable for student Never blamed families or childrenlearning outcomes
Requires mastery of grade-level Retention in first gradeskills for promotion to next grade
Being Visible
The More-Effective Principal My principal
Is often out of the office It can wait
Makes an effort to move about Eyes everywherethe campus and in and out ofclassrooms
Providing Incentives
The More-Effective Principal My principal
Recognizes teachers with rewards Had favoritessuch as distributing leadership showing personal interest making public acknowledgements giving private praise
Ensures that student rewards are Thought about other
important areasfrequent and they they go to a large percentage of students
Focuses rewards on achievement Grades tied to status on grade level
Promoting PD
The More-Effective Principal My principal
Is more likely to be directly involved Took 2 graduate classes
with me!in PD activities
Follows up by ensuring that PD Forced me to have outcomesmethods are implemented
Cobbles temporary coalitions Had realistic expectations; knewof teachers to help implement who would struggle
Encourages professional dialogue Set up grade-level PD
during the day
Helps teachers attend conferences Sent people as a reward
Creating a Safe & OrderlyLearning Environment
The More-Effective Principal My principal
Works with teachers to develop If they needed itclassroom management skills
Establishes a clear and consistent Not perfect at thatdisciplinary policy
Enforces discipline fairly and That eitherconsistently
Involves teachers and students Sets rules independentlyIn setting rules
Creating a Safe & OrderlyLearning Environment
The More-Effective Principal My principal
Confronts problems quickly and Very personalforcefully
Supports teachers with discipline Is unsympathetic to
teachers withproblems discipline problems
Promoting Collaboration
The More-Effective Principal My principal
Encourages teamwork and Reading program forced itcollaborative efforts
Gives faculty a formal role in For those who wanted itdecision making
Informally seeks teachers’ ideas Kitchen cabinetand opinions
Securing Outside Resources
The More-Effective Principal My principal
Is skilled at influencing district Renegadedecision making about resources
Actively seeks resources Magic of partnerships
Assertively recruits the best Renegadeteachers (even from other schools)
Allocates money based on goals Always saved some
money
Linking Home and School
The More-Effective Principal My principal
Communicates with parents on a Differentiated strategiesregular basis
Involves parents in school activities Differentiated strategies
Establishes programs that promote Calls home; home visits;
African-parent-teacher interaction American history night
Promotes the school to Churches, university, local
sportscommunity groups
Provides ways parents can learn Families Learning
Togetherabout school and help their children
In RF there are at least three of you . . .
Principal
Literacy Coach
LEA Representative
What do you want to change in your school?
How can you do it together?
Reading First is aboutBuilding Capacity for Leadership
State Reading Team
County Coordinators
Coaches and Principals
Teachers
Taylor, Pearson, Clark, & Walpole, 2000
CIERA’s Beat the Odds Study
The most effective schools had– Strong links to parents– Systematic internal assessment systems– Systems for communication and collaboration– Small-group interventions across the grades– Ongoing professional development
None of these things is possible without strong leadership
I review 3 sources of
guidance for leaders
You reflect with your team
You consider your own
strengths and weaknesses
Principals helpto plan for their
CoachSession
Plan
Sources of Guidance
Leadership in SchoolImprovement
Georgia REA Experience
Recent RFGuidance
What does the literature say about the role of the principal in school improvement?
Instructional
Leader
Collaborative
Leader
Transformational
Leader
Managing, guiding
curriculum and instruction
directly
Creating a system for
shared decision-making
Both leading directly and
sharing decision-making
Or Maybe a Systems Thinker?
Michael Fullan, 2005
A person capable of participating in the reform of a system (a school nested in a district nested in a state) by interacting with and supporting the development of other leaders
Or Maybe a Systems Thinker
A person capable of participating in the reform of a system (a school nested in a district nested in a state) by interacting with and supporting the development of other leaders
State
District
School
Principals: What is the leadership model that guides you?
Please take 10 minutes to discuss your leadership training or philosophy with your LC.
The main mark of an effective principal
is not just his or her impact on
the bottom line of student achievement, but also on how many leaders he or she
leaves behind who can go even
further (Fullan, 2005, p. 31).
In DERF
We need RF principals to be systems thinkers, training and empowering their literacy coaches to be leaders. Not generic leaders, but leaders in that particular RF principal’s school doing work that is consistent with the principal’s vision for RF in the building.
Fullan argues that effective leaders
create positive energy
Energy Creators
Act enthusiastic, positive
Think critically, creatively, and imaginatively
Help others to think and do
Are leaders at all levels
Are reflective and honest about their own work
Always strive to do better
Energy Neutrals Energy Consumers
Are competent
Are task-oriented
Are good at keeping things working
Don’t like others to reflect on their work
Can improve on their own
Are negative
Don’t like change, block change
Take up other people’s time
Don’t feel good about their work
Won’t, can’t reflect on their own practice
Don’t seem to want to improve
Think a minute
In your own RF leadership role, what’s one way you can move from either a neutral or a consumer to a producer of energy?
When it comes to sustainability, each level above you helps or hinders (it is rarely neutral) (Fullan, 2005, p.65).
State
District
Principal
Literacy Coach
Teacher
Think a minute
Given your own place in our system, to what extent are you helping individuals in the level below you? What is one way that you can improve?
I have learned as a principal the importance of backing my LC up. Last year as a first year principal I was just trying to keep my head above water. To be perfectly honest, at the very beginning of this project I just thought, “That’s your department. You handle that,” and then I discovered that I couldn’t do that.
Task #1
LEA Reps Principals Literacy Coaches
How can you increase your support to principals?
How can you increase your support to your Literacy Coach?
How can you increase your support to your teachers?
Sources of Guidance
Leadership in SchoolImprovement
Georgia REA Experience
Recent RFGuidance
Georgia REA Experience
Enter the Literacy Coach
Perhaps an inexperienced leader?
Perhaps leading a fairly complex set of
changes in curriculum and assessment?
Perhaps constantly negotiating his or her role at school?
I know what she has contributed to our language arts program just through the assistance she has provided teachers. I know that my assistant principal and I could not do that. We have 55 teachers in our school and 35 classrooms, 750 students. There’s no way that the two of us could provide the instructional support that the teachers need.
Let’s learn from that first cohort
• How did principals define the role of the literacy coach in building-level change?
• How did partnership with an LC influence these principals’ own role?
What is a Literacy Coach?
Mentor (n=6) Director (n=8)
Classroom-level focus–Relationships–Modeling–Observing–Differentiated support
School-level focus–Vision–Scheduling–Managing–Differentiated support
•Modeling•Observing
What should your LC be?
In your building, are procedures for addressing these particular school-level RF issues already firmly in place?
Support your Empower your
LC as mentor LC as director
Yes? No?
How does partnership with an LC change a principal’s role?
Changes school schedule, for instruction and for professional development
Provides a professional development “loop” from outside the classroom to inside
Sharpens the focus of administrative observation
Changes the school climate
Allows the principal to focus on instruction
Getting the information, having the coach, being in the classrooms, doing the observations, doing the modeling, and then coming back and watching teachers and letting them share ideas—that’s the only way to perpetuate change.
I very much like the instructional part of my job and this has made me go back to what it was I wanted to do when I started being a principal. It has, really, it has. I mean it’s true. I’m in the classrooms every day.
Task #2
LEA Reps Principals Literacy Coaches
How can you provide additional support to your principals and coaches in defining their roles?
Do you want your LC to be mentor or director? How can you help?
To what extent have you been defining your role as mentor or director?
Sources of Guidance
Leadership in SchoolImprovement
Georgia REA Experience
Recent RFGuidance
North Central
Regional Educational Laboratory
(NCREL)
http://www.ncrel.org/rf/leadership/leaderguide.htm
What can Principals do in RF?
Build RF in your building!
• Provide a vision
• Set priorities
• Create ownership
• Remove barriers
• Foster peer support
• Model the behavior you want
Right now to me we have the best reading program that any school could have. And that comes from here, from my heart.
Set up the system for classroom instruction
• Continue to monitor and direct the use of commercial materials
• Set and protect your reading block
• Make sure that every teacher has what he/she needs to teach
• Make goals for the building
• Monitor through analyzing assessments and through observing instruction
Task #3
What are the strengths and weaknesses of your system for classroom instruction?
What is one thing that each of you can do to improve it?
I’ve noticed that the dialogue, the interaction, the level of discussion is much more insightful and that’s very promising to me because we keep pulling ourselves back to the research—what’s worked? what’s going to work with our kids?
Set up the system for support
• Maintain an “every classroom” focus
• Walk through or observe every day
• Direct the coach to give extra support to teachers you notice are struggling
• Make time and provide resources for training in new programs
• Meet regularly with your Coach
Task #4
What are the strengths and weaknesses of your system for support?
What is one thing that each of you can do to improve it?
Education is based on what you expect anyway, and if you expect children to do well, they’re going to do well for you. If you just say, well these kids can’t do this, they’re never going to do it. So it’s all a matter of what you expect, and I expect my teachers to continue [teaching our reading program]. I will be in those rooms. Where’s your whole group? Where is your read-aloud? Where are these small groups?
Be active in the professional development process in your building
• Keep non-aligned pd out!
• Participate in as many pd sessions as possible
• Help teachers network with one another and with teachers from other schools
• Be specific about expectations for implementation
Task #5
What are the strengths and weaknesses of your system for professional development?
What is one thing that each of you can do to improve it?
Even this week it’s really impressed me that we really cannot observe that which we don’t understand. You really need to know what you’re looking for and you need to have a deeper appreciation of it. So my role has changed in that I feel I need to be better educated in the research. My key role is to verify. Check on fidelity. You got a plan. You got some people to help you to implement that plan. I see my chief job as ensuring fidelity to whomever is working in the plan. I’m doing what I’m supposed to be doing, coach is doing what she’s supposed to be doing, teachers are doing what they’re supposed to be doing. I call that fidelity.
Be active in assessing progress
• Use school-level assessment data to identify problems in your curriculum
• Use classroom-level data to identify teachers who are struggling and to provide them extra support
• Use individual data to establish and reestablish your intervention groups
Task #6
What are the strengths and weaknesses of your system for assessing progress?
What is one thing that each of you can do to improve it?
It’s basically an informed school now, where they know what they’re doing.
One of our parents said this school is a Reading School. I think that’s what we want, if a parent can say our school is a Reading School.
Think a minute
You are the leader of this change effort. Do you want to survive it or sustain it?
After the funding . . .
The way we teach reading will not change, and we’ll continue. We’ve learned that there is so much out there to learn, and so we’ll continue to learn. I think that we’ve become -- you’ve heard the phrase -- life-long learners. And so we’ll continue to search the research and not just go by what textbook companies tell us, which is what we’ve always done in the past. I think the reading program will continue to grow in the direction of SBRR.
You are a district representative, a principal, and a coach working together. What are your goals for next year?
And how can I help you?
Please write me a note about something specific that you’d like me to address in next year’s professional development.