Chapter 1: Cultivating Community, Culture, and Learning

Chapter 1: Cultivating Community, Culture, and Learning Dr. Rob Anderson Spring 2011

Agenda • Sign up for presentations • Review of APA Style 6th Edition • Student Examples • Chapter One: Cultivating Community, Culture and Learning • Guest Speaker: Claudia Vogt, Principal of Conway Middle School

Major Themes • Developing a Professional Learning Community focused on learning outcomes • Fostering a positive school culture that promotes PLC’s and learning for all students • Response to Intervention (RTI) • Principal as the role of instructional leader

Florida Principal Leadership Standards Standard 1: Student Learning Results. Effective school leaders achieve results on the school’s student learning goals. • The school’s learning goals are based on the state’s adopted student academic standards and the district’s adopted curricula; and • Student learning results are evidenced by the student performance and growth on statewide assessments; district-determined assessments that are implemented by the district under Section 1008.22, F.S.; international assessments; and other indicators of student success adopted by the district and state. Standard 2: Student Learning as a Priority.Effective school leaders demonstrate that student learning is their top priority through leadership actions that build and support a learning organization focused on student success. The leader: • Enables faculty and staff to work as a system focused on student learning; • Maintains a school climate that supports student engagement in learning; • Generates high expectations for learning growth by all students; and • Engages faculty and staff in efforts to close learning performance gaps among student subgroups within the school.

Redefinition of the Role of Today’s Principal • Expected to be “change agents” • Leading from the center vs. the top • Teacher empowerment • Site-based decision making • Developing Professional Learning Communities

Creating a Professional Learning Community • Performing as a Professional Learning Community is a key to school improvement • PLC members must share a common vision and understanding of how to “make it happen” • Empowerment and shared decision making

Keys to creating a PLC • Mission Statement • Defining purpose • Develop a Vision • Who is it that we hope to become? • Develop value statements • Attitudes, behaviors and commitments • Establish goals • Measurable, usually quantitative vs. qualitative

PLC’s in action – Adali Stevenson HS. • Richard DuFour • To create a professional learning community, focus on learning rather than teaching, work collaboratively, and hold yourself accountable for results. • Author of Professional Learning Communities at Work Best Practices for Enhancing Student Achievement • Founder of PLC movement

Professional Learning Communities • A lot of schools claim to have PLC’s but do they??? • Takes time, can’t start as an “initiative” during preplanning and expect results • A true PLC continues to run even after a principal/school administrator leaves – bigger than any one person • Providing PLC’s with the autonomy that they need to thrive is difficult when faced with a multitude of mandates

School Culture • Contains all of the beliefs, feelings behaviors and symbols that are characteristic of an organization • Observed Behavioral Regularities • Norms • Dominant Values • Philosophy • Rules • Feelings

Pair and Share: School Culture • What artifacts can be looked at to assess a school’s culture? • How could an internal versus an external assessment differ when analyzing a school’s culture? • Who determines a school culture and how can it be changed? • How important is school culture and what are the direct and indirect impacts?

Maintaining School Culture • Hiring staff • Orientation • Job Mastery • Reward and Control Systems • Adherence to Values • Reinforcing Folklore • Consistent Role Models

Principal as Instructional Leader • Increased focus on student learning • Encouraging Collaboration • Analyzing Results • Providing Support • Aligning Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment

For Next Week • Read Chapter 2 • Work on Leadership Book Report and presentation

Chapter 1: Cultivating Community, Culture, and Learning