Linda E. Lee

1. Linda E. Lee Vice-President Proactive Information Services Inc. Winnipeg, Canada www.proactive.mb.ca

2. Client Overview Helping Clients Make a Difference … since 1984 Examples of Linda E. Lee’s Clients • UNICEF, Bosnia & Herzegovina • Manitoba School Improvement Program (MSIP) • Soros Foundation Network Programs • International Step by Step Association • Open Society Institute, Budapest • Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) • Ministries of Education • Schools and Local School Districts • Fundacion Leer, Argentina • Other Foundations and NGOs

3. Countries I have worked in: Argentina Lithuania Bosnia and Herzegovina Macedonia Bulgaria St. Vincent and the Grenadines Canada Serbia Croatia Slovakia Czech Republic Slovenia Dominica Hungary plus: teams from Latvia, Montenegro

4. Linda E. Lee

5. Outcomes for Presentation • Participants will be introduced to a framework for school improvement. • Participants will gain a greater understanding of the variety of data that can be used to assess and support school improvement initiatives.

6. What is school improvement? • Why improve schools?

7. School improvement is an approach to educational change that has two purposes: • enhancing student learning outcomes, • strengthening the school’s capacity for managing change.

8. The core of school improvement is the creation of equity and quality, coupled with the belief that all children can learn under the appropriate conditions.- Linda E. Lee and Susan Rona, 2004.

10. High Expectations for All Students Five Things to Remember • All children can learn, given the appropriate conditions. • Socio-economic status is a strong predictor of school success, but too much focus can take the responsibility away from schools. • An effective and democratic school is inclusive of all students, including children with disabilities, children who are socio-economically disadvantaged, or children who belong to a minority. • Hold high expectations of all students – “raising and levelling the bar.” • School improvement can and should support equity and social justice. Society will benefit from having a larger proportion of its population well-educated and able to act as responsible, contributing citizens.

11. I like school ... VOLIM RADITI U ŠKOLI... I like research, group work and when we experiment because then we are all together.” “What I like the most is that we have fun while learning!” “I like when we celebrate something in classroom. For example, when we celebrated that we all learned to count up to 100.” “I love Monday!”

12. Build Internal Capacity for Change • Create skill sets and change attitudes • Engage in ongoing inquiry and reflection • Create coherence and integration

13. Assessing School Improvement Fundamental Questions • What do you value? • What do you hope to achieve? • How will you know when you have achieved it? • How will you use what you know? Linda E. Lee

14. Examples of Sources and Methods • observation checklist of student behaviours • teacher questionnaire • parent focus groups • interviews with children • existing achievement information • student portfolios • visual evidence

20. In my picture there are flowers, a man, and a coloured house with a chimney, windows, and a lamp coloured in blue and green … I like to look at the flowers … it is a little bit sad because somebody has beaten the man; he is crying and there are tears.

21. Thank you! linda@proactive.mb.ca