Learning Together for More Effective Principal Training: The Charge to the Provider PLC

1. Learning Together for More Effective Principal Training:The Charge to the Provider PLC Will Miller President, The Wallace Foundation Professional Learning Community Principal Pipeline Initiative April 18, 2013

2. Our discussion today Wallace’s approach to philanthropy Why your work is essential The charge to the PLC Meeting the challenge

3. The Wallace Approach(Our theory of change) Understand the Context (Engage with the external environment to identify knowledge gaps, field interest, and time lines) Catalyze Broad Impact (Improve practice and policy nationwide) Generate Improvements and Insights (Build promising new approaches and new evidence/knowledge)

4. Our Theory of Leverage(Tactics) • Probing Dialogue • Listen to / seek to understand key actors and institutions • Identify both formal and informal rules • Identify environmental conditions, potential leverage points, and time needed for change • Initiative Design • Think about the whole system • Identify knowledge gaps • Design grants • Clear causal connections to desired results • Selection of grantees (RFP, other) • Metrics • Knowledge Development • Knowledge synthesis • Effects evaluations • Implementation evaluations • Cost analysis • Other key research topics • Grant Management • High engagement • Technical assistance • Market research • Business planning • Formative evaluations • Capacity building • Building Networks • Engage leadership • Create synergies among grantees • Professional learning communities • Convenings • Collaboration with other funders, communications partners and organizations • Fund public/private partnerships; don’t invest in isolated efforts Principle: Wallace’s work combines the skills required by grant makers, industry associations, technical assistance organizations, and think tanks.

5. Wallace’s education leadership initiative: 2000-2010 Resulting in: • Over 70 research reports • 140 sustained, high quality initiatives (including 24 pre-service training programs) • 15 new non-profit organizations Our strategies: • 26 states; 15 main urban districts • Commissioned research to fill knowledge gaps and evaluate across sites • Professional learning communities for states, districts, partners

6. The Principal Pipeline Leadership standards High-quality aspiring leader training programs Selective hiring Evaluation and on-the-job support • District-wide scale • In support of district reform agenda High quality Aligned

7. Our discussion today Wallace’s approach to philanthropy Why your work is essential The charge to the PLC Meeting the challenge

8. Leadership key to student learning “Leadership is second only to classroom instruction among all school-related factors that contribute to what students learn at school.” -- How Leadership Influences Student Learning, Kenneth Leithwood, et al, University of Minnesota, University of Toronto, 2004 “Six years later we are even more confident about this claim.” -- Learning from Leadership: Investigating the Links to Improved Student Learning, Louis, et al, 2010

9. Principals key to teaching quality “It is the leader who both recruits and retains high quality staff. Indeed, the number one reason for teachers’ decisions about whether to stay in a school is the quality of administrative support – and it is the leader who must develop this organization.” -- Preparing School Leaders for a Changing World, Linda Darling-Hammond, et al, Stanford University, 2007

10. What effective principals do Source: The School Principal as Leader: Guiding Schools to Better Teaching and Learning, January 2012 • Shape a transformational vision of academic success for all students • Create a hospitable climate • Manage people, data and processes • Improve instruction • Lead the professional learning community • Cultivate leadership in others • Lead the leadership team

11. But: A good leader is hard to find There is no shortage of certified principals – but there is a shortage of qualified principals -- Beyond the Pipeline, 2003 50% of superintendents around the country report difficulty finding qualified principals. 61% of superintendents in urban areas can’t find the leaders they need -- Preparing School Leaders for a Changing World, 2007 There needs to be a match between the district’s needs and the leaders that the programs produce -- Districts Developing Leaders, 2010

12. Training to meet the need:An example from Columbus, IN Photo credit: Valerie Everett

13. Need for evolution – Columbus, IN Photo credit: Bisgovuk Opportunity: Keeping 3,000, well-paying, advanced manufacturing jobs in Indiana Challenge: Local colleges were not preparing graduates qualified to take those jobs

14. Successful evolution • The evolution: Colleges and Community Education Coalition developed shared vision, metrics and refined programs • The result: • From 2000 to 2010, the percentage of the county’s population with a high school degree or higher increased from 83.8% to 89.2% a • Percentage with a bachelor’s degree or higher from 22.0% to 26.7%.

15. Where we are A decade of work has identified the key components of effective training programs You have used the QM tool to measure your programs against these components You have developed plans for improvement The task at hand: Improve the programs

16. Our discussion today Wallace’s approach to philanthropy Why your work is essential The charge to the PLC Meeting the challenge

17. Defining a PLC • A Professional Learning Community (PLC) is a strategy by which lessons are jointly developed among members • through an ongoing series of coordinated learning activities; • for a defined set of members; and • with specified purposes and outcomes that meet a strategic objective. • PLCs employ practices that ensure: • a shared climate of trust and respect; • immediate application of learning to solve common problems; • learning that is responsive to emerging needs.

18. Mutual learning, mutual benefit Benefits for training programs Benefits for school districts Benefits for The Wallace Foundation and the nation Benefits for graduates

19. Purpose of this PLC • Serve as a resource to you to help you continue to improve your programs through: • Analysis of the Quality Measures™ work • Data-informed discussions with other programs • Ongoing feedback from your alumni

20. Graduates are key 20 principal graduates are members of this national PLC Work with your own PLCs at home; engage other graduates in the conversation Bring what you learn to this national forum We will provide the resources you need

21. Membership of the PLC

22. Membership of the PLC Research and communication partners: PLC managed by:

23. Objectives and outcomes - I • Use Quality Measures™ self-assessment ratings and other data to better understand each program’s needs • Each program develops concrete recommendations to build on its strengths and improve identified areas of need • Begin to develop strategies that address identified needs across programs • An overall project for the PLC is defined

24. Objectives and outcomes - II • Provide guidance and resources for establishing a local PLC for each PLC member program • Programs have everything they need to begin to plan and implement their local PLCs • Develop a shared schedule of activities to accomplish the objectives

25. Our discussion today Wallace’s approach to philanthropy Why your work is essential The charge to the PLC Meeting the challenge

26. “The civil rights issue of our times” “Our challenge is to make sure every child has a fair chance to succeed in life. That is why education is the great civil rights issue of our times.” President George W. BushJanuary 19, 2002 Photo credit: whitehouse.gov Photo credit: whitehouse.gov “Too many of our kids are dropping out of schools. That’s not a white, black or brown problem. That’s everybody’s problem.” President Barack ObamaApril 5, 2011

27. A fundamental disadvantage Unemployment (%) Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

28. A disadvantage you can address Photo credit: whitehouse.gov “There’s no such thing as a high-performing school without a great principal. It is impossible. … We’ve never asked so much of them. There’s nothing more important because the stakes have never been higher for our country.” Secretary of Education Arne Duncan2010

29. Ripples of hope Photo credit: Warren K. Leffler “It is from numberless diverse acts of courage and belief that human history is shaped. Each time a person stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope.” Robert F. KennedyJune 6, 1966