Workshop 6: Project Implementation

Workshop 6: Project Implementation Audience: All staff in their professional development (learning) communities Deliverable: How you conducted your baseline assessment

Pre-requisites for this Workshop • From the introduction workshop – key features of this workshop such as the ‘Parts’, ‘Suggested Agenda’ and ‘Overview’ are described in the introduction to the workshops which is a general guide to the workshop series. • From workshops 2 and 3 – your school’s vision set out using the REORDER framework. This framework helps you construct your vision in a way that is more holistic and easier to share with other schools using these materials. • From workshop 5 – each person invited to this workshop should be part of a Professional Learning Community (PLC). Their PLC will have already chosen an activity from a ‘capacity ladder’ (workshop 4) based on one of the school’s core aims (workshop 2).

Workshop 6 of 8: Implementation • There are eight broad workshops in the Innovative Schools Toolkit. • Each workshop provides ideas, activities, links to other resources, strategies and frameworks. • Please use the resources and PowerPoint called ‘Introduction to the IST workshop series’ for detailed guidance on the workshops. • Consider your local context to select the most appropriate strategies offered in these workshops. On-going Continuous Improvement

Overview • Every teacher should at this stage have a Professional Learning Community (PLC) to work with, ideas for a project and a clear understanding of how their work connects to a whole innovation. They now need to: • Establish a baseline for the implementation • Baseline in terms of attitudes and opinions • Baseline in terms of objective measures • Agree protocols for the PLC to work together most effectively • The deliverable for this workshop is for ALL those involved achieve these steps and begin their chosen project.

Guiding Questions • Are you confident about learners’ perception of the school currently? • At the end of year, how will the collective effort be perceived by the learners? How are their views of the school expected to improve? • Will you have any objective measures of the impact of your work by the end of the year? How much has the school progressed towards its core aims? • How can the support offered by PLCs be maximised?

Improving the quality of action research

Suggested Agenda for the workshop

Part 1. Does everyone mean ‘EVERYONE’? The school is about to implement changes that potentially require all teachers and many other stakeholders to work together and progress three whole school core aims. This is a big moment! Is everyone involved? Is everyone aware? Will people feel differently afterwards compared to now? Perhaps everyone should be asked now and then again afterwards to find out.

Ways of asking everyone in your community A whole school questionnaire Example – Kunskapschollan School in Sweden regularly surveys everyone to check they feel listened to and happy with the education they are gaining. Recently, some reported over 90% progression. Example – in the Tripod Project, school stops while surveys are collected during lessons. Conclusions are fed-back based on correlations with data taken over ten years. Example – free and easy to use web tools such as ‘Survey Monkey’ can compile and analyse questionnaires easily. Have some questions that are whole school and must be asked, and others set by the teacher. Example – Harris Academy in London has a vision of every member of the community engaged. One of their methods is through sharing ownership of public meetings with learners and using learner representation to feedback views as a ‘parliament’. Example – the ITL research tools provided by Microsoft currently survey teachers only but can be supplemented by data collected by the school. External snapshot Questionnaires for each group, class or project Rousing assemblies and public meetings! Self assessment

‘Survey Monkey’* - make a questionnaire Suggestion: Divide into groups – one per core aim or in your PLCs • In pairs - imagine you will be asking learners the same five questions before starting your project and at the end. Which questions would give you the most useful and interesting data? • In groups – post up or present your five questions, then add to these from each group. Is there common agreement about the questions you should ask? • In the wider group – are the questions dependent on the core aim? Share responses from each of the core aim groups and come to a decision on this question. Suggested outcomes are: • One set of questions that will be asked by all teachers; • One set of questions per core aim; or • ___ whole school questions and ___ questions decided by the teacher *Survey Monkey is a free online service for asking your questions

Suggested questions if teachers are to design their own questionnaires In order to make these examples more relevant, the core aim of ‘improving collaboration skills’ will be used – this was the most frequently mentioned during a survey of schools in the programme last year. • Your teacher is going to do a project with you to improve your team working skills - have you discussed with them what could work? If no, would you like to? • How often each week do you get the chance to work together in teams? • On a scale of 1-5, how good do you feel your team work skills are at the moment? • Do you think it is a good idea to concentrate on improving team skills? • Can you give an example of when you worked in teams in school and it really helped you to learn or enjoy learning?

End of Part 1. How will you take a baseline of attitudes before implementation? • Will you take a whole school baseline of attitudes now? • Will every teacher take their own baseline at the start of their projects? • What are the challenges in using questionnaires with everyone? • Will you take a smaller number or a sample this year and build up? Why? Suggestion: If this is a new area of discussion for the school then a more in-depth and structured discussion method may be needed – such as De Bono’s ‘thinking hats’ – to explore all the issues contained within this challenge. • Is it possible to conduct whole school change without establishing everyone’s opinion at the start?

Part 2. Can progress towards your core aims be measured? Surveys of opinion and self assessments are all powerful tools but a different dimension is added if objective measurements can also be used. It is not possible to provide guidance for every core aim that a school chooses, so as an illustration we will choose the core aim most commonly chosen*; ‘improving every learners’ ability to work collaboratively in teams’. *(Researched by asking all Innovative Schools in a series of VUs in 2009) We hope you are able to apply the methods used to your own school’s core aims whatever they may be.

How to measure Progression in a Core Aim (For example improving the ability of all learners to work in a team) Take each core aim in turn • Team work is perhaps made up of 4 separate skills - team leader, coach, motivator and manager • Set level descriptors for each of these skills showing progression for example the free set available at PbyPgo from infant to adult • Ideas include – awarding certificates for progressing in team activities (Eggbuckland School), using peer assessment of team competencies (Learning Journey) • Photographing leader boards as a record (Silverton school), recording numbers of certificates awarded, cumulative e-portfolios of peer assessed evidence (PbyP) Is the core aim just one skill or numerous skills and attitudes? Define progression in each part at a number of levels Find ways of measuring achievement at each level Find the combined level of achievement at the start and end to see how much progression has been made.

Voting / affinity diagram Each participant has one vote to raise their hand or one sticker to place on the list after five minutes of discussion on their table. This exercise can be carried out either before the examples on the following slides are shared, afterwards or both. • No measurements of progression in the core aims should be attempted during the current cycle. • Each teacher should find their own way of demonstrating how their project has progressed a core aim. • Each PLC will decide how to measure progression in a core aim. • A whole school method either currently exists, or will be introduced in time to measure baselines for this round of projects.

Ideas to measure core aims progression 1 of 3 1. This example is adapted from the work of High Tech High in the US: Learners do longer term projects with at least one of the specific outcomes being progress in a whole school core aim – in the case of High Tech High, ‘Be Responsible and Respectful’ One of the outcomes of the project is a presentation to their peers. In this presentation, progress in the core aim can be reflected on by peers against a rubric. This can be as simple as ‘Ok’ to ‘Outstanding’ Progress can be measured as the difference from grades awarded by peers for the first project presented after implementation, to those awarded for a later one.

Ideas to measure core aims progression 2 of 3 2. This example is adapted from the work of ‘Five Islands School’ in the UK: Initially teachers choose a team of learners in each class who are strong advocates and skilled in the core aim (in this case leadership) This team then coach and assess the progress of their peers. Teams from other classes occasionally swap so that assessments are more objective The records kept by the expert groups provide evidence of annual progression.

Ideas to measure core aims progression 3 of 3 3. This example is currently used in 150 schools, in six countries and is called PbyP: • Each core aim is pre-defined as 9 levels of progression from infant to adult • Each learner manages their own e-portfolio and uploads any evidence they think shows their progression up a level • The evidence they upload automatically goes to another learner who is not in their school but who has already achieved this level and so acts as an ‘expert’ peer assessor • If they confirm the learner has progressed then the work goes into the learner’s e-portfolio so they can try the next level up • The school can see an overview of the sum of progression in each area, for all learners, over time and so measure progression.

De Bono’s PMI method • Participants split into their PLCs. • Each person suggests ‘Positive’, ‘Minus’ and ‘Interesting’ aspects for each of the three ideas they have just heard. • Can the positive and interesting aspects be combined into one solution that would work in this school? • Has the school decided to delegate this to PLCs or individuals? If it has, then the group could discuss exactly how they will start measuring next week! • The ‘Six Thinking Hats’ method, also devised by De Bono, could be used at this stage if developing a solution for this is a key priority for the school and there is a desire to have a longer and deeper search for solutions.

Measuring Core Aims - Summary Design a simple questionnaire of 5 questions. Ask this to the learners before and after your project to see if they feel it had an impact? Want more detail? NO– See Survey Monkey Case Study YES Ask learners to self assess themselves against a rubric before and after your project and see if they report progress. Or assess them yourself against a rubric Want more detail? NO– See Kunskapschollan Case Study YES Ask learners to peer assess their progression either by presenting outcomes to their peers at the end OR sending their work to peers in other schools for benchmarked feedback Want more detail? NO– See High tech high case study YES - See PbyP Case Study

Teachers as learners • The development of competencies for teachers is also critical. Consider the ‘Microsoft Competencies Wheel’ as a way of defining progression in these competencies. • The wheel can be found at http://www.microsoft.com/education/competencies/default.mspx

End of Part 2. How will progression towards the core aims be measured? From Part 1 – we have decided to: Capture the opinions of the following people __________________ and will do this using the following method__________________. From Part 2 – we have decided to (delete as appropriate): [Not measure core aims progression / use a whole school method / delegate responsibility to PLCs / delegate responsibility to each individual teacher]. We aim to complete the baseline by _________ and will be post a brief ___ page summary to the Partners in Learning website by ___.

Part 3. Hold the first meeting for each of the PLCs Suggested agenda for the meeting • Discuss the value, purpose and ethos of PLCs: • See quotes from research papers • Suggest background reading • Discuss from a personal perspective. • Agree how often and where to meet • Agree protocols • Plan how to support each other in starting up projects and working with baselines.

1. Discussing the value, purpose and ethos of PLCs • Select from the evidence on the following slides – allow time to digest and discuss it. • What do you hope to gain from working in this PLC? • Consider the barriers to maintaining an effective PLC and debate possible solutions. • Are there any experiences or further reading you have that you could share with the group that either support or challenge the idea of PLCs?

Selected quotations Michael Fullan – Taken from ‘Learning to lead change: Core Concepts’:“Successful change involves learning during implementation. One of the most powerful drivers of change involves learning from peers, especially those who are further along in implementing new ideas. We can think of such learning inside the school and local community, and across schools or jurisdictions. Within the school there is a great deal of practical research that demonstrates the necessity and power of PLCs.” Sparks and Hirsh, (1997, p.12): “[We see] a significant shift from staff development for individual teachers to the creation of learning communities in which all – students, teachers, principals and support staff – are both learners and teachers.”

Why a PLC maximises innovative practices A PLC is a ‘teacher network’ set up as a formal mentoring structure in which teams collectively research how to practically improve outcomes for learners that they teach. Such work can be used as part of formal qualification systems in most developed countries. SOURCE: ITL Research Pilot Year Report, October 2010

Summary of research findings R. Bolam, A. McMahon, L. Stoll, S. Thomas, M. Wallace (2002-2004) • The idea of a PLC is one well worth pursuing as a means of promoting school and system-wide capacity building for sustainable improvement and pupil learning. • An effective PLC fully exhibits eight key characteristics: shared values and vision; collective responsibility for pupils’ learning; collaboration focused on learning; individual and collective professional learning; reflective professional enquiry; openness, networks and partnerships; inclusive membership and mutual trust, respect and support. • Pupil learning was the foremost concern of people working in PLCs and the more developed a PLC appeared to be, the more positive was the association with two key measures of effectiveness – pupil achievement and professional learning. • Staff in more developed PLCs adopt a range of innovative practices to deal with the inhibiting and facilitating factors in their particular contexts. Many of these practices are potentially useful for other schools.

Summary of research findings Astuto et al (1993) Teachers and administrators continuously seek and share learning and then act on what they learn. The goal of their actions is to enhance their effectiveness as professionals so that students benefit. This arrangement has also been termed communities of continuous inquiry and improvement. Stoll et al (2003) Suggested that PLCs are characterised by: • Shared values and vision • Collective responsibility • Reflective professional inquiry • Collaboration • Group, as well as individual, learning.

Summary of research findings Louis et al (1995, p.4) “Framework for professional community….emphasize our belief that unless teachers are provided with more supporting and engaging work environments, they cannot be expected to concentrate on increasing their abilities to reach and teach today’s students more effectively.” Seashore et al (2003, p.3) “By using the term professional learning community we signify our interest not only in discrete acts of teacher sharing, but in the establishment of a school-wide culture that makes collaboration expected, inclusive, genuine, ongoing, and focused on critically examining practice to improve student outcomes. The hypothesis is that what teachers do together outside of the classroom can be as important as what they do inside in affecting school restructuring, teachers’ professional development, and student learning.”

Summary of research findings Visscher and Witziers (2004, p.798) PLCs were effective when they: “. . . consistently translate their shared vision and willingness to cooperate into a system of rules, agreements and goals regarding teaching and instruction, and evolve their professional activities around this by obtaining data on student performance, which in turn serves as a feedback mechanism for improving teaching and learning. This differs from a ‘softer’ approach stressing reflective dialogue, sharing materials, shared vision and the inner value of professional development.” Harris (2003, p.322) “If we are serious about building professional learning communities within and between schools then we need forms of leadership that support and nourish meaningful collaboration among teachers. This will not be achieved by clinging to models of leadership that, by default rather than design delimits the possibilities for teachers to lead development work in schools.”

2. Discuss how often you meet and where Some factors to consider in your discussion: • Are mornings better than afternoons? Should you vary? • Are frequent meetings with a policy of ‘attend if you can’, better than infrequent meetings pre-booked in the diary? • Is the same time and place easier to remember or will it unfairly disadvantage someone in the group? • Should you meet in each other’s classrooms to put the meetings in context? • There is no such thing as a free lunch but a working one with concessions may be possible.

3. Agree protocols to make your PLC effective Some factors to consider in your discussion: • Review the next slide which summarises research findings of what makes a PLC most effective. • Under which circumstances will learners be invited to meetings? • Should teams reform after the first projects are finished? • Is the rule ‘you can only point out a problem if you first suggest a solution’ a useful one for maintaining positive direction? • Good ideas must always be considered in terms of gain verses pain - how can the group get maximum gain from this collaboration with minimum pain?

What makes an effective PLC? PLCs are most effective when: • The whole team works towards a common purpose (core aim). • The team meet regularly. • The meetings remain focused on improving learner outcomes. • Problems are not raised unless there are suggested solutions. • Learners are frequently invited in to meetings, either as experts or as permanent members. • The level of trust in the group is sufficient for them to provide honest feedback, reflection and supportive criticism. • The team has a communication link to a senior member of staff. • Successes of the team are recognised by colleagues. 5. Sharing Ideas

4. How can you support each other to get started? Some factors to consider in your discussion: • The next slide shows the Sigmoid Curve; a research observation that highlights things will get worse before they improve! This can provide the confidence needed to take on a project with risk attached because you can think through solutions beforehand. • Look at the RISC scaling model on slide 37 and the questions that follow it – is your project likely to be scalable? • How exactly do you think that your project will impact on the core aims for the school and the learners?

Sigmoid Curve: Risk management model Eventually your project will create improvement but make sure you start the next project before the previous one becomes too embedded, otherwise the gains may begin to tail off. When the Project started Success Any project that involves change may cause some initial confusion and inefficiency and could result in things getting worse not better. If you predict the extent of this initial dip, you can ensure that you don’t embark on a project that is outside of the school’s capacity. Time

Example: Eggbuckland Community College Academic Performance:Value added 0 • Assessment buddies set up Skills and capabilities • Laptop group of 30 students set up with permanent 1:1 access to a wireless internet linked laptop • Provided all students with teacher training and set them the task of training their peers Creativity Agenda • Outcomes not method based Student Leadership • Access manager scheme introduced for student leadership Mood: • Expectation for radical change Academic Performance:Value added -0.2 • End of topic tests very poor Skills and capabilities • Semi-chaos – students do not possess even basic assumed skills for peer managed learning and use of the internet Creativity Agenda • All work by students is PowerPoint and Word • Use of ICT outside of the laptop project is limited • Only one whiteboard is being used interactively with two not used at all Student Leadership • Student assaulted while on duty • 8 managers sacked Mood: • Departments report low confidence Academic Performance:Value added 0.5 Skills and capabilities • Parents and teachers feedback that the unreported skills of students were all significantly increasing • Replaced reports system to make it skills based Creativity Agenda • Students beginning to diversify their teaching to include the use of animation, video and music in their lesson delivery • Multimedia for all introduced • Art and music curriculum time taken • ICT teaching stops • TAs employed to inspire creativity Student Leadership • ICT student leaders self managing • Introduced room management and events leadership Academic Performance:Art and music results poor Skills and capabilities • Skills variety 250% • Intensive work to maintain system Creativity Agenda • TAs come under criticism and one leaves music department canvassing parents for support. • Art department faces technical difficulty Student Leadership • First smashed window, twelve teachers ban students from their rooms after direct vandalism Mood: • Open criticism of skills reporting in front of students • Department heads advising tick box Academic Performance: Value added 1.2 Skills and capabilities • Skills variety 18% • Skills value added 2.2 Creativity Agenda • Music numbers increased • Art results increased • All KS3 students produce their own music and digital video mood work Student Leadership • 150 students: 50 grade 1, 20 grade 2, 2 grade 3 and 1 grade 4 Mood: • BECTA award • OFSTED European case study • NCSL case study • First set of e-confident schools • Training School Status This is a case study of innovation spanning three years in one College of 1300 students in the UK. This is an animated slide which should be viewed as a slide show in PowerPoint.

RISC Model: Thinking about the scalability of your project • Sustainability – making sure it scales: • Interesting projects are deployed around the world every year but few thrive and grow. Scalability is a key success factor for any project. • Could another team use your ideas in the future? • Would other implementations progress as yours has? • Review the RISC model on the right and learn more about it in the ‘Knowledge Library’ section of the toolkit.

Planning for success Using the RISC and Sigmoid Curve models on the previous slides, determine the lifetime of your innovation: • What are the key process steps? • What are the success indicators? • How and when will you begin to scale up the project? • What risks and challenges will you face? • How can you keep interest and motivation alive? • What help and support will your innovation need? • What negative reactions can you expect and how will you respond to them?

End of Part 3. Our agreed protocol Our PLC contains the following members _________, _________, _________, ____________, _______ It meets with the following frequency _________________ at the following locations_________________________ Our agreed protocols for working together are: ____________ ____________ ____________ ____________

Part 4. Deliverable – what is the baseline and expected outcome? Project start date: _____________ Whole school core aim it will improve: ________________ How I / we aim to measure the starting point / baseline for the group of learners: ____________________________________________________________________________ When I / we measure this again at the end of the project I / we estimate the following change: ____________________________________________________________________________

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Workshop 6: Project Implementation