School Culture & the Common Core

1. School Culture& the Common Core Abner Oakes MENA Common Core Conference Nov 1 & 2, 2013 Dubai, UAE

2. Balancingthe Topple Board Environment Curriculum Standards Assessment Instruction Created by Modern Red SchoolHouse aoakes4@gmail.com @aoakes4

3. Do Now • Think of a favorite school and your first year there. Remember a story that someone told you that year – a story about the school, about someone there, about some important school activity or ritual. Turn to a partner and share with him or her that story. Please be ready to share with the rest of the group. aoakes4@gmail.com @aoakes4

4. Our learning targets • Participants will be able to • Describe school culture • Identify ways that organizations build strong culture • Describe the culture that aligns with effective Common Core implementation • Plan for this school culture aoakes4@gmail.com @aoakes4

5. Ritz Carlton aoakes4@gmail.com @aoakes4

6. Ritz Carlton aoakes4@gmail.com @aoakes4

7. Ritz Carlton’sService Values • I build strong relationships and create Ritz-Carlton guests for life. • I am always responsive to the expressed and unexpressed wishes and needs of our guests. • I am empowered to create unique, memorable and personal experiences for our guests. • I understand my role in achieving the Key Success Factors, embracing Community Footprints and creating The Ritz-Carlton Mystique. • I continuously seek opportunities to innovate and improve The Ritz-Carlton experience. • I own and immediately resolve guest problems. aoakes4@gmail.com @aoakes4

8. Telling stories • Howard Gardner in Leading Minds: "Stories speak to both parts of the human mind – its reason and emotion…[they] constitute the single most powerful weapon in the leader's literary arsenal." aoakes4@gmail.com @aoakes4

9. KIPP aoakes4@gmail.com @aoakes4

10. KIPP aoakes4@gmail.com @aoakes4

11. KIPP • All KIPP students identified by college graduation year • College banners throughout KIPP schools • Teachers’ classrooms identified by college attended • KIPP Through College aoakes4@gmail.com @aoakes4

12. School culture • School culture is its climate, atmosphere, values • Collins and Porrascall it “core ideology…the enduring character of an organization – a consistent identity that transcends product or market life cycles, technological breakthroughs, management fads, and individual leaders.” aoakes4@gmail.com @aoakes4

13. Hay Group’s“reinforcing behaviors” • Rituals: celebrations & ceremonies, rites of passage, & shared quirks & mannerisms • Hero-making: role models, hierarchies, public rewards, & mentors • Story-telling: shared humor, common anecdotes, foundation myths, & oral & written history • Rules: etiquette, formal rules, taboos, & tacit permissions • Symbolic display: decoration, artwork, trophies, & architecture aoakes4@gmail.com @aoakes4

14. Tabor Academy aoakes4@gmail.com @aoakes4

15. Balancingthe Topple Board Environment Curriculum CCSS Assessment Instruction Created by Modern Red SchoolHouse aoakes4@gmail.com @aoakes4

16. Common Core’sPedagogical Shifts • ELA/Literacy • Balance informational and literary texts • Knowledge in the disciplines • Staircase of complexity • Text-based answers • Writing from sources • Academic vocabulary (For more information, see www.engageNY.org) aoakes4@gmail.com @aoakes4

17. Common Core’sPedagogical Shifts • Mathematics • Focus • Coherence • Fluency • Deep understanding • Application • Dual intensity (For more information, see www.engageNY.org) aoakes4@gmail.com @aoakes4

18. Teachers& the Common Core • What do you hear that demands a shift in culture? aoakes4@gmail.com @aoakes4

19. Next steps • Get a baseline • School culture protocol • Prioritize • The Common Core & the shifts • Develop an action plan aoakes4@gmail.com @aoakes4

20. School cultureprotocol • All school personnel understand and are committed to the mission, vision, and school culture-related activities. • The hiring and onboarding process for all school personnel is aligned with the mission, vision, and school culture. • The evaluation process for all school personnel is aligned to the spirit and letter of the mission, vision, and school culture. • The day-to-day activities of school personnel reflect the school’s mission, vision, and school culture. aoakes4@gmail.com @aoakes4

21. Hiring aoakes4@gmail.com @aoakes4

22. School cultureprotocol • Instruction is rigorous and supports the school’s culture. • Rigorous and student-centered, instruction is aligned to the mission, vision, and school culture. • Instruction reflects the pedagogical shifts brought on by the Common Core State Standards. • All tools used to evaluate the effectiveness of classroom-level instruction are aligned to the school culture. • Professional development for instruction is aligned to the school’s mission, vision, and school culture. aoakes4@gmail.com @aoakes4

23. Instruction:Common Core aoakes4@gmail.com @aoakes4

24. Changing culture • Fullan: “Re-culturing is a contact sport that involves hard, labor-intensive work.” aoakes4@gmail.com @aoakes4

25. Re-culturing aoakes4@gmail.com @aoakes4

26. Balancingthe Topple Board Environment Curriculum Standards Assessment Instruction Created by Modern Red SchoolHouse aoakes4@gmail.com @aoakes4

27. Our learning targets • Participants will be able to • Describe school culture • Identify ways that organizations build strong culture • Describe the culture that aligns with effective Common Core implementation • Plan for this school culture aoakes4@gmail.com @aoakes4

28. Lastly • What did you learn? • What surprised you? • What was I missing? Abner Oakes, Principal Oakes Educational Consulting Aoakes4@gmail.com aoakes4@gmail.com @aoakes4