Alaska Summer Leadership Institute 2012

1. Initiating and Sustaining Instructional Change Julia Payne-Lewis and Scott MacManus Alaska Summer Leadership Institute 2012

2. Your Role “Research tells us that there are virtually no documented instances of troubled schools being turned around without the intervention of a strong leader.” The Principal Story Field Guide (Learning Forward 2010)

3. Brian Kernighan GS ’69

4. Wisdom 1 a: learning acquired over a period of time b: ability to see beneath the surface of things c: good sense 2 a wise attitude, belief, or course of action

5. Specific Topics to Be Addressed: • Sharing/Developing new initiatives with teachers • Creating teacher buy-in • Working toward short-term gains • Guiding instructional change at the classroom level • Keeping staff focused on the vision • Dealing with mid-course modifications and adjustments

6. Today’s Work • Sharing/Developing New Initiatives with Teachers • Creating teacher buy-in • Use of teacher leaders/mentors • Effective collection and use of teacher input and feedback • Obstacles and barriers- not allowing these to become excuses • 1

7. APK Think back to a time when you were teaching and a new initiative was put into place and you thought it was ridiculous. Or, think of a time since you have been an administrator and your district asked you to go back to your school and implement an initiative that you thought was ridiculous.

8. Tools and Protocols Teacher Surveys + Feedback • When and why should teacher feedback be asked for and used? • How can this be done well?

9. Teacher Input in AGSD Teacher Surveys Video Clip

10. What’s Happening Elsewhere? Boston Public Schools: Formative Assessment Initiative Lexington, Kentucky: Creating a Timeline

11. Today’s Work • Setting Expectations • Working toward short-term gains/wins • Guiding instructional change at the classroom level 2

12. APK: Which of These Questions Resonates With You? • How do we recognize and support teachers who are working towards implementation? • How do I support teachers who are moving forward without causing issues with teachers who are not? • How do you give good descriptive feedback to teachers that are putting theory into action? • How do I help teachers move forward who seem stuck, or resentful?

13. Tools and Protocols We will use the Commit and Toss Protocol to explore ways that school leaders can provide positive feedback to teachers that get on board quickly, and see benefits for themselves and their students that support the initiative.

14. Working With Teachers in AGSD

15. Today’s Work • Follow Through • Keeping staff focused on the vision • Dealing with mid-course modifications and adjustments 3

16. Scenario Warm-up : Work with a partner to put the list of scenarios into the order of most disruptive to the initiative, (we better deal with this today) to least disruptive, (we need more discussion and we can deal with this over time.)

17. Scenarios • 1. The teachers (and students) realize that the materials are at least a grade level above the current standards. • 2. The district comes to the conclusion that the purchased program does not really align to the standards. • 3. The technology is not working properly. • 4. The data reports generated from the new assessment system are impossible to understand. • 5. One member of the staff is going from room to room before and after school to discourage others from implementation.

18. Table Discussion Often times the day-to-day issues with an initiative have long lasting, negative impacts on whether implementation takes hold. • What happens when issues related to implementation come up that are legitimate and need school leader attention and re-direction?

19. Looking Back at the Electronic Lesson Planning Initiative What was done in AGSD to foster teacher involvement and encourage growth?

20. Initiatives GoThrough Stages as They MoveToward Sustainability Each sustained program moves through four stages of development called: • Establishment • Maturation • Evolution

21. Establishment The establishmentphase focuses on introducing the program and then making sure that its core elements (e.g., curriculum, leadership structures, professional development) are well established and working efficiently and predictably.

22. Maturation The maturationphase focuses on making sure that the program is widely accepted and that implementation is habitual, even after the “newness” has worn off.

23. Evolution The evolution phase focuses on growth and improvement. Leaders concentrate on understanding what is currently going on with the initiative and addressing the challenges of resources, materials, and professional development. At the same time, they work on helping teachers develop a deeper understanding of the philosophy of the initiative and how it plays out in the classroom.

24. Remember… “Research tells us that there are virtually no documented instances of troubled schools being turned around without the intervention of a strong leader.”

25. Thank YOU