Cedar Rapids Pioneer Group

1. Cedar Rapids Pioneer Group February 8, 2005 Dr. Susan Leddick

2. Leading for High Performance

3. Everything’s Up-to-Date in Cedar Rapids! Working at classroom, building, and district levels 2004-05

4. What the District Is Doing • Teaching teams of teachers and administrators to use the tools and processes of Action Research in order to make improvements in all three levels of the district system. • Emphasizing deployment of school improvement plans – carrying out strategies that have significant impact on student achievement. • Expanding impact through the Baldrige framework.

5. Why Action Research? • Compatible with adult learning theory • Compatible with Iowa Professional Development Model • Combines learning and improving • Works at any system level, in any setting • Research-based; data-driven; system-focused

6. Why Baldrige? • Agreed-upon definition of excellence across sectors • An integrator • Increases scope of leadership view • Puts PDSA into perspective

7. Our Year in Brief – Three P’s • Purposes • Demonstrate how to convert a classroom from a teaching system to a learning system through use of Baldrige framework • Create a set of high-performing CR demonstration classrooms using the Baldrige framework and PDSA directly with students • Preparation • 3 training sessions, with support between • Presentation (in Baldrige Format) • All-district sharing session in April

8. What You Will Learn • Application • Engagement • Self-management • Data as feedback • Improvement • Use of Baldrige

9. Assignment for Today • Bring in student data folders…

10. Sharing Our Learning: Building the CR Network • Post samples of your table’s work with students and prepare to describe • How you engaged students • How you are using this work with students regularly • Recommendations you would make to other teachers doing this work

11. Writing Guidelines • What guidelines would you create for other teachers who want to use student data folders in the classroom? • Folder design • Folder use • Other issues

12. The April Sharing Event • Purpose is to enable sharing of learning and good practice across three levels of learning – beginning AR, continuing AR, and Pioneer (using Baldrige as an integrator of improvements in the classroom). • April 19 – details to follow from Jane.

13. The Baldrige Framework at Work in Your Classroom

14. How did you… • Act as a leader to create with students a common and compelling sense of purpose in your classroom? • Act as a leader to develop specific aligned learning goals with students?

15. Continued… • Act as a leader to assure that the specific needs of your students and your school are reflected in your plans?

16. And how did you… • Establish a measurement system in the classroom to inform you and students on progress and decisions? • Help students develop the skills they will need to fulfill their roles as your partners in the classroom learning system?

17. And how did you… • Identify and manage with students the key processes necessary to a high performing classroom? • Finally, what results did you and your students see during the year that tell you that your classroom system has improved since the beginning of the year?

18. The Pioneer Story • Join a category team. • Elect facilitator, recorder, timekeeper. • Write a set of recommendations to other teachers based on your collective experience. (~5)