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Marc Johnson of Sanger Uni-fied School District in Cali-fornia made the statementabove in a recent presentationto our district. His wordshang in the back of my mindand push my thinking. As a

curriculum director, my role is one of influence. Theorganizational lines from my position to others in thedistrict are all dotted lines — none are solid. Thus, Ihave responsibility for, but not authority over, the dis-trict’s professional learning journey. And there is no des-tination named “good enough.”

The Lewiston (Idaho) School District’s picture ofoptimal professional learning is changing from one-shot,sit-and-get style workshops to learning with the expec-tation of implementation. The district, which serves ap-proximately 4,950 students, has developed and isimplementing a professional development model basedon continuous improvement, professional learning com-munities, and NSDC’s standards. The shift we are mak-ing is not without hurdles and temporary roadblocks.As a central office administrator, I am learning that in-fluence makes a difference. Persistence, inquiry, capac-ity building, and clarifying of understandings andintentions all influence change.

By ellen s. perconti

“There is no destination on thisjourney named ‘good enough.’ ”

— Marc Johnson

theme ThE NEw cENTrAL OfficE

RoAD TRIP JouRNeY ToIMpRoVeMeNTTAKes TWIsTsAND TuRNs

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During the 2007-08 school year, the superintend-ent asked that I facilitate an ad hoc committee to re-view and recommend to the board of directors a newmodel for professional development. The process pro-vided 35 teachers and administrators the opportunityto review research regarding professional learning andto develop a model that would lead the district (see chartat right). As with any new model, the first year of im-plementation was a learning experience. For some inthe district, questions of resources and logistics tookprecedence over questions of learning. Scheduling thetime became more of an issue than the intended impactof the learning on student achievement. overall, we sawthat changing mindsets from a focus on attendance toa focus on implementation is an enormous challenge.

peRsIsTeNceDuFour (2008) indicates that a lack of persistence

contributes to a “this too shall pass” mentality, and thatpersistence with a focus contributes to collective effi-cacy. one of the first hurdles we faced in implement-ing the professional development model was changingmental models from professional development as some-thing done to us to professional learning designed tochange instruction. We began by using Reeves’ (2008)advice of establishing a hypothesis to frame our learn-ing. School staffs reviewed their data and identified theirgreatest area of need, then researched best practices toaddress the need. These two components led to a pre-diction statement, such as, “If we implement contentliteracy strategies across all content areas, then students’language and writing skills will improve.” The first partof the statement became the professional learning goal;the second part was developed into a SMART goal.

Using persistence in influencing the connection be-tween adult learning and student achievement came inmany forms. At the central office, we worked to reiter-ate the connection. For example, the form for submit-ting the school professional development plan requiresthe framing hypothesis statement. In addition, severaltimes during the year, the district asked for evidence ofhow the professional development was being imple-mented and for evidence of its impact. We also wove theconnection into an opportunity for college credit inwhich teachers were asked to present what they hadlearned, what they had implemented from that learning,student work that provided evidence of learning, andteachers’ reflections and inferences. Listening to teach-ers talk about how their learning impacted instruction,and thus student learning, was one of the most reward-ing evenings of the school year. Teachers articulated howthey adjusted classroom routines, used their student data,

and created relationships with their students based onthe learning they had done over the year.

As we move into the next school year, the messagepersists. We continue to influence the connection be-tween what we are learning and doing and how that im-pacts student learning. Change doesn’t happen in oneschool year. We continue to struggle with the confinesof schedules and limitations of understanding. It wouldbe easy at this point to consider our efforts “goodenough”; however, we want more than just good enoughfor students and adults in our system.

INQuIRYThe district’s professional development model was

We believe an ongoing professional development processincludes the elements above and allows for fluid movement

among elements. While the process most often follows the steps inmoving around the outside circle, the model promotes reflectionand continual use of results through the embedded star. The linesof the star represent movement that can occur between stepsbefore the full cycle is completed.

The purpose of professional development — improved studentlearning — is the focus, the center of the star. We move through allthe other steps with this goal and focus firmly in view.

Improvedstudentlearning

Implementplan withfeedback

Assess andevaluate

implementationand results

Set goalsandestablishplan

Collect andanalyze dataResearch bestpractices

Share resultsand

celebrate

MoDel foR pRofessIoNAl DeVelopMeNTIndependent School District #1

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approved by the board of directors. They expected that, as a dis-trict, we would align our contracted 19 hours of school im-provement time during the 2008-09 school year with the modeland that we would do the same with the collaboration time forteams that is built into the school day. As the contract was mergedwith the model, several issues arose: how to schedule time, whereto fit itinerants in the model, how to establish the professionaldevelopment focus, and what happened if teachers didn’t attend.We began to ask more questions than any of us had answers for.The central office often had responsibility for the final decision.We established some basic parameters and then worked on learn-

ing the skills of inquiry.While the calen-

dared school improve-ment time (firstThursday of october,the day before Thanks-giving, and the lastcontracted day forteachers) had been re-

peatedly criticized, the flexibility in scheduling time for profes-sional development created an equivalent stir across the district.As schools began to set time aside for educator learning, they en-countered multiple barriers. Athletic and academic competitions,family schedules, and more stood in the way of schools schedul-ing the 19 hours of learning time.

Yet keeping the focus on learning was important. I learnedthat it was better to do this through inquiry than advocacy. Ask-ing questions that helped the building administrator and leader-ship teams think through why they were dividing the time theway they were and how that structure would benefit both theteachers and students proved to be the most effective support Icould give.

Flexibility of time has allowed each building to assess its learn-ing needs and allocate time accordingly. Some schools found thatproviding learning time early in the school year supported im-plementation. other schools found that providing shorter seg-ments throughout the year allowed teachers to deepen theirlearning and implementation. We are finding that there really is-n’t one answer for every building. Each school has to determinethe pace and distance for its journey.

We will continue to maintain the focus of professional de-velopment on student learning as we move forward. I’ve learnedthat inquiry means developing the skills to clarify and understandwhy a building is pursuing a specific path. Sometimes this processresults in a shift for the building; other times it assists me in un-derstanding the route they are taking.

cApAcITY BuIlDINGPhil Schlechty (2009) states that central office staff in a learn-

ing organization need to be capacity builders. Specifically, cen-tral office administrators are charged with building capacity to

focus on student learning in all aspects of the organization. En-abling and supporting rather than controlling is how Schlechtysees central office’s role. The balance between maintaining a fo-cus and providing support is one that creates tension. Buildingcapacity through focused professional development that impactsstudent learning proved to be a rougher road than we anticipated.

When the professional development model was created, thecommittee struggled with how to keep student learning in thecenter. While theoretically we all agreed, in practice we grappledwith how to put it into action. our system had allowed individ-ual teachers to choose professional development rather than aprocess that centered on the needs of students. our model (plusthe financial times we are in) forced us to focus resources on stu-dent need. Thus, we were not able to honor as many requests toattend various presentations and workshops. The political forcesbehind the requests were strong.

Anyone who has driven the back roads of Idaho learns thatyou have to hold on to the steering wheel firmly with both hands,but not too tightly in case you hit a deep rut. We knew that themore consistent we were in our responses to requests, the smootherthe road would be in the future. To deny all requests would bedetrimental to the system.

Support doesn’t mean the absence of questioning, nor doesit mean accepting outright all ideas. I have to repeatedly remindmyself that not every leader in our system will walk the same pathtoward the goal. Each of us is still learning. We need to learn fromour conversations, actions, and mistakes today so that we engageat a different level the next time.

clARIfYINGIn the book Influencer, Patterson, Grenny, Maxfield, McMil-

lan, & Switzler (2008) state the need for identifying vital behav-iors, those behaviors that set the best apart from the rest. As weresearched professional learning, we found that one of those vi-tal behaviors for principals is sharing facilitation and leadershipof professional development. The more collaborative the process,the more engaged teachers are in the learning and, ultimately,more implementation occurs. Administrators see more imple-mentation of learning in classrooms when they share professionaldevelopment leadership with teachers. At the central office, weare celebrating with these administrators, teachers, and students.

Professional learning is a journey at all levels of the schooldistrict. None of us has reached our destination. We lead in themidst of learning. This is not a comfortable place to lead from,as it shows vulnerability. Sharing the load is easiest when eachtask is clearly defined. It is much more difficult to share when weare not clear as to what exactly will need to take place. The firstlevel of support for principals then is modeling learning. I striveto model the connection between leading and learning. In addi-tion to this modeling, I support principals by providing systemicsupport for leadership teams. As we reviewed our first year of im-plementation, one of the recommendations that came forward

theme ThE NEw cENTrAL OfficE

“each of us is still learning.We need to learn from ourconversations, actions, andmistakes today so that weengage at a different levelthe next time.”— Ellen S. Perconti

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was that we provide a refresher day on facilitation skills and back-ground knowledge for professional learning. These skills are mod-eled and used in each administrator meeting. our district wasfortunate enough to be able to bring in Robert Garmston andBruce Wellman several years ago. Their work in our district pro-vided a tool kit of collaboration that we tap into frequently. Re-visiting and renewing these skills is essential to our implementationof the professional learning model. The skill of clarifying is onethat I am still learning. Clarifying is a powerful tool in influenc-ing the learning journey.

INflueNceThe role of influence, while not powerless, provides a differ-

ent skill set than the role of authority. As our district continuesimplementation of the professional development model, the cen-tral office role will be pivotal in igniting change. I will need tocontinue to hone my skills of persistence, inquiry, capacity build-ing, and clarifying. It is a collective learning process, not one thatcan be done in isolation, nor one that is without missed turns

and potholes. It is definitely a journey.

RefeReNcesDuFour, R., DuFour, R., & Eaker, B. (2008). Revisiting

professional learning communities at work: New insights forimproving schools. Bloomington, IN: Solution Tree.

Patterson, K., Grenny, J., Maxfield, D., McMillan, R., &Switzler, A. (2008). Influencer: The power to change anythingNew York: McGraw-Hill.

Reeves, D. (2008). HISD PIM analysis. Available atwww.leadandlearn.com/files/file/webinar/Webinar.HISD6.6.08.pdf.

Schlechty, P. (2009). Leading for learning: How totransform schools into learning organizations. San Francisco:Jossey-Bass.

Ellen S. Perconti (eperconti@lewistonschools.net) isdirector of curriculum and assessment at IndependentSchool District #1, Lewiston, Idaho. �

Road trip: Journey to improvement takes twists and turns