Taking Wallace Research to Practice:
Managing People, Data, and Processes to
Foster School Improvement
National Association of Elementary School Principals and the Wallace Foundation Webinar Series
February 23, 2016
@naesp2015
The School Principal As Leader: Guiding Schools to Better Teaching
and Learning
(Wallace, 2013)
Since 2000, the Wallace Foundation has published more that 70 reports on
leadership. www.wallacefoundation.org
www.naesp.org
Wallace Foundation/NAESP
Commitments
•NAESP is committed to lead in the advocacy and
support for elementary and middle-level principals and
other education leaders in their commitment to all
children.
• The Wallace Foundation is committed to foster
improvements in learning and enrichment for
disadvantaged children and the vitality of the arts for
everyone. The Foundation seeks to catalyze broad
impact by supporting the development, testing and
sharing of new solutions and effective practices.
The School Principal as Leader:
Guiding Schools to Better Teaching
and Learning
•Since 2000, Wallace has supported states
and school districts in developing
improved leadership models for principals
to better their schools. Their efforts have
touched 24 states and numerous urban
school districts.
The School Principal as Leader:
Guiding Schools to Better Teaching
and Learning
The Wallace Foundation’s Principal Pipeline
Initiative is a five-year undertaking that is
helping districts develop larger corps of
effective school principals and aspiring
leaders.
The School Principal as Leader:
Guiding Schools to Better Teaching
and Learning In 2011, six districts became participants in
this initiative:
•Charlotte-Mecklenburg, NC
•Denver, CO
•Gwinnett County, GA
•Hillsborough County, FL
•New York City, NY
•Prince George’s County, MD
Five Key Practices
• Shaping a vision of academic success for all
students.
• Creating a climate hospitable to education.
• Cultivating leadership in others.
• Improving instruction.
• Managing people, data and processes to foster
school improvement.
Robin Pinder, Principal
Homestead Elementary School
Cumberland County School District
Crossville, Tennessee
Deborah Tyler
NAESP
Associate Executive Director
Professional Learning
Homestead Elementary
Bulldog Pride
President Roosevelt
Pre K - 8
800+ students
60% FRM
Special Initiatives
at
Homestead Elementary
• RELATIONSHIPS!
• RELEVANCY!
• RIGOR!
• RELENTLESS!
The 3 R’s + 1
Professional Learning
Communities
Lead-
Set Goals-
Share Best
Practices-
Monitor Growth-
Get Results!
Teaching vs Learning
•Teaching: the cause
to know something.
•Learning: the
knowledge or skill
acquired by
instruction or study.
Professional Learning Community
(PLC)
–“Educators committed to working collaboratively in ongoing processes of collective inquiry and action research to achieve better results for the students they serve. Professional learning communities operate under the assumption that the key to improved learning for students is continuous, job-embedded learning for educators.” (Dufour, Dufour, Eaker, and Many, 2006)
Collaboration is Key!
90% of teachers agree that
“other teachers contribute to my
success in the classroom.”
When teachers work in teams to:
Analyze, Understand, and Deconstruct Standards
Transform Standards into High Quality Common
Formative Assessments
Share and interpret the results
…they benefit from the union of their wisdom about how
to help students continue to grow as learners.
Stiggins, 2005
TOGETHER
We will SUCCEED!
Reeves, Douglas B (2011). Finding your leadership focus: What matters most for student results.
20
3 Keys to Successful
Gardening
Focus
Monitoring Efficacy
What do we want to produce
in our garden?
Do we have the belief that we can make the garden grow?
Are we monitoring our garden regularly for growth?
Page 26
Weeding the Garden
(remove distractions & challenge interruptions)
Effective practices…
•Differentiated
instruction
•Specific feedback
•Diversionary—thieves!
•Toxic – infect others!
•Unsustainable –
smother!
“In a cornfield,
even a rose is a
weed!”
Differentiated Instruction (Char Forsten, Jim Grant, & Betty Hollas)
•Students participate in same activities but
at different levels of complexity.
•Assess students quickly and effectively so
teachers can adapt instruction to meet
individual students’ needs.
What’s most important for reading growth?
23
Worksheets Don’t Grow Dendrites
(Marcia Tate)
•Motivated learners “read authentically,
widely, and strategically”.
25
Research-Based Recommendations
The Talent Code
Daniel Coyle
•Deep Practice= World Class Skill
•Ignition: “Does a boy get a chance to whitewash a fence everyday?” Tom Sawyer
•Master Coaching: Connect emotionally.
Greatness Isn’t Born. It’s Grown. Here’s How.
The Outliers: The Story of Success
(Malcolm Gladwell)
•“… the closer psychologists look at the careers
of the gifted, the smaller the role innate talent
seems to play and the bigger the role
preparation seems to play.”
•“Practice isn’t the thing you do once you’re
good. It’s the thing that makes you good.”
Reeves, Douglas B (2011). Finding your leadership focus: What matters most for student results.
28
What happens when we don’t weed our
garden?
29
Efficacy
I can control….
•Curriculum
•Assessment
•Feedback
•Instruction
•Leadership
This is beyond my
control….
•Parents
If…
WITH WHAT ARE YOUR STUDENTS
LIVING?
When you have a dream that you can’t let go of,
trust your instincts and pursue it.
But remember:
real dreams take work,
they take patience,
and sometimes they require you to
dig down very deep.
~Harvey MacKay
Data Analysis
•Screening Reports
•RTI Chart
•80% Benchmark
•Reflective Questions
(Any surprises?)
•“Bubble” Kids
•RTI Team
Universal Screening
Monitor Progress
•Diagnostic/Status of the Class Reports
•Student accountability: TOPS
•Home Connect: Parent Reports
•Teacher Resources
•Faculty/Grade Level Meetings
Accountability
•Weekly updates
•Data Wall
•Class Motivation
•Healthy Competition
•Relationship Building
•School-wide Summary
Changing the Data Picture over Time
Fall Screening Winter Screening
39
Good Quality Instruction Average Learning Retention Rates
5% Lecture
10% Reading
20% Audio Visual
30% Demonstration
50% Discussion
75% Practice
90% Teaching Others
Action Plan
•School Improvement Plan
•NCE Analysis
•State Standards
•“Balance” Instruction/Practice
•Teacher Resources
•1 young ‘un at a time
School Improvement Plan Goals:
When solving problems,
dig at the roots instead of just hacking at the leaves.
~Anthony J. D’Angelo
John Hattie’s Research
(visiblelearningplus.com)
•Combines over 1200+ meta-analyses.
•Uses effect sizes to place influences on continuum.
•Determines what has improved student learning (and things that don’t have significant impact).
•Expects minimum of .40 average effect.
What Great Teachers Do Differently
(Todd Whittaker)
•Have high expectations for students and
themselves.
•Center activities on student learning.
No Child
Falls Through the Cracks
•Set Goals (90/90)!
•Build unity through Collaborative Teams!
•Strengthen culture with school-wide themes!
•Motivate ALL stakeholders!
•Connect with students!
No Child
Falls Through the Cracks
•Involve Families and Community Partners!
•Provide MEANINGFUL, QUALITY PRACTICE!
and POWERFUL, DIFFERENTIATED
INSTRUCTION!
•Celebrate success!
Quantum Learning
•Learning involves risks. Acknowledging
every effort is essential to success.
•Celebration provides feedback regarding
progress and increases positive associations
with learning.
TRY + OOMPH = SUCCESS!
“The first responsibility
of a leader is to define
reality. The last is to say
thank you. In between,
the leader is a servant.”
-Max Depree
Discussion and Dialogue
•Considering that time is a resource, what are some of the processes, procedures, and personnel that have been put into place to ensure you can focus on instructional improvement?
•How do principals communicate their expectations to staff members and what are systems of accountability for professional practice?
•Describe the process in moving from “lone soldier” to building teacher leaders in order to work smarter and not harder.
Discussion and Dialogue
•Do you have a “first responder before the
principal” system in place at your school? If so,
who are these individuals and why were they
chosen?
•What might be hard for a new principal in setting
up systems for other staff members to solve
problems that parent and teachers are expecting
the principal to solve?
The School Principal as Leader:
Guiding Schools to Better Teaching and
Learning
Resources
www.naesp.org
www.wallacefoundation.org
NAESP Conference 2016
SAVE THE DATE!
@naesp2015