Breaking Ranks ® : A Field Guide for Leading Change

1. Breaking Ranks®:A Field Guide for Leading Change Utah Association of Secondary School Principals’ Summer Conference Park City, Utah June 11, 2009 Dick Flanary Senior Director, Leadership Programs & Services

3. Breaking Ranks® ~ A Dynamic Framework 1996 2004 2006 2009

4. The road from “what” to “how” Collaborative Leadership Curriculum, Instruction, & Assessment Improved Student Performance Personalization

5. Collaborative Leadership & Professional Learning Communities Curriculum, Instruction & Assessment Improved Student Performance Personalization The “WHAT” of the Breaking Ranks® Framework • 3 Core Areas • Recommendations • Cornerstone Strategies (Entry Points for Improvement)

6. Collaborative Leadership Involve others in the change process through collaboration, review of data, and professional development. 6

7. Personalization ♥Provide opportunities for students to build relationships with adults and peers, and between themselves and what they learn. 7

8. Curriculum, Instruction, & Assessment ►Build relationships between students and ideas ► Rigorous & Essential Learnings ► Student-centered ► Applied to real world ► Engaging 8

9. So What • Why should the Breaking Ranks framework be important to you?

11. Changing Demographics

12. U.S.

13. Alarming Dropout Rates

14. Dropout Problem In a report released on June 4, 2009, “Less than one-third of teachers believed we should expect all students to meet high academic standards, graduate with skills to do college-level work, and provide extra support to struggling students to help them meet those standards.” “Only 20% of teachers felt boredom was a factor in most cases of high school dropout while 47% of dropouts said they left school because they found it boring and uninteresting and did not see the relevance of school to real life.” On the Front Lines of Schools: Perspectives of Teachers and Principals on the High School Dropout Problem. A Report by Civic Enterprises. John M. Bridgeland, John J. Dilulio, Jr. and Robert Balfanz. June 2009.

15. Dropout Problem In a report released on June 4, 2009, “62% of teachers and 60% of principals cited students being academically unprepared for high school as a factor in at least some dropout cases.” “45% of dropouts stated their previous schooling in middle and elementary school had not prepared them for high school.” On the Front Lines of Schools: Perspectives of Teachers and Principals on the High School Dropout Problem. A Report by Civic Enterprises. John M. Bridgeland, John J. Dilulio, Jr. and Robert Balfanz. June 2009.

17. Middle School Performance “Eighth grade academic achievement is the best predictor of college and career readiness by high school graduation.” Other predictor variables: Background characteristics Standard high school coursework Advanced/honors coursework High school grade point average Student testing behaviors The Forgotten Middle: Ensuring that All Students are on Target for College and Career Readiness Before High School. ACT. 2008.

18. Increased Accountability

19. Changing Paradigm • While you slept, the national educational paradigm shifted from guaranteeing universal access to guaranteeing universal performance. • Regardless of what you hear about international education performance comparisons, no other country guarantees universal performance.

20. The Change Process If you don’t define the change in your school, change will define you.

21. Change

22. The Change Process “Implementation or change in practice is not a thing, a set of materials, an announcement, or a delivery date, rather it is a process of learning and re-socialization over a period of time involving people and relations among people in order to alter practice.” Michael Fullan

23. Implementing Change Research literature has identified two broad factors that affect implementation of change: will and capacity. Willrefers to the motivation and commitment of educators – leaders and teachers. Will resides in individuals. Capacity resides in individuals and institutions. What the Federal Government Can Do To Improve High School Performance, Center On Education Policy. May 2009.

24. School Culture “Culture is like the auto-pilot or mindset of a school. It is a combination of all the attitudes, beliefs, and values that guide the behavior of those in the school. If you attempt to implement reforms but fail to engage the culture of a school, nothing will change.” Breaking Ranks: A Field Guide for Leading Change. P5.

25. School Culture

26. Leadership - Design Principal Assistant Principal Counselor Dept Chair Teacher

27. Leadership - Redesign ESL Special Education Math Leadership Team Technology Advanced Placement Counseling Science • Flat • Collaborative • Outcome-Oriented • Process-Dominated • Autonomous • Democratic • Results Focused Literacy Principal Principal

28. The Real Network Leadership Change Initiative The Super-Hub Isolated Nodes

29. Changing Structure ≠ Changing Culture

31. Structural Change ≠ Culture Change • Technical or Structural Changes • Interdisciplinary Teams • Small Learning Communities • Advisories • Flexible, Block Schedules • Ninth-Grade Academies • Career Academies • Common Planning Time • Professional Learning Communities

32. Structural Change ≠ Culture Change • Changing the Culture • Common Set of Beliefs • Shared Mission, Vision, Values, and Goals • Heightened Expectations • Shared Intentions • New Ways of Interacting

33. Structural Elements Necessary but not sufficient… • block scheduling • shared students • common planning time • common team • areas Create effective teams – the proof is in the doing! • Do Teachers: • believe in it • have skills to do it • have supportive school climate for teaming • engage in teaming practices Stevenson, C., & Erb, T. (1998). How implementing Turning Points improves student outcomes. Middle School Journal, 30(10), 51-52.

34. A Process Circle for Guiding Change Breaking Ranks: A Field Guide for Leading Change. p. 24.

35. Carefully examine data from a wide variety of sources to determine priorities Breaking Ranks: A Field Guide for Leading Change. p. 27.

36. School Culture Evaluation Exercise A Tool to Guide Change Breaking Ranks: A Field Guide for Leading Change. pp.60-61.

37. School Culture Evaluation The school culture is focused on the adults in the building The school culture is focused on what is best for students What is being taught is most important What is being learned is most important The emphasis is on covering the subject matter content The emphasis is on demonstrating mastery of content Teachers tend to “close their door” and teach in isolation Teachers work together in collaborative teams Teachers rarely interact with one another re: professional practice Sharing of professional practice occurs on a regular basis The staff isolates the students into “your kids and my kids.” The staff embraces the students as “our kids Grading policies are punitive in nature and discourage students Grading policies enhance student motivation

38. Based on the data, explore possible solutions that will lead to improved student performance Breaking Ranks: A Field Guide for Leading Change. p.67.

39. Explore Possible Solutions “How did you use the data that you had gathered and analyzed in step one to inform you in exploring possible solutions?” Mel Riddile, NASSP Breaking Ranks: A Field Guide for Leading Change. p. 67.

40. Determine what must be in place to implement the needed changes and build capacity to address these needs Breaking Ranks: A Field Guide for Leading Change. p. 83.

41. Success Factor Checklist A Tool to Guide Change Breaking Ranks: A Field Guide for Leading Change. pp.92-93.

42. Establish goals for an improvement plan designed to improve student performance and ensure clear communication with all parties Breaking Ranks: A Field Guide for Leading Change. p.105.

43. Create & Communicate Improvement Plan How did you use what you learned by working through the “assess readiness and build capacity” piece to create and communicate your plan? Patti Kinney, NASSP Breaking Ranks: A Field Guide for Leading Change. p.105.

44. Implement, determine regular check points to monitor progress, collect and analyze additional data, make adjustments Breaking Ranks: A Field Guide for Leading Change. p. 117.

45. Implement Plan: Essential Elements A Tool to Guide Change Breaking Ranks: A Field Guide for Leading Change. pp. 120-121.

46. Monitor & Adjust What do the when things go wrong stories featured in this book teach us about the importance of “monitoring and adjusting” after you have implemented the plan? John Nori, NASSP Breaking Ranks: A Field Guide for Leading Change. p. 117.

47. For Incremental Change • Emphasize relationships • Establish strong lines of communication • Be an advocate for the school • Provide resources • Maintain visibility • Protect teachers from distractions • Create a culture of collaboration • Look for and celebrate success McREL Meta-Analysis on Leadership

48. For Substantial Change • Shake up the status-quo • Hold everyone’s feet to the fire • Propose new ideas • Operate from strong beliefs • Tolerate ambiguity and dissent • Talk research and theory • Create explicit goals for change • Define success in terms of goals McREL Meta-Analysis on Leadership

49. Change Deep change differs from incremental change in that it requires new ways of thinking and behaving. It is change that is major in scope, discontinuous with the past, and generally irreversible.” Robert Quinn

50. Breaking Ranks Leaders ►Have a clear vision and utilize their leadership to improve a school’s intangibles. Does your vision drive school performance? A school’s culture echoes the principal’s expectations. ►Understand that demography is not destiny. ►Understand that traditionally time has been a constant and achievement a variable and that this paradigm must be reversed so that time is a variable and achievement a constant.