Instructional Leadership…WSU Superintendent Cohortalison@leadershipinnovationsteam.com

Agenda

• How People Learn

• Marzano Research

• The World’s Best Systems

• Begin to create your own best system

Learning Targets

• Know and understand the research behind effective instructional practices

• Know what these practices look like in application

• Understand why PLC’s can be effective• Know the practices of the world’s best

school systems

4

Learning Conditions:

-Safe environment

-Learn from each other

-No opting out

-Model effective instruction

-Have fun!

-No wrong answers

-If we are all agreeing we are being redundant

We don’t learn best in isolation…

• Find a Rock N Roll Partner

• Disco

• Latin

In Reflections Journal

One of the World’s Best Systems

March 19, 2009

_____________________ School District

_____________________, Superintendent

So how do students learn best?

• Instruction that works for all students

• How People Learn

• Project-National Research Council

• Funded by US Department of Education office of Educational Research and Improvement

• Research based messages that are clear and directly relevant to classroom practice

Why is this important?

What should superintendents know about effective instruction?

Why is this important?

Research: How People Learn

You have 25 minutes. Jigsaw “How People Learn.” Groups of 4

1-pages 10-15

2-page 15-17, starting with Implications

3-page 18- Bringing Order

4-page 21, top to pg 23

Read to yourself first. You will then teach your section to the group. Underline, etc.

Identify one “golden line”

Be ready to discuss.

Looking at the Research

How People Learn – Key Findings• Students come to the classroom with

preconceptions about how the world works.• To develop competence in an area of inquiry,

students must have opportunities to learn with understanding.

• A “metacognitive” approach to instruction can help students learn to take control of their own learning.

Why a focus on instruction?

• “The top performing school systems recognize that the only way to improve outcomes is to improve instruction”

• McKinsey & Company. How the Worlds Top Performing Systems Come Out On Top (2007)

Impact of teachers and schoolsImpact of teachers and schools

Scenario Percentile Entering Percentile Leaving

Average School / Average Teacher

50 50

Highly IneffectiveSchool / Ineffective Teacher

50 3

Highly Effective School / Ineffective Teacher

50 34

Ineffective School / Highly Effective Teacher

50 63

Highly Effective School / Highly Effective Teacher

50 96

Highly Effective School / Average Teacher

50 78

Factors Affecting Student Achievement

School Factors

•Guaranteed & Viable Curriculum•Challenging goals and effective feedback•Parent & community involvement•Safe and orderly environment•Collegiality and professionalism

Teacher Factors •Instructional strategies•Classroom management•Classroom curriculum design

Marzano “What Works n Schools”

Factors-teachers and schoolsFactors-teachers and schools

Schools where teachers participate in Professional Learning

Communities (PLC’s) are 400% more likely to improve an individual students’ achievement level than

schools where teachers operate in isolation.

Anne Lewis

Why Collaborate in PLC’s?Why Collaborate in PLC’s?

If instruction is the key, and PLC’s are the structure

• How do we talk about instruction?

• An Instructional Protocol

• Provides a common language and a clear target

• The first instructional protocol?

• We use The Student Learning Protocol

• “The Essential Practices of High Quality Teaching and Learning” MacGregor

What an instructional framework is NOT…

• Intended to be used for evaluation

• A silver bullet

• It will not be the tool, but how teachers utilize it that will make the difference

• A program, a new thing to add to already overloaded teachers

• Teachers already talk about instruction

• This tool provides clarity and focus

Two powerful tools for teachers:

• A structure that allows them to talk to each other and share knowledge

• Professional Learning Communities, Critical Friends, etc.

• And a way to talk to each other, an instructional framework or protocol

• Provides a common language and clear target

THE GOAL!

• To provide teachers with tools, support and encouragement

• To turn over the ownership of raising student achievement to those who have the greatest impact…teachers.

Using the Student Learning Protocol…

• Not every practice every day

• Look for evidence in what students are doing

• Page for reflection

• With partner, look through it and find indicators that are from How People Learn

A tool for use in PLC’s

• Common language, clear target

• A Professional Learning Community…what better way to improve practice than with other experts?

• Teacher factor…school factor

PLC’s…collaboration? Talking about what?

• The results suggest that although these types of organizational reforms may succeed in improving the culture within which teachers teach, they alone are unlikely to improve instruction and student learning. The communities that develop are often not communities engaged in instructional improvement (Supovitz, 2002).

• It is clearly not enough for teachers just to collaborate; there needs to be a focus on instructional practice and an intentional structure for observation and dialogue

A four year study in a district

• Developing Communities of Instructional Practiceby Jonathan Supovitz

• About a fourth of the time Professional Learning Communities made an impact on student achievement.

Together…

• A multiplier effect

• A structure, a Professional Learning Community

• A tool that provides a target for instruction

• A survey that gives direction to instructional teams

World’s Best Systems

• Read your section

• Identify key points

• Create a poster that will help your group share the key points with your cohort

Key questions

• Read them over, by section.

• Rate your current system, and write the result in the margin

• Share results with a partner

Key Findings NSDC Study

• Sustained and intensive professional development for teachers is related to student achievement gains.

• US teachers, unlike colleagues around the world, bear much of the cost of their professional development

• 9 out of 10 teachers professional learning consists of short term conferences or workshops

How will your system become the best?

• Look over posters, notes.

• In reflection journal write what you will do to create a system that is the BEST!