Leading Change

Leading Change To what problem is this the solution? Using data to inform our leadership decisions

What Change? •Assumption that the change we are talking about is that of changing teacher practice and school systems to improve outcomes for students. •How do you bring about change unless you know what the current situation is?

Change Analogies •Director of a play •Surfboard rider •Person going up the “down” escalator •Mechanic working on a moving car How can we manage change in productive ways and ensure that the change (in teacher practice) is sustainable Order of change: Guskey

Guskey – what makes PD effective •Clear focus on Learning and Learner – what improvement do we want to see in student achievement? Clear goals and assessment procedures to document progress. •Engage in rigorous self analysis – trial, look at evidence, where to next – an iterative working process •Feedback for teachers essential esp from the principal. (two weeks) Principal’s role vital. "If you leave during the session I will be right behind you”. •A focus on Distributive leadership – strengthen the role of curriculum leaders, syndicate leaders and teachers – a collective responsibility – a professional learning community •Making sure organizational structures are in place – strategic plan, annual plan, targets, budget, common professional learning objectives linked to appraisal •Use of ‘Force Field Analysis’

Evidence / Data •Understand the purposes of the assessment and how the information would be used and what this means for their practice •Efficient and manageable •Reliable and valid – comparable over time, benchmarked, moderated. •Become data literate – raising all teachers skill level by engaging in professional dialogue on what counts as data •Be trained in the use of specific tools

Shifting the Focus From talking about programmes without achievement data to anaylsing data together at team meetings to inform practice •Developing a common understanding of what progression means - clear progress indicators – eg assessment map. Exemplar / descriptor / learning intentions / success criteria •What achievement do you need to track over time – assessment schedules / Aggregated data / targets •Guskey – engage in rigorous self analysis •Reflection on findings – collective identification of implications and discussion of alternatives for development and action. Stoll, Fink and Earl •What are we doing well, where do we need to target more effort for specific individual or groups of students •Time dedicated to looking at data – every syndicate / staff meeting – being specific looking for the best way to ‘move the children on’. Use of classroom release time •Share problems (puzzles of practice), teaching strategies •Staffing/budget

Avoiding the quick Fix Fullan: adaptive change - addressing problems for which you don’t yet know the solutions. How do you bring about change if you don’t know what the current situation is? Eileen Piggot-Irvine - Action Research Issue/Focus; Group members; Reconnaissance ( data to establish the ‘status quo’); Implementation; Evaluation.

Shifting the Focus – my next step As Principal – my core business – impact of teaching on student learning Knowing rather than assuming what is happening - use evidence / data to inform my leadership decisions. (Hattie) •Interview teachers with their data to ascertain their understanding / awareness of children, progress and issues they have got. •Talking to students about their learning, what their next steps are and then feeding this back to the teacher •Improving ways of aggregating the data

Interconnected cultural norms influencing school improvement (Stoll and Fink, 1996) •Shared goals

we know where we’re going

•Responsibility for success

we can succeed

•Collegiality

we’re working on this together

•Continuous improvement we can get better •Lifelong learning

learning is for everyone

•Risk taking

we learn by trying something new

•Support

There’s always someone there to help

•Mutual respect •Openness

Everyone has something to offer We can discuss our difference

•Celebration and humour We feel good about ourselves

Key Challenges •Sustaining change – implications for induction of new staff Finding the time to develop teachers indepth knowledge, understanding and practice on how to use assessment tools and analyse and use the data •So what are key challenges for you?