Culture and Change

Diversity has been a big initiative ever since I joined the district in 2005.  I distinctly remember sitting in an in-service on Rosh Hashanah during my first year of teaching.  As we were listening to a speech on diversity, someone stood up and said, “I find it hard to believe that you’re trying to teach us about diversity on the holiest day of the Jewish year.”  Since then, we have had off for Rosh Hashanah.  During another in-service, we participated in a large group activity where we had to stand in certain parts of the room depending on how we answered the facilitator’s question.  Some questions focused on our upbringing, race, and the wealth of our families.  Diversity awareness continues to be a focus in our district and is part of our mission statement.  According to Richards, Brown and Forde (2006),  “It is crucial that teachers explore their personal histories and experiences, as well as the history and current experiences of their students and families.”  

When teachers eliminate biases and have knowledge about their students’ backgrounds, they can better respond to their students’ needs.  Our district elementary schools have a number of programs in place so that all students feel included.  Response to Instruction and Intervention (RtII) is our newest academic initiative to ensure we are meeting the needs of all learners.  Team data meetings take place each quarter to look at data from multiple perspectives and ensure that students are in the most appropriate tier for learning.  The school counselors push into the classrooms for a series of lessons in each grade level.  In third grade, students experience a lesson on discrimination where they are treated a certain way according to the color bandana they are given.  School counselors have the flexibility to work with groups of students depending on the need that is expressed by the classroom teacher.  At my former building, I felt very supported by my principal, the school counselor, and all of the other support specialists.  “If the teacher-principal relationship can be characterized as helpful, supportive, and trusting, so too will relationships between teachers, students, and parents” (School context: Bridge or barrier to change, n.d.).

This year, RtII will be implemented in grades three and four across the district.  Kindergarten, first and second grade implemented RtII last year.  When I overhear conversations about RtII, I usually hear negative comments.  Even after a year of implementation, teachers see it more of a hassle than a help.  They view it as a program that interferes with scheduling and reduces the amount of time they have for language arts instruction.  According to Marzano (2005), culture is the number one item that is negatively affected by second-order change.  It also does not help that contract negotiations were going on for the first half of the school year.  If I could redo the RtII introduction process, I would start out by evaluating student data and showing the teachers how RtII can help meet the needs of all their students.  Monitoring and evaluating ranks number one on Marzano’s list for first-order change and number five on the list for second-order change (2005).  Being able to demonstrate knowledge of curriculum, instruction and assessment, number one on Marzano’s list for second-order change, would give support to the teachers.  Many teachers feel that this initiative was brought to our district without regard to the programs we already had in place.  In order to move forward and build positivity around this initiative, we need to continue to monitor and evaluate the student data.  If last year’s data shows improvements, that needs to be communicated to staff members to show how their efforts are making a difference.  If the data shows no progression, staff members should be involved in deciding the next steps.  As stated by Huberman and Miles, “Those involved in school improvement efforts must believe that the needs being addressed are important and that they are meeting those needs (School context: Bridge or barrier to change, n.d.).

References:

Brown, A.F., Forde, T.B., Richards, H.V. (2006). Addressing Diversity in Schools: Culturally Responsive Pedagogy.   National Center for Culturally Responsive Educational Systems. Retrieved from http://www.nccrest.org/Briefs/Diversity_Brief.pdf

Marzano, R. J., Waters, T., & McNulty, B. A. (2005).  School Leadership That Works: From Research to Results.  Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision andCurriculum Development.

School context: Bridge or barrier to change. (n.d.)  In Southwest Educational Development Laboratory.  Retrieved from http://www.sedl.org/change/school/leadership.html#culture

Marzano's 21 Responsibilities of a School Leader and Student Achievement

Last year, my school district implemented Response to Instruction and Intervention (RtII) in kindergarten through second grade.  This year, RtII will be implemented in grades three and four.  I chose this as my improvement initiative in order to evaluate the steps that have been taken to prepare staff for this change.  McREL rates this change as a “second-order change” because it involves new knowledge and a major shift from current practices.

McREL identifies seven leadership responsibilities that should be emphasized during a second-order change.  The three responsibilities of the inventory in which I scored highly are also three of the highest on my self-assessment: ideals/beliefs, change agent and optimizer.  While these responsibilities are all important to academic achievement, they do not rank as high as some other categories.  I suppose these categories are a bit more abstract, as they are not as visual as concrete data (monitoring/evaluating) and events that would involve all stakeholders (outreach).  Knowledge of curriculum, instruction and assessment is not only crucial to second-order change, but it has a .25 correlation with student achievement (Marzano, 2005, p. 63).  I ranked myself with a 3 on the self-assessment and scored a 3.5 on the inventory.  I do not underestimate the value of curriculum, instruction and assessment, I am just aware that it is a weakness of mine.  I plan to work closely with the new Coordinator of Curriculum and Instruction this year so I can gain skills in this area.  Part of the problem at the elementary level is that we refer to our programs as the curriculum.  The district is currently in the process of writing curriculum since we do not formally have one. 

I find the negative associations of the McREL inventory interesting, for I have never thought about the leadership responsibilities that may be pushed aside during a time of significant change.  I rated 3.17 for “culture” in the inventory and rated myself a 5 on the self-assessment.  It is possible that the state of my school district influenced my rating on the inventory, for I was thinking about our current conditions.  I am a firm believer in cooperation and teamwork.  I setup a teacher resource wiki last year to try to encourage teachers to share their work since we do not have shared drives on our network.  I continue to advocate for a shared space (either in the cloud or on the network) for people to share resources.  This year, I will attempt to use Edmodo (an educational social network) in one building to enhance communication and collaboration.  During a time of change and uncertainty, I feel that it’s important to remind everyone that we are all in the same boat working toward the same goal.  As a principal, I would try to give staff time to plan together and possibly observe in other classrooms if it was requested.  With a .25 correlation to student achievement, culture has a profound impact on the way teachers interact with their colleagues and their students (Marzano, 2005, p. 63).   I imagine that if a positive culture is modeled in the school, a teacher might strive to implement some similar strategies in her classroom.

        

With the highest correlation to student achievement, situational awareness ranked 4.20 on my McREL inventory and a 3 on my self-assessment.  I view it as a high need and am aware that I need work in that area.  As a principal, it is important that I develop an informal system of gathering information (Murphy, 2007, p. 55).  By touching base with my staff members on a daily basis and developing open, honest relationships with them, I would hope to be informed about events that may impact the school.  My former principal worked closely with his secretary, the school counselor and the school nurse.  All of them worked closely with the staff and served as great resources whenever a problem arose.  I would often seek help from one of them before seeking help from the principal.  I believe this is an effective system that models the sharing of and optimization of leadership responsibilities in a school.

21 Responsibilities of the School Leader Self-Assessment

McREL Report - 21 Leadership Responsibilities

McREL Report - 7-4-3 Analysis 

Resources:

Marzano, R. J., Waters, T., & McNulty, B. A. (2005).School Leadership That Works: From Research to Results.Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

Murphy, J.T. (2007).  The Unheroic Side of Leadership. In The Jossey-Bass Reader on Educational Leadership (pp. 51-62).  San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Transformational Leadership Reflection

Transformational leadership is based on strong moral values and purpose.  A transformational leader sets goals while looking at the global picture instead of just focusing on the facts.  This type of leader encourages collaboration and a mutual trust with followers, as opposed to a transactional leader whose actions may lead to competition among individuals.  In educational environments, transformational leaders demonstrate a genuine care for students, families, and staff members.  They appear to be self-less, as they are more concerned with developing others’ potential than developing themselves. 

If I were a student in a class with a transformative leader, I would learn the value of working in teams.  Project-based learning with a focus on higher-order thinking skills would be more common than drill and skill.  In this class, I would consider my teacher as a “guide on the side” instead of a “sage on stage.”  I would feel enabled to express my opinions after developing a mutual trust with my teacher and peers.  I would be expected to apply my knowledge to solve meaningful, relevant problems.  Failure would not be an option in a classroom with a transformative leader, for if I decided not to complete assignments, my teacher would strive to find the root of the problem instead of giving me a low letter grade.

A school administrator with the mindset of a transformational leader must have more of an ‘influence’ on a school than an ‘impact.’  The administrator should lead by modeling and making his values known.  When I hear the word ‘impact,’ I think of force.  Teachers in this school should be intrinsically motivated to improve their teaching strategies because they understand the overarching purpose of their role in the school.  Morale in this school would be high because teachers would feel supported and nurtured. 

I see a correlation between transformational leadership and stewardship.  In both styles, the leader does not want to be a dictator, but a facilitator.  The leader makes a continued effort to share responsibilities with teachers and parents.  The leader does not accept the existing structure if it is ineffective; he makes decisions based on emotion and values.  Just like stewardship, a transformational leader gives power to the people instead of powering over them (Sergiovanni 2007).

When school administrators encourage staff members to integrate technology into the curriculum, they must communicate WHY – why they are integrating technology and why it’s important.  If administrators do not have a personal passion for technology, they need to communicate how passionate the children are for technology. They might choose to show one of the “Did You Know” YouTube videos or have a discussion based on an article such as “Turning on the Lights” by Marc Prensky.  Administrators need to create an environment that encourages risk-taking so teachers are not afraid to fail.  They also need to model the use of technology so it shows their own risk-taking and partnering with the staff to learn something new.  A transactional approach would not be helpful for technology integration because teachers would see the idea as “one more thing to do” versus another way to liven up the curriculum and engage students.

This year, I am forming goals with the building principals before school begins.  We are forming goals based on the needs of the students and I am going to assist with the technology component.  I am hoping to introduce a new tool to the principals each time they meet so that they can model the use of this tool with their staff members.  The tools that I introduce will support differentiated instruction and guided reading which are their two main focus points this year.  I am hoping that by forming a vision based off of passion and purpose, I will transcend the minds of the principals and consequently, the influence the minds of the teachers (“The Transformational Leadership Report,” 2007).

Sergiovanni, Thomas (2007).  Leadership as Stewardship.  San Francisco:  Jossey-Bass.

“The Transformational Leadership Report” (2007).

 

First Two Weeks

The past two weeks have been exhilarating.  When I try to explain this program to others, I become giddy and excitable.  I'm sure these people think something is wrong with me when I rave about the ELC and the assignments I've been asked to complete.  I am enjoying the various ways we are learning about and connecting with each other - discussion threads, group forums, video presentations, etc.  Everyone brings such a unique perspective to this cohort, and I feel special to be a part of it.  I expect this program to be rigorous, demanding, supportive and encouraging – all at the same time.   I hope it doesn’t take me too long to develop efficient work strategies.

I'm still learning how to navigate the ELC.  I'm having trouble being productive while navigating through the discussion threads, but I think I just need more practice.  Hopefully one day, I will be able to hit 'reply' to a post and see the original post in the same window.  For now, I will continue to copy and paste posts so I don't lose track of who I am responding to.  I am enjoying the ‘to-do’ checklist in the ELC that keeps track of my assignments.  I need to get into a routine of entering all of the to-dos in my weekly calendar as well.

I'm glad that feedback on the ELC is welcome and encouraged.  I'm not used to working with people who want feedback in order to better meet my needs.  Everyone from JHU has been very friendly, helpful and responsive.  I know I made the right choice to get involved in this program.  ISTE is quickly approaching and I can't wait to meet my classmates in person.