Performance evaluation-student achievement, what's the scoop?

It's what you learn after you know it all that counts" ~John Wooden

I often think about and have used John Maxwell's famous quote, "change is inevitable. Growth is optional".  It's true, our world is transforming around us, which requires change to happen in the way we do business in education if we want to be prepared, current, and innovative in our profession.  However, growing personally and professionally is dependent on our attitudes, mindset, and willingness to engage in new learning, take risks, and embrace the opportunities.

Our common mission, Every Student, Every Day, A Success, requires all stakeholders to collectively take responsibility for preparing our students to thrive in an ever changing world.  We accomplish this by continuing to learn and grow in our practice, just as we expect doctors to learn new techniques and use advanced technology to diagnose and treat patients.  As professionals we are expected to produce results; in education it's about our students; are they prepared, do they have the knowledge and skills to be successful and thrive in an ever changing world?

So how do we measure the performance of our educators? We know that our best results from students come from intentional standards based planning, frequent monitoring for growth throughout the unit, feedback and support for those that need more, and at the end, a final evaluation of overall learning. 

Our current Focus Framework Evaluation Model takes a similar approach with educators.  It is a shift from a summative score based on a one time subjective evaluation to a competency based model that allows educators to grow in practice.  Informal, walkthroughs and formal observations provide the opportunity for feedback and support.  Yes, there is a summative score at the end, but the intention is that you will know where you are performing based on the feedback you have received along the way.  This is a good thing! Receiving a beginning rating is OK!  It doesn't necessarily mean you are ineffective, it's just where you are with execution of the strategies (elements) at that time.  Ineffectiveness is only apparent when growth isn't happening over time.  With the focus on standards based planning and using data to drive instructional decisions, we would expect that we would have high number of teachers at beginning and developing. however, as professional learning, instructional coaching, and support is provided, growth should be evident! 

Empowering educators to be instructional leaders evolves from this model!  Embrace the opportunity to learn together with your administrators, coaches and PLC 2.0 teams!  We are in this together!


Learning Sciences Marzano Center published white papers around the model if you are interested in more information.

Why Professional Learning Communities Matter?

"Every Student, Every Day, A Success! We Teach Hearts as Well as Minds" This is a bold, yet admirable mission statement for Grand Island Public Schools and it captures the essence of intentions of our everyday work.  Yet, despite our best efforts and intentions, there are still students that are falling behind, that move from grade to grade without the knowledge and skills needed to be successful.  Is it realistic to think that we can ensure that "every" student achieve the skills in order to "thrive" in an ever changing world?  I believe it is!  We know our students face many challenges (behaviors, achievement gaps, language, trauma, chronic stress) that impact their rate of progress.  Although many of the situations are out of our control, there is strong research to support that what we do when students are in our care every day, can make a difference and change the trajectory of their future.       
The unique needs, academic and social emotional, that our students walk through out doors with everyday deserve our very best-our attention--our collective effort to break down those barriers.  It's time to innovatively engage students, have high expectations, and increase the rigor--facilitating opportunities for students to take ownership their learning.  The "how" we accomplish this is what has to change if we are to accomplish our vision.  The quote at the top of this blog stresses the importance of collaboration.  The collective expertise of a group of educators focused on root cause of achievement gaps,  use of effective instructional, implementation of interventions and extensions to address specific student learning needs, and planning to engage students in a learning environment that is rigorous and inclusive, accomplishes far more, than if engaging in this process alone.  The GIPS structure to accomplish this work is through Professional Learning Communities (fondly called PLC 2.0).  The visual below provides a brief overview of essential characteristics, however, I am also linking a one page summary of the GIPS PLC 2.0 that evolved through research of effective PLC implementation. 

Although the concept of PLC's 2.0 sounds fairly simple, implementation has it's challenges.  Personalities, belief barriers, confidence, communication, growth mindset, response to change, all impact effectiveness of outcomes of the PLC.  The time allocated for this work is a gift for teams to come together for the common purpose of improving student learning.  It is a shift in what we have typically called "collaborative planning" where planning the week's lessons and sharing the responsibilities in preparing materials was the focus to intentionally focusing on what students need to know and be able to do, setting goals around standards, using student learning results to inform instruction, intervention and extensions throughout the unit, and growing professionally in practice by learning from others. This doesn't just happen, all members have to contribute, engage and honestly reflect about the process. The vision is common and clear, and although engaging in PLC 2.0 work may not be comfortable or natural to some, when the team is effective, the academic achievement needle moves farther than if going about this work alone.

With any new practice, level of implementation happens at different rates and I have observed this through PLC 2.0 visits this last couple of weeks.  That is ok as there are supports, reflections and professional learning along the way. It's just not ok, to not move towards implementation. Thank you in advance for all you do everyday and for taking ownership of the process by reflecting on how you are contributing to your team as an educator as well as how you can grow in practice as a result.  EMPOWER each other, using DATA to PERSONALIZE standards based instruction for students.  If this becomes just what we do, we will RISE GI!

                     

 

Celebrating School Leaders

"Great leaders don't set out to be the leader. They set out to make a difference.  It's never about the role-always about the goal". ~Lisa Haisha 

It's National Principals Month and a time to recognize and thank our GIPS school leaders for all they do to ensure our schools are welcoming and accepting instructional learning environments for our students.  The responsibilities and expectations for building leaders encompasses the expectations to be effective instructional leaders that empower teachers to improve academic achievement, be data users, building managers, disciplinarians, and public relations experts.  The day in the life of a principal is unpredictable, yet the expectations to balance, prioritize, solve problems in the moment, and communicate effectively with all stakeholders are held high.   The principal's job is comprehensive and rarely perfected.  Just like all other positions, it's important to continue to learn and grow in the position and build capacity with teams because we truly are "better together"! 

As I reflect on my past experience as a principal, I will have to admit that it was one of the most rewarding, yet most challenging positions I have held in my education career.  The quote written at the beginning of this blog resonated with me because I did I set out to make a difference as a principal, I had vision and goals, however, I realized that just having the goal was not enough.  I had to be a developer of people and community as well and build the capacity with others to achieve the goals. This does require intentional focus on effective leadership, to never stop learning, to be vulnerable with others, and seek innovation when problem solving.

Although I am no longer a principal, I am so proud and excited to have the opportunity to support our GIPS principals in my position as Chief of Leadership and Development. Our principals are difference makers, and I would like to ask you to join me in recognizing and celebrating ours this month (and throughout the year).  If you are looking for ideas on ways to celebrate with students and staff at your campus, please check out this link: Ways to say thank you and celebrate.

Below are some pictures of our campus leaders engaging in professional learning around our the GIPS Strategic Plan and three priority goals for this year: Implementing effective Professional Learning Communities that regularly analyze student results, address individual barriers to learning, plan effective lessons and unit and evaluation the implementation of programs; Provide embedded professional learning on Marzano's Instructional Model-specifically Standards Based Planning; and use data to continuously improve teaching and learning.  Our principals are being stretched to think and lead differently by letting go of ineffective practices, maintaining welcoming and safe environments, establishing strongly aligned school improvement plans/actions with specific measurement indicators that are monitored on a regular basis, a focus on implementation of effective instructional practices and providing effective feedback.  I would hope that because of their work this year that they are also stretching all of you to do the same and join in on the journey to provide a currently good educational experience for our students to a"great" educational experience where students will gain the knowledge and skills that will allow them to THRIVE in an ever changing world! 

Engaging in Side by Side Coaching to learn about how the instructional model impacts student achievement
and how to support and provide effective feedback to teachers on instructional practices

Summer professional learning focusing in on our district
strategic planning and priority goals for GIPS!

Developing a common vision of instruction.   

It is all about getting better! RISE GI!

Feel free to post your messages recognizing your principals on twitter:
#thankaprincipal
#wearegips
#risegi

Compliance? or Empowerment?

 "Many students are smart enough that they know how to meet the objectives of a rubric and still not grow much in their learning.  A master teacher sets the goals based on learning not on receiving a grade."

I pulled this quote from a recent George Couros blog that highlighted the difference between performance and learning goals and how to make the shift from compliance to engagement to empowerment.  Ownership in learning is not a new concept, we know that when we are engaged and have opportunities to process, learn with others, study, productively struggle, and have the opportunity to teach others that we become knowledge users rather than just knowledge consumers.  As we think about instructional leadership at the classroom level, how often are these opportunities provided to our students?

This last week, principals and teachers shared some examples with me and I also did some scanning of twitter for evidence and here are some examples of where students (and teachers) were being empowered.

.  Kindergarten students could explain the success criteria for learning new words.  They were explaining the criteria they used to figure out the words.

Walnut progress monitoring how well students know, understand the learning targets and the use of collaborative groups to provide opportunities for students to process and own the learning.

Dodge teachers collaborating in their PLC around student data (designing instruction).

GISH students analyzing multiple texts to synthesize background understandings of a particular era.  Students talked about connections of the text to current happenings in today's news.

 We have to move away from a focus on compliance to a focus on growth! I know there are so many more examples, so be sure to recognize and celebrate growth with your colleagues and your students! So excited about the opportunities for our GIPS students!  

What's happening in our Demonstration Schools?

At our Back to School Welcome, Michael Toth and Dr. Grover briefly referenced and recognized Starr, Jefferson and Walnut campuses as our three schools taking on the work of becoming Demonstration Schools of Rigor.  (If you are interested in learning more about what a Demonstration School of Rigor is, please check out this video.)  This professional learning around this work is intense and will take approximately 2-3 years, but will change pedagogy and transform classrooms to focus on preparing students to be successful in the new economy. 

The learning that is happening at all three schools will benefit all of our schools as we build and develop instructional leadership at the student level, classroom level, campus level and district level!  We are all learning and growing through this work!  In addition to this, by the end of the second year, our Demonstration Schools will become learning laboratories for all GIPS!  

This work is not easy! Professional learning for these schools started July 24th!  

Teams sharing and describing the instructional vision during the Designing Implementation Training              

Learning about the new economy and what it means to have a student centered classrooms with rigor.

 What is a PLC 2.0 and how do we collaboratively work together and use student learning evidence to inform planning that addresses student needs?

                              What do we know about student readiness to learn and how it impacts how we plan?

What is the connection to the district strategic plan? Here is an example of how a team made the connection.....

In addition to all of this, all three schools are receiving coaching through our Learning Science Partners around the implementation of Marzano strategies.  Monitoring progress is occurring through rigor walks looking for systems that impact outcomes.

Teachers are trying different strategies to move on the continuum to creating student centered classrooms with rigor.
 
For example:  Using the strategy...Organizing students to work in groups. It's important to structure groups with assigned roles and responsibilities, and for a purpose.  We learned about the difference between organizing students in furniture groups vs. organizing students in groups to engage in cognitively complex tasks.

Some teachers have also just started implementing the use of Standards Tracker to monitor "minute by minute" learning.  Having success criteria for the intended targets (aligned to standards) is important so they, and students, can track progress along the way.

This is a huge commitment for our Jefferson, Walnut, and Starr faculty and staff to take the lead with this work!  They are to be commended for their willingness and dedication to this learning.  As you interact with staff from theses three schools, please be a cheerleader, a supporter, and thank them for taking risks, practicing new strategies, and transforming their classrooms into student centered learning environments!

It's an exciting journey and I'm so thankful we are able to engage in the work in GIPS!

Preparing Our Students to Thrive? Where do we start? How do we know?

During our welcome back event Michael Toth presented research, evidence, and examples of how the education that we provide and offer our students everyday needs to transform in order to prepare them to thrive in an ever changing world! This visual explains and aligns with his definition of the old vs. the new economy:

I understand the "why" we have to transform what education looks, sounds and feels like and I feel a sense of urgency to accomplish this quickly, however, growing up in the "old economy" I find myself grappling with the "how".  What is the first step? What supports do I/we need?  Where is my mind spending its time and is it helping me or hurting my progress and ability to lead? 

I've resolved to fact that "we have to move"!  So what does this mean for us?  For our students?

The GIPs strategic plan explains through our theory of action, eight objectives and strategic initiatives just how to accomplish this.  Empower, Personalize, Design and Partner!

This transformation cannot be accomplished alone!  One of our priorities this year is to engage in professional learning communities where team members know and understand what is critical for students to know and be able to do, are focused on student evidence that aligns with those standards, and where teams collaborate to plan with clear learning goals and aligned lessons that incorporate ways for students to take ownership of the learning!  Think about how our classrooms will look different if this is occurring on a weekly basis!  

Teachers are already trying new approaches--building student teams with defined roles and responsibilities, posing problems and allowing students to question, research and learn from each other!  These are just a few examples of what is "transforming" in classrooms across the district! 

Tweet by Jenifer A

Dani Ryan

This year on Wednesday Walks, the executive leadership and central office team members will be in many classrooms and collecting evidence of our progress with standards based planning through first observing how teachers are using, displaying and communicating learning targets.  District data will be shared on my blog and with principals to keep you all informed about our progress!  We are excited to be in classrooms, get to know you all better and be a support throughout the transformation of the work that will benefit all of our students!

 

Why Professional Goals Matter

 

Tweet by Whitney Flower, Lincoln Elementary School

“Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe.”–Abraham Lincoln

In the education business, time typically surfaces as a barrier, there is just not enough of it! Research and theory overwhelmingly reports the benefits of reflective practice and engaging in professional learning on outcomes, however, I would predict that educators are the worst at making time for this practice.  If you kept a journal of your week, an audit so to speak, what is your reality?  How much time is spent reflecting on the effectiveness of your practice?  Sharpening your skills?  Learning from others? If we know that teacher reflection and engaging in professional development improves pedagogical skill, let's make this a priority.

Perfect timing for this blog as this is the time of the year when we all set our professional growth goals.  As you engage in this process, reflect on your current reality and skillsets. Consider the 11 goals that we are working towards as a district, the focused goals identified for your campus or department, and the growth goals for the students in your classroom or content area.  Where will your growth have the highest impact or leverage on closing the gap and improving learning opportunities for our students? What specific actions will you take and when?  How often will reflective practice occur, how will you know when you have made progress (design), what measurement indicators will you collect throughout the year to develop automaticity or expertise? To be empowered to be instructional leaders, this must be a living process that occurs ongoing throughout the year.

Goal setting is important for ALL GIPs employees.  Everyone plays a role in providing a quality learning environment and educating our students.  Everyone contributes to the progress we make in achieving our district goals.  Think about your role and how you make a difference! Process your goal(s) with your supervisor. Set a goal to "sharpen your saw" no matter what department you work in!  

The time we invest in our own learning will result in amazing learning opportunities for our students.  

Here are a few resources for guidance with setting goals for this year. RISE up GI as a learning organization so that Every Student, Every Day, A Success!

Professional Goal Guidance-Certified Staff
Professional Goal Guidance-Admin
Classified Goal Setting

Jill Kimbrough Tweet-Walnut MS

Teamwork by Jenifer Ashby