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Regional Educator Networks – Soaring to New HeightsEFFECTIVE & SUSTAINED TEACHER LEARNING
Naomi Norman, Interim Assistant SuperintendentWashtenaw ISD and Livingston ESA
Scott Menzel, SuperintendentWashtenaw Intermediate School District
www.miteacher.org/about-networks.html
Washtenaw and Livingston Counties inSoutheastern Michigan
14 School Districts
• Largest: Ann Arbor 17,000 students
• Smallest: Whitmore Lake 900 students
Urban, Suburban and Rural
75,000 students
5000 teachers
A quick question What is your greatest frustration related to professional development for teachers?
www.miteacher.org/about-networks.html
What kind of teacher learning matters most?
Learning
Learning is a social activity. You learn from the company you keep.
Smith, Frank, (1998). The Book of Learning and Forgetting. Teachers College Press. New York, NY. p45.
Learning Learning is self-determined. An outsider can never direct a living system to learn, they can only disturb and support it.
P9 Sessa, V., & London, M. (2006). Continuous learning in organizations: Individual , group, and organizational perspectives. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Publishers. Mahwah, NJ.
Joyce and Showers ModelTraining Methods & Levels of ImpactJoyce & Showers (1980)
Training MethodHow do we achieve it?
Level of Impact Evidence of ImpactWhat does this look like?
Didactic presentation oftheory & concepts
Awareness Participant can articulategeneral concept & identifyproblems.
Modeling/demonstration(i.e. live, video)
ConceptualUnderstanding
Participant can articulateconcepts clearly & describeappropriate actions.
Practice in simulatedsituations with feedback(i.e. role play, written exercises
Skill Acquisition Participant can begin to useskills in structured or simulated
situations.
Coaching & supervisionduring application
Application of Skills Participant can use skills flexibly in actual settings.
Knowing Doin
g
Regional System Levers
Organizational Structures &
Processes
Groups of Teachers
Teacher
www.miteacher.org/about-networks.html
Regional Networks as a System Lever
www.miteacher.org/about-networks.html
Right and Wrong Drivers of Reform
Right
Capacity building
Group work
Instruction
Systemic solutions
Wrong
Individual teacher and leadership quality: promoting individual versus group solutions
How do we build it as a SYSTEM?
“Systemness” Each layer in the system considers one layer above them.
Moving from MY learning to OUR learning.
Instead of MY classroom it is OUR classrooms.
MY school becomes OUR schools
MY district becomes OUR region
My county becomes OUR counties
Shared “Good Enough” VisionEvery 5 years we revisit our focus for instructional improvement
Every year we revisit the impact/value of each of our networks and determine level of resource support
Each network is grounded in the same assumptions
Theory of Action/logic model is articulated
Key assumptions about shared vision and work:
• Not all districts have to join all initiatives
• Initiative has to be relevant to all districts
• Once we adopt a perspective, we don’t train in other competing approaches
• If a teacher were to engage in ALL networks, the work would be consistent and aligned. In other words, every network is simply an entry point to a particular kind of high quality instruction.
www.miteacher.org/about-networks.html
Adolescent Literacy Steering Committee, a subcommittee of the Effective Practices/Assessment Workgroup, Washtenaw County Intermediate School District, March 2006
Blueprint for Engaging Students in Literate Thinking in Washtenaw County
Key Elements of Blueprint for Engaging Students in Literate Thinking
County Approach to Adolescent Literacy
System and Individual Capabilities that Support Effective Literacy Instruction
Initiatives to Support Effective Literacy Instruction
Hoped-for Outcomes
Purposes
Align processes and proceduresLeadership teamAssessment processesTeacher collaborationLiteracy plansProfessional developmentCoordination of outside support
Framing ideas:Common Expectations for literacyPersonalizing learningMultiple forms of assessmentEffective instructional practicesTeaming
Align infrastructure Extended time for literacy Creation of classroom librariesIntensive academic literacy class
Increase in student agency and thinking skills
Increase in student reading comprehension and writing skills
Decrease in the gap between low performing students and others
Increase in teacher collaborative practices
Increase in cross-district collaboration
Alignment of district, building and ISD literacy goals
Syst
em C
a pab
ilitie
sTe
ache
r Cap
abili
ties
Coordinated Professional Development
Form county cohort of trainers and team facilitators with content area focus using existing models such as•Reading Apprenticeship•Writing Apprenticeship•HI-Class•Critical Friends Groups
Strengthening student, teacher and system capabilities to support the development of “literate thinkers”.
Utilizing a metacognitive model that builds agency and efficacy in students so they can fully access the curriculum. (Giving students the tools to be thinkers.)
Apprenticing students in discipline-specific reading, writing, and oral language instruction.
Building strong teacher collaborative processes.
Strengthen Leadership and Collaboration CapabilitiesFacilitating change processCollaborative group techniques
Strengthen Instructional CapabilitiesConceptual understanding of importance of literate thinkingDevelop skills and knowledge Application of effective literacy-related instructional practices
Facilitator’s Network
Support a cross-county network of literacy facilitators for training, collaboration, and leadership purposes.
Leadership & Design Teams
Focus leadership and design team model on supporting building leadership teams address literacy professional development needs.
Leadership Support
Support development of building-level literacy teams
Support building and district leadership
Develop and maintain working relationships with community partners
Our networks and how they are organized
Design for Learning…there are few more urgent tasks than to design social infrastructures that foster learning.
Wenger, E. (1998) Communities of Practice: Learning, meaning, and identity. p225
.
Student Learning Need
Moral Imperative
Teacher Learning Need
System Coherence
County or regional instructional group decides if the topic/area warrants further investigation, forms a subcommittee to investigate, and if reasonable, recommends forming a network.
The Superintendents’ group officially approve the forming of a network and allocates the resources.
Example: Poor literacy performance by 6th-11th grade students led to the Adolescent Literacy Networks
Example: New state policy on evaluation led to forming the Teacher Evaluation Network
Example: Culture & Diversity
Example: Need for teachers to understand how to unpack the Common Core Standards led to Assessment Literacy Network
Entry points for networks
www.miteacher.org/about-networks.html
Life Cycle of a Network
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Phase 1Phase 2
Phase 3Phase 4
Engaging Students in ‘Literate Thinking’
Form County-wideSteering Committee
Develop a shared vision
Articulate vital components of effective literacy instruction and infrastructure
Determine county-wide implementation plan
Coun
tyD
istr
ict
Scho
olCl
assr
oom
Develop County-wide Literacy Facilitator Group
Develop and practice strong literacy, leadership and collaboration skils
Provide training for building and district leadership teams
Form cross-district literacy team
Develop a shared vision
Articulate vital components of district literacy work in terms of instruction and infrastructure
Coordinate literacy work across buildings with attention to transition years
Maintain c ross-district literacy team
Monitor progress toward a coordinated literacy program within district
Review data
Sustain County-wide Literacy Facilitator Network
Provide training and support across districts in literacy and teacher collaboration
Provide support for building leaders and leadership teams
Participate in County-streering committee
Participate in district literacy team
Develop literacy facilitators and organize small learning teams
Two teachers attend summer training and ongoing training throughout year to become formal facilitators within building, district and county
Teachers form a small, literacy leadership team within school and train team members in literacy and collaboration strategies
Measurable change in instruction in literacy leaders’ classroom (2 classrooms)
Provide school-wide training in literacy skills and provide learning teams with further skill development
Provide formal literacy training for entire school staff
Form additional small learning teams to focus on instructional strategies and assessments related to literacy
Measurable change in instruction in the classrooms of the literacy team members (4-6 classrooms)
Research & Development Forming Scaling Up Institutionalized
Reading Apprenticeship
Assessment Literacy
Study of Early Literacy
Adaptive Leadership
Writing Collaborative
Science Workgroup
Mathematical Practices
Instructional Consultation Teams
Cultural Proficiency
Teacher Evaluation Network
Coordinated School Health
LIFECYCLE OF A NETWORK
5 years
Interdisciplinary Literacy
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Research & Development Forming Scaling Up Institutionalized
NETWORKS OVER TIME
2004 2015
Adaptive Leadership
Interdisciplinary Literacy
Assessment Literacy
Writing Collaborative
Reading Apprenticeship
Study of Early Literacy
Cultural & Diversity Task Force
Science Workgroup
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Coordinator Steering Committee
Superordinate Group of Teacher Leaders
Cohorts of Teachers
Cohorts of Teachers
Cohorts of Teachers
Cohorts of Teachers
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Red line represents average expected growth for each grade level
Staffing and Resource Allocation ESA Level Approx .5 FTE to lead/coordinate network
Substitute teacher costs for core teacher leader group ($800 per teacher)
Stipends for steering committee summer and after school work ($800 per steering committee member)
Approx $70,000 per year expense ($30,000 in revenue)
District level Pay for cohort training sessions ($300 per person, sometimes districts have to pay summer stipends to teachers also)
Districts use PD time, common planning time to do work.
Capacity to lead, train, support is all local
Share teacher leaders with other districts for cohort training days
www.miteacher.org/about-networks.html
Literacy NetworksAdolescent Literacy and Early Literacy
Michigan Reading Journal Article:
The Study of Early Literacy: A Network Model for Teacher Professional Development.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B5fdFPQ37hDsbEVaQU96aXBMYWs/view
www.miteacher.org/about-networks.html
Inquiry Area – Early Literacy What early literacy instructional best practices help to produce literate, lifelong learners?
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Invite your core group of educators and commit to focused inquiry
Classroom teachers, curriculum leaders, principals, literacy coaches.
Tap community or university partners
Start as you intend to continue (if you want all disciplines represented, make sure they are all there. If you want diversity in age, gender, race/ethnicity, make sure you have that representation)
One to two years to read, study, learn about the instructional challenge and various approaches to addressing it.
Involve researchers, experienced teachers, find places around the country that are doing great work.
Identify core approach to take for the next 5 years.
www.miteacher.org/about-networks.html
Pilot with a group of teachers and test your theoryAction research
Data collection and reporting
Feedback and adjustment
www.miteacher.org/about-networks.html
Define your approach and form your first group
Approach this as the first group of instructional leaders, so the work is about the pedagogy as well as how to track progress, provide feedback to each other, and work with peers
www.miteacher.org/about-networks.html
Build cohorts and use feedback Always work in cohorts or teams where teachers can build trust, relationships, and challenge one another over time
Collect and use feedback. Know where teachers struggle and where they find success.
Collect data because it is useful for teachers. Find a way to aggregate that data.
Use the teacher leader group to determine how to face challenges.
www.miteacher.org/about-networks.html
What lessons did we learn?
Unintended positive consequences
Strong teacher leaders make good principals. These teachers are frequently selected for formal leadership roles. Nearly all new principals that are selected from within our districts have been one of our network leaders.
Networks are being recommended and led by local district leaders. Our team isn’t directly supporting all our networks.
We don’t run into the challenge of offering a workshop and having no one attend. It is very collaborative and co-planned, so we know well ahead of time if there are challenges (ie with substitutes, staffing, leadership, etc.)
Our districts have aligned school and district improvement plans and asked if they could pay us for this work.
Collecting data to the student level creates a high level of understanding of how the network is impacting student learning (where it works and where it doesn’t)
We can offer simultaneous training in all districts on the same day.
www.miteacher.org/about-networks.html
Negative Unintended consequences
Negative Outcomes of Social Capital:◦ Exclusion of outsiders◦ Excess claims on group members◦ Pressures for conformity◦ Downward leveling norms
Pressure to push weak instructional models through the strong network relationships
P206 Coburn, C.E. & Russell, J. L. (2008). District policy and teachers’ social networks. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis.
September 2008. Vol 30 No. 3 pp203-235.
Final Thought
Stewardship not leadership “The alternative to leadership is stewardship. Stewardship asks each one of us to be responsible and accountable for the outcomes of the system we design. Stewardship is shared accountability, which is fueled by a shared commitment to service. …Stewardship transcends leadership.”
Banathy, B.H. (1996). Designing social systems in a changing world. New York, Plenum Press.
Questions?
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