District Central Office Transformation for Teaching & Learning Improvement What ’ s the core?

District Central Office Transformation for Teaching & Learning Improvement

What’s the core?

Meredith I. Honig Associate Professor & Co-Principal Investigator

CEL Central Office Transformation SymposiumJune 2, 2011

Outline

• Starting points

• What’s the core?–Learning-focused partnerships with principals focused on instructional leadership–Other units providing high- quality, relevant services that support instruction–Leaders continuously teaching the work

• Next steps?

Starting Points

Central offices matter, but mostly frustrate improvement

• A predictable result: Central offices set up for different work

• Invest in the central office to improve schools

Our Study

• Qualitative, comparative case study (2007-2008)– Atlanta; New York City-ESO; Oakland Unified, CA

• Data Sources– Interviews: 282– Observations: 264.5 hours– Documents: 252

• Linking Practices/Activities & Outcomes

- Are they practices that learning theory shows: Improve others’ practice Increase system capacity to support others’ practice

- Are they confirmed by multiple data sources? Observed improvements Multiple reports of improvements

Findings: 5 Dimensions of Central Office Transformation

1. Learning-focused partnerships with school principals

2. Assistance to the central office-principal partnerships

3. Reorganizing and re-culturing each central office unit to support the partnerships and teaching & learning improvement

4. Stewardship of the overall central office transformation process

5. Evidence use throughout the central office to support continual improvement of work practices

It’s not central office transformation without…

#1 Learning-focused partnerships between central office staff and principals dedicated to

improving principals’ instructional leadership

May 28, 2009

#1 Learning-focused Partnerships

Before…• Assistant/Area

Superintendents• “Sit-and-get” PD for principals• Occasional principal coaching• Central office-principal

relationship: Focused on compliance

After

Instructional Leadership

Directors

Focus on Principals’ Instructional Leadership

ILD:

“I… spend time… helping principals focus their work. Working on the quality of teaching and learning. Looking at student work. Looking at the rigor. Looking at best practices…. Taking a principal who has not spent time in classrooms and getting them to shift their focus takes a lot of…intentional work. And then [helping them] maintain that focus in a culture where teachers are used to… keeping you in your office to deal with this one student all day– that’s a whole other level of work. And then helping [principals] prioritize their time…on the core….”

Learning-focused Partnerships

Instructional Leadership Directors

Backgrounds ResourcesAlso

Evaluates Principal?

Principals Assigned by…

APSSRT Executive Directors

Education

Team: 10-14 Model

Teacher Leaders

YES

• Principal choice• Central assignment

NYC Network Leaders

Various

Team: 2 academic-

focused2 operations-

focused

NO Principal choice

OUSD Network Executive Officers

Education Limited YESCentral

assignment

The Core of Transformation: Learning-focused Partnerships




After

Instr. Leadership Directors:

• Providing intensive, job-embedded PD

• Engaging in practices of master teachers

• Focusing in instructional leadership as joint or shared work

• Differentiating supports…

• Modeling…

• Developing & using “tools”…

• Brokering resources…

Specific Practices

In support of:

Principals’ Instructional Leadership

The Core of Transformation: Learning-focused Partnerships




After

Instr. Leadership Directors:• Providing intensive, job-

embedded PD• Engaging in practices of

master teachers• Receiving ongoing support

Professional Development for ILDs is Essential

Central office director of elementary schools:

“I have been in a building for 30 years and building principal for 20. When I was principal I regularly complained that central office staff were never in my building. I have been at this job for three years but I am hardly ever in buildings myself. I don’t know what to do when I’m there to help.”

Protecting ILDs’ Time

Instructional Leadership Director:

“We had black out days, right, and the blackout days were equivalent to one and a half days a week [later increased to two and a half days]. And the blackout days mean that you don’t pull principals, you don’t pull… [ILDs] because people are in schools doing the work.”

FAQs about the Partnerships

1. Can’t our Area Superintendents just do this?

2. Can’t we go with a hybrid where staff do this, say, 40% of the time and other things for the other 60?

3. I don’t have funding or time to staff this group; can they facilitate and support themselves?

Check-In

• What are 1-2 ideas about the learning-focused partnerships that are resonating with you? Why those?

• What are 1-2 ideas that are not resonating or that are confusing? What questions will you ask to deepen your understanding?


#2 Shifting everyone’s work so that all staff provide high-quality, relevant services in support of improved instruction.

Case Management

Project Management Performance Management

#2 Shifting everyone’s work…

Case Management

Case Management in Human Resources

HR “Before”• Which applications are

on my desk? • Have I moved the names

of those candidates onto the list in time?

• Have I processed the paperwork for the candidates principals want to hire?

HR “After”• Who are my principals?• What are their goals?• What are they like to work

for?• What kind of candidates do

they want and might work well there?

• How can I help them recruit, hire, and retain?

Case Management in Instructional Services

C & I (“Before”)• Administers

programs largely based on funding

• Deploys coaches centrally by school performance

• Staffs up alignment work

Instructional Services (“After”)

• Staff continuously strategically develop actual instructional services based on:– Input from principals and ILDs

– School demand

– Research/expertise

• ILDs-Principals draw on services to support professional learning goals


Case Management

Project Management


Case Management

Project Management

Performance

Management

FAQs about shifting everyone’s work

1. How can we add services given our budget constraints? We just can’t take on anything else!

2. Can we do this with our existing staff?

3. How do we do this without staff feeling like their jobs are at risk?


#3 Leading by teaching: “Instructional leadership” throughout the

central office

Executive Leadership as Instructional Leadership

Continuously develop and communicate a vision focused on teaching

and learning Teach everyone how to change– including how to lead the change

Have and use a theory of action Clarifies the “through line” Articulates the what and the why Tracks ongoing learning

Approach all that you do as a teaching (not a telling) opportunity

The Core Ideas

• Learning-focused partnerships

• Shifting everyone’s work • Case management• Project management• Performance management

• Leading by teaching