Taking Wallace Research to Practice:

Managing People, Data, and Processes to

Foster School Improvement

National Association of Elementary School Principals and the Wallace Foundation Webinar Series

February 23, 2016

@naesp2015

The School Principal As Leader: Guiding Schools to Better Teaching

and Learning

(Wallace, 2013)

Since 2000, the Wallace Foundation has published more that 70 reports on

leadership. www.wallacefoundation.org

www.naesp.org

Wallace Foundation/NAESP

Commitments

•NAESP is committed to lead in the advocacy and

support for elementary and middle-level principals and

other education leaders in their commitment to all

children.

• The Wallace Foundation is committed to foster

improvements in learning and enrichment for

disadvantaged children and the vitality of the arts for

everyone. The Foundation seeks to catalyze broad

impact by supporting the development, testing and

sharing of new solutions and effective practices.

The School Principal as Leader:

Guiding Schools to Better Teaching

and Learning

•Since 2000, Wallace has supported states

and school districts in developing

improved leadership models for principals

to better their schools. Their efforts have

touched 24 states and numerous urban

school districts.

The School Principal as Leader:

Guiding Schools to Better Teaching

and Learning

The Wallace Foundation’s Principal Pipeline

Initiative is a five-year undertaking that is

helping districts develop larger corps of

effective school principals and aspiring

leaders.

The School Principal as Leader:

Guiding Schools to Better Teaching

and Learning In 2011, six districts became participants in

this initiative:

•Charlotte-Mecklenburg, NC

•Denver, CO

•Gwinnett County, GA

•Hillsborough County, FL

•New York City, NY

•Prince George’s County, MD

Five Key Practices

• Shaping a vision of academic success for all

students.

• Creating a climate hospitable to education.

• Cultivating leadership in others.

• Improving instruction.

• Managing people, data and processes to foster

school improvement.

Robin Pinder, Principal

Homestead Elementary School

Cumberland County School District

Crossville, Tennessee

Deborah Tyler

NAESP

Associate Executive Director

Professional Learning

Homestead Elementary

Bulldog Pride

President Roosevelt

Pre K - 8

800+ students

60% FRM

Special Initiatives

at

Homestead Elementary

• RELATIONSHIPS!

• RELEVANCY!

• RIGOR!

• RELENTLESS!

The 3 R’s + 1

Professional Learning

Communities

Lead-

Set Goals-

Share Best

Practices-

Monitor Growth-

Get Results!

Teaching vs Learning

•Teaching: the cause

to know something.

•Learning: the

knowledge or skill

acquired by

instruction or study.

Professional Learning Community

(PLC)

–“Educators committed to working collaboratively in ongoing processes of collective inquiry and action research to achieve better results for the students they serve. Professional learning communities operate under the assumption that the key to improved learning for students is continuous, job-embedded learning for educators.” (Dufour, Dufour, Eaker, and Many, 2006)

Collaboration is Key!

90% of teachers agree that

“other teachers contribute to my

success in the classroom.”

When teachers work in teams to:

Analyze, Understand, and Deconstruct Standards

Transform Standards into High Quality Common

Formative Assessments

Share and interpret the results

…they benefit from the union of their wisdom about how

to help students continue to grow as learners.

Stiggins, 2005

TOGETHER

We will SUCCEED!

Reeves, Douglas B (2011). Finding your leadership focus: What matters most for student results.

20

3 Keys to Successful

Gardening

Focus

Monitoring Efficacy

What do we want to produce

in our garden?

Do we have the belief that we can make the garden grow?

Are we monitoring our garden regularly for growth?

Page 26

Weeding the Garden

(remove distractions & challenge interruptions)

Effective practices…

•Differentiated

instruction

•Specific feedback

•Diversionary—thieves!

•Toxic – infect others!

•Unsustainable –

smother!

“In a cornfield,

even a rose is a

weed!”

Differentiated Instruction (Char Forsten, Jim Grant, & Betty Hollas)

•Students participate in same activities but

at different levels of complexity.

•Assess students quickly and effectively so

teachers can adapt instruction to meet

individual students’ needs.

What’s most important for reading growth?

23

Worksheets Don’t Grow Dendrites

(Marcia Tate)

•Motivated learners “read authentically,

widely, and strategically”.

25

Research-Based Recommendations

The Talent Code

Daniel Coyle

•Deep Practice= World Class Skill

•Ignition: “Does a boy get a chance to whitewash a fence everyday?” Tom Sawyer

•Master Coaching: Connect emotionally.

Greatness Isn’t Born. It’s Grown. Here’s How.

The Outliers: The Story of Success

(Malcolm Gladwell)

•“… the closer psychologists look at the careers

of the gifted, the smaller the role innate talent

seems to play and the bigger the role

preparation seems to play.”

•“Practice isn’t the thing you do once you’re

good. It’s the thing that makes you good.”

Reeves, Douglas B (2011). Finding your leadership focus: What matters most for student results.

28

What happens when we don’t weed our

garden?

29

Efficacy

I can control….

•Curriculum

•Assessment

•Feedback

•Instruction

•Leadership

This is beyond my

control….

•Parents

If…

WITH WHAT ARE YOUR STUDENTS

LIVING?

When you have a dream that you can’t let go of,

trust your instincts and pursue it.

But remember:

real dreams take work,

they take patience,

and sometimes they require you to

dig down very deep.

~Harvey MacKay

Data Analysis

•Screening Reports

•RTI Chart

•80% Benchmark

•Reflective Questions

(Any surprises?)

•“Bubble” Kids

•RTI Team

Universal Screening

Monitor Progress

•Diagnostic/Status of the Class Reports

•Student accountability: TOPS

•Home Connect: Parent Reports

•Teacher Resources

•Faculty/Grade Level Meetings

Accountability

•Weekly updates

•Data Wall

•Class Motivation

•Healthy Competition

•Relationship Building

•School-wide Summary

Changing the Data Picture over Time

Fall Screening Winter Screening

39

Good Quality Instruction Average Learning Retention Rates

5% Lecture

10% Reading

20% Audio Visual

30% Demonstration

50% Discussion

75% Practice

90% Teaching Others

Action Plan

•School Improvement Plan

•NCE Analysis

•State Standards

•“Balance” Instruction/Practice

•Teacher Resources

•1 young ‘un at a time

School Improvement Plan Goals:

When solving problems,

dig at the roots instead of just hacking at the leaves.

~Anthony J. D’Angelo

John Hattie’s Research

(visiblelearningplus.com)

•Combines over 1200+ meta-analyses.

•Uses effect sizes to place influences on continuum.

•Determines what has improved student learning (and things that don’t have significant impact).

•Expects minimum of .40 average effect.

What Great Teachers Do Differently

(Todd Whittaker)

•Have high expectations for students and

themselves.

•Center activities on student learning.

No Child

Falls Through the Cracks

•Set Goals (90/90)!

•Build unity through Collaborative Teams!

•Strengthen culture with school-wide themes!

•Motivate ALL stakeholders!

•Connect with students!

No Child

Falls Through the Cracks

•Involve Families and Community Partners!

•Provide MEANINGFUL, QUALITY PRACTICE!

and POWERFUL, DIFFERENTIATED

INSTRUCTION!

•Celebrate success!

Quantum Learning

•Learning involves risks. Acknowledging

every effort is essential to success.

•Celebration provides feedback regarding

progress and increases positive associations

with learning.

TRY + OOMPH = SUCCESS!

“The first responsibility

of a leader is to define

reality. The last is to say

thank you. In between,

the leader is a servant.”

-Max Depree

Discussion and Dialogue

•Considering that time is a resource, what are some of the processes, procedures, and personnel that have been put into place to ensure you can focus on instructional improvement?

•How do principals communicate their expectations to staff members and what are systems of accountability for professional practice?

•Describe the process in moving from “lone soldier” to building teacher leaders in order to work smarter and not harder.

Discussion and Dialogue

•Do you have a “first responder before the

principal” system in place at your school? If so,

who are these individuals and why were they

chosen?

•What might be hard for a new principal in setting

up systems for other staff members to solve

problems that parent and teachers are expecting

the principal to solve?

The School Principal as Leader:

Guiding Schools to Better Teaching and

Learning

Resources

www.naesp.org

www.wallacefoundation.org

NAESP Conference 2016

SAVE THE DATE!

@naesp2015