Towards a High Performing School 1

8/6/2019 Towards a High Performing School 1

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Symposium on Education Reform:

Ensuring Excellence Through

Leadership & Assessment

Supreme Council of Education

The British Council

Prepared By

Dr. Abdul Aziz Al-Horr

School Leadership



Thanks to ..

Supreme Co uncil

of Ed uc atio n

The Brit is h Co unc il

&



What is leader s hip?

Draw t he f ir st image

co mes to yo ur mind

when yo u here t he

word sc hool leader ?





Independent School Model

Partially decentralized / privatized

system produces schools

± operated by nongovernmental parties

± subject to a charter

± undergo independent monitoring

± allow parental involvement and choice

Different R eform Model



Reform Plan E mphas izes Four Princ iples

of E duc at ional Improvement

� Autonomy: schools are publicly funded but

privately run, subject to charters

� Accountability: objective and transparent

assessment system holds schools responsible for

students¶ success

� Variety: different kinds of schools and instructional

programs

� Choice: over time parents will be able to select the

schools that best fit their children¶s needs



The Int ernal D y namics of t he Reform

AutonomyHigh Quality

Education

Parent¶s informed

decisionVariety

AccountabilityCompetition

Pr omotes

Pr omotesPr omotes

Pr omotes

Entails



Reform Has Several Ke y E lements

� Internal dynamic forces of the reform will always

promote high quality of education

� Educational programs are aligned with

international curriculum standards

� Systematic, objective monitoring and evaluation of school

and student performance through standardized

assessments� Building local capacity with support from international

experts

� Ongoing evaluation to allow for adjustments



Charact erist ics of High-Ac hieving Sc hools

� Focus on High Academic Standards for All

� No Excuses Attitude

� Careful Experimentation with Instruction

� Involvement of All Stakeholders

� Strong Sense of Family

� Collaboration Focused on Instruction

� Passion for Continual Improvement



No Exc us es Att it ude

� Believed that ALL Students could and would

achieve to high standards.

� W

orked together to create an environment inwhich all students would succeed.

� Acknowledged that there were barriers that could make

progress difficult at times; however, they refused to

allow those barriers to become excuses.

� Held high expectations for students, but also held high

expectations for themselves and their colleagues.

� Did whatever it took instructionally to ensure ALL

students were learning to the standards.

The successful schools . . .



Foc us on High Ac ademic St andards

for All

� Established clear, measurable, and challenging

academic goals for each and every student

group.� Anchoring: Emphasized the expectation that all groups

of students (even those furthest behind) would attain the

goals.

� Determined systematic ways of regularly gaugingprogress toward the attainment of the goals. Rigorously

monitored progress.

� Aligned decision-making processes with goals.

� Student-Centered Decisions always




Careful Ex periment at ion wit h

Inst ruct ion

� Knew that school improvement meant

improved instruction.

� Used Research-based practices

� Knew the academic strengths and needs of

their students, related to the country standards.

� Encouraged the careful examination of alternativestrategies, approaches, and programs.

� Selected only the approaches that best matched their strengths and needs.

� Pre-determined how success would be gauged.

� Were willing to adapt, modify, or supplement.




Involvement of All St akeholder s

� Included everyone who touched the child

(including teachers, staff, students, and parents)

in the school improvement process.

� Found ways to use everyone¶s talents to help attain

the school¶s goals.

� Found ways to build everyone¶s talents so that they

had more to contribute to the attainment of the

school¶s goals.

� Always asked, ³What can you do to help us teach this

concept or skill?´




Sens e of Famil y

� Made everyone (students, teachers, support

staff, administrators) feel valued and

appreciated.

� Found ways to acknowledge the contributions of all

members of the school family and helped people

know that they belonged.� Treated all students with a sincere respect so that

students knew they were wanted at school.




Collaborat ion Foc us ed on Inst ruct ion

� Increased the amount of time teachers spent

collaborating with each other.

� Built an atmosphere of trust so that collaboration

would be more effective.

� Focused collaboration times on instructional issues

directly related to key academic standards.� Used collaboration to create a culture of professional

development.




Pass ion for Improvement

� Acknowledged and celebrated successes, then

established even more challenging goals.

� Assumed that they could always improve, even when

they had achieved more than comparable schools.

� Nurtured a collective, yet very personal sense of

responsibility for student success.

� Were relentless in pursuing higher and higher

academic goals.




What Dos e t he Reform Need

Committed and well-prepared leaders

are essential to school reform and will

always be the catalyst for improving the

academic achievement of students.



Wh y Is That ?

� Leadership not only matters it is second to

only teaching among school related factors

in its impact on student learning.

� Excellent leadership can make a profound

difference in schools where there is the

greatest need.



How Is That ?

Successful Leader ship

Setting Dir ections

� Shared Understandings

� Focus on Goals with a sense of Purpose or Vision

� A Sense that Goals are Achievable

� High Performance Expectations

� Monitoring Performance

� Promoting Effective Communication

� Shared Organizational Purposes



How Is That ?

Developing People

± Offer Intellectual Stimulation

± EnsureIndividualized Support

± Provide Models of Best Practices

± Establish a Foundation of Beliefs that Support Action

± Guarantee High Quality Professional Development



How Is That ?

Redesigning the Or ganization

± Develop schools as effective organizations

that support and sustain the performance

of administrators, teachers and students

± Modify organizational structures

± Build collaborative relationships



How Is That ?

Influencing student achievement:

± Guide and influence others and the

organization

± Provide ongoing examination of evidence and

conditions for teaching and learning

± Focus on the high priorities



Leader s Who Matt er

� Create and Sustain Direction (focus)

� Empower Others (data driven)

� Provide Guidance (good teaching)

� Focus on Continuous Improvement (learning andplanning)



What school leader s need to know and beable to do:

St andards

Instructional Leader for

Learning

Traditional Management

Responsibilities

As well as Manager, Inst ruc tional Leader,

V isionary, P ol iti c i an, S t rat eg ist , Heal th & S oc i al Serv i ces Leader,

C ommunit y Leader, and

M oti vational E motional Leader

Professional Standards for Educational Leaders



Sc hool Improvement Means People

Improvement

T o Improve [sc hools] , one must

i nvest i n people, su ppor t people, and d evelop people

Phil SchlectySchools for the 21st Century



St rat egies t hat Fac ilit at ed Progress

� Targeting an Attainable First Goal

� Refocusing Energies on Service to all

Students� Creating an Environment that Promotes

Positive Student Behavior

� Building a Collective Sense of Responsibility

among stakeholders

� Increasing Instructional Leadership



St rat egies t hat Influenc e Progress

(c ont inued)

� Aligning Instruction to Standards

� Getting Teachers Needed Resources

� Creating Opportunities for Collaboration

� Building Partnerships with Parents

� Creating Additional Instructional Time

� Persisting through Difficulties



Target ing an Att ainable Fir st Goal

We focused upon an important, visible,

attainable first goal. We acknowledged that

we could not do everything at once. Yet, it

was important to help everyone know that

the school was changing. By focusing on

one important, attainable goal, we were

able to generate a visible success in a short

period of time. This first success became

the cornerstone of future successes.



Refoc us ing E nergies on Servic e t o

St udents

� We helped teachers, support staff, and

parents to direct their energy towards the

improvement of services to students.

� We encouraged teachers, staff, and parents

to focus on creating a positive teaching and

learning environment.



Creat ing an E nvironment t hat

Promot es Pos it ive St udent Behavior

� School personnel established clear, simple

rules for student behavior that reflected high

expectations.� Rules were enforced consistently and fairly.

� Student responsibility for their behavior was

nurtured through student leadership activities.

� Students knew they were respected and

valued.



Building a Collect ive Sens e of

Res pons ibility

� Principals emphasized the importance of each

individual¶s contribution to the attainment of

school goals.

� Planning processes provided avenues for the

involvement of many staff and faculty.

� Staff members took on new roles in support of

school goals.





Aligning Inst ruct ion t o St andards

� Educators meticulously ensured that children

were being taught the skills articulated in an

Education Institute standards.

� Alignment processes provided teachers a ³road

map for student improvement.´



Gett ing Teac her s Needed Res our c es

� We made sure that teachers felt like they had

adequate materials, equipment, and training.

� Teachers were given access to high quality

professional development opportunities that had

a direct relationship to critical academic issues

in their classrooms.



Creat ing Oppor t unit ies for

Collaborat ion

� We created blocks of time for teachers to

work and plan together.

� In our, schedule was organized so that teams

of teachers would share a common planning

time and meet together once or twice a week.

� Planning times were used to focus on critical

instructional issues, discuss strategies, and

share insights.



Building Par t ner s hips wit h Parents

� Parents saw tangible evidence of the school¶s

concern for their children. Thus, parents were

more eager to support school improvement

efforts. We met with them 8 times in 6 months.

� School personnel made parents feel like they

were welcome as equals at the school.



Per s ist ing t hrough Diffic ult ies

� We refused to give up as difficulties emerged.

� We kept focused on school goals and acted

upon the assumption that those goals wouldultimately be achieved.

� We perceived their work, less as a job, more

as a mission.

� We believed in themselves, their staffs, and

they believed in the ability of their students to

succeed.



You Are The Leader

´I f y our acti ons inspi re ot her t o

dream m ore, l ear n m ore, do m ore an d bec om e m ore, y ou are a l eader .µ

John Quincy Adams

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Towards a High Performing School 1