#INspirEDleaders
June 2019, Vol. 3
New School Improvement Professional Development Menu Revealed!
Is Professional Development for School Leaders a Priority?
By: Melissa Blossom, Assistant Director
If you are a school leader, how do you prioritize your own professional development? If not, what are the barriers and how can we help? Investing in teacher development is critical for student success, but do we consider how professional development for principals significantly impacts staff, students, parents, and the community?
After a decade of serving in a variety of administrative roles and two years at the Department of Education, it has become evident that investing in the professional development of our school leaders MUST be a priority. Administrators are overwhelmed with the demands of the job and put the professional needs of others before themselves. Our own professional growth is usually last on our endless to-do list.
The Office of School Improvement recently released a professional development menu focusing on instruction. This was designed to provide opportunities for leaders to develop alongside teachers building their own instructional leadership capacity. Additional opportunities for principal PD include on-site support implementing high-functioning Professional Learning Communities and creating effective School Improvement Plans. We are here and ready to help. All you have to do, is ask. mblossom@doe.in.gov
CNA/SIP
Comprehensive Needs Assessments and School Improvement Plans (CNA-SIP) are due October 11, 2019. Please see Dr. Jennifer McCormick's weekly newsletter on Friday, June 6, 2019 for a memo outlining requirements and directions for submission. If you need additional support completing either the CNA or SIP, please reach out to the Office of School Improvement with any questions.
Director Robin LeClaire
Assistant Director Melissa Blossom
Community of Practice for Principals
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#PLCs4Principals
PLC’s: Book Study - Professional Learning Communities at Work
Want to learn more about Professional Learning Communities?
Of course, you do! Join our fall book study!
Look for more details coming soon.
The IDOE School Improvement Staff Continue their Road Trip...
The end of April and first weeks of May found our SI team in New Albany, Frankfort, and Bloomington, Indiana. The PLCs in each school were fantastic, and always unique to the style and needs of each individual school. The data and successes coming from these schools and districts that have fully committed to the PLC process are impressive! We are excited to offer support to districts and schools that are interested in beginning the PLC journey. You won't regret it!
Grant Line Elementary
Mount Tabor Elementary
Green Meadows Intermediate School
Jackson Creek Middle School
Bloomington South High School
Summer Reading Recommendations
In this book Dr. Dylan Wiliam breaks down methods schools use to improve. He begins with discussing the importance of district-wide measures that can improve the odds of success. He focuses on research based results and determines that school improvement comes down to three real factors. (1) Building a curriculum focused on developing knowledge (2) Supporting a culture where every teacher improves (3) Applying a framework for evaluating new district initiatives. This is a very good read for educators at all levels as it offers a reality check into the ways we believe schools can improve.
This book is right on time. In a time where face to face communication skills are dwindling Kim Bearden offers a guide that can be used by anyone who struggles to find the right words. In the world of education we all know the words we choose in regards to our students are extremely important especially when trying to encourage. This read will equip readers with a framework to speak from a place of kindness and understanding and begin to take the steps to establish great rapport with the youth we serve.
The School Leader's Guide to Professional Learning Communities at Work is a concise book that provides clear explanations and actionable ideas about PLCs. It is an excellent companion to the more comprehensive Learning by Doing because it speaks specifically to school leaders, clarifying their roles and responsibilities in initiating and sustaining professional learning communities. Because of its brief yet comprehensive format, this book will serve as the basis for the PLC Book Study in the fall.
Ambitious Instruction for All!
By: Diane Vielee, School Improvement Specialist
Ambitious Instruction
This month we are moving farther into Marzano’s high-yield instructional strategies. Reinforcing effort and providing recognition is the third strategy in the list of Marzano’s Nine Essential Instructional Strategies. When utilized efficiently, this strategy can yield a 29 percent gain in student achievement.
It is imperative that we address the “whole child” and this strategy is unique in that it focuses on students’ beliefs and attitudes rather than cognitive skills. The goal is to enable the students to see the correlation between achievement and effort. Teachers should be careful, however, to offer some rewards as intangible rather than always providing a tangible reward. Also, this strategy is most effective when it is tied to achieving a specific standard.
This strategy can be accomplished through a variety of methods. Some of those are:
*High expectations
*Display completed work
*Praise effort
*Encourage to share thoughts
*Value all learning styles
*Individual conferencing
*High fives
More information about identifying similarities and differences can be found here.
Marzano, R. J., Pickering, D., & Pollock, J. E. (2001). Classroom instruction that works: Research-based strategies for increasing student achievement. Alexandria, Va: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.
Teacher Leadership
There are different areas in which a teacher can choose to lead in their building or district, but there are a few overarching characteristics that should make your teacher leaders stand out among the crowd.
Reflective Practice - Do you have a teacher that incorporates reflection into the refinement of their craft? Do they lead in the collection and analysis of data and support cultural shifts that incorporate reflection as an intentional practice?
Personal Effectiveness - Do you have a teacher who supports other teachers in responding to adversity with resiliency and humility? Are they willing to take risks in order to achieve lofty, meaningful goals?
Communication Skills - Do you have a teacher who influences others and builds their capacity to communicate and advocate effectively with stakeholders at all levels? Do they successfully communicate in tense situations?
Continuing Learning and Education - Do you have teachers who are excited to design and lead opportunities for professional learning within your building? Do they attend conferences and offer to share their learning when they return?
These are your teacher leaders. Strong building leaders will take the time to cultivate these talented educators and provide them with the opportunities to lead.
Culturally Responsive Teaching Practices
By: Tarrell Berry, School Improvement Specialist
The Office of School Improvement offers a new Culturally Relevant Teaching PD. This PD is designed for districts to take an in depth look at their own practices. It will start the conversation on developing cultural awareness for the success of all students. It examines culture as much more than face value and begins to give districts a plan to better incorporate students and families into the whole school atmosphere. This is a great PD that will leave schools with a tangible plan on how to better address the many cultures throughout their building going forward.
Advancing Student Learning Through Distributed Instructional Leadership
By: Diane Vielee, School Improvement Specialist
This toolkit is designed to support school leaders to build and leverage distributed instructional leadership teams to improve student learning. The toolkit is an outgrowth of a three-year partnership between the Wisconsin Urban Schools Leadership Project at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and 16 high schools in Wisconsin. Through this partnership, a number of tools were developed and used by school leaders to guide the formation and facilitation of distributed instructional leadership teams. These tools are organized around three key phases of work related to distributed instructional leadership teams:
- Defining a shared vision
- Building the capacity of leaders and leadership teams
- Mobilizing distributed leadership to analyze problems and develop solutions using the best data available
The resources in this toolkit can be used independently and/or customized to meet a specific school's context and needs. While the toolkit was designed through a partnership with high schools, the resulting tools are reflective of best practices for distributed instructional leadership teams in elementary, middle, and high schools.
Click here to learn more about this fantastic resource!
Opportunities for Leaders
Free IDOE Literacy PD - Pages to Paradise
Free IDOE School Improvement PD - Planning for Proficiency
Strategic Planning for School Leaders
How can we coordinate our school improvement plans, ESSA requirements, Title grant programs, data analysis, and the myriad of other responsibilities on our plates? A systems-approach, when implemented with fidelity, enables us to successfully address and manage these responsibilities while maintaining focus on our mission. Such approach also provides a greater likelihood that improvements made will be sustained.
The Indiana Department of Education is hosting three regional sessions for school and district administrators who wish to learn more about systems-thinking and its practical connections to education in Indiana. Session will be hosted at the following sites:
South: June 24
Charlestown, IN
Central: June 26 Indianapolis, IN
North: June 27
Warsaw, IN
Look for a registration link in Dr. McCormick's weekly update.
Connect with us on Twitter!
According to edsurge.com, 4.2 million tweets a day are related to education conversations. This is a great way to connect with other leaders in the education world. We invite you to connect with us and each other!
1. Tweet about all things in LEADERSHIP using #INspirEDleaders
2. Follow the hashtag and connect with other leaders around the state
3. Follow @EducateIN for the latest updates from Indiana Department of Education
4. Follow @LeclaireRobin, @MelissaABlossom, @KelleyGrate, and @DVielee for the latest from the SI team
Summer Break
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Melissa Blossom
@MelissaABlossom
Kelley Grate
@KelleyGrate
John Purcell
Tarrell Berry
Diane Vielee
@DVielee