• Inclusive efforts to make secondary vocational education more rigorous.
• The country admires its educators/reputation for excellence.
• They are largely homogeneous/ their "gap" is a reflection of growing economic inequality across the nation as a whole. Immigrant students are performing significantly lower than non-immigrant peers.
• Responsive to the digital era: Finland is trying hard to find ways to capitalize on artificial intelligence as a means to improve teaching and learning and strengthen social support(s) for young people.
• The unemployment rate is 7.76% in Finland, the US is at
  3.80%, I wonder the type of employment or rigor their careers are or retain VS. the USA?
• Their key service industries are all embedded in tech.

• Do you agree or disagree with Dr. Crew’s assertion—captured 20 years ago in this video—of educational inequality created by low expectations for some students? Provide evidence of your position.
  
  
  
• If you agreed with his assertions, why do you think they are still true after all of this time?

• This means that every school has an excellent principal who organizes work in ways that promote effective teaching and learning, encourage collaboration, support the development of expertise, and focus on continuous improvement.

• Incentives to stay...

• Teacher preparation and induction

• Leadership development

• Early identification of struggling learners, and ongoing support and extra time to ensure they meet and exceed standard schools

• Financial systems that distribute resources equitably and efficiently

• Ongoing benchmarking of successful systems to inform strategies

Wise Case Study: Instructional Leadership

• Have college and career-ready STs as the goal... talk about colleges, visit colleges, and have seniors mentor 9th graders (take courses that would set them up for what they wanted to do in college).

• Let the strongest teachers be with the 9th graders to initially adapt and change the students to set them up for success with the rest of their HS career.

• Get learner invested in what they are learning-> connect to their own lives,

• Teachers get time to plan, collaborate, and reflect together. This includes the special education teacher. Called 'Collaborative Planning' each month... plan for upcoming weeks.

• STs see teachers as their mentors!

  
  

  Wise Case Study: 9th Grade Academy

• Creates a smooth transition process from MS to HS experience

• Made parents feel comfortable and what to expect when coming there

• Used data to provide interventions and supports

  
  

  Wise Case Study: Puma Time

• Groups that focus on problems that they are dealing with

• Work with other STs on things that are "confusing".

• More like individual small-group learning

• A vision should be intended as the basis of action, mobilizing a wide range of actors that embody their hopes and, at the same time, can be achieved. It has to be a vision that becomes a plan with widespread support that will endure!

• Americans think their schools are doing pretty well because they are comparing them to the schools they went to themselves and that is the wrong way to look at it.

• Leaders need to give hope that changes can be made and actioned with success.

• Technology and basic skills will be met soon with AI. This replaces learners' skills, and we need them to be higher achievers now more than ever over robots, computers, and AI or they will take our future leaders' jobs!

• This tech allows for cheaper employment and reliability over humans to do a job.

• Children learn by developing theories and testing them!

• This is a world in which there is much less loyalty between companies and employees.

• What will our students have to know and be able to do in the new economy?

• We need to encourage our community to rethink goals for the times we live in. What current situation does our community face?

• What are those mindsets that you need to change as a leader?

  • Leader work comes from every chair

    • At any given time, the insight and ability to move the team forward productively might come from anyone at the table.

  • Team members also need to change.

    • All team members need to see that at any time they can voice an observation that the team is making some perilous untested assumption. (Look at where the conflicts are and come up with a solution.)

  • Team members share accountability among themselves.

    • Let all team members identify what their strengths are and what areas they are trying to develop so that they can give each other feedback and support.

  • The whole team works from the same guiding ideas.

    • Need to have a clearly defined purpose and set of values or team norms.

  • Build trust across relationships

    • Use the same approach and set of core values /assumptions to guide what you say and in every situation. (Regardless of "power in the room" to steer you away from it.)

• A dual system's structure = hierarchy on one side and network on the other.

• Many people driving important change, and from everywhere, not just the usual few appointees. (page 23)

• A “get-to” mindset, not a “have-to” one. (page 23)

• Action that is head and heart-driven, not just head-driven. (page 24)

• Much more leadership, not just more management.

• The game is about vision, opportunity, agility, inspired action, passion, innovation, and celebration—not just project management, budget reviews, reporting relationships, compensation, and accountability to a plan. (page 25)

• An inseparable partnership between the hierarchy and the network, not just an enhanced hierarchy. (page 25)

• The Eight Accelerators (PICTURE AT TOP)

• What was his vision? What were some of the strategies that he embedded within Starbucks’ system when he returned?

  • Get the customers' ideas

  • Make the website interactive for users input/orders

  • Get with the digital era side of things/embrace technology

  • Make a "suggestion box"-> Welcomed new ideas from customers.

  • Social Media build-> Made users more deeply "engaged".

  • Have a loyalty rewards system/new way of behaving/become a trusted source, rather than a promoter of products & ideas

  • Gained International Expansion-> Start thinking then about Starbucks also being good at making 'great food'.

  • Starbucks must stay true to its values, connect with people inside and outside the company in meaningful ways and avoid distractions

  • They INVESTED in their 'people' -> Gained a mutual respect with looking into the future and what was coming NEXT

  • Created superior execution through TEAMwork!

• Opportunities and challenges relating to where you are (your current state)

Vision

• Description of where you want to be (your desired future state)

Theory of Action

• The logic of how you will get from your current state to the desired state

• A clear set of objectives resulting from that logic

Strategy

• Assumptions, Interests, Objectives, Capabilities, Threats, Risks

Decisions/Actions

• Relating to the objectives

Interests-> He expects all students to achieve at the same levels, as the students at the lowest poverty & highest performing schools in the country. ("Doesn't do 2nd tier"). He prioritized establishing a culture that supports learning for ALL.

Objectives-> Make an achievement steering committee to regularly look at data and see how the performance measures up next to the school improvement plan needs.

Capabilities-> He implemented a new literacy approach. He infused the literacy curriculum with non-fictional texts to spur student interest in what they were reading. (Increased engagement led to increased motivation). He made guided reading groups and writing a continuous part of the instructional process = 120-minute ELA block. (Whole group, small group, writing.) He strengthened the Mathematics Instruction by implementing 90-minute Math blocks with many opportunities for formative assessments.

Threats-> He saw the need for staff accountability for teaching and learning. No more sending students to the office to get into trouble, rather attempting to get the ST back on track in class instead. With a courageous and tenacious energy Ray Myrtle challenged the status quo by creating other leaders along the way who were accountable for all of the moving parts.

Risks-> He found the need for an Inclusion Model with Special Education learners. Pull-out instruction was no longer an exception.

Will they have your back when resistance starts

• is not the same as Strategic Planning.

• is ongoing and requires high levels of analysis.

• focuses on contextual analysis which is ever changing.

• needs a networked and threaded logic and “if…then struts” that hold the framework together.

• recognizes that fog and friction are constant companions of both analysis and action.

• includes a focus on risk and mitigation.

• centers on a future better state, and therefore is in constant need of reevaluation.

• is intricately intertwined with systems for leadership and learning.

about your and/or your team’s behaviors...

Question about Strategic thinking and strategy... How do we relay the "vision" as something that is aspirational and "worth fighting for"?

CHALLENGES

• 7,000 learners in K-5 (only 3 principals and 14 APs

• Our school is comprised of a mix of learners from a variety of socio-economic demographics.

• A mix of very engaged parents to very unengaged parents.

• Equity that all students can learn...???

The biggest notice was the vagueness!

Our CCA vision lacks the specific criteria below:

• Drive student learning.

• Be aspirational and “worth fighting for”.

• Be articulated at the school level and support the district’s overarching vision. 

• Should identify observable behaviors of what you want to achieve.

• Include enough detail about the desired state to drive strategy and action.

• Should explicitly describe outcomes that are equitable for all students in the school.

Power P-influence ($)

Leadership L-informal and formal

Expertise E-expertise

CredibilityC-credibility

• I really feel empowered to go back to the basics. I would love to sit with our elementary admin team and pick apart each of the elements of strategy.

• I would love to revisit our vision and be more specific with what would make it more observable and aspirational before looking at the guiding principals.
  

- Built a leadership team with strong teacher representation to guide the improvement effort and help build buy-in.

- Took steps to encourage teachers to be comfortable with taking risks and inviting feedback on their instruction.

-Sought to align components of the school system— including staffing and evaluation—to his vision of the school as a place of learning, for staff as well as students.

-3 year plan

-60 teachers serving about 900 students

-50 minutes of common planning period daily to teachers of the same subject area and grade

-Action Learning Project Topic: on improving formative assessment practices via the existing subject-area PLCs.

-Walter's coach was particularly helpful at asking probing questions, prompting him to think more deeply and strategically about his action steps (for over a year and a half).

-Principal Walter’s vision for how to achieve his goal was influenced by the EDP, and particularly his exposure to the book Leadership for Teacher Learning: Creating a Culture Where All Teachers Improve So That All Students Succeed.

1st Year:

• Strategy 1: Building a “Guiding Coalition” and Clarifying Their Roles (leadership team). Principal Walter wanted the coalition to understand why they should focus on formative assessments. Thereafter, the coalition brainstormed structures and activities to implement to help ensure the PLCs focused on formative assessment would achieve their goal.

• Strategy 2: Conducting Non-Evaluative Walkthroughs to Gauge Extent to Which Teachers Used Formative Assessment Practices Already. The walkthroughs focused specifically on the five observables related to formative assessment identified on the guiding framework for Principal Walter’s ALP that he had distributed: (1) Students can articulate what they are learning, (2) activities allow teachers to obtain evidence connected to learning objectives, (3) feedback provides focused ideas for next steps on how to master learning targets, (4) students have opportunities for discussion around learning targets, and (5) students have opportunities for brainstorming and problem-solving together.

• Strategy 3: Using the Walkthroughs to Track and Increase Use of Formative Assessment Practices. Walter wanted to position walkthroughs as opportunities to learn from feedback, not as evaluative events.

  
  

  2nd Year:

• Strategy 1: Launching and Messaging About Instructional Improvement Principal Walter knew that the roll-out of a new initiative needed to be strategic, saying: You have to build trust. You have to get them to see the value . . . that this is about . . . making growth together.

• Strategy 2: Supporting PLCs with Structure and Administrator Engagement. (“Do”)-(“Check”)-(“Act”).

• Strategy 3: Establishing Structures and Opportunities for Peer Observations In September 2017, Principal Walter instituted “Observe-Me’s,” which were opportunities for teachers to engage in peer observations and provide feedback in a non-threatening way.

• Strategy 4: Supporting Ownership of Professional Learning To further support teachers to take ownership of their learning and progress, Principal Walter had each teacher organize a binder in which they collected evidence of their professional learning.

• Strategy 5: Fostering Continued Collaboration Through Cross-Subject Pedagogy-Based PLCs In January 2018, Principal Walter launched cross-subject PLCs, which he and his guiding coalition had designed.

• Strategy 6: Leveraging the Expertise of Teacher-Coaches

• Principal Walter designated the cross-area PLCs as “learning zones”: places where it was safe to make mistakes and reflect on them. He provided teachers with time to discuss the new learning and plan how to integrate it into their practice.

  
  

3rd Year

• Strategy 1: Investing in Teacher Leaders

• Strategy 2: Deepening Understanding of Standards-Aligned Instruction. After the district training on standards-based instruction, Principal Walter tasked the teacher-coaches to train their subject-area teachers on what they learned. They did so in recurring PLCs throughout Year 3. Teacher-coaches led teachers to deconstruct standards—that is, to identify what students should know and be able to do by the end of the year. This helped ensure that teachers and students addressed the cognitive complexity of each standard.

• Strategy 3: Improving Peer Observations by Training on Effective Feedback. He realized that teachers were unfamiliar with how to provide effective feedback to peers, specifically the type of feedback that prompted reflection, rather than evaluative and judgmental comments.

• Strategy 4: Aligning the Teacher Evaluation System with Professional Learning Principal Walter realized that the state’s and district’s teacher accountability and evaluation system was a barrier to creating a culture where collaboration was valued and where teachers felt comfortable being observed and receiving feedback on their instruction.

• Strategy 5: Coaching as Instructional Leadership Finally, Principal Walter planned to strategically use the post-observation conferences to coach teachers. On these occasions, he practiced the techniques his NISL coach had modeled in their coaching sessions— that is, pose one overarching thought-provoking question and then encourage the teacher to talk, critique the teacher’s practice, and arrive at steps for improvement.

  
  

• Coaching is embedded in all [aspects of the ALP]. From every layer of the organization: From myself to the APs and the [teacher-coaches], then from the [teacher-coaches] to teachers.

• Teachers also bought in to the Observe-Me process as a valuable reflective, professional learning experience. Most teachers appreciated the non-evaluative nature of these observations.

  
  

Factors That Facilitated and Hindered Change

• Autonomy from the district.

• District support for decisions.

• Principal Walter’s commitment to and district confidence in NISL.

• Principal Walter’s disposition toward learning.

• Established trust with staff.

• EDP resources and NISL coaching.

  
  

  Challenges Hindering Change

• Union guidelines limiting professional development time.

• Resistant teachers.

• 
  

2. Identifying sources of disparities in marginalized families -> Eradicating marginalizing practices

3. Color-blindness -> Self-examination

4. Learning about “other” cultures -> Fighting for the rights of marginalized families

5. Celebrating diversity -> Committing to equity

• Is there a pattern of responses? What do you notice?

  • 85.7% Agree (Highest Agreed Upon Data Point Across 7 Colleagues). -> Builds relationships, develops people and distributes leadership ->Trusting relationships exist with and among staff, students and parents/guardians. All stakeholder groups collaborate as active partners in the educational process. Staff members freely engage (formally or informally) in peer-to-peer support to achieve shared objectives. The school has differentiated roles for teachers, driven by demonstrated expertise and success for students. Leadership is shared among teams. Team members are responsible for helping lead the team -- taking initiative and sharing accountability for the way in which the team functions and its results.

  • 7 out of 7 agreed on these 2 items: 1. There is a clear and public vision that is focused on student learning and the high-quality teaching that nurtures it. 2. Staff share a clear sense of purpose and shared responsibility for students' learning and their overall well-being.

  • 5 out of 7 agreed on this item: The school has a job-embedded professional learning structure in place- teachers experience professional learning as part of a sustained and coherent aspect of how the school functions.

  • 6 out of 7 agreed on this item: Teachers receive actionable feedback that is substantive, timely and fair. Teachers have opportunities to reflect and respond to feedback with the intent of using the information to improve practice.

  
  

• Are there more responses in one area than another (agree v. disagree v. unsure)? Are there outliers? Are there different perspectives among team members?

  • 2 disagreed/ 3 agreed (including me)/ 2 unsure on this item. High-performing teams are focused on matters of instruction and professional learning. Teams engage in an iterative approach to studying and improving their practice over time.

  • 3 disagree/ 4 agree on this item: There is a differentiated system of support for teachers aligned to their current needs.

  • 4 disagree/ 3 agree on this item: Teachers drive the process of establishing and monitoring vertical coherence across the curriculum. They work together to make sure that the knowledge and skills that students are learning at each level prepare them for more challenging higher-level work.

    
    

• Read the open-ended responses after analyzing the data for the specific Leadership Domain. Answer the following: How do the responses to the open-ended questions inform your understanding?

  • Most responses had the same idea surrounding our mission, vision, and values... however, not all seemed to be able to note who crafted those at CCA.

    
    

• What does the diversity in responses among the team tell you? Even though the data was anonymous, by responses, I could see the difference of opinion from teachers, teacher leaders, and administrators.

  
  

• What strengths are being surfaced? Most respondents had common knowledge of and understanding of how leadership is distributed across CCA's elementary schools' staff and teachers to better be able to collaboratively work toward the educational success of each student. This school year specifically in that new model of AP specialization and P's with for AP's under them in these specialized admin positions.

  
  

• What challenges have surfaced? Not all of CCA's school initiatives seem to be perceived as being in alignment with our school vision. Responses state that an attempt is often made, yet CCA is a school of many initiatives being trialed at the same time being that we are a charter school of innovation. Thus, this creates a major challenge for us.

  
  

• What, if any, assumptions are in these responses? Are there any particular perspectives/viewpoints coming through in what your team has shared? A shared and common response is the strong need and want for all of our respondents to have consistent teacher collaboration to better support student learning. Time management and common planning time seems to be an assumption that this intention is wanted, yet not as attainable as they would like it to be, due to scheduling and a plethora of teacher expectations/responsibilities.

  
  

• Are there any outstanding questions you would like to ask the team to further your understanding of their perspectives of what is happening in the context? Jot down questions to use in the discussion you will lead with them around the analysis of the Context Analysis Tool before Unit 4.

  • What strategies/ ideas do you foresee being of benefit when facing barriers surrounding learner and family engagement in both synchronous/asynchronous instruction within CCA?

  • What would make equitable learning opportunities more available for students across CCA?

  • What data could staff collect to better gain trends and challenges surrounding engagement barriers at CCA?

-Amazon is community-minded – Our greater communities continue to be at the forefront when we make decisions. Sustainability-focused – Our Climate Pledge means a more sustainable future for our employees and our planet. Financially stable – We're consistently meeting business goals and continue to grow globally.

-Assessment (ex: accountability, monitoring, formative, interim, benchmark, summative, predictive, performance, norm-referenced, criterion-referenced, etc.)

-Standards in all Subject Areas/ Performance Standards

-Data

-Curriculum Inventory (ex: Learning Framework, Scope & Sequence, Syllabus, Lesson Planning, etc.)

-Examining of Instruction/Pedagogy/Competencies

-Action Planning

-Assessing Progress/Creating Continuous Improvement

GROUP 4: Martin, Michelle, Tamira, Kayla

Estonia Curriculum Packet Overview 

Estonia Curriculum Documents

Estonia Curriculum Packet Overview:

• Orienting questions (What do you see?)

• Interpreting questions (What do you think this means about the underlying assumptions of the

  system?)

• Reflection questions (How does this system compare to your own system, and what can you

  take from looking at these different systems?)

However, PA's diversity and population of learners are in need of a lot of the whole child/mental health/social supports that Estonia brings to their countries educational organizations!

• Stay Adaptive as a Leader

• Promote Rigor Based on Data

• Learning to gain trust and build culture still remains just as important as it was stressed in Unit 1 & 2.

• Small changes, within your control as a leader are a GREAT place to start action and change!

Current State: Identify the indicators that most accurately describe the “current state” of equity within your learning system.

• Access to Effective Teaching

• Access to and Enrollment in Rigorous Coursework

  • Advanced, rigorous coursework, including honors courses and higher-level math and science courses

  • Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate, and dual enrollment programs

  • Gifted and talented programs

• Access to High-Quality Academic Supports

  • Group differences in access to and participation in formalized systems of tutoring or other types of academic supports, including special education services and services for English learners

• School Climate

  • Group differences in access to strong school climates, as measured by perceptions of safety, academic support, academically focused culture, and teacher-student trust

Desired State: Identify one or two equity focus areas that have relevance to your school context and on which you can envision undertaking action for improvement. Specify what you would expect that improvement to yield.

• Disparities in Engagement in Schooling

  • Group differences in school attendance and absenteeism

  • Group differences in academic engagement (ex: Student self-report surveys Checklists completed by teachers Observations Interviews)

• Disparities in Performance on Tests

  • Group differences in success in classes (ex: Teacher and school data on grades and course passing rates)

  • Group differences in grades and GPAs

• Family/Community Engagement: What is the role of the educational community beyond the school in driving educational equity efforts? (ex: A CCA learning coach is a key player on the educational team, communicating with teachers and keeping students engaged in lessons.)

• I can attend our "Learning Coach Outreach Sessions" which are tailored to provide personalized training to caretakers and see what I can take away from those sessions. This will better my indicators and advice to LC's when talking about "why" being a committed community member is key to helping support their learner through their academic journey here at CCA.

What is your Current State with regard to these five paradigms?

-Identifying sources of disparities in marginalized families: Do I tend to use strategies for addressing educational outcome disparities that focus on “fixing” marginalized families rather than addressing the conditions that marginalize families?

• I would like to meet (ongoing) with my leadership team and analyze our abilities to recognize, respond to, redress, and create/sustain a bias-free & equitable learning environment for all. #EquityOVERHAUL

• Classroom teachers are defined as professional employees or temporary professional employees who provide direct instruction to students related to a specific subject or

grade level.

• Non-teaching professional employees are defined as professional employees or

temporary professional employees who are education specialists or provide services and are not classroom teachers.

• Principals are defined as principals, assistant or vice principals, and directors of career and technical education. NOTE: Supervisors of special education (non-teaching professionals under Act 82) are considered principals for the purposes of Act 13.

2. Jot down 3 important takeaways that matter to you. 

   • Leadership’s impact on students occurs indirectly through teachers and other school personnel.

   • Leaders do not create value directly. They deliver results indirectly, by enabling others to achieve

     more.

   • Equity occupies a central and timely place in the team’s recommendations for practice and policy—based on principals’ impact on particular groups of students and on the changing demographics of the nation’s student body, which are not yet reflected in the pool of men and women currently in the principalship.

3. Preview the “Table of Contents”: Of the nine sections in the Executive Summary, which one of them piques your interest and why? 

   • #7-> Principals’ Skills and Behaviors That Support Learning because I believe in the bond and power of a positive school culture. A great principal has to be able to have sound social skills, experience to build respect, transformational visions to seek change, and the ability to manage all stakeholders within the school organization both instructional and non-instructional.

1. In what ways does the Danielson Framework for Teaching help you distinguish high-quality from low-quality pedagogical practice?  

   • The Danielson Framework allows for detailed competency-based observations of a teacher. The evaluation process allows for instructional leaders to give thorough feedback on how to improve teaching and learning within their classrooms.

2. How does the Framework for Teaching support you in your efforts to provide feedback to elevate teachers’ instructional practices? 

   • With the framework having 4 main ratings for Danielson, teachers have the opportunity to value the rubric ratings above or below their scored evaluation. This allows for specific evidence and "look-fors" on how to reach the next level of best practices as an educator.

   • As an instructional leader, I pride myself in following the evaluation measures such as specific teacher artifacts and evidence to help me solicit a clear direction of where the teacher may improve to boost achievement and rapport with their students.

     
     

People - Consider the following statement and answer the questions that follow: “When teachers view their principal as a competent, reliable leader, they trust the principal (Handford and Leithwood 2013).” (Page 56) 

1. Based on this statement, how would you define “competent” and “reliable”? 

   • Competent-> Effective principals should use their understanding to create a relentless focus on teaching and learning, holding themselves and the teachers accountable for providing high-quality instruction for students every day. Teacher observation, student data, and coaching are critical tools for the effective principal.

   • Reliable-> Teachers value principals who prioritize the well-being and success of students. Principals who actively engage with students understand their needs, and support initiatives that benefit the student body and contribute to a positive school culture.

2. How will you demonstrate “competence” and “reliability” with your teachers as you promote high power teaching and learning? 

   • I will demonstrate competence and reliability with my teachers as I promote high-power teaching and learning by starting with trust. Teachers appreciate principals who offer unwavering support in their professional development and classroom endeavors. A supportive principal fosters a positive working environment, boosting teacher morale and job satisfaction.

   • Clear and open communication is paramount. Teachers value principals who keep them well-informed about school policies, decisions, and upcoming changes. Transparent communication builds trust and encourages a collaborative atmosphere.

Organization - Consider the following statement and answer the questions that follow: “Principals need skills to manage a complex organization.” (Page 57)  

1. After reading this section, make a list of the specific skills that an effective principal need to have. Where are your organizational strengths?  

   • developing a safe school environment

   • being a strong instructional leader

   • goal setter

2. What is the one organizational skill you would like to improve? 

   • managing budgets and resources

   • hiring personnel

   • data use skills

   • strategic decision maker

• Similar to my "teacher-facing" specialized role this SY, I was responsible for shifting my role and mindset from compliance to coaching.

• Roddy took steps to dig into student work with teachers and ask specific questions related to their lesson objectives and curriculum. This is similar to my current role.

• Being more of the "manager/compliance" type role is different from my current AP job expectation.

What actionable steps did Roddy take to strengthen his role as an instructional leader? 

• Roddy took extreme ownership of his principal role and noticed that he was a principal who "managed", yet needed to still become stronger as an "instructional leader.

• Roddy challenged himself to tackle instructional challenges with his teachers.

After reading the article, make a list of ten specific actions you can do in your learning community to grow your instructional leadership, actions that will be apparent to your organization. Organize your list in two columns:

Actions Currently in Place-

• Spend time in classrooms to engage in the learning.

• Leadership for Success

• I learned the power of valuable feedback for my teachers that leads to immediate reflection and goal setting moving forward.

• I've learned to ask reflective questions of my teachers.

• I focus on establishing structure within my supervision meetings and monthly expectations of my teachers.

New Actions for Implementation-

• Model being a re!ective learner.

• Create schoolwide opportunities for leadership.

• I am currently working towards getting my Data Wise coaching certification from Harvard. This will help teach me how to better analyze data with my teachers.

• I would like to take more time to put together opportunities for mini-PD sessions within my APs' huddle time/teacher meetings.

• I would like to take more time in helping teachers identify learning gaps for their students and create learning plans to further their learning and help them improve.

• This training on Act 13 will better help me reflect on what my teachers need from me to help them better their instruction and improve student learning.

• Reflection in instruction is everything! It's time to dive deep into instructional leadership.

I want to model and inspire others to drive their instruction, impact learning, and make positive relationships, based off of student/teacher feedback and academic data. Too many times, as educators, we take a stance of setting a goal and meeting it without thought of further mindset shifts to grow ourselves from within all facets. We need to be okay with surpassing "average" and innovating from within all educational/social avenues. As an administrator, I want to always center myself in my decision making. I want to be able to prove and show evidence for making a decision based upon student centered and best educational practices.

Identify the basic contents included in this part of the legislation:

-Educator Effectiveness Rating Tools apply to LEAs providing early childhood, elementary, or secondary education across the Commonwealth.

-The rating tools are records for the evaluation of any professional employees and/or temporary professional employees.

-Each rating tool notes specific instructions and forms for documenting the results of the evaluation process, depending on the professional employee’s classification/LEA specificities. These rating tools include Observation and Practice findings and evidence, Student Performance Data (if applicable), Building Level Data (if applicable, comprised of Performance on Assessments, Growth, Attendance, and Graduation Rate), Teacher-Specific Data (if applicable, comprised of Performance on Assessments, Growth, and IEP Goals Progress), as well as LEA Selected Measures, and Performance Goals.

Highlight 3 pieces of information that you believe are important for fellow school leaders to know; and

-A building must have a minimum of two of the four measures to receive a Building Level Score (ex: Assessment, Growth/PVAAS, Attendance, & Graduation).

-LEA Selected Measures must be followed by selecting one of the following measures to assess student performance: (Locally developed rubrics, District-designed measures, and examinations, Nationally recognized standardized tests, Industry certification examinations, Student projects, & Student portfolios.

-Evaluators may include the use of multiple classroom walk-throughs in an academic year to gather evidence and artifacts, provided specific observations are based only on factors that are present or witnessed by the evaluator during the walk-through.

What question do you have regarding this section(s) of the legislation?

-I wonder if the Commonwealth will consider future pay for PA teachers to be based on their evaluation results now that Observation and Practice are weighted heavier.

-I wonder which Principal Observation & Practice Domain seems to see a trend in need of the most improvement for administrators across the Commonwealth? (Strategic/Cultural Leadership, Systems Leadership, Leadership for Learning, Professional & Community Leadership).

• The session allowed me to view the work of my colleagues' districts with the Act 13 process.

• I feel that my district is more than headed in the right direction with SPMs and different supervision/evaluation models.

• The session made me wonder more about the Principal Observation and Practice evaluation tool and how the Commonwealth is providing growth feedback for our admin.

coaches, districts are failing to employ a key resource that is already in place in most school systems. (PG. 4 -Leadership)

• Instructional Leadership with real-time coaching.

• Strong delegation skills.

• Culture Contributor

• Capacity to build other teacher leaders.

• Validate autonomy to take risks and innovate.

• Stay data-driven in decision-making that will improve learning and achievement.

High Expectations-

• D1- Strategic/Cultural Leadership: Ensure that staff incorporate the school’s vision, mission, and strategic goals in their instructional plans.

• D2- Systems Leadership: Consistently complies with federal, state, and local/LEA mandates and presents each so that they are viewed as an opportunity for growth within the school.

• D3- Leadership for Learning: Employs a variety of assessments to monitor the effectiveness of professional staff; guides improvement of practice, emphasizing rigorous, relevant, and appropriate instruction and equitable learning experiences.

• D4- Professional and Community Leadership: Ensures that professional development within the school is aligned to best practices and the goals and needs of the school while recognizing the unique needs of individual staff members and self.

• In what ways do you monitor teacher

performance and provide ongoing

feedback on their effectiveness and

growth opportunities? Domain 4 Artifacts and Walkthroughs

• How do you leverage the following

resources/processes?

• Instructional coaches/department leaders - 1:1 or small group learning/coaching opportunity recommendations.

• Formal and informal observations - Thorough and robust feedback with screenshots of evidence.

• Professional development resources - Encouraging and ensuring teachers are following Comet Hour expectations, PD day expectations, and Pineapple PLC meetings.

• SAS Portal/CDTs/technological resources- Note the use of these for my teachers in direct 1:1 supervision with them.

  
  

• How do you use building observation

results/data to plan professional

development for principals and teachers to

improve the quality of instruction?

• What formative and summative assessment

strategies are your teachers using to

determine the needs of students?

• What strategies do teachers use to focus

instruction to ensure student success?

• How do you improve instruction that is not

efective?

Clear expectations, monitoring and responding to behavior; Clear and specific protocols for use of video, use of chat box, use of breakout rooms, etc.; Managing, affirming, or redirecting behaviors with the whole group, small group, and individual students; Managing background noise through mute buttons and other features; Strategies for communicating expectations before, during, and after the lesson; Using online features such as private chats to redirect and manage student behaviors; Absence of misbehavior.​

Clarity of lesson purpose; Clear directions and procedures specific to lesson activities; Absence of content errors and clear explanations of concepts and strategies; Correct and imaginative use of language; Use of chat/message features to communicate with the teacher and peers; Students are grouped in smaller breakout rooms to discuss topics, and review and comment on each other’s work.

 Questions with multiple correct answers or multiple approaches; Effective use of student responses and ideas; Response techniques when students become confused or disengaged; High levels of student participation in discussion; Various levels of questioning with various options to respond, e.g., polls, surveys, forms, verbally, use of pre-determined “quick response” icons, such as thumbs up, etc.; Questions of high cognitive challenge formulated by students.

Student enthusiasm, interest, thinking, problem solving, etc.; Learning tasks require high-level student thinking and invite students to explain their thinking; Students are highly motivated and persist even when tasks are challenging; Students actively "working" rather than watching while their teacher "works"; Suitable pacing; Lesson includes time for closure or student reflection; Students making connections across disciplines and applying skills and concepts in a variety of contexts.

Strategies for collecting student data, input, and responses; Monitoring and tracking systems to assess understanding and progress; Students assess their own work against established criteria; Teacher poses specific questions to elicit evidence of student understanding; Small group features used for virtual instruction to monitor and assess learning and progress; Formal and informal assessments.

1. If given the opportunity to interview the three authors of this article, what are three questions you would pose to them?  

   1. How does this data look for principals within the cyber school setting?

   2. How far removed from a 'teaching position' were the most effective principals?

   3. How often is 'useful' feedback occurring in classrooms with the best principals out there?

      
      

2. What in this article speaks to your beliefs surrounding school leadership? 

   • "Principals draw on their emotional and social intelligence to foster a school environment that promotes trust, collaboration, engagement with data, and continuous improvement."

   Building a Productive School Climate is and means everything to me as an instructional leader. I know that a positive work environment can set the tone for a strong instructional group of teachers to be inspired in creating growth opportunities for their students.

Misconception Made Clear for You: Not all PIP plans have the same growth goal (time- days/weeks/year) measurement before action occurs, both positively or negatively.

Something Your Interviewee Said That Let You Know He/She Values Observation & Evaluation More Than Just Compliance: Always assumes positive intent heading into hard conversations surrounding Act 13 Framework.

Interviewee’s 

Pearl of Wisdom: Stay Evidence Based

• Researchers are discov-ering ways to learn from the “wisdom of practice” that comes from success-ful teachers who can share their expertise, (4 of 28).

• Formative assessments—ongoing assessments designed tomake students’ thinking visible to both teachers and students—are essential. (24 of 28)

(Exclamation Point):

• The growth of inter-disciplinary inquiries and new kinds of scientific collaborations have begunto make the path from basic research to educational practice somewhatmore visible, if not yet easy to travel. (3 of 28).

• Many people who had difficulty in school might haveprospered if the new ideas about effective instructional practices had beenavailable. Furthermore, given new instructional practices, even those who did well in traditional educational environments might have developed skills,knowledge, and attitudes that would have significantly enhanced their achievements, (6 of 28)

(Questions):

• I wonder when this will be accepted as 'okay'? -> As Nobel laureate HerbertSimon wisely stated, the meaning of “knowing” has shifted from being ableto remember and repeat information to being able to find and use it (Simon,1996), (5 of 28).

• How can we engage their intial understanding? If their initial understanding is not engaged, they may fail to grasp the new concepts and information that are taught, or they may learn them for purposes of a test but revert to their preconceptions outside the classroom, (15 of 28).

• (MORE) An important implication of expertise research is that to support transfer, curriculum and instruction need to emphasize the conceptual organization of knowledge and “big ideas” in a discipline. This emphasis should be present from the earliest stages of learning onward (National Research Council, 2012). pg. 35

• (MORE) Metacognition is instrumental in students taking control of their own learning because it helps them define and monitor progress toward learning goals, select strategies to enhance learning, evaluate their progress toward the goal, and select alternate strategies when obstacles are encountered.

• (MORE) Cognitive guidance. Three major forms of cognitive guidance are classroom discourse, learning resources, and formative assessment.

• (MORE) We assess students to find out what they know and can do, but assessments do not provide direct pipelines into students’ minds.

• People are motivated to develop competence and solve problems by rewards and punishments but often have intrinsic reasons for learning that may be more powerful. pg. 1

• Research on how to improve self-efficacy for learning has shown the benefits of several strategies for strengthening students’ sense of their competence for learning, including setting appropriate goals and breaking down difficult goals into subgoals (Bandura and Schunk, 1981) and providing students with information about their progress, which allows them to attribute success to their own effort (Schunk and Cox, 1986). pg. 4

• In the short term, stereotype threat can result in upset, distraction, anxiety, and other conditions that interfere with learning and performance (Pennington et al., 2016). pg. 20

• Values-affirmation interventions are designed to reduce self-handicapping behavior and increase motivation to perform. pg. 22

• Many students experience a decline in motivation from the primary grades through high school (Gallup, Inc., 2014; Jacobs et al., 2002; Lepper et al., 2005). pg. 23

• 
  

Something I read that deepened my understanding of motivation.

• A person’s motivation to persist in learning in spite of obstacles and setbacks is facilitated when goals for learning and achievement are made explicit, are congruent with the learners’ desired outcomes and motives, and are supported by the learning environment, as judged by the learner. pg. 14

• Motivation to persevere may be strengthened when students can perceive connections between their current action choices (present self) and their future self or possible future identities (Gollwitzer et al., 2011; Oyserman et al., 2015) pg. 14

• The subjective and personal nature of the learner’s experiences and the dynamic nature of the learning environment require that motivational inter-ventions be flexible enough to take account of changes in the individual and in the learning environment. pg. 23

• There is also strong evidence for the view that engagement and intrinsic motivation develop and change over time—these are not properties of the individual or the environment alone. pg. 25

• Motivation to learn is fostered for learners of all ages when they perceive the school or learning environment is a place where they “belong” and when the environment promotes their sense of agency and purpose. pg. 25

• I believe that there may be some truth in both of those scenarios. In essence, while SEL initiatives are valuable for promoting emotional intelligence and interpersonal skills among students, they need to evolve beyond simplistic or one-size-fits-all approaches. To truly address disparities in education through SEL, it's crucial to incorporate culturally responsive practices that recognize and respect the diversity of students' backgrounds. Provide ongoing training and support for educators and school staff to enhance their own social-emotional competencies and create a positive, supportive school climate. Advocate for systemic changes within educational institutions to reduce disparities related to race, socioeconomic status, and other factors that affect student outcomes. By addressing these aspects, SEL can become a more powerful tool for promoting equity and inclusivity in education, moving beyond individual skill development to systemic change.

Motivation

SEL

OPPORTUNITIES

( Things moving in the right direction)

• Domain 2 – Builds relationships, develops people, and distributes leadership

• Domain 3 – Establishes structures and processes for teacher collaboration and learning

CHALLENGES

(Things holding us back)

• Domain 1 – Sets direction and assesses progress toward a shared vision of success for all students

• Domain 4 – Focuses on consistency across classrooms and continues to align system components
   

Learning is not just a cognitive process but also involves social and emotional dimensions. School leaders should prioritize creating a supportive and inclusive school climate where students feel safe, valued, and connected.

• She is not so much focused on the 'culture' part of the term, yet the 'responsive part is. Be able to 'see' the child and respond to those cultural displays and can synchronize yourself to those.

• Grit and growth mindset are not innate in all learners.

Identify the links between this concept and the research on how people learn and student motivation and engagement that you studied in Unit 4.

• This video and the content in Unit 4 is all focused on getting the learners' brains thinking and 'ON FIRE'!

• Having an Academic Mindset is most important.

  • 'I can succeed at this.'

  • 'My ability and competence grow with my effort.'

  • 'I belong to this academic community.'

  • 'This work has value for me.'

• We want learners to want to ASK questions and be hands-on to create a brain that is ready for learning.

• We need to get learners out of the 'PIT'-> productive struggle.

• Examples and NON-Examples help learners make connections to 'usable knowledge'.

• Feedback is a MUST and timely for learning. Inquiry is the Great Cognitive Equalizer.

• We use the term “funds of knowledge” to refer to these historically accumulated and culturally developed bodies of knowledge and skills essential for household or individual functioning and well-being (Greenberg, 1989; Tapia, 1991; VelIez-lbanez, 1988).

1. Teacher as Communicator

2. Teacher as Educator

3. Teacher as Evaluator

4. Teacher as Educated Human Being

5. Teacher as Agent of Socialization

• Most of our important learning, in school or out of it, is a matter of constructing models of the world, finding out how far they work by using them, and then reshaping them in the light of what happens. Each new model or scheme potentially changes how we experience some aspect of the world, and therefore how we act on it. (bottom of pg 2)

• Only pupils can work on understanding: teachers can encourage and support but

  cannot do it for them. In this reshaping, pupils’ ‘old’ knowledge is as important as

  the new experiences that are to challenge it.

• Exploratory talk provides an important means of working on understanding, but learners are unlikely to embark on it unless they feel relatively at ease, free from the danger of being aggressively contradicted or made fun of.

• Presentational talk, on the other hand, offers a ‘final draft’ for display and evaluation: it is often heavily influenced by what the audience expects. Presentational talk frequently occurs in response to teachers’ questions when they are testing pupils’ understanding of a topic that has already been taught.

• Teachers teach classes but pupils learn as individuals, each constructing slightly different versions of the meanings made available during the interchanges shared by the whole class and the teacher. Both the shared construction and the individual struggle to reinterpret are essential.

  
  

• GREAT WALKTHROUGH FEEDBACK:

  • having students write about and discuss what they already know of the topic; • getting them to predict; ‘What do you think would happen if …..? Why?’; • encouraging the asking of ‘good questions’ i.e. those that seek underlying principles; • setting up frequent occasions for interpretive discussion; • teaching the making of notes through collaborative discussion; • encouraging students occasionally to list what they understand and what they do not yet understand; • at times, allowing students to negotiate learning tasks.

• Students can be encouraged to contribute examples, make connections with their own experience, and discuss areas where the new material seems to clash with what they thought to be the case. Discussion and explanation by the pupils should be a central part of lessons, and this should also include the producing and evaluating of supportive evidence.

• The overall purpose should be to hand over to pupils more responsibility for their own learning, by requiring them to think about it and by avoiding the mere rehearsal of inert information.

-Our school is starting to really take ownership of Learner Engagment throughout our Comprehensive School Improvement Plan. We have a specific sub-committee surrounding intentional work on strategies that are specific to engagement needs at CCA.

What did the Research Probe (unit 4) uncover that may present a barrier(s) to achieving your Desired State?

-Our ELA lessons have so much content to be taught within an expected short window of time that the teachers are not utilizing active thinking instructional strategies as their 'barrier'. However, we have some work to do with making that active thinking piece noted and more part of the lesson planning for the learners. Math had more evidence of active thinking during synchronous instruction.

What is the meaning of Hammond’s statement that “only the learner learns”?

Empowering students to lead their own learning is crucial for fostering independence, critical thinking, and a deeper understanding of subjects. Here are some effective strategies to achieve this:

1. Promote Inquiry-Based Learning: Encourage students to ask questions and explore topics that interest them. This approach shifts the focus from rote memorization to active engagement and curiosity.

2. Offer Choice: Provide opportunities for students to choose topics, projects, or assignments based on their interests and strengths. When students have a say in what they learn, they are more motivated and invested in the process.

3. Set Clear Learning Goals: Work with students to set specific, achievable goals that align with their interests and the curriculum. This helps them take ownership of their learning journey and track their progress over time.

4. Foster Collaboration: Encourage peer-to-peer learning and group projects where students can learn from each other’s strengths and perspectives. Collaboration teaches communication skills and promotes deeper understanding of the material.

5. Develop Metacognitive Skills: Teach students how to reflect on their learning process, identify what strategies work best for them, and adjust their approach as needed. Metacognition helps students become more self-aware and effective learners.

6. Provide Constructive Feedback: Offer feedback that focuses on growth and improvement rather than just grades. Encourage students to reflect on their work, identify areas for development, and take initiative to make improvements.

7. Use Technology Thoughtfully: Integrate technology tools that allow students to explore concepts independently, conduct research, and create multimedia projects. Technology can facilitate personalized learning experiences tailored to individual student needs.

8. Encourage Self-Assessment: Provide rubrics or criteria for students to assess their own work and set goals for improvement. Self-assessment builds accountability and encourages students to take responsibility for their learning outcomes.

9. Create a Supportive Environment: Cultivate a classroom culture where mistakes are viewed as opportunities for learning and where students feel comfortable taking risks and exploring new ideas.

10. Model Lifelong Learning: Demonstrate your own enthusiasm for learning and curiosity about the subject matter. When students see you as a role model for lifelong learning, they are more likely to adopt a similar attitude.

By implementing these strategies, educators can create an environment where students feel empowered to take ownership of their learning, develop critical thinking skills, and become lifelong learners.

• Create a Supportive Environment: Cultivate a classroom culture where mistakes are viewed as opportunities for learning and where students feel comfortable taking risks and exploring new ideas.

• Provide Constructive Feedback: Offer feedback that focuses on growth and improvement rather than just grades. Encourage students to reflect on their work, identify areas for development, and take initiative to make improvements.

Deficit-based thinking focuses on identifying and emphasizing the shortcomings, weaknesses, or deficits of individuals or groups. It often highlights what is lacking or what needs improvement. This perspective tends to view individuals through a lens of what they cannot do or what they are missing, rather than focusing on their strengths or potential.

Asset-based thinking, on the other hand, focuses on identifying and leveraging the strengths, capabilities, talents, and resources that individuals or communities possess. It emphasizes what individuals can do, their unique skills and knowledge, and their potential for growth and development.

What can you implement as you return to school in fall?

1.  Provide ongoing feedback that promotes growth and improvement rather than grades so students can reflect on their work and identify areas to improve.
   
   

2. Create a supportive environment that cultivates a classroom culture where mistakes are viewed as opportunities for learning and where the students feel comfortable taking risks and exploring new ideas.
   
   

3. Collaboration/Discussion/Inquiry based environment

How do the findings identified in the video reflect your understanding of the importance of a child’s teacher?

What does Dr. Loewenberg Ball mean by the instructional triangle?

What is meant by the term “discretionary spaces”?

How do macro-structures play out in the micro-moments of Black and Brown children’s experiences in classrooms?

What do you think are possibilities of what the teacher might do?”

What might the teacher do?

• How are language and learning are connected? -> Language is not just a means of communication but a fundamental tool for learning and cognitive development. Its multifaceted roles in facilitating understanding, fostering social interactions, supporting academic achievement, and connecting individuals to their cultural contexts underscore its critical importance in the process of learning.

3-5 Themes from your section of the article - What would a classroom look and sound like if these ideas were in practice?

• Interactive and Collaborative Atmosphere

• Emphasis on Social Skills

• Inclusive Environment

• Explicit Norms and Values

• Critical Thinking and Reflection

• Respectful Dialogue

• Community Engagement

• Teacher as Role Model

• Cultural Awareness

  
  

3-5 steps you can take to move those you influence or lead in this direction:

• I could encourage my teachers to foster a classroom dynamic and engaging environment focused not only on academic achievement but also on nurturing learners' social and emotional development within a broader environment, conditions, and factors that influence and shape society as a whole.

  
  

1 BIG takeaway from the section related to your teacher role:

• By understanding the challenges children face in transitioning between home and school environments, teachers can support them effectively without undermining the important role of families in their education and development. This approach fosters a supportive and inclusive learning environment where all students can thrive.

• The classroom environment is set up to see and view all learners and not just focus on the teacher. Desks arrangement or "second" monitor without focus mode, breakout rooms. The teacher is seen as the facilitator...

  
  

• Allow for exploratory talk to be seen as beneficial so that learners can learn BEST from their peers if that makes more sense to them. Sometimes, the teacher is NOT the only one who has the best way to explain something for students to learn.

WONDERINGS -> How much training and professional development did the district allot for the teachers to learn how to implement 'Low Stakes Writing' with their learners?

Assume you are a student at University Park HS,
Write down at least three things:

1. At least one thing you have learned in this course about writing in all academic areas. -> Just allotting learners a 7-minute idea writing opportunity every day with immediate oral sharing with a peer can inspire children to write to learn, not write to tell what they have learned.

   
   

2. At least one thing you want to learn about promoting writing in your school.

   Low-stakes writing prompts, questioning, and best practices for teachers and staff.

1. A quote of thought that you just heard in the video either from an educator or from a student.

   "I know I can share out my ideas immediately." -> This keeps the inspiration strong and powerful for the importance of the learners' writing.

The purpose of this probe is to find out about the types of writing assignments students are engaging in at your school. Here are examples of possible focuses for your writing. Each will require a different set of data. Keep in mind that a probe is a small investigation and not a major research study, so select one and consider what data you will need to collect to support conclusions.

●How often are students at your school asked to write? In which subjects, courses?

●Why are students being asked to write?

●Are all writing assignments graded?

●Criteria for success: Is student writing being used for learning, or as summative assessmentof learning? Is writing being assessed for content and thinking, or for conventions, spelling,and grammar?

●How often are they engaging in extended writing?

●Are students keeping their own notes for later reference? Journals, etc.?

●What patterns are you seeing? -> Length/Frequency/Feedback from teachers/Types of assignments (analytical versus summary writing)

After identifying your research question, decide what data will help you to answer that question. You could choose a department/grade, limit to one week of all of the assignments students are asked to produce, etc. Or track writing from three students across a two-week period. It would be helpful to work with one or more partners so you have deep content expertise for reviewing the assignments. After an initial sorting of the samples using your focus question, decide how you will represent the data for sharing in Unit 6. Write up some of the patterns you see and what additional questions you have now.

1. Students’ command of academic skills and content certainly matters, but so too does their ability to communicate effectively, to work well in teams, to solve complex problems, to persist in the face of challenges, and to monitor and direct their own learning—in short, the various kinds of knowledge and skills that have been grouped together under the banner of “deeper learning.”

2. Past practices posed limitations by focusing exclusively on preparing students for tests of basic ability. Now companies want people with competencies such as creativity, problem-solving, and collaboration skills.

3. Now, recent calls for deeper learning are unlikely to gain long-term traction.

4. Deeper learning results when learners are able to develop a significant understanding of core academic content, exhibit critical thinking and problem-solving, collaborate, communicate, direct their own learning, and possess an academic mindset.

5. Deeper = Teachers would facilitate while students engaged in an exploration of open-ended problems, constructing deep understandings of concepts.

6. The realities that we described earlier in this paper

   mean that during their own experiences in high school,

   teachers were unlikely to have experienced much deep

   learning, especially in their core academic classes. The widely acknowledged weakness and incoherence of

   American teacher preparation programs mean that as

   pre-service professionals, teachers were unlikely to have learned anything substantive about teaching for deep learning.
   
   

• Some believe that critical thinking can be taught as a generic skill independently from subject content, while others contend that content mastery is pivotal to the development of thinking capabilities.

• People who learn these broadly applicable principles in one situation often fail to apply them in a new situation.

• The process of recognition may not tell the thinker exactly what to do, but it may help the thinker evaluate the situation more quickly or accurately.

• If you are a researcher, it is unclear which view of the good critical thinker to adopt: someone who has mastered lots of specific skills, or someone with a smaller set of yet-to-be-identified general skills. But educators are not researchers, and for educators, one fact ought to be salient. We are not even sure the general skills exist, but we are quite sure there is no proven way to teach them directly. In contrast, we have a pretty good idea of how to teach students the more specific critical thinking skills.

This article relates to "How People Learn" with the strong suggestion of metacognition engagement for students to be able to 'deep learn'.

• How does the material in chapter 4 relate to the research on how people learn?

  • It is the result of students constructing a model of how the world works on the basis of their experiences = “constructivism.” This is a view about what happens when learning takes place, rather than a specific approach to teaching.

  • It means not assuming that a student is a blank slate but accepting that the student will already have ideas about things on which, as yet, he or she has had no formal instruction.

  • In particular, it means finding out what students already know or believe about something before trying to teach them anything else that builds on that knowledge.

  • Whatever one’s beliefs about what happens when learning takes place, the empirical evidence is that students do not necessarily—or even generally—learn exactly what they are taught and that, to be effective, teachers have to find out what their students did actually learn before moving on.

  • Checking for understanding is a process of assessment.

  • Formative assessment is concerned with how judgments about the quality of student responses (performances, pieces, or works) can be used to shape and improve the student’s competence by short-circuiting the randomness and inefficiency of trial-and-error learning.

  • Students have to be able to judge the quality of what they are producing and be able to regulate what they are doing during the doing of it.

  • Where those conclusions are related to the student’s current level of achievement or to his or her future performance, then the assessment serves a summative function.

  • Where the conclusions are related to the kinds of instructional activities that are likely to maximize future learning, then the assessment is functioning formatively.

  • Assessment for learning consists of seven strategies:

    • 1. Provide students with a clear and understandable vision of the learning target.

    • 2. Use examples and models of strong and weak work.

    • 3. Offer regular descriptive feedback.

    • 4. Teach students to self-assess and set goals.

    • 5. Design lessons to focus on one learning target or aspect of quality at a time.

    • 6. Teach students focused revision.

    • 7. Engage students in self-reflection and let them keep track of and share their learning.

The pre-work that connected to my leadership thinking was the ability to connect the 'why and data' behind continuous changes in education (pendulum swinging all through the articles) because teachers will be passionate to lead the way for learners if they understand the mission.

Identity - A curriculum that reflects the diverse backgrounds of students and includes their histories and perspectives promotes positive identity formation.

Creativity - Students can explore ideas in unique ways and apply their knowledge practically.

• To me, critical thinking means the ability to analyze information, evaluate arguments, and make reasoned judgments.

• It involves questioning assumptions, considering multiple perspectives, and using logic and evidence to draw conclusions.

• It’s about being open-minded yet skeptical, allowing for a deeper understanding of complex issues and fostering informed decision-making. #curiousity

• Overall, it’s a skill that empowers individuals to navigate the world thoughtfully and effectively.

Probe 10- The Grammar of Our School and How It Facilitates or Militates Against Opportunities for Deeper Learning

Did the probes that you considered provide you with the information you needed to fully understand your context? - Yes, the probes gave great insights as checkpoints for where our school entity is currently, as well as a starting point for a growth goal heading into the 24-25 SY.

Did the findings of your probe support the contextual analysis that you completed in course 1?  If not, what differences did you uncover?

Yes, our strength is that our school prides itself in Domain 2 (The Classroom Environment). This is a strength of ours at CCA. We believe that treating all learners with kindness, rigor, equity, and a growth mindset can go far! This is a continual build throughout the school year. Our school needs 'engagement tactics' to be done with quality, to get learners to come back to class each day virtually and feel safe to take educational risks in front of their teachers and peers.

What was your rationale for selecting the two probes that you selected?

• I am a teacher facing AP currently, and our specialization is all about growing teachers to become strong instructional educators, so that they can better grow their students academically.

• Engagement in thinking and the Grammar of Schooling seemed to give way for data to support new ways for our school to grow and 'lead up" to senior leaders.

How does it relate to the different kinds of student engagement?

Defining Student Engagement: page 2 of pre-work study

• Behavioral- havioral engagement includes participating, staying on task, and completing assignments.

  
  

• Emotional- Behavioral engagement includes participating, staying on task, and completing assignments.

  
  

• Cognitive- Encompasses students’ thought processes and applications of mental effort to learn.

Underline at least 2-3 big ideas (Golden Lines) in the reading and be prepared to share in the text-based seminar.

• Page 5: Variations in agency could also relate to teachers’ belief systems. For example, Dweck (2006) asserts that individuals have either a growth mindset, believing people can change and develop through perseverance and hard work, or a fixed mindset, believing people have a set level of intelligence or motivation that cannot be changed. In this study, high-engagement teachers showed growth mindsets, whereas low-engagement teachers showed more fixed mindsets.

• Page 4: Whereas low-engagement teachers also recognized that students’ lives impacted engagement, they tended to see the impacts of a student’s out-of-school life as insusceptible to a teacher’s positive influence. Accordingly, they exhibited less willingness to identify and consider students’ points of view or to help them deal with personal challenges. In particular, low-engagement teachers were more likely to cite family values as having a negative impact that teachers could not mitigate.

Ambitious Teaching?

Requires that teachers develop deep commitments to student learning and a historical understanding of inequity in science and schools.

-Prioritize curriculum

-Carve out time to observe instruction

-Be intentional about assessment

-Aiming for equity

Responsive Teaching?

A teaching method that involves teachers supporting students' individual needs and independence by adjusting their teaching throughout the learning process.

High-Performing Systems-

Evidence in Table # OR on page # 

44

Characteristic of new teacher support described in Beyond PD that you would recommend considering in your school

Beginning teachers have two mentors: one for classroom management and one for subject-specific guidance.

After you have completed the table, jot down the component of your mentoring/induction program you are most proud of and be ready to share with your group. 

Structured time set aside for support. Whole department dedicated to induction, not just principals.

Shared Leadership

Adaptive

Supportive Leadership

Teacher Agency

Empower Teachers

Modeling

• Consider how school leaders view traditional teacher training and Professional Learning.- Many that I know feel the same way as the teachers. How are we willing to break the mold and become a new grammar school?

  
  

• Professional Learning Communities (PLCs): Establish PLCs where teachers can collaborate, discuss instructional strategies, and analyze student data together. These communities provide a structured space for peer support and learning.

• Coaching and Mentoring: Implement a coaching program where experienced teachers or instructional coaches work alongside teachers to provide feedback, model effective practices, and support goal attainment.

• Access to Resources: Provide access to high-quality resources, including research articles, instructional materials, and online courses, to support teachers in their professional growth.

• Regular Observations and Feedback: Conduct regular classroom observations followed by constructive feedback sessions. This helps identify areas for improvement and recognizes effective practices.

• Time for Collaboration: Schedule dedicated time for teachers to collaborate, plan lessons, and reflect on their practices without the pressure of daily classroom demands.

• Workshops and Training: Offer targeted professional development workshops that address specific needs or interests identified by teachers, ensuring that the training is relevant and applicable.

• Recognition and Celebration: Acknowledge and celebrate teachers’ successes and growth, fostering a positive and motivating environment that encourages continuous improvement.

• Clear Communication: Maintain open lines of communication to ensure that teachers feel comfortable discussing their challenges and seeking support.

DEVELOPING HIGH-QUALITY TEACHING

(Essential Components)

• Infrastructure for teacher learning (continual and developmental)- 3

• Time and opportunity for collaboration- 1

• Curriculum planning, assessment, and lesson study- 2

• Teachers as researchers- 1

• Teacher-Led professional learning- 2

• Teacher appraisal and feedback- 3

In your journal, rank each component from 1-4 (low to high) based how well your professional learning system incorporates these. 

requires a Mutual Learning mindset. You can practice these eight behaviors, even if other people do not, in team and one-on-one interactions. Yet the impact on your team’s results is most powerful when everyone understands the Mutual Learning mindset and the eight behaviors, agrees on their meanings, and commits to them.

Use the themes or threads identified in 7.1.2 to answer the following questions.

● How might the conditions and characteristics in my system be contributing to the threads

or themes revealed from the investigations I conducted? For example, the theme of

inconsistency across classrooms gathered from the probe data may be related to

reflections in the tool from your colleagues about teacher collaboration, variability in

teaching, and/or the focus on consistency across classrooms.

● From these connection(s) between the probes and the conditions and characteristics

within your system, what might be a potential “problem” for you to work on for the first

cycle of action learning?

because the impact on your team's results is most powerful when everyone understands the Mutual Learning Mindset.

Always approach a conversation or situation with positive intent. This helps stray away from leading with toxicity or assumptions.

1. Stating Views and Asking Genuine Questions: 'It changes a meeting from a series of unconnected monologues in which people try to persuade one another, to a focused conversation that generates increased understanding'. Making staying 'Inquiry-Based' a norm before each meeting.

2. Share All Relevant Information: 'I’d like to give you some specific examples about what concerned me and get your reactions. How does that sound?' I would like to practice speaking to my teachers, colleagues, and staff in a way that allows for this comfortable open-sharing platform.

3. Use Specific Examples and Agree on What Important Words Mean: 'Often, team members can use the same word in different ways and still assume that they agree when they really don’t, or vice versa.' Getting clear on the vision and expectations will set my team up for success.

4. Explain Reasoning and Intent: 'Explaining your reasoning and intent provides opportunities to learn where others have different views and where you may have missed something that others see.' The buy-in is so important for school improvement to take place! This type of reasoning could be a huge success 'seller' for it!

5. Focus on Interests, Not Positions: 'The difficulty with solving problems by focusing first on positions is that people’s positions are often in conflict, even when their underlying interests are compatible.' Staying with the 'all voices heard motto' really helps our meetings go smoother and allow for trust and respect to take place more naturally.

• Assumptions - Assumptions are integral to strategy development, influencing judgments about internal and external factors, threats, stakeholders, cause and effect, and potential outcomes. The effectiveness of a strategy depends on the reliability of its underlying assumptions.

• Interests - Interests shape strategy by defining what is valuable to us and other key players. Clearly defining and prioritizing these interests helps focus the strategy. Understanding others' interests aids in identifying collaboration opportunities and necessary concessions.

• Objectives - Objectives define what must be achieved to realize our vision. They address threats to our interests and seize opportunities for improvement. Limiting the number of objectives helps maintain focus and increases the chance of success.

• Capabilities - Capabilities are essential for achieving our objectives and include resources like funds, people, and skills. We must assess our available capabilities and ensure our objectives are achievable with them. For each objective, we should be able to outline how we will use our capabilities to accomplish it. If we can’t do this, our strategy may have gaps.

• Threats - Once we've defined our interests, objectives, and capabilities, we can identify what threatens these interests or impedes our capabilities. Threats are primarily related to our interests, not just what we find disagreeable. Focus strategy on addressing factors that obstruct our top-priority interests, rather than trying to address all unfavorable aspects of the situation.

• Risks - Strategies are inherently risky due to reliance on assumptions that may prove wrong. Risks arise from these potential errors and can damage your strategy. To manage risk, evaluate the uncertainty and potential harm of your assumptions. Continuously reassess and adjust your assumptions as needed, and incorporate measures to reduce either the likelihood or impact of risks. While risk cannot be eliminated, identify and plan for the most serious ones.

1. Anchoring bias- is a cognitive bias that causes us to rely too heavily on the first piece of information we are given about a topic. (ex: Connection to Social Media comments and jumping to conclusions).

   • Always view a problem from different perspectives. Try using alternative starting points and approaches rather than sticking with the first line of thought that occurs to you.

   • Think about the problem on your own before consulting others in order to avoid becoming

     anchored by their ideas.

   • Be open-minded. Seek information and opinions from a variety of people to widen your

     frame of reference.

I used to think… being a people pleaser would fix the problem the fastest and now I think… Going slow to go fast is brilliant and When seeking others’ advice, don’t ask leading questions that invite confirming evidence—and don’t surround yourself with only “yes” people.

to always be aware of potential decision traps, because anchoring bias is real... I need to remember to be open-minded! Seek information and opinions from a variety of people to widen your frame of reference.

1. Attendance Records: Review patterns in student and staff attendance to pinpoint issues related to engagement or morale.

2. Survey Data: Use structured surveys for students, parents, and staff to gather numerical data on satisfaction and concerns.

3. Enrollment Figures: Track changes in enrollment and demographics to understand shifts in community needs.

4. Curriculum Implementation Data: Look at how faithfully the curriculum is being followed and any discrepancies in delivery.

Qualitative Data Sources

1. Focus Groups: Conduct discussions with students, teachers, and parents to gain insights into their experiences and perceptions.

2. Interviews: One-on-one interviews with key stakeholders can uncover deeper issues that numbers alone may not reveal.

3. Classroom Observations: Observing classroom dynamics can provide context to test scores and behavioral reports.

4. Open-Ended Survey Responses: Analyze qualitative responses from surveys for themes and concerns that may not be captured in quantitative data.

5. Staff Meeting Notes: Review discussions from staff meetings to identify recurring issues and concerns.