Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Assessing, then doing what needs to be done...
As a new building administrator, how do you anticipate assessing and prioritzing the reform/change efforts needed to move student achievement forward? What will affect your timeline regarding gathering of information period versus action/implementation?
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Reform and change efforts would stem from a quantitative analysis of at least five years' worth of student achievement data in as many areas as possible - from test results to suspension rates. Along with department chairs, I would formalize reasonable goals with reasonable timelines focused on specific, quantifiable issues.
Data accessibility would be a key factor influencing information gathering while available resources would limit implementation timelines.
I don't know if I am misunderstanding this question, but this seems like a really difficult question to answer. How can I prioritize my reform/change efforts when I don't know anything about this hypothetical school? I don't think that there is any one reform movement that will universally be the most important at every school. I like the values involved in PLCs (which, as we've discussed, can and have been accomplished without the PLC name and sometimes are not accomplished within the PLC name), but I think that if you have a group of teachers who aren't using best practice, collaborating about those strategies might not be too productive! If you have a school with a terrible attendance rate, the first priority might be a reform that would address that.
I think the timeline of any major (or minor) reform would need to depend on a variety of factors, including your leadership style. I know there are principals who come in, guns blazing, ready to change anything and everything right away, and don't care if everyone hates them. (At least, I know they exist in the movies!) I don't think that I could pull off this approach, so for me, I'd need to take more time to figure out the building's norms and try to plant seeds for reform and generate enthusiasm and buy-in. Again, I have no specific idea of what the timeline would be for this, as I think it would depend on the current environment at the school. I'm interested to see if other people interpreted this question in a different way.
I agree with Tony, it is essential to have a substantial amount of data in order to assess the areas of focus within a school. It is imperative that school administrators take time to learn the culture of the school and build relationships before attempting to initiate major change and reform. As a new building administrator, I anticipate I will identify the key teacher stakeholders within the building to assist me in gauging the reform efforts needs to improve student achievement.
As Kimberly stated, it is impossible to prioritize reform/change efforts until you begin working within a school and are able to identify the school’s needs. Universally, I think many schools need to work on closing the achievement gap in order to move student achievement forward. As a new administrator, the buy-in from staff will affect my timeline regarding the gathering of information versus implementation. If teachers agree with the change effort it is much easier to quickly move forward. The magnitude of the issue will also affect how quickly I move on an issue. For example, if the problem poses a serious threat to the safety of children or teachers immediate action is required. Available funding and resources may impact the time needed to begin the action/implementation stage.
Hopefully, I have done some homework on the school before I ever got the job. That being said, I think any kind of reform effort has to stem from two categories. The first goes along with what Tony said. I have to take a look at the school's data and establish trend lines. What direction is the school already going.
The second category is the school's climate and culture. That is much harder to change from the beginning. This comes from getting to know people and building relationships in the school. I think that many times the climate and the culture changes will lead to better results on the hard numbers. I also think that climate and culture is the hardest to come to know and understand, especially in a short period of time.
I think the timeline depends on the school. If the school has some pretty good data, then the timeline can be longer term. If the school is in trouble, I think the timeline has to shorten. The problem is that a new principal is shooting in the dark to an extent because of a lack of knowledge about the climate and culture of the school.
I would have to agree with the comments I have read so far. It is almost impossible to know what reform efforts are needed without some pertinent data that would show what changes need to occur. The first thing I would look at is the TWC and the EOG reults from the previos yeart to see where the school needs to go. I believe that we would be cutting oursellves short by going in with preconceived notions that we need to change something immediately.
As a new building administrator, assessing and prioritizing the reform/change efforts needed to move student achievement forward would begin with a thorough examination of the school and its surrounding community. Schools reflect their community and each one has its own unique culture. Decisions about school reform rest in our willingness to work together on a focused set of goals that are clear and quantifiable. Defining those goals takes time.
While we can agree on or accept some of the widely-researched principles such as; preschool for young children, early literacy intervention, the importance of parent involvement, etc., we must look carefully at how those practices fit into any particular school.
Although many reform initiatives have been adopted and replicated across the country, I believe we have to be cautious when doing so. No two schools are alike. A plan that has been effective in one school may prove to be disastrous for another. Having agreed on the goals, we must then agree to hold each other accountable for our part in advancing them.
While standardized testing can only tell part of the student achievement story, it is the easiest method of following and measuring student performance. A new leader must examine any available data and determine its relevance in planning for school improvements.
The time frame regarding gathering of information and implementation is difficult to predict. As a new building administrator, I wouldn’t want to make hasty decisions, nor would I want to drag the process on for too long. It may be necessary to update/adjust the time frame in order to correspond with the information and recommendations as they develop.
In order to reform a school, I would consider talking to the superintendent about his desires for the school and any information he may have that can help you better understand the demographics and possible issues that may be present. Having data that spans a minimum of five years will also be necessary in getting a picture of what has and is occuring. I would also take the time to speak with the principal's of your feeder schools to get their input on the students they sent to you.
After gathering this information, I would study the data and pick out places where immediate gains can be made in order to increase moral. Meeting with the leadership team and site-based committees will also be beneficial in determining a plan of action.
I'm jumping on the band wagon and agreeing with everyone else...this is tough to address without more information. There are so many reform initiatives that exist and deciding which one/s to choose is difficult without more information such as a budget amount and data from the school.
I think that it will take months or even a year to get a true feel of the school however, you can research during this time to see what is available and what may help that way you are ready when you have decided the major areas that must be addressed.
As a new administrator I would need to have information to decide what areas in my school would need to be reformed. The use of standardized tests, TWCS, parent/teacher/student surveys, and informal conversations should give me a wealth of information to work with in deciding where my school needs to be reformed.
In terms of a time table it would depend on the culture of the school. At my old school new reforms were met with a lot of "storming." After months of storming few if any of the staff would have implemented the reform in to their daily teaching practices. At my current school their is a culture that reform is seen as improving our teaching practices. This is not to say that their isn't storming, the storm just seems to pass more quickly.
As a new building administrator, I know that I would face some challenges in determining where to begin. Like others have stated, it would be important to have done as much research as possible about the school beforehand. It would also be important to analyze the data that is available, such as test scores, TWC surveys and any other data to make an accurate assessment of what is going on in the school. By spending time in the building and understanding the culture of the school I could then gain even more insight about what is going, though it will be more time consuming than the data analysis piece. From this information, I would then determine who the teacher leaders and other powerful people in the building are that may be able to assist in initiating the reform. After taking everything into consideration, the leadership team would start to identify and determine the areas that would have the most positive affects on student achievement based on the data and begin to set goals along with a timeline for action. Resources would be another factor that play a major role in what type of reform is implemented and how quickly. Basically, it seems that a lot of the decisions about reform would be based on the individual school needs, but the process of assessing what those needs are would begin immediately and the action plan would be based on the outcome of the assessments.
I'd be interested to see what people would say if they were placed in a school that was "failing." Do you think there would be enough data on day one for you to begin looking at the school's greatest areas of need? If you didn't how would you, and what type of data would you want to collect to start the wheels moving? If a school is pretty bad off is a year, six months, or even a month of collecting more data too long? I know there are a lot of "it all depends" in asking, but it would be interesting if in part of us taking this position it was expected that our school would see results within the first year. Would collecting more data or acting be primary to reforming the school?
Assessment: I would have talked to everyone I could get a hold of about the job before I ever took it--friends, teachers, central office staff, all of the informal conversations about the reputation of a school that would give me a clue about what hides behind the data. Then I would look at the data. I would mine the benchmark scores, EOC/EOG scores, disciplinary referral information, suspensions, attendance rate, teacher performance reviews, teacher working conditions survey, exit interviews, and anything else that I could lay my hands on that gave any information about the school and students in the past twenty five years.
Then I'd decide what to prioritize.
Then I'd decide on a reform effort.
Then I'd figure out how to best implement and advocate for that reform given the school culture.
Then I'd implement it.
Everything will affect my timeline--especially the length of my contract, the depths of despair evident in the school and the mandates I'm given by the district, state and community.
It all depends.
But I would go to the data second--just because data has been getting a little uppity lately and it needs to know its place.
Lisa made a good point about talking to the district superintendent about possible reform initiatives he/she may have identified for the school. Although, you may not necessarily agree with the superintendent's priorities, it is important to have the conversation. As an administrator, if you have different priorities than the district it may be necessary to “reframe” your priority issues in order to gain the support and funding needed from the district level.
I also agree with Ted and Niko that the Teacher's Working Conditions Survey is a valuable tool to help administrators identify possible areas of need. Teachers' precipitations about how the school is functioning sheds light on the overall climate and atmosphere within the school.
Was reading an interesting book chapter slamming Reading First initiatives and came across the following quote from Lyndon Johnson who envisions a Great Society:
"Where every child [can] find knowledge to enrich his mind and to enlarge his talents. It [is] a place where leisure [will be] a welcome chance to build and reflect....It [will be] a place where the city of man [will] serve not only the needs of the body and the demands of commerce but the desire for beauty and the hunger for community" (1964)
I wish I had Johnson's vision--something that I need to develop more concretely before I enter a role in school leadership. I need to know what I want it to look like. What I believe is important. Otherwise I'll accept whatever the current wisdom is, or what the community says, or what the superintendent says, or what looks most glaring in the data and change those things, rather than what may be most important and defensible in my conscience.
Before I decide to make a change, I'd better be damned sure that I know why and can sell it to someone else, because change is a...challenging thing, and it will require a righteous and moral purpose, not just good data.
Framing reform within a personal vision, and school, and community vision, will help me to know what to prioritize and what my timeline is.
Lisa makes a good point that I did not consider in my original post. Before moving with a reform strategy I would need knowledge about district reforms. That being said, my experience is that district wide reforms are often the loudest reforms and the ones that disappear the quickest. Ultimately, we have to look at what impacts the classroom. The best advice I ever received about planning for education is that any initiative is not about impacting students, then it is a waste of time, money, and energy.
Ted poses an interesting question about working in a failing school. There is a fine balance between collecting data and actually doing something. If the school is in trouble, there may need to action taken immediately. Hopefully, the principal taking that job will have time to do a little research before starting. Working with the culture of the school to make it receptive to change may be the greatest change the principal can shoot for that first year. If the principal only has a year to turn things around, the principal has to take the best educated guess, prepare for the storming that will be coming, and try to build a climate that will be open to reform for the sake of the students. As long as the phrase "for the sake of the students" is thrown in there, hopefully the staff will be willing to give the principal a chance.
As a building administrator, I believe that bringing about reform to improve student learning is essential if you are going to be successful. Administrators need to know the abilities of their students and the concerns of their staff in order to bring about change. Moving student achievement forward is probably the most important part of an administrator’s job and probably the most challenging. Administrators must be willing to work with their teachers and vice versa. Any principal should first build their trust among their staff in order to be an effective leader. Teachers need to feel like they are needed and that they are the most important people in the building because they are the ones who are responsible for raising student achievement. Administrators should take data seriously and carefully analyze it so that they can interpret it to their teachers. Looking at data early on can be a good start to reform. Data, when looking at it carefully, can really help drive instruction and help identify the school’s overall needs. The data itself affects the timeline depending on when and how often you get it!
That is an interesting question, Ted. If a school is really "failing" miserably, it probably wouldn't be prudent to spend 6 months or a year simply collecting data. I think that there are some general "best practices" that aren't specific to any reform, but are beneficial to student learning that can be set in motion right away. For example, if students don't have access to many diverse texts at appropriate levels, that would be an immediate priority. I'd say, "It all depends," but fifteen people have already said it for me!
I avoided answering the question because I wasn’t sure how to answer it. Data would be the leading factor in deciding which reform/change efforts that should take precedence in moving student achievement forward. If the data needed were complete and available, I would move forward from there. The timeline used may be affected by incomplete data collection, the same level of importance in several areas or an unshared vision in the staff.
Schools definitely need to work towards closing the achievement gap and moving student achievement forward as most of you have said. Analyzing data is one way to get us there and in my opinion the best way, especially if we are trying to improve student achievement. Thinking back on the readings, change is a process and not an event. Reform and change is not accomplished by having a one time announcement or a training workshop. Change is a process in which people come to understand and become skilled in the use of new ways and ideas. Administrators are responsible for making this happen. It is a continuous process that should be occurring all year long and so on. Programs and initiatives should constantly be revisited and revamped in order to make them more successful. Change will be successful, because of the quantity of the little things which really make a difference within your school.
First of all, before taking the job, I would research the school's data from previous years to see where they are growing or not growing. After taking the job, I would prioritize the school's reform efforts based on where they need help. If the EOC scores show that certain teachers have higher proficiency than others,then I would begin with curriculum alignment followed by a little PLC time. I would assume that an academic reform would need a longer timeline for gathering new information. If the school is on a block schedule, then I could compare the first semester to the second semester and check for growth.
If the school had a large tardy problem, then I would initiate a smaller reform like lock-out and I would check tardy data after one month. I would also assume that non-academic reforms might not need a long timeline for gathering data.
I would agree with many blogs so far with regards to not knowing what needed to be reformed. I would never plan to go into a school with the intentions of reforming just to reform. If a school had great scores, teachers were working well within their departments and the school has been growing consistently (over several years)then I may leave things as they are.
This is a difficult question to answer, considering I do not know the actual changes needed in order to create a timeline. However, it is easily to understand that data analysis is going to be key in prioritizing the reform/changes that will be needed. I also agree with Matt and Tony, in regards, to looking a the data of previous years prior to when I become the building adminstrator. I need to look for trends in scores in various classrooms and specific areas on the EOG. But also looking at the trends in the school is important. Perhaps the school has a high turnover rate for teachers or new programs have been implemented improrerly. Analying various factors is extremely important before taking action.
One thought that I do have about the timeline of implementation is that idea of looking at what is needed first. As a building adminstrator, after looking at the factors contributing to the the lack of movement in student test scores. How do you choose what areas to focus on. In class we, looked at data and decided what areas or specific groups of students need growthed, how do you choose what to focus on first though? Lise mentioned talking to the superintendent about the desire for the school but what other ways can one decided where to take action first?
The very first piece of data I would consider would be the "Teacher Working Conditions Survey". This would give me a good starting point for building relationships with the staff as well as a sense of the real issues within the school. No matter how well or how poor the school is doing in the eyes of the state or the feds, the teachers in the trenches will be the best source for information. Data is just another word for information. Information is the key to any power one has over change. Building relationships with those who have the information is the best way to get to the heart of reform that is actually necessary for an individual school. The timeline would be based on the complexity of the reform needed. Simple answers to complex problems would only make things worse. On the other hand, complex reform for simple issues can be just as detrimental.
I agree with all blogs. I supported Tony and Racquel and included the analysis of data over a certain time period. I think that measuring a schools previous history for a certain period of length can show you some amazing trends with specifics in growth and decline. I also like the wording of Tony's formalization of reasonable goals with reasonable timelines. The staff at a school likes to hear words like that which delivers a positive and realistic approach to implementing change.
Coming to a new school, it is important to recognize the school culture and to be aware of what direction your school needs to head in.
By reviewing the school's report card, you get a decent picture of where the school has been in the recent past. The school's test scores as well as the staff's working conditions results will be a sufficient start to painting the entire picture.
The current condition of the school will affect the timeline for action. The worse off a school seems to be, the quicker action must be taken. If a school is on the border, it would be better to take the time to make sure that you can gather as much pertinent information as possible.
I anticipate assessing and prioritizing reform/change efforts based on what comes from the district first. Then determining how that fits with what the school really needs. Which I will determine by looking at EOG/EOC data, discipline data, attendance data, graduation data, dropout data, enrollment data, the TWC, teacher evaluation data. My timeline will be affected by the pressures in my school. If we are performing well then I will have some time. If we are not performing well I will have to do something quickly.
Everyone who commented about researching the school is right on. It will be really important to find a school that is a good fit. If a school district is implementing a reform effort you do not believe in then it probably would behoove you to choose another. How can you implement something you don't agree with.
I agree with Dave’s point that the “Teacher Working Conditions Survey” results could prove to be an crucial piece of information to any new building administrator. The teachers’ perceptions about the state of the school are important. A new leader who shows interest in the data contained in the survey will get a lot farther in cultivating relationships at the school than one who doesn’t take it seriously. In addition to that, the fact that the survey is listed as an artifact under each standard addressed in the newly adopted North Carolina Principal Evaluation Process, makes it a powerful document.
Like many others, I agree that taking a look at the school’s data and consulting with others within the school and district would be my initial assessment of the reform efforts.
I would then assess the climate of the school to determine if the school’s leadership and faculty were in support of the reform. In terms of prioritizing my school’s reform efforts, I would form a committee of school leaders that were in full support of it and would be influential in assisting me to encourage others to share the vision of the reform. With the assistance of our school administration, the committee would develop a timeline for implementing the reform throughout the school.
Between gathering information and actually implementing the reform initiative, there are many obstacles that could affect my timeline. For instance, the lack of support in terms of both money and time; negative teacher attitudes, school climate issues and lack of leadership are all factors that could possibly affect the implementation of the reform.
During my latest principal interview, I talked with a principal who had just been switched from a high achieving middle school to a low achieving high school.
He was informed of the move towards the end of last school year. He said to be honest, everyone around him told him he was getting in over his head. He took a few days to come over and see what challenges lay ahead of him while school was still in session. He got a feel for the culture of the school, and became instantly aware of the key issues that needed to be dealt with immediately. This ability to visit a school and identify its culture and areas of concern allows an administrator to put some analysis to the data they are easily able to get their hands on.
I would have to gather data from school report card and teacher/parent surveys during the summer months. This would provide a good initial foundation for 1st semester initiatives. Priority would be given to the area that affects the image of the school; examples are EOC scores, safety concerns, or teacher morale. After spending time in the school environment, I would then use my own judgment to identify other areas of concerns to address. Implementation would be in stages during the 1st semester to avoid overload, starting with teacher morale. This would filter into the classroom and result in better test scores.
As many have said in this blog, the most important thing would be data. Data has to be seriously analyzed in order to make a good solid decision. We need to look at school data as well as data obtained from other schools that have implemented "the reform".
I also think many times administrators waste time implementing reforms that would never work at their schools. We need to pick reforms that have worked effectively at buildings that have similar school culture and climate.
I would also have to agree with Steve and Sarita, the ideal situation would be to do your homework before getting the job… scores, community, school norm, etc.
Lisa made a good point to communicate with the Superintendent to get an understanding of your mission at the school. The goal may be to clean up one specific area for the first year, and then grow in other areas over the years. The action plan would need to coincide with the expectations of the Superintendent.
I like Anthony’s idea of speaking to current principals. This may give me the “background knowledge” of the school. This would give you a better view of the school then nothing. Also several of you mentioned Teaching Working Conditions Survey as a key piece to the “background” of the school prior to setting up priorities, deciding on reform efforts, or deciding on implementation strategies. All are very valid points.
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