1. Can They Row Alone?
Practices that Grow and Support Beginning
Principals
John Bryant, Jan King, and Brett Wilson
Disquisition Proposal
February 5, 2015
2. Problem of Practice
• Beginning principals struggle with the
complexity of the job, the limits of their
instructional impact, the loneliness of
leadership, and the existing culture’s
resistance to change.
• This is a problem in Henderson
County Public Schools and in school
systems across the state of North
Carolina.
3. Why This Matters?
• Building
leadership
capacity
• Accelerating
competency
• Increasing
efficacy
4. Lab of Practice
• Henderson County Public
Schools
• Approximately 13,700 students
• 23 schools
– 13 elementary schools
– 4 middle schools
– 4 traditional high schools
– 1 Early College High School
– 1 Alternative Setting High School
• 6 first-year principals
• 1 HS, 3 MS & 2 ES
10. What are we proposing?
The Intervention The Methodology
IRB approved
Pre- and Post-
Self
Assessments
Recorded
Reflections
Mentor Post-
Assessment
13. Improvement Science
“Improvement science is
explicitly designed to
accelerate learning-by-
doing.
It's a more user-centered
and problem-centered
approached to improving
teaching and learning.”
From the Carnegie
Foundation:
14. 90 Day Improvement
Cycle
February 2015 – May 2015Pre/Re-
assessment
Mentor-Mentee
Retreat
Intentional
Mentor Support
Reflective Video
Journals
Self-Directed
Learning with
Mentor Support
• Listen
• Be present
• Encourage
• Ask
reflective
questions
• Be
available
Beginning
Principal
Support
Proactive effort to match experience with novice
15. Intended Outcomes of the Study
• Enhance leadership potential of
HCPS principals
• Create a replicable model of support
for other districts
• Construct a webpage with relevant
resources
17. References
Bolman, L. G., & Deal, T. E. (2008). Reframing organizations: Artistry, choice, and
leadership. (4th ed.). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass Inc Pub.
Our ideas – Carnegie foundation for the advancement of teaching. (2015, January 1).
Retrieved February 3, 2015, from
http://www.carnegiefoundation.org/our-ideas/
Images from:
http://www.nwlink.com/~donclark/leader/mentoring.html
http://www.margotlester.com/2015/01/28/a-mentor-for-you-your-business/
http://ventureatlanta.org/2012/08/mentors-and-startup-success/
www.shyrandcompany.com/photos/1311.jpg
http://www.theionclub.com/poolpolicy522/
http://www.ncga.state.nc.us/ncgainfo/educational/StateSeal.html
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:3D_Judges_Gavel.jpg
http://www.bsgroup.com.au/images/ImagesNov09/Neis_mentoring.png
http://www.burke.k12.nc.us
http://www.henderson.k12.nc.us
Editor's Notes
ALL 3
Intros/Our Professional Roles
Brett - All 3 of us have been principals
JB – explain metaphor
Jan – Why we are working together
Brett – 1st bullet
JB – 2nd bullet
Jan – same problem regionally & statewide
Identify the problem
Provide evidence that the problem is real
Provide justification/evidence that the problem is real
Describe what is to be improved
Brett – 1st bullet – TWC survey re; school leadership
Jan – 2nd bullet – sense of urgency
JB – 3rd bullet – confidence to lead rather than manage
Mention poster project (admins & teacher morale plus staying power/sustainability)
JOHN
Describe setting/context of intervention
Outline a history of the problem in context
Define individuals involved (design team, intervention team)
JAN
Bolman and Deal
Conceptual Frame: Systems Theory (also consider andragogy and change theory)
________________
From 2 committee members’ feedback - - could consider moving the theoretical considerations…should be before lit review…currently sandwiched between lit review
One member didn’t like addition of change theory (bottom of page 13) - - we had it b/c in a practitioner model, change must be considered as you scale a model
ALL 3
Articulate specific roles of each student
Describe contribution of problem to social justice (equity issue/BTs)
Cite NC Superintendents Vision
Work in social justice piece – new admins sometimes assigned to lower performing schools (equity)
Mention work with Burke principals but follow up in detail with methodology section
Committee member feedback:
Why Henderson County? How can what we learn about Henderson be useful in other places? A more detailed description of Henderson County.
Why these six principals? Weren’t they chosen out of a larger group? Tell me more about the context this work is taking place.
How will the mentoring relationship be monitored?
You speak about focus groups, how many – how often? – AA says they are group interviews not focus groups.
JOHN - business world – mentoring in valued
BRETT - Methodology
Describe method for evaluation and assessment
_________________
From Allen conference:
Expect lots of methodology questions
Talk about data collection, data analysis, & group interviews
__________
From committee members’ feedback:
How will we evaluate fidelity, reliability, and validity?
When will pre/post test be administered?
How will you measure improvement and analyze the data collected.
BRETT
JAN – Words on screen
JOHN - Why did we chose these principals and these mentors?
JOHN
As iterative cycles of change proceed, previously invisible problems often emerge and improvement activities may need to tack off in some new directions. The objective here is quite different from the traditional pilot program that seeks to offer a proof of concept. Improvement research, in contrast, is a focused learning journey. The overall goal is to develop the necessary know-how for a reform idea ultimately to spread faster and more effectively. Since improvement research is an iterative process often extending over considerable periods of time, it is also referred to as continuous improvement.
JAN
______
Explain plan for leadership
List anticipated barriers/challenges
Describe plan to address challenges
Summarize proposal/conclusion
_________
Outline improvement project, implementation plan and timeline
Include the specifics of the improvement cycle
Provide assessment timetable
________________________
From Allen conference:
More detailed outline of training
Planned intervention
Definition question – “intentional mentor support”
Need to add timeline
BHC - Liked page 11 research gap figure, liked plan for knowledge dissemination
Question about why these 6 participants – how mentors chosen? How monitor relationship between mentee and mentor?
How to code data (recordings, transcriptions, video journals, focus interviews)
Kofi -
Bottom of page 13 - - why did we throw in an additional theoretical consideration?
Theoretical framework note:
Explain plan for leadership
List anticipated barriers/challenges
Describe plan to address challenges
Summarize proposal/conclusion
________________________________________
From Allen Conference:
Expect – How will you know that this is an improvement?
Good question to ask = = = “We have covered all of the things we …” and then ask for specific feedback…where we think it is weak and where we anticipate problems
References
