A positive school culture is key to making initiatives successful when facing limited budgets. The principal of Shiloh High School outlines several strategies to build such a culture, including celebrating successes, modeling expectations, increasing parent/community involvement, and developing a shared vision. He emphasizes the importance of collaboration through common planning times, technology, and professional development led by teacher leaders. Building capacity in teachers, students, and administrators helps ensure consistent messaging that supports the school's vision.
This workshop deals with instructional leadership using the Sergiovanni model and looks at how the instructional leader can transform a school culture from a culture of teaching to a culture of learning using PLCs.
The Systems Centre: Learning and Leadership in the Graduate School of Education and the Faculty of Engineering, brings together educational, corporate and community leaders with researchers, to engage in inter-disciplinary research and development, drawing on systems thinking and complexity theory as tools for understanding and re-designing learning systems and the leadership they need.
The Systems Centre: Learning and Leadership is hosting a series of expert-led open seminars on these themes. The seminars will also provide a foretaste of our new MSc programme in Systems Learning and Leadership, which opens in October 2011 (http://www.bristol.ac.uk/education/students/masters/sll )
We are delighted that Howard Green, Director of Research and Development at Oasis Academies, formerly Special Adviser on Leadership at the Department of Education, and Visiting Fellow at the Graduate School of Education, will lead our first session entitled:
‘Rethinking Educational Leadership’
“Has the current paradigm for school leadership, with its focus on professional standards and competencies, taken us as far as it can with our efforts to transform schools? How can systems thinking and processes help us to find answers to some of the complex problems that remain unresolved and often block further progress in schools? The seminar will stimulate thinking and discussion about these questions and propose a refocusing of our approaches to school leadership development.”
The seminar took place at 5.00pm on Thursday 5th May at the Graduate School of Education.
This workshop deals with instructional leadership using the Sergiovanni model and looks at how the instructional leader can transform a school culture from a culture of teaching to a culture of learning using PLCs.
The Systems Centre: Learning and Leadership in the Graduate School of Education and the Faculty of Engineering, brings together educational, corporate and community leaders with researchers, to engage in inter-disciplinary research and development, drawing on systems thinking and complexity theory as tools for understanding and re-designing learning systems and the leadership they need.
The Systems Centre: Learning and Leadership is hosting a series of expert-led open seminars on these themes. The seminars will also provide a foretaste of our new MSc programme in Systems Learning and Leadership, which opens in October 2011 (http://www.bristol.ac.uk/education/students/masters/sll )
We are delighted that Howard Green, Director of Research and Development at Oasis Academies, formerly Special Adviser on Leadership at the Department of Education, and Visiting Fellow at the Graduate School of Education, will lead our first session entitled:
‘Rethinking Educational Leadership’
“Has the current paradigm for school leadership, with its focus on professional standards and competencies, taken us as far as it can with our efforts to transform schools? How can systems thinking and processes help us to find answers to some of the complex problems that remain unresolved and often block further progress in schools? The seminar will stimulate thinking and discussion about these questions and propose a refocusing of our approaches to school leadership development.”
The seminar took place at 5.00pm on Thursday 5th May at the Graduate School of Education.
An overview Instructional Leadership, Educator Effectiveness and the Teacher-Principal Partnership.
Discover best practices and staff development tools with this in-depth brief on SB-191 implementation
Highlights
• The importance of Instructional Leadership
• Understanding the rubric
• Making the shift
• The teacher-principal partnership
• Developing teacher leaders
• Fostering talent
• Peer practices
Objective:
Identify the skills and characteristics of an instructional leader;
Apply the concepts and news about instructional leadership;
Analyse the roles and function of the principal as instructional leader;
Reflect on how the teacher can become an instructional leader; and Make a career plan
Credit to PhySci 3
5 Residential/Non-Residential Training Workshop For School Principals & Leaders On Effective School Management & Leadership By CBSE. Log on http://edifycbsetraining.com/ for details information.
The Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership (AITSL) has a role to establish a shared and agreed platform from which the quality of teaching and school leadership can continue to grow.
Instructional Leadership: Creating the Conditions #leadership20Chris Wejr
Presentation given on October 30, 2012 as part of the #Leadership20 learning series MOOC. Inquires about and describes successful strategies and ideas to create instructional leadership in schools.
An overview Instructional Leadership, Educator Effectiveness and the Teacher-Principal Partnership.
Discover best practices and staff development tools with this in-depth brief on SB-191 implementation
Highlights
• The importance of Instructional Leadership
• Understanding the rubric
• Making the shift
• The teacher-principal partnership
• Developing teacher leaders
• Fostering talent
• Peer practices
Objective:
Identify the skills and characteristics of an instructional leader;
Apply the concepts and news about instructional leadership;
Analyse the roles and function of the principal as instructional leader;
Reflect on how the teacher can become an instructional leader; and Make a career plan
Credit to PhySci 3
5 Residential/Non-Residential Training Workshop For School Principals & Leaders On Effective School Management & Leadership By CBSE. Log on http://edifycbsetraining.com/ for details information.
The Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership (AITSL) has a role to establish a shared and agreed platform from which the quality of teaching and school leadership can continue to grow.
Instructional Leadership: Creating the Conditions #leadership20Chris Wejr
Presentation given on October 30, 2012 as part of the #Leadership20 learning series MOOC. Inquires about and describes successful strategies and ideas to create instructional leadership in schools.
This multimedia presentation was created to highlight and review the different responsibilities of educational leaders, such as principals and assistant principals. This presentation works as a reflection of my completed coursework through the American College of Education.
The shift from ‘me’ to ‘we’: Schools with a coaching culture build individual...Christine Hoyos
Developing all staff to coach each other accelerates adult learning, which, in turn, accelerates student learning. A key factor in the process is job-embedded support.
Building Performance and Global Excellence in Independent and International S...Fiona McVitie
Operating within an increasingly competitive international education landscape, institutions and schools are striving to deliver greater value and better quality education as a priority. Private and international schools need to develop a culture of deliberate, targeted and intentional school improvement to ensure continuous and sustainable progress is made. Dr Phil Cummins will share effective techniques and tips on managing and lifting performance for your school. This practical and interactive session will cover:
• Defining performance: Context, concepts, frameworks, processes
• Understanding individual performance: Appraisal, evaluation, feedback, goal-setting
• Building individual and team performance: Coaching for success
• Building whole school performance: Managing organisational change and learning
P ro f e s s i o n a lL e a rning C o m m u n i t i e s.docxgerardkortney
P ro f e s s i o n a l
L e a rning
C o m m u n i t i e s
Professional Development Strategies
That Improve Instruction
The Annenberg Institute for School Reform (a i s r) at Brown Uni-
versity engages in intensive work with urban school systems across the country that
are pursuing systemwide efforts to improve educational experiences and opportuni-
ties, particularly for English Language Learners and students from low-income
backgrounds. In our work, we support and encourage the use of professional learn-
ing communities (p l c s ) as a central element for effective professional develop-
ment as part of a comprehensive reform initiative.
In our experience, p l c s have the potential to enhance the professional culture
within a school district in four key areas; they can:
• build the productive relationships that are required to collaborate, partner,
reflect, and act to carry out a school-improvement program;
• engage educators at all levels in collective, consistent, and context-specific
learning;
• address inequities in teaching and learning opportunities by supporting teachers
who work with students requiring the most assistance; and
• promote efforts to improve results in terms of school and system culture, teacher
practice, and student learning.
P L Cs: A Research-Based Approach to Professional
Development
Research findings have repeatedly confirmed that a significant factor in raising aca-
demic achievement is the improvement of instructional capacity in the classroom.
Recent research shows that the kinds of professional development that improve
instructional capacity display four critical characteristics (Senge 1990; Knapp
2003); they are:
• ongoing
• embedded within context-specific needs of a particular setting
• aligned with reform initiatives
• grounded in a collaborative, inquiry-based approach to learning
Effective professional development to improve classroom teaching also concentrates
on high learning standards and on evidence of students’ learning. It mirrors the
kinds of teaching and learning expected in classrooms. It is driven fundamentally
by the needs and interests of participants themselves, enabling adult learners to
expand on content knowledge and practice that is directly connected with the work
of their students in the classroom (Corcoran 1995; Darling-Hammond and
McLaughlin 1995; Little 1988; Elmore 2002). Again, professional learning commu-
nities meet these criteria.
2 Professional Learning Communities
Research demonstrates that the development of a strong professional community
among educators is a key ingredient in improving schools (Fullan 1999; Langer
2000; Little and McLaughlin 1993; Louis, Kruse, and Marks 1996; Newmann and
Associates 1996). Louis et al. (1995, p. 17) identify effective professional learning
communities as being firmly embedded in the school and using schoolwide reform
goals as the basis for teachers’ commitment and interaction. These professional
learning commun.
2. 43February 2014 | Principal Leadership 43February 2014 | Principal Leadership
MAINTHING
he Common Core State Standards. New teacher evaluation methods. Budget
reductions. Those and other concerns dominate the educational landscape, and school
leaders can easily lose focus and be conflicted about the business of teaching and
learning. With reduced funding and more initiatives coming, how do educators keep
the main thing the main thing?
Culture and Accountability
It is difficult to address student learning without also addressing culture. The cultures
of the school and the school district ultimately have an impact on how well any reform
initiatives will be implemented and received at the school level. According to Ful-
lan (2007), school culture can be defined as the guiding beliefs and values evident in
the way a school operates. School culture can be used to encompass all the attitudes,
expected behaviors, and values that affect how the school operates.
The development of a positive and high-performing school culture is essential to
the success of a school and is witnessed by the greater school community. As Schlechty
(2005) wrote:
School systems must create a culture that places value on managing by results,
rather than on managing by programs. It is essential that leaders work to
establish a culture where results are carefully assessed and actions taken based
on these assessments. (p. 38)
Transforming a school is one of the most challenging yet important tasks a school
leader has because of the multiple, sophisticated layers that are involved. A mistake I
made early in my first principalship was assuming that I had to do most of the heavy
lifting myself. I worked more diligently on establishing change for the overall school
than within individual groups. For myself and other new principals I knew, it was also a
struggle to determine what to tackle first. As I gained experience, I found that the most
effective change occurs one person, group, or department at a time and that the most
Eric Parker
A positive school culture is possibly the most
important element in making a school successful. So
how can school leaders build a positive culture when
facing endless initiatives and limited budgets?
T
3. 44 Principal Leadership | February 2014
effective way for change to take root is to foster in
others the same urgency and recognition of the need
for change.
Building a Positive Culture
Although many initiatives are still taking place to
transform the culture of Shiloh High School in
Snellville, GA, I found the following to be the most
beneficial.
Celebrate success. A very noticeable change
in school culture came when we began to publicly
acknowledge students and teachers for accomplish-
ments on an ongoing basis. Having academic pep ral-
lies and ceremonies to honor student success has been
very well received by the greater school community.
Model expectations. As the school leader, I must
consistently model appropriate behavior, dress, and
communication for my students and staff members.
I have created forums to ask for feedback from par-
ents, teachers, and students and used those data to
make decisions regarding school initiatives. I also use
faculty and leadership meetings to model effective
teaching and grouping strategies.
Increase parent and community involvement.
Shiloh builds stakeholder involvement by following
a mentoring program for male and female students
who need interventions for behavior and academic
deficiency, holding community nights to com-
municate the status of school initiatives, creating
unique ways to have parent-teacher conferences, and
developing business and university partnerships. All
these components are critical to school culture and
preparation for college and career readiness.
Develop a shared vision. Effectively communi-
cating the needs of the school and answering questions
from teachers and stakeholders builds trust. Creating
and communicating a shared vision for the staff, par-
ents, and students in the school has also helped them
understand the importance of enhancing our culture. The shared
vision for Shiloh is predicated on pride, commitment, and excel-
lence. Each teacher has a poster in his or her classroom reflecting
this, and posters are displayed around the school to remind faculty
members, parents, and students of our vision.
Combating Issues Though Teamwork
There are certain barriers that some schools must overcome in
the journey to school improvement and in working with teachers.
I find that teachers do not necessarily want to hear what leaders
want or need them to do; they want and need to hear what leaders
are going to do to support them. Recruiting, retaining, and devel-
oping the skills of teachers enhances morale and builds a positive
culture. I know that I, as the principal, must energize, motivate,
and inspire teachers so that they can do the same for students. I
also am the lead learner and must lead my staff members in under-
standing all initiatives and undertaking professional learning.
PLANNING
Creating prescriptive collaborative planning times and effective
teacher teams are two of the most powerful methods of instruc-
tional planning that I have witnessed. All Shiloh teachers serve on
collaborative teams that are based on the courses they teach, and
the teams have common planning times.
Carroll (2009) said, “Quality teaching is not an individual
accomplishment, it is the result of a collaborative culture that em-
powers teachers to team up to improve student learning beyond
what any one of them can do alone” (p. 10). I contend that a les-
son cannot be executed and differentiated without a clear, concise,
and intentional lesson plan. When teachers have opportunities to
work collaboratively to plan common formative assessments and
subsequently plan rich units on the basis of student progress on
assessments, students make gains in achievement and the achieve-
ment gaps between groups begin to close. Planning and collabora-
tion are now elements of teacher evaluation.
COLLABORATION
Technology gives teachers a means not only to collaborate more
frequently but also to give and receive feedback and monitor plans
and assessments. Technology is a major initiative of the school
professional development plan for teachers as well as the primary
way to enhance student engagement in daily lessons. The following
are ways Shiloh has increased the technology available to teachers
and students:
Shiloh High School
SNELLVILLE, GA
Grades:
9–12
Enrollment:
2,184
Community:
Suburban
Demographics:
68% Black, 13% Hispanic, 12% White, 2%
Asian, 5% multiracial; 70% free and reduced-
price lunch
Administrative team:
1 principal, 5 assistant principals, 1 associate
principal
4. 45February 2014 | Principal Leadership
Eric Parker is the principal of Shiloh High School in Snellville, GA.
n Enhanced the school website and teacher webpages with
resources and information for students and parents
n Purchased instructional devices to provide for improved class-
room engagement and hands-on opportunities for students
n Created individual student e-mail accounts to provide a means
to increase communication among students and student groups
n Created a school app to post current information and send
instant messages to users
n Recruited a technology team from local experts to support
teachers and provide ongoing professional development
throughout the school day
n Purchased online support programs that are available to
students in various classes to provide additional practice away
from school
n Provided ongoing professional development to the clerical staff
on various technology programs to ensure proficiency.
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
So that professional learning sessions will be well received, they
are designed to model effective collaboration and planning and are
also led by proficient teachers. Establishing teacher leaders for this
or any initiative and building teacher leader capacity are also pow-
erful practices. I have worked to develop teacher leaders for these
purposes as well as working with and identifying leaders with
aspirations of leadership outside of the classroom. Teacher leaders
are initially identified through their interest in school leadership
positions as noted through an invitation for a conversation with
me followed by the application process for the district leadership
academy.
I have created and lead a local school leadership development
academy that mirrors the district program. The academy has been
a beneficial means of building the capacity, raising the awareness,
and increasing the potential of our building leaders. The school’s
leadership academy is comprised of teachers who are interested in
school leadership positions and mirrors strands from the district’s
leadership development program. Teachers meet frequently as
a team with me and review current research and analyze school
leadership modules in an effort to strengthen their individual
knowledge and skills while building capacity.
Another method of increasing engagement has been the
creation of committees so that every teacher is involved in an
initiative for school improvement. Following the theory that
effective school change happens from the bottom
up, it is imperative to involve all staff members in
the conversation.
Student leadership is another resource in the
development of a high performance school culture.
Building capacity within this group of stakehold-
ers is proven to be beneficial and helpful with the
successful implementation of school initiatives.
Identifying and creating opportunities for students
to participate in professional development, parent
workshops, and forums and discussions of school
improvement are rewarding. Student leaders may
be found among student athletes, aspiring teachers,
and popular students. I have met with our student
government leaders during lunch, and the student
leadership team leads various advisement lessons for
student groups during the school day.
Consensus among school leadership team mem-
bers and administrators is an important component
of effectively communicating the school vision. If
dissension exists among school leaders, the school
culture is automatically jeopardized. School leaders
must not only understand and agree on the shared
vision for the school, but they must also be able to
accurately and effectively articulate it to the entire
school community. Having systems of accountability
for school administrators and ensuring that com-
munication exists within all leadership groups and
teams are guaranteed ways to have the same mes-
sage shared to all. PL
REFERENCES
n Carroll, T. (2009). The next generation of learning
teams. Phi Delta Kappan, 91(2), 8–13.
n Fullan, M. (2001). Leading in a culture of change. San
Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
n Schlechty, P. (2005). Creating the capacity to support
innovations. Louisville, KY: Schlechty Center of Leadership
in School Reform.
TIPS TO BUILD A COLLABORATIVE SCHOOL CULTURE
Relationships. Emphasize, build, and model positive
relationships with all members of the school.
Leadership. Build leader capacity at all levels: teacher
leadership, student leadership, and aspiring principal
leadership.
Collaboration. Create mechanisms for all school teams to
model effective collaboration in planning lessons, units, and
assessments as well as the use of data.
Vision. Communicate a shared vision and create a method
to share the vision with teachers, parents, and students at
the school to show how all must work together to create a
successful school culture.