Changing Minds, Changing Schools, Changing Systems

This comprehensive book about literacy design for school improvement was one of the first of many literacy-laced books I am reading in order to help build my self-efficacy to become a better literacy learner and leader.

As we have developed our own literacy theory of action as a district, this book has a stand alone theory of literacy learning that was very impactful for me to read.
"IF...teachers embrace literacy as access to power and reading as emancipatory,
THEN...they possess the dispositional stances that will enable their students to become culturally competent and personally confident."

Literacy must be the very foundation for our continuous learning as as system. Literacy teaching and learning should drive our continuous improvement efforts. We can all read countless examples of schools and districts that have increased student achievement and have the data to prove it.
Significant improvement in student achievement can occur in a short time when a system focuses on a manageable combination of priorities. Fullan says, "Precision strategies focusing on collective capacity dramatically accelerates the pace and effectiveness of change."

As we have made the commitment to focusing our professional learning on literacy, what do you truly believe about literacy and literacy instruction? What actions have you taken this year that are in line with your beliefs? There is no better time than now to re-commit to this moral imperative.

LV HOOPS

Love hoops!

This blog post is also my license plate and you might be asking, what does hoops have to do with leadership and learning? Celebrating the Badgers victory and their advancement to the Elite Eight, I found myself reminiscing as to why I loved this sport so much! Basketball was my LIFE from third grade through college and although I couldn't even run up and down the court right now without pulling a hamstring, I realize that the daily commitment to a sport I loved continues to drive my passion today.

Learning to trust your teammates, working hard when no one is watching, leading with optimism in times of complexity, loving what you do....these are values that I held true. They are the same values upon which I navigate working with a new team at Lindholm and the same values that drive my passion to help all of our schools reach championship status in the School District of Waukesha.

As you head into Spring Break next week, take time to cultivate your personal and professional well-being. In the moments when no one is watching, ask yourself....have I given my best, have I pushed myself unselfishly to help my teammates and have I committed to being a leader on a championship team?

Ideas for Innovation

During my visits to sites this week, I heard many teachers talk to me about their ideas to innovate. Each conversation was driven by a passionate energy to maximize student-centered learning. Everyone buys in to continuous improvement. We all want to get a little bit better than we were the day before. But...true innovation, engaging in something completely different to help move achievement, move engagement, move the entire system forward, isn't always welcomed with open arms.
So what is the culture of your school? What is your assumed way of doing things and why?

Each of our students deserves innovative teaching and learning. Each student deserves to have choice and voice. Each teacher should feel empowered to design a learning platform that at the core drives personalized learning. As we begin to build our district data dashboard and become more comfortable with using data to drive our decisions, it is the reality that our achievement and growth data for all students is not where they need to be performing. Our achievement gaps will remain permanent until we individualize the learning experience for students.


To the innovators who come forward with ideas about how to "do school differently"... I would ask you, what are you waiting for?

Learning Systems

Every school district is responsible for creating schools that ensure all students receive an excellent education. This is the foundational work of becoming a learning system. This week, we heard from every school in our district as they talked about their progress monitoring efforts and shared positive trend lines towards achieving their school improvement goals. Transforming practice requires transforming learning and it was obvious through the collaborative presentations that our focus on literacy learning and leadership is stimulating student growth and achievement.

Professional learning exists to advance our practice in order to improve student achievement. We all must focus, with a growth mindset, on individual, team and school improvement in order to ensure systemwide success and student learning success. How has your mindset positively or adversely affected your growth this week?

Learning system leaders see each person on the team as essential to achieving district goals for all students. Stay connected to the purpose and positively engage in helping us build our SDW learning system.

Less is More

After spending a planning day at our School Administrators Institute for Transformational Leadership (SAIL) and on the cusp of our quarterly reviews with all SDW Principal teams, is it ever more affirming to me that less is more. Significant improvement in student achievement can occur in a short time when a system focuses on a manageable combination of priorities.

Our high leverage strategies around literacy, focusing on collective capacity as well as our leadership framework, has positively launched our system toward a continuous improvement cycle. As we report out on the data from our progress monitoring efforts, we should be seeing sustainable school improvement efforts that positively affect the lives of teachers and students.

Everyone in our system has something to contribute to this process. Each individual in our district must believe he or she is valued as someone who can contribute amazing things for the benefit of students. Every day, we strive to improve students' lives through the literacy-learning opportunities that exist within our classrooms and in each of our educational environments.

I believe Vince Lombardi spoke from successful experience when he said, "The challenge for every organization is to build a feeling of oneness, of dependence on one another...because the question is usually not how well each person works, but how well they work together."

Focus on this oneness as you create an environment where less is more.

Systems of Learning

What are students doing in your classroom? We talk about innovative classrooms, personalized learning and literacy-laced learning. Is this what we should expect to see when we visit your school?

School reform and innovation in education can happen, if the right levers are prioritized and the critical questions for prioritizing are at the forefront of all decision-making:

(1) What is the student learning outcome we are trying to influence?

(2) What levers will have the most direct impact on influencing that outcome for students?

(3) What is the magnitude of change necessary to obtain the results we seek?

It is inevitable that some type of change must occur in order to see increased levels of student achievement and performance. 

Whether you are leading systems of learning in your classroom, department, school, district, or state....living in beta seems to be the new normal.

Just remember, there is no more rewarding profession in the world, than that of an educational leader. Know thy impact!

What does SUCCESS look like?

This week, I have been working with teams on sharpening our focus and asking ourselves, what does success look like? As each of us in our respective leadership roles moves from compliance and initiation to commitment and integration, what are the one or two things you expect to see at your school, and in your classroom that would be considered the vision for success?

Identifying what this vision for learning looks like, is often the first step in making sure you get there.

We are all working so hard within our classrooms, within our schools, within our system. Are you seeing student learning and growth happening?

A key difference between being a "bubble team" and making the March Madness bracket, is demonstrating consistent success and growth over time. So again, I ask you, what does success look like for you and for your students? Define this, focus your efforts on this, make your focus visible to all. This is how you transform student results and lives.