Putting FACES on the Data by Lyn Sharratt and Michael Fullan

Putting FACES on the Data by Lyn Sharratt and Michael Fullan, 2012, Corwin Publishers

Research Question 1: Why do we put FACES on the data?
o Driver: All students can learn and have the right to learn
o Clustered parameters: (1) Shared beliefs and understandings (all students can learn; all teachers can teach; early intervention and high expectations are critical; teachers, leaders can articulate why they do what they do)

o Data represents real people
o Assessment data informs differentiated classroom instruction, with high expectations for all students
o Emotional connection to the data – the statistics represent real people – how to help each child meet their learning needs (p. xiii; 2)
o “The percentage means nothing; the number of students – the actual number of FACES is what matters. Every FACE counts to us!” (p. 17)
o “’Reach Every Student’ goal states that ‘all students will have access to differentiated instruction and assessment that is responsive to the unique needs of the learner to support students’ high achievement and learning for life’” (p. 26) (Simcoe County DSB)
o “every 1 percent increase in children reaching the standard in English or mathematics at age 11 represents 7,000 more children ready to succeed in secondary education; reduction in drug abuse represented so many family tragedies avoided” (p. xii)



Research Question 2: How do we put FACES on the data?
o Driver 1: Assessment
o Clustered parameters for Driver 1:
 (5) Early and on-going intervention
 (6) Case management approach
 (8) In-school grade/subject meetings

o Formative mid-unit assessment – check informal observations are accurate, guide students’ learning, inform teacher’s instruction – teachers need to be flexible and adaptable when students are not getting it (“Data today is instruction tomorrow” (p. 89)
o Fair, transparent, equitable for all students – “It is never the child’s fault!” (p. 88) – teachers are accountable
o Assessment FOR learning, assessment AS learning (High yeld assessment practice) – make learning goals and co-construct success criteria visible to students; teacher provides oral and written descriptive feedback; students peer and self assess; teachers self-assess based on data
o Students and teachers have common assessment language – teachers can develop and mark a common assessment to develop common and consistent practices
o “If the learning intentions [goals] and success criteria are transparent, then there is a higher likelihood that students will become engaged in reducing the gap between where they started and where we would like them to finish” (Hattie, 2012)
o 5 key questions for students: (1) What are you learning? (2) How are you doing? (3) How do you know? (4) How can you improve? (5) Where do you go for help?
o “When the cook tastes the soup it is formative and when the guests taste the soup it is summative” (Steve Sake, in Hattie (2012), p. 76)
o “Most significant variation is not from one school system to another or even from one school to another, but rather from one classroom to another” (p. 85)
o “Fairness in assessment and evaluation is grounded in the belief that all students should be able to demonstrate their learning, regardless of their socio-economic status, ethnicicty, gender, geographic location, learning style, and/or need for special services” (from Growing Success, p. 34)

Driver 2: Instruction
o Clustered parameters for Driver 2:
 (3) Daily, sustained focus on literacy instruction
 (2) Embedded literacy/literacy coaches
 (6) Case management approach
 (9) Centralized resources
 (13) Cross-curricular connections
 (11) Collaborative inquiry

o Tier 1: Good first teaching and classroom practice (meet needs of majority of students)
 “No single instructional strategy is guaranteed to result in high levels of student learning” (p. 96)
 Use gradual-release-of-responsibility teaching model: whole group, small group, independent approaches – modelled, shared, guided, independent
 Questions: What am I teaching? Why am I teaching it? How will I teach it? How will I know when all students have learned it? What then?
 Instructional Intelligence has 5 elements: positive interdependence, face-to-face interactions, individual accountability, some structured activity and social skills, and team-building and group processing skills
 Rich, authentic task: higher-order thinking, student inquiry to construct knowledge, cross-curricular, applicable to real-world, spans categories of achievement chart
 “Our most important gift to students will be to teach them how to continually learn and think critically as they go through five to eight different careers” (p. 111)
 21st century literacy skills: read, write, speak, listen, view, represent, critical thinking, high-order thinking
 Co-Teaching Cycle (most powerful way to improve teaching practice):
• co-teaching – with colleague, begin with curriculum expectations, write learning goals and success criteria, use high-yield instructional strategies differentiated based on student needs and assessment data
• co-planning – focus on students’ thinking, monitor student engagement, change flow and pace as needed
• co-debriefing – what worked, didn’t work, what to do differently
• co-reflecting – honest, open dialogue, plan next stpes based on formative assessment data

o Tier 2: Case management (focused on instruction of individual students)
 Examine student work, describe strengths and weaknesses, identify 1-2 instructional strategies for teachers to use
o Tier 3: Early intervention (intensive instruction to directly support most struggling students)
 Moral imperative is to catch students early before it is too late


Research Question 3: What leadership skills are needed?
o Driver 3: Leadership
o Clustered parameters for Driver 3:
 (4) Principal leadership
 (7) professional learning at staff meetings
 (10) Budget allocation to strategic resources

- Change process takes 2-3 years before seeing real change
- Principal is highly knowledge about curriculum, instruction, special education, visible in school through classroom walk-throughs – “Leadership is about causing positive movement in individuals, schools, and systems” (Fullan, 2010a)
- Top 3 leadership skills needed to put FACES on the data:
o 1. Know-ability: knowledge of assessment and instruction (focused leadership, nexus as core work)
 Use classroom, school, and system data to monitor progress
 Principal is lead learner and instructional leader (first change agent), model continuous learning, implementing school improvement plan
 Principal provides environment for collaboration – expectation is teachers use data to inform instruction for every student every day
 Provide differentiated professional learning opportunities for teachers
 Principal uses classroom learning walks and talks to monitor expected classroom practices
o 2. Mobilize-ability: to inspire and mobilize others through clear communication of commitment
 Pushing too hard never works
o 3. Sustain-ability: know how to establish a lasting culture of shared responsibility and accountability
 Shared beliefs, goals, and vision
 Distributive leadership and professional learning cultures
 Data-based decisions/impact measures/celebrating success
 Resources
 School community/home relations



Research Question 4: Where does this happen?o Driver 4: Ownership
o Clustered parameters for Driver 4:
 (12) Parent and community involvement
 (14) Shared responsibility and accountability
o “With frequent interactions among school, families, and communities, more students are more likely to receive common messages from various people about the importance of school, of working hard, of thinking creatively, of helping one antoher, and of staying in school” (p. 193)
o Parents are students’ first and most important teachers

Both Michael Fullan’s The Moral Imperative of School Leadership (2003) and The Moral Imperative Realized (2011) resonate with me as a school leader. Fullan (2003) defines “the moral imperative” as raising student achievement for all students and narrowing the achievement gap. Paramount is establishing strong relationships with teachers during the “deep cultural change” through respect, competence, personal regard for others, and integrity. It is about celebrating small successes, modelling hope, optimism, lifelong learning, and caring for others. As Fullan (2003) strongly states: “Conflict avoidance in the face of poor performance is an act of moral neglect” (p. 32).

To achieve the moral imperative, principals need to be instructional leaders, focused on curriculum, instruction, assessment, and the professional culture. The principal’s role is to guide and support using a distributive leadership model. He talks about getting the right teachers on the bus and in the right seats, in order to steer the bus. One’s success can be measured by not only by the impact of the change but with how many school leaders are left behind to continue implementation when the principal’s tenure is over. Fullan (2011) emphasizes through a professional learning community, teachers are engaged in job-embedded learning. It is through teachers supporting and pressuring each other that results in the impact making its way into the classroom.

Reflection
Reality is administrators’ days are filled with the day-to-day operations. We must remember the importance of being instructional leaders – to do classroom walk-throughs, to engage with teachers on instruction. Fullan’s books remind me of what is important – student achievement – and how to get there - by being instructional leaders. This is what makes being in education so exciting and complex: we cannot give up any student. A wonderful quote that comes to mind is from Mary Jean Gallagher, at the fall 2011 Quest conference: "When you leave a child behind, you might leave the next Prime Minister behind." Each student is unique; education is the equalizer to a better future. What a legacy each of us will leave behind :-)

What's Worth Fighting For in the Principalship 2nd Edition

What’s Worth Fighting For in the Principalship 2nd Edition by Michael Fullan

We are reminded that teachers and administration are the top 2 factors to improving student achievement (Leithwood, 2007). As the daily operations of a school can consume an administrator’s entire day, Fullan emphasizes the need to balance both operational leadership and instructional leadership. It is through emphasis on professional development of teachers that the achievement gap can be closed, but it is not easy: “Changing culture is the principal’s hardest job because there is so much previous structure and culture to overcome” (p. 18)

Fullan reminds us of the importance of creating professional learning communities. Teachers can work collaboratively to discuss teaching and learning, observe each other teach, and use data to inform instruction and for accountability purposes. The role of principal is to create those conditions conductive to PLCs as they are the lead teacher or instructional leader: “Effective principals spend their time creating the conditions for teachers and teacher leaders to zero-in on effective instructional practices, and to use data on student learning both as a lever for improvement and as a source for external accountability” (p. 17)

Getting the right people on the bus is vital for sustainability. That includes literacy teachers, subject heads, and encouraging strong curriculum leaders to pursue administration. For professional learning to be effective, it must make its way into the classroom. Through distributive leadership, teachers come to see how change is applicable in their subject disciplines and courses.