Administrator Monitoring Systems for Instructional Effectiveness
Effective programs of any kind are well-monitored programs. Moreover, when site and district leaders know and agree upon what they should see in classrooms, system-wide improvement is accelerated. We guide administrators through a sequential hands-on study of teacher effectiveness to build capacity and help create highly effective instructional leaders in the field of English language development. This training progression teaches school leaders to be able to accurately record teacher behavior in a way that lends itself to both qualitative and quantitative analysis.
Leadership Development and Change Systems
THE PROGRAM PYRAMID: THE PSYCHOLOGY OF SYSTEMIC CHANGE
Description: Attempting to change any complex organization can be a daunting task. Schools and school systems are among the more difficult organizations to change due to a variety of historical reasons. Indeed, one of the more pervasive barriers to change is getting teachers at a school to understand at a deep level how their behavior in the classroom is part of a larger educational context in which both students and teachers exist. This session teaches administrators a structured process of looking at systemic change that can be replicated for any current or future initiative to accelerate growth and ensure its lasting effects.
Administrators will:
1. Articulate the eight major components of any systemic change process and how they might manifest themselves during a specific initiative;
2. Address assumptions currently inhibiting the growth process during a specific initiative.
THE URGENCY STATEMENT: A CLEAR MESSAGE TO JUMPSTART GROWTH
Description: Everyone knows that change is needed but no one wants to change themselves. It is easy to look around and see the need for others to change. It is much harder to see the need to change one’s own practices without an overt challenge to the assumptions and values that govern our thinking. This session gives administrators the tools necessary to jumpstart the change process by teaching them to formulate clear urgency statements that communicate the need for improvement, the desired solution and an observable goal for all of the people involved in a change initiative.
Administrators will:
1. Learn the three components of an urgency statement to jumpstart change;
2. Craft and deliver two specific urgency statements to the staff members at their individual site.
SYMBOLIC BEHAVIOR: THEY FOLLOW MORE THAN OUR WORDS…
Description: Do as I say not as I do. This cautionary tale of stalled change initiatives and program rollouts has been repeated at countless school site around the county for decades. Being present, off your phone and engaged in trainings says more to teachers symbolically than any number of emails stating the expectation of implementation. This session teaches administrators how to harness the power of symbolic behavior to build a consistent culture that values performance and instructional improvement.
Administrators will:
1. Articulate how symbolic behaviors enhance or stifle the change process;
2. Strategically plan the use of symbolic behaviors during upcoming interactions with staff to build a culture of performance and improvement.
MONITORING INSTRUCTION: WE ALL SPEED A LITTLE WHEN THE OFFICERS AREN’T WATCHING.
Description: Effective classroom monitoring requires that school leaders be able to interpret teacher behavior in a way that lends itself to quantitative analysis. To that end, this session requires administrators to collect behavioral data about teachers and students in real time. From that data we will perform certain analyses, including numerical operations, that yield an objective portrayal of instruction and teacher effectiveness.
Administrators will
1. Conduct a quick-scan of a classroom that yields three easily understandable quantitative information sources;
2. Learn how to identify teacher behaviors that either accelerate or slow down learning.
COMMUNICATING OBSERVABLE DATA: GOING BEYOND THE NUMBERS
Description: What percentage of your diet is made up of healthy food? Well…it depends on what you call healthy. This is the most pressing issue in classroom monitoring between administrators and teachers. A lack of clear definition renders even the most meticulously collected data worthless. This session teaches administrators how to clearly define, describe and generalize the observable data collected in classrooms to accelerate change in teacher practice and enhance student outcomes.
Administrators will:
1. Clearly define the data being collected to ensure both the teacher and administrator can interpret similar meaning from the information collected;
2. Use a combination of observably quantitative and qualitative measures of teacher behavior to focus the change process on controllable variables.
COMMUNICATING WITH COACHES: ALIGNING OUR VISION AND OUR SUPPORT STRUCTURES TO ACCELERATE CHANGE
Definition: Effective change requires clear communication between leaders and the support and accountability arms of any organization. Nothing stalls the change process more quickly than a mixed message. This session teaches administrators the what, why and how of effective communication with instructional coaches so that they can support the change process while ensuring that their goals match the needs and vision for the site and district.
Administrators will:
1. Articulate verbally and in writing to instructional coaches the expectations and desired outcomes for the teachers across their campus;
2. Adjust the purpose of communication with staff currently involved in coaching cycles to match the observable improvements and future goals provided by the coach’s’ three-tier communication structure.
Being a high-impact principal is less about what you do and more about how you do it. Click below to read the tips from our series titled, Tips for High Impact Principals.
