Learning from a State Leader

I first heard Commissioner Bennett's name in January 2013 when one of the listervs I subscribe to  sent out an introduction video from the Florida Department of Education announcing his appointment. I watched the video and read his bio. I was hopeful that he would be a strong leader for our state. We are moving to the new teacher appraisal system and also transitioning to Common Core State Standards. These are both daunting challenges, and having the commitment to take on both of them at the same time is downright frightening.  

Fast forward to July 2013. Yesterday I got a chance to speak with the Commissioner in person, and I still look ahead with hopefulness that he can lead us forward at a very challenging time in our state. 

I requested a meeting with the Commissioner the day our first school achievement data began to arrive--sometime in May. Weeks earlier, my Superintendent had nominated me for the Commissioner's Leadership Academy. When I saw our data, I thought to myself..."If and when I see the Commissioner, I want to talk about THIS data!" But, being a person who takes action, I decided to email him right then and there. Our clever Superintendent, Bill Husfelt, always encourages us to let our legislators and decision-makers know what we think. To my surprise, when I got to the site where I was searching for a contact address, I located the option to request an appointment. By golly, I filled out that request! And.....they called me about a month later for my appointment. That was truly encouraging.

So....yesterday my husband and I drove to Tallahassee. I had prepared talking points so that I could make certain I covered everything. My husband joked that I would get through the first two and then the Commissioner would have to go to another appointment. I knew he might be right, but I hoped for the best. 

As I sat in the lobby of the Turlington Building, I was apprehensive. I knew I wanted to speak on behalf of several new leaders in my district and capture all the conversations we had shared over the course of the year. I also wanted to be the voice of the students and the families and the teachers at my own school. I wanted to provide the "in the trenches" perspective of the demands and obstacles our schools are facing. What really made me uneasy is that I am almost always Ms. Positivity. I didn't want to sound negative or defeated when I presented my concerns to the person in charge. 

I went up the 15 floors in the elevator, I was greeted by his assistant, and I got to sit in a comfy arm chair. He shook my hand, and I finally got my chance to speak. I think I just overflowed with nervous energy, and I hardly know if what I said in those first few minutes made any sense. Wisely, Mr. Bennett had invited someone else to sit in on our conversation. The Deputy Chancellor for Educator Quality joined us, and I settled into my talking points. She had a very calming demeanor, and I felt she was truly interested in what I had to say.

Mr. Bennett was so gracious. I told him to jump in at any point, and then he explained he was trying to be a good listener. I commend him; in retrospect, he was a GREAT listener. I talked  specifically and broadly about many things. I shared about working in high poverty schools, preventing the exodus from public schools to charter and private schools, improving the instructional capacity of our teachers, the irritating components of our school grading system, and the time required by leaders to create educational impact . 

I also shared how our school had been afforded some "grace" last year due to the DOE's safety net policy. According to the rules of the safety net, no school could drop lower than one school  grade. The new school I had taken over was--by points a C-- with only 9 points keeping us from earning a D. We were precariously close to a D. BUT WE EARNED a score of B due to the safety net. Then, when this year's writing data rolled out, I quickly estimated our school grade would land us in the point zone for an F. On paper, it would appear we had gone from a B to an F. That was and is a hard pill to swallow! In my mind, it would have been better to never have had the safety net OR currently beneficial to have the safety net continue.

As a good leader does, he responded by asking me thought-provoking questions and coaching me to provide him with my opinion about solutions. He talked about the challenges that his team faces in working with our state schools. I think the most meaningful things I took away from his dialogue were that it is imperative to increase rigor and make change incrementally. He also agreed that it was critical to move forward with accountability while avoiding breaking the backs of the people involved. He quoted the Superintendent from Miami-Dade a few times. I will have to look him up next as my friend Tammy says he has his "act together."

Then, he did something remarkable. He handed me two books to read. He explained the details behind both of them and recommended that I use the 8-Step Process in the book entitled Monitoring; Keeping Your Finger on the Pulse of School Improvement. I got a chance to skim the second book today, and it looks very much like the FCIM Model that we used at Bay High School several years ago to move the school from a D to a B. It is called No Excuses; Closing the Achievement Gap.

I can not even imagine the burdens he faces as he worries about 2600+ schools in our state, and I am only worried about my precious little school. Yet, he took the time to listen to my story and to try and empathize with my concerns. 

As the meeting came to an end, he explained that he has this next week to make his recommendations to the School Accountability office as it pertains to the release of school grades. I know he is listening AND thinking about all these things since he just finished taking input from a task force that made recommendations about ways to improve this process.

I got to speak with the Chancellor for Educator Quality for a while longer after my meeting with the Commissioner. I really connected with her and felt she had truly understood some of the things I was saying.

Hopefully, my voice and the voices of all those I speak for will be in his mind as he moves forward with his goals and the state's implementation of initiatives. Whatever the case, he took the time to listen, and I thank him for that. 

Practice What You Preach

Practice What You Preach
                                                    

As a first year principal this year, I set out with a lofty list of goals to move the school vision forward. Now, as I am nearing the close of the school year, I am beginning to reflect on how close I have come to the targets I set for myself and for the school. We have come very far in a short amount of time. I am beaming with pride about many areas where I have grown personally and where I have seen my faculty grow as well. While it is true, that some goals were not met, I feel confident that growth was made and that we will pick up where we leave off this year and continue to pursue advancement with the ultimate goal of student achievement in mind!

One area where we have ALL grown exponentially is in the area of data analysis. Technology has advanced to the level that I can track and analyze data on just about anything. Through various initiatives this year, my faculty has begun to analyze data regularly to the point of asking for more data on their students and designing student assessments based on student need. Further, many of our teachers are now triangulating data as a best practice. It has been so exciting to watch this growth. I even have one team of teachers who have requested planning days this summer to begin creating common assessments in order to better assess student progress with the newly implemented Common Core State Standards. The great part about this request is that the team asked me for leadership support instead of me asking them to “get on board” with a specific initiative. This is what makes leadership enjoyable…seeing your teacher leaders driving change.

I think the most unexpected growth I have seen this year is in the “thirst” for data analysis occurring all over campus. I have been modeling data analysis at every opportunity. For example, I place bar graphs of diagnostic data and mid-year data in our Cheetah Chronicle (our internal Monday memo) and in grade chair and School Advisory Council Meetings. Next, I embed behavioral data analysis graphs in most every faculty meeting. I also demonstrate to the faculty any time that I make a decision based on data. We had a bus/dismissal situation in the afternoons that I was able to use specific behavioral data collected from bus discipline referrals to convene a meeting with the transportation staff. We plead an effective case because our data was so strong. And…I monitor data on everything: enrollment data, student session results from the computer lab programs, behavioral data, achievement data of every kind, attendance data, lesson planning data, and even energy conservation data (quantitative data). I conduct data chats with the teachers and have them reflect on their own student data. Lastly, I survey the students and the teachers constantly (qualitative data). We just completed a bullying survey and are currently collecting data with a cross-section of teachers in a lesson planning survey. Analyzing the results and making sound decisions based on their interpretation is critical to our success. 

The teachers see me “practice what I preach”. Perhaps this makes them feel empowered that they can also analyze data to make sound decisions. Whatever the case, there appears to be a layer of data analysis on our campus that was not there when I first came to campus. As a matter of fact, I knew we were making progress when one of my teacher leaders asked to train the faculty on the use of reports in the SuccessMaker program. She was conducting her training about analyzing the data, and she said, “You know we are all about data here.” I know I was grinning from ear to ear when she said that.

Where will this take us for next school year? I firmly believe that next year we will begin to closely examine the results of data and make interpretations based exclusively on what works BEST for our students. For instance, the questions should become very narrow: “Is the intervention I am using increasing student achievement?” OR “Is there a better intervention for increasing achievement?” Data is a part of the educator’s life. Data provides powerful tools to help us fine tune our craft, and it is absolutely critical that the leader is examining the data for the school’s progress continually. My advice….PRACTICE WHAT YOU PREACH.

The Elation of Eight

Today I had the opportunity to sit in some refresher professional development. It was awesome and really got my mind moving in the direction of possibilities. The training was on the Common Core State Standards 8 Mathematical Practices. As I reflect about the things that I thought were exceptional about the training I would say:

1. The trainer  -- Cylle Rowell, our District Math Coach, is highly motivating. She has such a passion about math and a love for students that she makes me feel as if I want to go back to the classroom and teach again just to try some of the exciting strategies she is showing us. However, Cylle tells me that the change to impact student achievement starts with the school leadership. I just need to "look for" these awesome practices when I am observing instruction in the classroom. Also, I need to train the teachers and support them as they learn these 8 practices for themselves.
2. Resources -- While doing our "reporting out" in small groups, we were discussing key concepts of the practices, and I (Self-Proclaimed SmartPhone junkie) was Google-ing this and that to support our conversations. I came across an amazing, DID I SAY AMAZING, website that has videos of each of the practices and what they look like in the classroom. Each of the 8 practices is described as it appears for students and as it appears for teachers. The site is www.insidemathematics.org
3. Knowledge -- I had attended Common Core State Standards training at a CCSS Summer Institute, a Jacksonville one-day professional development and several minor sessions. Yet, I had been paying attention to the new ELA standards and not the math. Our district has been coaching me on the math standards, and I feel more confident about them each time I am exposed to them. But TODAY, I really felt like I made a huge leap in my understanding of the 8 mathematical practices and all the benefits of students learning in this manner. I feel empowered to help our students!
4. Ideas -- It just so happens that I have been working with my school CCSS team to try and build awareness of the standards for our entire faculty. One of my super epic teachers has suggested the idea of presenting a CCSS best practice at each of our remaining faculty meetings. We have been exploring how to do this, and then EUREKA, today I walked away from this training with at least 7 (I missed the chance to use 8 again- LOL) different ideas how to create awareness that start at the faculty meetings and go even further.

As you can see, I am ELATED about EIGHT. I am grateful for a district that invests in its leaders and its teachers, and I am excited about next steps in moving my faculty toward the CCSS goals. I encourage you to experience the Elation of Eight!