Administrative Conference 2014

Robyn Jackson -- Giving Effective Feedback to Teachers

Need to spend the time to give support to teachers who need it. Some things need to come off the administrators' plates to have the time. Administrators need to have a mindset and priorities shift to find the time to give needed support.

Will is teacher motivation to do what is right for students, school, and profession. Skill is teacher ability to implement instruction, pedagogical and subject area knowledge.  You cannot solve a WILL problem with a SKILL solution, and you cannot solve a SKILL problem with a WILL solution. 

SKILL:  Novice (not effective or new) teachers need diagnostic feedback.  Helps teachers understand what isn't working and why it isn't working. Apprentice (minimally effective) teachers need prescriptive feedback. Helps teachers understand what to do to improve their practice. Give two options and the teacher chooses which one feels better to them.  Have a third option if the teacher doesn't like the other two. Practitioner (effective) teachers need descriptive feedback. Holds up a mirror so that teachers can diagnose their own practice and improve. Master (highly effective) teachers need micro-feedback. Helps teachers become aware of nuances and tweaks that can improve their practice and sustain mastery. They have a hard time articulating why they are good.

WILL:  Coerced teachers have to be forced to do something. Compliant teachers do what they are asked to do.  Cooperative teachers offer to help. Committed teachers will continue to do something even if the focus changes. A cynical teacher is a high will, committed teacher who has been disappointed. Teachers can be in different places depending on the topic or situation.

WILL drivers: Autonomy is having control over things that matter to them. "What, when, where?" Mastery is becoming good at things that matter to them. "How?" Purpose is being involved in things that matter to them and their work is meaningful. "Why?" Belonging is being important to those who matter to them. "Who?"

How to get this done:  eliminate time wasters, automate time consumers, delegate empowerment failures.

Your office is not your home. Don't make it so comfortable that you want to stay there. You should be out in the school.  Give files to your secretary. Have your secretary handle your schedule, so you can block out time to go out into classrooms. Train staff to make appointments to see you.

Make providing feedback to teachers a priority. Do paperwork at the back of the classroom. Move your office. Set office days and coaching days. Divide staff amid leadership team.

Feel more confident in your own leadership, and feel more effective and efficient. Strengthen your leadership style.  Feel more connected to staff. Give yourself time to stare out the window and reflect.

Joint Educator Evaluation Committee (JEEC)

Yesterday afternoon was the JEEC meeting.  Paul Noble, Vicki Olsen, Debbie Atwood, and Christy Baker were in attendance.  The UETS-based JPAS pilot was successful and deemed valid and reliable, so those changes will go into effect for all teachers next year.  Changes were made on JPLS with the Educator Effectiveness on the Utah Effective Teaching Standards (UETS) being moved to the Interim.  The Interim was also changed based on feedback from teachers.  Teachers are allowed to keep paper evidence, uploading items on JPLS, or a combination of both.  The UEA Evaluation Toolkit is a great resource for keeping your documentation organized.  Watch for more JEA Evaluation trainings this fall.  My notes from the meeting are below.








Stakeholder input portion will be Utah Education Policy Center version. This is the group the state of Utah has been using.  Decided not to pilot this year. This online survey will be piloted around Spring PTC so parents can use computers at the school if needed. After reviewing survey results, principal meets with teacher to find out what the teacher has done to address concerns.

Student growth for tested subjects and grades will be from SAGE. Non-tested subjects and grades will use Student Learning Objectives (SLO). Jordan decided to make a proposal to the state to do their own SLO model. Jordan pulls in groups of subject matter teachers to write district wide SLOs. Professional development at the beginning utilizes information from the State Office of Education. More PD on how to write a quality assessment. Each group went through this process over two days. Teachers writing were to take the SLO back to their teams to get input, then met with writing team again for another day.  This process has not been easy.

The state expectation is two SLOs per teacher. Second SLO can be shared attribution. Some writing groups completed two, others only completed one. What has been written is excellent!  Modifications are still being made as the teachers see fit. This is two SLOs per teacher, not per subject.

The philosophical question is, do we want to track growth of all students, and if so, that would bring in one SLO per prep. By using Mastery Connect to gather data, it is very easy to compile a report that shows student growth. Teachers are already tracking student performance. An SLO just formalizes what teachers should be doing. We must consider the best interest of students.

JPAS scores have been very consistent for the past 20 years.  Continue to monitor evaluators. Shift next year in Domains IV and V and the Total score based on changes that were found valid and reliable through the pilot in 2013-14.

Pilot had 31 schools total, including schools in other districts that have been using JPAS. 900 teachers were part of the pilot. 86 of those teachers had a second evaluator participate in the interview portion to establish validity and reliability. Scores on Domains IV and V are comparable or slightly better on the pilot than on the original JPAS. Two different statisticians looked at the results and stated the same thing. Past cut scores between levels (highly effective 38.5%, effective 53.9%, minimally effective 5.6%, and not effective 2%) are the same on the pilot as on as the original JPAS, so those will be the cut percentages for the new UETS-based JPAS.

Because the pilot this year was successful and found to be reliable, for 2014-15, all teachers will be using the new UETS-based JPAS. If the school was not a pilot school in 2013-14, that school will be trained at the beginning of school.

The interim is changing. Self-evaluation portion will be done on the interim years, not on full UETS-based JPAS years. PD plan will be two goals, one based on Domain IV or V and one based on one of the UETS. End of year meeting will eventually be to review the student growth and stakeholder input portions, which will be added to JPAS rating from last full JPAS. The reflection portion is for the teacher, but can be discussed with the principal at the final meeting. Principal will decide on a due date.

Domains IV and V allows teachers to choose to document online or on the paper folder.  Both formats are laid out in the same way.

Educator Day on the Hill - January 31

JEA members representing you today include Carol Whittaker at Jordan Ridge, Robert Comstock at Oquirrh Hills, Mallory Record at Sunset Ridge, Patti Zealley at Silver Crest, Jannifer Young at Elk Ridge, Jeanne Yamashita at Elk Ridge, and Mary Smith at Eastlake.

 It is also good for you to know that Mike Anderson, Administrator of Schools for Jordan District, was at Capitol Hill today.

Public Education Appropriations Committee is looking at finalizing the base budget. Discussed Utah Schools for the Deaf and Blind and the need to attract qualified teachers for this special population or teachers to be willing to drive from the Wasatch Front to rural areas to service students in need.

Science outreach program, by Clark Planetarium, Thanksgiving Point, Hawk Watch, Living Planet Aquarium, etc., budget addressed. This provides free entrance for students attending field trips as well as these groups going to schools, especially those outside the Wasatch Front, for science presentations and professional development.

Arts outreach program, by Utah Opera, Ballet West, Ririe-Woodbury Dance, etc., funding addressed. This also provides free entrance for these performances to those attending field trips or these groups doing assemblies at schools.  Asking for an increase of $200,000 ongoing and $250,000 one time funds.

Approving base public education budget. His can still be amended until Executive Appropriations Committee meets on Monday evening. Changes can be made throughout the legislative session.

 Motion to consolidate some programs that are based on the same WPU formula be put into the WPU, which would allow local control.  Pilot programs that are now ongoing, i.e. Dual immersion, take off mandates as to how money is spent and allow districts to decide how it is spent. Give state school board the responsibility to provide statewide priority programs, like science and arts outreach, and just provide the funding, but allow the state office to decide which programs to run.  This would weight the WPU differently. This would give the same number of WPU, but the value would be more (as I understand it), presented by Representative Nielsen. He is willing to have this looked at on Monday or in the interim before next year. There are concerns with global, sweeping change and with details of moving money around. Senator Hillyard said many programs (charter schools, dual immersion) would not be in place if the legislature hadn't provided grants in the past. Agrees that locals should have more control, but he doesn't want to just turn all the money over to local school boards. People seem more okay with income taxes going to education, but not with increases in property taxes. Representative Nielsen said we need to build leadership capacity in local superintendents. This motion failed.

Motion to ask state school board and public education committee to study in the interim and provide recommendations for consolidating some items.  Motion to study passes.

Base public education budget has been approved.

After talking to legislators, and debriefing over lunch, we attended the Educational Excellence Task Force Press Conference.  Two members of the Jordan School Board, Susan Pulsipher and Janice Voorhies, were in attendance as well.  See the following press release.

 Teachers present an innovative new vision for Utah public education

Independent task force asks lawmakers to consider their education policy recommendations, detailed in a new report

Although her independent teacher task force was charged with making education recommendations to policymakers, Park City teacher Anna Williams has a bold charge for her fellow public school educators. “Teachers must examine current practice, look beyond traditional roles and be willing to courageously take the lead in creating innovative education solutions for our students,” she said.

After 18 months of study, research and deliberation, the Educational Excellence Task Force presented a report detailing specific teacher-developed education policy recommendations to the Utah Education Association and state policymakers for consideration. The report is titled Educators Taking the Lead: A Vision for Fostering Excellence in Teaching and Learning.

“We are committed to a bold new vision where teachers have the time, support and resources needed to meet the demand of a diverse learning population,” said Task Force Chairperson Williams. “We envision schools rich in learning, where educators and students excel. We choose to transform our profession, knowing that educating our children is the key to creating a healthy, prosperous and compassionate society.”

Thirteen Utah educators who excel in their field and are leaders in their profession participated in the task force. They presented recommendations to UEA President Sharon Gallagher-Fishbaugh at a press conference Jan. 31.

“This report represents a bold vision for fostering excellence in teaching and learning for all Utah students,” said Gallagher-Fishbaugh. “Our hope is that it will serve as a springboard for dialogue in the education community on strengthening the teaching profession and supporting high student outcomes.”

The report outlines very specific “Call to Action” requests for the Utah State Board of Education, the Utah Legislature, school districts, parents, students and even their own teacher association and fellow educators. “It’s important to remember that education excellence is everyone’s responsibility. We all have a role to play and all must step up for every child to have access to high-quality schools staffed by highly effective teachers,” said Williams. “Every member of our great state will reap the benefits of investments in education.”

The Task Force began its work in May 2012, organized by the Utah Education Association as an independent group to study and prioritize critical education issues and create a vision of teaching excellence designed and led by Utah educators.

Task Force members represent a breadth and depth of experience in many areas including classroom teachers, instructional coaches, administrators, specialists, elementary and secondary education, diverse curriculum areas and low-income schools.

The Task Force met regularly with the charge to analyze relevant research to identify priorities for the Utah Education Association and public education in Utah; create a vision of teaching excellence that is led by teachers; develop a comprehensive set of policy recommendations regarding teaching quality and effectiveness; and create a report that will engage policymakers, the public and teacher association leadership in the important dialogue of change.

“Teachers are trained education experts and are in the best position to make policy recommendations that impact their individual classrooms and students,” said Gallagher-Fishbaugh. “The teachers on this Task Force represent the very best of Utah education. I look forward to working with all our education stakeholders in using these recommendations to champion a long-term, student-centered, fully funded plan for Utah public education.”

Educational Excellence Task Force members:

• Anna Williams (chair), instructional coach, Park City High, Park City District
• Eve Bean, assistant principal, Ellison Park Elementary, Davis District
• Laurel Brown, speech-language teacher, Riverview Junior High, Murray City District
• Jennifer Graviet, English teacher, Sand Ridge Junior High, Weber District
• Debra Green, choral director, Sand Ridge Junior High, Weber District
• Judy Mahoskey, sixth-grade teacher, Liberty Elementary, Murray City District
• Suzy Merrill, third-grade teacher, Oakridge Elementary, Granite District
• Jennifer Roberts, sixth-grade teacher, Lincoln Elementary, Davis District
• Dan Rozanas, social studies teacher, Alta High, Canyons District
• Mary Ellen Smith, BYU partnership facilitator, Eastlake Elementary, Jordan District
• Denise Ulrich, second-grade teacher, Foxboro Elementary, Davis District
• Leigh VandenAkker, social studies teacher, East High School, Salt Lake City District
• Patti Zealley, kindergarten teacher, Silver Crest Elementary, Jordan District

See the report at myUEA.org/EDX.

Strategic Conversations

Notes from the second day of the administrative conference.  This is a long post, but this is what principals were trained in.  I found it insightful into my own interactions as JEA President and as a Sixth Grade Teacher working within a PLC.

 

Guest speaker Dr. Robyn Johnson – mindstepsinc.com - @Robyn_mindsteps

Building Mastery

Challenges of leading

·         How do I give effective feedback that actually changes practice?

·         How do I effectively follow up with ineffective employees?

·         What do I do with an employee who won’t admit that s/he is ineffective?

·         What do I do about a person I really don’t believe can get better?

She believes any teacher can become a master teacher with the right support and practice.

She talked about her experience evaluating teachers and how they came to fear her, they would give a “performance” rather than show genuine teaching, and they weren’t improving based on feedback.

Will and Skill

·         Effectiveness is a result of both skill and their will

·         Will: a teacher’s motivation to do what is best for students, the school community, and the profession.

·         Skill:  a teacher’s capacity and ability to implement instruction effectively.  This includes both pedagogical and subject area knowledge.

Four Types of Teachers

·         Low will/low skill:  retired on job, collecting paycheck for little work, kids like these teachers for little work and low expectations

·         High will/low skill:  often newer teachers, love kids, enthusiastic, kids and parents like these teachers because they love kids, can become low will/low skill if not lead appropriately, if you build their skill they can become a high will/high skill

·         High will/high skill:  motivated, know what they’re doing, smart, love kids, good with kids, innovators, they transform students and/or school, most neglected as far as feedback goes, they want feedback especially positive feedback, growth is up to them, typically complain about working conditions, if not supported they become low will/high skill

·         Low will/high skill:  good teacher, knows how to pass evaluation, start mutiny, have union on speed dial, blames others, ones who refuse to do what they are asked, cannot evaluate them out, push back for sake of pushing back, were likely a high will/high skill at one point, if don’t support their skills will erode and they become low will/low skill

Teachers move within the types of teachers.  Change of assignment, change of administrator, life events, or different group of students, can cause teachers to move among the types throughout a day, a school year, or career.  This is not about good and bad teachers.  Helps principals know how to approach different types of teachers and what type of help to give them.

We believe in every child, every day, but something changes when we think about adults.  How can we believe in every child but not in every teacher?

What do you do if have low will/low skill teacher who gets better, but their reputation in the community is still low?  Constantly talk about how every teacher is moving toward mastery.  Show parents that every teacher is improving and growing.  Highlight changes that teachers have made in newsletter or on website. 

Systemic approach to excellence in the classroom so there isn’t a different expectation at another school. 

You cannot solve a WILL problem with a SKILL solution.  You cannot solve a SKILL problem with a WILL solution.                                 

JPAS Domains chart – Will/Skill

Domain	Will – Does the teacher . . .	Skill – Can the teacher . . .
Managing the classroom	Treat every student fairly? Create a positive classroom culture?	Effectively manage student behavior? Organize space for learning?
Delivering instruction	Demonstrate flexibility and responsiveness? Communicate with students?	Use effective questioning techniques? Provide engaging instruction?
Interacting with students	Encourage reluctant students? Acknowledge learning efforts?	Check for understanding? Provide effective feedback?
Planning	Submit lesson plans? Plan for all students’ needs? Demonstrate high expectations?	Design effective assessments? Demonstrate an understanding of the curriculum?
Professional responsibilities	Reflect on teaching? Contribute to a PLC?	Maintain accurate records? Behave in a professional manner?

 

Four levels of skill

·         Novice

·         Apprentice

·         Practitioner

·         Master

Building skill

·         Differentiated practice

Skill level	Characteristics	Needs
Novice	Has minimal exposure/experience/expertise.	Needs to acquire a concrete understanding of what it takes to be a good teacher.
Apprentice	Is building expertise but still needs supervision.  Can perform some more routine tasks on their own.	Needs to internalize the standards and principles in order to become independent problem solvers and develop their own “teacher sense”.
Practitioner	Makes accurate and reliable judgments.  Teaching practice shows both skill and economy.  Can teach others.	Needs help integrating skills into a seamless performance and develop adaptive expertise.
Master	Can deal with unusual and tough cases.  Judgments set best practice, standards, regulations, or ideal.  Practice is seamless.	Needs help remaining mindful in their practice.

·         Deliberate practice

o   Evaluation

o   Elaboration

o   Observation

o   Practice

o   Feedback

o   Coaching

o   Collaboration

o   Reflection

·         Developmental practice

o   Must pass through skill levels gradually by changing approach as move through levels.

o   Not going to be an expert immediately.

o   Novice – acquire

o   Apprentice – apply

o   Practitioner – assimilate

o   Master – adapt

§  Same rigor framework used for students

Four Will Drivers

·         Autonomy: I have some control over the things that matter to me.

·         Mastery:  I can get good at the things that matter to me.

·         Purpose:  I am involved in something that matters.

·         Belonging:  I am important to people who matter.

Each person has a different key will driver.  The other three can be in place, but if that key will driver is not met, the others won’t matter.  Need to know your own key will driver, because it impacts your relationship with others. 

Improving school wide – implementing changes

·         Explore – why, skills development (4-6 weeks)

·         Expect – checking to see if doing (3-4 weeks)

·         Evaluate – see at high quality based on feedback (6-8 weeks)

·         Extend – individualizing (ongoing)

Example:  Carolina High School

·         Administrative Training – needed to align feedback

·         Initial rigor PD for all staff

·         Differentiated PD based on four levels of teacher skill

·         Ongoing observations and discussions

·         Improved instructional quality

·         Common core implementation with fidelity

·         Improved test scores

Example:  Marion County, Florida

·         Administrator training on will and skill

·         Administrator training on strategic conversations

·         Increased fidelity among administrators with the observation tool

·         Increase quality in teacher feedback and significant teacher growth

Example:  Connecticut

·         Training on strategic conversations

·         Increased interaction and accountability

·         Increased follow up with struggling teachers

·         Increased administrator comfort with difficult conversations

Strategic Conversations for Instructional Leaders

Teachers tell you how they need to be led based on complaints, comments, or behavior.  These show their will diver. 

A series of targeted, individualized interactions with teachers that are designed to help them significantly improve their instruction.  Take into account their skill and their will and will driver.  Not one-sided.  Jointly working to solve a problem.

Why strategic conversations?

·         Engage teachers as partners

·         Create joint ownership over the problem and solution

o   Help teacher fix his/her own problem

·         Tap into shared knowledge and expertise

·         Gain cooperation rather than compliance

Match the conversation to each teacher's needs

Reflective conversation: help teachers make connections between their attitudes and approach and student achievement.

·         Low will/low skill: must reflect on something specific and concrete, may take several days, not a good starting place for these types of teachers High will/low skill: struggle with connection because they don't know enough, they want to answer the question but may not be able to make the connection High will/high skill: love these types of conversations Low will/high skill: help you (questioner) reflect, bounce ideas off this type of person and ask for their opinion, establish trust and start building on the topic, you need to be vulnerable first

Dr. Jackson referenced Brene Brown's The Power of Vulnerability video on YouTube and said that leaders must be vulnerable first.

Need to be reflective ongoing, not just after the evaluation.

Facilitating conversations: help teachers make commitments to improve their instructional practice.

·         Low will: this is place to start, may have to revisit multiple times to gain commitment, share data and give feedback and decide on commitment

Coaching conversations: help teacher make corrections to their teaching behaviors to improve student achievement Low will: commit to fixing before suggesting corrections High will/low skill: welcome this type of conversation, love coaching, be careful because they can become dependent on coaching High will/high skill: they will often come to you to ask for coaching, if not they will try to figure it out on their own

·         When coaching, give people two options to fix the problem then let the teacher choose. Can determine a viable third option.

Directive conversations: help teachers make changes in their teaching behavior because it puts students in immediate danger or because they have not responded to other supports.

·         Too often default to this type of conversation, but really don't need to use this very often.

·         Usually document this kind of conversation.

·         High will/high skill: if no kids in immediate danger use a facilitative conversation, directive will kill motivation Should follow up within two days with a reflective conversation so the teacher can talk about the direction given.  Trying to process at the time just makes the situation worse.

Follow up

·         plan a series of interactions rather than just one

·         stay the course even when things become uncomfortable, frustrating, or seem to be going nowhere.  Don't stop too soon.

This is not going to be easy. You need to decide if you are going to continue doing what you have done in the past, or are you going to commit to looking at individuals will and skill and having appropriate conversations with them.

Some schools take 2-3 years to make changes. Dramatic change is right around the corner, and we often stop too soon.

Administrative Conference Notes

Strategic conversations is the topic because every child deserves a master teacher, every teacher deserves a master principal, every principal deserves a master administrator at the district level.

Dr. Johnson reiterated the "every child, every day" mission.  Three areas of focus 2012: PLCs, core implementation, data. CRT data is trending upward for all tested subjects and all tested grades.

2013-14 challenges

• Growing student population:  We need to get behind a bond.  Boundary changes are likely.
• New teacher and administrator evaluation systems:  30 schools piloting this year.  This means conferencing and talking with teachers often.
• Implementing new core:  There will be new SAGE Computer Adaptive Test.  The scores will likely decline, because it is more rigorous thinking and working.  This is a shift for teachers.

Challenges are vehicles to our happiness and success as we meet them.

Research on being successful from "The Value of Happiness" by Shawn Achor discusses the relationship between success and happiness. 90% of happiness depends on how our mind processes our surroundings.  Happiness is the joy you feel striving toward your potential.  Greatest predictors of success include establishing strong social connections and demonstrating optimism.

 

You will never have worked harder than this year.

 

Mark Bouchard, Chairman of Prosperity 2020, said the challenge is failure to recognize the importance of education. Don't make tough decisions to show it is important. Education is most important thing we as a society do. In 1960s, mom was at home and helping kids value and achieve at education. Today, a good percentage of homes in district are single parent homes. English may not be language at home. Concerned about 18% of Jordan District students who don't graduate from high school, because they become a liability for the state when don't graduate. Poverty and low income areas have the common thread of no education. The idea that education is just responsibility of teachers or that it can be legislated is old thinking. Education is a village and community responsibility. Begins by giving educators the things we need. Ask educators what they need to do their jobs. Empower employees to lead themselves by being at their best. Prosperity 2020 is a business led organization with most local chambers of commerce engaged in dialogue with Governor Herbert and the legislature asking what they are doing for education. The legislature's responsibility is to "provide for" education, which means to fund it. It is the state school board's responsibility to decide "how" education happens.  

In a poll of teachers on what they want, money does not come up in the top three items. Teacher development, class size, greater participation from community with compensation as fourth. The state could pay more if it were willing to do so. Educators are caring and giving people who want to help others develop and take joy in the success of others. This is not corporate America.

With governors commission on education, interviewed 36 high school seniors and asked about public education experiences. They know who good and bad teachers are.  They learn differently than we did. Devices do everything. None of them want to be teachers.

Education needs to be asking, "How an I going to replenish my workforce?" Technology cannot replace a teacher. In his company, each person gets new technology (laptop/iPad/software updates) every four years. If did that in public education, would cost $72 million yearly. This does not include devices for students. This means the legislature would have to provide $175 million new money each year just to maintain the status quo on salary and benefits and keep up with technology changes. A $175 million increase has only been done once and is not likely to happen yearly. It is not feasible to think technology will replace teachers.

Education task force in legislature is interviewing lots of people about what education should be doing. People who need to be running education are educators. Any other model simply won't work. We cannot take non-experts to direct how we do our work. Prosperity 2020's counsel to Governor Herbert is that if educators don't believe you, they won't do the work. Basics are simple. Allow subject matter experts to lead.

 

June LeMaster, Director of HR, reviewed administrative appointments. Expect 350 new teachers this year. Still have 28 unfilled positions. Reviewed negotiations, of which there was none for JEA and administrators, because "JEA honored the two-year agreement and did not enter into the negotiations process." Classified had changes to some policies. Department Advisory Council, like SAC, is first place to resolve issues. Then move to classified DAC if unresolved. Changes to hours of work that clarifies when an employee may be called back in after ending their shift. Info on website under associations.

 

Corey Fairholm, Region VI-Jordan PTA President, with Kayleen Whitelock serving as associate director due to number of PTA members. Advocate, involve, and develop is mission. Purposes to promote child welfare, raise home life standards, laws to protect children, closer relationship between home and school, and develop united effort for public education.  Local, council, region, state, national with 501(c)(3) tax exempt organization. Gave benefits of being PTA rather than PTO.

PTA does not exist to raise money, but raises money to exist. Every child, one voice. Jordan has a strong PTA in Utah.

 

 

Ended by showing this video.  Change is good. You go first.