Transforming the Culture

Distributed Leadership and Continuous Improvement

You know you are the Auburn School District Superintendent when…

Your rookie year begins the worst fiscal crisis in

You become an expert on the

You become a weatherman making

The Howard Hanson Dam is leaking and

No one believes your estimate of the

30 years.and you have openers for five bargaining units.

ending fund balance.

Swine Flu.

not one,

not two,but eight

not six,not four,snow day calls.

you have two schools in the flood zone and you live on the Green River.

You love your job because of the

great people you work with everyday.

Some think you should have

stayed a wrestling coach.

There is standing room onlyat school board meetings.

National and State Fiscal Crisis

• Worst Fiscal Crisis Since Great Depression

• 9 Billion Dollar Shortfall

• Washington State Biennium Revenue Shortfall 5 Billion

• Elimination of I-728 and K-4 Enhancement

• ARRA CLIFF 2012• Pension Tsunami• Retro 2010-2011 Cuts

VISION

MISSION

VALUESGOALS

• Why do we exist?

• What is our fundamental purpose?

• What must we become to accomplish our purpose?

• What is the compelling future?

• How must we behave to achieve our vision?

• What are our collective commitments?

• How will we mark our progress?

• What are the targets and timelines?

VISION

MISSION

VALUESGOALS

Strategic Plan-Alignments-Data systems for measurement to mark our progress and guide our course.

The moral imperative and the collective commitment-Professional Learning Communities

Doing right thingsvs.

Doing things right

Making a case for change the compelling

future

5 Principles of Distributed Leadership

1. Purpose of Leadership is the improvement of instructional practice and performance, regardless of role.

2. Instructional improvement requires continuous learning.

3. Learning requires modeling.

4. The roles and activities of leadership flow from the expertise for learning and improvement not from the formal dictates of the institution.

5. The exercise of authority requires reciprocity of accountability and capacity.

Transformation of Central OfficeManagement and Leadership

Management LeadershipPlanning and budgeting: establishing detailed steps and timetables for achieving needed results, then allocating the resources necessary to make it happen.

Organizing and staffing: establishing structure for accomplishing plan requirements, staffing that structure with individuals, delegating responsibility and authority for carrying out the plan, providing policies and procedures to help guide people, and creating methods or systems to monitor implementation.

Controlling and problem solving: monitoring results, identifying deviations from the plan, then planning and organizing to solve these problems.

Produces a degree of predictability and order and has the potential to consistently produce the short-term results expected by various stakeholders (being on time, being on budget).

Establishing direction: developing a vision of the future-often the distant future-and strategies for producing the changes needed to achieve that vision.

Aligning people: communicating direction in words and deeds to all those whose cooperation may be needed so as to influence the creation of teams and coalitions that understand the vision and strategies and that accept their validity.

Motivating and inspiring: energizing people to overcome major political, bureaucratic, and resource barriers to change by satisfying basic, but often unfulfilled, human needs.

Produces change, often to a dramatic degree, and has the potential to produce extremely useful change (new approaches, new products).

Content(Standards, Skills, Curricula)

Instruction(Design, Delivery,

Effectiveness)

Student Learner(Knowledge, Skills,

Interest)

ALI

GN

MEN

T ASSESSM

ENT

DIFFERENTIATION

Distributed LeadershipA Focus on the Instructional Core

Five Dimensions of Central Office Transformation

1. Learning-focused partnerships with school principals to deepen principals’ instructional leadership practice

2. Assistance to the central office-principal partnerships

3. Reorganizing and reculturing of other central office units to support teaching and learning improvement

4. Stewardship of the overall central office transformation process

5. Use of evidence throughout the central office to support continual improvement of work practices and relationships with schools University of Washington,

Center for Educational Leadership

Transforming Central Office is NOT…

Principal

Central Office Genie

Educators Losing Their Jobs

HRIncreased Staffing

Distributed Leadership is the Glue of Improved

Student Learning

Organizational System Roles

Strategic

Sees the big picture-the 50,000-foot view

Overlooks the entire school organization and sees how the parts relate to the whole

Focuses on representing the community’s needs and interests

Looks to the long term, usually 3-5 years

Provides overall structure at a district-goals level

Sets clear targets for improvement

Tactical

Sees the wide picture-the 10,000-foot view

Coordinates the component parts of the organization

Overlooks schools and departments

Focuses on working with constituent groups (parents, students and staff)

Looks 1-3 years ahead into the future

Provides structure at district and school levels

Creates and deploys plans that will lead to improvement

Operational

Focuses on the small picture-is the point of impact with children

Coordinates a specific part of the organization

Overlooks a classroom, department or teaching team

Focuses primarily on the students

Looks days, weeks, months, or, at the most 1 year into the future

Provides detailed structures at a classroom level

Refines and adjusts plans, so that improvement will result

Organizational System Roles

Strategic

District Strategic Improvement Plan

Lighthouse Project

Standards-based Policy Development

Data Driven Accountability

Parent Communication

Tactical

Alignment of School and District Improvements

Collaboration for Student Learning-ATLA

Standards-based Assessment and Power Standards Development

Benchmark Common Assessment-MAPS, DIBELS

Skyward Family Access Student Progress

Operational

School Improvement Plans

Professional Learning Communities

Standards-based Teaching and Learning

Classroom Common Assessments

Student Learning Evidence

Organizational System RolesContinuous Improvement

Strategic

District Strategic Improvement Plan

Lighthouse Project

Standards-based Policy Development

Data Driven Accountability

Parent Communication

Tactical

Alignment of School and District Improvements

Collaboration for Student Learning-ATLA

Standards-based Assessments and Power Standards Development

Benchmark Common Assessment_MAPS, DIBELS

Skyward Family Access Student Progress

Operational

School Improvement Plans

Professional Learning Communities

Standards-based Teaching and Learning

Classroom Common Assessments

Student Learning Evidence

Content(Standards, Skills, Curricula)

Instruction(Design, Delivery,

Effectiveness)

Student Learner(Knowledge, Skills,

Interest)

PLC

ALI

GN

MEN

T ASSESSM

ENT

DIFFERENTIATION

Distributed LeadershipA Focus on the Instructional Core

Transformation of Culture

PLC

ALI

GN

MEN

T ASSESSM

ENT

DIFFERENTIATION

Content

Instruction

Student Learner

HIGH

LOW HIGH

SUPPORT

DEMAND

HIGH DEMAND and HIGH SUPPORT

DEMAND: Gentle pressure relentlessly appliedDemand involves clear expectations, steady priorities, public practice, data-focused dialogue and decision-making, change-oriented culture, sponsorship and planning through rigorous questions.SUPPORT: Aligned support intentionally deliveredSupport involves consistent time for collaboration, adequate resources both human and material, honoring the complete adult learning cycle, viewing adult learning as key to student learning, and strategic use of skilled teacher leaders in a variety of support roles.

Rust-out

Stagnation

Under-performance

Pockets of deviant excellence

“Fad” mentality

Complacency

Burnout

Conflict

Demoralization

Sustained growth

High performance

Hope and enthusiasm

Managing Complex Change

VISION SKILLS INCENTIVES RESOURCESACTION

PLAN = CHANGE+ + + +

SKILLS INCENTIVES RESOURCESACTION

PLAN = CONFUSION

+ + +

VISION INCENTIVES RESOURCESACTION

PLAN = ANXIETY+ + + +

VISION SKILLS RESOURCESACTION

PLAN = RESISTANCE+ + + +

VISION SKILLS INCENTIVESACTION

PLAN = FRUSTRATION

+ + + +

VISION SKILLS INCENTIVES RESOURCES = TREADMILL+ + + +

Adapted from Knoster, T. (1991) Presentation at TASH Conference, Washington DC

{Adapted by Knoster from Enterprise Group Ltd.}