“Assisted not Replaced”

I made time this week to be a parent by traveling up to Boston to watch our oldest son's home opener given that this is his senior year and most certainly his last year of his formal competitive playing. The outcome of the game was disappointing but watching him play never is.

On the return trip I experienced a serious delay caused by faulty equipment in Charlotte. What we learned is that the navigational equipment necessary to land the type of aircraft I was flying in was broken.

They were not allowing any flights to take off that were heading to Charlotte.

The other issue of course is that there were indeed flights in the air that had to be diverted, put in a holding pattern or turn around. Certainly, other aircraft with different navigational protocols and ones not depended upon the instrumentation that malfunctioned could land.

In my case, we sat for almost a hour on the tarmac and then went back to a gate to wait until the equipment was repaired. I was in no hurry to leave the plane.

As I was one of the last still onboard, I decided to ask the flight crew about what I suspected but wanted to know for sure.

I spoke with the captain asking him just how much of actual flying of the plane was human versus computer?

His response didn't surprise me. "Most planes fly themselves."

With that confirmation, I was provided an opportunity for some additional "think" time as well as a pretty good analogy for our present work.

The instrumentation in use today with air travel literally as well as figuratively allows aircraft to fly themselves. Human involvement is limited to the very important roles of decision‐making and problem solving more or less on the ground not in the air.

Let me state this slightly differently, the technology today is so developed, so sophisticated that planes really don't depend on or require for that matter a human.

In my conversation with the pilot, he confided in me "the instrumentation is so good that you can have marginal, inferior pilots".

I responded what if the instrumentation is not accurate or like this day malfunctioning to the point that it is not safe to fly?

“A one degree error can find you so radically off course”.

I asked, “Are there safeguards?”

“Absolutely!” There are so many indicators that constantly and consistently provide you feedback even when on auto pilot.”

He went on, “the sophistication of the technology is amazing. My role in flight is constant monitoring.

I focus on a set of key indicators that, if not progressing properly, lead to a deeper, more specific calibration of potential flight modifications or corrections”.

We left the conversation with the oft‐used adage of “better safe than sorry”.

As I thought about the conversation the obvious application for us is our formative assessment strategy where we aggressively desire for our staff to monitor both student progress toward standard as well as teacher effectiveness.

Unfortunately, the technology of monitoring and measuring the leading indicators of learning and instruction are not as sophisticated as those used in aircraft.

I am not so sure they have to be.

We know that a leading indicator of effective instruction is planning.

The degree to which an instructional lesson is effective – that is, students demonstrating that, in fact, they have learned what was intended to be learned and to the expected level of learning, is heavily dependent and determined by planning effectively.

Too often lesson planning is not revered or valued as it should be.

Planning requires making judgments.

It requires reflection and reviewing what students know and what they need to know.

It requires reflection and reviewing of what is and what isn’t effective with respect to instruction.

It requires reflection and reviewing of resources, tools, time, and clear identification of evidence learners must demonstrate.

The measure of effective planning is instruction and student learning. That measurement must be in real time not weeks or months or semesters later – real time.

This is where the instrumentation of flying and planning intersects ‐ the frequent, constant, and consistent monitoring and measuring of the process.

Human judgment is critical ‐ assisted not replaced by technology. Our effect – the effect of teaching and learning begins and ends with planning effectively.

“Memories or Dreams – our Choice!”

Are we presently being defined by the past?

Will we let the past define our future?

What can we or should we do to ensure that our efforts, our work, our dreams are not undermined, limited, or even sabotaged by the past.

I was reminded the other day through a very profound question of one of the greatest challenges of transformation. "Do we have more memories of the past than dreams for the future?"

Memories are important. They ground us. They provide insight into who we are, from where we came, events that shape or influence our thinking, and in some cases limit our ability to see possibilities of different.

Memories are a two-edge sword. As we know there is a psychology directly related to memories. Good and bad, negative and positive, and ones we fondly recall and ones we choose to forget.

In total, they are our past.

Dreams on the other hand are future orientated. In some accounts, dreams are a preferred future, an ideal state.

Our school system cannot be defined by memories, the past. We must allow the dreams of a preferred future shape the present as well as guide us to the future. Making dreams into reality as we have learned is not as easy as closing ones’ eyes.

Rather, it takes commitment, courage, conviction, consistency, and constancy. In each, there is a deliberate act, a decision if you will to think, behave different.

Different in this case requires authenticity, reliability, and character. What we value, what we say we value, and what we actually do reveal who we really are.

Our best of class vision is a preferred future. A future that includes each learner, each parent, each staff and our entire community. It does not exclude anyone. It does not favor anyone. It does create, encourage, or gain from competition that is based on some winning and many losing.

No, the best of class vision describes what a classroom, school, and school system looks like, sounds like, and behaves like when the deliberate focus is on ensuring each learner is successful - successful in learning those skills, knowledge, and experiences that will provide them unlimited opportunities - not defined by the past but encouraged by dreams of the future.

Best of class is derived from the school effects research embodied in the correlates of effective schools.

Who would not want not the following consistently and constantly present and practiced every day in every way for everyone?

· Climate of high expectations for success

· Safe and orderly environment

· Opportunity to learn/time on task

· Clearly understood mission

· Home/school relationship

· Frequent monitoring of student progress

· Strong Instructional leadership

Each one of the correlates work in concert with one another. The interdependence and interaction of each correlated provide a powerful picture of what schools must be. To learn more about the correlates you can look at our best of class documents or simply look up the correlates of effective schools.

We cannot go back and undo memories – the past; I understand that.

What we can do however is provide a picture, a vision, a dream if you will of what we can become and build new memories. This is what best of class can and must be - especially if we want different.

Different is ending failed learning.

Different is ending low performance.

Different is ending the soft bigotry of low expectations.

Different is ending the lack of rigor, the lack of well crafted lessons, the lack of implementing effective instructional practice, and the lack authentically answering for those decisions, practices, and behaviors that work against the very ends we desire to achieve.

Or, unfortunately for our students we can choose to remain the same.

Further, we have individuals within our school system and community that are committed to something other than becoming a high performing – best of class school system.

His or her agenda is not about each student being successful. Truth is – we’re not sure what the agenda is.

The best of class dream can and will be a reality. Fundamentally, the choice is ours.

Memories or dreams – you choose.

"Leadership matters - Followership matters more"

The fall has arrived!

With the coming of fall I stopped the other day to pick up a new rake. Though I have a very powerful gas leaf blower, I needed a rake. I’ve learned that my leaf blower is really good at moving leaves but it misses the nuts. I have been blessed with several trees that gift me every fall with a lot of nuts.

As I was out last weekend raking nuts I had time to think.

My thoughts were centered almost exclusively on our current work including but not limited to: Human Capital Development and the transition to Common Core Essential Standards (CCES).

The Human Capital Development initiative includes the Professional Learning and Growth (PLG) plan. The PLG plan includes the Learning Development Center (LDC) initiative.

The CCES transition will involve our entire instructional division. This work will also allow us a “do over” with respect to standards, curriculum, instruction, assessment, and professional learning growth alignment. This alignment will manifest itself through the new Instructional Improvement System (IIS). The IIS will integrate our present Learning Management System.

That being said, our staff are exhausted.

We are working at the speed of blur.

In part, due to building the proverbial airplane in flight, we are working with the system in place while simultaneously building the system we need – our students, staff, and community need.

Further complicating this work is the fact that every level of work is doing this very thing – working in a current system while trying to build a new system. This is true for the Department of Public Instruction as well. What is happening however is an unprecedented level of confusion, chaos, conflict, and creep – mission creep.

Mission Creep?

Yes, mission creep!

Creep or slippage of the mission – the very purpose or aim of our work, is exacerbated by the current state of affairs. The feeling or sense of not knowing where we are going let alone why we are going there and how we are going to get there creates, well, a lack of trust.

We set out over four years ago on a journey to implement authentically a system of and for continuous improvement based solely on a theory of action: transparency yields trust that in turn yields hope. Not a hope founded on best wishes or intentions. Rather a hope built on results. Results realized by transparency in the day-to-day operations of the district. Transparency of motive, intention, purpose. Acknowledging and accepting where there are obvious areas needing improvement as well as taking responsibility for programs and practices not producing to date the expected or required results.

Transparency is about truthfulness, honesty, and integrity. The strategic commitments – our promises to our students, parents, staff, and community are based on transparency. Yet, transparency alone will not produce results. Transparency must yield trust.

Trust is created, in part, by transparency. Trust requires much more than transparency. It has been my experience that trust is earned. Leaders earn the right to be followed. Followership is sacred because we know effective leaders are just that effective because of the work accomplished by and through others.

Mission creep occurs when followership is weak or non-existent.

Followership is guided by factors many of which I know I learned from my parents. Such statements as “Never ask someone to do something you would not do yourself”, “Always remember from where you came”, “Lead by example”, “Your actions will always be heard louder than your words”, and the capstone, “Always do undo others as you would have them do unto you”.

Though there were many more phrases I heard from my parents and grandparents for that matter, what anchors these words are the behaviors I witnessed and experienced. There it is – followership is about leader behaviors or the lack of.

We’ve talked before about the difference between compliance and commitment. The trust engendered by followership is commitment, conviction, and courage.

Transparency that yields trust will create the hope that our students, staff, and community most desperately desire and deserve from their leaders – accomplishing the mission depends upon it.

This present work, however messy, cannot be deterred because of mission creep. Our mission is clear and must not be muddied by confusion, chaos or conflict of systems reset.

Our mission remains to ensure that each learner meets of exceeds high academic standards - no matter what it takes!