"Fix the System, First!"

When the Anson County schools began in earnest the journey of continuous improvement the need to focus on fixing the system rather than fixing people was introduced. Now, nearly four years later, it is time to remind us that staff, all staff “do things” (their work) in ways that make sense to them – not necessarily the most effective and efficient way. Another way of thinking about this is that staff, all staff perform their work within the parameters that the system allows.

So, if a staff is performing a process, procedure in a manner that is not effective or efficient the response is not “what is wrong with that person?” Rather, the response needs to be “what is it about the system that allows, causes the person to do it that way?”

We have way too many people being thrown, dragged under the proverbial bus because the system is not at a point where corrective action let alone preventive action is the norm. We are still blaming people rather than inefficient and ineffective processes or procedures.

What part of continuous improvement is not continuous?

Corrective action is one very important step towards continuous improvement because it mitigates the practice of blaming, judging, or condemning people. Corrective action requests are objective not subjective. They are a sincere attempt to correct inefficiencies and ineffectiveness through improving the way we do our work.

There are assumptions underpinning corrective action. The first is that no one comes to work to do his or her worse work – to be ineffective and inefficient. The second assumption is that each of us wants to be competent as well as effective in our work. The third assumption is that we probably know more than we think about being effective and efficient but have not been empowered to correct it.

I can recall a situation in a different district where teachers were furious at our facilities and grounds maintenance staff for mowing during the instructional day. Teachers were livid and rightfully so. The grounds crew had no idea of how angry the teachers were. The teachers went to their principals and communicated their frustration about the weekly disruptions to teaching and learning. The principals called the maintenance director and really let him have it about how upset the teachers were, the students were and for added insult how upset the parents were. The maintenance director called me and vented about how hard he and his staff work to maintain the grounds and how rude the principals were. A big mess!

I had just about everyone upset – mad at each other – blaming each other – questioning integrity, character, commitment, and work ethic.

What was the real issue?

Mowing during the instructional day!

I met with the grounds crew. I asked, “Do you like everyone being mad at you?” In Homer Simpson fashion, “dah” – NO!

They talked; I listened.

After they communicated their frustration I asked, “What do you see as a solution?

It got really quiet – uncomfortably quiet.

And then, one staff said, “We’ve talked about this before and our solution was to change our mowing schedule to afterschool and Saturday.” They went on to say, “There is more than mowing we need and want to do.”

I asked, “Why not change the schedule?”

They said, “We didn’t know we could?”

I asked them to provide me a schedule of what this could look like.

The result, looking back, was so simple. The grounds crew wanted to do great work. They had a great deal of pride in their work and wanted the schools to look their best. They ended up modifying their work schedule so they could not only mow but also do whole lot more when students and staff were not in session.

The solution if you will was not only simple but powerful.

In fact, the grounds crew became more committed to the work – they were empowered to solve what they knew was a problem all along. They would go on to identify and correct several other ineffective and inefficient practices in their department.

Staff were happy. Principals were happy. The Director was happy. The grounds crew was happy! I was happy!

The grounds crew was only doing what the system permitted. Once we got past the “feelings” to focus on the problem and possible solutions – the blaming stopped.

The point? – fix the system.

This is the intent of corrective action – we must use it to make improvement continuous.

"With the full knowledge ..."

The beginning of the instructional year is exciting for learner, parent, and staff. Though it may seem routine for seasoned staff, the start of school is nonetheless full of best hopes, intentions, and expectations.

Yet, this beginning is different.

It must be different!

How so?

We start this year with the full knowledge, disclosure that at each grade level as well as each subject area there are students starting not ready (see Convocation presentation for specific data).

In fact, we know specifically each student’s literacy level, proficiently level, and academic performance level.

This knowledge has the potential to be “the” game changer.

It can and it will, if we take this information and knowledge and apply it.

We must make sense and therefore make actionable this knowledge from day one through designing instruction to meet the needs of each learner by knowing each learner not assuming their chronological age is commensurate with their acquisition of requisite skill, knowledge, and learning experience.

With the full knowledge of skill, knowledge, and experience deficits as well as strengths, we can with unprecedented focus, intent, and application ensure each learner makes no less than a years’ growth this year. In some instances, we will see learners far exceeding a years’ growth.

In fact, with the tools we have available, any student not beginning grade level ready should within the first 9 no less than 18 weeks achieve substantial growth in literacy and mathematics.

We know how to do this!

We must now do it!

We also start this year with the full knowledge, disclosure that our leadership must focus on providing specific instructional feedback, input, guidance, and critique of effective practice or lack of for each teacher.

In concert, each building administrator must ensure in their daily practice to monitor and assist each staff in the implementation of effective instructional practice through specific, measurable, actionable, relevant, and timely feedback.

Anything less will provide ineffective information that will not, cannot improve practice.

We start this year with the full knowledge, disclosure that central office leadership must also “bring their A game” with respect to support to building leadership and classroom practice.

Central office must practice in earnest the leadership necessary to coach, guide, facilitate, problem solve, remove barriers, and the ultimate –communicate in more effective and efficient ways to ensure all staff develop the capacities necessary for each staff to do the work of teaching and learning at unprecedented levels.

We begin this year with the full knowledge, disclosure that what we have been doing has not, to date, produced the results that give evidence worthy of our mission – our calling.

Suffice; to make this year a good year, a great year we must focus on what we control not what we don’t control.

We need to rise above our circumstances to embrace, if you will, the three variables we control –the intended curriculum being the taught curriculum, choosing and implementing effective instructional practice, and ensuring the learning environment is safe and orderly through constant communication of expectations and consistently following through.

As I shared at Convocation, we do not and cannot control several variables that once were believed to be determinants of a learner’s level of learning and success. We know now more than ever, those variables DON’T determine and are not insurmountable. It is our response to these variables that matter – not determine if a learner meets or exceeds standards.

Again, if we focus on the variables we influence and control, we will be successful in our efforts. This is not to say it will be easy. On the contrary, this is challenging, difficult given for the most part we have tended to let what we don’t control dominate our thinking as well as become obstacles interfering with the deep work of teaching and learning.

With the full knowledge that our staff have permission to focus on what they do, in fact control, we will see breakthrough results – performance by both learners and staff.

This is what must be different this year!

We know how to do this.

We must now do it with unprecedented commitment, focus, and implementation.

"What got us 'here' is not going to get us 'there'!

Hard to believe that 17 August 2011 is soon upon us. As we prepare to greet all staff in preparation for the beginning of the instructional year for learners in Pre-Kindergarten through Super Seniors at Early College, we must set our minds eye on the work that matters most – the work of equipping each learner with the habits of learning.

I did not say prepare our learners for End of Grade, End of Course, or Elements assessments.

No, taking tests is not the means or ends of teaching and learning. Rather the habits of learning – the enduring habits of learning – each learner learning to use their mind well must be the aim. Along the way, learners will learn different content, subject matter, skills, and applications of, for and by learning.

Yet, we cannot deceive ourselves into believing that what we have always done will suffice. If we were to simply revert back to what we have always done we will with little hesitation get what we have always gotten.

The practices, behaviors, routines, and thinking of the past got us into hole – a deep hole.

These same practices, behaviors, routines, and thinking resulted in the Anson County Schools being labeled consistently and persistently low performing.

Query therefore, why would we continue with those practices, behaviors, routines, and thinking?

We know that its illogical as well as irrational to consider holding on to something that isn’t working, isn’t successful, isn’t effective, isn’t efficient.

Yet, it is conceivable that staff in spite of best intentions will revert to failed practices, behaviors, routines, and thinking.

Why?

First and foremost we know from human learning theory that we have a propensity to do what we know or can easily do.

Learning to do something new is difficult.

Would you accept that it takes more effort to unlearn something rather that learning something new?

To assist all of us with new learning, leadership has been studying the research on addiction. Yes, you read that correctly addiction.

At first read, most think of addiction with respect to a substance albeit physical, emotional or psychological addiction. These have not been our focus. Rather, from the addiction research we find insight to what is needed to break an addiction or habit and the importance of forming, developing new habits and routines. With little exception, addiction research relies heavily on thinking or the mindset of the addict. New thinking and new behaviors reinforced consistently and constantly with great intensity over a period of time is central.

Assisting in developing new patterns of thinking accompanied by new behaviors is an over simplistic portrayal of how addictions are overcome. Yet, we see that if we individually and collectively form new thinking and new patterns of behavior with consistent and constant reinforcement and monitoring we can build the capacity and momentum to breakthrough.

Simply, the practices, behaviors, routines, and thinking that got us here will not be the ones that get us there.

This brings me to where is “there”?

“There” is not nirvana.

“There” is not a pithy or trite statement.

“There” is not a test score.

Rather, “there” is each learner demonstrating that they have in fact learned how to learn, learned to how to decide, and learned how to relate.

“There” is each learner with the skills, knowledge, and experience to make and have choices about life’s four major roles – self, family, community, and worker.

We cannot spend time, energy, and effort attempting to convince staff that what got us here will not get us there – that time has passed.

We are done with rational and theory building. Now is the time for application – deep implementation of effective practice.

I am expecting leadership to step up their monitoring, measurement, and feedback to staff about implementation of effective practice. Never has been clearer what we need to do.

We must now do it –

“There “ depends upon it.

"Can You See It?"

As many of you know one of the driving forces in my life is the “learning for all mission”. Our adaptation is “All means All”.

Informing the learning for all mission are the correlates of effective schools. These correlates or factors emerged from the school effects research.

What will soon be four decades of research, the correlates continue to be validated for import and utility in classrooms, schools, and school systems in America as well as internationally.

In a recent conversation with Dr. Larry Lezotte, an original researcher of the school effects findings, we discussed how the learning for all mission dominated or drove much of the effort to improve schools in the beginning. The correlates were secondary to the mindset, belief, and commitment to learning for all.

As we discussed, I shared that I believed the correlates are presently the driver. It has become almost pithy or trite to use learning for all as the impetus for improvement. My thinking is not that the learning for all mission is not important. Rather, the correlates bring to life or complete the picture of what a classroom, school, or school system looks like that lives the learning for all mission.

More often or not, the correlates are condensed or abbreviated to a term intended to describe or characterize the construct. However, when you read the actual description, you get the sense of something much deeper, enduring, powerful – a picture of possibilities – a vision.

Consider the following excerpt from Dr. Lezotte’s Correlates of Effective Schools: The First and Second Generation (1991)

“In the effective school there is a climate of expectation in which the staff believe and demonstrate that all students can attain mastery of the essential school skills, and the staff also believe that they have the capability to help all students achieve that mastery.”

“In the effective school there is an orderly, purposeful, businesslike atmosphere which is free from the threat of physical harm. The school climate is not oppressive and is conducive to teaching and learning.”

“In the effective school the principal acts as an instructional leader and effectively and persistently communicates that mission to the staff, parents, and students. The principal understands and applies the characteristics of instructional effectiveness in the management of the instructional program.”

“In the effective school there is a clearly articulated school mission through which the staff shares an understanding of and commitment to the instructional goals, priorities, assessment procedures and accountability. Staff accept responsibility for students’ learning of the school’s essential curricular goals.”

“In the effective school teachers allocate a significant amount of classroom time to instruction in the essential skills. For a high percentage of this time students are engaged in whole class or large group, teacher-directed, planned learning activities.”

“In the effective school student academic progress is measured frequently through a variety of assessment procedures. The results of these assessments are used to improve individual student performance and also to improve the instructional program.”

“In the effective school parents understand and support the school’s basic mission and are given the opportunity to play an important role in helping the school to achieve this mission.”

Can you see it?

Moreover can you commit to it?

What remains amazing to me is that this picture was and continues to be made real in schools throughout the world. So, why not here?

The correlates were not a fad, not something you did, or a movement from the past. No – the correlates are real, important, and necessary to our work today just as they were to those who were committed to ensuring that each learner met or exceeded the standards of that era.

Let me be clear, I am not dismissing the importance of the learning for all mission. In fact, the only way to achieve the learning for all mission is to embrace, employ relentlessly those beliefs, behaviors, and practices that result in the correlates consistently and constantly present and practiced.

Yes, the learning for all mission is a driving force in the work to transform our system. The correlates provide the picture, the vision of what the “all means all” mission looks like, feels like and sounds like.

Our students, staff, parents, and community deserve effective schools – our work, our commitment is to make that happen.

“Fear Invites Wrong Figures” W. Edwards Deming

With the release of our testing results – both End of Grade and End of Course exams as well as the ABC growth and high growth progress, it is time to review a few basics about the aim or purpose of education.

Let me begin with a few comments about “high stakes” testing.

I think many of us are in shock but not surprised at the news of scandal in the Atlanta Public Schools regarding what appears to be 10 years of abuse, deception and fraud with “high stakes” testing.

Daily, revelations of wrongdoing, exposing the ills of what has to be the absolutely worse fears of high stakes testing – cheating by adults, are now seeing the light of day.

In our four years together, I have repeatedly stated that it is not raising test scores that matter. Rather, it is the enduring habits of learning that will serve each learner, each individual for a lifetime that matter most.

Chasing a test score for sake of accountability cannot easily explain, excuse, or dismiss how the educators as well as administrators of Atlanta did wrong to children. The depth of dishonestly ultimately hurt children as well as each community where deliberate choices were made to alter, change, falsify, or take “short cuts” on administering and reporting testing results – just plain wrong!

Our integrity, character, and intentions will not escape public doubt, skepticism, or cynicism given these shameless acts of selfishness.

Suffice; every educator suffers from these actions.

Moreover, the students in Atlanta that were denied the authentic assessment of instruction and learning will suffer now and for years to come – possibly a lifetime.

Failed learning as well as the failure to learn ultimately hurts both teachers and learners. The timely opportunities that authentic performance feedback provide both teacher and student that could have, should have, and would have been used to prevent further failure are now proverbial water under the bridge.

The lost time, lost opportunity, lost learning serves only to widen “a” gap further – a gap that separates more than proficient from non-proficient learners.

The gap I am speaking about is the gap of choice versus no choice.

This gap manifests itself in our system especially when we review the performance and progress to date.

If we cannot significantly address and correct literacy deficiencies we will not drive system-wide improvement. These deficiencies impact our county, state, and nation.

Specifically, we know entering 7^th grade next year that 6 out of 10 students met proficiency in reading on their 6^th grade End of Grade assessment. This is an accomplishment. However, it also means that 4 of 10 will be starting 7^th grade deficient in the skills necessary to be successful at the secondary level. Further, we know that only 38% percent of students entering 8^th grade are beginning their last year of middle school proficient in reading.

We have a plan to aggressively address this deficit – it won’t however involve changing, altering, test results.

The complex work involved in addressing deficits in literacy especially adolescent literacy will require “different”. We cannot and will not simply resume the instructional year with the same strategies, routines, and practices that resulted in our current reality.

The laser focus, intensity of addressing failed learning as well as the failure to learn is a system, school, and classroom issue. To that end, staff has and continues to work this summer to ensure we are ready to implement effective instruction. In a like manner, administration is also ramping up their skill and knowledge in the critical area of instructional leadership.

The events in Atlanta are a reminder that there are no shortcuts – no easy solution to improving teaching and learning. The fear of being identified as low performing or under performing is not the “right” fear. We must look at fear differently.

The real or true fear is in a reality called the “knowing and doing” gap. If we know what to do but have not done it – that should be our real fear – knowing but not doing.

Deming was right, “fear does invite wrong figures”. Yet, our fear should not be driven by an accountability system that uses a single metric to judge our work. Rather, our fear should guide us to seek different practices and strategies that result in deeper learning – enduring learning.

The present accountability system will eventually be seen for what it is - nothing more than “the emperor with no clothes”.

We must, therefore, focus on those factors we have the greatest influence and control – effective instruction, constant and consistent feedback to inform of and for learning, and creating and sustaining both a safe and orderly environment and an environment rich with high expectations for both behavior and performance albeit teacher or learner.

If we focus on these things, we will not only see learning improve, we will see the “choice” gap close so that each learner has the skills, knowledge, and experience to choose their future – their destiny.

Failed learning as well as the failure to learn hurts students, families, and communities. When the adults charged with the responsibility to ensure students not only learn but also excel in their learning fail to authentically and accurately assess and report student performance, we as a society fail – this is neither the aim nor purpose of education.

We know better!

We must do better!

"No Time"

“… if you want to change and improve the climate and outcomes of schooling – both for students and teachers, there are features of the school culture that have to be changed, and if they are not changed, well-intentioned efforts will be defeated (Seymour Sarason, 1996).

Borrowing from the 70’s Gold Record recording group The Guess Who, there’s No Time when it comes to the work we must do. The time is now!

Over the next two weeks, our ambitious plan for Human Capital Development and Capacity Building will begin to take flight.

Beginning with the Total Instructional Alignment work – the work to align Common core to the North Carolina Standard Course of Study followed by Leadership training in the four strands of the Learning Development Center work, the Anson County Schools will take an unprecedented step toward equipping our staff – all staff with the skills, knowledge, and experience to ensure each learner is successful.

The first two-day seminar of the Learning Development Center will focus on cultural literacy. Bringing into full focus, the cultural literacy seminar will connect the dots of the vision “all means all” and the learning for all mission with the Strategic Commitments as well as the other anchor documents and initiatives. All told, the cultural literacy seminar will raise awareness, create understanding, and create the context for the in-depth learning of curriculum alignment, power of teaching instructional practice, and the formative, summative assessment strategies.

By November, all instructional staff will have completed the cultural literacy strand. The plan tentatively calls for the first of the four-day seminars to begin at the end of January. Weaving the three strands of curriculum, instruction, and assessment literacy is instructional technology. To assist with instructional literacy will be our partners Apple, Discovery Learning, and A+ Educators.

Staff, beginning at AHS will learn to effectively implement Challenge Based Learning (CBL) as an instructional methodology incorporating mobile learning (aka Laptops) as the chief means of delivery.

However well intended, the Learning Development Centers are, the impact and eventual effect of learning will be evidenced only if the learning is applied authentically and with fidelity. There is no time for feelings or personal preference. The learning must result in changed thinking, changed behavior, and changed results.

Those captaining the Learning Development Centers must navigate the dissonance, reluctance, and apprehension of adult learners. No matter the resisting forces that are perceived to delay, obstruct, or prevent learning, these captains of change must persevere – no mater what – no time!

To assist the Learning Development Center Coordinators will be the building administration. Without question, building administration must live up to responsibility, accountability and authority necessary to ensure deep implementation through relentless monitoring.

Though not the only means for building capacity in our principals, we will leverage both the Learning Development Centers with other learning opportunities to ensure that, in fact, principals have the skills, knowledge, and experience to produce different results.

There is simply no time for best intentions, excuses, or explanations as to “why” performance is not improving.

Lastly, the role of central leadership must also shift – no time. I can no longer spend time building capacity of central office to accept and embrace the mantel of leadership including the responsibility for classroom let alone school level performance.

This is serious work that requires serious people that understand that there is no time for any thought that central office is some respite from “real” work or a reward for anything less than accomplished leadership. There is no time!

As we prepare for the upcoming weeks of adult learning, two questions must be at the forefront – constantly and consistently. They are:

1. If we are to improve, what must I do differently?

2. If we are to improve, what must we do differently?

There is no time to wallow in historical explanations of excuses for not performing at higher levels. It begins with each individual then each grade level, each subject area, each school, each department permeating throughout the system and community.

There is no time better than right now, right here to make this happen.

“Deep Implementation, Relentless Monitoring”

As I begin my fifth year in Anson County I take pause to reflect on how far we have come in our journey to become a high performing school system. Knowing full well that we have literally only taken small albeit significant first steps toward realizing the vision of all means all.

The challenges of creating at best and shifting at worse the mindset that we can, we will, and we must ensure that all students are prepared for “the next” through mastery of the basic skills of reading, writing, and Algebra is not easy.

Incredible as it may seem the work of cultural transformation resulting in all students demonstrating mastery has greater resisting forces than driving forces. Chief among these is the belief that our students cannot and will not choose to learn. This belief is pervasive and permeates throughout the implementation or lack of, powerful, evidence based, results producing practices and programs.

Our failure to implement to fidelity cannot be limited to beliefs alone. Deep implementation requires frequent, consistent, constant monitoring, relentless if you will by building administration, central office, and peers.

Yes, peers!

Until educators accept and embrace the reality that they have a responsibility to one another – an accountability to one another to implement effective practice, implement programs to achieve classroom, grade level, subject level, school wide, and system wide success, we will not move closer to achieving our mission.

The history of educational reform is replete with examples of limited success. More often or not, results from reform have been contextual and thus limited in utility and import. However, in the few examples of successful reform, evidence of not only changed mindsets but changed behaviors were ubiquitous.

The behaviors were undeniably, uncompromising, and unwaveringly focused on instruction not structure.

Additionally, the changes were not singular. That is, there was no one-way or right way – no single initiative, no single answer, or no single solution that caused the change. Rather, change was produced from a multilevel strategy driven by first and foremost a vision of a preferred future.

I shared at the Leadership Advance that we could if we really wanted to eradicate illiteracy in three years. We have put in place the programs to assist us. Now more than ever we need the behavior and practice of teachers and building administration supported by central administration to implement to fidelity.

Deep implementation occurs when one sees the vision.

Relentless monitoring occurs when one sees the vision.

Beyond seeing it is “owning” it.

The vision of all means all is derived from the school effects research also known as the correlates of effective schools. These correlates, when consistently and constantly present and practiced, paint a picture of the work of teaching and learning accomplished – completed.

When unpacked, the correlates provide an in depth look at the beliefs and behaviors of educators albeit classroom teacher or administrator committed to the learning for all mission.

More often or not, the vision of public schools is distorted or obscured by the obsession with test scores. The mission is convoluted as well by mixed oft competing purposes that at the end of the day are merely whims or the fancy of the day but don’t amount to the enduring habits of learning that are time proven.

The confluence of the economy and increased pressure from DPI with the reality that our school system and all its’ subparts must perform to higher standards is opportunity knocking.

If we are able to harness these factors along with shifting or changing mindsets to the vision of “all means all” and the learning for all mission we will achieve deep implementation.