"Understanding Why"

At our Convocation I presented, again our theory of action (What + Why + How = Results). It has not changed since our journey together began. The difference today compared to our first days together is that many things have become clearer – especially the “whats”. Simply put, the “whats” are the expectations or inputs into our system.

The North Carolina Standard Course of Study (NCSCOS) collectively is the “what” for teaching and learning in every LEA, school, and classroom in North Carolina. Every statute, policy and community expectation lead us back to the NCSCOS.

The “whats” also serve as the center of our accountability system. The results we achieve through our students are measured against the expectations of our community as well as the state – right, wrong, or indifferent. We are accountable for the level of performance – student learning and achievement that meets or exceeds the standards in the NCSCOS.

The standards inclusive in the NCSCOS are neither arbitrary nor optional. Argumentatively, they may or may not represent everything that an educated individual should know and be able to do. They do; however, represent what our state has said is the minimum that each student in North Carolina must demonstrate proficiency in to graduate from high school.

That being said, our leadership work in the Anson County Schools is to continue to raise awareness, understanding, and implementation of the standards including for each grade level and subject throughout the system. Leadership must ensure that each teacher is using the pacing guides that were created, in part, by our staff. Additionally, leadership must make sense of the common formative assessments including benchmark assessments to inform teaching as well as student progress toward meeting standard.

The intensity, consistency, and constancy of attention that building leadership places on the implementation of the aforementioned will to a large degree determine the results we will experience in June 2011. For the first time in many of our educators experience we, as a system, have the pieces in place to drive and achieve unprecedented student achievement. Again, this will be determined by the determination and commitment of building leadership to dive deep into implementation of the tools we now have.

The “whats” are not pacing guides, common formative assessments or benchmark assessments. They are “hows”. We have several “hows” in place to deliver the NCSCOS.

The assessment tools are critical to inform our progress including the effect of instruction in real time. Additional tools are the myriad instructional strategies including differentiated instruction, co-teaching, Cornell notes, graphic organizers, word walls, etc. We also have powerful technology based supplemental instructional programming to assist with delivering the NCSCOS.

With the “whats” clearer and the “hows” aligned to the “whats” the factor that is the difference maker is the “whys”.

I am not sure that each individual or as a collective we understand the “whys”. Let me go so far as saying that we have pretty much assumed educators understand the “whys”. Yet, it is now very obvious in the decisions, behaviors, and attitudes throughout our system that there is significant disconnect attributed to “why” we are engaged in this work. The NCSCOS is THE “what” and the importance of fidelity in the “how”.

Our understanding the “whys” will be the determining factor about student achievement. It is not socio-economics or the home environment. Rather, it is our response to these formidable but not insurmountable challenges driven by our individual and collective understanding of the “whys” that will champion the day for each learner.

So, each of us must know “why” we are here. We must know “why” we are using the strategies we use and equally know under what conditions they work and don’t work. We must know “why” without making excuses, explaining away, or dismissing our responsibilities to ensure success for each learner.

"See It, Own It, Solve It, Do it"

Recently I was provided a tremendous gift – time to reflect precipitated by a leadership dilemma. This dilemma allowed me a phone conversation with a mentor, friend of many years. I reminisced of lessons learned under her leadership and how over the years my own leadership skill, knowledge, and experience were influenced by coaching, mentoring, correction when necessary, candid and oft brutally honest feedback, and incredible timely support.

There were times when the door closed and I was allowed to slip into “playing victim” and simply but naively “vent” my frustrations without judgment. After one particularly good vent I recall being asked, “Well, hmm, that does seem to be frustrating, now what are you going to do about it?” I remember looking for just a little more sympathy and acknowledgment of how just unfair the whole situation was, etc.

“What are you going to do about it?” These were not the words I wanted to hear. Frankly, I wanted it to go away. Ever feel that way?

It was about that time I was introduced to the Oz Principle: Getting Results Through Individual and Organizational Accountability by Roger Connors, Tom Smith, and Craig Hickman.

“The Oz Principle shows how to overcome The Blame Game that is so prevalent in organizations today. By taking the Steps to Accountability and helping people See It, Own It, Solve It and Do It,^® the authors help people take accountability and move Above the Line^® to take ownership for overcoming obstacles and getting results.

The book spells out how to capture the power of positive accountability by helping people at every level of the organization ask the question, “What else can I do?” to achieve the result” (http://www.ozprinciple.com/self/ozPrinciple.php).

The Oz Principle is certainly a must read for any current or aspiring leader. More importantly understanding and application of the accountability principles personally and professionally are as germane today as when they first appeared in print.

More often or not leaders inherit problems, issues, challenges, and situations that weren’t of their doing or choice. Nevertheless, they exist. The challenge is what to do with this reality?

The most challenging step in positive accountability is ownership. We don’t want to own something we didn’t create. As I am reminded, every solution to a problem creates a new set of problems that don’t often manifest themselves until sometime later (this is where the successor shakes their head in absolute wonderment of what the predecessor was thinking – a chapter in my book titled “What were they thinking, anyway?”).

We have had the blame game played out before our eyes on both the national and international level. We desperately want leadership to lead rather than point fingers at past decisions or people. We desperately want leadership to lead by taking ownership of the problems, issues, and challenges facing us a nation.

Educational leadership is no different. There is a human cry for leadership to "own" persistently low performance of way too many of our students.

Is it possible that the solutions and implementation of many of our programs have failed to achieve the results we desire for lack of ownership of the problem?

Positive accountability is proactive not reactive. The most pressing ownership, therefore, is to own our results and proactively address the deficits and poor performance. No more blame. No more excuses. No more lack of ownership – we own it whether we created it or not. Now, the question is more a matter of courage, conviction, and commitment.

"9 Ways - 9 Times"

What is good weather?

How many different responses would you get if you ask one, ten, one hundred, or more individuals? Would there be some common descriptions? Probably. Would they each be same? Hardly. Teetering on the obvious, we all have different opinions about what constitutes “good” weather.

What about effective communication?

Akin to defining and describing “good” weather, effective communication is literally defined, interpreted, and judged by the individual.

Imagine, therefore, an organization – any organization that is dependent upon effective communication – how can they (we) ensure effective communication with our employees as well as all stakeholders albeit student, parent, community member or other?

First and foremost I know that we have to be extremely clear about our intentions as well as expectations about “what” we communicate, “why” we communicate, and “how” we communicate. Underpinning our engagement and communication plan is a philosophical foundation composed of an unwavering commitment to view information as something like air – natural, in abundant supply, and ubiquitous (ever-present). Information is not a commodity that can be exercised at the discretion of whoever possesses it. If we are to achieve our mission, information and communication is paramount.

The adage of “9 ways – 9 times” comes from a practice that there is no one best way to communicate – no best medium, form, practice, or design. Thus, we are committed to employing the 9 ways - 9 times approach with the best hopes that one or more of the nine ways will meet your expectations.

However, disseminating information is but only one factor in effective communication. We have intensified our efforts to make authentic “two-way dialogue, conversation, listening as well as hearing” staff, parents, students, and community a priority.

To assist us we have partnered with K-12 Inisght to systematically and systemically develop protocols to solicit input, feedback, opinions, perspectives, recommendations, and etc. on several key topics, issues, and concerns by, for, and of the Anson County Schools.

We have also partnered with Mary Jo McGrath and her program, SUCCEED to assist our school system and community in building greater skills and practice in listening and communicating.

We have also partnered with Mariner, a Charlotte based company that specialize in organizational intelligence to assist us in communicating organizational performance in “real time” in all aspects of our Strategic Commitments.

Last spring we activated “Give us your Feedback” link on our website that is intended for anyone (internal or external) to give us specific feedback, solutions, and etc. about our school system.

This fall each of our parents in grades Pre K-6 and in subjects Algebra and Geometry (other subjects will soon be available) will receive a Parent Guide that specifically articulates what each learner is expected to learn and how their learning will be assessed.

Monthly our parents can expect a letter about events, activities, and achievements from their student’s principal. Our community can expect the “Inside Your Anson County Schools” quarterly that features the work of many of our departments as well as other timely district information.

Parents, students and staff are familiar with our Blackboard Connect-Ed system that communicates upcoming activities and events as well as daily attendance and emergency information often due to inclement weather.

Suffice: “9 ways - 9 times” is alive and well in the Anson County Schools. Yet, we can and must do more to ensure no parent, staff, student, or community member does not have accurate and timely information.

Moreover, we must ensure that each individual has the opportunity and access to provide feedback, input, opinions, perceptions, or suggestions to assist us in the work of “all means all”.

Results Matter: Learning Matters More!

The results are in – they tell us a lot about our decisions, choices, and preferences. As we reflect, study, and unpack these results our decisions, choices, and preferences illuminate brightly. In several cases, the decisions, choices, and preferences were “spot” on – they resulted in student learning and achievement as envisioned. However, in far too many cases the decisions, choices, and preferences were, well, wrong!

On the surface, we can take the percentage of students that met or exceeded proficiency and conclude we made the right decisions about curriculum, instruction, and assessment. We can stretch our conclusion to include engagement, relevance, and rigor in our instructional methodology. Further, it is not unreasonable to include alignment, intentionality, focus, commitment, and effort as key actions underpinning our decision-making.

Diving under the surface, however, reveals inconsistency and in many cases incompetence. Inconsistency in the decisions, choices, and preferences by a significant number of educators albeit central office, building administration, or classroom teachers is a “just” conclusion of the results.

I would like to believe that we’ve shifted paradigms from blaming students, parents, and the environment to accepting these as formidable but not insurmountable challenges impacting teaching and learning. Yet, it is more our response to the aforementioned and thus decisions, choices, and preferences about teaching and learning in this context that creates inconsistencies in our classrooms, schools, and school system.

Incompetence does not mean what many think.

We must accept that incompetence is natural. Huh? Yes, whenever we are learning something new, engaging in change we are incompetent. It takes time and practice to develop a competence. One of the most fascinating aspects of the human brain is the innate drive for competence. In all aspects of our lives, humans strive for competence. We don’t like to be incompetent – in any aspect of our lives – but we are.

In a moment of personal disclosure, I am completely incompetent with “video” games. My sons know that if they want to practice (building their competence) with a new game – they get Dad. They absolutely destroy me. I generally get frustrated and lose interest quickly. They have learned that I choose not to play given my incompetence. Sadly, I haven’t surrendered my pride to live the incompetence necessary to learn.

In many respects we have learners in our classrooms that relate – they want to be competent. In a like manner, we have teachers, administrators, and central office staff that desperately want to be competent.

Competency requires humility –

Competency requires risk –

Competency requires time –

Competency requires practice –

Competency requires incompetence –we need to accept and embrace that we will be incompetent at learning anything new, different as well as when we are asked, required to change practice. Unlike my “video” gaming experiences, we cannot choose not to build competence.

Building competence is at the core of learning – thus, we must be learners as well as the facilitators of learning. To that end, the results of our teaching and learning efforts are the perfect starting point to begin the journey towards competence. Now more than ever we need humility, risk, time, and practice to build our competency in those practices that work – effectively for each learner.

Lastly, competency also requires abandoning those practices that don’t effectively work. Thus, the pursuit of competency is an exercise in courage, commitment, and conviction. This pursuit demands deliberate decisions, choices, and preferences that more often or not will produce an initial state of incompetency.

Our results suggest we are in the stage of incompetency with the implementation of several initiatives – we must be diligent in our learning to realize fidelity of these initiatives and programs.

Results do matter but learning matters more!

Moving from Uncertainty to Confidence

The student learning and achievement results for 2009-2010 can be summed up with two words – inconsistent implementation!

A year ago the results achieved reflected a more focused alignment. Much effort was made and continues to align standards, curriculum, essential vocabulary, pacing guides, and effective instructional practice. However the implementation of the alignment of these critical, essential components varies as evidenced by results.

Diving deeper into the data, however, does show growth and in many cases high growth of student learning and achievement. Yet, the failure to “make” annual yearly progress (AYP) is akin to bittersweet. Schools not making AYP each demonstrated 85% or higher in meeting or exceeding growth and high growth targets. In some cases schools not meeting AYP out performed schools that did but not in the areas included in the calculus of AYP.

Nonetheless, inconsistency of implementation is a chief obstacle in meeting or exceeding expected and desired student learning and achievement results not to mention increasing consistency. Teetering on the obvious, we can either increase consistency or continue with the inconsistency and hope to get different results.

We have for the most part lived a life of uncertainty resulting in little or no confidence in improving student learning and achievement. Truth be known, we know what doesn’t work. The dilemma or possible delusion that many staff face is simply “knowing what they know” and changing practice even with the reality that what is being done doesn’t work is, well, daunting to say the least.

However, we can’t afford to live in uncertainty.

We may not know all that works effectively but we do know enough that if we give ourselves permission to be what our students are – learners, we can move from uncertainty to confidence.

Therefore a first step in moving from uncertainty to confidence is accepting and acknowledging inconsistent and ineffective practice. We now have several tools to inform both teachers and learners of progress toward meeting or exceeding standard in real time. We no longer have to wait until EOG/EOC results are reported to assess whether or not a strategy, practice, or program was effective. We have invested heavily toward increasing our collective competence in moving data from information to knowledge to wisdom for decisions to improve teaching and learning.

A second step is making an unwavering commitment to implementation. Though it may sound draconian, we don’t have time for folks to make decisions as to whether they “like” or “believe” in this or that. If we know “this” or “that” works and consistently produces the expected or desired results than “we” do it. To ensure fidelity administration must be clear in our expectations, monitoring, feedback, and assessment of implementation.

There are several examples in our system where inconsistent results reflect inconsistent implementation. No other program typifies this practice as much as Make Your Day (MYD). MYD works effectively and efficiently. Without exception where MYD is deemed ineffective the root cause is implementation not the program.

When we introduced MYD to our system we left wide-open the option for any school to choose not to do MYD. The option remains today. In fact, principals will be provided the option to opt out given one very important reason – the lack of consistent implementation. The inconsistency in some classrooms with MYD has little if anything to do with students – the students get it. Sadly, ineffective instruction can be attributed to the same cause – inconsistent implementation.

Why?

Great question.

Fundamentally, the greatest challenge of implementation is our value and belief system. Thus, the test before us is whether our value and belief system - the purpose, intent, and mission of education is such that we will abandon ineffective practices to implement effective practice.
Maybe Forest was right – implementation is as implementation does!

Truth Telling is a Two-Sided Coin

When was the last time you seriously consider the brand – Anson County Schools? What is our brand? Moreover, what are our brand deliverables? Literally every product or service has a brand. Companies, businesses, non-profits, and even our government have brands. Millions if not more are spent each year on “branding and brand management. Brand deliverables along with the brand experience create customer loyalty resulting in repeat sales, profit, and of course, good will. There is of course a negative side – if your brand and the brand experience is not positive there are deep, enduring, and often severe consequences.

Schools and school systems are late into the brand and brand management thinking. This hits home for the Anson County Schools in at least two areas if not more. For example the number of parents that choose to educate their children elsewhere (South Stanley, Union County, private, or home school) is a symptom of negative branding and brand experience. Another example is supporting a new high school. As the conversation about a new high school increases in intensity the negative brand and brand experience of Anson High School also increases.

How do we change our brand and brand experience?

First, let’s start with our thinking -
When you think of the Anson County Schools, what comes to mind? Is it positive or negative?
When your friends think and talk about the Anson County Schools, what words do they use to describe their schools?
When you think about the school system’s deliverables what comes to mind? What do you expect? Require?

The concept of branding and managing the brand experience are critical. Interestingly enough, branding and brand management heavily depend on employees as well as customers (recipients of a product or service).

We have been engaged over the past 36 months in changing our brand and much of this has to do with managing a new brand – a brand based on performance, results, effectiveness, efficiency, and “all means all”. Yet, in spite of these things we have individuals in our community that prefer to hold fast to the old brand – the brand of failure, low expectations, mediocrity, and low performance.

One of our strategies has been that of “truth telling”. We have put our performance data out with an agenda of transparency. Performance data with respect to teaching and learning, discipline, suspensions, and budget. Our intention has been clear. That is, we want our community, our staff, our parents, and our students to know our current reality. Yet, in some cases reality is a matter of perspective in spite of the data.

A challenge to improvement is myopic sight. It is very difficult to see beyond ones’ own perspective or viewing point. I think this challenge is possibly greater than any other obstacle. I fear that the inability to look and see with new eyes will continue to limit the needed commitment for our vision to achieve our mission as well as to live out our convictions. It seems convictions are easily espoused but difficult for some to live.

We must not accept such a limited view of the outstanding effort, work, and accomplishments achieved this year as well as in years past. We need to pay attention to our brand and brand experience.

It starts with us. What words do we use to describe the Anson County Schools? In the name and practice of transparency we are obligated to tell the positives, successes, and improvements along with those areas needing improvement or areas that did not perform to our expectations. Truth telling is a two-sided coin. Yet, more often than not the negative is told and fixated upon.

If our brand is negative, I wonder why?

Pressing On

Thought, Comment, or Observation

For any who believe we need to take our foot off the accelerator or even put the brakes on to all we are doing to improve teaching, learning, and leadership need only to present evidence that we have achieved our mission. I will certainly yield to the data.

Our evidence – student performance data for 2009-2010 will soon become a matter of public record. It will be released to our students, staff, parents, community, and state. These results will tell a story – or at least a chapter in a story about convictions, commitment, courage, and character.

This chapter – 2009-2010 will include successes and disappointments. This chapter will show growth – growth in every area. We will see schools making Annual Yearly Progress in every target area and others achieving many but not all.

The data – numbers and statistics are devoid of faces, names, and all that is human. This data, at the end of the day will cause people to make judgments, draw conclusions, and affix blame. Lost in these translations is a reality that numbers simply do not capture the humanity underpinning teaching and learning.

In that vain, numbers cannot be easily dismissed either. We cannot offer excuses, justifications, or rationales for continued under performance or continued poor performance. We must use the data to unpack the deficiencies in an unwavering commitment to inform and improve our work – the work of teaching.

In the past 36 months and as detailed in previous chapters (2007-2008 and 2008-2009), we have done much to begin alignment of standards, curriculum, instruction, and assessment but must intensify our efforts to get this in place.

Similarly, we must intensify and accelerate the work with common formative assessment and the benchmark assessment work to ensure alignment of standards, curriculum and instruction.

The answer to how is yes! We must press on!