Implementing Change at Mitchell

Editor's Notes

• #11: The IPDP process is designed to capitalize on personal and professional reflection, as well as the appropriate use of data to determine both the need for, and the impact of, professional development. The guiding questions and journal-like format of the IPDP Workbook will prompt participants to take charge of their own learning in the greater context of their community, district, school and classroom, and determine what they need in order to be successful with their students and colleagues.
• #13: The IPDP will provide teachers with an individual plan for the intensive review of their own teaching practice through job-embedded learning and collaborative problem solving.
• #14: Over the last five years schools and districts have been under enormous pressure to improve student achievement scores on state accountability assessments. This has left little space for individual teachers to reflect on their own learning needs and the needs of their students. Learning is a process of social participation; it shapes what we do, who we are, and how we interpret learning both as individuals and an organization (Wenger, 2002). The National Staff Development Council (2008) defines professional development as, “a comprehensive, sustained, and intensive approach to improving teachers’ and principals’ effectiveness in raising student achievement” Based on these core beliefs: confidence in teachers as capable and competent learners, the belief that educators are most effective when they use their minds as active learners and problem solvers, and that improving student achievement is a gestalt that requires more than the learning and practice of individual educators The NSDC definition of professional development challenges educators to depart from traditional practices and consider new models of professional learning.
• #15: In the IPDP, teachers develop a meaningful professional learning goal, design appropriate learning experiences and cultivate their ongoing professional development by gathering evidence and reflecting on the effectiveness of their learning on students.
• #17: There is not the teacher turnover typical of most schools in Isaac School District. The majority of the teachers at Mitchell have remained, and some are products of the district themselves, self-proclaiming a devotion to serving the students in the population they came from. Teachers are committed to supporting the school’s vision over the long haul, but there are many factors that blind them from holding a shared vision of the future. There is genuine care for serving the community, and with it comes concern about falling short of their hopes for Mitchell students and families. Teachers at Mitchell have been lucky to serve under a dynamic and supportive leader for several years. However, Linda has made the decision to step down next year as principal. The shared vision of Mitchell school has been lofty at best, and without a recommitment to a shared vision, the vision will leave Mitchell school along with its leader.
• #18: Mitchell school educators will need to engage in a flow of meaningful dialogue, collaborating to explore patterns of learning and communicating that undermine the success of the organization. Professional learning communities are founded on this critical discipline (DuFour et al, 2004).
• #19: To align teachers’ individual learning goals with the district goal of developing professional learning communities, teachers will need to collaboratively explore the factors most heavily contributing to these challenges. Through multiple and consistent opportunities to come together, teams can surface the issues that are important to them and learn together while exploring individual and collective solutions.
• #20: To align teachers’ individual learning goals with the district goal of developing professional learning communities, teachers will need to collaboratively explore the factors most heavily contributing to these challenges. Through multiple and consistent opportunities to come together, teams can surface the issues that are important to them and learn together while exploring individual and collective solutions.
• #21: Few adults pursue rigorously a high level of personal mastery (Senge, 1990). A teacher in pursuit of personal mastery would be clarifying those things that matter most, envisioning that as reality and consistently pursuing the passions that guide them towards that reality, a notion that is at the core of professional goal-setting. In a school where mandated professional development is the norm, and where teachers haven’t had a choice in professional development in over 10 years, few authentic opportunities exist for pursuit of personal mastery.
• #22: The IPDP has embedded in it, opportunities to reflect on small successes throughout teachers’ pursuit of small, attainable goals, while cultivating the drive for pushing practice forward.
• #23: Professional Development in Isaac School District has been overly dictated, determined and driven by the goals of a body of individuals governed by societal and political demands. The term ‘accountability’ has led teachers to form a mental model of what accountability looks like in their teaching context. To teachers whose effectiveness ha been determined by student test scores, ‘accountability’ may imply conformity. To teachers who have been held to scrutiny of disaggregated classroom data, ‘ownership’ may imply personal accountability. To teachers who have felt little ownership in decisions influencing teaching and learning, ‘stakeholders’ may imply external evaluation of conformity. These words will affect the degree to which teachers embrace or resist the innovation. Therefore, I will need to remain cognizant of the words I use to introduce the IPDP and remain aware of how the context influences their interpretation by teachers. I will maintain open and invitational in my approach and avoid words that may be interpreted as top-down, rather than bottom-up.
• #25: The threat of not making AYP is a single snapshot of events in the scope of what is happening at Mitchell Elementary School. When approaching change, Senge (1990) says an organization needs to shift their thinking to seeing how our actions create the problems we experience. Learning organizations need to be a place where individuals are continually seeking a connected reality, and creating ways to change it (Senge, 1990).
• #26: Planning for meaningful professional development opportunities for Mitchell teachers is already underway for the 2009-2010 school year. As Linda and her leadership team map out their yearlong plan for professional development, they are already considering how they will align school and district mandated professional development programs with opportunities for teachers to explore their teaching and reflect on what is working, especially in light of the disappointing student test scores in 2008-2009. It will be important to continue thinking systematically, not myopically, about the influence professional learning will have on teachers’ ability to see and explore patterns in their own learning in order to have a greater impact …
• #27: … on student learning.
• #30: “ How do Mitchell teachers view the importance of professional goals when faced with so many other dilemmas and challenges in their school already?” They will have not been required to complete formal professional goals in the past. While school and district goals exist, goals are not viewed by all stakeholders, nor do they possess a shared vision for student success. Goals are typically passed down from the top rung of administrative offices. Professional development is mandated and teachers are required to attend and implement teaching strategies and curriculum that is delivered in a series of top-down delivery through scheduled professional learning days. The urgency for change that exists at Mitchell is the need to look at the role of data differently. When achievement scores no longer tell the complete story, what data can be gathered to measure the impact of teaching efforts? How can teachers explore the data that is delivered to them, and data that is self-generated to build teaching efficacy and empowerment in a context that is perceived as so restrictive? Einstein reminds us, “The formulation to the problem is often more essential than the solution” (Wagner, 2006, p 2). Teachers will be interacting in grade level teams to authentically unearth student needs in the classroom and explore opportunities for professional growth, formulating individual and collective solutions along the way.
• #31: In the IPDP process, progress monitoring will not be the sole responsibility of administrative leader. Teachers will be guided through a process of self-discovery and inquiry, measuring the effectiveness of their decisions along the way, and reflecting on future decisions. However, under an umbrella of a leader who understands what good teaching looks like, and supervision that supports a focus on improving instruction, teachers will grow professionally in ways that foster student growth. The IPDP will provide an alternative method of measuring a teachers’ impact on student growth in a format that can benefit both the teacher’s ability to self-monitor and assess, and the administrator’s guidance and support of best practice. Before meeting with the principal again, I will write a letter (Appendix A) expressing my support for her leadership and the project. This letter will be written with the intent to establish a shared understanding of each person’s role in the project and to clarify the outcomes of the research study and consent required of participants (Appendix B).
• #32: Prior to the first interaction with teachers on August 4, 2009, I will again meet with the principal and the teacher leader to discuss the plan for the first staff meeting of the school year. I will outline my data gathering timeline and solicit their feedback, modifying my timeframes according to their school calendar as needed. They are the more reliable source for understanding the context, climate and culture of the school, therefore I will gather their input and advice regarding my initial approach to introducing the IPDP. I will inquire about teachers’ past experience with professional goal setting, and choices with professional development. Before my first interaction I will also conduct a pre-survey (Appendix C) exploring the degree to which professional goal setting is valued or embraced as a meaningful indicator of student impact. Based on this information, I will carefully plan my first interaction with teachers according to the advice they contribute.
• #33: Therefore, I will need to remain cognizant of the words I use to introduce the IPDP and remain aware of how the context influences their interpretation by teachers. I will maintain open and invitational in my approach and avoid words that may be interpreted as top-down, rather than bottom-up.
• #35: I will immerse myself as much as possible in the school culture and attend all grade level meetings and staff meetings, observing, gathering field notes and conducting interviews as teachers implement the IPDP into their collegial conversations.
• #37: The IPDP Workbook promotes cultivation of designing, planning, analyzing and reflecting on personal learning through the Architecture of Professional Development Planning woven throughout the design of the workbook.
• #43: Leading for systems change will require systems thinking building upon all five of Senge’s (1990) disciplines. Without shared vision Mitchell teachers will lack a commitment to the change initiative. They may see the change as the vision of the district or the school, or even of the principal, but not ever own the vision as part of who they are as educators and life-long learners. Without team learning, opportunities will not exist for teachers to develop a shared understanding of practice through sharing newly acquired skills and professional learning they received. If collegial interaction is absent or made available too infrequently, changes made in their practice may be limited to their own individual perspectives, limiting potential for growth. Without personal mastery, people may lack the personal motivation to see other points of view, leading to the likelihood that teachers will place external blame, deny, or find a scapegoat for problems as they arise. Without full exploration of teachers’ honest perceptions of professional development through mental models, teachers may not recognize their own shortcomings or areas for improvement, and they may get caught in the vicious rut of “nothing new under the sun” or “this is just the same old, same old, under a new name.” This could be an impediment to the change initiative if mental walls interfere with the teachers’ openness to the innovation. Teachers will need to see their connection to the larger organization, including their part in, and part from the learning organization.
• #44: Leading for systems change will require systems thinking building upon all five of Senge’s (1990) disciplines. Without shared vision Mitchell teachers will lack a commitment to the change initiative. They may see the change as the vision of the district or the school, or even of the principal, but not ever own the vision as part of who they are as educators and life-long learners. Without team learning, opportunities will not exist for teachers to develop a shared understanding of practice through sharing newly acquired skills and professional learning they received. If collegial interaction is absent or made available too infrequently, changes made in their practice may be limited to their own individual perspectives, limiting potential for growth. Without personal mastery, people may lack the personal motivation to see other points of view, leading to the likelihood that teachers will place external blame, deny, or find a scapegoat for problems as they arise. Without full exploration of teachers’ honest perceptions of professional development through mental models, teachers may not recognize their own shortcomings or areas for improvement, and they may get caught in the vicious rut of “nothing new under the sun” or “this is just the same old, same old, under a new name.” This could be an impediment to the change initiative if mental walls interfere with the teachers’ openness to the innovation. Teachers will need to see their connection to the larger organization, including their part in, and part from the learning organization.
• #53: It is clear that sustainable change cannot happen quickly (Senge, 1990). The wide disparity of beliefs, values, and assumptions held by the participants in my study will ultimately determine the degree of acceptance, rejection, or “lip service” paid to the IPDP. As teachers talk around the innovation, they will formulate opinions based on past experience, perhaps resulting in implementation that reveals itself in varying formats. The IPDP is intended to be a tool by which educators can formulate a plan for growth and discovery, not a template or restrictive instrument. Perhaps it is the failure to recognize the human propensity for constructing learning that is unique and personal that causes real change in the area of professional development to falter. When reform is perceived as falling under the guise of prior programs, policies, or practices associated with names of those deemed “unsuccessful,” push back is certain. As names and words associated with these past reform efforts surface in both the personal psyches and collective conversations of educational groups, greater obstacles are likely to emerge. I must be open to the resistance that is likely to occur in both what I anticipate, and what I never saw coming. This will require me to be responsive in my approach and modify my implementation to meet the needs of educators in the process of constructing their own learning environments.