Welcome to Change and Transitions

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Welcome to Change and Transitions

• As you are getting settled, please do the
  following
• Read through the historical quotes concerning
  change (the green sheet in your handouts
  immediately behind the powerpoint slides).
• Select the one quote that most closely
  represents your current feelings about leading
  change
• Jot down a couple thoughts as to why you
  selected that particular quote

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• MANAGING CHANGE AND TRANSITIONS TO IMPROVE
  STUDENT LEARNING
• A focus on RtI

John Vail, Ed.S. Kalamazoo RESA September 10, 2009
jvail_at_kresa.org
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Primary Sources

• Diffusion of Innovations Fifth Edition
• Everett M. Rogers, 2003.
• Managing Transitions 2nd Edition Making the
  Most of Change
• William Bridges, 2003.
• Balanced Leadership School Leadership that
  Works
• Mid-continent Research for Education and Learning
  (McREL), 2006.
• Professional Learning Communities at Work Best
  Practices for Enhancing Student Achievement
• Richard DuFour Robert Eaker, 1998.
• Influencer The Power to Change Anything
• Patterson, Grenny, Maxfield, McMillan,
  Switzler, 2008

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What changes and initiatives have you experienced
during your careers in education?
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Reasons for failure?

• The change moved too fast
• The change lacked strong principal leadership
• The change was too big
• The change was top-down without buy-in from the
  staff
• Gains were celebrated too soon urgency was lost
• Schools were unwilling to change
• Leaders failed to develop a critical level of
  support

• The change moved too slow
• The change relied too heavily on a strong
  principal
• The change was too small
• The change was bottom-up without the support of
  central admin.
• Gains were not celebrated and momentum was lost
• Schools took on every change that came along
• Leaders mistakenly insisted on overwhelming
  support

Based on ideas from DuFour Eaker
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Social Competence, Academic Achievement, and
Safety
Outcomes clearly defined Communicated
OUTCOMES
Supporting Decision Making
Information
Supporting Staff Performance
SYSTEMS
Formative Assessments Goals, decision rules
Time, PD, Collaboration
PRACTICES
Researched and Evidence Based practices
Supporting Student Performance
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A Brief Overview

• Change is a way of life
• Change is hard
• Not all change is for the better
• Not all change is possible
• Even the best of changes often have unintended
  consequences
• There is a predictability to change
• in terms of process
• in terms of peoples response
• There are things you can do as leadership to
  increase the likelihood of success and
  sustainability of change

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Change is Hard!

• Faced with the choice between changing ones
  mind and proving that there is no need to do so,
  almost everybody gets busy on the proof.
• John Kenneth Galbraith, American Economist

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Activity- Change is Hard!

• Scurvy and the British Navy

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Processing Question

• Scurvy
• Why do you think it took so long for a change
  that clearly produced desirable outcomes to
  become a way of doing business?

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The rest of the story

• Why were the authorities so slow to adopt the
  idea of citrus for scurvy prevention? Other,
  competing remedies for scurvy were also being
  proposed, and each such cure had its champions.
  For example, Captain Cooks reports from his
  voyages in the Pacific did not provide support
  for curing scurvy with citrus fruits. Further,
  Dr. Lind was not a prominent figure in the field
  of naval medicine, and so his experimental
  findings did not get much attention. While
  scurvy prevention was generally resisted for
  years by the British Navy, other innovation, such
  as new ships and new guns, were readily accepted.
  So the Admiralty did not resist all innovations.
  
• Obviously, more than just the relative
  advantages of an innovation, even when its
  benefits are clearly demonstrated, is necessary
  for its diffusion and adoption.

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A little closer to home

• The are numerous varied schools across the
  country who are being extremely successful
  substantially improving the learning of all of
  their students (especially the at-risk
  populations).
• These schools have all made similar substantive
  changes in the way they do business.
• Leaders in these buildings have succeeded because
  of an intense and unrelenting focus.

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What hill are you willing to die upon?
"The credit belongs to those who are actually in
the arena, who strive valiantly, who know the
great enthusiams, the great devotions, and spend
themselves in a worthy cause who, at the best,
know the triumph of high achievement and who, at
the worst, if they fail, fail while daring
greatly so that their place shall never be with
those cold and timid souls who know neither
victory nor defeat." Theodore Roosevelt
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The Hill that is RtI

• Write the title or a brief description in your
  own words that describes RtI on the worksheet
  provided

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Not all change is beneficial

• Any given change or initiative might
• focus on the wrong thing
• propose practices that are inefficient or
  ineffective

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Example from the world of special education
services

• Intervention Eff. Size
• Match Instruction with
• aud/vis strengths .03
• Focus on right brain-
• left brain processing .04
• Instruction based on
• cultural learning sty. .00

• Intervention Eff. Size
• Explicit instruction
• and prob. Solving .70 1.50
• Comprehension
• Strategies 1.00
• Formative assessment
• and graphing 1.00

Information compiled from Daniel J. Reschly,
Ph.D., Vanderbilt Univ.
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Youre kidding! You count MEAPs!
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What do we know about RtI?

• Is RtI necessary?
• Whats the evidence?
• Is RtI effective?
• What is the evidence?
• Is RtI efficient?
• What is the evidence?

In small groups, please discuss and develop the
answers to the questions above on your
worksheet.
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Not all change is possible

• Any given change or initiative might
• not be supported/communicated/held accountable to
  results
• be one more in a series or combination of
  initiatives (Christmas Tree Schools)

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Not all change is possible.

• Changes of any sort even though they may be
  justified in economic or technological terms
  finally succeed or fail on the basis of whether
  the people affected do things differently.
• Bridges, 2003

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Does RtI

• Have commitment from leadership?
• Have the resources (or at least the potential for
  the resources) to be successful?

Take a few minutes to identify the evidence that
the commitment and resources exist. Identify any
competing initiatives that may detract. If the
answer is no to either, how might you set the
stage for success?
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Howdy PardnerThis school aint big enuf for the
both of them. Dealing with the issue of
competing intiatives.
Find a partner from another district or location.
Use the question guide to interview your
partner. Take notes to share.
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Unintended consequences

• Technology
• Snowmobiles, computers, and cell phones
• Environment
• Tortillas, eggs, and global warming
• Education
• Your examples

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Unintended Consequences and what to do

• Before committing to an initiative, do your
  homework
• Invite multiple perspectives
• Try to think in terms of secondary impacts
• Perform cost-benefit analyses
• Determine proven effectiveness for your specific
  needs
• Once decided, move decisively but realize that
  unforeseen consequences are just thatunforeseen.
  Be flexible.

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Looking ahead

• What are the possible unintended consequences
  of implementing RtI?
• Take a few minutes to jot down anything you might
  have to watch out for.

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The Good News

• There is reliable predictability to change.

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Predictability in the Change Process Stages of
Innovation-Decision (Rogers, 2003)

• People who are a part of the change need
• 1. Knowledge
• 2. Persuasion
• 3. Decision
• 4. Implementation
• 5. Confirmation

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Knowledge

• Individuals consciously or unconsciously avoid
  messages that are in conflict with their existing
  predispositions
• Selective Exposure
• (Individuals) seldom expose themselves to
  messages about an innovation unless they first
  feel a need for the innovation perceive it as
  relevant and consistent with their attitudes and
  beliefs.
• Selective Perception

Rogers, 2003
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Knowledge

• Awareness Knowledge information that an
  innovation exists
• How-to Knowledge information necessary to use
  an innovation properly
• Principles Knowledge information dealing with
  the functioning principles underlying how a
  principle works

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Knowledge

• Change agents could perhaps play their most
  distinctive and important role in the
  innovation-decision process if they concentrate
  on the how-to knowledge.
• Consideration of a new idea does not go beyond
  the knowledge function if an individual does not
  define the information as relevant to his or her
  situation, or if sufficient knowledge is not
  obtained

Rogers, 2003
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Persuasion

• At the persuasion stage, people seek messages
  that reduce uncertainty about an innovations
  expected consequences. (Rogers, 2003)
• Sometimes it is necessary for change agents to
  create a demand for the change by creating a
  discontent with the current reality and
  developing a vision of a more attractive
  reality. (McREL, 2006)

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Decision

• Individual or group engages in activities that
  lead to a choice to adopt or reject an innovation
• Most individuals do not adopt an innovation
  without first trying it out on a probationary
  basis to determine its usefulness in their own
  situation.
• A demonstration or pilot site can be quite
  effective in speeding up the diffusion process.

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Implementation

• Involves overt behavior change as the new idea is
  actually put into practice
• Reinvention (changes or modifications to an
  innovation by the users)
• Pros
• Faster rate of adoption
• Higher degree of sustainability
• Cons
• Loss of integrity of implementation
• Could lead to ineffective practice in terms of
  outcomes

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Confirmation

• Humans often seek to get rid of the discomfort of
  change by confirming their new direction or
  behavior.
• Data can serve as the evidence that the change
  was either positive or negative.

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Activity The Principal as the Change Agent

• Read the scenario.
• Find evidence of each of the five stages of the
  innovation-decision process.

• Knowledge
• Persuasion
• Decision
• Implementation
• Confirmation

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What is needed for RtI?

• What knowledge will people need in order to
  accept and implement an RtI model in your schools?

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What is needed for RtI?

• Who will need persuasion and what will that
  persuasion look like?

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What is needed for RtI?

• What is needed to support a decision to try?
• What possibilities can you create for trial runs
  or pilot sites

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What is needed for RtI?

• How much reinvention is allowed?

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What is needed for RtI?

• What kinds of data/information will be needed to
  confirm the effectiveness of the change?

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Predictability in the peoplePeople and Their
Responses to Change

• The Innovators
• The Early Adopters
• The Early Majority
• The Late Majority
• The Laggards

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Categories by Rate of AdoptionEverett M. Rogers
Early Majority
Late Majority
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Early Adopters
Laggards
Innovators
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13.5
2.5
TIME
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Brief Characteristics by Innovator Type

• Innovators venturesome, tend to be out of the
  local circle of peer networks, able to work with
  a high degree of uncertainty about an innovation
  at the time they adopt
• Early Adopters considered by many to be the
  person to check with, respected by peers, role
  model, maintains central position in the
  communication networks of the system, listen to
  and seeks out research and experts.

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Brief Characteristics by Innovator Type

• Early Majority deliberate, interact frequently
  with their peers but seldom hold positions of
  opinion leadership.
• Late Majority skeptical, pressure of peers is
  necessary to motivate adoption, system norms must
  favor an innovation before they are convinced to
  adopt.
• Laggards traditional, tend to possess almost no
  leadership opinion, point of reference is what
  has been done in the past, tend to be suspicious
  of changes and change agents.

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Things to keep in mind

• Categories are specific to the innovation being
  initiated. People can change categories for
  different innovations.
• Innovators and Early Adopters tend to seek out
  experts and listen to research.
• The early and late majority look to the early
  adopters, and not the experts, for their reasons
  to change.

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Where are You?

• On the Graph provided, identify where you would
  place yourself at this point in time in regards
  to RtI.

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Magnitude of change

• A change is defined by the implications it has
  for the people expected to implement it and/or
  those who will be impacted by it.
• Important!!
• The same change can be perceived differently by
  different stakeholders!
• Leaders sometimes underestimate the impact and
  reaction to change or do not manage the
  transitions well.

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Order of Change (McREL, 2006)

• First order changes are changes that are
  perceived to be a continuation and refinement of
  existing beliefs and practices. They can be
  implemented with current knowledge, skills, and
  resources.
• Second order changes are changes that are
  perceived to be a significant break from current
  practices and will require new knowledge, skills,
  beliefs and/or resources.

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First or Second Order?

• Based on the list created at the beginning, can
  you identify people for which your particular
  change would be
• A first-order change (i.e. an extension of what
  they already do, are, believe in )? Why?
• A second-order change (i.e. a significant break
  from what they already do, are, believe in )?
  Why?
• Add this information to your worksheet.

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Predictability in the Transition ProcessThe
Three Phases

• To start, you must end
• A time of uncertainty is to be expected and
  embraced.
• The new beginning is a time to establish focus
  and a new sense of purpose.

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Three Phases of TransitionWilliam Bridges
Time
The New Beginning
The Neutral Zone
Ending, Losing, Letting Go
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Understanding Transitions

• I have learned how self-defeating it is to try
  to overcome peoples resistance to change without
  addressing the threat the change poses to their
  world.
• Change is situational, transition is
  psychological. It is the transitions that will
  do you in.

Quotes from Managing Transitions 2nd
Edition William Bridges
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The First Phase The Ending

• Letting go of the old was and the old identity
  people had

The failure to identify and get ready for
endings and losses is the largest difficulty for
people in transition leads to more problems for
organizations in transition than anything else.
William Bridges Managing Transitions
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How to get people to let go

• Identify who is losing what
• Accept the reality and importance of the
  subjective losses
• Dont be surprised at overreaction
• Acknowledge the losses openly and sympathetically

William Bridges Managing Transitions
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How to get people to let go

• Expect and accept the signs of grieving
• Compensate for the losses
• Give people information repeatedly
• Define what is over and what isnt

William Bridges Managing Transitions
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How to get people to let go

• Mark the endings
• Treat the past with respect
• Let people take a piece of the old way with them
• Show how endings ensure the continuity of what
  really matters

William Bridges Managing Transitions
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How to get people to let go

• Finally, whatever must end, must end! Dont drag
  it out. Plan carefully, allow time for healing,
  but make sure that the action is large enough to
  get the job done!

In taking possession of a state, the conqueror
should well reflect as to the harsh measures that
may be necessary, and then execute them at a
single blowCruelties should be committed all at
once. Niccolo Machiavelli, Italian Political
Philosopher It doesnt work to leap a 20-foot
chasm in two 10-foot jumps. American Proverb
William Bridges Managing Transitions
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On your worksheet

• Write a statement describing what is changing,
  what practices need to stop and what practices
  will take their place.
• How will this be communicated clearly and
  repeatedly?

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Keys to Responding to Resisters(DuFour Eaker,
1998)

• Assume good intentions
• Identify specific behaviors essential to the
  success of the initiative
• Focus on behavior, not attitude. Monitor
  behavior.
• Acknowledge and celebrate small victories
• Confront incongruent behavior with specific
  concerns and communicate logical consequences.

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Behavior Attitude Interaction

• There is a large literature base demonstrating
  that attitudes follow behavior. People accept
  new beliefs as a result of changing their
  behavior.
• Pfeffer and Sutton

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Behavior Attitude Interaction

• Attitudes in this world are not changed
  abstractly attitudes are partly the result of
  working, attitudes are partly the result of
  action. You do not fold your hands and wait for
  attitude to change by itself.

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Dealing with Resistance

• Please read about Henry in
• A Story
• Identify what the principal did to move Henry
  from a resister to a participator.

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Willingness to Lead

• A common failing of leaders at all levels is the
  failure to be emphatically assertive when
  necessary. Abilities to persuade, build
  consensus, and utilize all the other arts of
  influence are important but they dont always
  do the job. Sometimes it simply comes down to
  using the power of ones position to get people
  to act.
• Daniel Goleman

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The Second Phase The Neutral Zone

• The psychological no-mans land between the old
  reality and the new one

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Dangers of the Neutral Zone

• Anxiety rises and motivation falls
• Productivity suffers
• Old weaknesses reemerge with a vengeance
• People are overloaded and get mixed signals.
• People become polarized (poorly managed, this can
  lead to terminal chaos)
• Organization is vulnerable to attack from the
  outside and sabotage within

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Helping people through the Neutral Zone

• Normalize
• Redefine
• Create temporary systems
• Strengthen communications and relationships
• Use the time creatively (leaders should model
  this start with yourself!)

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The Third Phase Launching a New Beginning

• A start can and should be carefully planned.
  Starts take place on a schedule as a result of
  decisions
• The Four Ps

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The Four Ps

• Purpose
• Clarify and communicate
• Picture
• Give them a vision
• Plan
• This is not a plan for the change but a plan for
  the transition (should be detailed,
  person-oriented, and step-by-step)
• Part
• Integrate and show people how they fit into the
  new scheme

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InfluencerPatterson, Grenny, Maxfield,
McMillan, Switzler, 2008

• The influencing process
• Find Vital Behaviors
• Changing Behavior/Changing Minds
• Make the Undesirable Desirable
• Surpass Your Limits (training)
• Harness Peer Pressure
• Find Strength in Numbers
• Design Rewards and Demand Accountability
• Change the Environment

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Vital Teacher BehaviorsThe Story of Ethna Reid

• Please read the story of Ethna Reid.
• What are the vital teacher behaviors Dr. Reid
  determined to have the largest impact on student
  learning?

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Be Very Clear in Your Direction

• If you cry, Forward, you must make it clear the
  direction in which to go. Dont you see that if
  you fail to do that and simply call out the word
  to a monk and a revolutionary, they will go in
  precisely the opposite directions.
• Anton Chekhov, Russian Writer

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Reinforce the New Beginning

• Rule 1 Be consistent
• Rule 2 Ensure quick successes
• Rule 3 Symbolize the new identity
• Rule 4 Celebrate the success

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Something to Consider

• Schools that take the plunge and actually begin
  doing the work develop their capacity to help
  all students learn at high levels far more
  efficiently than schools that spend years
  preparing through reading or even training

DuFour et.al. 2006
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Another Thought

• Disjointed starts and stops involving too many
  discrete and disconnected initiatives seldom make
  a significant or long-term impact. They do,
  however, keep everyone busy and create the
  illusion of motion.

DuFour et.al. 2006
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Identifying Next Steps

• Looking at what you have written on your
  Planning for Change Worksheet, please identify
  
• the first thing(s) that you must do to increase
  the chances for success of RtI in your
  schools/district.
• the resources or support that you believe would
  be most helpful.
• BE READY TO SHARE.

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Some final quotes for thought

• Where we all think alike, no one thinks very
  much.
• Walter Lippmann, American Journalist
• Beginnings are always messy.
• John Galsworthy, British Novelist