The Olmsted Falls Continuous Improvement Process

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The Olmsted Falls Continuous Improvement Process

• From District Leadership to Building Leadership

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Objectives of Discussion

• Answer these questions
• How does this fit in with the other stuff?
• What is SPDG?
• What is the function of a District Leadership
  Team?
• What is the function of a Building Leadership
  Team?
• What are we trying to accomplish?

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Student Learning
Assessment
Instruction
Academic Content Standards/Learning Targets
Professional Learning Community
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• Mission
• Shared Vision
• Shared Values
• Goals
• Communication
• Clarity

• Assessment
• Systematic Interventions
• Collaborative Teams
• Focus
• Results
• Conflict

Professional Learning Community
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Ohio Leadership Advisory Council
Beliefs/Assumptions

• The purpose of leadership is the improvement of
  instructional practice and student performance,
  regardless of role
• Ohios leadership system must be anchored in
  teaching and learning, focused on building
  community, and directed to ensuring the success
  of all children and
• A common and collective understanding of
  essential practices or behaviors is needed to
  create a coherent leadership development system.

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SPDG District Requirements

• Establish DLT/BLT
• Examine leadership team structures/practices in
  accordance with OLAC
• Use the Ohio Improvement Process and Data
  Framework to identify areas of greatest need and
  probable causes contributing to needs
• Develop a focused plan with a limited number of
  goals and strategies
• Submit plan for external review and make
  modifications based on feedback received
• Implement the plan
• Monitor the plan for implementation fidelity and
  impact

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Why Leadership Team Structures?

• Shift focus from a single individual to a team
  that can function as a purposeful community
• Distribute key leadership functions
• Align and focus work across the system using few
  district goals
• Ensure effective leadership is exercised at all
  levels of the system

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Leadership Defined

• Ohio Leadership Advisory Councils Framework

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Cause Effect Analysis

• What results do we currently get (Effect)?
• What are the antecedents (Cause)?

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Leadership Team Primary Functions

• DLT
• Set performance targets aligned with district
  goals, and monitoring performance against the
  targets
• Build a foundation for data-driven decision
  making on a system-wide basis
• Design system planning and focused improvement
  strategies/structures/ processes
• Facilitate the development/use of collaborative
  structures
• Allocate system resources toward instructional
  improvement

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Leadership Team Primary Functions

• BLT
• Build a school culture that supports effective
  data-driven decision making
• Establish priorities for instruction/achievement
  aligned with district goals
• Establish priorities for instruction/achievement
  aligned with district goals
• Provide opportunities for teachers to learn from
  each other greater opportunity for teacher
  leadership
• Monitor/provide effective feedback on student
  progress
• Support the development, implementation, and
  monitoring of focused SIP

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Why use this framework?

• Findings from a sample of effective and not so
  effective districts

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Summary Profile Results forSix Pilot Districts
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Reference to the Six Critical Areas
The SID instrument identifies the SYSTEMATIC
practices and policies in these areas.

• Alignment with State Standards
• Instructional Practices
• Environment/Climate
• Leadership
• Professional Development
• Data-Driven Decisions

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Findings Common Weaknesses

• Instructional Practices
• Limited higher order thinking skills
• Lessons geared toward tests not engaging to
  students
• Limited inclusion of SWD/gifted programming
• Limited differentiation of instruction
• Inconsistent implementation/non-sustained

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Findings Common Weaknesses

• Environment and Climate
• Highest scoring across all districts
• Need to emphasize high expectations for students
  and staff
• Parent involvement needed at all levels
• School
• District
• Home

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Findings Common Weaknesses

• Leadership
• Communication is key
• two-way
• transparent
• Ineffectual building/district leadership teams
  (if they exist)
• Top-down management of district
• Limited balanced leadership
• Board and union leadership not aligned

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Findings Common Weaknesses

• Professional Development
• Limited alignment with building/district needs
• Not job-embedded
• Limited time for collaboration within or across
  grades
• Coaching not used effectively

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Findings Common Weaknesses

• Data-driven Decisions
• Beginning to analyze data very student based
• Limited use of data to drive instruction and
  intervention
• Resource allocation not reviewed regularly
• Limited building level input in budgeting

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Next steps

• Diffuse the OFCS district plan
• Create a BLT structure
• Conduct a Cause/Effect analysis at the building
  level to look for evidence regarding why we get
  the results that we do (both achievement and
  growth)
• Set a very limited number of building goals that
  are in alignment with District CIP and building
  vision and mission