A continual focus on data is the key to school improvement. There is so much to learn from even the most negative data. This chapter takes a broad look at data sources that are extremely helpful in the school-improvement process. It reinforces the need for regular data review cycles in a PLC, which are necessary to monitor progress along the journey. These data reviews promote authentic ways to measure growth and celebrate small successes of both collaborative teams and students. The only way to reverse a cycle of failure is to celebrate small wins.
Follow the Path Ahead
We acknowledge that all schools are in need of improvement, but some more than others. We believe that if all students can learn, all schools can become models that others emulate. Our intent with this book is to further that cause for every school or district on an improvement journey.
CHAPTER 1
Charting a Course Focused on Learning
Indeed, there are virtually no documented instances of troubled schools being turned around without intervention by a powerful leader. Many other factors may contribute to such turnarounds, but leadership is the catalyst.
—Kenneth Leithwood, Karen Seashore Louis, Stephen Anderson, and Kyla Wahlstrom
It was October at Grant High School when the newly assigned principal realized that 204 of the 264 seniors were not on track to graduate that year. Most of them had not passed the state end-of-year assessment or had failed required courses. As Sharon, the school-improvement coach for the PLC at Work process (DuFour et al., 2016), met with the new principal, it was evident that immediate action was necessary. No student should spend an entire year in school with absolutely no hope of graduating. Sharon and the principal created a spreadsheet to show the current status of each student and each student’s relevant information. The spreadsheet included courses completed, passing of required assessments, days absent, discipline referrals, tardies, and other pertinent data. The principal assembled a team consisting of the principal, assistant principals, counselors, registrar, team leaders, and the coach. The team discussed each failing student to determine his or her most appropriate pathway to graduation—for example, course recovery, night school, GED completion, and alternative options like blended schools or online school.
It became painfully clear that to meet the needs of these seniors, the entire master schedule, student schedules, and even teacher assignments would need to change. Many staff members complained and reminded the principal that schedules were only changed at the beginning of each semester—not in October. The principal met with teachers individually, in teams, and as a whole faculty to discuss the dire need for the changes. She told the stories of specific students to further demonstrate this need. She asked her staff members to put aside their own concerns because the consequences of not earning a high school diploma would be life altering.
She then met with each student and his or her parents to discuss the pathway to graduation that was most appropriate. As the principal and staff agreed on an individual plan for each student, they revised schedules and made appropriate placements.
The school year ended with all but seven students graduating through either the standard pathway or an alternative route. On graduation day, the teachers led the processional in caps and gowns. The student speaker at graduation thanked the teachers and administration and proclaimed, “You believed in me when I did not believe in myself.”
Without the strong leadership of a student-centered principal, this story would have a very different ending. She understood that her priority was to be an advocate for her students no matter how difficult or how many obstacles stood in the way. She was willing to take up the cause with students, parents, teachers, counselors, and even the district office. When the school-improvement coach asked if it was worth all the trouble and effort, the principal answered with a resounding, “Yes! This was the right thing to do, and I would do it again without question” (T. Sanders, personal communication, October 2012).
School leadership matters. Strong school leadership is associated with higher student achievement levels (Branch, Hanushek, & Rivkin, 2013). It is second only to teaching itself among school-related factors that impact student learning. Principals can either support or inhibit the learning of both adults and students.
Determine Vision Versus Reality
All too often the challenges facing a school in urgent need of improvement are numerous and varied. Determining where to start can be overwhelming; yet changes are critical to achieving student success. It takes a focused and intentional leader to create the effective leadership structures necessary to move teachers, students, parents, and community members toward a collective vision of teaching and learning. The goal is to become the effective school that leaders envision rather than settling for a less impactful alternative. A leader cannot simply impose new policies and procedures and expect better results.
In part, leading the task of turning around student achievement can be daunting because it requires second-order change. First-order change is doing more or less of what one is already doing, such as changing bus procedures to ensure a more orderly process or moving teachers of the same course or grade level to closer proximity with each other in the hope of increasing collaboration. First-order change is always reversible. It consists of adjusting the existing structure and seeks to restore balance or homeostasis. It is nontransformational and does not often require new learning. First-order change is change without making a real difference.
Conversely, second-order change is doing something significantly or fundamentally different from what one has done before. The process is usually irreversible. Once it has begun, it becomes undesirable to return to the former way of doing or being. It requires a new way of seeing things and is transformational. Table 1.1 shows examples that demonstrate the difference between first-order change and second-order change. First-order changes are usually strategies, while second-order change requires a shift in deeper philosophical beliefs. Second-order change requires new learning and results in creating a different story about the school. It shifts the culture to a more desired state. It is absolutely essential that underperforming schools understand second-order change. Table 1.1 describes a first-order change or change in strategy, such as creating smaller classes. This change will not result in more learning (or second-order change) unless the teaching philosophy shifts from whole-class to individual learning while establishing new relationships.
Table 1.1: First-Order Change and Corresponding Second-Order Change
| First-Order Change (Strategies) | Second-Order Change (Philosophies and Beliefs) |
| Smaller classes | New relationships and teaching philosophies (from whole-group instruction to an individualized approach to learning) |
| Site-based management | Collaborative ownership (from “This is my classroom” to “This is our school”) |
| Ninety-minute teaching blocks | Extended teaching and learning opportunities to ensure all students learn (from doing more of the same type of instruction to varying instructional strategies) |
| Small learning communities (such as freshman academies or houses) | New interactions and relationships (from students being isolated to creating a system of support) |
| Teaching teams with common planning time | Collaborative teams focused on curriculum, instruction, and assessment (from spending team time planning lessons to focusing on student learning) |
Source: Adapted from Fouts, 2003.
With a clear understanding of the second-order change required, schools can move from a reality of false promises from too many strategy changes to philosophical and belief shifts in a system that actually improves learning. It takes an effective leader to manage this type of complex change and better the lives of students.
Start Now