School Improvement Team Training

1
School Improvement Team Training

• Tiverton School Department
• 2007

2
Focus Areas

• The Role of the SIT
• Team Development
• Building Effective Teams
• Protocols for Working Together

3
The Definition of An Effective School
Improvement Team

•  The School Improvement Team is a cross-section
  of teachers, students (at the High School level),
  parents, and community members.
• It is an action-oriented team focused on student
  performance. It does this by looking critically
  at what happens in the school and designing plans
  to improve performance based on data.
• Who develops a plan (annually), which is based on
  the needs of the school, as determined by
  district, school and classroom data, and
  observations of instruction by all members of the
  team.
• Who develops Action Steps that result in
  measurable changes in teaching and learning.
• Who monitors the progress of these action steps
  and reports progress to parents and community on
  a regular basis.

4
The Role of the SIT
Complete a Self Study
Develop the School Improvement Plan
Implement the Action Steps
Monitor Progress
Report Progress
5
Building School Improvement Teams

• Teams should represent the diversity of views of
  the school community
• Interested in increasing student achievement for
  all students
• Optimum number between 7-20
• Balanced number of teachers, support staff,
  students, parents, business and community members
  who represent the ethnic, racial, and economic
  make-up of the community

6
Essential Guidelines

• Everyone works for the good of all students
• The School Improvement Plan is valued
• as a tool for school improvement
• Communication is open and honest
• Everyone participates and everyone is important

7
Building a Team

• Each Fall, the building principal seeks new and
  continued membership on the School Improvement
  Team- this includes parents, community members,
  and students (for middle and high school)
• A brief description of the roles,
  responsibilities and scheduled is provided.

8
Working Together

• Establish a Schedule
• Who Will Facilitate?
• Develop Team Norms
• Determine a Processes

9
Establish a Schedule

• Teams meet as often as necessary to complete the
  work.
• Most teams meet once or twice a month.
• Times should be selected that will maximize
  participation of all members. Meetings may be
  scheduled at alternate times.
• A calendar for the year should be developed and
  shared with teachers and families.

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Who Will Facilitate?

• A facilitator, co-facilitator, and secretary
  should be appointed.
• The facilitator can be a parent, teacher, or
  community member who is responsible for
  organizing materials for the meeting and
  facilitating the conversation, based on the
  agenda.
• The co-facilitator will fill in if the
  facilitator is not present
• The secretary will take notes and send
  communications to team members

11
Developing Team Norms

• Norms will help the team to work effectively.
  They should be written on chart paper and hung up
  at every meeting. Norms should be referred to
  when necessary to get the conversation back on
  track
• Sample of Team Norms
• Start on time
• Have an agenda
• Listen actively
• No side deals or conversations
• Respect differences of opinion
• End on time

12
Determine A Process for Decision Making

• Consensus is a decision making process for
  resolving conflicts in a constructive manner.
• It is based on willingness to consent and
  support, rather than on voting.
• Allows for ownership of ideas by all team
  members.
• It acknowledges that not every decision will meet
  with everyones complete approval.

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The Importance of Consensus

• Although you may not agree with every part of an
  idea, you agree with most of it, and more
  importantly, you are willing to support it and
  allow it to be tried for a while.

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Rules for Building Consensus

• Avoid arguing for your own position.
• Dont assume someone must lose and someone must
  win. Look for the next most accepted
  alternative.
• Avoid conflict reducing techniques such as
  majority votes, average, coin toss or bargaining.
• Ask people to explain their thinking to better
  understand their position.
• Seek out and respect differences of opinion.

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4 Rules of Decision Making

• You must participate in the decisions that affect
  you.
• You cant make decisions that affect someone else
  without involving them.
• Coming to consensus means living with the
  decision until it is reversed by the team.
• You are responsible for the effects of your
  decision, so it is your job to make sure it is
  appropriate and realistic, based on the resources
  available and the organizational structures .

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The Principals Role

• Guides the school improvement process by
  providing the team with information related to
• Strategies for organizational change
• Student and school achievement data
• Research based practices
• Focuses the team and the school community on a
  shared vision for school improvement and action
  steps that are measurable and attainable for the
  school, staff, and students.

17
Remember

• Before a team can effectively set and manage
  the educational direction of its school, its
  members need to work together to develop a shared
  vision and understanding of improvement for their
  school- where they are going, and how they will
  get there.
• The School Improvement Plan is this road map.