Beyond Islands of Excellence

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Beyond Islands of Excellence

• What Districts Can Do to Improve Instruction and
  Achievement In All Schools

2004 Grantmakers for Education Conference Judy
Wurtzel, Learning First Alliance
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The Learning First Alliance is a permanent
partnership of

• American Association of Colleges for Teacher
  Education
• American Association of School Administrators
• American Federation of Teachers
• Association for Supervision and Curriculum
  Development
• Council of Chief State School Officers
• Education Commission of the States

• National Association of Elementary School
  Principals
• National Association of Secondary School
  Principals
• National Association of State Boards of Education
• National Education Association
• National PTA
• National School Boards Association

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Key Questions

• How to move beyond individual high-performing
  schools to high-performing school districts.
• Role of professional development in systems
  change.
• Roles of stakeholders in systems change.

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LFA Study Districts

• Aldine Independent School District Houston,
  Texas
• Kent County School District Chestertown,
  Maryland
• Chula Vista Elementary School District Chula
  Vista, California
• Providence Public Schools
• Minneapolis Public Schools

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Findings

• Shared student-focused vision
• Shared by superintendent and board
• Made concrete and used by stakeholders
• System-wide approach to improving instruction
• Central office focused on what it could do best
  building instructional framework
• Leadership at all levels connected practice

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Findings

• Professional development embedded in system-wide
  approach to improving instruction
• Curricular guidance on what to teach
• Data guides PD content
• Robust corps of principal and teacher
  instructional leaders
• Supports for new teachers
• Research-based PD principles and implementation
• 4. Decisions based on data, not on instinct
• Diagnosed instructional problems district could
  solve
• Multiple measures
• Provided usable data and trained in use

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Findings

• Redefined and distributed leadership roles
• Boards focused on policies that supported
  instruction
• Central office created infrastructures to support
  instruction
• Principals were trained as instructional leaders
• Teacher leaders provided principals and teachers
  with additional instructional support
• Commitment to sustain reform over the long haul
• Multi-year efforts
• Consistent leadership
• When leadership changed, continuity of approach

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District Challenges and LFA Responses
Challenge Equity and staffing Response
Initiative on staffing high-poverty,
low-performing schools Challenge New
expectations and roles grafted to an old
system Response Initiative on reciprocal
accountability that defines new roles,
responsibilities and performance indicators for
an improved system Challenge Long-term public
support and investment Response Initiative to
promote support for public education
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Building Public Will

• Looked at Americas values and perceptions of
  public education
• Context
• declining confidence in all public institutions
• increasing demand for accountability, efficiency
  and transparency in all sectors
• Increasing demand that services are
  individualized and reflect personal values

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Practical Guide to Promoting Americas Public
Schools

• In addition to academics, connect public schools
  to values most important to the public hard
  work, respect, responsibility
• Demonstrate accountability and transparency
  including fiscal responsibility
• Describe concrete benefits of public schools for
  individuals and society
• Engage parents and offer clear expectations of
  parental support for childrens learning

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For more information on research studies on
improving districts see

• Beyond Islands of Excellence(2003), Learning
  First Alliance, www.learningfirst.org.
• Foundations for Success(2002) Council of the
  Great City Schools and MDRC, www.cgcs.org.
• Equity-Driven Achievement- Focused School
  Districts(2000) and Urgency Responsibility ,
  Efficacy(1998), Charles Dana Center at University
  of Texas at Austin, www.utdanacenter.org.
• School Districts and Instructional Renewal
  (2002), Hightower, Knapp, March and McLauglin.
• Supporting School Improvement Lessons from
  Districts Successfully Meeting the
  Challenge(2003), Educational Research Service,
  www.ers.org.

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For more information and copies of Learning First
Alliance publications please visit

• www.learningfirst.org

Judy Wurtzel Learning First Alliance 202-296-5220
x 12 wurtzelj_at_learningfirst.org