SLO's...Student Learning Outcomes

One of the many things I did this week, was attend a state session on the new Educator Effectiveness process. I am pretty thick into the Professional Practice piece as I have piloted the process with three teachers this school year. I am also using Danielson's domains and rubrics as part of my feedback for all teachers on the supervision and evaluation cycle. Part of the expected evaluation process for 2014 includes teachers and teams establishing student learning outcomes. The concept is basically SMART goals for everyone.

I have started to prepare the Waukesha North High School staff for these new measurements by having them come up with PLC SMART goals this year. Where I believe we currently lack fidelity is in the old adage "what gets measured gets done". Our administrative team has not monitored the SMART goals at the mid-checkpoint and I am not sure that my teachers have monitored themselves in this area?

So, what does this all mean?

These SLO's should include a measurable baseline, a measurable target, a specific time frame, specificity about what is being assessed, specificity about the method of assessment, and focus areas.
There is a rubric that will measure whether or not you have met expectations for student growth in your SLO. Does your evidence indicate substantial growth for most of your targeted student population? Have you fully achieved the expectations described in the SLO and demonstrated notable impact on student learning?

As full implementation of the Educator Effectiveness model is required in 2014, we need to practice and reflect NOW on how this will happen.

Instructional Rounds in Education

I finally finished this book that Jason Smith gave me several months ago, called Instructional Rounds-A Network Approach to Improving Teaching and Learning. I am excited by this collaborative approach to system success because it leads to student success. I am encouraged by the feedback I have received from several North teachers who have taken advantage of visiting their colleagues' classrooms, thanks to the prompting of our Instructional Coach, Amie Farley.

Waukesha North, I believe, has finally reached that "aha" moment, that closed classroom doors will not help us educate all students to high levels. What goes on in classrooms is at the heart of instructional improvement, and a key part of our continued growth is growing our collective efficacy when we visit each others classrooms and then reflect upon what we have observed.

This process had been slow to start, but if the invitation to visit classrooms did not result in awkwardness and disequilibrium, it would not effect any significant cultural transformation.

As Principal, it is my responsibility to foster a culture that creates a safe space for individual and organizational learning. During visits, the goal is to learn about teaching, not to focus on teachers. A key part of this work is building trust and collective efficacy. This opportunity has enormous power to unlock peer learning, to support improvement in our instructional core, and support one another in improving instruction for all of our students.

Instruction is at the core of our school improvement efforts. Even if we start with three simple questions:

1. What are teachers doing and saying?

2. What are students doing and saying?

3. What is the task?

If people associate their learning not only with their own growth and development, but also with those of their colleagues and the entire organization; and if trust and collective efficacy are at the center of our culture, then the conditions are conducive to adult learning, which is a prerequisite for instructional improvement.

A sincere thank you from myself...and from our students...for embracing a collaborative learning culture that will ultimately lead to improved teaching and learning and collective success for not only all of us, but most importantly for all our students.