The Game Plan

We are entering into the final five days before our students get an opportunity to demonstrate their learning for the semester. As a network, we have moved toward proficiency in our practices with intentionality and have seen the benefits for our students. Thank you for your focus, courage, vulnerability, and leadership! We are moving onward and upward and it shows!

In the remaining days this semester, we need to prioritize our time to ensure excellence by:

1. maintaining a safe, welcoming, and joyful learning environment,
2. ensuring aligned, engaging, and student-centered lessons that allot time for going deep with priority standards while spiraling in those that need review,
3. ensuring that teachers are monitoring student work using their sorted roster with out-of-place students identified and excellent exemplars; that they are giving feedback in the moment, and using the data collected to take immediate action in the classroom,
4. continuing to provide intentional and targeted support for struggling teachers to ensure student learning,
5. preparing our students and teachers for an excellent testing environment with a written plan and expectations so that we "practice perfect" for success, and
6. planning for excellent, aligned, and responsive professional development and data analysis in January.

It is easy to get distracted this time of year, so the challenge is to stay focused on our priorities and maximize every minute. I am confident that with intentional focus and monitoring, our students and teachers will produce excellent results.

DREAM TEAM!!

In this issue:

Distributed Leadership:

Continued focus on ACP Plan Implementation and ACP Testing Plan

Instructional Excellence:

Aggressive Monitoring is Formative Assessment

Values-Aligned Systems & Structures:

Addressing and Maintaining Staff Culture

We will continue to maintain our focus on implementing effective ACP plans that ensure our students are ready to demonstrate what they have learned this semester. Lessons should be student-centered and designed with the right balance of going deep on high-priority standards and reviewing mastered standards.

ACP Action Plan--> Ensuring that all actions outlined in the Out of Place Meeting are implemented with fidelity.

1. Quality aligned lessons, bell-to-bell instruction for next 10 days. No TESTING
   
1. Teacher Support Plans
2. Exemplars are high quality and used effectively to provide feedback
3. AgMo implemented with Fidelity
1. AgMo Walks
4. Student Conferences around ACP Goals
5. Positive and joyful environment- add joy to ACP Plan by incentivizing at all levels from AP- to Student

The testing environment is one key to student success. All students need to be afforded the opportunity to do their best in a quiet, organized, well-lit, and monitored testing environment that is appropriate for their educational needs. Principals should review plans based on the feedback give last week and plan for training and communication of the plan.

We want everyone to "practice perfectly" during ACP testing, so the testing environment needs to be set up like it will be for STAAR. Students should be reminded to take their time, use their strategies, and do their best. Teachers should be actively monitoring within the ACP guidelines. Staff should be monitoring the hallways and bathrooms as appropriate, and leaders should have a schedule to walk classrooms, monitor, and collect data using a checklist (see below). Use the data collected on the first morning walk to make immediate adjustments and adjustments to subsequent days of testing.

We have all heard of formative assessment in our professional careers and hopefully understand it as assessment that informs instruction. Therefore, we USE what we learn from formative assessments to TAKE ACTION to improve student learning. This happens by identifying the gaps between what we expected students to learn and what they demonstrated that they learned. Then, we plan for how we will give feedback, intervene, or reteach to fill the gap. Often, this involves planning for a future lesson versus addressing the gap during the current lesson.

Aggressive Monitoring is a type of formative assessment that happens in the moment. It begins with an excellent exemplar that provides very clear expectations for mastery. Then, we remind students how to prioritize and focus their work by announcing the specific things we are looking for as we come around to review their work and provide immediate feedback.

We know that many of our students come to us with academic gaps. John Hattie's research proves that immediate feedback can double the speed of learning and, therefore help us close gaps for students.

Speed of learning doubles following effective feedback. Feedback should be just in time, ‘just for me’ information and delivered when and where it has the best benefit. ~John Hattie

Dylan Wiliam concurs and makes a case for using the data collected to address trends we are noticing as soon as we can. Therefore, when a teacher sees that several students are struggling with the same misconception, she can use "show call" to quickly identify the error for the whole class and demonstrate how to correct it.

The shorter the time interval between eliciting the evidence and using it to improve instruction, the bigger the likely impact on learning. ~Dylan William, 2016

As we finish out this semester and move into the spring, time will seem to fly. Our focus has to be on making sure that our teachers understand deeply how aggressive monitoring impacts student learning. We have to move away from compliance to authentic commitment t practices that have a positive impact on student learning and increase the speed at which students can master and apply key concepts.

Stress is high among our teams as semester testing and the holidays loom. We know that campus culture is a super lever and the adults are key in its success.

In Chapter 6 of Leverage Leadership, Paul Bambrick-Santoyo describes five strategies for a successful staff culture. One of his core ideas is that

Great leaders maintain strong staff cultures by remaining continually on the lookout for warning signs. They look for signs of stress before those signs become larger problems.

I encourage you to review the strategies below and the chapter in the book with your team and look for areas that may need your attention now.

1. Set the vision. Wisely design a clear and palpable vision for the work environment in your school.

2. Get the right people on the bus. Without great people, little else matters. Ensure your vision helps drive your hiring. (Note: this can apply to mid-year restructures as well if current staff are not in the right seat on the bus)

3. Put a stake in the ground. Reflect your commitment to developing a strong staff culture by prioritizing it from the first interactions of the year. (Note: this is the perfect time of year to conduct a well-rationalized reset if staff behavior is not meeting expectations)

4. Keep your ear to the ground. Look and listen for negative culture warning signs that are coming down the tracks. (Note: Bambrick offers great strategies in his book for addressing negativity in ways that support a positive culture)

5. Lather, rinse, repeat. Staff culture is fragile. If you are not intentional about building, maintaining, or communicating your staff culture, someone else will define it for you.

For most of us, a few reminders, small upgrades, and/or private conversations with address our current staff culture issues. For others, we may need to plan for a larger conversation and/or reset either in specific departments or whole school. Either way, staff culture cannot be ignored and is vital to a great student culture.

Let's finish this semester strong with great staff and student culture systems in tact!

Every week, the SLB Weekly Updates and Elizalde's Essentials will be linked on the Communication Page of the SLB website. (linked below) This is where you will find critical action items, deadlines, and other operational topics. In addition, Ms. Healey will share her insights into how we are moving toward equity and excellence with shout-outs and upgrades to help us grow.

All Campus Leaders need to read these updates and ensure that we are meeting all deadlines and principals need delegate and monitor through distributive leadership and A-Team.

Joanne Frantzen, Ed.D. - Executive Director

Email: jfrantzen@dallasisd.org
Website: www.dallasisd.org
Location: 9400 North Central Expressway, Dallas, TX, USA
Phone: 972-925-3005
Twitter: @spaldingsmom