Sustaining System and School Improvement

I see consultants as the GLUE that holds system and school improvement together. For several years now I have had the luxury to meet with Primary and Secondary schools in the Eastern Region of MACS. They have had PL that has embraced Whole Group – Small Group and individualized learning with me and also their Eastern Regional Consultants. Pre-preparation and attendance by all is a pre-requisite. Julie Stewart talks to me about the hidden benefit of COVID as ZOOM Meetings have kept schools ‘on track’ in learning together in very small, personaliazed groups.

Canadian Leaders, Mike and Elaine, from Manitoba, who meet regularly with leaders across the world doing the CLARITY work, focus on their: 1. Principal Learning Teams: getting CLARITY from learning with others 2. The Learning Fair: how to celebrate the work teachers and leaders are doing 3. The Reciprocity between Reading and Writing 4. And ‘3 Words’ that help set the work in progress for 2022 In this session listen for the 3 Words that create momentum and purpose for leaders and teachers.

Ali Busuttil is the epitome of Parameter #2: Embedded Instructional Leadership. It is hard work because we are asking teachers to refine their practice; to engage in student-centred leadership; and to build relationships, by staying true to the Co-Teaching Cycle. Ali embraces all the Parameters, particularly Parameters # 3 and 13, with a foundational focus on Parameters #1 and #14 – that is, building a culture of learning with an unwavering focus on learning. The stellar outcome is ‘collective teacher efficacy’: with an impressive effect size of 1.57 and, as Hattie says, one year’s growth for one year at school. Kingswood School in Parramatta Diocese has a collaboratively planned, structured approach to school improvement which has really ‘paid-off’ in terms of ALL students exceeding expectations – BRAVO staff, Ali and Trish Reilly, Principal!

Ali Busuttil is the epitome of Parameter #2: Embedded Instructional Leadership. It is hard work because we are asking teachers to refine their practice; to engage in student-centred leadership; and to build relationships, by staying true to the Co-Teaching Cycle. Ali embraces all the Parameters, particularly Parameters # 3 and 13, with a foundational focus on Parameters #1 and #14 – that is, building a culture of learning with an unwavering focus on learning. The stellar outcome is ‘collective teacher efficacy’: with an impressive effect size of 1.57 and, as Hattie says, one year’s growth for one year at school. Kingswood School in Parramatta Diocese has a collaboratively planned, structured approach to school improvement which has really ‘paid-off’ in terms of ALL students exceeding expectations – BRAVO staff, Ali and Trish Reilly, Principal!

Ali Busuttil is the epitome of Parameter #2: Embedded Instructional Leadership. It is hard work because we are asking teachers to refine their practice; to engage in student-centred leadership; and to build relationships, by staying true to the Co-Teaching Cycle. Ali embraces all the Parameters, particularly Parameters # 3 and 13, with a foundational focus on Parameters #1 and #14 – that is, building a culture of learning with an unwavering focus on learning. The stellar outcome is ‘collective teacher efficacy’: with an impressive effect size of 1.57 and, as Hattie says, one year’s growth for one year at school. Kingswood School in Parramatta Diocese has a collaboratively planned, structured approach to school improvement which has really ‘paid-off’ in terms of ALL students exceeding expectations – BRAVO staff, Ali and Trish Reilly, Principal!

Listening to students and really hearing them are two very different things. Last week, teachers from St. Bernadette’s The Basin planned for ongoing assessment of students’ work which led them to celebrate students being able to set clear goals for learning in every subject area. Emma, her teachers and leaders are very impressive! Is Emma assessment -capable?

Students rise to the occasion when teachers and leaders have high expectations for them. It begins with careful and ongoing PLANNING to ensure that each FACE is improving if not soaring! Teachers at St. Bernadette’s demonstrate how precise planning leads to student goal-setting and feeling confident as learners who own their improvement – the astounding results are evidence of CLARITY in teachers’ assessment that differentiates instruction.

I am often asked how do you deal with resistors? This is a key question to unpack if we need ALL staff members to ‘buy-in’ to our core business of improving ALL students’ growth and achievement every day, in every school. There are many reasons why and how we should deal with resistance and resistors. How do you deal with resistors? I would love to hear your thoughts!

Parameter #1 is the easiest to say and the hardest to do. Do we really believe all students can and will learn? The ‘Tiger’ Story says it all. What stories do you have that show you really believe all students can learn?

How good is it when students become teachers!! A Kindergarten student in the Diocese of Lismore is excelling in his Oral Language Development when ‘Learning from Home’!! This student’s impressive growth and achievement just doesn’t happen by chance. It takes careful planning on the part of his leaders and teachers – carefully crafted concepts from the Assessment Waterfall Chart (CLARITY p.124) such as: Learning Intentions, Success Criteria, Descriptive Feedback, Peer- and self-assessment and finally Individual Goal setting. Then students can become teachers to their teachers and peers!

Secondary Science Teacher, Josh Dennis, says it all: Case Management Meetings (CMMs) are ‘terrific Professional Development (PD) for all teachers’. When Data Walls lead to CMMs everyone learns – to express ideas, share instructional strategies, and gather the ‘just right resources’ needed. There must be time during the school day for teachers and leaders to come together at CMMs – and the results are in: students grow and achieve when all teachers know how to teach all students!

In this interview, Principal Geoff McManus talks about the success of the CLARITY Learning Suite which has helped his staff in their ongoing professional development.

Conversation with Jim Coutts about The Clarity Learning Suite. A web-based Professional Learning resource for teachers, leaders and support staff in systems, schools and classrooms who want to learn how to focus on ALL FACES of our learners to increase their growth and achievement. Register your interest: www.claritylearningsuite.com

Lyn is speaking with Principal Frank Dame , Macs – Eastern Region, Victoria - who reflects on ‘what has changed’ since he and his staff began the CLARITY journey some years ago. Listen in while Frank gives a detailed account of what classrooms have become and how Learning Walks and Talks for teachers, leaders and parents have made ‘classrooms as canvases of learning’ a reality. Graphics related to this conversation can be found at my Instagram site. https://www.instagram.com/reel/CTE1PXqnx6c/

All ‘Learning Teams’ work when they are organic and begin with co-constructed Operating Norms and Protocols that point to the commitment of the members. In this FF session, Karilyn Gumley, Consultant with MACS, Victoria, Australia discusses Principal Learning Teams with me (CLARITY, 2019, Chapter 9, pp 323-329). All ‘Learning Teams’ of teachers and leaders are powerful and dynamic when they have clear, purposeful visions and explicit support for each member’s Collaborative Inquiry questions.

Everyone is an Instructional leader! We must all know the ‘look-fors’ of quality teaching and learning – and see them in every classroom, K-12. When everyone is a leader, they know the importance of using the CLARITY Tools to be consistent, persistent and insistent that quality assessment practices inform differentiated instruction in every classroom. Have a listen as Consultant Kerry Bratby, from Melbourne Archdiocese – Eastern Region, asks me about Instructional Leadership.

In an Interview with Carol Grinsted, MACS, Victoria, Lyn explores daily Learning Walks and Talks (LWTs) as an instructional leadership tool for both leaders and teachers to use to move from ‘pockets of excellent practice’ to ‘school-wide excellence in classroom practice’. LWTs are powerful when used as a non-evaluative tool to grow practice in every school and system. The 5 questions are useful in collecting data on how well students are taking ownership of their learning. They also inform leaders’ and teachers’ next steps in staff members’ Professional Learning.

Lyn explores a frequently-asked interview question: ‘What is the difference between growth and evaluation?’ Without getting too technical or scientific, Lyn explains how both are valuable when evaluation informs growth and the next steps for instruction.

Lyn has been inspired by the CLARITY work that is happening in Secondary Schools right across Wales. Researching alongside this work is Dr. Alma Harris and her team from Swansea University. Alma shares the initial findings from this research. Lyn is looking forward to continuing this CLARITY work.

Leaders and teachers at St. Joseph’s Wauchope, Lismore, NSW, AU share the way they most appreciate giving and getting Descriptive Feedback. For them, Learning Walks and Talks (CLARITY, 2019, pp. 327-335) have become their positive ‘Data Collection Tool’ to receive Descriptive Feedback at ‘Lunch & Learn’ sessions and to take action to become even more precise in their practice – because they know the impactful relationship between the 5 Questions and Assessment Literacy.