eNewsletter: May 8, 2008

In This Issue

• Upcoming Institutes
• Meet Our New Partner: PTL and CEE Join Forces
• Introducing the Powerful Teaching and Learning Framework
• Six Elements of Success Common in Schools that Beat the Odds
• Podcast: Solid, Down-to-Earth Implementation Advice from the Vice Principal of Eastmont High School

Upcoming Institutes

Check out the upcoming dates for Extraordinary Leaders Training and Leadership Coach Training (offered by our partner, The Leadership Innovations Team), and the next Powerful Coach Institute. Institutes have been filling fast, but if you don't get into one of these sessions, just send us an email indicating your interest and we'll make sure to let you know as soon as new dates are added.

Powerful Coach Institutes
Seattle
June 5-6, August 4-5, September 23

Spokane
August 6-7, September 22-23, October 24

Wenatchee
September 24-25, October 22-23, November 13

Extraordinary Leaders Institute (LIT)
SeaTac
Day 1: June 23, Day 2: June 24
Deadline to Register: May 2

Leadership Coaching Training (LIT)
Olympia, WA
May 21-22, June 5, June 16
 

Meet Our New Partner: PTL and CEE Join Forces

We have long been impressed with the work being done by the Center for Educational Effectiveness, so it's with great pleasure that we announce our new partnership.

We've established a truly synergistic relationship in order to leverage the strengths of both organizations. CEE fills a critical role in the professional development process by providing a super-solid, research-based tool for data analysis. The information from this tool will not only help schools establish a baseline and begin to develop common language for talking about their development plans going forward, it will also provide a way to measure progress over the long term.

Using the Instructional Team Profile (ITP), CEE creates a comprehensive, visual data portfolio based on 7 highly effective practices for instruction:

1. Effective, Standard-based Instruction
2. High Quality, Student-centered Instruction
3. High Levels of Student Engagement
4. Use of Assessment For Student Learning
5. Positive Behavior Management Strategy
6. Clear Evidence of Student Learning
7. Collaboration and Teamwork for Effective Instruction

To learn more about our new partnership with CEE, please visit the blog to read the full announcement.

Introducing the Powerful Teaching and Learning Framework

In conjunction with exciting new partnership, we have been busy developing a new framework.  Based on comprehensive analysis of the research on highly effictive instructional practices for raising student acheivement, the new Powerful Teaching and Learning Framework is a powerful tool for non-evaluative reflection on instructional practice.

The framework gives teams and individuals a practical tool for identifying targets and developing action plans using a common language.  During development, we were particularly focused on ensuring that the tool effectively addresses issues of cultural sensitivity. The addition of Cultural Competence to the PTL Framework is explicit recognition of the impact that student’s culture has on their learning.  Instructional practices that use culture as a resource have the potential to raise student achievement for students of all cultures. 

We're still in the final stages of development and have been field testing to make sure it's as refined, practical, user-friendly and powerful as it can possibly be. Keep your eyes peeled for announcements soon to come!

 

Six Elements of Success Common in Schools that Beat the Odds

Jeanne Harmon at the Center for Strengthening the Teaching Profession recently sent an email out to her list about a new study that is really important to the work we are doing here at Powerful Teaching and Learning. We're reprinting it here with her permission so that you can take a look:

The Center for the Future of Arizona and the Morrison Institute for Public Policy are sharing their findings from a study titled "Why Some Schools With Latino Children Beat The Odds and Others Don't."

Using the methodology of author Jim Collins from his book "Good to Great," Mary Jo Waits and her research team found 12 elementary and middle schools in Arizona with mostly Latino and low income students that are "beating the odds" on reading and math scores. What their research uncovered were six elements of success common throughout each of the "beating the odds" schools.

The six elements of success are:

1. Clear bottom line: These schools emphasize the achievement of all children and take responsibility for that performance.
2. Ongoing assessment: These schools track test scores on mandated tests as well as student performance data on monthly, weekly, and even daily assessments.
3. Strong and steady principal: These principals manage the school improvement process by "being neither too rigid nor too flexible.They keep pushing ahead, no matter what the roadblocks."
4. Collaborative solutions: These schools create effective work teams and engage in real teamwork. School improvement responsibilities are distributed among teachers and staff.
5. Stick with the program: These schools pick a proven program that teachers can embrace and stick to it over time.
6. Built to suit: These schools engage in the cycle of instruction, assessment, intervention. When repeated it leads to an educational program tailored to each student.

Podcast: Solid, Down-to-Earth Implementation Advice from the Vice Principal of Eastmont High School

Not only is Russ Waterman a highly-regarded and well-liked administrator, he's also a terrific personality. Heather caught up with him over the phone a few weeks back to discuss how implementation is progressing at Eastmont High School.  In this 15 minute podcast, Russ shares his insights about what has been working, and what other districts can do to make the process easier for everyone. And - don't worry - if you don't have time to sit and listen, you can download the full transcription instead.