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Organizational and Individual Immunities
The next key idea in the “Ecology of Change” framework developed by the Harvard Graduate School of Education’s Change Leadership Group (CLG) is Organizational and Individual Immunities. Despite the best intentions of all parties, the CLG has learned through its research that organizations and individuals have powerful means of "protecting" themselves from the very changes to which they aspire. These "immunities" to change help to hold in place the status quo despite how hard leaders work to improve schools and districts. The CLG has resources that allow the organization to respectfully surface these often unnamed and hidden immunities to change so that they can be understood and overturned.
More information on the “Ecology of Change” and the resources available through the CLG are available at Ecology of Change - Framework and Approach.
Failure Is Not An Option
Building on a foundation that identifies courageous school leadership and the professional learning community as the center of effective school reform, Failure Is Not an Option(TM) by Alan M. Blankstein offers six guiding principles for creating and sustaining high-performing schools:
1. common mission, vision, values and goals
2. systems for prevention and intervention
3. collaborative teaming for teaching and learning
4. data-driven decision making and continuous improvement
5. active engagement from family and community
6. building sustainable leadership capacity
Covering theory into practice, applications that include case studies and vignettes, and techniques for addressing difficult issues, the book also provides valuable dual perspectives on the critical issues: how implementation looks when it’s done right as well as when things go wrong.
Combined Curriculum Document
We would like to remind you about a curriculum tool on the KDE Web site that educators have found very beneficial in planning for standards-based instruction. The Combined Curriculum Document shows the connections between the Academic Expectations, Big Ideas, Program of Studies and Core Content for Assessment 4.1. This document was requested by educators to streamline their planning process. The combined curriculum document is posted at Combined Curriculum Document. If you have questions, please contact Michael Miller.
District Assurances
Do you have, on a June board of education meeting agenda, an approval of the district assurances for federal and state grant programs? A reminder that verification of district assurances is required for all districts by June 30. While many districts have changed their planning cycle away from the July 1-June 30 cycle, the requirement for local boards of education to approve the assurances remains a June 30 deadline.
Each district should have the local board approve the assurances and then have the local superintendent provide KDE with an e-mail verification that the assurances have been approved and are being followed. You can find the assurances and the text for the superintendent’s e-mail by going to Comprehensive District Improvement Plan Funding and Finance.
Quotable Quotes
“School districts should not try to simply build a learning community that has as many definitions as there are people defining it. The emphasis should be on restructuring how people work together. That’s what ultimately has an effect on the classroom.”
Nelda Cambron-McCabe |