Who is sponsoring the change you want to see?

In any change initiative, there are distinct roles to be played. In education, the ones we pay attention to the most are the roles of sponsor and agent.  Who are these folks, what are their roles, and why do they matter? 

A quick primer:  A sponsor is an individual who has authority over those responsible for implementation – line authority to be exact.  In schools this is often the principal but it could be someone several rungs above the principal, such as the principal’s supervisor, or the superintendent.   An agent is someone whose job it is to support the change. This could be an internal position (such as a staff developer) or external support (such as a school improvement coach).  You’ll know you’re an agent if you have the responsibility to make something happen without the authority to mandate it.

Why do we pay so much attention to these roles when we know that sustainability requires broad-based ownership and that top-down mandates generally fail?  We’ve found that oftentimes change initiatives need a jump-start (“just try this”) and that successful implementation is then dependent upon an ability to focus.  Permission to choose one activity over another comes from a sponsor, someone in authority such as a supervisor.  Much of our education system is organized in ways that separate sponsors and agents so that those supporting the work are unable to either require it or allow it.  At the building level this might be an instructional coach who may (or may not) report to the principal but does not supervise those he or she is coaching.  Another prevalent example is the way in which most central offices are structured, with a curriculum department (often incorporating professional development) that does not include those able to call the shots on use of time or who supervises those that do (such as the principal or principal supervisor). We call this phenomena responsibility without authority. And when we point this out in coaching venues (most often with agents), we see huge ah-ha’s and recognition of what’s missing in their efforts.

This reality simply means attention to roles so that necessary sponsorship takes place.  For those in positions of authority, be certain that you are visibly supporting the work.  Make it a public priority.  Be present at high leverage events, if only to kick off and affirm the work underway. Make it a public priority.  By doing so you will give those responsible for actual implementation permission to focus and a little nudge that this is important.  If you are in an agent’s role, you’ll need to be strategic in how you make sure the work is sponsored.  An agent operates through influence and relationships; he or she must determine which are the most important relationships to cultivate if the work is to be adequately sponsored.  Sometimes an agent’s responsibility is not a priority of those needed for sponsorship and the agent will need to become the sponsor’s new “best friend.”   In rare cases, it may be necessary to carefully move up the ladder of authority for adequate sponsorship.  Delicate? Yes, but we can almost guarantee an initiative will fail without sponsorship.

Known as organizational alignment, establishing roles in any change or improvement effort is essential.  So if implementation is not going as expected, one of the first questions we would ask is, “Who is sponsoring the change you want to see?”

Abeo Partner Harriette Thurber-Rasmussen - Abeo Partner

Hiring Instructional Coaches: Getting the “Right” People on the Bus

In the classic book Good to Great Jim Collins says, "...to build a successful organization and team you must get the right people on the bus."  His focus is to get the right people in the right seats.  Most of us would agree that one of the shifts that need to happen in education is stronger support of teachers’ professional growth.  If good things are happening in the classroom, many of our plaguing problems such as lack of engagement and discipline fade or disappear.  This thinking has prompted many districts to build in regular collaborative time and hire instructional coaches to provide professional development.  All good moves! 

Now that you have allocated time for improvement, do you have the instructional coach who can actually lead that work?  Often, my experience is that coaches move up through the ranks of teaching and land in the position with little or no training.  Though many coaching skills can be developed over time, some entry capacities and dispositions should already be in place.  This is where a hiring framework can be helpful.  It is critical that district leaders know what they are looking for in a good instructional coach.  When you get the “wrong person on the bus” then you have an eager, good individual leading others down the wrong path.  The results can be devastating.  Teachers get confused, disillusioned and start slamming their doors shut!

Our Instructional Coaching Framework helps leaders sort out what beliefs, dispositions and capacities must be present in a candidate and which of those things can be learned. 

First and foremost, a good coach must be a good teacher.  The only way to know for sure is to actually watch a candidate teach!  I would only hire a coach after watching him facilitate an adult learning session where he models strong instructional practices.  In addition, I’d watch him teach students.  Being a powerful instructor is essential to good coaching.  A coach has to be able to “walk his talk” in multiple settings.

Equally important is the belief system a coach brings to the job.  District leaders must ensure that a new coach fully embraces the district’s vision.  Furthermore, you will want to know a coach’s beliefs about learning.  For example, do they believe all kids can learn at high levels?  Do they believe that each and every student should be prepared for college?  How do they think people learn best?  I once watched a coach unintentionally undermined much of the district’s goals by coaching for inequitable practices, curriculum and design principles in a school.  The result was painful for the coach and her leaders.  The interview questions must bring beliefs about learning to the forefront.    

Another entry capacity is a coach’s ability to connect and communicate well with adults.  More importantly, he must have a knack for helping teachers build relationships with each other.  Some of this capacity naturally emerges as you watch small group facilitation.  I also like to see how a coach might provide written feedback to a teacher’s lesson plan or idea as well.  A humble, reflective partner is what you are looking for—not someone to come in and “fix” another teacher.  A “deficit based” disposition doesn’t work very well in coaching.    

Finally, a coach must be nimble enough to weave in and out of roles such as model teaching, facilitating discussions and offering resources.  Coaches wear many hats and juggling those roles with intention takes a special person with a fairly thick skin.  Again, you don’t have to have every skill in place, but certain entry capacities and dispositions are essential to good coaching.  Our framework offers leaders specific guidelines for hiring coaches and interesting ways to see them in action.  If coaching is one of your key initiatives for improvement, then you want to get the right people on the bus!

Katy Karschney is a partner with Abeo School Change. 

Abeo Professional Development Tool - Inquiry Circles

Inquiry is "buzz" word education, and thrown around often, but this it not because of bad intent. We really do want our students to engage in inquiry, but what does it look like? More importantly, how do we get educators to internalize the process. One of the best tools that teachers can use to not only internalize inquiry, but also DO inquiry on topics of their choice is the Inquiry Circle.


The Inquiry Circle replaces the "book club" or "book study" model with a more authentic and inquiry modeled process so there is voice and choice for teachers in terms of learning targets, but also a better understanding of inquiry. It is modeled after the PBL process as well. Here are the steps for an inquiry circle:


1) Craft a Driving Question: This question can either be created by administrators, or co-created with faculty and staff. Perhaps it is something like: "How do we make culturally responsive curriculum?" or "How do we create tasks in the classroom that truly make students college and career ready?" You can even have groups create their own questions and jigsaw the faculty and staff appropriately.


2) Entry Event: Engage participants in a intriguing video, provocative reading or similar. It can help to frame the future exploration and get participants excited about next steps.


3) Research Questions: Have teachers or groups of teachers generate questions they want to know about the topics. After generating, have them share out with other groups to help build transparency and interest.


4) Expert Groups: The DQ question is the big umbrella question of the Inquiry Circle model, but from the research questions, sub topics are formed. Have teachers choose into a subtopic group.


5) Product: How will each group share what they have learned by the end of the process. Give them a list of possible products and allow they the flexibility to choose how they are assessed and to pick a product that will be authentic and useful.


6) Facilitate Inquiry: After these initial steps, teachers must choose literature, books, and other resources to explore. Teachers will meet periodically over an extended period to share learning, engage in reading selections, and generate further questions to explore. Participants will need to find more resources and continually draft and revise their final product.


7) Present Products: After an appropriate amount of time, teachers should present their product to the entire faculty and staff. These presentations should be done by the whole expert group. Encourage creativity! Have the entire faculty, after seeing presentations, generate ideas for next steps and implementation.


In order to rethink how we use professional development time, we must have the tools to do it. The Inquiry Circle is one way to allow for collaboration, voice and choice, and focus in professional development that teachers need.


Andrew Miller
New Media Innovations - Abeo School Change

Graduating Each Student Prepared for College: What Does It Mean and What Does It Take?

How does a school know its practices will graduate EACH student ready for college? How does a teacher design equitable and rigorous instruction to prepare each student for college? Many people talk about college readiness as the next civil rights movement. Each student deserves to graduate from our schools ready for college. But what does that really look like and how do we get there?

First, let’s look at what our organization believes to be the definition of college preparedness.  The BERC Group uses the following equation to define college readiness.

By and large, educators and schools would agree that they’re doing a good job of helping their students understand the first two parts of the equation: college awareness and college eligibility.  Many practices are in place in schools to help students know about post-secondary options and the steps to get there.  Where schools often fall short on the college ready promise is in preparing students to enter college and remain in college without the need for remediation – that’s really where the rubber meets the road.  So how’s that work done?

The What & How of College Preparedness

With the work of researchers like David Conley, our relationships with higher ed partners, and action research from teachers whom we support, the what of college readiness is becoming clearer.  College readiness standards, college level assignments and student work provide clear benchmarks and indicators for college preparedness. Comparing these standards to those of K-12 helps teachers clearly see that there is a serious gap in what students are asked to know and do to be prepared for the rigors of college – without remediation.  Identifying the what of college readiness is a great first step but still only gets us so far.  It’s helpful to know what is expected of incoming college freshman but how do we prepare them to be successful once they’re there?

Using Fred Newmann’s research on Authentic Intellectual Work, we’ve discovered that this framework aligns well with college standards. The AIW framework provides a lens for educators to determine how students are asked to construct knowledge and use disciplined inquiry to produce products or performances that have value beyond school. The three criteria—construction of knowledge, through disciplined inquiry, to produce discourse, products, and performances that have meaning beyond success in school—provide a foundation for the more complex intellectual work necessary for success in contemporary society and college level studies.

So what does it take to prepare students for college without remediation?

At GEAR UP West’s 2011 Conference “Innovation for Academic Excellence”, Chris Hoyos and Joe Hall from Abeo School Change will work with educators to tackle this complex concept of college readiness for all.  Educators will work together to address questions around post-secondary success.

o   What does student work look like at the college level?

o   What are students asked to do at the college level?

o   What does college-prepared work look like?

o   What kind of assignments do students need to graduate college-prepared?

o   What teaching practices help students do this kind and level of student work?

From Abeo Partner, Chris Hoyos

Abeo School Change's Organizing Framework

I’ve always been intrigued by the formation observed when geese fly overhead. The “V” or pyramid formation that the birds create to break through the air is symbolic in many ways to my mental picture of sustained school change and reform.

Abeo School Change uses our organization framework to create a visual model for how we think about sustained school reform and/or improvement.

First, students must be in the center of our work. Every decision made in and around schools to adjust pedagogy, support networks, and infrastructure should be made through the litmus test of measurable improvement for students. This simple focus puts any school community in the position of ensuring that their moral compass is adequately calibrated. We believe this target gets set through cultural development of the learning community or school.

The three outside triangles of our organizational framework represent “active behaviors.” One of my favorite inspirational posters says, “Leadership is an action not a position.” Likewise we think about the three triangles encasing students as actions. Collaborating, Leading and Teaching. At Abeo School Change we believe that sustained school improvement happens best when we engage school communities in the positive actions of collaborating (both amongst staff and with students), leading (a belief in shared leadership and that various stakeholders must step up and into the leadership role at different times), and teaching (where the rubber meets the road…all other efforts are insufficient without excellent, reflective teaching).

Our offer of support to both schools and districts is to embrace the three outer vertices of our organizational model (collaborating, leading and teaching) with measurable student gains in the center, through ongoing growth adult learning. This cycle of learning/reflective practice puts us all in a position to do our best work for the students who so desperately deserve our very best!

Contact Abeo School Change Executive Director, Andrew Kelly, to discuss how we might partner together to support school and district goals. Andy can be reached at andy@abeoschoolchange.org or 206-817-9344.

Gear Up West 2011 Preview - Radically Transforming the Lives of Students through Mentorship

Abeo School Change, Executive Director, Andrew Kelly partners with former colleague and student from Hug High School in Reno, NV to present to the Gear Up West Conference, "Radically Transforming the Lives of Students Through Mentorship." Hug High School's program, Nevada A.S.C.E.N.T. (All Students College Educated in Nevada Today) launched in 2005 to increase the number of students who graduate, prepared for college by partnering willing students with community mentors with the explicit goal of helping the student make it to college. Hug teacher, Kelly VanHorne, and Hug student Jenny Nevarez will join Kelly to provide a replicable model for all conference attendees.

Join Andy Kelly on Tuesday 10/19 at 9 AM.

You can find out more information about Nevada A.S.C.E.N.T. by visiting the Hug website at http://hugascent.weebly.com/index.html

You can find out more information about Gear Up West by visiting their website at  http://www.gearup.wa.gov/what-we-do/gear-up-west

If you would like to implement a replication program to empower your students through mentorship and increase their college attendance and success rates contact Andrew Kelly, Abeo School Change Executive director at andy@abeoschoolchange.org or visit Abeo's website at www.abeoschoolchange.org