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Tag: Success (page 1 of 3)

Measurement of Success – #112Leads

March 23, 2019 / / 0 Comments

“Let’s all strategize how the job can get done, versus informing each other why it can’t be done.”– Melissa Gonzales

So what is success? How do we know we are successful? What are the elements of success? What are the metrics? How do we show a positive return on investment (ROI) or academic return on investment (AROI)? How does the public know that its public school system is successful? How do superintendents show success in leadership? These are some of the questions I’m pondering and writing about today!

Nations measure success through economic measures like jobless rates, gross domestic product, imports/exports, crime, etc. For-profit businesses measure success via profit margins, efficiencies, production, etc. Libraries measure success using measures such as book checkouts and attendance at events. Doctors measure success using diagnosis, recovery, health metrics. Success for someone improving their health can include frequency of exercise, weight loss (or gain) muscle mass. Success for a NASCAR racer can be speed, time in the pit stop area, fuel efficiency. There are many ways we can measure success! According to the dictionary (online via Google), success is the accomplishment of an aim or purpose.

Spring (which is finally here in the Northern Hemisphere of Earth) is the time in Illinois public education for evaluation, annual reviews, testing, essentially the time we measure our success. We measure the accomplishment of our aims and purposes.

As a system and systems leader, as a school superintendent, as a public school leader, it’s an ongoing effort to implement a multi-faceted measurement of success and to report and share what success actually is with respect to our public school district.  When looking at the success of our school system, we look at multiple measures and metrics.  We look at culture and climate, we look at engagement, we look at satisfaction, we look at creativity, we look at growth and gains and we also look at student achievement. These are many of the metrics and measures we use to measure success. We analyze these measures to determine if we are fulfilling our mission, vision, goals, aims, and purposes.

During the year we take surveys, report the data gleaned from the surveys, make and share action plans related to the surveys, measure again – see where we gained, see where we still need to gain and “rinse and repeat”. Our organization is committed to continuous improvement and the collection, sharing, review, interpretation, and acting on data is a core part of our journey of continuous improvement.

Examples of our success measures include Organizational Culture (as shown in the image, 72.41% of all employees who took the survey (72.41% of 438) report that they are highly engaged and satisfied working in North Shore School District 112. This is a baseline metric since it’s the first report on the 15 dimensions of culture measured. For example, we’ll now measure our success in terms of organizational culture using subsequent administrations of this survey instrument (next will be in April, following in August, etc.). We measure, share data results, plan actions around dimensions of culture, re-measure, re-share and continue the process of improvement. 

Our continuous improvement model does the same for student engagement, implementation of the 4Cs (Communication, Creativity, Critical Thinking, Collaboration). Student achievement, student growth, financial projecting, fulfillment of plans, etc.

We look at growth and gain metrics (how well did our students show growth from point a to point b to point c) and how well our students perform on achievement tests. We then measure or compare their success to national, state, local “norms” — what are other students scoring on these tests or assessments as compared to our students similarly situated.

Back to the original questions posed in this blog post … So what is success? How do we know we are successful? What are the elements of success? What are the metrics? How do we show a positive return on investment (ROI) or academic return on investment (AROI)? How does the public know that its public school system is successful? How do superintendents show success in leadership? These are some of the questions I’m pondering and writing about today!

In North Shore School District 112 we measure success through various metrics (many shared in this post). We take the data gathered and make people-centered decisions to Inspire…Innovate…and Engage our students, staff, administrators, Board members, community, and the world!

Please follow along with our journey:

If you have not yet downloaded the District app, please do so. If you have not yet viewed the curriculum department informational video, please do so. If you have not yet listened to the Lighthouse 112 Podcast, please do so too – you can listen on multiple platforms (iOS (Apple), Google, Stitcher, iHeartRadio, and more). Be sure to check out #112Leads on Twitter. Our Long Range Planning web pages have been updated as well!

 

Culture of “Nice” vs Culture of “Honesty” #suptchat

October 1, 2017 / / 0 Comments

“Make the most of yourself, for that is all there is for you”
– Ralph Waldo Emerson

In terms of organizational culture, many (Drucker & others) are clear that culture “eats strategy for breakfast”. Meaning – focus on culture or you’ll have nothing on which to focus! Culture is not just important – it’s everything! I write about culture a lot, folks a lot smarter than I (Fullan, Marzano, and others) write and research a lot about culture too! So … if we know how important it is to create it, measure it, build it and sustain it (in education especially) … why are we so “nice” instead of “honest” in the context of leading and managing change?

So this year in the Deerfield Public Schools District 109, two more of our six schools earned the highest education award in our nation – the National Blue Ribbon Award. They join two other of our six schools who earned this distinction last year.

In two years four out of our six schools earned the highest honors. Leadership, Culture, Focus, Excellence, and Joy define the experiences for children and adults at these schools. What are the leaders doing with respect to culture at these schools that it making the difference?

Are these leaders confronting brutal questions? Are these leaders acknowledging when good is good and when good is not enough? Are these leaders honestly and respectfully addressing that which needs to be addressed even when it ruffles feathers? “You bet they are!”

In education many of us have been faced with “niceness” and an aversion to “critical review” for whatever reason – we don’t know why – “that’s the way we have always done it” (TWADDI). In conversations, training workshops, conversations, discussions etc. with school leaders, I have discovered many report that the toughest part of supervision/evaluation/coaching is giving honest, direct feedback. 

Often the “culture of nice” supersedes the “culture of honest”. With this post I’m hoping to highlight how the culture of honest impacts the organization in measureable and powerful ways. The culture of honest is pervasive in the Deerfield Public Schools!

If you’re reading this blog and you are wondering why your particular organization is not changing or is not making progress – perhaps you should check your culture and communication.

Is everything in our district’s culture perfect? – NO – of course not; but we as a matter of leadership assess, measure, and lead with respect to culture and dimensions of culture every year. Our school principals are held accountable for their school’s culture. We expect increases in dimensions especially when action plans are centered around growth, acknowledgement and honesty. This year 93.81% of all employees report that they are highly engaged and highly satisfied with their work in our district!

2017 Organizational Culture Results – DPS109

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In In 2013 the average “dream box” (top right) score was 61.90% from a database of more than 10,000 education employees in the USA. Our district’s “dream box” score in 2013 was 85.75%. See below for a look at the past five years’ worth of dream box organizational culture for the Deerfield Public Schools:

 

 

In our district we are far from perfect – highly successful but never satisfied!

We are on a journey toward excellence with a focus on continuous improvement. Over the past two years we have had a failure in the execution of middle school standards based learning. There are a number of reasons for this. One of the reasons was the “culture of nice” superseding the culture of honesty; and our deliberate decisions to “compromise” in the spirit of cooperation (compromise with the best of intentions – but it was really appeasement).

Students of history remember what happened when Neville Chamberlain appeased Adolph Hitler … well – appeasement doesn’t work so well in leadership …

honesty and courage work. Granted I’m oversimplifying a really complex and life and death time in history with the day to day leadership of a school system … you get the point.

Strong, direct, honest, dignified, respectful conversations and coaching are required – are imperative – are expected – are to become the norm when success is desired. With honest, direct, clear communication people know what the shared vision is – what the direction is and to what they’ll be held accountable. The three goals shown above reflect the current strategic goals in our district; clear, concise, coherent.

Five years ago the principals in our district began a process of becoming honest and clear culture leaders. They started to address student growth, teacher performance, stretch goals, limitless opportunities for ALL as well as innovative, future focused leadership. As a result, we have four of our six schools honored with the nation’s highest educational honor, we have administrators with regional honors, and we have shared the DPS109 story around the USA. Is it easy to lead in a culture of honesty? No – but I don’t go to work for an easy time … I go to work for a meaningful, impactful time!

I would love to hear your thoughts about culture – “nice vs honest” and leadership overall! If your leaders are too focused on management and not on leadership – excellence will be out of reach! Those who can manage and lead with courage, power, honesty, and in line with the shared vision – those leaders will be successful!

What does the superintendent do all summer? #Engage109

July 7, 2017 / / 0 Comments

“Make sure that team members know they are working with you, not for you”
– John Wooden

What is going on in #Engage109 this summer?  What do we do all summer is a common question I have been asked for most of the 25 years I’ve been in education! Well it’s official – we are in school year 2017-2018! We have a guiding Strategic Plan, we have many new leaders, we will have a new board member on the way – it’s a whole new year. Aside from running summer school with more than 500 students, overseeing major summer construction projects approaching $5Million dollars, and the on-boarding of nearly 10 new leaders, we’re also making sure we have plans for meetings, workshops, professional development, curriculum development and other milestone events for all administrators.

As far as we’re concerned, it’s time for 2017-2018 to start (Ok … we’ll wait a few more weeks …).

In addition, we’re reaching end of life for hundreds of nearly 10 year old Promethean Boards, so the Technology Team is rolling out new projection and whiteboard systems to replace the Promethean boards in all six campuses.  Our Director for Innovative Learning, Marcie Faust and many of our outstanding iCoaches have trained nearly 64 teachers in summer workshops thus far and expect another 57 on the scheduled dates in July and August!  This is in addition to widespread learning sessions in the multiple classrooms at each building that we had set up last spring as a “debut”.  

We also continue to close the fiscal year that ended on June 30, and we prepare for the annual auditors who are scheduled to come spend two weeks conducting field test at the end of the month.  

In addition, the Director of Buildings & Grounds, Charlie Privett, and the B&G team are exceptionally busy working on a variety of projects throughout the district, including:  

Caruso & Shepard Locker Rooms, Security Projects (throughout the district), Casework at Kipling & South Park, Parking Lots at South Park, Walden, Shepard, & Wilmot, Roof Project at Wilmot, Flooring Projects & Painting Projects Throughout the district, and more!

In addition, I published an article in the IL ASCD Summer Journal and I’m working on a few other writing projects.

So … while the students are enjoying much needed recreation time, the leadership team is busy making sure everything will be ready for them in August!

I always smile when folks say “It’s easier in the summer, right?” – nope – but I would not want it any other way.

 

From the Future Ready Team – “Speak Up Surveys”

December 12, 2016 / / 0 Comments

“Success isn’t something that just happens. Success is learned, success is practiced, and then it is shared.”
– Sparky Anderson

 

Sharing an excerpt of an email as well as survey links on behalf of the Future Ready Schools
We want you to Speak Up! Future Ready Schools (FRS) is helping to support Project Tomorrow on the 2016 Speak Up surveys.

If you are not yet familiar, Speak Up is a national research project as well as a free service to school districts. The survey should take about 15 minutes and includes a series of multiple choice questions.

If you are interested in using any of the other Speak Up surveys (for teachers, school administrators, students, parents, librarians, community members), they are open through January 13th.

To learn more, please visit: http://www.tomorrow.org/speakup.

Thanks for taking the time to participate.

Our Best,

The Future Ready Team
Sara Hall, Tom Murray and Lia Dossin

#ASuperDay – Sharing the story of education through the superintendent lens

November 16, 2016 / / 0 Comments

 

“One of the marks of successful people is that they are action-oriented. One of the marks of average people is that they are talk-oriented.”
– Brian Tracy

 

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From time to time I share “tweets” from superintendents and school leaders around the world on “ASuperDay” – a super day is designed to give school leaders the chance to tell the stories of what education is … using pictures, audio, video, and text superintendents share “real life” views of meetings, classroom visits, etc. The superintendent position is no longer lonely – or at least it should not be lonely – when we band together as a “PLN” (Personal/Professional learning network) and we take a few minutes to share what it is that we do and what it is that we share.

In the Deerfield Public Schools District 109 our motto is Engage, Inspire, Empower,

ENGAGE, INSPIRE, EMPOWER

ENGAGE, INSPIRE, EMPOWER

through venues like #ASuperDay on Twitter, we’re able to join so many others in so many places doing just that – engaging, inspiring and empowering.

The narrative of education is in the hands of the leaders … please take some time to check out #ASuperDay on Twitter – November 16, 2016
 

Welcome Back Institute Day – 2016 – #Engage109

August 18, 2016 / / 0 Comments

“Open your arms to change, but don’t let go of your values.”
– Dalai Lama

ENGAGE, INSPIRE, EMPOWER

ENGAGE, INSPIRE, EMPOWER

Today, August 18, 2016, was the first official day back for DPS109 staff. As we have done for the past four years we gathered as a whole school family at Alan B. Shepard Middle School for the opening institute day. This year our themes are Joy and Innovation.

Earlier in the week I sent out a note to the entire community, I’m sharing excerpts of that letter below:

Dear District 109 Parents, Staff and Community Members,

On Thursday, we welcome our teachers and staff back to work with a full day inservice that includes a keynote speech by Rich Sheridan, author of Joy, Inc., as well as collaborative learning time to prepare all of us to welcome our students back to school on Monday, August 22. …Nearly 50 staff members attended a three-day intensive workshop led by a faculty member of the Buck Institute to bring project-based learning to our classrooms.  In addition, teachers and staff set up classrooms, collaborated on curriculum, researched innovative methods, and mentored new teachers and staff, whom we welcomed to the District 109 family last week.

What’s New?

Click Here for a 360 degree view of a new library learning space

Click Here for a 360 degree view of a new art space

Click on image for a 360 degree view of labs in our district
…Every elementary school has reconstructed their library media space, adding PTO funded SmartLabs fulfilling a long held plan to incorporate more STEAM into the elementary schools. Click for live video of the construction progress – we’re getting close! …

Both middle schools also have innovative and redesigned learning spaces; the art and music spaces have been completely transformed into areas that will inspire creativity, innovation, and future focused arts instruction.

Last year, the Department of Teaching & Learning awarded our second phase of innovation grants. Ten teachers across every building in the District won grants to have a classroom set of iPads, and two other teachers earned special grants for their exceptionally innovative projects. In addition, 100 teachers received individual iPads to begin exploring the potential of tablet technology to our already robust 1:1 transformative learning environments…

 

As part of my welcome remarks, I shared the following slide deck (I’ll also be sharing notes for clarity). The notes reflect my thinking and preparation and they are very close to the commentary I delivered in person at the assembly. As always, your comments are encouraged and welcomed!

Notes for slide 3: Our mission, our motto, our statements as to WHY we exist  –  Engage, Inspire, Empower our students, each other, and our community. You continue to do an amazing job of engaging, inspiring, empowering each and every day. I remain quite proud to serve you as the superintendent of schools!

Notes for slide 4: How do we engage, inspire and empower? One major way is through innovation. We innovate to increase student learning … We facilitate learning for our students as well as one another. Innovate means trying new and better ways of doing things. We started with Innovation grants three years ago and we keep on demonstrating new and better ways to inspire learning and to support a culture of excellence.

Notes for slide 5: One very public way we show innovation is through modern learning spaces. We have been designing and creating new and better learning spaces across the district for the past several years. With new lighting, better flooring, award winning classrooms and labs we demonstrate our commitment to excellent public education. We are proud to host visits from leaders all over the state and nation to our award winning middle school science labs. This year we cannot wait to open and unveil new middle school art and music spaces, PTO funded K-5 SMART labs, redesigned library spaces, student friendly furniture, and more. All of these physical changes are designed to support innovative learning and teaching practices. The spaces themselves do not reflect innovation though, it’s what you do with and in these spaces that truly creates new and better learning for ALL students. We provide the conditions for optimal learning and growing, the spaces provide opportunities for new and better experiences.

Notes for slide 6: We also innovate with new and better instructional tools and resources designed to support your work. With collaborative Google Apps for Education we have created opportunities for communication across boundaries of time and space. Other tools like the extensive suite of technology we offer support innovative learning and teaching practices. The tools themselves are not innovative; it’s what you do with these tools that creates new and better learning for our students. This year we’re proud to celebrate Innovation Grant Phase II with new and better ideas about how to leverage the power of technology. A focus area includes the 4Cs of communication, collaboration, creativity and critical thinking. These new tools allow for innovative practices supporting the 4Cs.

Notes for slide 7: We also innovate in DPS109 with professional learning opportunities. I am so proud of the hashtag #engage109 on Twitter where any day or time I can look and see what is happening in the classrooms around the district. #Engage109 is known far and wide as a space where DPS109 staff share and learn and communicate. Often our hashtag is trending due to the activity. Twitter is a space where anyone can learn and access virtually anything at any time. In addition, this year’s early release Wednesday structure is designed to create new and better ways for teacher learning. Through sustained job embedded learning opportunities we will create conditions for innovation. We are also proud of the Deerfield University an often replicated example of innovative professional learning and teacher support. The DU offers a voluntary personalized, learning platform where we can learn and grow any time any place at any speed or any pace, our motto is You can DU it! Finally, the upcoming EdCamp North Shore 16 to be held at Kipling on October 29 reflects yet another way we innovate in the professional learning space. I hope the folks from Kipling will tweet out the link to sign up via the #engage109 hashtag today!

Notes for slide 8: I consider myself to be an innovative superintendent. I learn from you and I learn with you. I truly enjoy learning alongside you and joining in classroom practices like Shark Tank shown in the photo above. I look forward to every visit to the classrooms. I learn new and better ways of doing education from you. Thank you for continuing to invite me and welcome me into your classrooms. In addition, I innovate through partnerships and professional memberships in forward thinking organizations like BrightBytes, Discovery Education, and the American Association for School Administrators, the AASA. This summer a group of 50 superintendents from around the USA came to learn our story – they came to visit our new and better learning spaces. Because of your great work I get to show off and share our stories of innovation. In addition, I learn from them and their expertise and I share that here in Deerfield. You give me great pride and so much to share! Finally I innovate by experimenting with gizmos and gadgets that support new and better learning, I am eager to see the innovative results of the 2nd phase of the Innovation Grant process.

Notes for slide 9: I seek out innovation in my personal life too. For the past 11 years my family has gone to the same resort in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin. We love the vacation and the kids look forward to it each year. This summer we innovated – we experienced tubing for the first time. While it may seem simple or even silly for me to share this personal example, I wanted to share how we took an awesome family experience, our annual trip to Wisconsin – perfectly fine for 11 years; and with an innovation, the tubing, our first time as a family doing so, we innovated our vacation! We tried something new and better and created a new learning experience.

Notes for slide 10: I highly value being a connected educator and leader, I learn from others, I share our stories of innovation, and I become a better leader through collaboration. Please continue to reach out to me and welcome me into your learning spaces. You can contact me, and I encourage you to do so, through any number of addresses and social networks. Welcome back to another fantastic school year! Please give a warm welcome to Dr. Jeff Zoul who will continue our program this morning. Thank you.

CSWju_OUsAAJMue

Innovation Has Many Forms – #ENGAGE109

March 14, 2016 / / 0 Comments

“Humility is not thinking less of yourself. It’s thinking of yourself less.”
– C.S. Lewis

IL In our school district we take pride in the words and actions ENGAGE, INSPIRE, EMPOWER. We aim to do this each and every day with and for each and every student, staff member, and the community! Since July 2013 our Big 5 have been driving our actions and initiatives:

Common Core State Standards (a/k/a Illinois New Learning Standards), Next Generation Science Standards
Teacher Evaluation – Charlotte Danielson Frameworks for Effective Teaching
Technology
Organizational Culture
Superintendent’s Task Force for Middle Level Education

ENGAGE, INSPIRE, EMPOWER

ENGAGE, INSPIRE, EMPOWER

We often write about innovation and we often share examples of the teacher’s innovative practices in blogs, Twitter, Facebook, principal newsletters, emails from the district, in person events, etc. Today I’m writing to celebrate an innovative project experience from 7th grade English Language Arts. In the 7th grade ELA class this year the students had to complete a project entitled:  Change the World. One of our students sent a letter to the Illinois Department of Homeland Security. The boy’s letter was so impressive to the staff that the Deputy Director, James Joseph, called principal, Dr. John Filippi, and he shared his delight at the letter. In addition he offered to come visit the student and his classmates!

IMG_0039 IMG_0035 IMG_0034 IMG_0028 (1)

Today Mr. James Joseph, the Director of the Illinois Emergency Management Agency (IEMA) and Deputy Homeland Security Advisor came to Alan B. Shepard Middle School and visited with the student, his classmates and teachers.

In addition he made a brief presentation and answered questions from the students. In the pictures shown to the left we also show another special guest, retired Major General Robert G.F. “Bob” Lee. Gen. Lee was visiting the Governor’s office and it fit into his schedule to join Director Joseph. Gen. Lee shared information about his fascinating service to our country as well as to his home state of Hawaii. Security is a national concern and it’s nice to know we have such able, knowledgeable, talented and able leaders helping defend our nation and our state.

The power of a letter, the power of a communication, the power of an inquisitive student can lead to the highest levels of government, society, agencies, companies, etc. Our amazing teachers are taking learning to new levels with engagement, inspiring lessons and empowerment of students to reach out to “real people” in the world who do the work about which we are learning!

Check the podcast for a 5 minute excerpt of today’s visit:

In Deerfield we truly believe, and we teach our students, that, in the words of Margaret Mead:

Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.

Our students, through agency and voice, are learning that they matter not only in school and at home, but as part of the larger world. It’s wonderful, especially as a public school leader, to show the power ofittakesavillage education and the value of our innovative public education in terms of meaning and relevance.

We are grateful to General Lee, Director Joseph, as well as other dignitaries who have visited our schools like Governor Bruce Rauner, U.S. Congressman Hon. Robert Dold, Illinois Senator Hon. Julie Morrison, Illinois Representative Hon. Scott Drury, Lake County Regional Superintendent of Schools Hon. Roycealee Wood, Deerfield Mayor Hon. Harriet Rosenthal, and many others who visit to engage with students, learn from our teachers, interact with our world class facilities, and in one way or another, show support for meaningful, effective public education!

Inspiring a Shared Vision in DPS109 – #ENGAGE109

March 1, 2016 / / 0 Comments

“There are two kinds of people, those who do the work and those who take the credit. Try to be in the first group; there is less competition there.”
– Indira Gandhi

b8077f18-ce80-4257-b717-ea878b099ad9In this blog post I am highlighting the great work of the teachers, students, parents, support staff members, administrators, community members and the Board of Education of the Deerfield Public Schools District 109. Our leadership team has been following the research of Kouzes & Posner. In their book The Leadership Challenge they share decades of leadership research across industry and they proffer that the five practices of exemplary leadership are: Model the Way, Inspire a Shared Vision, Challenge the Process, Enable Others to Act, and Encourage the Heart (MICEE). The focus of this post rests with the Inspire a Shared Vision Practice, and at the end of the post I share a recently published journal article about our District’s shared vision and its direct connection to actions.

From an August 23, 2013 post:
Leaders build relationships. I believe that each person is a leader in one way or another. Some are leaders by nature and talent, some are leaders by situation or role. Leadership is both an art and a science, and there are many books, articles, research reports, and findings about what leadership is and leadquotewhat leadership can do. Two great books on school and district leadership are: School Leadership that works and District Leadership that works. One of the main charges that I have as the superintendent of schools is to support leadership so that leaders emerge in all parts of the organization to Engage, Inspire, and Empower. While I am visible in the schools, and while the classroom is the most important “place” in the school district, I also work very closely with the administrative team in an effort to support their work and their leadership.

This year [2013-14] as a leadership team (district center administrators, and building level administrators) we are working on a book study with The Leadership Challenge. The authors of this classic and highly regarded leadership book Kouzes and Posner detail and describe Five Main frameworks for leadership (Model the Way, Inspire a Shared Vision, Challenge the Process, Enable Others to Act, and Encourage the Heart).

Our Leadership Challenge is to fulfill our district mission every day in every classroom and in every interaction. One tangible, observable way in which we can guide our leader’s work is found in the Five Main frameworks.

Model the Way, Inspire a Shared Vision, Challenge the Process, Enable Others to Act, and Encourage the Heart (MICEE)

The Mission of the Deerfield Public Schools, DPS109:

Provide educational experiences of the highest quality that engage, inspire and empower each student to excel and contribute in a changing world.

Our Vision: District 109 students will excel and contribute when they have the knowledge and skills to be: • Lifelong, self-directed learners, • Critical and creative thinkers, • Effective communicators,
• Collaborative team members, • Respectful and responsible members of society

This month (March 2016) Deerfield Public Schools District 109 Assistant Superintendent for Finance & Operations, CSBO Greg Himebaugh & I published an article in the Illinois Association of School Business Officials (IASBO) Journal UPDATE (see below). This article is about how WE in DPS109 have been inspiring a SHARED vision that has lead, leads to, and will continue to lead to ACTION and LEADERSHIP on behalf of students, staff, and community!

DPSLOGO

February 14, 2016

“Embrace your passion. Jump into your passion with both feet and bring others along with you.”
– Vince Lombardi

In front of the AASA logo on the Cecaini School

In front of the AASA logo on the Cecaini School

This is the seventh post I’m sharing about the LifeTouch Memory Mission Trip in which I participated in January 2016 as a representative of the American Association of School Administrators (AASA).

Thanks to LifeTouch, AASA, and all of the amazing leaders with whom I worked, learned, shared, laughed, thought, reflected, and lived while in La Republica Dominicana! In my first blog post leading up to the actual trip I shared some questions and answers about what I hoped to learn and experience while on the trip.

Excerpts from that post:

Question: What do you hope to learn from the experience of building this school, interacting with the residents of Constanza and working as a team with your fellow Memory Mission volunteers?

Response: I expect a truly life changing experience in terms of culture, language, building, caring, and doing. I am hoping to see the world through the lens of the people of Constanza and through that lens Image result for public diplomacybetter clarify my own lens. I hope to spread “public diplomacy” as well by showing the good side and caring side of our American people and of our school personnel. I look forward to making life long friendships and connections with my fellow volunteers. I want to make my wife and children proud of me by modeling a life of service.

Question: How do you think the Memory Mission will change you? Do you have personal goals for what you take away from this experience?

Response: I think this trip will change me in terms of the building experiences, the family/citizen interactions, the overall cultural exchange in the Dominican Republic. My goal is to listen, learn, embrace the culture and the people and aim to give as much as I can to these projects.

The video is below:

Advanced Leadership Lessons from work with AASA – #engage109

February 10, 2016 / / 0 Comments

“I have discovered in life that there are ways of getting almost anywhere you want to go, if you really want to go.”
– Langston Hughes

logo (1) This week I had the good fortune and honor of completing a two year advanced leadership program sponsored by the American Association of School Administrators (AASA). Upon my return home I and more than 20 other superintendent friends and colleagues across the nation will carry the distinction of being a “Nationally Certified Superintendent”. Last year after our coursework I published an article on the AASA website (click link).

From the article:

“This unique leadership program, designed to help school district leaders succeed on the job, brings together superintendents from around the country. The East Coast Cohort, the group I am a part of, consists of 26 superintendents representing 15 states. So far, we have been able to benefit from lead learners as well as veteran superintendents. Just as important, we also get to learn from one another. These expert superintendents help us understand that the working relationship with our board is perhaps the most important relationship we have.

During reflective leadership exercises highlighting our unique experiences, we built bonds that united us in the consistencies of the challenges we each face. We also engaged in board and governance workshops with representatives from the National School Boards Association.

An essential element of the program includes coach/mentor support from a master superintendent. This mentor relationship supports multiple levels of growth and support in the superintendency. The superintendency is often described as “lonely at the top,” but AASA is making efforts to change that through supportive, deliberate, thoughtful and high-level leadership and education.”

In Deerfield I have been able to apply the skills and lessons learned from this program. Our Board CSWju_OUsAAJMuesupports leadership growth and development for our leaders and teachers on behalf of one another, the students, and the community. Thanks to the support of my AASA mentor/coach, the master teachers, the AASA personnel, and the opportunities to reflect and grow through this high level leadership program, I am confident that the educational opportunities for our 3000 students have become enhanced.

We all got to experience a capstone event highlighting the leadership lessons in which we engaged. A short view of one of my presentations is shown below:

In our Capstone project experience we held ourselves accountable through goal setting and metric development. As depicted in the slide deck above, and from our Capstone template: “The area to be improved in DPS109 is in the area of technology and its impact on K-8 instruction. The area to be improved will be determined by baseline data collection from September 2014 survey administration with Bright Bytes research partnership. Bright Bytes will measure impact from parent, student, staff stakeholder groups using online survey collection following a model they describe as CASE Technology Framework. CASE measures impact on the classroom, access, skills, and environment. The area to be improved is discovery of the effects/impact of the 1:1 transformative learning environment on learning and performance.” 

We shared our “do” statements as well as our internal and external metrics. Holding ourselves and our organizations accountable through shared successful and replicable leadership strategies that imagesultimately support and celebrate growth and leadership across the nation on behalf of hundreds of thousands of students. We learned a ton from one another during the leadership coursework and related homework assignments and in-district work.

Other examples of accountability included: “Input changes to get to desired state:Empirical data points that support administrative direction, teacher training, parent training and engagement and Board support. Increased CASE metrics from Sept-March – increased student growth rates over time as measured by MAP reading/math K-8.”

During the course of my leadership coursework in the AASA National Superintendent Certification Program, the DPS109 Board of Education carefully monitored survey data, student performance data as well as my leadership performance as the superintendent of schools. Concurrently with the leadership program and our local leadership initiatives, the Board indicated support and satisfaction with the realization of tangible evidence in support of previous Board plans (i.e. Master Facilities Planning CScRi5IWsAAIIv8from 2007-12, the Strategic Plan from 2011-16). The Board was also pleased with successful community engagement (i.e. Superintendent’s Task Force for Middle Level Education). The Board, parents, students, and teachers were engaged in planning, review, implementation, and further review of many initiatives, including the 1:1 Transformative Learning Environment changes. It has been a really busy, active, and impactful 32 months in DPS109 since July 1, 2013 when teams took office! Success in DPS109 is impacted and has been greatly influenced by the professional advanced leadership programming through the AASA National Superintendent Certification Program!

The relationships in our system were enhanced through deliberate outreach including parent technology information nights and working sessions, community film screenings and successive book talks, student focus groups, work groups, and student presentations to the Board of Education. In addition, through intentional communication strategies and leveraging of social media outreach, members of the community reported knowing more about the school system than ever before.

Because of this set of experiences, coaching, mentorship, leading and learning, I have greater confidence in my abilities to lead our organization on behalf of student and staff learning.

Thank you AASA and thank you DPS109 Board of Education!

ENGAGE, INSPIRE, EMPOWER

ENGAGE, INSPIRE, EMPOWER

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