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Arrows: A Systems-Based Approach to School Leadership: A Systems-Based Approach to School Leadership: a Systems-Based Approach to School Leadership
Arrows: A Systems-Based Approach to School Leadership: A Systems-Based Approach to School Leadership: a Systems-Based Approach to School Leadership
Arrows: A Systems-Based Approach to School Leadership: A Systems-Based Approach to School Leadership: a Systems-Based Approach to School Leadership
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Arrows: A Systems-Based Approach to School Leadership: A Systems-Based Approach to School Leadership: a Systems-Based Approach to School Leadership

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Transformational leadership begins with willing individuals. Individuals who are ready to set aside their personal comfort for the needs and unity of the collective team.  In education, now more than ever, we need individuals who are willing to lead in a time of transformation. But from where are we

LanguageEnglish
PublisherMimi and Todd Press
Release dateMar 2, 2021
ISBN9781950089079
Arrows: A Systems-Based Approach to School Leadership: A Systems-Based Approach to School Leadership: a Systems-Based Approach to School Leadership
Author

Carrie Rosebrock

Carrie Rosebrock is a professional learning specialist for the Central Indiana Educational Service Center in Indianapolis, Indiana. She teaches and presents at schools and centers across the state. Before joining the CIESC team, she served as the secondary English administrator for Brownsburg Community School Corporation. She works with schools to improve their PLC processes, instructional leadership, curriculum and assessment development, and teacher leadership.

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    Book preview

    Arrows - Carrie Rosebrock

    Foreword

    Systems thinking is a term some would argue as cold, personally detached, and disconnected from the true purpose of education. Starting a conversation with the goal of putting a system in place most certainly guarantees frustration, eye rolls, and the hope that this too shall pass. So why even engage in conversation about systems? Simply put: systems work. Students achieve at higher levels and educators are more effective while feeling a greater sense of accomplishment and satisfaction as professionals in well-designed systems.

    So, if you can convince lead educators that systems really do work—students achieve more and educators experience the highest levels of satisfaction in their careers, then why aren’t more people fully embracing putting educational systems in place? Complexity. Systems are infinitely complex. Even the most accomplished educator can spend an entire career and never figure out all the interconnectedness of the most effective systems. The other significant roadblock is the shift to doing far less in many areas of our professional lives. This includes the abandonment of ineffective practices and the outright refusal to take on new tasks and responsibilities without strong justification. These reasons alone are most often enough for even the most dedicated educators to reexamine the status quo and determine, with a few tweaks, the path they are on is good enough.

    Let’s be clear, Arrows will leave you with more questions than you had prior to reading the book, but these will be deeper, more impactful questions than previously imagined. Yet even as the authors lay out the details of this important work, it will generate additional questions about how to do this work in your school or district. This work is not for the fainthearted. This work is for educators who have grown frustrated with disconnected professional development, curriculum work, and school improvement efforts that do nothing but consume time. For many who have devoted countless hours to initiative after initiative only to be met with something new, there is hope. I only ask that you read this critical work about how committed educators with a vision of how it could be better made the decision to dramatically change course. This transformational approach led to greater results for their students and the highest levels of professional fulfillment.

    While I did not write Arrows, I am very proud of it. The authors were part of the initial group of lead educators at the start of this work. They provided insights from the early stages of implementing systems. Their viewpoints reflect a frontline perspective of how best to navigate potential pitfalls, have critical conversations, and fully understand the importance of the Burden of No—saying no to disconnected initiatives and work that does not fit the system.

    You will see me personally referenced in the text of this book, and while it is most certainly flattering, please don’t be fooled. This transformation of an entire school district is the amalgamation of the thoughts, actions, and leadership of the most committed educators with whom I have ever been associated in nearly four decades of public education.

    My greatest hope for you is that this book sparks an understanding that our schools can be better, regardless of how good they are right now, and it equips you with the knowledge to begin this critically important work. Students can achieve more—without sacrificing those essential student–teacher relationships that drew us to the profession in the first place. Collegial relationships will be deepened to a level not previously achieved. Arrows is a call to focus on the essential practices that work, capitalizing on the power of connecting those practices in a system that is logical and most certainly more effective than any other strategy currently in place in our schools.

    Dr. Jim Snapp, Superintendent of Brownsburg

    Community School Corporation

    Introduction

    What Would Happen?

    This is the essential question we are attempting to answer throughout this book. Learning in the United States has become increasingly polarized, monetized, and politicized. Innovations and technologies often muddle our understanding of so-called best practices and strategies for learning. In many communities, students and families are afforded more choices in school selection than ever before in the history of American education. Schools, even within singular communities, often find themselves pitted against one another in an attempt to woo or outshine their neighbors. There is a pervasive, creeping idea that has burrowed its way into the psyche of many American parents, students, and even teachers: schools are failing.

    But what would happen if the competitive edge—if the question for innovation—was muted? What would happen if a district, not merely a singular school, decided to take the bold step to put into practice much of what modern educational research claims to authentically impact student learning? If a common, viable curriculum was adopted by all teachers, in all disciplines and age groups? If quality common assessments were the expectation, not the exception? If professional learning communities—a buzz phrase in recent years that has morphed into its own quasi-synonym for anything from data meeting to self-care hour—remained student centered, focused, and implemented with fidelity? What if we actually trained and coached our teachers all throughout their careers so that stagnation never set in? What if we equipped our staff with the tools needed to read data and respond in real time with interventions and enrichment?

    What if we took a step back from technology, the one-to-one craze, and asked ourselves if a screen can really replicate the engagement of learning created between a highly effective teacher and a group of students? What if we didn’t follow the trends? What if, instead, we reset them?

    What if, instead of leaning into trends and programs, we chose to lean into people? To unpack what it means to create a dignified space for all students, teachers, and leaders in our schools? What if we chose to create a new system, one of dignity and belonging, where all students’ learning needs were met, embraced, and celebrated? What if there was a way to create a focused, student-centered vision for learning in our schools?

    Arrows

    Every summer, we host a new-teacher breakfast for incoming staff across our district. Our superintendent welcomes new teachers and leads a presentation that looks remarkably similar, year after year. His message stays on point for a reason; he calls this "purposeful redundancy, and we’ll reference this phrase (and many others) throughout the book. One of Dr. Snapp’s points of emphasis each year is to explain that in our school system, we believe in people, not programs." As heads around the room begin to nod, he explains that far too often school leaders are tempted to distract their teachers by asking them to focus on too many competing ideas—too many arrows. From committees, to professional development, from fundraisers to curricular approaches, there is too much going on, in all directions, for clarity to impact teachers.

    When there are too many arrows, heading in all directions, teachers and staff are left with a sense of overwhelm and confusion about the vision of their school.

    Compare the Two Approaches

    Figures I.2 is a perfect examples of how school leaders should imagine their vision unfolding in real life. Teachers and staff want to follow clear paths. They want to know what exactly is expected of them, and they want to please so that students can benefit from that clarity of vision and focus.

    Too many arrows create varied interpretations of expectations—for staff and students alike.

    But here’s the beauty behind this issue: you have the power, control, and influence to not only align the arrows in your school but to eliminate some as well.

    This book is our bold challenge to each and every leader in education today. Cut the fluff. Stop the onslaught of initiatives (year after year after year). Simplify the execution of your vision.

    Imagine the impact on student outcomes and achievements if the arrows were all heading in the same direction—to the same target.

    We wrote Arrows as a guide to help you get from simply imagining the impact to the reality of seeing the results of systems and clarity up close. We’re excited that our district has experienced the tremendous development and success that it has over these past 10 years, but that’s not enough. We need you and your teachers and your students to experience this growth, too. We’re in the field of best is good, but better is best—and we’re here to help you and your district get even better.

    People, not programs.

    Similar to identical.

    Tight-Loose-Tight.

    J-curve.

    The Burden of No.

    Purposeful redundancy.

    These are all catchphrases and mantras that we believe help to simplify the focus and help align the arrows.

    You probably have your own catchphrases and sayings that describe the focus of your district. Perhaps some of your sayings actually illustrate just how cluttered and confusing your district’s vision is—if you believe your district operates with a vision to begin with.

    Do your teachers know the vision—these mantras? Do they repeat them to friends who ask about their corporation or school? Do they excitedly describe the PLC process that they experience or the support they receive from their administrators and coaches? Are they happy? How do you know?

    Do students return to your high school just to thank their teachers for preparing and caring about them as much as they did? Do former graduates stop you in Walmart to share they’re transferring schools because the esteemed university they chose wasn’t as organized as their high school and they couldn’t justify wasting money on a school that didn’t know who they were? How many former graduates have returned to teach in your schools? Do you know?

    How to Read This Book

    Arrows is the story of a district that went from good to great seemingly overnight. It is written from the shared perspective of two teachers turned curriculum administrators who were a part of the transformation process (and after).

    We are teacher leaders at heart, and we wrote this book to share the story of our schools so that other leaders, specifically principals and central office leaders, can hear insider perspectives on the power of clarity. We wrote this book to share the steps to take to create a curriculum-rich, instructionally sound, and happy district staff who impacts the lives of their students each and every day.

    We know our district is not your district, but there are nuggets here—golden pieces of hard-fought lessons—and we ask that you read with ears, eyes, and hearts wide open.

    We are tired of people asking questions and not having the answers. For years, our district leadership team would joke about, One day, when we write the book … and then about a year ago, the two of us sat down and said, "One day is now. Let’s do it—let’s get this information out there."

    So we did. We tell much of Arrows from our first-person perspective, and we don’t hold back. Carrie’s voice is the first-person account used to narrate the book, as we wanted to create a simple reading experience for our audience. This book isn’t riddled with light suggestions; it’s not our hope that you pick and choose a few ideas that sound like they may work for your staff and your students.

    We wrote Arrows because we have seen and felt the incredible impact that clarity and expectations have on learning, and we’re tired of educators (namely leaders) mucking this up.

    Arrows is our attempt to provide school leaders everywhere the clarity that truly changes everything about how we approach equitable learning for students and teachers.

    If you’re tired of the spinning plates, tired of convincing your teachers that this really is the last initiative, tired of blaming the state for the test scores, tired of feeling like you’re running a race you cannot win, then this book is for you.

    We give you permission to stop trying to do it all, and we invite you to lead your district in a new direction.

    We promise you won’t get lost.

    Just follow the arrows.

    Chapter 1:

    The Brownsburg Way

    "Excellence is to do a common thing

    in an uncommon way."

    – Booker T. Washington

    Welcome to Brownsburg, Home of the Bulldogs

    The first thing I noticed was the purple street signs with their little bulldog logos. It was June 2006, and I had an interview at Brownsburg East Middle School in the morning. My dad wanted to drive me to the little westside suburb outside of Indianapolis to make sure I knew where I was going. Before I even met my future principal, I was smitten. This town clearly cared about its schools, and I desperately wanted them to care about me.

    The town itself is nothing to gawk at. When driving in from Indianapolis, there is a short lull between it and its famous neighbor, Speedway (home of the Indianapolis 500). Dotted with corn fields,

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