Rich Township Coalition for Better Schools: Improving the School as a System

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Improving the School as a System

SREB

FOR INFORMATION, CONTACT:

Kathy O'Neill
Director, Special Leadership Projects
(404) 879-5529

Module Summaries

Click on each link for additional module details.

*Using Data to Focus Improvement
Schools that successfully improve student achievement regularly use data to guide decisions about instruction, student support and professional development. Easy-to-use processes are taught, and participants learn how data are a vital part of the school improvement process.

*Creating a High-Performance Learning Culture
Schools cannot improve when the culture does not support school improvement. Often in the push to improve quickly, the school's culture is forgotten. Participants learn what culture is and why it must be cultivated; what roles leaders play in growing the culture; and what tools and strategies are available to help leaders foster a culture that supports improvement,

high expectations and the well-being of students.

*Using Root Cause Analysis to Reduce Student Failure
Improving student learning by changing classroom and school practices both requires and results in changes to a school's culture. Culture also impacts how and what improvements are made to benefit student learning, and data can be a powerful lever to explore inequities, expose systemic biases, and change beliefs and practices needed to improve the achievement

of disenfranchised students. Participants gain analytical tools to uncover the real problems that school leaders need to address to close success gaps in schools.

Providing Focused and Sustained Professional Development
Professional development is a powerful tool for changing schools, yet professional development is frequently done poorly and results in little or no positive change. Participants examine the characteristics of professional development in high and low-performing schools; learn how to structure successful learning for the staff; and learn how schools can create a

professional learning community.

Organizing Resources for a Learning-Centered School
How can schools more effectively use time and resources for teaching, planning and professional learning? This module adds lots of practical tools and processes to the leadership toolbox on how the school staff can work together to improve learning and achievement and how to use technology effectively.

Building Instructional Leadership Teams That Make a Difference
The heart of leadership is the willingness to assume responsibility. Schools that improve and sustain improvement use teams to lead school reform. A crying need exists for teachers to lead by taking a more formal and explicit role in the supervision and improvement of instruction. Participants learn leadership skills and collaboration, the parameters of teamwork, how to design and organize teams, and how to provide the training they

will need to be effective.

Communicating to Engage Stakeholders in School Improvement
Effective communication is the key to an improving school community. Often the best intentions are sidetracked by poor communication. Participants learn how to communicate effectively, decide who needs to know and why, how to involve people at the right times, and the impact that communication has on schools and quality instruction.

Leading School Change to Improve Student Achievement
School leaders have gotten used to the idea that "the only constant is change." Productive school leaders understand the forces that influence the change process and can direct these forces for continuous school improvement. Learn how to lead change rather than react to it.

Coaching for School Improvement
Schools undergoing transformational school improvement processes often need external coaches to help them through the process. Participants learn how to add value to various school improvement situations using a variety of strategies and techniques.

*Using Data to Lead Change and Creating a High-Performance Learning