minnesota’s lighthouse high schools connecting action and research

Minnesota’s Lighthouse High

Schools

Connecting Action and Research

Building the Foundation:

Data retreats

Building the Foundation:

Data retreats

Taskforce

Building the Foundation:

Data Retreats

Taskforce

Breaking Ranks

Foundational Pieces:

Data Retreats

Taskforce

Breaking Ranks

Newmann Framework

A Unifying Framework for School ImprovementBased on the research of Fred Newmann

The key is to integrate cultural and structural conditions to focus on intellectual quality and professional community in a sustained way.

Professional Community• Clear shared goals for

student learning• Collective &

collaborative responsibility among staff

• Reflective professional inquiry among staff

• Opportunities for staff to influence school’s activities & policies

Program CoherencePrograms for student & staff learning are coordinated, focused on clear learning goals, & sustained over a period of time.

Cultural Conditions• Primary concern for the intellectual quality of

student learning• Commitment to high expectations for all students,

regardless of individual differences• Support for innovation, debate, inquiry, & seeking

new professional knowledge• Ethos of caring, sharing, & mutual help among

staff, & between staff & students, based on respect, trust, & shared power relations among staff

• Strong, mutually influential relationship between the school & the parents & community (Fullan).

School Capacity• Teachers’ Individual Knowledge, Skills & Dispositions• Professional Community• Program Coherence• Technical Resources• Principal Leadership

Professional development is more likely to enhance capacity when itaddresses several aspects of capacity instead of focusing only on teachers’ knowledge, skills & dispositions.

StudentAchievement

Technical ResourcesHigh quality standards & assessments, curriculum, books & other instructional materials, lab equipment, computers, adequate workspace, remodeled physical facilities, etc.

Principal Leadership

• Principal is very influential in life of the school & is a critical force in the school’s capacity.

• Principal has primary legal authority to positively affect each aspect of school capacity.

Teachers’ Individual Knowledge, Skills &

Dispositions• Staff are competent in

instruction & assessment which is centered on curriculum appropriate for their particular students

• Staff hold high expectations for all students’ learning

Sources

1. Fullan, M., Rolheiser, C., Mascall, B. & K. Edge (2001). Accomplishing large-scale reform: A tri-level proposition. Retrieved from http://sustainability2002.terc.edu/invoke.cfm/page/70/show/print.

2. Newmann, F. et al (2000). Professional development that addresses school capacity. Paper presented at the American Education Research Association annual meeting, New Orleans.

3. Newmann, F. & Associates (1996). Authentic achievement: Restructuring schools for intellectual quality . San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. B. Aune, MDE 6/16/05

InstructionalQuality

Instruction & Assessment

School StructuresPolicies & Programs (e.g., homework policy, prof. development program, length of school day & class periods, etc.) that provide—•Sustained time for instruction, planning, staff development, & student advising•Interdependent work structures for staff, esp. teaching teams & committees for schoolwide decision making•School autonomy from regulatory constraints•Small size for school & instructional units

State & district level policies and programs also affect school level structures (Fullan).

Broad Goals:

Build SEA capacity to facilitate high school redesign

Support systemic high school redesign through action research

Finding the Schools:

Site leadership team Data collection and analysis School improvement plan

development and refinement Evaluation of grant activities Public reporting of results

Building SEA Capacity

Facilitators partnered with school teams

Periodic training and work sessions

Site visits and team retreats

Working with Data:

From reporting outcomes to documenting implementation

From sharing practice to sharing knowledge