A growing body of work has pointed to the use of data to inform decisions concerning the level of students’ growth and achievement made by states, school districts, school administrators, teachers, and the broader community. However, one could say that a “faceless glut” of data is both a political and a systemic pathological problem facing educators almost everywhere. With so much information available,
"There are certain fundamental questions that plague educational practice, none more perplexing than: How do we know specifically THAT something has been accomplished; exactly HOW was it carried out; and WHAT should we do to make it better the next time?"
"This book points the way toward a coherent set of policies, tools, and practices designed that educational systems can use to ensure quality teaching in all communities." - Linda Darling-Hammond on Transforming Teaching Through Curriculum-Based Professional Learning
"This work resulted in a core set of research-based actions, approaches, and enabling conditions that effective schools and systems have put in place to reinforce and amplify the power of high-quality curriculum and skillful teaching. We call these the Elements of curriculum-based professional learning, or simply the Elements." - Transforming Teaching Through Curriculum-Based Professional Learning
Explore the shifts required to move towards curriculum-based professional learning in this excerpt from Transforming Teaching Through Curriculum-Based Professional Learning.
Peter Dewitt discusses the concept of de-implementation and why it’s a term that should be on every leader’s mind.
"There are two prevailing issues with how we work to solve problems in education..."
"Until we solve the problem of developing and retaining more excellent educational leaders, we will struggle to reduce the long-standing disparities in student outcomes that plague many Western education systems."
"In a world where the responsibilities of educational leaders are constantly expanding, where today’s to-do list is displaced by unanticipated crises, interruptions, and new external demands, it is easy for educational leaders to lose sight of what, among all the important things they could be doing, is more important than the rest."
"Leaders can evaluate the quality of teaching by asking the four sets of questions implied by this definition. The questions focus on (1) intended learning outcomes, (2) alignment, (3) student engagement, and (4) student success."
"The way we see the problem is the problem. —Stephen Covey (1989)"
In this presentation, Peter DeWitt focuses on de-implementation, which is the abandoning of low value practices (van Bodegom-Vos L.). Tackling the challenge of overwork, he shares the different forms de-implementation can take and when it makes sense to use a formalized process to lessen waste, increase results, and support major school improvement efforts.