Building Strong Collaboratives Through Best Practices

One Transformational Approach,
Ten Best Practices, and
Five Lessons Learned for Building a Strong Collaborative
Mark Glasbrenner, Collaborative Learning Leader, Battelle for Kids
Pam Noeth, Ph.D., Collaborative Learning Leader, Battelle for Kids June 27, 2012

Ohio Appalachian Collaborative

 21 Ohio school
districts
 74 school buildings
 2,066 teachers
 34,000 students

Copyright 2012, Battelle for Kids

Rural Education Transformational
Approach


System of Support


Case Study

What is a CLP?


What have we learned?

 10 Best Practices
 5 Lessons Learned
 3 Emerging Practices


10 Best Practices


10. Embedding FIP

 Key vehicle for transforming student learning
in the classroom.
 FIP Network Teams help embed formative
instructional practices in their districts.
 Network teams assume responsibilities for
forming and executing district professional
development plans.


9. Using Value-Added Data

 Using this growth metric, teachers, schools
and districts can better determine the impact
of their curriculum, instruction, programs, and
practices on student achievement.
 Value-Added Network Team educates their
districts about the use of value-added data,
and how to use value-added data in
conjunction with FIP strategies to help
improve instruction.


8. Ramping Up the Rigor

 ACT QualityCore® curriculum at the high
school level and Common Core State
Standards for k-12 to increase the academic
rigor of classroom instruction.
 Utilizing end-of-course exams, ACT
assessments, and other performance-based
assessments to help guide and measure
student achievement.


7. Increasing Access to Technology and
21st Century Skills

 Increased access to and knowledge of
technology and 21st century skills in
order to better impact student
achievement and prepare students for
future success.
 Equipment
 Professional Development


6. Restructuring School Schedules

 Building intervention time for students
needing additional help.
 Providing teacher collaboration time
inside the school day.
 Building in school advisory periods.
 Providing extended time for math and
language arts.


5. District-Wide Professional
Development

 FIP Network Teams design professional
development plans for the district.
 Utilize internal staff to model and
structure professional development.


4. The Value of Coaching

 CLP position has become an effective
model for district coaching
 Utilize collaborative resources and
strategies they gain from each other in
both formal and informal ways.


3. Instructional Rounds & Peer
Observations

 Teachers or teams of educators walk through
classrooms to observe best practices in actual
classrooms with students.
 Method to determine the level of
implementation of FIP.
 Encourages teachers to learn best practices
and ideas from each other in a real classroom
setting.


2. District-Wide Common Assessments

 Higher expectations and a common path for
students at each grade level and in each
course taken.
 Common Assessments
 Quarterly Assessments
 End-of-course exams
 Strong data stream to improve student
achievement and a platform for discussion
during collaboration times.


1. Building Productive Teams

 Formation of productive teams, including
Teacher-Based Teams (TBTs), Building
Leadership Teams (BLTs), District Leadership
Teams (DLTs), and Network Teams for FIP
and value-added data.
 Allows OAC districts to progress in the most
efficient and effective manner.
 Distributed leadership model to create
ownership at every level in the school district.


Case Study

Building Productive Teams


5 Lessons Learned


1. Too Many Committees

 “Too many committees that are unproductive.”
 Therefore: Districts have restructured
committees within successful teams. Some
committees have been eliminated and some
have been combined.
 Led to the creation of a better system for how
committees work with one another and how
decisions can be made most efficiently.


2. One-Size Fits All PD

 Districts no longer have a “sit and get”
keynote speaker or a generic presentation as
professional development.
 Result: They have begun to work in teams,
share best practices, and use the time as a
collaborative forum.


3. Over Testing

 “Over-tested” students but came away with no
productive, useful data.
 To remedy this, districts have eliminated some
past testing practices that were found to have
no impact on student performance.
 Result: Districts have a more focused
approach to testing and using data to improve
instruction.


4. Meaningless Data Collection

 Districts found they were engaging in data
collection for the sake of data collection,
rather than effectively using the data collected
to inform classroom practice.
 Result: Districts are seeking to eliminate data
collection that has no practical value, and to
make sure any data collected is analyzed and
used for the purpose of improving instruction.


5. Traditional Grade Cards

 Because many OAC districts have embraced
formative instructional practices, district teams
have begun to question the effectiveness of
traditional grade cards for students.
 Result: There has been significant change
and discussion around standards-based
grading, grading policies, and the best forms
of feedback to help students maximize their
achievement.


Emerging Practices


Teachers Teaching Teachers

 Heavy emphasis on professional development
reform.
 OAC districts believe in sustaining practice of
teachers teaching other teachers.
 Collaboration
 Peer observation
 General professional development days where
teachers can model best practices in a structured
setting


Staff Meeting Redesign

 Enhanced the structure of staff meetings –
straying from the typical “sit and get” meeting
and moving toward professional development
time to share best practices.
 Administrative topics of staff meetings are
now communicated via e-mail, staff
newsletters, and other vehicles.
 Revitalization of meetings, where time spent
is focused on collaboration.


Kernel Routines

 James Spillane, professor with the School of
Education and Social Policy, coined the
research behind “kernel routines.”
 Kernel routine is distinguished by its ability to
redesign the school organization via
leadership teams in the school.
 CLPs have been identifying kernel routines in
their school districts – specifically kernel
routines that have begun to change their
culture, enrich their district, and increase
student achievement.Battelle for Kids
Copyright 2012,

Questions and Answers


To learn more about the Ohio Appalachian Collaborative,
visit www.BattelleforKids.org/ohio/oac

Building Strong Collaboratives Through Best Practices

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