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Compass PD Podcast with Dr. Carrie Hepburn
Compass PD Podcast with Dr. Carrie Hepburn
Compass PD 40: Systems Thinking to Impact the Learning Organization
Embark on a journey to reshape education as Dr. Carrie Hepburn discusses the secrets of systems thinking in educational organizations. She dissects the inner workings of a robust curriculum cycle and its critical role in aligning teaching standards with district initiatives, all to boost student achievement. Hear about the remarkable transformation of districts that have embraced this approach, and understand why keeping curricula relevant and comprehensible is the cornerstone of educational success.
She also tackles the art of monitoring student proficiency—highlighting the importance of analyzing data with a critical eye. The podcast underscores the strategic use of data and the need for professional development to align with district initiatives and expectations.
Help Compass PD reach its goal of impacting the educational journey of 1 million students in the 2023-2024 school year. Find out how you can join us in this mission by engaging with our podcast community or actively participating in the ongoing educational narrative. This episode isn't just a conversation; it's a call to action for everyone invested in the future of learning.
Helpful Episodes
Episode 20: Leading the Organization
Episode 26: Navigating the School Year with Data and Strategy
Episode 29: Mastering District Leadership-Budget Planning to Effective Communication
Episode 38: District Leaders in December
Episode 12: Is PD Planning and Curriculum Overwhelming?
Oh, hello, dr Carrie Hepburn here from Compass Beauty. Well, I am joining you on a very brisk January day in the Midwest, and by brisk I mean sub-zero temps. It is so cold. The pipes in my laundry room froze Right now. I am so thankful because we caught them before they burst. You may not know this about me yet, but I'm seriously a summer weather person. Winter isn't at my jam, but I'm really trying to learn to be grateful for all things in the moment. So right now I am grateful for my fireplace, my wool socks and big blankets. What about you? Are you like team winter or team summer? I'm team summer, all the way, all right, all right, like. Enough about me. Let's get on to the podcast.
Speaker 1:Today I want to share information with leaders about the importance of developing systems. I'm going to highlight some of the work I've been doing in school districts across the country and share some of my personal experiences when I was a district leader in the curriculum instruction assessment department. So here we are in January. Many of you have just returned from winter break and have your first semester under your belts, and some of you are just really close to having first semester under your belts. Like you've accomplished a lot already. I hope you took some time over the break to rest and celebrate how hard you have worked to this day. During the first semester of this year, I really tried to highlight the importance of developing systems for organizing your calendar, how you're going to communicate with stakeholders within your organization, keeping tabs on your budget and using, gathering and using all of the data to make wise decisions. I intentionally chose calendar, communication, budget and data because really they're the driving forces in your job. If you haven't listened to those episodes, I'm going to link them in the show notes for you to be able to check out. Today I'm shifting. I'm moving you from developing systems for you as the leader to developing systems for your organization. So, first of all, you might wonder why.
Speaker 1:Systems Systems thinking is an approach to problem solving that involves looking at the bigger picture rather than focusing on those individual parts. It acknowledges that everything within an organization is interconnected and interdependent and that the behavior of the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. The work that you do as a leader has a trickle effect it's always impacting other parts of the system. This thinking is critical in organizations where various elements must collaborate seamlessly to achieve common goals In education. Our goals are always to impact student learning, to be fiscally responsible and to care for those within our organization really well. Therefore, it's important for all parts of the organization to have systems in place to ensure that we're reaching those goals.
Speaker 1:One of the most foundational systems for a school district is a curriculum cycle At its core. A curriculum cycle is a way to ensure that all curricula within an organization are current, relevant and aligned with the values and beliefs of a district. A curriculum cycle takes into consideration all the district's beliefs and initiatives and aligns them with the work of curriculum development. Let me take just a moment to highlight how curriculum work takes into consideration the beliefs and initiatives and aligns them the beliefs and initiatives of the organization, the school district and aligns them with the curricula. So when you write curriculum with a curriculum writing team, like some teachers who teach that particular content, that curriculum writing team unpack standards and they unpack them well. This process, when it's done well, supports district initiatives of PLCs, rti or MTSS and standard based grading. The team uses that information from the unpack standards to develop assessments aligned with the mastery level of the standards. Then those assessments and the data from those assessments is used in PLCs, it's used for taking grades and it can be part of the RTI and MTSS work. It's critical actually, in the curriculum cycle, adequate time is afforded for the teachers all of them, not it's the ones on the team to do the learning from those unpack standards. They need to do learning on how to use that information in their PLCs, how to study data, how to take grades from it, how to responsibly teach using that information. This time, this adequate time that's given through the curriculum cycle, will help teachers feel confident in their knowledge to have conversations with parents about student learning at lessons, their anxiety overall about the expectations and whatever resources will be brought to them to be able to teach and bring this curriculum to life. While this is happening for teachers, your administrators are learning about the shifts in instruction and expectations. They learn about how to best support teachers and navigate the uncomfortable feelings and easiness that might be happening within the environment.
Speaker 1:The curriculum cycle. This curriculum cycle is a systems approach. It says this is how we Compass PD School District, write and implement a guaranteed and viable curriculum. This is how we Compass PD School District, vet and purchase resources based on our research that we had done within the curriculum cycle. This is how we implement new curricula, new resources and what the process looks like. It's vital for us as leaders to remember that a guaranteed and viable curricula are the number one indicator of student achievement. We have to ensure that our curricula are current, relevant, up to date. Not just that, that are people that are teaching, yet understand how to teach it and what those expectations are. So in episode 12, I talk in detail about how to set up a curriculum and professional development cycle in your district. It's also something that we do in districts all the time, so reach out if you want some more help with that.
Speaker 1:Systems thinking involves understanding the relationships between the different system parts and how they interact. It involves recognizing that change in one part of the system can have a ripple effect through the entire system. By taking a holistic approach, organizations can identify areas of inefficiency and work to optimize their processes. Let me share with you an example of what happened in a district that didn't have a systems approach. But good news, they do now, but at the time when we came in, they didn't have that yet. So I was working in a district and there was a big disappointment from the leadership level regarding the levels instruction that they were seeing. The leadership felt strongly that they had provided teachers with the training and the resources needed in order to instruct and navigate professional learning communities at high levels. In the defense of the leadership, they really walked into a situation that seemed to be someone else created and they were left to clean it up. But in this particular district the organization operates in silos, so they have the curriculum department, the student services department and the assessment department and each department is in charge of different things and they really operate as such.
Speaker 1:The district had recently started PLCs and wanted to move into NTSS. So they were doing PLCs, they were doing some RTI and they were like, okay, the next thing we're going to do is we're going to start NTSS next year and we also had some other things happening. So teachers were writing assessments during their PLC times to get ready for the NTSS process. On top of that, small groups of teachers would meet monthly to write units for their curriculum and as we were studying some of the artifacts, like the assessments, the teacher written units, we were uncovering like a lot of stuff and it was stressful. I'm not going to lie, it was really stressful.
Speaker 1:So I asked them to trust me in this process and that if we could try something and that was called a Portrait of an Elementary Teacher. So basically, like on a place of anchor chart paper, I just drew like a bubble person. So if you know me, I use lots of anchor charts, paper, markers and post-its. So I just drew, quickly, drew out a bubble person and then we listed out all the things that they teach so reading, writing, phonemic awareness, phonics, science, social studies, you know, math, all the things. So we started listing out all the things and then I said, ok, now let's start listing out all of the resources that they used to teach it. And so we start listing it out and it's like, well, at this school they use this and this, or some of them use this, and this was an extra add. So we started just adding all these resources, or this department bought this, so, like the Student Services Department heard about this. So they added that.
Speaker 1:And then I said, ok, let's like start listing out what are your district initiatives. So they had PLCs, they have MTSS, they had social-emotional learning. We listed out new content that were being expected to teach, and so what we discovered when we took this time to do this was that the teachers had received 17 new resources. They were writing new lesson plans as curriculum every year because they didn't like the English language arts resources. They inherited two new content areas social-emotional learning and, honestly, not really inherited, but they started teaching writing. They hadn't been teaching writing before. They were teaching English language arts, moving from a basil to workshop model. They started new initiatives of PLCs and RTI and all of that took place in less than three years. Three years, friends. All of that happened in three years.
Speaker 1:Now that happened quickly by a new leader who's no longer there, because they hadn't updated their curricula in over a decade any of it. They hadn't written new curriculum, they hadn't purchased new resources. They didn't have the belief that they needed to and that whatever teachers needed they could get that kind of in the moment. So what was happening is that was impacting their scores things. There wasn't a guaranteed and viable curriculum. So all of these departments on top of administrators were just buying stuff to stop the pain and in the end, what really happened was they made it a lot worse. But there's good news they have really great leaders, solid leaders, in place who are doing the hard work not only of building the systems, but the execution of it, and that's when it really gets hard. So they're on the right track. It's going to be tough for a little bit, as people get used to using this systems approach, but they really do see the benefit and the teachers do appreciate that there's a system, a way of doing things. They're most excited about the vertical alignment and knowing that, as they move forward, everything that they're doing aligns with evidence and research based practices. So, continuing this discussion about systems by the systems approach, by adopting a systems approach, districts can create a structure and a way of doing business that's efficient and effective. This approach can help the district achieve its objectives by ensuring all system components are aligned and working together toward a common purpose. Remember student achievement, fiscal responsibility, a great environment for those who serve in our school districts.
Speaker 1:In my former school district, where I used to be at, one system we had in place was high quality professional learning for all, not just some, not just tested areas for all, and so we had to go about tackling that a couple of different ways, but one way we did this was by dedicating the research suggested time, which is 50 hours, to learning about specific topics. So we decided that we were going to focus on high leverage instructional strategies and that it would take three years to be able to do that, and during this time, before we started this, we did the train the trainer model. So we brought in an organization to train someone from all levels and content areas to support the learning for the teachers, and this is really important because we have certain content areas that always feel left out, and so those content areas were represented. So we spent the next three years focused on teaching those high leverage instructional strategies and during this time, the curriculum department ensured that all curricula highlighted those instructional strategies that were happening in assessments and in example lessons. Data collection at that time was taken through class visits by teachers, administrators, district leadership, and they all calibrated on what those instructional strategies look like. Any teacher could go on a class visit and see what do these learning walks look like, what does do these instructional strategies look like? How close are we to like implementing them toward mastery, and so we collected data on that. Our PLCs looked at the data and discussed the most effective strategies and supporting student learning during Tier 1 and the methods or resources necessary for Tier 2.
Speaker 1:The purpose of a system is to highlight and this system, I think, did that really well how all parts fit together efficiently and effectively. In this case, the professional development aligned with the instruction. Teachers had modeling and coaching of those strategies in their content areas. The curricula utilized those instructional strategies and the PLC work integrated the instructional strategy conversations. This systems approach helped alleviate the feeling of they were being asked to do one more thing. So your goal as a district leader is to intentionally design systems to be efficient and effective. When you create these systems, there's also another advantage Things become automatic. Creating systems for routine tasks can free up brain space to focus on more complex problems and innovative solutions. This can lead to greater creativity, productivity and a more streamlined, efficient organization.
Speaker 1:When a curriculum cycle is a system, or professional development cycle or professional learning cycle is a system, everyone understands the process. They understand the process of writing curriculum. They understand the process of what professional development looks like. We're going to have whole group PD, then some small groups and I'm going to have some modeling in my classroom and I'm going to teach it and have some coaching and we're going to do it again and again. So people understand how curriculum is implemented, resources are chosen and professional learning looks All right. I think I've hit you with systems thinking enough, but that's what I want you to have on your radar right now and I want to talk about some other things regarding January that should be on your radar and some potential predictable problems you might face. So right now, data is rolling in right. You should be gathering screening data and, if semester data hopefully you have your survey and class visit data I want you to spend some time analyzing this data, study trends across content areas, grade levels, buildings, etc.
Speaker 1:And tell me what are you noticing. So sometimes I might see something that I would notice. Just an example is RL, rl2, reading literature, second grade, where they start to learn about central ideas. So students are learning about central ideas. And if I see students having issues with central ideas in second and third grade, what I know is that's going to be a problem by the time they hit fourth grade because they move from central ideas into theme. So we need to beef up our curricula in those grade levels. If I'm noticing on that data that in second and third grade about now, this is still an issue, we're not making any progress in this particular standard. So I know that theme is a heavy hitter on high stakes assessment and I know theme is a heavy is important from fourth grade on, so they're going to use theme in middle school and in high school, so things that I know are important for the next level of readiness. I'm going to really spend time honing in and studying those particular standards, right?
Speaker 1:Also, as you're studying this data, I want you to notice are your percentage of students who are proficient increasing If not? Again go back to your class visit data, your survey data. Are you seeing those instructional strategies? Are you seeing small group instruction? Are you seeing instruction on particular standards that should be moving students toward proficiency? Does there appear to be some sort of confusion? Does your district develop curriculum and resources? Are those like being implemented?
Speaker 1:You know, and then think about how does all this align with my thinking? Am I surprised? Was I prepared for what I'm saying? It's important for you to think through that. And then don't forget, as you study all this data, you know I would sit down with principles every month and go through. This is what it looks like as a district. This is what it looks like I could talk with them, like at your building level, and so you need to have some sort of communication plan and I could talk up or talk with the professional learning department and say, hey, we need to be thinking through this. So the next thing that could be a predictable problem and on your radar actually could be both our budgets. So most likely by now your budget should be finalized or really really close.
Speaker 1:It's time to begin developing your professional learning plan for next year and you have to be. You know what you have in your budget for that right. So use the data I've been asking you to collect and the information I just shared with you to help you develop and justify your PD recommendations. Gather information from various stakeholders like principals, coaches, teachers. In some districts we've also helped them develop their PD cycles and execute and implement them. But it's important for you to intentionally be thinking about next year. So all of the work is getting you set up for next year. Be thinking about what do you think is going to be the best thing, what is the data telling us, what do I know so far and where we're at, and use that to start working on that professional learning recommendations for next year. Here's the other thing You're going to notice in the next couple of months that you have additional funds in your budget. There's always additional funds available. If you don't spend them, you lose them. All year, I've been trying to help you develop a system of collecting data so that you can make wise decisions regarding your budget. Now is the time to utilize that information.
Speaker 1:I want to warn you that one of the biggest mistakes I see district leaders make right now is buying more stuff. I'm not like hands down. It happens all the time and when it's done at this time, it does a couple of things. One thing is is it causes confusion within your organization, because a lot of times we tell people no because we're like we didn't get to, it wasn't in the budget, we didn't plan for that, so it's not in the budget, and so what you're doing is now suddenly you're purchasing stuff. You're causing confusion within your organization and usually whatever we purchase at this time is just like an add-on. Another thing that I see that happens is that we'll purchase like technology and we'll just like buy technology or these subscriptions or something, and and again that if it's not budgeted or planned, it just causes confusion within the organization and more stuff when people ask for more stuff. I tell people a lot when I work with leaders is when people are asking me for more and more stuff. That tells me they're confused, that tells me that we need help with something and they're trying to alleviate the pain or the problem they're having. And actually, when we keep buying that stuff, it just makes it worse.
Speaker 1:The only time I would say there's an exception. There's a couple exceptions to this rule of don't buy more stuff right now. These, I beg of you you're better off investing in your people, invest in giving them time, time to learn, time to dig in professional learning. Those are wise investments. But there are two exceptions to buying stuff. My buying stuff rule at this time If you have curricula that are outdated by 10 plus years and their resources continually get cut again and again, year after year because they're not a tested area and we're asking them to implement a curriculum without the resources they need, update their resources it is completely unfair for us in education to ask teachers again and again to do things without giving them the supplies and the resources that they need and the learning that they need to feel confident and comfortable to be able to do it well.
Speaker 1:And then the second exception to this rule are classroom libraries. Ensuring teachers have classroom libraries is always a wise investment. Students with robust classroom libraries read on an average of 55% more than students who do not. More reading better readers Robust means like a lot of books. In an elementary classroom I look for at least 800 books per classroom. I look at we do classroom library audits but that's a whole nother podcast but about 800 books. And then in secondary it can be less, but I still say close to 3-400 books so that kids have lots of choice and opportunity to choose books to read.
Speaker 1:Wrapping up, I want to give you my tip as a leader for January and I want to encourage you to spend time doing work the right way. There are some things that we just don't get a second chance at. If you're in the curriculum department, writing curriculum and unpacking standards can be such a negative experience because teachers aren't supported properly. It's important that you do this the right way. If you can't or don't know how, let someone come in and help you, because when you do this work the right way, it's a game changer. I have story after story Districts we've worked with doing this and they see increases that are just double digits on high stake scores and the confidence level and the buy-in level is tremendous, so it's worth doing well.
Speaker 1:Another thing that you don't want to mess up is ensuring your staff has a maximum of two to three goals to focus on for the year and making sure all stakeholders have the learning and support they need to do it well. There's so much research that highlights the importance of learning on a single topic which takes 50 hours, by the way and those 50 hours should be whole group, small group, intense content, focus, learning, modeling and coaching, and time during PLCs and staff meetings. Professional learning is critical, so creating a situation to support not only teachers but administrators, instructional coaches, paraprofessional increase your odds of an optimal execution. Being an education leader is incredibly difficult. The responsibility is great. I want to encourage you. Don't try to tackle everything, but only one or two things in a year and just do them really well. If you can pace, if you can spread out that pace of change, it's going to increase the ability of those executing the change with the students and, in the end, everyone will be grateful for the support I promise I've been working in districts over the last several years.
Speaker 1:I've I've worked in districts for over two decades, but over the last several years I've been working in other districts and when we can do this and do it well, it works so much nicer At first. I'll be honest with you at first sometimes staff members are upset, but after a while, once there's a relationship and a mutual respect for learning, the trust builds and teachers start seeing the impact of the learning in their work and on student achievement. They'll they'll believe you, they'll follow you, they'll trust you, and so creating that system so that they know that that all things are taking care of and taking care of well will really be the kind of environment where people believe in the work that's happening. So, in summary, systems thinking is a powerful tool for organizations to achieve their goals and objectives. By looking at the connected rather than the individual parts, we can create efficient and effective systems that work together seamlessly toward a common purpose.
Speaker 1:Before I go, I just I have a favorite ask. I'm going to ask you to help us reach our goal of impacting education by reaching the learning of 1 million students in the 2324 school year. You can do this by liking and subscribing to our podcast, share it with a fellow educator and giving us a review. I want to encourage you to take care and stay inspired. And I hope you guys have a great day.