From futile to fruitful: Guiding joyful school renewal

Outline

Introduction (10 minutes).
• The sad truth about school improvement.
• Table talk: Why is school improvement so hard?
Group work: (15 minutes)
• Jigsaw real examples of schools that improve. =
Principle 1: Understanding the system/identifying root causes.
• Strategy instruction & modeling (5 minutes)
• Your turn (15 minutes): Creating a fishbone diagram for your school.
Principle 2: Finding your focus / Developing a workable theory of action
• Strategy instruction & modeling (5 minutes)
• Your turn (15 minutes): Creating a driver diagram
Principle 3: Engaging in Plan-Do-Study-Act cycles
• Strategy instruction & modeling (5 minutes)
• Your turn (15 minutes): Planning your first PDSA
Wrap up & reflection (5 minutes)

Supporting research

Bryk, A. S., Gomez, L. M., Grunow, A., & LeMahieu, P. G. (2015). Learning to improve: How schools can get better at getting better. Harvard Education Press.

Goodwin, B. (2011). Simply better: Doing what matters most to change the odds for student success. ASCD.

Goodwin, B., Cameron, G., & Hein, H. (2015). Balanced leadership for powerful learning. ASCD.

Langley, G. J., Moen, R. D., Nolan, K. M., Nolan, T. W., Norman, C.L., & Provost, L. P. (2009). The improvement guide: A practical approach to enhancing organizational performance. John Wiley & Sons.

Shakman, K., Wogan, D., Rodriguez, S., Boyce, J., & Shaver, D. (2020). Continuous improvement in education: A toolkit for schools and districts (REL Publication No. 2021-014). Regional Educational Laboratory Northeast & Islands. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED608892