Leading Complex District Transformation Efforts: Integrating Research, Performance Management and Evaluation to Ensure Quality. A presentation about Partners in School Innovation's beliefs on how to transform districts and how the organization uses research and evaluation to measure effectiveness and ensure quality of implementation. Presented at the Fall 2014 Conference of the Society for Research on Educational Effectiveness in Washington DC.

1. Leading Complex District
Transformation Efforts
Integrating research, performance management
and evaluation to ensure quality
Derek Mitchell
CEO, Partners in School Innovation

2. Panel Members
Mary Jo Kuhlman
Assistant Superintendent, Organizational Learning, Grand Rapids Public Schools
Kimberly Parker-DeVauld
Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment,
Battle Creek Public Schools
Dana McCurdy
Research and Evaluation Manager, Partners in School Innovation
William Hill
Sr. District Transformation Director, Partners in School Innovation

3. Mission
Partners in School Innovation transforms
teaching and learning in the lowest-performing
public schools so that every child,
regardless of background, thrives.

4. Why We Exist
The achievement gap persists. Results from a
wide variety of state and national tests administered
over the last half-century have been fairly consistent
in at least one respect. They indicated that certain
groups of children repeatedly score below children in
other groups. - EdSource
“Gaps in US educational achievement have affected GDP
more severely than have all recessions since the 1970s.”
– McKinsey Quarterly (April 2009)

5. Vision
Our Vision is to be in 80 schools, serving over
50,000 students, across 10 states with an
annual budget of over $10MM by 2020.

6. Staffing our Approach: District Wide
Partners Staff Focus in the Systems work
Regional Executive
Director
(1 per region)
• Superintendent & Cabinet
• Support for district instructional planning and
capacity-building
Director of District
Transformation
(1 per district)
• Central Office staff
• Support for high performing team development,
content expertise, and building systems of
professional learning
Director of School
Transformation
(1 per district)
• Principals and Central Office supports
• Support for high performing team development,
content expertise, and building systems of
professional learning
School Innovation
Partners
(1 per school)
• Principals and their Instructional Leadership Teams
& teachers
• Facilitation of grade level & school-wide ROCI,
Content expertise (Literacy), leadership &
instructional coaching

7. Our Current Projects
4 Bay Area districts
• San Francisco, Alum Rock, Oak Grove &
Franklin-McKinley
Kellogg Strategic Partnerships
• 2 districts in Michigan (Beginning Year 3 in
Battle Creek & Year 2 in Grand Rapids)
• 2 merging districts in Mississippi (Indianola &
Sunflower) (Year 2)
• Albuquerque Public Schools (Year 2)
Philadelphia, PA (Starting this year)

8. Tweet your questions for the Panel
• Login to your Twitter account
• Tweet a question to @PartnersSIDerek
• Feel free to ask a specific panelist or the
whole panel
• If you don’t have Twitter, please hold your
question until the Q&A session after the
panelists speak

9. How Partners Works
Partners in School Innovation engages with
teachers and leaders in under-performing school
districts to drive results by strengthening teaching
and learning through our sustainable, adaptable
approach to continuous improvement.

10. Guiding Frameworks and Research
Theoretical Frameworks
• Continuous improvement, Diffusion of Innovations,
Social Learning Theory/Social Cognitive Theory
Ed Research
• Richard Elmore -- Instructional Core Focus for Districts
• Robert Marzano -- leadership and instructional practices
• McKinsey, John Kotter -- Change Management
• Michael Fullan -- Leadership
• Richard DuFour -- PLCs
Case Examples from Successful Districts
• Sanger Unified, Long Beach Unified, San Diego Unified,
Boston Unified

11. Data Tools
School Implementation Tracker
District Implementation Tracker
Satisfaction Survey
Adult Capacity Rubric
District Capacity Rubric
Network Evaluations
Student Data

12. Results-Oriented Cycles of Inquiry

13. Data to assess student learning
• State assessment
Data
• Standard-based
benchmarks
• Literacy skill
assessments
• Teacher-created
formative
assessments
• Student work
(calibrated)

14. Data to assess adult capacity
School Transformation Rubric
• Measures adult capacity to
engage in 76 transformative
practices
• Scale assesses consistency,
quality, intentionality, and
frequency of implementation
• Measures growth
• Observations, focus groups,
interviews
• NON-evaluative (Data is rolled up
to grade level and school)
1 No evidence
2 Readiness
3 Emerging
4 Implementing
5 Transforming
6 Sustaining

15. Data to assess district capacity
2 2 3
1
2
3 2
1
2
1
3 3
2 2
2
1
3 3 4
5
4
4
4
5
2 4 1 3
2 2
2 2
2
3
1 1
2
1 1 1
2 2
100%
75%
50%
25%
0%
2013
2014
2013
2014
2013
2014
2013
2014
2013
2014
2013
2014
2013
2014
2013
2014
2013
2014
No. of Practices per Stage, from 2013 to 2014
Vision Plan Act
Assess,
Reflect,
Adjust
Leadership
Dev.
Teacher
Dev.
Curriculum Instruction
Assess-ment
Leadership
Systems for Professional
Learning
Core Instructional Program

16. Building District
Cycle Reviews into
the System

17. Partners Data Work
• Moves school & district data use along a
developmental continuum
– From Data to Information (context)
– From Information to Knowledge (context & time)
– From Knowledge to Wisdom (context, time & iterative
practice (ROCI))
• Places adult behavior at the center, not student
performance
– Theory of Action
• Integrates Change Management with Data –
Informed Inquiry.

18. The Source of Errors
Malice Poor
Communication
Stupidity
Number of Errors
How Mistakes Are
Made

19. Core Mindsets
Results-
Orientation
Set goals to provide an anchor for data-analysis
Continuous
Improvement
Use data to identify strengths to build on
and opportunities to shore up gaps
Equity and
Social-Justice
Disaggregate data in order to
identify patterns
Systems
Thinking
Collect and analyze data at
every level of the district system

20. District Transformation
• Investment in current human capital
• Our approach is designed to break cycles in
inequity so each and every child can be
successful
• Builds systems and structures needed for
sustainability and continuous improvement
• Shift from fixed mindset to growth mindset
• 5-7 year investment (3 + days per week)

21. “Transformational Change is a Profoundly
Human Enterprise”
FROM TO
Reactive
to multiple demands
Focused & Purposeful
Reflective about how day-to-day
practice leads toward a
vision
Skeptical
about whether breakthrough
results are possible
True Belief
Motivated by knowing what is
possible by experiencing
success themselves
Under-prepared
and lacking sufficient
knowledge and skills
Skillful & Knowledgeable
The capacity to carry out
actions to achieve goals
Isolated
from peers and supervisors
and acting alone
Collaborative &
Accountable
Able to work with others
toward shared goals in an
aligned and coherent manner
Process
Action-Driven Coaching
Conversation
.
Accelerated Action
Cycle
Apprenticeship
Adaptive Group
Coaching

22. District-wide
Nested ROCI
Cycles
Achievement Impact
Presentations
Cycle Reviews
School Level
Instructional Leadership
Teams
Grade-Level PLCs
School Theory of
Action

23. Multiple Layers of Data Analysis
District
Leadership &
Systems
• How well
did we
guide,
resource
and
support
schools to
transform?
School
Leadership &
Systems
• How well
did we
guide and
support
teachers to
change
their
practice?
Instruction
• How did
my
teaching
practice
change?
Student
Impact
• What
impact
have we
had on
student
learning?

24. Preliminary Results
High-quality implementation with fidelity
• 97% completion of PSI approach last year
• 77% overall satisfaction rate
Improvements in school capacity
• Leadership practices, systems to support teachers, and
instructional practices increased by 1 stage on our rubric
Improvements in district capacity
• District capacity to plan, support school leaders and
teachers, and conduct assessment increased by 1 stage on
our rubric

25. Battle Creek Public Schools

26. Looking Back
• Year 1 Focus:
 School and District Systems
 Common Instructional Strategy

27. Aligned
Systems
Clear
Communication
Professional
Learning
Bold Goals
Lessons Learned
• Instructional core
comes first
• School improvement
means people
improvement
• Schools don’t change
if the district doesn’t
change
• Gradual Release
refers to teaching and
transformation

28. BCPS Systems for Change
• Professional Learning for
Teachers and Leaders
• District Instructional
Framework
• Instructional Coaching
• PBIS Coordinators
• Time for Collaboration
(PLCs)
• Revised assessments for
progress monitoring
• Cycle Reviews
• Instructional Leadership
Teams
• Achievement Impact
Presentations
• Teacher and Leader Evaluation
• STAR Visits
• Program Implementation
Tracker

29. ROCI in Action in
BCPS
• District Cycle Reviews
• Achievement Impact
Presentations
• Instructional
Leadership Teams
• Professional Learning
Communities

30. Looking Forward
• Develop Capacity through a comprehensive
performance management system that
– Improves instructional leadership
– Increases instructional effectiveness and
– Ensures quality and consistency of educational
experiences
• Implement Proactive Multi Tiered Systems of
Support to ensure that all students have access to a
quality instructional core
– Systemic Response in proactive tiers of support

31. Grand Rapids Public Schools

32. Questions for the panelists?
Tweet them to @PartnersSIDerek

33. Contact
Derek Mitchell dmitchell@partnersinschools.org
Mary Jo Kuhlman Kuhlmanm@grps.org
Kimberly Parker-DeVauld kparker-devauld@battle-creek.k12.mi.us
William Hill whill@partnersinschools.org
Dana McCurdy dmccurdy@partnersinschools.org
PartnersInSchools.org
Renewing the Promise of Public Education