The Tired School Improvement Initiatives Won't Transform Your School. But, This Will.

Part 1 in the series on school transformation by Erich Bolz, VP of Research and District Development at The CCE.

“Culture eats strategy for breakfast.”- Peter Drucker

Appetizer

For years schools have written SMART goals, focused on literacy, and sometimes mathematics, implemented the latest structural flavor of the month in the form of alphabet soup. PLC, RTI, MTSS, PBIS… any of this sound familiar?

Despite decades of these policy-driven approaches leading to at best, static results (NCLB and ESSA), schools trudge along dutifully retouching their state mandated SMARTIE goals and selecting activities and drive-by trainings suggested by structural approaches to school improvement (one more GLAD training anyone?).

Most schools don’t bother to ask the wider school community what they need for success, nor do they ask or measure whether staff is willing to work together and willing to do the difficult work necessary to transform the schoolhouse (Do staff even want to play together in the sandbox?).

This blog series will examine the evidence and, better yet, provide practical, evidence-based strategies for making real transformation so you can use what you learn to make this your school community’s best year ever.

How do schools improve culture?

First Course

The cliché, “What gets measured gets done” may not be a good thing at all if the things we are doing and measuring year don’t lead to improved outcomes. It might seem counterintuitive, but perhaps the least likely to improve your student literacy outcomes in your school is to hyper focus on improving literacy.

Implementing structures with alphabet soup acronyms may not get you any closer to improvement either. As it turns out all of those rubrics you are using to implement, RTI, PLC, PLT, MTSS, PBIS and whatever comes next neglect one big thing- culture. I have yet to see a structural implementation and measurement document ask the question, “Is your school community ready to commit to transformation and how do you know?”

As it turns out, school reform policy and practice in the United States has generally ignored decades of evidence that measuring, improving, and monitoring culture is perhaps the most critical action a school leader can undertake concurrent or before undertaking better-known structural initiatives. So how do school and system leaders learn more about this fundamental and neglected critical element?

One might look no further than The Center for Educational Effectiveness’s (CEE) Positive Outlier Study of transformational schools in Washington State. The Outlier Study identified schools serving American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN), Black, Latino/a, and students experiencing poverty that were most successful on academic and student engagement indicators over five-year period. In reviewing data for approximately 2200 schools, forty-six schools were identified as outlier performers.

So, what were the common conditions of these schools? Surprisingly, many of the outlier schools were once in the bottom 5% of Washington State schools. Their upward trajectory began with a catalyst that sparked momentum and often included: (1) new leadership; (2) an emotional charge; and (3) a strong commitment to the community to begin the demanding work of transformation.

Outlier school teams made a deliberate decision to improve. They made a commitment to the community and intentionally turned to the knowledge of people who have lived experience or have studied issues related to diversity, equity, inclusion, and racism. Rather than dismiss an insight, school teams chose to learn from the voices in their community and experts and challenge conditions identified as barriers to high performing students.

We know more than ever about the few key actions needed by school teams to improve the educational outcomes for our students who need us more than ever, and the stakes have never been higher. Our role in changing educational outcomes can indeed lead to better life outcomes and stronger communities.

Follow this blog series to learn more about the following key notions:

• Culture is king and the school leader is the curator.

• Maintaining and improving culture is a daily practice, and coaching helps.

• Overinvestment in structure will not overcome a challenging culture.

• Culture eats strategy and structure for breakfast.

• Burnout in education has never been higher. Culture can be both an indicator and antidote for burnout.

• Measuring culture, focusing on empathy, not hiding from vulnerability, and being a people-focused leader are all key.

• Asking for help from an executive coach, fostering high functioning Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) and using the power of 1:1 inquiry to start short cycle improvement initiatives are steps for anyone wanting to grow themselves and their schools.

• Naming and measuring toxic school culture will help to address it.

• Turning culture data into short-cycle improvement initiatives will help to implement changes.

As the great Thurgood Marshall once shared, “Unless our children begin to learn together, then there is little hope that our people will ever learn to live together.” Armed with this emerging research, we can lead the way!

About this Series: Tired of the same old school improvement plans, activities, and initiatives? Does your school’s improvement trajectory feel like yo-yo dieting? Armed the knowledge, evidence, and techniques necessary to measure and improve your school culture will lead to that school transformation you and your school deserves this year. Read this series to arm yourself and your school with the critical “how-to's” necessary to do this work.

To learn more about the Characteristics of Positive Outlier Schools in Washington State, please visit: https://www.effectiveness.org/research-resources.