Leading Literacy
March 2 2012
Keay Cobbin
To share what I have learned working with
literacy leaders who have been successful in
affecting change in teaching and learning that
has resulted in better outcomes for students.
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Represents a dramatic departure from the
‘expected’ to the ‘unfamiliar’
Requires new knowledge and skills for successful
implementation.
Changes the culture
Marzano, R. J. , & Waters, T., & McNulty, B. A. (2005)
About Children
 Every child can learn to read, write and orally communicate at high levels
 Every child has the right to learn in a rich, active and supportive literacy
environment
About Teachers
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The underlying motivation for most teachers is the success of their
students
Teachers need high quality continuous professional development
About Leaders
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There is a direct relationship between significantly improving outcomes
for students and effective literacy leadership by principals and other
leaders in the school.
About Literacy
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Our understandings of literacy continuously evolves – we need to keep
learning
“There is only one conclusion that can be drawn
about a transformation that changes everything,
changes everyone, represents a departure from the
familiar, demands the acquisition of new skills, and
continues for ever: this transformation requires
substantive change – real change - and real change is
real hard!”
DuFour, R., DuFour, R., Eaker, R., & Many, T. (2010)
Create a vision
Effective
Literacy
Leaders
Create a vision
Effective
Literacy
Leaders
“A vision helps clarify the direction in which an
organization needs to move. The vision functions in
many different ways: it helps spark motivation, it
helps keep all the projects and changes aligned, it
provides a filter to evaluate how the organization is
doing, and it provides a rationale for the changes the
organization will have to weather.”
Kotter, J., (1995)
1.
2.
shaped by an understanding of the current
research around literacy processes.
shaped by an understanding of the current
research into literacy pedagogy.
Teaching Readers
Essential Knowledge and Understandings
• The evolving understanding of the reading process
• The comprehension strategies that readers use to construct
meaning
• Extended time for students to read
• Critical role of ‘substantive talk’
• The importance of motivation and choice
• The strong correlation between vocabulary knowledge and
comprehension
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The Gradual Release of Responsibility
“All the explicit instruction in the world would not make
strong readers unless accompanied by lots of experience
applying their knowledge, skills and strategies during
actual reading”. Pearson, (2006)
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Formative Assessment
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Transferability of skills
“What you do with your vision after you create it will
determine your success. … so you need to
communicate it frequently and powerfully and embed
it within everything that you do.”
Kotter, J., (1995)
Create a vision
Effective
Literacy
Leaders
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“Leaders who call upon others to engage in new
work, achieve new standards, and accomplish new
goals have a responsibility to develop the capacity
of those they lead to be successful in meeting
those challenges.”
DuFour, R., DuFour, R., Eaker, R., & Many, T. (2010).
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For every performance I demand of you, I have an
equal responsibility to provide you with a unit of
capacity.
Elmore, R. (2010)
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Professional Development – 19th out of 134
influences on student achievement.
Hattie, J. (2009)
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High quality, continuous, well planned professional
learning over an extended period of time
Well-detailed professional learning plan that
articulates:
 the new knowledge and skills teachers will acquire
 what teachers will be doing differently in the classroom
 the contexts for learning
 resources
 projected impact on student learning
 indicators of success /progress at various points – small
wins
 how the impact of the PL will be measured – student
achievement measures
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Time for learning
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Professional Reading
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Resources
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Engagement of external support when/if
required
Professional Learning Communities
Professional Learning Communities - the
deprivatisation of practice
“… an ongoing process in which educators work
collaboratively in recurring cycles of collective inquiry
and action research to achieve better results for the
students they serve.”
“… the key to improved learning for all students in
continuous job-embedded learning for all teachers.”
DuFour, R., DuFour, R., Eaker, R., & Many, T. (2010). Learning By Doing A
Handbook for Professional Learning Communities at Work
Create a vision
Effective
Literacy
Leaders
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They (principals) are not just accountable for
creating the conditions in which results might
happen – accountability presumably resting
with teachers – but rather they are
responsible to ensure that results do happen.
Leithwood, K. (2010)
Individual
Responsibility
Internal
Alignment
of
Responsibility
Expectations
Accountability
Collective
Expectations
Accountability
Elmore, R. (2010)
Individual
Responsibility
Internal
Alignment
of
Responsibility
Expectations
Accountability
Collective
Expectations
Accountability
Elmore, R. (2010)
Create a vision
Effective
Literacy
Leaders
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Change is a slow, difficult, and gradual process for
teachers
Most teachers oppose radical adjustments to their
current practices.
Willingness to adopt an innovation is often largely
affected by the perceived magnitude of the change.
Embrace resistance – it is a natural part of change!
“…redefine resistance as a potential positive force”
Fullan, M. (2002)
Professional
Development
Change in
Teachers
Classroom
Practices
Change in
Student
Learning
Outcomes
Change in
Teachers’
Beliefs &
Attitudes
Guskey (2002)
Take on leadership role in this area
Phase V
The Inventing
Phase
Phase lV
The
Culminating
Phase
Phase lll
The Cultivating
Phase
Phase ll
The Clarifying
Phase
Phase l
The Initiating
Phase
Return
to Phase
l in a
new
area of
learning
Jan Burkins (2007)
Create a vision
Effective
Literacy
Leaders
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“Professional development was more effective when
the school leadership supported opportunities to
learn, where there was access to relevant expertise,
and when opportunities were provided to meet to
process new information.”
“Specific dimensions of instructional leadership
that had greatest effects on student outcomes were
promoting and participating in teacher learning
and development
John Hattie (2009)
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“..you never put people in a group without
participating in some way yourself…”
“The point is, learn to think of yourself as a
leader of learning, and try to model the
practice you expect other people to engage
in.”
Elmore, R. (2010)
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Leaders have the greatest influence on outcomes
for students when they participate in and promote
the professional learning of their teachers.
Lloyd, Claire A., Robinson, Viviane, M. J., & Rowe, Kenneth, J. (2008)
Create a vision
Effective
Literacy
Leaders
“Identify those values, traditions, and practices that you
will preserve, not just those you will change.”
Pull the Weeds Before You Plant the Flowers
“I will not ask you to implement one more initiative until
we take some things off the table. Then Listen. It might
be the first round of applause you have had in a while.”
Reeves, Douglas, B., (2009)
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Burkins, J. (2007). Coaching For Balance . Newark, DE: International Reading Association
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DuFour, R., DuFour, R., Eaker, R., & Many, T. (2010). Learning By Doing A Handbook for
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Elmore, R. (2010). Leading the instructional core. In Conversation. Volume 11, Issue 3
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Fullan, M. (2002). Principals as leaders in a culture of change. Educational Leadership.
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Professional Learning Communities at Work
Guskey, T. (2002). Professional development and teacher change. Teaching and Learning
Theory and Practice. Vol. 8, No. 3/4
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Hattie, J. (2009). Visible Learning. New York, NY: Routledge
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Kotter, J., (1995). Leading change: why change transformation efforts fail. Business
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Review.
Leithwood, K. (2010). Evolving perspectives: leaders and leadership. In Conversation.
Volume 11, Issue 2
Lloyd, Claire A., Robinson, Viviane, M. J., & Rowe, Kenneth, J. (2008). The impact of
leadership on student outcomes: an analysis of the differential effects of leadership
types. Educational Administration Quarterly 2008; 44; 635
Marzano, R. J., & Waters, T., & McNulty, B. A. (2005). School Leadership That Works
Reeves, Douglas, B., (2009). Leading Change in Your School How to Conquer Myths,
Build Commitment, and Get Results. Alexandria, VA: ASCD
Pearson, D. (2002). Effective practices for developing reading comprehension, from What
Research Has to Say About Reading Instruction. Newark DE: IRA