Kelly's Curriculum Corner

Sometimes my job is really fun! As part of our school improvement grant this year, I interviewed a variety of principals and assistant principals regarding their AYP success .  What became apparent fairly quickly was that success was not built on a specific initiative. In fact schools that did not have large gains in student achievement looked similar on paper. So what is the discernable difference? Here are some common characteristics of the AYP Success Schools: Sustained building leadership Sustained building vision Patience - Buildings had long-term plans – 5 to 10 years in most cases Relationships and culture were primary considerations. Leaders consciously and strategically built relationships between: Building leadership and teachers Teachers to teachers and Teachers to students Focus on implementation.  Many teams got lost here… focusing on providing the two hours of professional development mentioned in the plan. ...

CIU 20 hosted a Super "School Improvement" Bowl on January 21, 2009. We wanted a new way to engage our instructional leaders in the work of continuous improvement. Believe it or not, football became our inspiration... "Individual commitment to a group effort -- that is what makes a team work, a company work, a society work, a civilization work." Vince Lombardi “ If a team is to reach its potential, each player must be willing to subordinate his personal goals to the good of the team.” Bud Wilkinson "Coaches have to watch for what they don't want to see and listen to what they don't want to hear." John Madden In between bites of a Super Bowl lunch of six-foot subs, wings, and meatball sandwiches, School Improvement teams looked for ways for to connect lessons from football to school improvement. Here are a few: Every team needs a play book (school improvement plan) Teams win by moving in strategic ways and moving in the same direction Player...