Coming Soon: School Leadership Professional Learning Modules

School leaders are key change agents in educational transformation. In September, the GTL Center will be releasing two new professional learning modules that regional centers and states can use to better support principals.

If you have questions about the material, or would like to receive a personal e-mail notification when each module is released, send us an email at gtlcenter@air.org.

Module 1: Supporting Principals Using Teacher Effectiveness Data

Developed collaboratively with support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, this three-part module can be used by regional comprehensive centers (RCCs) or states to help build principals' capacity to understand, analyze, and apply different types of teacher effectiveness data to strategic planning and educator talent development decisions.

Part 1: Understanding Teacher Effectiveness Data

• Understand how teacher effectiveness data can be used to inform strategic talent management decisions at the school level.
• Explore the necessary foundations for using teacher effectiveness data.
• Identify and develop a list of barriers to using teacher effectiveness data and opportunities and strategies to overcome these barriers.

Part 2: Analyzing Teacher Effectiveness Data

• Discuss the strengths, limitations, and uses of sources of teacher effectiveness data.
• Build data literacy skills through data analysis and interpretation.
• Interact and practice identification of trends using sample data sets.

Part 3: Applying Teacher Effectiveness Data

• Learn strategies for communicating about data use.
• Practice analyzing data to identify trends.
• Use data trends to inform professional learning and talent management decisions.

Users can adjust the duration, scope, and sequence of the work session to accommodate local needs and conditions. The entire work session is designed to take place during three 2-hour periods but also can be combined into one six-hour session to accommodate participant time and availability.

The material has been pilot tested with district and school leaders in Morton School District, Illinois, as well as with state and district leaders at joint a Colorado Department of Education and the Colorado Association of School Executives (CASE) conference.

Module 2: Turnaround Leader Competencies
Developed in collaboration with by the Center on School Turnaround at WestEd, Public Impact, and the University of Virginia Darden/Curry Partnership for Leader in Education, this module can help strengthen knowledge and awareness of competencies critical for turnaround school leaders.
Aimed primarily at leaders and staff members from regional comprehensive centers (RCCs), state education agencies (SEAs), and within-state regional centers, the materials can be used to turnkey the work session for use with district leadership teams, principals, teacher leaders, or other roles.

Part 1: Understanding Turnaround Leader Competencies

• Acknowledge the unique challenges of leading school turnaround.
• Identify leader competencies and actions associated with turnaround success.
• Understand the importance of competencies in turnaround leader selection and development.
• Analyze school leader behaviors to identify evidence of competencies.

Part 2: Recruiting and Selecting Turnaround Leaders

• Understand the importance of competencies in recruiting and selecting turnaround leaders
• Understand how to recruit leaders with competencies to turn around persistently low-performing schools.
• Design a competency-based interview and selection process for turnaround leaders.
• Assess and improve the recruitment and selection process to more effectively select turnaround leaders.

Part 3: Developing and Retaining Turnaround Leaders

• Determine district structures for principal support
• Define the role and responsibility of the Principal Supervisor
• Identify and develop Professional Development Plans

The duration, scope, and sequence of the work session may be customized to accommodate local needs and conditions. The entire work session is designed to take place during a two-hour period but can easily be broken into smaller portions and accomplished during multiple sessions to accommodate participant time and availability.
The material has been piloted tested with regional comprehensive center staff at a recent Center on School Turnaround event, as well as with state-level staff at the Maryland Department of Education.