potential to move an organization closer to its aim of supporting professional growth .
This may seem like a simplistic approach but our own experience , coupled with observations of current district practices across California indicate it is not . This is why we keep going back to our three premises and setting the expectation that a capacitybuilding , continuous improvement framework be integrated into the district model as a conceptual and analytic lens .
When you start to unpack any of these four conditions you realize that taking on even one of them is a tremendous task . During the first year of the grant , Robla ’ s core team of three teachers , one principal , the HR director , and the superintendent spent a day facilitated by REEd , envisioning what a system that puts professional growth at the center might look like . From there , we spent three days over the summer working with Robla and three other pilot districts during which they were asked to develop a six-month action plan .
Essential teaching practices
As Robla ’ s core team began to map out their action plan they also began to grapple with the selection of a shared set of targeted , high-impact instructional practices to drive professional growth . A typical , and reasonable , response on our part would have been to suggest that they turn to an existing resource , the California Standards for the Teaching Profession ( CSTP , 1997 ), which provides “ a common language and a vision of the scope and complexity of teaching that enable teachers to define and develop their practice ” ( p . 1 ). But , as we had discovered in working with other pilot sites , while useful , the CSTP standards do not actually delineate which instructional practices are most essential and highest leverage for supporting the California Common Core State Standards ( CCSS ). Nor were they ever intended to help assess shifts in instructional practices .
Recognizing the dilemma , we introduced Robla to an alternative resource , a set of targeted , high leverage , instructional practices that emerged from eight years of research ( O ’ Hara and Pritchard , 2016 ). We believed that the SOAR ® Teaching Frames could provide a much needed nexus between the
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CCSS and CSTP ; help teachers and administrators drive student learning by focusing on a set of effective , integrated instructional practices for CCSS English language arts and anchor literacy standards ; and scaffold professional learning opportunities for teachers in different grade spans and across content areas . Most importantly , we believed that the teaching frames had the potential to become the basis of a calibration platform because they are articulated at the right level or “ grain size ” that allows one to measure growth .
SOAR resonated with the core team but they knew they wouldn ’ t get far if they simply announced that they had selected it for district use . This is why we say that you need to attend to all of the four drivers . You won ’ t be successful in meeting one condition without attending to the other three .
Adopting a new instructional vision won ’ t happen unless there is also a professional learning culture that promotes ongoing collaboration and feedback . That means that you need to be very mindful of the need to give people information , and recognize that communication is the foundation for building a culture of learning .
That academic year , the core team spent the majority of their time rolling out a communication plan that introduced the district to SOAR . It involved some brave conversations about the current culture and facing up to the reality that not all district practices were conducive to professional growth . They had to acknowledge that there was some mistrust of the current system , and talk about how some teachers have been wronged in the evaluation process in ways that haven ’ t served them to grow .
For example , the administrator who completely missed the opportunity to engage in a meaningful conversation with a teacher about her professional practice by leaving the evaluation form , along with a post-it that said , “ Please sign this and get it back to me ,” in her mailbox .
In year two of the grant Robla ’ s focus was almost entirely on establishing the SOAR Teaching Frames as the foundational piece of a professional growth system . In a wellthought out strategic move , the core team first identified and worked with a sub-set of early adopters – the HIPsters ( high impact practices ), who participated in ongoing professional learning specific to SOAR , and who eventually helped to select disciplinary discussion as their focal point .
During that year , the superintendent negotiated with the teachers union for districtwide PD days to be used to train all teachers , a move which set expectations for the adoption of a shared vision of instructional practice , and which provided the opportunity to deepen everyone ’ s understanding of the resource . Also of import , the core team identified a need for , and negotiated , the creation of several new positions , including professional growth facilitators and Professional Learning Support Teachers ( PLSTs ).
Conditions for support
Collectively , these actions helped Robla to establish the set of conditions that we believe to be necessary for building a professional growth system . This year , year three of the grant , will be a major test of how successful our collective efforts have been , as 15 teachers have agreed to pilot the emerging formal teacher review process . That may seem like a long-time coming . At one point we were asked if we ’ d ever get around to actually talking about “ evaluation ,” but change is a recursive process that draws on existing resources and leads to the generation of new resources .
Robla could not have selected a classroom observation tool without first defining effective instructional practices and adopting the SOAR Teaching Frames . Nor could the district have known , in the identification of new positions , that it was laying the foundation for a teacher leader pathway .
Superintendent Reyes will know if the grant has been successful if he has managed to get out the message that every educator in the district has value and they also have something they should work on . As he says , “ If we want teachers to shift their practice , then principals are going to have to shift their current role as a person who is looking at teachers and judging them .
“ Principals need to be seen as partners in helping teachers grow as professionals . And , I need to shift the way I think as well , as a supervisor of principals ’ work . I need to ensure