Georgia Leadership Institute For School Improvement Inc

UPLIFT SCHOOL LEADERS > TRANSFORM MINDSETS AND ACTION > CREATE VIBRANT CULTURES OF INNOVATION > BUILD EXCELLENT AND EQUITABLE SCHOOLS

BASE CAMP AND LEADERSHIP SUMMIT: GLISI'S BASE CAMP AND LEADERSHIP SUMMIT (BCLS) IS A UNIQUE TRAINING AND COACHING EXPERIENCE DESIGNED TO GROW TEAMS OF PRACTICING SCHOOL AND DISTRICT LEADERS. THE GOAL IS TO EQUIP TEAMS WITH THE SKILLS TO COLLABORATIVELY IDENTIFY AND ADDRESS THEIR MOST PRESSING PERFORMANCE PROBLEMS IN ORDER TO REALIZE MEANINGFUL IMPROVEMENTS IN SCHOOL CULTURE AND STUDENT OUTCOMES. BCLS TEACHES LEADERS TO USE DATA-DRIVEN CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT PROCESSES FOCUSED ON IMPROVING THE QUALITY OF TEACHING AND LEARNING, ULTIMATELY LEADING TO STRONGER SCHOOL CULTURE AND IMPROVED STUDENT OUTCOMES. IN FY21, GLISI'S ABILITY TO CONVENE LARGE GATHERINGS OF LEADERS WAS IMPEDED BY THE ONGOING COVID-19 PANDEMIC. GLISI POSTPONED ALL FALL AND WINTER CONVENINGS, OPTING TO HOST A SINGLE WEEK EXPERIENCE FOR A SUBSET OF LEADERS IN JUNE 2021. THE SUMMER EXPERIENCE SERVED 163 LEADERS (SUPERINTENDENTS, CENTRAL OFFICE LEADERS, PRINCIPALS, ASSISTANT PRINCIPALS, TEACHER LEADERS, AND SCHOOL SUPPORT STAFF) FROM 5 GEORGIA SCHOOLS AND DISTRICTS. DISTRICTS AND SCHOOL TEAMS WHO ATTENDED THE SUMMER EXPERIENCE HAILED FROM GEORGIA AND FLORIDA AND WERE A DIVERSE MIX OF SMALL, CHARTER SCHOOLS; LARGE METRO SYSTEMS; AND SMALL, RURAL SYSTEMS. EACH TEAM PARTICIPATED IN A WEEK- LONG TRAINING EVENT THAT SPANNED A 5-DAY PERIOD, FOR A TOTAL OF 40 HOURS OF TRAINING FOR EACH PARTICIPANT. GLISI DELIVERED 6,520 PERSON-TRAINING HOURS ( HOURS TRAINING PROVIDED X PARTICIPANTS) THROUGH BCLS IN FY21 AND STAFF COMMITTED APPROXIMATELY 1,195 HOURS TO MARKETING, DESIGN, EXECUTION, AND EVALUATION OF THE SBCLS EXPERIENCE. A CRITICAL SHORT-TERM OBJECTIVE OF BCLS IS TO INCREASE PARTICIPANT KNOWLEDGE AND APPLICATION OF CONCEPTS CRITICAL TO LEADING SYSTEMIC CHANGE EFFORTS IN SCHOOLS. OUR PRE-POST LEARNING ASSESSMENT SHOWED THAT FOR 100% OF ITEMS SURVEYED, THERE WAS A STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT GAIN IN KNOWING AND UNDERSTANDING FOR ATTENDEES--AN INDICATION THAT THOSE WHO ATTENDED THE TRAINING WERE BETTER EQUIPPED TO IDENTIFY THE ACTIONS, TOOLS AND RESOURCES TO PROMOTE EQUITY; IDENTIFY ROOT CAUSES AND PERFORMANCE NEEDS; AND ENGAGE OTHERS IN CRAFTING QUESTIONS, EXPERIMENTING, FAILING FAST, AND COURSE CORRECTING, AMONG OTHER LEARNING. A SECOND SHORT-TERM OBJECTIVE IS TO INCREASE THE PSYCHOLOGICAL SAFETY OF TEAMS WHO ATTEND-A CRITICAL PRECURSOR TO CULTURE CHANGE. A PRE-POST ANALYSIS OF SUMMER BCLS PARTICIPANTS FOUND FAVORABLE CHANGE IN RESPONDENT PERCEPTIONS REGARDING KEY INDICATORS THAT PSYCHOLOGICAL SAFETY IS PRESENT ON THEIR TEAMS. A FINAL SHORT-TERM OBJECTIVE IS INCREASED MOTIVATION AMONG PARTICIPANTS AND TEAMS TO MAKE NECESSARY CHANGES TO THEIR BEHAVIOR AND PRACTICE, RECOGNIZING THE CONNECTION BETWEEN ADULT PRACTICE AND STUDENT OUTCOMES. QUALITATIVE DATA INDICATE OUR TRAINING AND COACHING MOTIVATED ATTENDEES TOWARD CHANGE. OUR LONG-TERM ASPIRATION IS FOR ATTENDANCE AT BCLS TO CORRELATE WITH HEALTHIER SCHOOL CULTURES AND IMPROVED STUDENT OUTCOMES OVER TIME, PARTICULARLY FOR DISTRICTS WHO LEVERAGE BCLS AS A MULTI-YEAR SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT STRATEGY. STATEWIDE ASSESSMENT AND ACCOUNTABILITY REQUIREMENTS WERE WAIVED IN THE STATE OF GEORGIA DUE TO THE ONGOING COVID-19 PANDEMIC, CONTRIBUTING TO SCHOOL CLOSURES AND AFFECTING SYSTEMIC COLLECTION OF COMPARABLE DATA. HOWEVER, COMPARISONS OF COHORT GRADUATION RATES OF BCLS PARTNERS RELATIVE TO THE BROADER STATE ARE PROMISING. IN OUR MOST RECENT ANALYSIS, TRADITIONAL SYSTEMS THAT SENT TWO OR MORE TEAMS TO BCLS FROM 2018-2020 (N=29) ACHIEVED A HIGHER 4-YEAR COHORT GRADUATION RATE IN THE 2020-2021 SCHOOL YEAR (88.7) RELATIVE TO THE STATE AVERAGE (83.7). THIS COHORT'S IMPROVEMENT IN GRADUATION RATES OVER TIME IS ALSO IMPROVING AT A SLIGHTLY BETTER RATE COMPARED TO THE STATE AVERAGE: GEORGIA'S AVERAGE CGR IMPROVED BY 1.7 PERCENTAGE POINTS FROM 2019-2021, WHILE THE GLISI COHORT IMPROVED BY 2.0 PERCENTAGE POINTS. GLISI ALSO OFFERED "BCLS TASTERS", A FREE VIRTUAL EXPERIENCE TARGETED TOWARD THOSE WHO WOULD HAVE OTHERWISE ATTENDED THE COHORTS POSTPONED IN THE FALL AND WINTER OF 2021. GLISI COMMITTED OVER 85 HOURS PLANNING AND EXECUTING THE BCLS TASTERS, WHICH SERVED 20 DISTRICTS AND 26 EDUCATORS.

IN-DISTRICT AND VIRTUAL SUPPORT: GLISI OFFERS A VARIETY OF IN-DISTRICT AND VIRTUAL SUPPORT SERVICES TO SCHOOL DISTRICT PARTNERS ACROSS GEORGIA. IN FY21, GLISI PROVIDED THE FOLLOWING SUPPORTS: (1) STRATEGIC IMPROVEMENT PLANNING, DELIVERED IN PARTNERSHIP WITH THE GEORGIA SCHOOL BOARDS ASSOCIATION (GSBA); (2) IN- PERSON TRAINING, COACHING AND TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE TO DEVELOP ASPIRING AND INCUMBENT LEADERS TO BUILD EXCELLENT AND EQUITABLE SCHOOLS; AND (3) VIRTUAL SUPPORTS FOR LEADERS INTERESTED IN ATTENDING TO THEIR OWN PERSONAL GROWTH AND SELF-CARE. THE OBJECTIVE OF THE GLISI-GSBA STRATEGIC IMPROVEMENT PLANNING CONSULTING SERVICE IS TO ASSIST DISTRICTS AND THEIR LOCAL COMMUNITIES IN DEVELOPING A DISTRICT-WIDE IMPROVEMENT PLAN TO GUIDE TRANSPARENT SYSTEMIC IMPROVEMENT FOR 3-5 YEARS. IN FY21, GLISI ENGAGED 267 PARTICIPANTS IN DELIBERATIVE DIALOG TO INFORM SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT EFFORTS IN SEVEN DISTRICTS, FACILITATING A PROCESS THAT YIELDED A PLAN TO GUIDE CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT IN ALL SEVEN SYSTEMS. GLISI STAFF LOGGED AN ESTIMATED 248 HOURS OF TOTAL SUPPORT IN SERVICE TO THESE SYSTEMS AS WELL AS TWO OTHERS IN THE EARLY STAGES OF PLAN DEVELOPMENT THAT WILL CONCLUDE IN FY22. THE OBJECTIVES OF GLISI'S IN-PERSON TRAINING, COACHING AND TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE ARE CUSTOMIZED TO THE UNIQUE NEEDS OF EACH OF OUR PARTNERS. IN FY21, GLISI PROVIDED THESE SERVICES TO 521 ASPIRING AND INCUMBENT LEADERS IN THIRTEEN SCHOOL SYSTEMS ACROSS GEORGIA, AND AN ADDITIONAL 53 LEADERS WERE SERVED IN NONPROFIT AND MEMBER ASSOCIATION ORGANIZATIONS THROUGH THESE SERVICES. SPECIFIC ENDEAVORS INCLUDED THE DEVELOPMENT OF TWO COHORTS OF ASPIRING LEADERS; DESIGN AND FACILITATION OF CUSTOMIZED SUMMER LEADERSHIP RETREATS FOR TWO LARGE, URBAN SCHOOL SYSTEMS; DEVELOPMENT OF LEADERS' SOCIAL-EMOTIONAL SKILLS; CAPACITY BUILDING FOR ASSISTANT PRINCIPALS, PRINCIPALS, AND CLASSIFIED PERSONNEL; AND IN-DISTRICT SUPPORT TO DEEPEN SKILL AND TEAM DEVELOPMENT FOR SEVERAL OF OUR BCLS PARTNERS. IN FY21, GLISI LOGGED AN ESTIMATED 2,542 HOURS OF TOTAL SUPPORT ACROSS THESE PARTNERSHIPS AND PLANNING AND DESIGN TOWARD FY22 SUPPORT. IN POST-SERVICE SURVEYS, 100% OF DISTRICT PARTNERS INDICATED THAT THEY ARE MAKING PROGRESS TOWARD AND/OR ACHIEVED THE INTENDED PARTNERSHIP GOALS. GLISI ALSO PROVIDED SUPPORT TO THE GEORGIA DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION THROUGH A NEW GRANT INITIATIVE CALLED "GRE4T" (GEORGIA'S RESTART: EMBRACE, ENGAGE, EXPAND AND ENHANCE LEARNING TECHNOLOGY INITIATIVE). IN THE FIRST YEAR OF SUPPORT, GLISI LOGGED OVER 900 HOURS OF DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION SUPPORT, SERVING 78 PARTICIPANTS IN A PILOT CONVENING IN MAY 2021 AND SUPPORTING THE FORMATION OF A COALITION OF COLLABORATIVE PARTNERS INVOLVED IN REALIZING GRANT OBJECTIVES. 90% OF PARTICIPANTS IN THE PILOT INDICATED THE PROTOCOLS USED WILL SUPPORT THEIR PLANNING EFFORTS FOR THE UPCOMING SCHOOL YEAR. ONE PARTICIPANT NOTED, "I LEARNED THAT EVEN THE SMALLEST START IS A SUCCESS AND IT IS OKAY THAT WE ARE AT THE BEGINNING OF THIS PROCESS." FINALLY, GLISI EXPANDED ITS SUITE OF VIRTUAL SUPPORTS FOR LEADERS INTERESTED IN ATTENDING TO THEIR OWN PERSONAL GROWTH AND SELF-CARE, INCLUDING CONNECTED COMMUNITY, VIRTUAL GROWTH NETWORKS, AND A TEXT-BASED COURSE TO BUILD EQUITY CONSCIOUSNESS AMONG COURSE COMPLETERS. CONNECTED COMMUNITY WAS ORIGINALLY LAUNCHED MARCH 2020, IN DIRECT RESPONSE TO THE EMERGENT COVID-19 CRISIS AND IN THE INTEREST OF CREATING SPACE FOR TEACHERS AND LEADERS TO ATTEND TO THEIR OWN SELF-CARE, FIND STRENGTH IN A PEER COMMUNITY, AND GENERATE IDEAS TO SOLVE PRESSING CHALLENGES. GLISI MAINTAINED THIS COMMUNITY IN FY2021, SERVING 95 LEADERS FROM 50 DISTRICTS AND ORGANIZATIONS IN GEORGIA AND BEYOND. GLISI FURTHER EXPANDED ITS SUITE OF VIRTUAL SUPPORTS IN FY21, INCLUDING A VIRTUAL GROWTH NETWORK FOR ASSISTANT PRINCIPALS AND A TEXT-BASED COURSE SUPPORTING LEADERS IN DEVELOPING EQUITY CONSCIOUSNESS. THESE ADDITIONAL SUPPORTS SERVED 3,830 EDUCATORS AND LEADERS STATEWIDE. GLISI STAFF COMMITTED APPROXIMATELY 1,130 HOURS TO DESIGN AND DELIVERY OF OUR VIRTUAL SUPPORT.

TRANSFORMING TEACHING AND LEARNING TOGETHER: FY21 WAS THE THIRD AND FINAL YEAR OF A MULTI-YEAR COLLABORATIVE PARTNERSHIP WITH THE SOUTHERN REGIONAL EDUCATION BOARD (SREB) AND THREE RURAL SCHOOL SYSTEMS IN GEORGIA (JEFFERSON COUNTY, EMANUEL COUNTY, AND BURKE COUNTY) KNOWN AS TRANSFORMING TEACHING AND LEARNING TOGETHER (4T). THE PURPOSE OF 4T WAS TO BUILD THE SKILLS AND ABILITY OF PARTNER SCHOOL SYSTEMS TO IMPROVE THE EFFECTIVENESS OF TEACHING, BETTER PREPARING STUDENTS FOR SUCCESS AFTER HIGH SCHOOL. THIS IS DIFFERENT FROM SIMPLY IMPROVING THE EFFECTIVENESS OF TEACHING. THE AIM OF THE PARTNERSHIP WAS TO CONVENE A NETWORK IMPROVEMENT COMMUNITY WHERE PARTICIPATING SYSTEMS DEVELOP ENDURING CAPABILITIES TO DRIVE CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT, RATHER THAN LEADING A ONE-TIME IMPROVEMENT INITIATIVE IN TEACHING PRACTICE. CORE OBJECTIVES FOR FY21 WERE TO (1) BUILD PSYCHOLOGICAL SAFETY BETWEEN AND AMONG NETWORK PARTICIPANTS (CRITICAL FOR THE NETWORK TO COLLABORATIVELY PROBLEM SOLVE TOGETHER); AND (2) TO CREATE OPPORTUNITIES FOR PARTICIPANTS TO LEARN AND PRACTICE IMPROVEMENT SCIENCE WHEN APPLIED TO A REAL PROBLEM OF PRACTICE IN THEIR SCHOOL SYSTEMS. EACH PARTICIPATING SCHOOL SYSTEM NOTED THAT ADULT PRACTICES WERE LIKELY CONTRIBUTING TO LOW LEVELS OF STUDENT ENGAGEMENT AND WERE INTERESTED IN IDENTIFYING CRITICAL SHIFTS IN TEACHER AND LEADER PRACTICE TO PRODUCE HIGHER LEVELS OF STUDENT ENGAGEMENT OVER TIME. PARTICIPANT SURVEY DATA DEMONSTRATE THAT GLISI WAS SUCCESSFUL IN ACHIEVING OUR CORE OBJECTIVES FOR YEAR 3. COMPARISONS OF PRE-ASSESSMENTS OF PSYCHOLOGICAL SAFETY TO THE MID-ASSESSMENTS ADMINISTERED IN FY20 AND FY21, WE FIND IMPROVEMENTS ACROSS SEVERAL LEADING INDICATORS OF PSYCHOLOGICAL SAFETY. PARTICIPANT DATA ALSO SUGGESTS WE WERE SUCCESSFUL IN CREATING OPPORTUNITIES FOR BOTH LEARNING ABOUT IMPROVEMENT SCIENCE AND IMPLEMENTING THAT LEARNING IN AND OUTSIDE OF NETWORK CONVENINGS. THE MAJORITY OF PARTICIPANTS RATED CONVENINGS AS "HIGHLY EFFECTIVE- OR "EFFECTIVE" IN OFFERING INSIGHTS ON THE STEPS NECESSARY TO ENGAGE IN IMPROVEMENT CYCLES. FURTHER, THERE WERE HIGH LEVELS OF AGREEMENT THAT CONVENINGS OFFERED SPACE FOR REFLECTION ABOUT HOW CONTENT CAN IMPROVE TEACHER AND LEADER PRACTICE (5.09 MEAN RATING ON A 6-POINT SCALE) AND ITS IMPORTANCE FOR SCHOOL AND DISTRICT EFFECTIVENESS (5.17 MEAN RATING ON A 6-POINT SCALE). QUALITATIVE DATA FROM BOTH FY20 AND FY21 HIGHLIGHTED THE RECOGNITION THAT ADULT CAPACITY TO CONSIDER THE TOTALITY OF THE STUDENT EXPERIENCE WAS MORE CRITICAL THAN EVER IN LIGHT OF THE COVID-19 CRISIS. ONE PARTICIPANT NOTED, "OUR STAFF NOW UNDERSTANDS THAT ENGAGEMENTS ENCOMPASS MUCH MORE THAN WHAT HAPPENS IN THE CLASSROOM", EMPHASIZING THE BROADER GROUP OF STAKEHOLDERS BEYOND THE TEACHERS WHO SHAPE THE STUDENT EXPERIENCE. FORTY-FOUR TEACHERS AND LEADERS WERE SERVED THROUGH THE NETWORK AND GLISI STAFF LOGGED AN ESTIMATED 1,630 HOURS OF SERVICE IN FY21.