TregoED tregoed, Author at TregoED

Two Steps to ensure you help Every Student Succeed

March 28, 2016

While it appears that the world (or at least our government) is at a standstill as we wait to see what happens in the next election, in fact, recent action has taken place that will affect our day to day operations in education over the next few years. The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), signed in December is slated to replace No Child Left Behind starting in the 2016-1017 school year. So what does that mean to school leaders? In his State of the Union Address, President Obama made it clear that the “true test is not the challenges we face, but how we approach those challenges.” No matter who is in office or what education act is in place, no truer words were ever spoken.

Where should your focus be on Focus Schools?

Under The ESSA, focus schools, schools that have the largest within-school gaps between the highest-achieving subgroup and the lowest-achieving subgroup, will still have to be identified. What has changed is that newly empowered state and local decision makers must develop their own plans for school improvement.

It is easy in a focus school, where education is going well for some subgroups, to blame the problem on one identifying characteristic of the failing subgroup. “Jumping to cause” is a pitfall that many districts fall into and, just like when you treat an ailment based on just the visible symptoms, can result in wasted time, resources and worsening of the problem.

Proper diagnoses for proper treatment

So, how can we approach that challenge and avoid treating the wrong ailment?

Before you address the problem, you must first have an understanding of the underlying causes. The true cause is not always the one that seems most obvious. Using a strategic process, like Problem Analysis, can help you gather and analyze data more effectively and determine true cause. That process should include these steps:

Define the problem: Take time to define and state the problem clearly and to organize relevant information so that patterns and underlying problems will emerge.
Determine true cause: Look for possible causes, vet possible causes and ensure that you found true cause.

It is clear in schools where there is a wide range of achievement, that curriculum and instruction are not a one-size-fits-all phenomena. It should also be clear that there are no one-size-fits-all solutions to address the diverse nature of the problems that prevent children from achieving.

Under the Every Student Succeeds Act, states will be required to establish ambitious state-designed long-term goals…for all students and separately for each subgroup of students. We, as education leaders, will be given the responsibility of ascertaining how to reach those ambitious goals. Let’s use this opportunity to properly diagnose the problem and make and implement the best decisions we can for our children.

Failure to Communicate

March 15, 2016

Here is a scenario that you may be familiar with. Trouble is brewing in a local school district. Like many districts, it is experiencing declining student enrollment. Because of projections, the district is considering closing schools. You can feel the tension growing in the community.

Policies and cutbacks at the state level have put increasing pressure on local school district budgets, prompting program and service cuts and an increase in property taxes. Taxes have also increased over the past 20 years as the community has been supportive of the district, passing referendums and building several new schools. However, people are now confused as to why the new schools were necessary, given that other schools may now need to be closed.

Survey Says!

The Board recently surveyed the community asking them to select their preferred options for dealing with declining enrollment. The results were as follows:

– 1^st choice was to close 2 specific small elementary schools

– 2^nd choice was to do nothing

– 3^rd choice was to close one middle school and add a 6^th grade to all elementary schools

– 4^th choice – and by far the least popular option, was a bond referendum for an extensive middle school renovation

Surprise!

Just four weeks after the survey results were released, it was announced that the board would most likely pursue a bond referendum. Say what? Not surprisingly, this is causing “confusion” to community members who felt they had clearly expressed their displeasure for a possible bond referendum.

What we have here is a failure to communicate.

The referendum may well be the best option. However, without clear communication and rationale, the board has left community members feeling disenfranchised and frustrated. This, in turn, makes it a lot less likely that a referendum would ultimately pass. Kudos to the district for attempting to get input and community involvement, but I can’t help but think that the district created a problem for itself by how it went about this. In highly emotional issues like this, It is not enough to just get input – how you go about getting it and what you do with it matters.

Two Simple Questions to start every Education Initiative

February 25, 2016

Imagine politicians reaching across party lines, 200 million dollars and lots of good intentions all focused on turning around a failing school district. The idea was to move a city with very poor schools and poor performance of children to a model of educational excellence in five years and use that model to help solve the urban education crisis across America. That was the dream behind Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg and former Mayor Cory Booker’s reform plan in Newark, NJ. Five years later, change that reached the classroom was minimal and the money was all gone. What went wrong? Failure to involve the right people!

What we had here is a failure to collaborate!

In a NPR Fresh Air interview by Terry Gross, Dale Russakoff, author of The Prize. Who’s in Charge of America’s Schools? recounts their efforts:

“There were a lot of people, including some very skilled, experienced teachers, who deeply understood the needs of the children in Newark who would have been eager to be part of that conversation. And not only were they insulted that they were left out, there was an agenda that was crafted that didn’t have the benefit of their really important insights into what was needed in Newark.”

This created “an enormous gap between the people who have come to save the Newark children and the people who actually cared for and taught the Newark children.”

The bottom line was “there was no way for the parents, the teachers, the principals, the community leaders – just, you know, really, really intelligent, smart, committed people who had been in the fray for years in the lives of children in education – to be part of this. And so basically, the board decided to spend the money the way the wealthy donors wanted it spent.”

The rest is history

Five years down the road, the majority of students in the Newark public school system saw very little change in the classroom. Good intentions and lots of money were not enough. They failed to involve the right people.

While this was a huge undertaking, many school districts make this same mistake on a smaller scale, quite frequently. The implementation of well-meaning plans often fail because the process did not include the key stakeholders.

Plan for success

So how do you make sure that the right people are in the room when you have a decision you plan to make and implement?

Ask these two important questions:

Who will be impacted by this decision?

Whose expertise is needed to make this decision?

Asking these two questions before the Newark project was developed could have changed the dismal outcome of such a large investment. Surely, we, as education leaders, can avoid the same mistakes in our everyday operations by using these two questions to help us determine who should be involved in our collaborative efforts.

Because Good Intentions Aren’t Enough…

February 10, 2016

We have all heard the one about a certain road being paved with good intentions. Wouldn’t it be nice if good intentions and good effort were sufficient? As we know all too well, though, intentions alone don’t count for much without the results to back them up.

Decision-makers rarely set out to make a poor decision. Yet certain blindspots can almost guarantee a sub-optimal choice if they go unchecked. Are the traps listed below tripping up your district’s decision making?

from “The Hidden Traps in Decision Making” by John S. Hammond, Ralph L. Keeney, and Howard Raiffa (HBR OnPoint, winter 2015.)

Don’t get caught in one or more of these traps! By understanding them we can guard against them. Greater awareness and vigilance helps ensure good decision-making intentions result in better outcomes.

5 Questions help Leaders “Teach them to Fish”

December 8, 2015

Written by Dr. Christopher Manno

You’re faced with complex circumstances? You’re contemplating numerous alternatives from which to choose? You’ve decided on a course of action, and are considering how to ensure success. Outcomes are not as expected, and you need to know why. You are a leader with a revolving door of team members seeking assistance, support, and direction.

Here are five BIG questions that can assist a leader in taking control of what can often seem to be chaos. These questions, when applied consistently, can teach your team members to fish for themselves.

What are our objectives? – What’s important here? What are we trying to accomplish in this situation? Which objectives are most important?
Who should be involved in addressing this situation? – Which team members are needed to ensure varying perspectives are represented? Who will have a different point of view? – We want to hear from them!
What alternatives exist? – What are our choices? If we’ve decided on a course of action, what other alternatives did we consider?
What risks exist related to this situation? – What can go wrong?
How shall we protect against, and plan for, the risks? – How significant are these risks? What can we do to prevent the risk from occurring? If it happens, what will we do to minimize impact?

Leaders are often on “the balcony” (Richard DeFour) orchestrating the direction, decisions, and actions of an organization. Team members come to the leader often – seeking advice, direction, or pitching ideas. An effective leader is one who team members can count on with a consistent and constructive response to inquiries – a response, first and foremost, grounded in developing people and the quality of their thinking.

A leader who consistently responds to inquiries framed around these five questions teaches and coaches team members to think critically, and to effectively manage their own circumstances.

These questions, and this pattern of thinking, are grounded in the four TregoED process tools.

Guest blogger, Dr. Christopher Manno. This article was cross-posted on LinkedIn’s Pulse Blog.

Courage: One Necessary Ingredient for Effective Change

November 17, 2015

In October, TregoeD was pleased to award three school districts with the inaugural Benjamin B. Tregoe Award for Strategic Leadership in Education. The award recognizes districts, individuals or teams that have achieved significant and enduring results using TregoED tools. Winning entries demonstrated successful resolution of a critical issue or problem and operational or systemic changes that have had lasting value.

Those recognized were:

Colorado Springs School District 11 for its innovative use of Problem Analysis in determining significant drivers of student achievement at the school level.
Newton-Conover City Schools for its use of collaboration and Decision Analysis in making a critical hiring decision.
Sewanhaka Central High School District for its collaborative use of Situation Appraisal, Decision Analysis and Potential Problem Analysis on a systemic level in determining budget allocations and preparing for a successful bond referendum.

Significant use of TregoED tools can create enduring results – but it also requires courage:

Courage to let go – collaboration is sometimes scary for people because they feel they are giving up control of the outcome. However, anyone who has ever tried to implement an unpopular solution quickly experiences how little control they really have. It takes courage to trust and validate the good thinking of others by giving them a significant role in decision-making.

Courage of clarity – sometimes the truth hurts, and sugar-coating it does not necessarily ease the pain – it only makes it easier to live in denial. Without this clarity and openness about a problem you end up just putting another bandaid on it and kicking it down the line. Having the courage to find the root cause of the problem – even if things you did or did not do contributed to it – frees us to stop pointing fingers elsewhere and begin looking at what we can do about it. Fearlessly seeking the truth, and doing “the right thing” with it, can be the catalyst for true, enduring change.

Over the years, we have been thrilled and humbled to see the significant and innovative ways so many districts have used TregoED tools. We are so proud of the work that each of our clients have done, and this year, we are especially pleased to be able to acknowledge these three districts in this special way. There are so many examples of leadership courage out there – we look forward to continuing to celebrate them!

Tough Technology Decisions Part 3

October 12, 2015

Technology decisions in education can be complex and costly. Successful upgrades and smooth implementation depend on many factors – both human and technical. Planning for potential problems and opportunities is one way of avoiding inevitable pitfalls.

We asked leaders, David Blattner, Chief Technology Officer and Executive Director for Media and Virtual Learning at Iredell Statesville Schools in North Carolina, John Guyer, Executive Director of Technology at Summit Academy Management in Ohio, and George Rafferty, Superintendent of Schools in Tabernacle, NJ, to share their advice after recently working through tough technology decisions in their districts. These were their top 3 “lessons learned.”

Be sure to engage your entire community, not just parents. Parents are not the only voters when it comes to school budgets. Increase your support and public understanding by including public input and using clear communication channels with all stakeholders.
Let instructional goals drive the initiative. Before you start looking at technology choices, come to an understanding of what you want the outcomes to be in the classroom. Do you want to see more global activities? Individualized instruction? Cultivate high quality teachers? Increase the use of data? Make sure that what is agreed upon is clearly communicated to all stakeholders. Parents and community members need to understand what is happening and why when you want instruction to look different in the classroom.
Plan for and provide appropriate support and training. Use surveys and other means to help differentiate instruction for teachers as you would for your students. Provide instructional coaches or facilitators that can answer questions, go into classrooms and provide just-in-time training for those that need it.

Avoiding pitfalls and staying focused on your education goals ensures a smooth implementation and a fiscally and educationally sound outcome. David Blattner said “using a process did not make the decision easier, it made the decision clearer” ensuring solid decisions and smooth implementation of their Race to the Top funds. The bottom line for each administrator was: it is worth putting the time in upfront to ensure that you are making the best decision possible to meet your instructional goals.

To see the complete interviews, go here. To learn more about the TregoED decision making strategy visit our website at www.tregoed.org or call 609-252-2539

Tough Technology Decisions Part 2: The Challenges

September 25, 2015

This is part 2 of our series about handling complex technology decisions based on the interviews of school leaders David Blattner, Chief Technology Officer and Executive Director for Media and Virtual Learning at Iredell Statesville Schools in North Carolina, John Guyer, Executive Director of Technology at Summit Academy Management, a free public non-profit Academy for Alternative Learners, and George Rafferty, Superintendent of Tabernacle School District in NJ.

I just read an interesting blog “What does it take to be a successful K-12- IT decision-maker?” in which Jean Tower, Director of Technology for Northborough and Southborough public schools is quoted as saying:

“Twenty years ago a tech leader’s job was 80 percent technical…over the last twenty years it’s slowly morphed into a real leadership role understanding the business of schools.”

This premise was certainly borne out in our interviews with 3 successful administrators that have recently facilitated IT decisions in their districts. They have clearly demonstrated that true successful decision makers use solid strategies and understand that:

You need to start with a vision of what you want to see happening in our classrooms. As Rushton Hurley, nationally known instructional technology specialist says: “we need to keep the conversation in “learner’s terms” not vendor’s terms.” You need to have a clear “why” beyond “because we got a grant.” Technology choices should be all about the learning
The IT person should not be making the decision without the participation (not just input) of key stakeholders, ranging from administration, teachers, finance officers, students, parents, and community members. Each brings a separate piece of the puzzle to contribute to the process and ensure the best decision possible.
You need to start with a robust infrastructure-a wireless network with sufficient bandwidth is critical. When infrastructure holds up deployment you are wasting money, losing credibility and feeding frustration.

Only once those initial steps were completed- developing a clear vision, inviting stakeholders, etc – did these administrators turn to considering what their solution would look like. They started their examination of solutions by first developing criteria.

Their criteria, based on what they would like to see happening in the classroom, included things like:

Compatibility with current infrastructure
Maximizing free tools available for collaboration, creativity and communication
Minimizing time needed to support
Differentiation possibilities for grade levels
Durability

Using a shared, clear cut decision-making strategy helped these leaders avoid the common challenges they experienced such as:

Preconceptions, personal preferences, and device biases – some people are passionate about their “brand” – using a process gives every option an even playing field against the options
“It doesn’t matter until it matters” – minimizing the fears, implementation surprises and backlash that comes with change
Moving beyond what is “comfortable” and moving forward with change with sound arguments (understanding the why) and built in individualized support systems

We appreciate these school leaders taking the time to share how they were able to handle complex technology decisions with multiple stakeholders to make excellent choices and implementation plans and would love to hear your experiences.

For their advice for other school leaders and “lessons learned” stay tuned for our next blog.

Tough Technology Decisions: 3 Tips to a Great Start

August 17, 2015

No one wants to be “that district” where large sums of money were spent on technology devices that are rarely used or worse yet, never make it out of the cartons. The key to successful technology integration starts early in the decision making process. We turned to three district administrators charged with making big tech decisions encompassing instruction, purchasing, deployment, professional development and public relations to find out how they managed this complicated effort.

Meet the Experts

David Blattner, Chief Technology Officer and Executive Director for Media and Virtual Learning at Iredell Statesville Schools in North Carolina worked with a diverse group to determine the operating system and device that best suited the educational needs of their district of 22,000 students which received Race to the Top funds to support their blended learning initiative.

John Guyer, Interim CEO of Summit Academy Management, a free public non-profit Academy for Alternative Learners with AD/HD, Autistic Spectrum Disorder and related challenges reflects on his district’s recent technology “refresh” moving his district from a Windows in-house environment to a cloud-based platform.

George Rafferty, Superintendent of Schools in Tabernacle, New Jersey, a K-8 district with 826 students is facing the opportunity to plan for big change as their technology lease will expire in one year.

Tech Decision Tips from Practitioners

Although the three districts may differ in size and needs, there were certain common denominators in their decision making process that helped them come up with the best solution for their particular circumstances:

1. Start with the end in mind: Sound familiar? Just like anything that deals with instruction, the single most important question is “What are your learning goals?” Blattner’s group practiced this as they “understood that blended learning is not a tech issue, it is a learning issue. We did not even talk about a device in the first year…we talked about what we wanted blended learning to look like.” Rafferty reinforced this this thinking by saying “we do not just want to look at a bunch of cool devices, we have to ask ourselves, what is it in our schools and in our classroom that we want to teach?” Clearly the first place to start is with the things you would like to see happening in the classroom to prepare our students for the 21^st Century.

2. Who do we need involved in the process? All three school leaders thought it was well worth the time to involve important stakeholders in their decision making process. Iredell-Statesville schools had over 120 people involved and used surveys to collect additional data. Parents, teachers, students, support staff, community members, administration and technologists were all asked for their input. Guyer pointed out that having someone involved from finance is key. It is important to note that those involved in the process are not necessarily those charged ultimately with making the decision, but supply recommendations and data to support them to the decision makers

3. What can our infrastructure support? All three school leaders started with a robust Wi-Fi environment with more than adequate bandwidth, having recently completed infrastructure upgrades in their districts. Nothing will stop the integration of new technology tools faster than having them slow down the learning by not working right.

For those of you about to embark on this complex journey, these three school leaders provide tips for a great start. Find out their next steps in our next blog entry!

How can more effective thinking improve lives? Ben Tregoe’s legacy…

June 8, 2015

A Legacy of ….

TregoED is dedicated to helping school leadership, staff and children solve problems and make and implement better decisions. This, by itself, may not be all that unique….what sets TregoED apart, is the “Tregoe” in “TregoED.”

Ben Tregoe was a man of thought. He spent years observing effective thinkers and problem-solvers, learning how they processed and analyzed information. This research served as the basis for copyrighted “rational processes” or critical thinking strategies. Ben dedicated his life to helping improve the lives of others through more effective thinking. His beliefs, formed via research and observation, are the basis of Ben’s life work and our organization:

– Effective thinking is a skill – not an innate ability reserved for a select few. It is not dependent on one’s intelligence, education level, job title, or years of experience. It is in fact, a skill which can be learned and applied by most anyone.

– People can accomplish wondrous things if they can work effectively together – people are too often underestimated. People at all organizational levels are capable of accomplishing great things when given the right tools and support.

– If something is important enough – if it is worth doing – then we need to risk not doing it perfectly. Important problems are usually tough to address and may not be solved on the first try. But if we fall short, we are closer to the goal.

These three tenets are the basis of award-winning, time-tested, proven strategies that Ben wanted to share with the world of education. He had enormous respect and appreciation for education and educators. We are gratified and proud that these strategies have made a difference in many school districts and education organizations across the country.

As such, we are excited to launch our new “Benjamin Tregoe Awards for Strategic Leadership in Education.” We would love for our school districts to share the exciting things they are doing using the TregoED thinking strategies. The awards will allow us to recognize and honor this work, risk, and results.

We know that many of you out there are living these truths every time you tackle the tough issues that you face. You have stories to tell that we all could learn from – and we want to share them! If you are a TregoED school or district, please consider submitting an application for our new awards by August 31, 2015. If you are not using TregoED strategies, prepare to be amazed by what people can achieve when they work and think effectively together!