NCUST LEADERSHIP CERTIFICATE PROGRAM
COURSE ONE
ADVANCING TEACHING PRACTICES IN PURSUIT OF EQUITY AND EXCELLENCE
SESSION ONE
Establish the Why: NCUST History
Establish the What: 8 Teaching Practices and 4 Leadership Challenges
Establish the How: Designing your Equity and Excellence Project (EEP)
- The Equity and Excellence Project is a comprehensive initiative aimed at addressing disparities.
- NCUST’s mission is to help districts and their partners transform schools into places where all students achieve academic proficiency, evidence a love of learning, and graduate well prepared to succeed in post-secondary education, the workplace, and their communities.
- NCUST found three tightly related characteristics in the high-performing urban schools studied: a positive transformational culture for all students and all adults at the school, access to challenging curricula for all students, and effective, engaging instruction that leads all students to understanding and mastery.
What learning and/or achievement gaps exist at your school?
SESSION TWO
Understanding Teaching Practices
Making Students Feel Valued and Capable
Focusing on Understanding and Mastery
Promoting Clarity
Ensuring Culturally, Socially, and Personally Responsive Teaching
- The SMARTER framework underscores the importance of continuous assessment and adaptation, allowing for greater flexibility in the pursuit of goals.
- The heart of effective teaching efforts in high-performing schools, NCUST saw practices that resulted in students feeling valued, capable, and loved.
- Without a positive transformational culture, other improvement efforts are built on quicksand. If certain groups of students or teachers do not perceive that they are welcome, appreciated, respected, and valued, they will not engage in ways that are essential to the attainment of equitable and excellent learning results.
What specific goal, if accomplished, can eliminate the learning disparities at my school?
SESSION THREE
Understanding Teaching Practices
Checking Understanding Providing Feedback, and Adapting
Building Fluency with Gatekeeper Vocabulary
Promoting Successful Practice
Leading Students to Love Learning
- The most important lesson to be learned from NCUST’s studies of high-performing urban schools is that success is attainable. Typical schools, with significant challenges, can achieve substantial improvements in teaching that yield remarkable gains in learning.
- Generating consistent school-wide change in teaching takes substantial time, effort, courage, and risk. Success comes from practices that are implemented each day and systems that promote the refinement of those practices over time.
- Individuals may sincerely want to change their practices; however, systems are often not designed to support the desired changes. In some cases, systems may work in ways that frustrate change efforts.
How do I develop the best teaching practices throughout a school?
COURSE TWO
Advancing Leadership Practices in Pursuit of Equity and Excellence
SESSION ONE
Establish a project.
Explain elements to sustain change.
Share the 4 Leadership Challenges
- A cohesive school system integrates the following attributes to accelerate student achievement:
- A common focus on leading all students to learn select high-priority concepts and skills
- A common determination of how educators will determine the extent of student mastery of each high-priority concept and/or skill
- A shared focus on planning initial instruction that effectively results in almost all students achieving understanding and mastery
- The design of effective intervention and enrichment strategies
- School leaders’ major driver in accelerating a cohesive system is ensuring all stakeholders feel valued and capable!
- Effective school leaders meet the following challenges:
- Creating an Imperative to Change
- Instilling a Belief that Success can be Possible
- Clarifying Procedures, Roles and Responsibilities
- Building Sustainable Capacity
How are you meeting your challenges as a school leader?
SESSION TWO
Explain and practice “Affirmative Feedback.”
- Affirmative learning walks emphasize recognizing and celebrating the strengths observed in the classroom. This approach boosts morale and highlights NCUST’s eight (8) effective teaching practices that can be shared and replicated across the school.
- Affirmative learning walks are conducted in a non-evaluative manner. The goal is to observe and understand the learning environment without judgment, fostering a culture of continuous improvement rather than criticism.
- The feedback from these walks is used constructively to support professional development. Educators receive specific, actionable feedback that helps them refine their teaching strategies and enhance student learning outcomes
How will you use affirmative learning walks as a means to replicate your EEP at your school?
COURSE THREE
Advancing School Culture in Pursuit of Equity and Excellence
SESSION ONE
Share participant’s EEP practices to build a culture of data as a means to develop student agency
Discuss EEP’s process to ensure students are valued and heard as we support their academic and social-emotional needs
What are the EEP’s strategies to dramatically increase teacher collaboration to improve the engagement and achievement of students within the classroom
- Schools cultivated a positive, transformational culture where Black students felt valued, respected, and capable. This involved continuous efforts to create a sense of belonging and joy, which is crucial for academic success and personal development.
- Leaders must undertake comprehensive diagnostic processes to identify priorities, develop action plans, and make data-driven decisions. This involves analyzing student performance data, setting clear goals, and continuously monitoring progress to ensure that interventions are effective and adjustments are made as needed.
- Successful leaders cultivate leadership among adults across the school and build strong teams to share responsibilities. This collaborative approach enhances the school’s capacity to address challenges and drive improvements in student outcomes. Leadership development and capacity building are essential for sustaining long-term success.
How will you strategize sustainability and improvement on your EEP?
SESSION TWO
How EEP’s are establishing shared values
Methods of EEP fostering a culture of growth and improvement
How EEP is maintaining high expectations for students while developing meaningful relationships
- Building strong relationships among students, teachers, and families is essential. Schools created systems to support these relationships, emphasizing the importance of knowing students personally and involving families in the educational process. This fostered a supportive community that enhanced student engagement and achievement.
- Focused efforts on culture, leadership, and community can lead to remarkable success in establishing shared values. This unity of purpose has a significant positive impact on the educational experiences and outcomes of Black students.
- Collaborative activities among teachers, such as designing lessons together, observing each other’s teaching, and providing feedback, lead to improved teaching skills. This continuous professional development and shared practice help teachers refine their instructional methods, which directly benefits students.
How can your EEP be expanded to a dissertation topic?
