Description:

LAPDA is pleased to offer facilitated study group sessions for school or district level leadership teams. Each study group is customized to meet the needs and desires of the group. The structure for the study group is developed in consultation with a school/district planning team who determine the topic focus, the goals and general parameters for the group. Facilitated study groups typically range from 4-9 sessions.  Study groups utilize the professional literature to provide some of the content for the group process. The local context always provides the rich and robust opportunity to apply the skills and knowledge participants acquire from the study group. Facilitated study groups are coordinated by Executive Director Dr. Robert Stanton. Bob is an adjunct faculty member in the Educational Leadership program at the University of Vermont. He served as a school administrator for 25 years.


WSSU Focus: Assessment Literacy 

The WSSU leadership team met as a study group on five occasions including the end of the year administrative retreat. Study group sessions were embedded as part of the regular administrative team meeting schedule. The group focused their efforts on studying the topic of assessment literacy with the goal of enhancing their skills and knowledge regarding classroom-based assessment. Study group materials included articles by Wilard Daggett such as Achieving Academic Excellence through Rigor and Relevance as well as selected use of the text Classroom Assessment for Student Learning by Richard Stiggins.



Evaluation Results:
    •    Study group sessions:  4.6 (Excellent)
    •    Facilitator rating:   4.8 (Excellent)
 
Participant Quote:

“Almost our entire administrative team is new to the district, so we have not worked together long and most of our time together has had to focus on day-to-day and short term issues. This study group gave us the chance to look at big picture ideas and to learn more about working together.”

Facilitator Reflection:

“A new and emerging team really demonstrated that they are committed to improving their school districts instructional program. They chose assessment literacy as the leverage strategy to expand upon after spending a year working with the Danielson Framework of Teaching. I am really excited about the opportunity this team has to ensure that a rising tide does in fact lift all boats”.


LNSU Focus: Schooling by Design 

The LNSU leadership team met as a study group on five occasions including the end of the year administrative retreat.  Study group sessions were embedded as part of the regular administrative team meeting schedule.  The group focused their efforts on acquiring a “30,000 foot” look at an integrated understanding of curriculum, assessment and instructions (CAI) in order to begin to develop a common language and a unified approach to building a coherent and cohesive K-12 delivery system. The primary text used in this study group was Schooling by Design by Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe.

Evaluation Results:
    •    Study group sessions: 4.0   (Very Good)
    •    Facilitator rating:  4.33 (Very Good)

Participant Quote:

“I think the most important outcome that I achieved as a result of this study group was a greater understanding of how schools operate, the need for change, and how our administrators can go about implementing change.”

Facilitator Reflection:

“Schooling by design is just as intentional as it sounds. It is a refreshing departure from schooling by fiat, schooling by chance or schooling by habit. Coherent & cohesive Pre K -12 systems that produce results are built from the bottom up and the top down simultaneously. This leadership team really began to grasp this concept and I believe we are going to see some remarkable changes coming from this district in the near future.


WCSU Focus: Formative Assessment 

The WCSU leadership team met as a study group on seven occasions. Study group sessions were embedded as part of the regular administrative team meeting schedule. The group focused their efforts on studying the topic of assessment literacy with the goal of enhancing their skills and knowledge regarding formative classroom-based assessment. Study group materials included several journal articles from Educational Leadership as well as the text Classroom Assessment for Student Learning by Richard Stiggins.

Evaluation Results:
   •    Study group sessions:  2:9 (Fair – Good)
   •    Facilitator rating:  3.6 (Good – Very Good)

Participant Quote:

“What I appreciated was having all the Leadership team members in WCSU learning together; people’s strengths and depth came through in the conversations.”

Facilitator Reflection:

“This study group was not as productive as the others we facilitated this year. Clearly there were valuable lessons learned for all of us. In my opinion, a lack of 100 % investments and engagement in the achievement of the outcomes hurt the group’s performance and it interfered with their ability to deepen their learning.  Perhaps a broader based “planning team” would have helped build deeper commitment to this work. All though they had many demands on their time, the decision not to conduct a full scale administrative retreat at the end of the study group may have slowed down the effort to build readiness for implementation. Less reading and more engagement on concrete tasks would have also been a better match for this group.” The central office leaders were very willing to give and receive feedback to enhance future leadership efforts. I commend them for their constructive and professional demeanor and there willingness to conduct a candid after action review session.