Performance Based Modules (PBM)

The purpose of a Performance Leadership Handbook (PLH) is to articulate clearly what school and district leaders should do to improve performance. Oftentimes, such expectations are communicated during group meetings and one-on-one conversations with individuals. However, a PLH codifies the expectations and provides a single document to refer to when addressing underperformance.

Topics:
• Preparing for Performance Leadership Handbook Development
• Creating the Performance Leadership Handbook

When preparing for SACS review, you can save a great deal of time and effort by leveraging your district’s current Balanced Scorecard. With a few modifications, your Scorecard can serve as evidence for meeting the SACS standards. This module will show you how to link your district’s strategic objectives, as documented in your Balanced Scorecard, to the seven SACS standards.

Topics:
• Reviewing SACS Standards
• Linking SACS Standards to the Balanced Scorecard

When preparing for SACS review, you can save a great deal of time and effort by leveraging your school’s current Balanced Scorecard. With a few modifications, your Scorecard can serve as evidence for meeting the SACS standards. This module will show you how to link your school’s strategic objectives, as documented in your Balanced Scorecard, to the seven SACS standards.

Topics:
• Reviewing SACS Standards
• Linking SACS Standards to the Balanced Scorecard

Using Process Improvement as a tool is another step in the performance management journey.  As Process Improvement is implemented, the organization’s value to the customer is improved through the review and analysis of organizational processes for efficiency, cost effectiveness, and customer responsiveness. Improving processes results in improving outcomes.

Topics:
• Selecting the process to be improved
• Mapping the process
• Improving the process
• Implementing the process

Translate your vision and strategy into action by creating a Balanced Scorecard for your organization. Based on the principle that “you can't improve what you can't measure,” the Balanced Scorecard is a management, measurement, and communication system that supports strategic planning.

Topics:
• Establishing a Performance Measures Dictionary
• Constructing a Balanced Scorecard
• Inserting Baselines and Targets
• Identifying Initiatives

As the leader, you set the direction, cast the vision and work to embed a set of core values in the culture of the organization to guide actions and decisions. This module examines what mission, values, and vision statements are, how to lead a team to create them, and how to determine their effectiveness.

Topics:
• Leading a team to develop a mission statement
• Leading a team to develop organizational values
• Leading a team to develop a vision

Develop a strategy map – a visual representation of cause and effect relationships within the organization and related to its objectives – that will provide the framework to help create the Balanced Scorecard.

Topics:
• Identifying Organizational Goal Areas / Perspectives
• Developing Performance Objectives
• Developing a Strategy Map

This module describes how to implement visual reporting by establishing a data room — a frequently used room adorned with charts that show data related to student learning, school processes, and stakeholder perceptions.

Topics:
• Establishing a Data Room
• Leading a Data Walk
• Leveraging the Data Room

Share with the organization and its stakeholders the results that drive the mission of the organization – and create an environment where you can begin tracking results to ensure that the organization meets its goals.

Topics:
• Generating a List of Potential Performance Measures
• Selecting a Final List of Performance Measures

Constructing the Balanced Scorecard (BSC) is the culmination of the implementation phase of the performance management system tying individual accountability and resource allocation to the organizational strategy. Cascading refers to the process of developing BSCs at every level of the organization so that they align with the top-level BSC.

• Establishing understanding of the BSC
• Conducting workshops in each of the functional areas
• Allocating Resources Using the BSC

This module provides a step-by-step approach to presenting your school’s student achievement data to parents and other stakeholders in such as way that allows them to make informed decisions concerning their children and the school.

Topics:
•  Gathering Student Achievement Data
•  Analyzing Student Achievement Data
•  Presenting Student Achievement Data

Description:
Providing parents with adequate and timely information promotes good relations with the community and a better prepared student body. In this module you will share a comprehensive list of student achievement data specific to your school and district with the parents of your students.

Topics:
• Educating Parents About Available Data Sources
• Sharing Assessment Data with Individual Parents

Rigor is a key factor in increasing the college and career readiness of students. According to Effective High School Reform: Research and Policy That Works (Kristin, 2005), “…the rigor of high school course work is more important than parent education level, family income, or race/ethnicity in predicting whether a student will earn a postsecondary credential.” In this module, you will develop and lead teams to create an action plan for increasing K-12 academic rigor in order to better prepare students for college and beyond.

In this module you will learn to conduct effective meetings that will save time and resources by establishing team guidelines and meeting procedures, and conducting a meeting audit to ensure expectations were met and the purpose accomplished. This module represents a value-added leadership skill, which is important to your development as a leader across all roles.

Topics:
• Establishing effective meeting procedures
• Documenting effective meeting notes
• Conducting an effective meeting audit

This module applies observation techniques and focuses them on the Standards-based Classroom (SBC). SBC criteria are used to provide formative evaluation to help a school implement a SBC. The leader/observer will look for indicators to document the components present, how well components are being implemented, and indicate opportunities for improvement.

Topics:
•  Conducting an Awareness Walk
•  Developing Assessment Tools and Rubrics
•  Conducting In-depth Observations
•  Providing Feedback

Description: Helping students succeed is always the key focus of SST meetings. However, conforming to requirements and documenting issues and previous interventions are also necessary parts of the process. This modules shows you how to effectively prepare for, conduct, and follow-up on SST meetings.

Topics:
•  Preparing for an SST Meeting
•  Conducting an SST Meeting

Use this final set of techniques to compare results of the analysis with students’ classroom performance; design a plan of action to improve academic achievement; develop an implementation plan to drive high levels of performance in the classroom; develop Student Goals Plans that will yield increased student learning.
Topics:
• Planning for Student Success
• Determining Equity in Student Performance
• Developing Individual Student Goal Plans

Mapping the performance skills of an aspiring or developing leader in your school as supported by data using the 8 Roles of School Leaders™ Mastery Maps provides the documentation needed to build a Performer Path Plan that will result in meeting or exceeding performance criteria.

Topics:
• Mapping exemplary performance
• Building a Performer Path Plan

The Student Support Team (SST) process is designed to provide instructional support and to recommend appropriate interventions for all students within a school who are experiencing academic or behavioral challenges. The SST is tasked with keeping students in the regular school setting where appropriate or providing alternative placement where necessary.

Topics:
• Developing the SST process
• Preparing your school’s staff
• Engaging a team in developing the SST process

Engage all teachers in study teams to work in a collaborative and professional manner as they learn from each other to improve teaching and learning.

Topics:
• Getting Organized for FSGs
• The FSG Kick-off Meeting

Performance improvement is largely dependent on frequent and specific feedback, and your ability to administer effective feedback to those you mentor significantly impacts their ability to meet performance criteria. This module explores ways to determine evidence and clear criteria and outlines strategies for giving effective feedback.

Topics:
• Understanding feedback and performance
• Giving performance feedback

This module provides a step-by-step method for gathering data regarding End of Course Test (EOCT) scores and analyzing that data for the eight targeted EOCT subject areas. Steps include identifying content trends and areas of strength, as well as needed improvements in instruction in the targeted curriculum.

Topics:
•  Preparing EOCT Data for Analysis
•  Analyzing EOCT Data
•  Leading a Content-area Team Through EOCT Data Analysis

Involve all teachers in gathering, analyzing, and using student achievement data to develop strategies for increasing school performance to help the instructional staff make better decisions about how to effectively improve instruction for all students. This module targets high school graduation test data analysis.

Topics:
·  Leading initial preparation and analysis
·  Leading a team through subject-area GHSGT analysis

Description: Analyze student data within the grade levels to measure how well the students are achieving, how well teachers are teaching to the curriculum standards, and the specific knowledge and skills that must be addressed to meet the instructional needs of individual (and subgroups) of students.

Topics:
• Leading initial preparation and analysis
• Leading a team through grade-level CRCT analysis

Use techniques such as brainstorming, multi-voting, and reaching consensus to guide the decision-making process.

Topics:
• Overview of the group decision-making process
• Brainstorming
• Multi-voting
• Consensus

Expand on the data analysis skills learned in CRCT-1 by using this next set of techniques to analyze data across each classroom in the school, to identify school-wide areas for improvement, and gain buy-in from the faculty.

Topics:
• Leading initial preparation and analysis
• Leading a team through school-wide CRCT analysis

Description: Make complex issues simple and easy to understand for stakeholders by using quality tools to analyze and display information. School leaders and their teams can use these three quality tools to inform team decision-making for school improvement.

Topics:
• Process Flow Chart
• Check Sheet
• Pareto Chart

Analyze, identify, and agree upon the performance factors which impact the performer’s achievement and his/her ability to meet performance criteria. Resulting collaborative development of information can be used to inform actions and decisions regarding solutions and interventions.
Note: Perform this task before observing a performance.

Topics:
• Leading a team to analyze performance factors
• Leading a team to identify owners of performance factors

Avoid the trap of jumping to solutions before identifying the root cause. This module helps leaders dig deep beneath the symptoms of problems to expose the root causes so that the right solutions can be applied. Find the true causes of the problem using these three quality tools.

Topics:
• Five Whys Analysis
• Fishbone Diagram
• Affinity Diagram

Description: Determine best practices for assessing student work in accordance with state performance standards

Topics:
• Aligning student work with performance standards
• Reviewing student performance data
• Giving effective feedback for student work
• Developing effective scoring tools

Send the right messages to parents and the community by utilizing effective communication planning. Conduct a communication audit when new leadership roles are filled, when there are negative reports in the media about your school, or the school is developing a communication plan to ensure audiences receive the right message in the right way at the appropriate time.

Topics:
• Getting started
• Collecting communications data
• Analyzing communications data
• Preparing a final report

Action research is a type of formalized problem solving in which practitioners collect and use data to assess student performance and investigate potential solutions to problems. Schools that regularly conduct effective action research demonstrate improved achievement over time.

Topics:
• Selecting an Action Research Topic
• Reviewing Related Literature
• Applying Action Research Methodology
• Analyzing the Research Results Data 

Design and document a vision for classroom instruction that is tailored to your school and community by establishing learning goals based on the anticipated skills and knowledge needs of your region’s work force.

Topics:
• Establishing learning goals
• Designing a supportive curriculum
• Developing a content delivery plan

This module shows you how to define the value elements of the organization to its stakeholders, its employees/members, to the media and the public at large – which is the first step to delivering that value, and influencing others to recognize it.

Topic:
• Leading a team to define organizational value elements

Effective budget planning ensures funds support student achievement and the School Improvement Plan (SIP). Topics include:

•   Analyzing the School Budget
•   Aligning the Budget to the SIP
•   Revisiting the SIP

The Distributed Leadership Design Team provides each Design Sub-team with a Charter describing their role in implementing Distributed Leadership. This module defines the work of the Design Sub-team.

Topics:
• Validating the Cause
• Identifying the Solution
• Developing the Action Plan

Be proactive rather than reactive in your communications.  Communication planning means sending the right messages to your staff, parents, and the community while building capacity within your school to communicate effectively the messages the community wants and needs to hear.

Topics:
•  Setting communication goals and objectives
•  Formulating key messages and implementation actions
•  Determining how to evaluate results
•  Identifying resources, developing a budget, and finalizing the plan

Working from EOCT data analyzed in Module 1 of this series, this module shows you how to lead a team through the process of analyzing instructional materials and delivery plans to determine the degree of alignment with Georgia Performance Standards, as well as making changes based on those findings.

Topics:
•  Revisit EOCT Results and Conclusions
•  Examine Instructional and Organizational Practices
•  Develop an Action Plan
•  Lead a Content-Area Team to Develop an Action Plan

Description: Benchmark assessments are a type of formative assessment tool. The results provide feedback teachers can use to identify students’ strengths and areas of need and to monitor progress, recommend instructional alternatives for advanced learners, and provide diagnostic data for students who need additional instructional support.

Topics:
• Defining Parameters
• Creating an Assessment Item Pool
• Finalizing the Benchmark Assessment

This modules presents eight specific verbal skills, the characteristics of each, and how and when to apply them. In this module you will learn a process for listening to the student, diagnosing the situation from the student’s perspective, and applying the verbal skills needed to resolve the issue.

Topics:
• Using positive tone and phrasing
• Asking effective questions
• Using effective phrases and statements

Develop appropriate norms and covenants for group discussions and provide the support for mutual commitments and obligations to accomplish the mission, vision, core values, and goals of the organization.

Topics:
• Getting started with norms
• Getting started with covenants
• Leading a team to develop norms and covenants

Using project management tools ensures that roles and responsibilities are clear and facilitates the completion of assigned tasks on schedule. Knowing how to efficiently and effectively create project plans that maximize school operations can help you and your team effectively analyze and implement projects.   

Topics:
•  Using the Work Breakdown Structure
•  Using the Critical Path Method
•  Creating a Gantt Chart

Using the vision for Distributed Leadership outlined in Module 1 as a starting point, this module describes the work of the Design Team as they lay the groundwork for Design Sub-teams to implement Distributed Leadership.  

Topics:
•  Analyzing the Data for Distributed Leadership
•  Developing the Goals for Distributed Leadership
•  Analyzing Causes
•  Creating Design Sub-Teams

This module is about leading a team of school leaders to differentiate instruction so that they may tailor the instructional design within the classroom to meet individual learning needs of learners. Differentiating instruction individualizes learning, piques the student's interest, and assists the teacher to develop a learning profile for each student based on his or her learning style and knowledge and skills of the curriculum standard.

The Georgia and federal governments expect Georgia school districts to adhere to standards and establish schools whose instruction is structured to support the standards. This module provides key components that will assist you in establishing a standards-based classroom.

Topics:
•  Developing Curriculum Standards
•  Assessing a Standards-based Classroom
•  Designing Instruction for a Standards-based Classroom

This module will help you gain the skills needed to lead teachers in the implementation of graphic organizers in the classroom. When teachers scaffold learning by using graphic organizers, students are better equipped for collecting, organizing, and storing information.

Topics:
• Examining the rationale for graphic organizers
• Selecting and using graphic organizers

This module describes how to implement visual reporting by establishing a data room — a frequently used room adorned with charts that show data related to student learning, school processes, and stakeholder perceptions.

Topics:
• Establishing a Data Room
• Leading a Data Walk
• Leveraging the Data Room

The link between family involvement and increased student achievement has been confirmed in multiple studies. In this module, you will identify opportunities to promote school activities and student achievement to encourage family participation and measure the effectiveness of those activities.

Topics:
•  Communicating the Effect of Community Involvement on Student Achievement
•  Developing Educational Marketing Messages
•  Measuring the Effectiveness of Community Involvement Activities

This module will guide you through the process of examining your beliefs and leadership style as they relate to implementation of Distributed Leadership. You will select a Change Team to lead through this same analysis.  The final step in this module is to develop a charge, or vision for Distributed Leadership for your school or district.

Topics:
• Exploring Your Role Beliefs
• Maximizing Your Leadership Style
• Defining the Charge
• Leading a Team to prepare for Distributed Leadership

Lead a team to gather and present school data, including demographics, school processes, student learning and school perception data.
 
Topics:
- Gathering Demographic Data
- Gathering School Process Information
- Gathering Student Learning Data
- Gathering School Perception Data
- Presenting the Data

Promote positive community relations between your school and the community by providing staff support structures, establishing positive contact with the community, and improving the school's appearance.

Topics:
•  Improving staff support structures
•  Establishing community contact standards
•  Improving the school’s appearance

Teacher commentary on student work is the key to providing a performance-based learning environment.  Like a roadmap, it gives specific feedback and direction on how to master a concept and ultimately meet an element of the standard.

Topics:
•  Reviewing standards and elements related to student work
•  Writing teacher commentary
•  Providing verbal teacher commentary
•  Providing teacher commentary through standards-based display boards

The final module in the Distributed Leadership Series guides the Design Team to oversee the progress of implementing Distributed Leadership and maintaining the continued involvement of stakeholders.

Topics:
• Defining Ongoing Oversight of Distributed Leadership
• Maintaining Stakeholder Involvement

Unpacking curriculum standards is a 3-part process most researchers agree is the best instructional design for teaching and learning. This module addresses Stage 1-Identifying Desired Results. You will learn how to identify the Enduring Understandings by analyzing the Essential and Key Questions and define what students should know and be able to do.

Topics
•  Identifying the Big Ideas
•  Identifying Enduring Understandings
•  Writing Essential and Key Questions
•  Identifying Knowledge and Skills

Unpacking curriculum standards is a 3-part process most researchers agree is the best instructional design for teaching and learning. This module addresses Stage 1-Identifying Desired Results. You will learn how to identify the Enduring Understandings by analyzing the Essential and Key Questions and define what students should know and be able to do.

Topics
•  Identifying the Big Ideas
•  Identifying Enduring Understandings
•  Writing Essential and Key Questions
•  Identifying Knowledge and Skills

Unpacking curriculum standards is a 3-part process that most researchers agree is the best instructional design for teaching and learning.  This module addresses Stage 2-Developing Assessments. You will learn how to select and design assessments that evaluate what students know and how well they do their work.  

Topics
• Developing selected response assessments
• Developing constructed response assessments
• Developing performance assessments
• Developing informal assessments 

Unpacking curriculum standards is a 3-part process that most researchers agree is the best instructional design for teaching and learning. This module provides step-by-step procedures for aligning and sequencing instruction into a unit of study by designing strategies and learning activities that include performance assessments to measure what students know and should be able to do.  

Topics
•  Designing and aligning instruction to meet standards
•  Sequencing design into instructional units

A benchmark assessment measures student progress over a specified period of time, and helps teachers identify ways to improve student achievement.  This module contains the tools and skills needed to lead a team to administer your benchmark assessment and analyze the results.

Topics:
• Administering a benchmark assessment
• Preparing to analyze results
• Administering the Assessment & Analyzing Results

After recruiting and selecting team members to be part of the Better Seeking Team (BST), the next critical step is to get the team oriented and focused on the task at hand. This module shows you how to empower your BST to achieve higher levels of performance on improvement initiatives. (Revised 05/10)

Topics:
•  Orienting the BST
•  Focusing the BST on Team Roles
•  Focusing the BST on Professional Learning
•  Focusing the BST on Team Assignments

Select and recruit individuals who collaborate successfully as a Better-seeking Team on improvement initiatives to help the school and students achieve their goals.  (Revised 05/10)

Topics:
• Defining personal characteristics of the BST
• Identifying team roles and responsibilities of the BST
• Recruiting and selecting a BST

Master the three critical elements of a Weekly Tactical Meeting: Lightning Round - team members summarize primary weekly activities and provide others opportunity for clarification questions; Progress Review -  reporting  key metrics toward the organizational goals; Real-Time Agenda -  based on how the school/system is performing against its goal.

Topics:
• Getting Started with Tactical Meetings
• Leading a Tactical Meeting

Involve all team participants in a natural flow of conversation that leads to a common understanding of the issues for effective discussions.  The discussion process includes effective questioning and active listening skills.

Topics:
• Asking Questions
• Active Listening
• Dealing With Counter-productive Behavior
• Leading a Discussion 

Expand on the data analysis skills learned in GHSGT-1, by using this next set of techniques to analyze data across each classroom in the school, to identify school-wide areas for improvement and gain buy-in from the faculty as a whole.

Topics:
Leader’s Preparation and Analysis
Leading School-wide GHSGT Analysis

A faculty study group (FSG) is a small group of educators that routinely meets to work on a problem related to the organization's student achievement goals. FSGs study, learn, share, inquire, and investigate new approaches to teaching and learning based on identified needs of the school. Working in FSGs allows teachers to work in a collaborative and professional manner as they learn from each other.

Topics:
•  Organizing faculty study groups
•  Conducting study group follow-up activities

When parties can't agree on a solution to a problem or conflict, effective communication becomes critical in order to reach an acceptable agreement. This module presents a negotiation process that you can use to identify strategies that will result in successful interventions.

Topics:
●  Know Yourself and Your Opposition (Analyze)
●  Prepare to Negotiate (Design)
●  Work Toward a Solution (Develop)
●  Close the Negotiation (Implement)

As a result of many kinds of unexpected and difficult situations, students and/or staff can experience physical problems or threats at school. When these situations occur, the leader must be able to respond quickly in a manner that provides the safest environment possible to all individuals.

Topics:
•  Updating your school safety plan
•  Preparing school staff and community for emergencies
•  Conducting a simulated drill Scheduling Basics for Elementary Schools

This module defines the data required to undertake the school scheduling process. Participants learn who to involve, when and how to solicit input and support, and how to use scheduling tools. This module has been written so each part can be done manually. This is a Zip folder containing 5 files which must be extracted prior to use.

Topics:
•  Projecting resource requirements
•  Defining the model
•  Creating the master schedule
•  Completing the school schedule

This module takes some of the guesswork out of scheduling by presenting the basic concepts of middle school scheduling. You will learn about the planning and logistics required to develop a master schedule and how to using your school's automated scheduling system to complete the scheduling process.

Topics:
•  Gathering Scheduling Data and Input
•  Defining Your Scheduling Model
•  Creating Your Master Schedule
•  Creating Teaching Teams
•  Completing Your School Schedule

This module will help school teams plan and implement activities that engender trust and positive school improvement.

Topics:
•  Understanding your community
•  Teaming for better communications
•  Teaming to provide greater student learning
•  Teaming to serve your community

Successfully influence various audiences in their organizations by developing a series of leadership stories. In this module, you will learn how to develop and tell leadership stories such as:  Who I Am, Who We Are, and The Future Story. Leadership Stories drive school improvement initiatives.

Topics:
• Creating Your Who I Am Story
• Creating Your Who We Are Story
• Creating Your Future Story
• Sharing Your Leader Stories

Effective communication skills form the foundation for successful school management. These skills are so basic that often we overlook their significance. This module focuses on ways to help you fine-tune and master this essential craft. You will learn how to analyze, draft, and finalize effective memos and business letters used for school communications.

Topics:
•  Writing Memos that Matter
•  Writing Letters that Mean Business