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October-December 2009

From the Desk of Merrill Vargo

Founder and Executive Director


Dear Friends,

Merrill VargoHere at Pivot Learning Partners, we’re often asked: “What do Pivot Learning coaches do? And how do they help leaders?” Let’s imagine a situation: a new principal meets with a coach regarding a problem.  The principal has been looking over test scores that are painting a grim picture, as if the school’s achievement gap is widening and threatening to keep them in Program Improvement. The district is pressuring the school to spend intensive time with the teachers to go over the data, but the teachers are overworked and the principal is worried this will further demoralize them. The principal is at a loss of what to do. How can the coach help?

The problem is a familiar one, being played out in many schools and districts right now. The coach’s job is to find the improvement opportunity in this situation, and that begins with a question – but which one? Does the coach ask questions that get the principal to focus on the data? On how the teachers work together? On the district’s focus on data? Or does the coach ask how the principal sees their roll in all this?

Each of these questions will lead the conversation to a different improvement opportunity and helps the coach understand where the focus should be. Is this a principal and a school that needs to do more work on data-based decision-making? On professional learning communities? On best practices? Or on leadership? These four areas we call our Theory of Action – the four areas in which we believe hard work by educators, including both leaders and followers, will pay off for students. Ultimately, the principal will need to take on all four of these areas, but where to start?

A good coach will choose a question – and then listen carefully for signs that tell the coach if they’re on the right track or need to redirect. What the coach is doing is looking for a gap – in the principal’s understanding, knowledge, or skills, and also in the school’s work. Pivot Learning coaches need to be more than good question-askers: they need to have a solid background in the research about what works to improve low-performing schools. If there is a strategy or bit of information that the principal needs but is missing, the Pivot Learning coach can fill in that gap. But this is not about the coach teaching the principal about an approach that worked in some other school or district, nor is it about finding the easiest thing to work on. It is about the coach working together with the principal, identifying issues and opportunities for improvement and developing strategies based on proven research and the school’s unique needs. This is an area in which Pivot Learning’s strategy for supporting leaders differs from that of many others: in our approach, the coach is both a thinking partner for the leader and an expert consultant.

Is this difficult work? Yes. But more and more of our schools are being led by energetic and committed beginners who need and deserve support, yet budget cuts are forcing more and more districts to dismantle their internal support systems for these principals. This is the gap we fill. It makes a difference, as you’ll hear when you read on about our interviews with principals.

As Always,

Merrill Vargo
Founder and Executive Director


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In Their Own Words...

Principals' Voices

When we talk about turning around low-performing schools, we often throw around words like “proven strategies,” “improved achievement,” or “effective leadership.” But for school leaders, they must transform these abstract concepts into concrete results – creating a thriving school environment for teachers and students where high levels of achievement are a reality.

Pivot Learning Partners recently conducted a case study of principals in Palmdale School District, a Southern California K-8 district who we have been working with for some time. We spoke with eight of their principals about how our coaching partnership has affected their work and the work in their schools. What we found were dedicated and passionate individuals who have taken to heart what we shared with them and turned them into results they can see and feel.

The following are excerpted quotes taken from this report, which will be made available on our website:

Evidence of changes in classrooms: All eight of the principals talked about changes they were seeing, both in their schools and in the district overall. Many also were quick to say that while progress is evident at both the school and district level, they all still have a long way to go.

“We’re a PI-5 school [Program Improvement – Year Five school]. Last year we made our AYP [Adequate Yearly Progress] in both language arts and math. We grew 77 points API [Academic Performance Index]. And what this accomplished was that students feel a lot more successful now. It was kind of remarkable, what happened last year. And teachers really began to see that that’s possible, that that level of achievement is possible.”
-Principal, School D

“That hum of kids talking—when you know that they’re all on task, it’s a good noise. That’s that really good noise, and they’re just talking to each other! It was like that in almost every classroom we went into.”
-Principal, School G

Student-centered visions: Many principals articulated personal visions for their schools that were focused on students succeeding.

“My vision is that teachers take ownership of their students, ownership in the sense that no child will fail. And when I hand you a student, they have the skills to compete at your grade level. And with that, to also then provide the support to work collaboratively and not just ‘coblabberate,’ you know.”
-Principal, School C

“My vision is that we are addressing the needs of all of our kids, with no excuses, and in spite of where they come from.”
-Principal, School E

“[My vision is] for all students to achieve academically, behaviorally, emotionally, just trying to shape an individual to be a successful citizen and just learn how to contribute in a positive way back into the community…”
-Principal, School F

Principals spent more time in classrooms: While the researchers did not ask principals directly whether or not they were spending more time in classrooms, the interviews revealed that this was both a strong expectation of the district and one that Pivot Learning coaches supported.

“Getting into the classroom was a challenge to begin with, at the school, because it’s such a busy school. So she [the Pivot Learning coach] kept me focused, and when she came, I knew, okay, there’s no excuse—it’s a given that I will be in the classrooms; there’s nothing to deter me or to distract me, or prevent me from getting in when I say I’m going to get in. So I think that was—I enjoyed her coming because not only am I getting into the classroom, but I have a second eye to see things that I may not pick up on or what have you. So that was always a great thing.”
-Principal, School F

“It’s not a matter so much of spending lengths of time in a classroom, but it’s really important—it’s more important to go into a classroom multiple times during the school year, for shorter periods of time, than to spend an hour and a half in a classroom once a year, so that you get a sense of, really, what’s happening in the classroom…”
-Principal, School D

Evidence of changes in culture: There is evidence that the culture in Palmdale School District is changing. Many principals reported that until the last few years, Palmdale School District had a long history of letting principals and teachers do their own thing. Then in recent years, things started to change.

“The easiest way for me to translate it [the district vision] is, there are no excuses for students not learning, and it’s our responsibility to do whatever it takes, even if it’s a hard thing, even if it’s the tried and the true what’s always been, then it’s time to clean off the desk, kick people to the curb, whatever it takes for us to accomplish that, and, to do it in a very professional manner to where respect is built into it.”

-Principal, School E

“I get the sense that we’ve come across a threshold with this whole idea of – that it’s truly about the students. It’s about how the students are performing and that making that shift from a focus on teaching to a focus on learning has taken a long, long, long time to happen. But I think it’s happening, and I think once that occurs, I don’t think we’re going to go back to focus on something else.”

-Principal, School D

“We really should be about, how do we deliver instruction and what happens if the student doesn’t learn? And that’s the question we have to keep coming back to, and that’s what the district is holding sites to.”

-Principal, School C

Prepared by Judy Kingsley, K-12 Education Policy Consultant/Researcher

Supported by a grant from the California Community Foundation to Pivot Learning Partners.

To read the full report, click HERE (pdf)


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Donor Spotlight
The California Community Foundation

In recognition of their continued support, Pivot Learning Partners thanks the California Community Foundation (CCF) for generously renewing the funding for our intensive coaching project in Palmdale Elementary School District. CCF’s mission is to strengthen Los Angeles communities through effective philanthropy and civic engagement.

Founded in 1915, the foundation  works with others to address the key issues facing our communities that are critical to quality of life in Los Angeles. CCF’s competitive grantmaking program focuses on serving low-income and underserved communities in the arts, civic engagement, education, health care, human development and neighborhood revitalization.

Launched in 2007, our coaching project in Palmdale Elementary School District focuses on building the leadership capacity of principals, who play key roles in the improvement of education for their students and schools. We thank the California Community Foundation for continuing to make this work possible and we are eager to build on the successes of the first two years of this work.

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Other News

SF Biz Times Profiles Pivot Learning Partners and Merrill Vargo

The San Francisco Business Times ran a nonprofit profile on Pivot Learning Partners and Executive Director Merrill Vargo. The profile features information on Pivot Learning Partners and several questions answered by Merrill.

To read the full article, click HERE (pdf)

 

Pivot Learning Partners Receives New Grants for Programs
Pivot Learning Partners has received several grants from our dedicated corporate and foundation supporters, helping expand our progams and launch key projects. We'd like to thank the following donors for their generous support and express our excitement for the work they are funding:

S. D. Bechtel Jr. Foundation - Supporting the expansion of our partnership with the San Francisco Unified School District to address a key aspect of the district's strategy.

The Boeing Charitable Trust - Supporting our Executive Leadership Centers (ELC) for Superintendents in Southern California, and funding the launch of our South Bay Principals Network in Los Angeles' South Bay region.

The California Community Foundation - Renewing their support of our intensive coaching project in Palmdale Elementary School District to build the leadership capacity of principals at low-performing schools.

J. P. Morgan Chase Foundation - Supporting a principal coaching project at schools in the most economically disadvantaged areas of the Santa Ana Unified School District. Learn more about our Partner District Programs

The Stuart Foundation - Renewing their support for the development of mid-level district leadership capacity building curriculum in California's public schools.

To read the full press release, click HERE (pdf)

 

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