From Good to Premier

From Good to Premier: Why we’re a “Great” Team!

As a Language Development Coach (LDC) and a Spanish Biliteracy teacher, I have the privilege to collaborate with a wide variety of educators who constantly push my practice and innovate their own. By educator, I refer to ALL individuals working in our buildings: certified staff, administrative and instructional assistants, related service professionals, custodians, administrators, co-teachers, and instructional coaches. Every one of us has a profound impact on the growth of our students towards realizing their maximum potential. I am inspired every day by our collaborations, innovations, and advocacies for what we think is best for our students.

In District 96, our vision statement highlights our ambitious goals towards greatness:  “Become the premier elementary school district in the nation,” (About KCSD96 website). As highlighted by the word, “become,” we are not there yet. We are constantly striving towards improvement, constantly growing and developing just as we expect from our students every day.

In his best-selling book Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap...and Others Don’t, Jim Collins studied a variety of prominent companies in order to analyze what makes a company, or an enterprise, successful (2011). Through a focus on elite companies that achieved sustainable great performance (defined by over 15 years of growth), Collins was able to identify and describe characteristics that defined companies that were able to go beyond good to great. In District 96, always striving to ‘become the premier elementary school district in the nation,” we are constantly striving to move from good to premier.

In support of the analysis on enterprises that go from good to great, Collins produced a video that defined the characteristics of the most effective individuals working in an great (or in our district, premier) enterprise: Jim Collins - 6 Competencies for Hiring a Great Team.

Below, I analyze each of the six competencies with a response to each of the following questions:

• Who embodies this competency in D96?
• How do I reflect and grow my own competency in this area?

 1) “Share the core values of the enterprise,” (2011).

Who embodies this competency in D96?

Shout out to OUR TEACHERS!

In D96, I have never met an educator who didn’t fundamentally believe in all of our mission, “Ensure every child achieves his or her maximum potential.”

Differentiated interventions. Individual and collaborative enrichments; Classroom management; Social Emotional Learning; Data analysis from observations to CFAs to NWEA; Family communication and engagement. Our teachers develop meaningful relationships with our students to understand the whole child and facilitate any support possible to help guide them on their academic and individual paths.

How do I reflect on and grow my own competency in this area?

A bilingual educator passionate to transform our schools and world for equity and access, my beliefs and concerns do not always match the status quo. I am sure that there have been plenty of times that my opinion might even have been annoying especially when I forget that everyone else in the room also shares my core values of serving each child to the best of their abilities. As an educator, I am a work in process. However, when my opinions might differ, I find collective efficacy in our shared mission/vision/value, understanding that all diverse perspectives create the true value in our organization.

2) “Understand that they don’t have a job,” (2011).

Who embodies this competency in D96?

Shout out to OUR ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANTS AND INSTRUCTIONAL AIDES!

They don’t have a job? Nope. Administrative assistants have the simple responsibility to ensure that the school is running, and everyone who has entered any of our offices will know, they will do anything to help it run smoothly. What do instructional aides do? Not much, other than demonstrate flexibility to work with teachers and students to co-teach, intervene, and interact with young people to help them realize their maximum growth. What else? Next week, parts of the job might be different, but they always know that their responsibilities are unwavering: care for the growth of students.

How do I reflect on and grow my own competency in this area?

What is my job? I know that I have students in my classes, and I know that other students are on my caseload. What do I need to plan and implement in order to help them realize their maximum growth? How do I develop the most engaging and results-producing curriculum, instruction, and assessments? To be honest with you, I still do not know. Each year, I strive to learn more through collaborations, professional learning, and reflections on professional strengths/weaknesses. Each year, I innovate and evolve as an educator, and in such, my job changes every year. However, my responsibility is unwavering: do everything possible to facilitate the maximum growth for my students.

3) “Do what they say they’re going to do,” (2011).

Who embodies this competency in D96?

Shout out to OUR CUSTODIANS!

Our custodians work year-long to ensure that they fulfill their primary responsibilities to maintain a clean, organized, uncluttered, and fully operational school. How do they do this? To be honest, I do not know, but I arrive every day to a work environment that is clean and fully-operational. Our custodians do what they said they’re going to do, and our buildings reflect their ability to follow through on what they were asked to do. In addition, we cannot ever diminish the impact that our custodians have on the impact on student learning. From core custodial responsibilities to developing relationships with students, our custodians are the foundation of our effective working spaces and models for our students.

How do I reflect on and grow my own competency in this area?

For those that know me, I like to stay busy. In fact, I tend to assume as many responsibilities as possible and rarely ever turn down an opportunity. In my development as an educator, I have learned that I should only take on the responsibilities that I can complete with fidelity and effectiveness. Although I am passionate about a multitude of projects, I continue to improve on making sure that I always do exactly as I say. When an opportunity or responsibilities appears that I would like to do but cannot, I make sure that I communicate that too.

4) “Don’t need to be tightly managed,” (2011).

Who embodies this competency in D96?

Shout out to OUR RELATED SERVICES PROFESSIONALS!

School nurses. Speech and language pathologists. School psychologists. Social workers and counselors. Occupational therapists. Case managers. Each time I collaborate with our related services professionals, I admire the collective approach to serve the unique needs of our students through a perspective only they can provide. Typically, there is only one of each of these individuals per building, and they represent an island surrounded by educators with very different educational and professional approaches. Working with all students and all learning teams, related services professionals have extensive responsibilities, yet the autonomy to develop comprehensive solutions through collaboration with educators, families, students, and other professionals.

How do I reflect on and grow my own competency in this area?

In my roles as a LDC and a Biliteracy teacher, I also represent a diverse perspective and approach while collaborating with other professionals. While clear instructions and directives help guide my focus, I strive to utilize all of my educational and professional knowledge to serve all of our students. In reflection, with relative flexibility in the way that fulfill my responsibilities, I am not tightly managed. However, there have been many times that I have not been clear on the correct path; I have been confused about what I am supposed to do. In my professional development, in those moments of confusion, I seek to collaborate with other educators to develop a shared consensus on the most appropriate and effective approach. In a PLC, I constantly consider myself an authority in some areas and a learner in other areas. Thank you to everyone who allow flexibility, yet collaboration, to manage me to serve our students to the best of my ability.

5)“Have passion,” (2011).

Who embodies this competency in D96?

Shout out to OUR ADMINISTRATORS!

As a teacher, I cannot underestimate how much I value the a work schedule that affords lengthy breaks. When do administrators stop working? With all-year schedules, administrators have the responsibilities as instructional leaders, building managers, community liaison, disciplinary/social-emotional learning facilitators, evaluators, grief counselors, and figurative patriarchs/matriarchs to our respective school communities. With varying and evolving responsibilities, it is a passion for student learning and instructional innovation that inspire administrators to steadfastly insist that all students can and will achieve their maximum potential.

How do I reflect on and grow my own competency in this area?

For those who have worked in education far longer than myself, the pendulum of education oscillates back and forth in terms of preferred instructional approaches and engagement strategies. For those passionate about union and teachers’ rights, we know that the profession of education is under attack by private and special interest groups, including those inside the Department of Education. As a advocate for equity, I see a world transforming away from the ideals that I strive to achieve: it often feels like one step forward and two steps back. I often get discouraged, but successful growth of my students continues to inspire my passion. As a professional, I strive to reflect on my own impact on our local community and see firsthand that impact as the confidence, social-emotional, and academics of our students improve.

6)“Window and mirror maturity,” (2011).

Who embodies this competency in D96?

Shout out to OUR INSTRUCTIONAL COACHES AND CO-TEACHERS!

What are the responsibilities of our instructional coaches and co-teachers? Develop collaborative relationships with educators to highlight windows of success and mirrors in which we can reflect on our reality and potential areas of growth. Instructional coaches and co-teachers represent the epitome of reflective practitioners who provide differentiated and individualized supports to students and teachers. Coaches and co-teachers rarely rejoice in our success - student data growth - because their impact is distributed among all the teams they serve; coaches and co-teachers help educators see their own celebrations. On the other hand, when things are not going as well, coaches reflect, improve, and innovate novel solutions that aim for, “best practice, not first practice.”

How do I reflect on and grow my own competency in this area?

As a former 4th grade classroom teacher, I was the most significant instructional factor in the growth and performance of my students. When students succeeded, I could attribute it to specific approaches, enrichments, and interventions; when students did not make expected growth, I adapted my own practice and reflected on the change of impact. As an instructional coach with a CLD student caseload, I collaborate on many grade-level teams, content-area teams, and related service teams. I am so proud when educators rejoice on the social-emotional and academic growth of our shared students. Yet, I am no longer the most significant instructional factor for my students, but a member of a team serving our shared students. When students grow and perform to highlight the impact of the team and specific approaches. On the other hand, when our students do not grow as projected, I reflect on what I did wrong and what I can improve.