This module will help you get clear on the core elements of implementing an evidence-driven system for school improvement.

We'll explore:

  • What "best practice" really means, and how organizations choose improvement initiatives
  • Why practice is the "black box" preventing most organizations from learning and improving—and how leaders can see inside it
  • Why people aren't motivated by SMART goals—and why they're still useful, even though people can't "do" them directly
  • The reason you should never "pilot" a change—and what to do instead to set people up for success
  • The Organizational Learning Cycle: The six-stage process you'll go through in the Intensive, and can repeat again and again for other improvement efforts

Lessons

Welcome—Strategy, Practice, & Results
Where Improvement Efforts Come From and What Makes Them Work
The Six Stages of the Organizational Learning Cycle
Seeing Inside the Black Box of Practice
Pilots: What They Tell Us, And Why We Don’t Need Them
Your First Assignment
School Improvement Challenge Part 1: Overcoming Organizational Inertia
School Improvement Challenge Part 2: Changing Practice & Changing People
School Improvement Challenge Part 3: Change Overload
School Improvement Challenge Part 4: What Is Organizational Learning?