Ongoing throughout the year

Developed for curriculum leaders for today's schools, this series of workshops focuses on the issues, resources, and skills that professionals need to keep your district ahead of the success curve of student achievement. Earn SB-CEUs, work toward professional endorsement for curriculum and instruction, and become a leader in your field. This series is developed especially for newer and aspiring curriculum leaders.

 

First Year 

  Day #1: What is Curriculum Leadership All About?

Developed as a profound program of learning opportunities in the preparation of educators to be excellent curriculum leaders and presented by experienced curriculum leaders with an outstanding reputation for success, this series is aimed at introducing school administrators to a powerful foundation in curriculum. The program will explore how to:

• Be engaged in active learning relevant to the knowledge and skills
needed to be successful leaders in the individual district setting
• Gain a wealth of ideas and resources on “getting started” in the
new and evolving responsibilities of a curriculum leader
• Know the ingredients of a “high performing school district” and
what it takes to get and then stay there
• Understand the value of data mining –why we do it, how we do it,
and how to use it
• Understand Michigan standards/expectations (SIF, GLCEs, HSCE, etc.)
• Be able to successfully work with school building leadership to get
more students to learn or to learn better
• Understand a system-based approach to curriculum leadership
utilizing the School Improvement Framework pillars

In addition, each participant will be connected with an experienced mentor for follow-up and support. This series is designed for new and aspiring district curriculum/instruction.

 Day #2: Leadership & Change

 The second day of the series will focus on defining leadership within the role of the curriculum leader.  Building on the knowledge gained throughout the program, this first year culminating session will provide the research, tools, and resources to assist each participant in becoming an effective leader, in curriculum and beyond, in their district. Knowledge presented will include:

• Clear Vision
• Community of Leadership
• Culture of Leadership
• Shared Leadership
• The Change Process: 1st and 2nd Order Change
• Facilitating the Leadership Process
• Implementing Change

 Day #3: The "What" & "How" of Curriculum

Where do you start with curriculum?  In order to analyse, design, develop and manage the curriculum, teaching and learning we need a 'systems' model that brings together the major components. When you have a model that reasonably represents your own 'system' for delivering the curriculum then you can begin to systematically improve it. Schools must hold high expectations for all students, identify essential curricular content, make certain it is sequenced appropriately and is taught effectively in the available instructional times. Assessments used are then aligned to curricular content and are used to guide instructional decisions and monitor student learning. This session will include:

• Curriculum Audit
• Curriculum Alignment
• Curriculum Mapping  
• Being responsive to learners needs

    Day #4: Balanced Assessment

Balanced Assessment can be a mammoth topic to fully understand and implement.  This session will define balanced assessment and provide research and resources for making balanced assessment manageable within the individual focus of the curriculum leader and that leader's district.  This session will include:

• “Classroom Assessment for Student Success”
• Alignment
• Working as a Mentor to Principals
• The Role of Data in Balanced Assessment: Knowledge and Management
• Implementing Your Balanced Assessment Plan

    Day #5: Quality Instruction

The second session will focus on Quality Instruction.  Participants will learn to define Quality Instruction, both generally and within the context of individual districts.  Topics covered will include:

• Insuring Quality Instruction in every classroom
• Communicating with district administrators

• The Role of Data in Quality Instruction
• The Teaching and Learning Cycle
• Conducting Audits
• Research, Tools and Resources for Implementation

Second Year

    Day #6: Relationships & Culture

 

 It is important that a school staff maintains purposeful, active, positive relationships. Priority must be given to foster relationships between employees, with families of a school's students and with the community in which it operates to most effectively support student learning.  This session will include:

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  Day #7: Professional Learning Communities & Professional Development

Professional learning communities (PLCs), provide support systems to accurately identify and meet the ever changing needs of each student. Schools that operate as professional learning communities enable their members to discuss problems and to develop strategies for dealing with those problems. This session will assist the curriculum leader in facilitating successful learning communities, and offer several strategies for instantiating and sustaining the learning community process.  Topics considered are:

• Community Involvement: Internal and External
• Capacity Building
• Alignment
• Honoring the Change Process
• Curriculum Leader as Facilitator
• Setting-up a Personal Learning Community in Your District

    Day #8: Implementing & Monitoring Systems 

In this session we will demonstrate model systems to monitor k-12 curriculum; demonstrate what is done to ensure that the curriculum is aligned, vertically and horizontally, across a building or district; demonstrate how to assess these systems; and demonstrate a system of adjusting for implementation.

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     Day #9: Planning & Facilitating Groups

The overall purpose of this day-long professional learning experience is to strengthen central office instructional leaders’ knowledge and skills for working effectively with groups within the context of the Michigan School Improvement Framework.  These are the main outcomes to accomplish during this session so that the overall purpose is achieved:

• To use Garmston’s Four Hats of Leadership as a framework for working as a presenter, consultant, coach, and facilitator; 
• To understand how groups develop and ways to promote a healthy group culture which maximizes a sense of community and minimizes the impact of toxic personalities;
• To apply a simple planning process for agenda development and intentional facilitation work during a meeting, work session or professional development session;
• To gather strategies and protocols which encourage full participation and engagement during meetings and/or other work sessions;
• To understand and use a variety of strategies for collaborative decision making in group settings; and,
• To set meaningful, concrete goals for implementing the knowledge and strategies.

     Day #10: Bringing It All Together: Reflection & Synthesis

This session will provide for clear reflection and systhesis across the two year program.

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