Instructional Leadership Team (Subject Team Lead)

I chose to serve as Subject Team Lead and participate on the Instructional Leadership Team (ILT) because I wanted to advocate for the needs of the math department at our site. I also wanted to provide input into the vision and direction that instructional supervision took at Locke. Additionally, I wanted to share my expertise as an experienced teacher and instructional leader with all of the staff. Finally, I joined the ILT in order to lead and support the Algebra 2 teachers as we adopted a new curriculum and set of resources, and as we continued implement Common Core aligned learning goals and tasks.

The ILT list of duties is quite comprehensive, including being responsible for professional development at my academy, supporting teachers in implementing mastery grading, collecting and analyzing school site data to support improved instruction, and finally supporting teachers within my subject team. The reality of duties conducted is even larger. Despite the restructuring of department leadership, I found there was still a significant need to support my math department in a Math Chair type of role--otherwise the collective needs of math teachers at our site would not be addressed. For example, we needed someone to oversee the math budgetary needs of our department, so I took on that role since the new subject team arrangement didn't lend itself towards this type of organization. Also, one of our teachers left mid-year and for one semester we had a long-term-sub teach Geometry and Math Concepts. I supported this sub, and checked in to make sure he had the necessary resources and support. As mentioned above, I also supported the leadership of the Algebra 2 team because that is where most of the transformation had occurred in terms of curriculum and new expecations. The Algebra 2 teachers were also expected to implement elements of blended learning and incorporating technology into the classroom for the first time and were also responsible for preparing 11th grade students for the new end-of-course Smarter Balance Assessment Consortium (SBAC) Examination. My contributions to the ILT this year were numerous and multifaceted. I will detail some on this page, but will ultimately have to leave many more out. I am proud to have led and supported the school as an ILT leader this year and feel that this role has prepared me for adminstration in many ways. ILT has overall been an exhausting, eye-opening, and rewarding experience.

The ILT met many times during the summer for training and to set goals and begin planning for the upcoming school year. During the summer I was part of the Data Driven Instruction division of the ILT, and worked with members from all academies to collaboratively develop a vision and plan for Data Driven Instruction at our site this year. This initiative was significant in framing how our School planned to use data to monitor our progress towards instructional goals throughout the entire school year, and also the context by which we would assess our success mid-way and at the end of the school year. I presented this plan to the Locke staff during an early professional development training in August. Snapshots of this presentation can be seen here:

In addition to the summer foundations that we collaborated on, the ILT met once every two weeks for the entire school year in order to revisit our goals, review data on our progress towards those goals, plan professional development for teachers, and discuss the implemention of Mastery Grading, which was a new and controversial initiative at Locke. We occasionally spent this time meeting in content teams to review the direction that our departments were taking, also establishing and monitoring our goals in this context. Math was a particular area of concern, as many of our teachers were implementing new Carnegie curriculum and required a lot of support and technology. Math teachers are also traditionally held more accountable for school results because of the preponderance of Math Assessments students take including the California High School Exit Exam (CAHSEE) and the SBAC. An ILT agenda and the core values with which we frame each meeting can be seen below.

By far, I spent most of my time and effort on ILT leading the changes to the Algebra 2 curriculum. This is ironic considering this was not my originally designated subject team, nor is it traditionally the responsibility of ILT members to be so deeply involved in the implementation and adjustment of curriculum. However, this was the area in greatest need of attention for our math department this year and the new Carnegie curriculum required much training, support, and adjustments in order for teachers to be able to implement it effectively. With the two other Algebra 2 leads, Ricky Villegas and David Rennie pictured to the right, we created pacing guides for virtually every unit in Algebra 2, numerous formative and summative assessments, 3 sample SBAC performance tasks, CAHSEE preparation materials, and countless other supplements to the curriculum that were necessary to meeting the learning needs of our students. Although we felt that many of these tasks were under the domain of the Instructional Specialists in our organization, we didn't hestitate to take action ourselves when the specialists were unable to provide us with the necessary support. Of all the teams I have worked with at Locke over the last few years, this was defintely one of the most driven, efficient, and effective group to collaborate with. My significant contribution on ILT this year is undoubtedly a result of my sustained collaboration with these gentlemen. Sample pacing guides, assessments, and collaboratively created curricular resources are shown below:

Over the school year, as ILT leader, I conducted Professional Development trainings for the Academy C staff. In the context of the new Common Core State Standards (CCSS) framework that we currently implementing schoolwide, I primarily trained our staff on the math framework and the math practices they can expect students to interact with on a daily basis. We analyzed how the 6 math practices can be implemented and supported in every class and we developed plans and ideas on how to implement them more consistently schoolwide. I led our staff in analyzing an SBAC sample performance task, and in fact gave them a performance task to complete. Based on this experience, the teachers were intimidated by the level of rigor expected of the students on the math task, even though I gave them the "easier" 8th grade task. Artifacts from Professional Developments I led are included below:

One of the main challenges of being a leader for the ILT is navigating the countless responsibilities and areas of need that the job entails, and prioritizing the areas of instructional leadership that I found most important and urgent. Another major challenge is simply finding the time to participate in various meetings, planning trainings, communicating with various stakeholders, and all other various duties associated with the ILT. A third major challenge is being flexible and adjusting to all of the "curveballs" and changes in school and educational policy that necessitate adjusting our initial plans on a continuous basis.

The biggest success that I take away from my participation on ILT was absolutely the successful collaboration I enjoyed on the Algebra 2 team. Creating and implementing successful currciular supports, going well above and beyond our job description, and working with a similar-minded, intelligent, and driven team was incredibly meaningful. Overall, I also appreciated the opportunity to contribute to the instructional vision of the school as we transition deeper into the implementation of the CCSS framework.

In the future, as an instructional leader and supervisor, I intend to practice true democratic and shared leadership. The overwhelming amount of responsibility that the ILT undertakes is simply impossible for any one person or small group of people to do. I would train and empower my ILT leaders to practice distributed leadership amongst their own department members so that they are not solely responsible for the many deliverables asked of them. Finally, as this job is exhausting and time-consuming, I would never cease to authentically praise and thank the selfless leaders who agree to devote their time and efforts for the sake of all students.

• Subject Teams and Leads
• ILT duties and responsibilities
• Data Driven Instruction Powerpoint
• ILT Meeting Powerpoint (February Meeting)
• Collaboratively Developed Algebra 2 Pacing Guide
• Collaboratively Developed Unit Benchmark
• Math Performance Task PD Powerpoint
• Mastery Grading and Assessment PD Handouts
• PD Calendar - January 2015
• Locke Math Budget Proposal
• 2016 Department Budget Template
• Reading - Formative Assessment and Standards Based Grading