Updated March 12, 2020: Due to COVID-19, this summit has been shifted from a place-based to a virtual one.
CEL's Max Silverman and Jenn McDermott will be co-presenting "Partnering to Improve Principal’s Practice Using Improvement Science Principles" at the Carnegie Foundation Summit on Improvement in Education.
In this session, participants will learn about two different partnerships focused on promoting the development of school leadership capabilities to lead improvement. Silverman and McDermott will offer lessons on what it takes to develop these capabilities among school leaders, as well as on factors related to the partnerships that were developed to accomplish this novel work together.
Updated March 9, 2020: The ASCD Empower20 event has been canceled.
Anneke Markholt, Associate Director of the University of Washington Center for Educational Leadership (CEL) and Dr. Jennie Snyder, Deputy Superintendent for the Instructional Services Division at the Sonoma County Office of Education, will present a session titled "Developing a Shared Focus on Teaching and Learning to Improve Instruction" at ASCD's Empower20 conference.
District and school leaders are charged with supporting a culture of continuous improvement, promoting teacher growth, and developing strong instructional practices. Leaders need a process to help them focus their efforts, assess the current state of teaching and learning in their school, and determine how they should begin their improvement process. In this interactive session, participants will engage in a replicable process that supports the way educators observe both teaching and learning. This process uses the 5 Dimensions of Teaching and Learning Framework to help educators calibrate the quality of what they observe.
As we originally shared on March 5, 2020, we've been closely monitoring the evolving situation around COVID-19. With the number of confirmed cases increasing locally and worldwide, we're taking additional safety measures to keep the communities we serve safe.
Starting Monday, March 16, we are suspending all onsite engagements and travel while schools are closed.
In an effort to best support our partners' work in these fluid circumstances, we've transitioned many engagements from in-person to virtual with great success. We'll continue to work closely with our partners to determine the best ways to continue their professional learning — while being respectful of their most immediate needs.
UPDATED MARCH 25, 2020: Due to the impact of COVID-19 and the "Stay Home, Stay Healthy" order on our operations, all store product purchases will be processed and shipped at the end of April 2020. We apologize for the inconvenience, and we thank you for your patience.
Again, we're monitoring the following sources for guidance on health and safety precautions:
The Washington State Department of Health
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, including updated travel notices
The University of Washington’s official response
If you are a partner with concerns about a scheduled service and would like to speak to CEL staff, please don’t hesitate to reach out.
In recent days, the Center for Educational Leadership (CEL) staff have been reaching out to partners in response to the 2019 Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) that originated in Wuhan, China. Though the cases in Washington state have increased, no one in the University of Washington community — including CEL staff — have been diagnosed with the novel coronavirus. We are working with our partners to determine how best to support their work, including delivering services as originally planned.
As this is an evolving situation, the CEL leadership team is closely monitoring the following sources to ensure safety for our partners and their communities.
The Washington State Department of Health
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, including updated travel notices
The University of Washington’s official response
If you are a partner with concerns about a scheduled service and would like to speak to CEL staff, please don’t hesitate to reach out.
**Updated March 6, 2020**
Due to the impact of COVID-19 on our operations, all store purchases will be processed and shipped at the end of March 2020. We apologize for the inconvenience.Thank you for your patience.
In 2019, CEL adopted a new vision and mission to guide our future work.
With that, we renewed our focus on services and support for courageous leaders — so they can develop cultures of rigorous teaching, learning, and leading that enable their students to create limitless futures.
In January 2020, Greg Sommers joined the Center for Educational Leadership (CEL) as our Chief Impact Officer. This position was newly created to define and lead the organization’s approach to growth and impact.
“We’re excited to have Greg on board,” said executive director Max Silverman. “He brings extensive knowledge of system improvement and relentless focus on quality, grounded in equitable student experiences and outcomes, to our work at CEL. His leadership will enable us to live fully into our vision and mission with our partners.”
As a teacher, nonprofit leader, and foundation officer, Greg has worked extensively with educators, policymakers, nonprofit and for-profit organizations to improve student outcomes.
You can read more about Greg’s background on his staff profile.
CEL executive director, Max Silverman is moderating a Thought Leadership Session titled, "Investing in Principal Supervisors to Lead School Improvement".
Educating all children at high levels depends largely upon having effective school building principals. Yet, it's challenging to implement quality systems for recruiting, developing and evaluating principals. In this session, participants will gain insight, strategies and tools developed by school districts and researchers with support of the Wallace Foundation, which assists districts in selecting and developing principal supervisors.
The University of Washington Center for Educational Leadership (CEL) executive director, Max Silverman, and project director, Sandy Austin, will lead a breakout session titled “Building Systems for Long-Term Principal Learning and Support.”
Developing systems for principals to receive the professional learning and support needed to successfully lead their schools is essential for creating cultures of rigorous teaching, learning, and leading that will eliminate educational inequities.
Participants in this session will learn how leaders in Bellevue Public Schools (WA) and Greenville County Schools (SC) went beyond providing professional development for principal supervisors to create central offices that consistently think about what principals need next. Hear how these districts came to consensus on the role of principals, developed consistent routines and practices for principal supervisors, and developed coherent professional learning for principals that surrounds one-on-one work with principal supervisors.
In addition to hearing from district leaders, attendees will engage with tools that can help them assess their current state of principal support, generate ideas for action and learning, and consider concrete next steps to take upon returning to their school systems.
Michele Mason, Director of Instructional Leadership for The University of Washington Center for Educational Leadership (CEL), and Emily Weiskopf, Chief of Transformation of Lake County Schools (FL), will host a breakout session titled, “Building System-wide Instructional Leadership Capacity for Student Success.”
Central office leaders across the country are challenged to develop and sustain a system of professional learning for principals that equip school leaders with instructional leadership knowledge, skills and habits that can impact teaching practice and student learning. In this session, learn how central office leaders from Lake County (FL) are collaborating with school leaders to create rigorous cultures of learning, teaching and leading that rely on:
- A common language and shared vision for high-quality instruction
- Nonjudgmental methods for observing and analyzing instruction
- Transformative skills in providing targeted feedback and planning professional learning
In this hands-on session, participants will have an opportunity to assess the current state of instructional leadership in their district and what that means for student experiences, while also engaging with ideas that will help them consider next steps in their school systems.
CEL’s director of teacher leadership and learning, Joanna Michelson, and Stacy Thomas, the executive director of teaching and learning for Blaine School District, will be at the National ESEA Conference (formerly that National Title I Association conference) to present a session on “Creating Strengths-Based Cultures of Learning and Growth.”
This session will use a case example to explore a set of specific leadership practices that foster a strengths-based culture of instructional improvement among teachers and a strengths-based approach to developing students as readers. The session will highlight:
1. Strengths-based, formative teacher and student observation techniques
2. Strategies for communicating clear, focused strengths-based expectations for and with teachers as they learn, collaborate, and improve together
Participants will be able to access brief conceptual framing, an illustrative case example, practice opportunities with video, and opportunities to practice crafting communications to staff.
CEL's executive director, Max Silverman, and Ellen Dorr, chief technology officer of the 15,000-student Renton School District in Washington, will lead a breakout session titled, "Small Changes, Big impact: Hacking the Central Office."
Central office leaders across the country continually grapple with how to lead their teams to meaningfully work differently to better serve students, teachers and school leaders. In this hands-on session, participants will learn how to apply design thinking and the latest research on central office redesign in their efforts to lead and work more effectively. Participants will leave with a change-project prototype and a plan to enlist central office colleagues.
CEL's Renee Gallagher, and Casey Harkleroad, an instructional coach with the Kent School District in Washington, will lead a workshop session titled, "Coaching Towards Increased Teacher Efficacy and Student Learning."
How do coaches build the skillset to impact in-the-moment math instruction as a vehicle for powerful teacher learning? Immerse yourself in the story of coaches who built this ability through identifying outcomes for each component of a coaching cycle, intentionally planning toward those outcomes, and identifying data-based processes to build teacher efficacy. Analyze tools created, processes used and guiding principles for supporting coach learning and leave ready to increase impact.