LeadershipEnergies (LE) was hired to assess why new curriculum and materials did not result in improved student state test scores; provide support for school leaders and teachers as they prepared for a charter renewal; and provide direction and support as leaders and faculty relied more on student, adult, and school performance data to improve adult and student performance.

Industry: Education PK-12 Districts and Schools

Project Type: Assess current performance levels and devise processes and products to accelerate adult and student learning.

Challenge
LeadershipEnergies (LE) sought to understand leader and faculty priorities and practices and to accurately define performance strengths and improvement needs so that the combination of performance improvement efforts at the board, leader, faculty, team, classroom, and student levels could be coordinated for maximum adult and student learning.

Solution
LE used diagnostic inventories; staff, student, and parent satisfaction surveys; analyses of student performance data; analyses of teacher team lesson planning; reports on performance improvement efforts by the Board, administrators, and teacher teams to build understanding of the school’s performance reality. Many different types of workshops and summer training institutes were provided to leaders and faculty members. Each year additional assessment tools and strategies were introduced to build adult peer relationships into supportive, learning teams. Faculty members and teams and students engaged in self-assessments of knowledge and skill to plan for and attain an accelerated rate of learning. Coaching support was provided by LE to the board, administrators, teachers, and support personnel.

Results
Rapid learning growth of leaders and faculty members led to accelerating growth of student learning and improved scores on state tests. Student achievement of new students to the school improved in their first year and continued to accelerate in subsequent years. Faculty expertise improved in ten areas of responsibility and every faculty member became a coach and professional development presenter in at least two of the ten areas of professional expertise. Students outperformed by a substantial margin the students in the schools that they previously attended. More specifically, the rate of student learning growth was at the 84th percentile among similar schools and at the 74th percentile for all schools in the state.

Over a four year period, the board, leaders, faculty members, students, and some parents became experts in eleven of the eighteen interactive performance systems (IPS) with best practices that were tied to improving student outcomes. The eleven IPS were: Customer Focus; Effective and Integrated Governance; Human Resource Excellence; Information, Measurement, and Reporting System; Planning and Planned Change; Professional Learning and Instruction; Staff, Student, and Family Interactions; Student Behavior and Performance Data; Team Work and Problem Solving; Technology that Supports Programs, Personnel, and Students; and Universal Acceptance of Expectations.

A larger case study of the changes in practice and the improvements in student test scores was published by the American Association of School Administrators (AASA) in their August 2014 magazine, School Administrator. The article title is: “Beyond Compliance to Performance Improvement: A Data-Driven Decision-Making Model that Parallels Clinical Protocols Is Used to Treat the Root Causes of Underachievement.”

Customer Feedback
“LeadershipEnergies (LE) provided unique beneficial coaching and direction based upon the Clinical Practice Model which provided the framework for performance improvement efforts over several years. LE provided numerous workshops to administrators, faculty, and the board of education. Diagnostic instruments were used to assess performance quality and to identify faculty and student learning needs. Our successful charter renewal and growth in faculty and student performance are greatly attributable to the leadership efforts of LE and our board, leaders, and faculty.”
—Thomas Lawrence, Supervisor

*The case study is real and positions of personnel are accurate. Names of districts, schools, and personnel have been changed.