Becoming a Learning Organization: Pickerington's Journey to Improve Learning Opportunities for All Children Fostered by a Culture of Collaborative Professionalism

Pickerington Local Schools central office administrators credit their system-wide use of the Ohio Improvement Process (OIP) and Ohio Leadership Advisory Council (OLAC) resources for the district's increasing capacity to make the kind of informed instructional decisions needed to improve learning opportunities for every child.

"We've always been a relatively successful district if you're basing success on the report card, parent satisfaction, and students going further in their education or into the workforce, but we had a difficult time describing exactly how we achieved success," explained Sharon Caccimelio, Executive Director of Teaching and Learning. "We needed to identify those things in the system that we could do to assure that all students were achieving and succeeding," she said.

"The main goal of the academic pillar is the idea of moving our instruction and learning into the 21st century," said Brian Seymour, Pickerington's Director of Instructional Technology. Personalized learning, attending to the ‘whole child' and relationships (e.g., the relationship between the student and the teacher), and providing authentic experiences that pave the way for success are strategies for improving the quality of core instruction for all children in the district.

"We're obviously covering grade-level material, but we also look at gaps, where kids are struggling, and how to move them up. We also have kids that are way outperforming their grade level, so how can we continue to push them too," added Seymour.

"It's about making learning relevant and meeting students where they're at," commented Zack Howard, the district's Assistant Superintendent for Human Resources. Both Seymour and Howard began their careers in Pickerington as high school science teachers.

Professional learning, a fourth strategy, is wrapped around other plan components, conveying the need to position all educators in the district, regardless of assignment, to fulfill the promise of the Plan (i.e., high levels of learning for each students). "We're trying to get away from the idea of ‘professional development' and move into professional learning," explained Seymour. "We joke that nobody wants to wake up in the morning and say they want to be ‘developed,'" he added.

Learning Together

Pickerington's intended outcome in the area of professional learning is for educators to acquire, enhance, and refine the relevant knowledge, skills, practices, and mindsets necessary to create and support high levels of learning for each student (Plan for Progress: Pickerington's Roadmap for the Future, p. 14).

Central office leaders knew that realizing this outcome required the district to support educators at every level of the system to become more open to working collaboratively so they could learn from each other, learn together, and contribute to the collective instructional capacity of the district. "As a district, we shifted from ‘individual' to ‘team' and shared leadership, and our focus became learning together," explained Caccimelio. Unlike many districts who used the OIP in response to a perceived compliance mandate, Pickerington chose to use it to improve the district's capacity to prepare all children for success.

"The work of the TBTs, BLTs, and the DLT1 has been a game-changer for us. Our teachers are working collaboratively, they can use the data they're getting from assessments and other qualitative sources, and they can see that their work is indeed showing growth and change in student learning, which is really what it's all about," said Caccimelio. "OLAC materials helped us align our team structures (TBT, BLT, DLT) when we began using the OIP. Six years later, we are still learning and refining," she added.

Engaging in tough conversations to identify non-negotiables to guide the district's improvement work wasn't limited to BLTs. The DLT also "struggled through it, talked through it, and got through it," according to Caccimelio. "So if we say we believe all students can learn, what does that look like and how will we know? And what doesn't it look like?'"

DLT non-negotiables included such statements as "The DLT will identify and promote evidence-based improvement strategies;" "DLT practices emphasize continuous reflection, collaboration, and innovation;" "A primary DLT function is to eliminate institutional barriers to student success;" and "Collaboration is not an option." Identifying essential team beliefs at all levels led to a DLT reboot at the beginning of the 2019-2020 school year and a realization of the importance of district-level practices on the quality of instructional leadership. The DLT's primary focus is on (1) strengthening TBTs, (2) improving the effectiveness of interventions/supports, and (3) supporting principals.

"Without district support, other schools in the district are unable to learn from an effective school," explained Caccimelio. "Sharing is really part of everyday life now, teachers are taking on leadership roles, and folks have more confidence in what they're able to do."

Inclusive Instructional Leadership

Pickerington's commitment to supporting principals as one of the core areas of work for the DLT involves participation in the Ohio Leadership for Inclusion, Implementation, and Instructional Improvement (OLi4).3 OLi4 supports cohorts of principals and district representatives in supporting teacher learning and in the effective use of OIP team structures by addressing six key practice domains: (1) visioning, (2) using data well, (3) sharing leadership, (4) reflecting on practice, (5) coaching teaching, and (6) using research and evidence to guide instruction. OLAC online learning resources, like the McNulty webinar on non-negotiables, are used support OLi4 cohort member learning.

With Each Child, Our Future (Ohio's Strategic Plan for Education: 2019-2024)4, as the backdrop, the State Development Team (a group of state and regional leaders supported by the Columbus-based University of Cincinnati Systems Development & Improvement Center) identified three essential and inter-related areas of practice for guiding the work of the regional system: (1) inclusive instructional practices, (2) capacity building through professional capital, and (3) inclusive instructional and organizational leadership.

Toward Collaborative Professionalism

The work of the SSTs, regardless of the particular needs of the district, is to support that district in building its own capacity – its capital if you will – to become a learning organization able to engage all personnel in continuous improvement. Capacity building through professional capital involves getting better at using three types of capital to improve teaching and learning: (1) human capital (selection, induction, retention, evaluation functions designed to improve the quality and capabilities of personnel), (2) social capital (the quality and impact of interactions among people in a school district in relation to the district's mission), and (3) decisional capital (the capacity and expertise for making decisions) (Hargreaves & Fullan, 2012).

The OIP, supported by OLAC resources, provides the structure for fostering shared learning and decision making, as illustrated by the ongoing work of the Pickerington Local School District. According to McKahan, "OIP supports the entire process of inquiry; collaborative professionalism is at the very heart of OIP and supports districts in considering ‘how are we going to together grow our district, our schools, our kids, our families, our communities?'"

"We have a ways to go in supporting districts to create cultures of collaborative professionalism. It may be easier to look at the three aspects of professional capital, but we still need to get to the core belief system and non-negotiables in every district and building to say, ‘It's our responsibility to come together on behalf of kids.' The three elements of professional capital are tools to be used to get to collaborative professionalism. We don't ‘do professional capital,' we use it," she stated.

Developing cultures grounded in collaborative professionalism involves 10 tenets, according to Hargreaves and O'Conner (2018): collective autonomy, collective efficacy, collaborative inquiry, collective resonsibility, collective initiative, mutual dialoge, joint work, common meaning and purpose, collaborating with students, and big picture thinking for all. Hargreaves notes, "in collaborative professionalism, everyone gets the big picture. They see it, live it, and create it together."

"It's a journey. We've done a lot of work and we've come a long way, but there's still work to be done. One of the things that the process does is support us in understanding that if we're all in it together for the same purpose and we understand it, it doesn't matter who leaves or comes or goes," said Caccimelio.

Watch for the summer 2020 issue of Cornerstone Connections for a focus on inclusive instructional and organizational leadership!

References

Hargreaves, A., & Fullan, M. (2012). Professional capital: Transforming teaching in every school. New York, NY: Teachers College Press.

Hargreaves, A., & O'Connor, M. T. (2018). Collaborative professionalism: When teaching together means learning for all. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.

Ohio Department of Education. (2019). Each child, our future. Ohio's strategic plan for education (2019-2024). Columbus, OH: Author. Retrievable from http://education.ohio.gov/getattachment/About/Ohios-Strategic-Plan-for-Education/Final-Strategic-Plan-Board-Approved.pdf.aspx?lang=en-US.

Plan for progress: Pickerington's roadmap for the future. (2019). Pickerington, OH: Pickerington Local School District. Retrievable from https://www.pickerington.k12.oh.us/wp content/uploads/2019/08/Pickerington-Plan-for-Progress-Report-v5A-2.pdf