West Valley School District Principal Support Proposal 7620

![[TL butterfly 500.png]] ##### Proposal prepared for: Kyle Rydell, Superintendent, West Valley School District ##### Prepared by: Jethro Jones, Founder, Transformative Principal # Objective Provide sustained, personalized leadership development for school principals to help them become leaders and designers of their school, not just managers to support the district strategic plan goal of creating a culture of safety and belonging. ## District Vision Alignment This proposal supports the strategic plan of your school district. This proposal provides a pathway for every school leader in your district to have the support they need to be successful in implementing the strategic plan over the next five years. Trust, support and high-quality professional development are imperative to retaining quality leaders (Hansford & Ehrich, 2006; Tschannen-Moran, 2014; Youngs & King, 2002). This sustained leadership development does all three of these. Not only this, but we inevitably see lagging indicators such as improved climate and culture surveys, test scores, and recognition program (principal of the year, blue ribbon designations, turnarounds, etc) rise because the leader is growing and developing at such a rapid pace. ### Problem School principals need support on a regular basis to solve the challenges facing them. They need professional development that adapts to them as they are tasked with adapting to their changing environment (Bauer, 2022). Furthermore, they also need time to think about the future and how to make the school better tomorrow than it is today (Gerber, 1995). ### Solution The "Transformative Principal" is a sustained leadership development program geared towards principals to help them transform their schools to become beacons of light in an increasingly troubling world. This helps leaders get just-in-time professional development so that they are successful in meeting the mission of the school district and in progressing in their own careers. | Level 4 | Designer | | ------- | --------- | | Level 3 | Leader | | Level 2 | Manager | | Level 1 | Warm Body | We work on developing managers into leaders and then into designers. Nobody wants a warm body occupying the top spot in a school, and most districts train principals to be managers, and if they are motivated, and have time, develop them into leaders. The Transformative Principal addresses each of these areas and helps them become designers of their schools, while still supporting and operating within the district vision, values, and goals. Being a manager is good enough to keep a school running, but we seek to make our schools dynamic and able to meet the changing conditions that we are constantly faced with. Furthermore, a leader cannot be successful if she is not a good manager. And a designer cannot be successful if she is not also a good leader. Principals who play it safe are in the manager and warm body levels. Leaders who are leaders and designers are in the Ruckus Maker category. Ruckus Makers are focused and committed to the idea that they can leave a positive influence on the school they serve and can adapt the school program to meet the needs of each student, regardless of the struggles that individual student may face. Helping principals level up and collaborate together benefits the entire district; a rising tide raises all ships. It also helps principals communicate with each other and the district leadership more effectively through honing their communication skills. And it’s not just about saying things so others hear. Communication includes communicating out, receiving communication, and inspiring teachers to the vision. Building capacity in themselves and others happens at the designer level. You want your principals to lead their schools with a unique vision, but only when you trust that they have the little things done correctly. The district vision is achieved when all principals are designers. They become Transformative Principals. ## West Valley School District This proposal aims to provide comprehensive support and professional development for principals in the West Valley School District, aligning with the district's strategic goals, core values, theory of action, and the profile of a graduate. The program is designed to evolve principals from managers to innovative leaders and designers of their schools. ## Alignment with District Strategic Plan ### Culture of Safety and Belonging The program will include specialized training sessions focusing on integrating SEL into the curriculum and daily school activities, fostering a more inclusive, supportive, and empathetic school culture. We will follow the 11 Principles from Character.org (Eleven Principles Framework, n.d.) and the PRIMED design principles by Dr. Marvin Berkowitz (2021) to effectively equip your principals with the skills they need to lead district-wide focus on implicit and explicit SEL Instruction in all classrooms based on SEL standards. As this is the priority of the district, the majority of our focus will be on this topic. The good news is that a strong SEL or character program (we can use those words interchangeably) will provide benefits far beyond "just" soft skills. ### Theory of Action The district has adopted a theory of action, which we will follow to ensure that our actions are aligned with district vision. This includes the "flourishing of human goodness" (Berkowitz, 2021) through SEL teaching, educational materials, and modeling kindness. Furthermore, Coaching for PLC team leaders and training in data-driven decision-making will be provided, empowering principals to create a collaborative, evidence-based environment conducive to student learning and growth. This work will build off the work you have already completed with WASA to help you implement your strategic plan with effectiveness, while not disregarding the experiences your principals have already been led through over the last three years. Principals will enhance strategies to model effective communication, follow through, and celebrating people for who they are. ### Core Values Leadership development will include strategies for personalized, inclusive education and innovative teaching, ensuring principals can lead their schools in a way that aligns with the district's core values. Principals, even singletons, need not feel like they are on an island, and will have support from their peers regardless of the differences in their school's approach to learning. ### Profile of a Graduate Guidance will be provided on fostering critical thinking, self-advocacy, and adaptability among students, preparing them for success beyond school so they can become the next community leaders and be civic minded individuals who continue to pursue an amazing future for the students of West Valley. ## Decisions Based on the Right Data It's all too easy in schools to be sucked into the idea that our academic achievement is the be-all-and-end-all. But we all know that is vital, but not the most important. Early in the process, we will start focusing on the inputs that we can control, rather than the outcomes that we often *think* we can control. Collaboratively, we will decide on the inputs we will focus on each year. Those inputs will be the inputs that drive the work forward. For example, in the first year, we will focus on modeling the behavior we want our staff, students, and parents to use. This includes blameless discernment, withholding judgment, kindness, patience, standing up to bullies (teacher, student, and parent) and offering second chances. Where student safety is concerned, we will act swiftly to ensure the most vulnerable among us have protection and support. When we focus on the right inputs, the outcomes will naturally follow (Covey & Merrill, 2008; Lincoln & Guba, 2013; Tsang et al., 2022). Collaboration on the right inputs will be essential and empowering. People trying to lose weight may focus on the scale, but that is an outcome. No matter how hard someone exercises, they're not going to lose weight unless they pay attention to what they put in their body. If they choose the right things, they will lose weight. If they don't, they won't. The reason weight loss is such a great example is that eventually, you just won't lose any weight, and putting the right things into your body still is necessary. At some point, hopefully every student really will be successful in all the ways we want them to be, but that doesn't mean we stop focusing on the inputs. We must continue doing what works for West Valley. ## The Plan This plan will consist of a five-year implementation plan. Three years will be intensive with support from Jethro Jones. As the main goal for every school is safety and belonging by implementation of SEL, we will focus on that. This will improve the culture, academic success, and many other parts of the school district. We want to make sure that we define SEL or character appropriately. ASU's Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College defines character thus: "Character is social, cultural, contextual, and developmental. It is a dynamic interaction of characteristics within a person and the context in which the person operates and develops" (Principled Innovation in the Systems of Educator and Leader Preparation, 2019). Character is not defined in a vacuum, nor is it solidified at any given stage . This is a life-long effort, and must be given the attention needed. We must lead with the head, heart, and hands, as this work cannot be done by focusing only on the academic, or head, part of education (Berkowitz, 2020). The following 11 principles will guide our implementation. They are grouped by emphasis as it relates to training, though it is nearly impossible to divide them into perfect little silos. There will be overlap. This guide is meant to give you an idea of actions and direction that we will take together. From the Character.org 11 Principles Framework: #### Year 1 - Principle 1: Core values are defined, implemented, and embedded into school culture. - Principle 10: The school engages families and community as partners in the character initiative. - Principle 4: The school creates a caring community. #### Year 2 - Principle 2: The school defines “character” comprehensively to include thinking, feeling and doing. - Principle 8: All staff share the responsibility for developing, implementing, and modeling character. #### Year 3 - Principle 7: The school fosters students’ self-motivation. - Principle 3: The school uses a comprehensive, intentional, and proactive approach to develop character. - Principle 6: The school offers a meaningful and challenging academic curriculum that respects all learners, develops their character, and helps them to succeed. #### Year 4 - Principle 5: The school provides students with opportunities for moral action. - Principle 9: Effective character education fosters shared moral leadership and long-range support of the character education initiative. #### Year 5 - Principle 11: The school assesses its implementation of character education, its culture and climate, and the character growth of students on a regular basis. This process takes time and intention to make it work. You will have support for the next five years to implement this effectively and efficiently, with full staff and community stakeholder buy-in. ### Stakeholder Buy In Stakeholder buy in is essential to success of this initiative. Much work has already been done by WVSD to get stakeholders to buy in to the district strategic plan. That work will be upheld and furthered. The relationships that have been formed already and the trust that has been built should be valued and respected and continued to be built upon. Enough people have probably already made the commitment to be part of this work, and they are just looking for the invitation to dive all the way in. "It takes only a critical mass. Committed schools are already showing that there are many parents willing to join forces to help children grow into good and decent people" (Lickona, 1992). ### Leadership Development While it may seem like implementing a SEL initiative is focused on the students and not the leadership, a couple things are essential to understand about leadership development. Leaders who have a vision and a goal for the future work attract people to them and help them see what is possible. Rather than focusing on trying to convince everyone that this is the new "West Valley Way" we will focus on a critical mass. It doesn’t take everybody to make an idea work; We will invite everyone to join the work and meet the goals of the well-planned strategic plan. The support of this leadership development will ensure that this is not a plan that is printed and put on a shelf, never to be seen again, but rather a plan that is seen every day. Dr. Janet Thirlby's (2022) work on Leadership Development shares that "the impact of great leadership (90th percentile) is that it affects every measurable dimension of organization performance, is large and not trivial, is consistent, and has highly interrelated areas of impact" (p. 10). Therefore it is essential that school leaders are trained, developed, and given support for implementing the strategic plan because "effective, senior leadership had an impact on 45 % of an organization’s performance" (Day, 2009; Thirlby, 2022). Leaders have a profound impact on performance in an organization. Next to teachers, principals carry the most influence on the students that attend the school (Day, 2009). ## Proposed Calendar While this is a research-based and wise plan, your district is unique, and we will adjust timelines, strategies, and focus each year to ensure that we are doing the best for West Valley schools and families. ### 2024-2025 School Year The theme for year 1 is Modeling. We're going to start acting how we want others to act, before making broad declarations. Before hanging up signs stating what we believe and who we are, we will focus on taking action that shows who we are. In year 2, when we roll out formalized plans, teachers staff and students will see that we are *telling* how we act, rather than how we are hoping to act. This is a delicate balance between being aspirational and putting our money where our mouth is. > All too often, people want to jump right to new ways of doing. They do this by asking for methods, curricula, lesson plans, and programs for [improvement]. In essence, they skip right past the critical task of changing oneself as an educator, that is, of transforming one’s way of being as foundational to effectively doing (Berkowitz, 2021, loc. 320). Example: Expressing Kindness. When a teacher walks in late to faculty meeting, we will model to her how we want her to act with students, by smiling and welcoming her to the meeting. Target Audience: Teachers. We will start by being the leaders our teachers need, thereby showing them how they can be the teachers their students need. We will (re)engage with PACE (the local character initiative organization that WVSD supports) and ensure that we align to the local community's character initiative as well. ### Milestones for 2024-2025 - Removal of external reward systems - Leaders are modeling character for staff - Year 1 of self-paced PD | Date | Purpose | Attendees | Activities | | ------------------------------------ | ---------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | May 2024 | Kickoff Council (half day, off site) | Superintendent, HR Director, Assistant Superintendent, Principals | Align on goals What Principals want and need Aligning vision for the future | | August 2024 | Summer Leadership Institute (2 days) | Superintendent, HR Director, Assistant Superintendent, Principals | Norm Setting The necessity of prioritization of SEL in WVSD | | Monthly Sept 2024 through May 2025 | 2-4 hour sustained professional development sessions | Principals, Superintendent, Optional, as needed: HR Director, Assistant Superintendent | 11 Principles of SEL systems (Eleven Principles Framework, n.d.) PRIMED For Character Education (Berkowitz, 2021) | | Monthly, Sept. 2024 through May 2025 | Site visits 1:1, at each school every other month | Principals | 1:1 coaching, topics as needed, each principal should expect a visit every other month | | June 2025 | Year One Closure and Goals Setting for Year 2 (1/2 day off site) | Superintendent, HR Director, Assistant Superintendent, Principals | Celebrations, goal setting, blameless discernment | ### 2025-2026 School Year The theme for year 2 is Showing. We've spent the last year *being* the leaders we want to be, now we will start implementing things in a structured and clear manner. Initiatives, declarative statements, and publishing our stories will be part of the process. This year is about documenting and formalizing what we are doing. Example: Principals will engage in coaching conversations with their staff, as they have experienced the previous year, utilizing blameless discernment rather than judgment in their conversations. Target Audience: Parents Our efforts this year will revolve around getting parent buy-in for social emotional learning not by convincing them, but by articulating why we've been doing what we've been doing. ### Milestones for 2025-2026 - Climate and Culture surveys adoption/refinement - Character ed Handbook that explains the culture to new families, new staff - Signage and posters - Year 2 of PD for new staff - Evaluation by teachers of administration acts of character | Date | Purpose | Attendees | Activities | | ------------------------------------ | --------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | August 2025 | Summer Leadership Institute (2 days) | Superintendent, HR Director, Assistant Superintendent, Principals | Implementation strategies for schools, SEL and MTSS | | Monthly Sept 2025 through May 2026 | 2-4 hour sustained professional development sessions | Principals, Superintendent, Optional, as needed: HR Director, Assistant Superintendent | Implementation problem-solving for schools. | | Monthly, Sept. 2025 through May 2026 | Site visits 1:1, at each school every other month | Principals | 1:1 coaching, topics as needed, each principal should expect a visit every other month | | June 2026 | Year Two Closure and Goal Setting for Year 3 (1/2 day off site) | Superintendent, HR Director, Assistant Superintendent, Principals | Celebrations, goal setting, blameless discernment | ### 2026-2027 School Year The theme for year 3 is refining. We will have acted how we want to act, showed who are through documented processes and strategies, and now year 3 is about refining those things to be our best. Example: Principals will adjust their professional development plans for their buildings to show they are responsive to the needs of the community. Target Audience: Students This year will focus on ensuring students are on board and start becoming part of the solution. By helping them be involved in decision-making (at developmentally appropriate levels) we will help them take ownership in the school. ### Milestones for 2026-2027 - Year 3 of PD for new staff - Evaluation of implementation - Including students in district-wide character committees - Review of structures of school day, plans, and technology to meet student needs. | Date | Purpose | Attendees | Activities | | ------------------------------------ | ------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | August 2026 | Summer Leadership Institute (2 days) | Superintendent, HR Director, Assistant Superintendent, Principals | Implementation strategies for schools, SEL and MTSS | | Monthly Sept 2026 through May 2027 | 2-4 hour sustained professional development sessions | Principals, Superintendent, Optional, as needed: HR Director, Assistant Superintendent | Implementation problem-solving for schools. | | Monthly, Sept. 2026 through May 2027 | Site visits 1:1, at each school every other month | Principals | 1:1 coaching, topics as needed, each principal should expect a visit every other month | | June 2027 | Year 3 Closure and Goal Setting for Year 4 (1/2 day off site) | Superintendent, HR Director, Assistant Superintendent, Principals | Celebrations, goal setting, blameless discernment | ### Year 4 - 2027-2028 The theme for year 4 is Thriving. By this point, we will regularly know and enact the right solution for the right situation, whether social emotional, behavioral, or academic. ### Milestones for 2027-2028 - Civic engagement - Individual teacher/student projects - individuals identify areas of need of improvement and propose projects to ensure areas are improved. | Date | Purpose | Attendees | Activities | | ---- | ---- | ---- | ---- | | August 2026 | Summer Leadership Institute (2 days) | Superintendent, HR Director, Assistant Superintendent, Principals | Implementation strategies for schools, SEL and MTSS | | Bimonthly meetings: Sep 2027 Nov 2027 Jan 2028 Mar 2028 May 2028 | 2-4 hour sustained professional development sessions | Principals, Superintendent, Optional, as needed: HR Director, Assistant Superintendent | Implementation problem-solving for schools - Principals will lead these sessions with planning support provided. | | Change to bimonthly site visits Oct 2027 Dec 2027 Feb 2028 Apr 2028 | Site visits 1:1, at each school every other month | Principals | 1:1 coaching, topics as needed, each principal should expect a visit every other month | | June 2028 | Year 4 Closure and Goal Setting for Year 5 (1/2 day off site) | Superintendent, HR Director, Assistant Superintendent, Principals | Celebrations, goal setting, blameless discernment | ### Year 5 The theme for year 5 is Inspiring. Now that norms, routines, and processes are established, it is time to really get to work. This work is ever evolving as we are always training up the next group of leaders to take over the West Valley Way. | Date | Purpose | Attendees | Activities | | ---- | ---- | ---- | ---- | | August 2028 | Summer Leadership Institute (2 days) | Superintendent, HR Director, Assistant Superintendent, Principals | Implementation strategies for schools, SEL and MTSS | | Bimonthly meetings: Sep 2028 Nov 2028 Jan 2029 Mar 2029 May 2029 | 2-4 hour sustained professional development sessions | Principals, Superintendent, Optional, as needed: HR Director, Assistant Superintendent | Implementation problem-solving for schools - Principals will lead these sessions with planning support provided. | | Oct 2028 Dec 2028 Feb 2029 Apr 2029 | Site visits 1:1, at each school every other month | Principals | 1:1 coaching, topics as needed, each principal should expect a visit every other month | | June 2029 | Year 5 Closure and Goal Setting for Years beyond (1/2 day off site) | Superintendent, HR Director, Assistant Superintendent, Principals | Celebrations, goal setting, blameless discernment | ## Deliverables by Year By clearly stating the deliverables (documents, signage, or anything else) by year, we will be able to evaluate how we are accomplishing our mission. ### Year 1 - Character Statement - we will create this to show what we value and how, based on our actions in the first year. We will continue to update this as we develop - Year 1 self-paced professional development - a short asynchronous course that will be a clear explanation of the character statement and will build for each subsequent year. ### Year 2 - Staff Expectations - This will be a clearly designed document to help teachers and staff throughout the district (new and returning) to understand what we expect of employees of WVSD as it relates to staff behavior and modeling. - Signage that shows what we already do, not what we want to accomplish. ### Year 3 - Curriculum adoption framework to incorporate character into curriculum. ### Year 4 - Moral action project flow for each grade band (k-2, 3-5, 6-8, 9-12) ### Year 5 - Comprehensive evaluation document ## Conclusion This proposal presents a tailored approach to principal leadership development, aiming to create a transformative impact on school leaders and foster environments where students can thrive academically, socially, and emotionally. # About Jethro Jones Jethro Jones, is a national award-winning former school leader, podcaster, and author of the books How to be a Transformative Principal and SchoolX: How principals can design a transformative school experience for the people right in front of them! He is also founder of the BE Podcast Network, the best educational podcast network out there. Working at the intersection of leadership and technology, Jethro currently consults school leaders on strategies to help them save time, lead more effectively, and overcome their own weaknesses. Jethro has worked as a principal at all K-12 levels, including a prison school, a district coach, distance learning team lead, and English teacher. Jethro is currently pursuing a doctoral degree through the University of Missouri - St. Louis in Character Education and Servant Leadership. ### References - Bauer, D. (2022). _Mastermind: Unlocking talent within every school leader_. Corwin. - Berkowitz, M. W. (2012). Moral and character education. In K. R. Harris, S. Graham, T. Urdan, S. Graham, J. M. Royer, & M. Zeidner (Eds.), _APA educational psychology handbook, Vol 2: Individual differences and cultural and contextual factors._ (pp. 247–264). American Psychological Association. 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