Thinking Differently : Best Practices

to Next PracticesRaymond J. McNulty, President

@ray_mcnulty

Schools are Improving

School

Improvement

Schools are Improving

School

Improvement

Changing

World

The primary aim of education is not to enable students to do well in school, but to help them do well in the lives they lead outside of school.

Making a better “20th Century School”

is not the answer.

We are getting better at things that do not matter

as much anymore.

Unless we unlearn some of our

traditional practices, we will never get

beyond an improvement

mindset.

Systems are challenged today like never before.

The key challenge that we face

is results.

In an environment driven by results, the best

strategy is to “DEVELOP YOUR PEOPLE.”

Broaden the definition of learning in your system to include adults.

I believe the future is not about the latest gadgets,

it is about something more than gadgets, it’s

about …LEARNING

Adult Learning Year!

2011

The focus must be on the way we work.

– Cooperation is what was valued in the past. It is about efficiency: “You do this and I will do that.”

– Collaboration is where we should focus. It is about shared creation, in which the focus is not on the process but on the specific results.

WE need to become the AGENTS of change.

The Boston Globe

Ray, reading the paper on your

“Kindle” or online just isn’t the same!

Almost everyone wants schools to be better,

but almost no one wants them to be different.

Teacher – Student Comparisons

T – I make learning exciting for my students.

86%

S – My teachers make learning fun.

41%

First Different - Then Better

Themes• Changing Roles• Best and Next Practices• Why It Is So Hard To Change• The Three R’s• Closing Point

Theme• Our roles as educators is

challenged by easy access to an abundance of resources

• Sense Making• Coaching• Credentialing

ThemePeople expect to be able to learn,

study and work whenever and wherever they want.

Importance of “Relationships” in learning and deeply understanding the students who struggle in our systems.

Third Key TrendTheme

Intentionally Non-Compliant Student

The Fundamental Attribution Error

When looking at our own behavior, we tend to view the situation in the environment that surrounds our action.

When looking at the behavior of others, we make assumptions about their personal qualities.

The Effects of Praise

Fixed or Growth

Can’t hand confidence to learners on a silver platter.

•David Brooks, “Social Animal”

Theme

•Best and Next Practices

Best practices allow you to do what you are

currently doing a little better.

Best practices allow you to do what you are

currently doing a little better.

Next practices increase your organization’s capability

to do things it has never done before.

System Innovation

Sustaining Innovation

Next Practice

Disruptive Innovation

A Story….• Not a bad idea, but to

earn a grade more than a C+, the idea has to be viable! (Yale Professor)

• Fredrick Smith

• The idea FedEx

-Shurnyu Suzuki

“In the beginner’s mind there are many possibilities; in the

expert’s mind there are few.”

First practice must change, then results,

then policy.

Current System

Something Different

The Horse

The Automobile

Henry Ford quote…

“If I had asked the public what they wanted,

they would have said a faster horse.”

Proportions of students scoring in each decile of the MCAS 8th grade ELA distribution

Proportions of students scoring in each decile of the MCAS 8th grade Math distribution

MCAS math gains 8th to 10th grade, compared to others from the same 8th grade decile

(School Rank Percentile)

MCAS ELA gains 8th to 10th grade, compared to others from the same 8th grade decile

(School rank percentile/100)

Theme

Closing Point

BE EXTRAORDINARY

BEING EXTRAORDINARY

• Committed to the truth

• Be committed to delaying gratification

• Be someone who always has the chance of saying “yes”

• Live a life where you do not make others wrong

BEING EXTRAORDINARY

• Be committed to courage

• Be someone who produces results with absolutely no force

• Be a person who is peaceful in chaos

BE EXTRAORDINARY

Thinking Differently : Best Practices

to Next PracticesRaymond J. McNulty, President

@ray_mcnulty