Act 13 and Beyond: Educators Driving Instructional Excellence Tentative

Course Description:  Today’s educators face many challenges as they work together to achieve their learning community’s vision and mission. Over the past twenty years, there has been considerable interest and research focused on school leadership and its influence on student achievement. While the classroom teacher has been shown to have the most influence on student learning, the school principal has the second greatest impact on student learning. Clearly, the classroom teacher directly impacts student learning through the creation of a classroom community, the setting of high expectations for their class, providing direct instruction, and differentiating instruction based on student need. The principal, on the other hand, impacts all of the teachers and students in the school in more indirect ways. The principal’s influence on student achievement evidences itself in these ways:   
• establishing a clear vision and mission for the learning community;   
• nurturing a strong sense of community, a just community, where all members of the community have access to and benefit from the resources of that community;   
• setting high expectations for students, staff, and faculty;   
• promoting professional growth for faculty and staff and building their capacity to deliver high-power teaching and learning in all classrooms; and   
• fostering a trusted teaching and learning environment so that the resources and talents of all members of the team can be unleashed to their full potential and support the school’s efforts in realizing its vision and mission.   
This more transformative view of principal leadership acknowledges the important leadership in all educators and the principal’s role in strategically empowering the team of educators to foster a high-power teaching and learning organization. Today’s school principal has both the opportunity and responsibility to positively impact all members of the learning community, and this course is designed to support school leaders in their efforts to build the capacity of their educators and elevate classroom instruction.   

Throughout this three-day course, the participant will realize some of the important research-based underpinnings that anchor the course:   
• the principal has both the opportunity and responsibility to provide a high-power teaching and learning environment;   
• the principal’s actions, more than words, contribute immeasurably to the level of trust and professionalism evident in the school’s culture;   
• the principal engages regularly in reflective practice to consider and reconsider the decisions, actions, and priorities of the organization;   
• the principal recognizes, values, and taps the resources of trusted leader colleagues (mentors) to reflect on the work of leading a school organization; and   
• the principal knows and keeps in mind the why that fuels and drives their leadership.    

Act 13 and Beyond: Educators Driving Instructional Excellence is a three-day course that has been designed for a virtual learning environment. The course content includes two important threads: 1) the requirements of Pennsylvania’s Act 13 related to supervision and evaluation; and 2) the opportunity and responsibility the principal has in the realm of instructional leadership. While school leaders taking this course will know what Pennsylvania requires to be compliant in their work as per Act 13, they will, more importantly, also grow in understanding the critical role they own as instructional leaders charged with elevating teaching and learning in their schools. As a facilitated course, we know the valuable learning that takes place as leaders come together and learn together. Participants in this course will have many opportunities to engage actively in deep small-group conversations with their colleagues to explore the research, the frameworks, and the work of a school leader responsible for promoting high-power teaching and learning communities. Additionally, they will engage in reflective thinking throughout the course. The course has been designed to actively engage the school leaders and challenge them to consider their own leadership experiences and their alignment with valued leadership practice.    

Course Alignment with Standards:  This course is aligned with the Pennsylvania Framework for Leadership.