Continuous Improvement

The two most significant elements of Fullan’s Continuous Improvement Model are collective capacity and strategies with precision. I find this to be true in my setting because without cooperation and collaboration, very little can be accomplished. For example, administrators should initiate feedback based on systematic assessments of instructors (Fullan, 2012). This keeps the lines of communication open for rich discussions that advance the change efforts.  Additionally, it takes planning and specific strategies to gain consensus and implement programs effectively. If there is any division in the mission and expectations, the system will fall apart. Fullan (2010) referred to cohesion and collaboration as the essential components for continued improvement. Teachers need to feel supported and they need to be given the opportunity to have a voice in the decision-making process. According to Fullan (2011), the top methods of effective teaching rely on collaboration to be successful. Administrators need to be closely involved with teachers in order to be proactive in the decision-making process (Laureate Inc., 2013).

Fullan, M. (2010). All systems go: The change imperative for whole system reform. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.

Crockett, J. B., Billingsley, B. S., & Boscardin, M. L. (Eds.). (2012). Handbook of leadership and administration for special education. New York, NY: Taylor & Francis.

Fullan, M. (2010). Capacity building. Retrieved from http://www.michaelfullan.ca/media/13435862150.html

Fullan, M. (2011). Whole system reform for innovative teaching and learning. Retrieved from http://www.michaelfullan.ca/media/13435855110.html

Laureate Education (Producer). (2013a). Continuous improvement and systems change [Video file]. Retrieved from https://class.waldenu.edu

The Relationship of Integrity of Practice to Fidelity with Flexibility of Implementation

Educational programs and practices are to be implemented with integrity of practice to ensure favorable outcomes. As expressed by the World Customs Organization (n.d.), honesty, care, diligence, professionalism, and impartiality are essential for gaining the public trust. This is true in education to gain the trust of stakeholders as they entrust students’ education to the school. Fidelity of implementation is gained when integrity is at the forefront of all that is done in the process of managing students’ educational needs. I would introduce flexibility of implementation by explaining how it links to individualized instructional practices. Then I would provide training sessions to demonstrate how it should look. For example, the academic needs of each student are met when instruction is focused on their individual needs. Teachers need to learn how to structure their classrooms and programs to provide each student with the individualized instruction they require to make progress. Research suggests that adhering rigidly to a set of practices produces poor outcomes. Teachers need to focus on the unique environment and student population to maximize the outcomes of any program they are using (Kendall, Gosch, Furr, & Sood). A general guide can lead educators in the right direction for planning, documenting, and universal instruction. Kretlow, Cooke, and Wood (2011) explained that professional development programs are important in connecting the research to classroom implementation. Collaboration is needed to made decisions on the individual needs of students for reaching their potential. The suggestion was made that educators should engage in dialogue to find out what is working or not working (Laureate, Inc. 2013). Crocket, Billingsley, and Boscardin, (2012) suggested that periodically educators should have their implementation fidelity evaluated.

Kretlow, A., Cooke, N., & Wood, C. (2011). Using in-service and coaching to increase teachers' accurate use of research-based strategies. Remedial and Special Education, 348-361. doi:10.1177/0741932510395397

Kendall, P., Gosch, E., Furr, J., & Sood, E. (2008). Flexibility within fidelity. Evidence-Based Practice, 987-993. Retrieved from www.jaacap.com/

Laureate Education (Producer). (2013b). Integrity of practice [Video file]. Retrieved from https://class.waldenu.edu

Crockett, J. B., Billingsley, B. S., & Boscardin, M. L. (Eds.). (2012). Handbook of leadership and administration for special education. New York, NY: Taylor & Francis.

World Customs Organization (2012). World Customs Organization ntegrity. Retrieved November 4, 2013, from http://www.wcoomd.org/en/search.aspx?q=integrity

The Critical Elements of Integrity of Practice

I define integrity of practice in education as the deliberate acts that provide for the individual needs of all students. This takes building consensus, collaborating with colleagues, and using research-based materials and practices. It includes fidelity in the collection, management, and use of data to drive instruction. Teachers, support staff, administrators, and other school professionals need to pool their professional knowledge to make decisions about student needs. Azano, Missett, Callahan, Oh, Brunner, Foster, and Moon (2011) explained that studies have shown evidence of significant correlations between interventions that are implemented with fidelity and their outcomes. For example an observation of whether the unit is delivered as designed could provide evidence of whether the intended outcome would follow. In my present setting fidelity is attained through collaboration within professional learning communities to ensure that there is consensus in the implementation, delivery, and follow-up activities. Collaborating and receiving feedback from colleagues on possible next steps to better assist students within their classroom and discussing student needs based upon specific data strengthens the program’s fidelity. Professional learning communities offer a very powerful way of engaging teachers in reflecting upon and refining their practice. They offer a very powerful way of engaging teachers in reflecting upon and refining their practice (Harris & Jones, 2010). Research-based practices will ensure proper actions are taken to provide the right kind, amount and intensity of support (Bianco, 2010). I believe that providing teachers with the needed support from administrators and coaches is critical to the success of students. This is an example of integrity. It provides consistency and prevents corruption of the implementation. Teachers need to be empowered as they use data to adjust instruction (Laureate Education, Inc., 2013). Without the proper support and collaboration with colleagues, the attempts may not be sound or the implementation quality may suffer. Duerden and Witt (2013) suggested that the program foundations, the implementation system, and program monitoring are evaluated through the collection of data and evaluate how the implementation affects the outcome. The evidence I would use to ensure that all critical elements are in place includes classroom observations with follow-up conferences, documented professional development trainings, program checklists to ensure precise implementation and maintenance.  

Azano, A., Missett, T., Callahan, C., Oh, S., Brunner, M., Foster, L., & Moon , T. (2011). Exploring the Relationship Between Fidelity of Implementation and Academic Achievement in a Third-Grade Gifted Curriculum: A Mixed-Methods Study. Journal of Advanced Academics, 22(5), 693 –719. doi:10.1177/1932202X1142487

Davis Bianco, S. (2010). Improving Student Outcomes: Data-driven Instruction and Fidelity of Implementation in a Response to Intervention (RTI) Model. TEACHING Exceptional Children Plus, 6(5) Article 1. Retrieved October 30, 2013 from http://escholarship.bc.edu/education/ tecplus/vol6/iss5/art1.

Duerden, M., & Witt, P. (2012). Assessing Program Implementation: What It Is, Why It'sImportant, and How to Do It. Journal of Extension, 50(1). Retrieved from http://www.joe.org/joe/2012february/a4.php

Harris, A., & Jones, M. (2010). Professional learning communities and system improvement. Improving Schools, 13(172). doi:10.1177/1365480210376487

Laureate Education (Producer). (2013). Integrity of practice [Video file]. Retrieved October 30, 2013 from https://class.waldenu.edu

Barriers to Collaboration

In order to have an effective Problem-Solving/Response to Intervention (PS/RTI) school-wide system, a willingness by all staff members to claim ownership of the responsibilities is needed. Educators must be flexible and they must embrace the cultural changes that occur with a system change. Each staff member must be willing to change their way of thinking about educating students. The thinking must shift from merely teaching concepts to the whole class to educating each student in the grade level requirements by focusing on the whole student. For this shift to take place successfully, the school leader must build a leadership team, lead them in learning together, guide them in helping the staff to understand why things will be done differently, work with the leadership team and staff to create a plan, foster high expectations and work to gain school-wide consensus (Buffum, Mattos & Weber, 2012). It takes an innovative and progressive leader to change the culture of the school. This transformative leader would facilitate effective school-wide academic and behavior supports for students through proven actions.

The top three barriers to collaboration are helping staff to understand the reasons why a cultural change is needed, consistently communicating with stakeholders, and getting staff members to collaborate and learn together. The difficulty in ensuring that school staff fully understands the logic behind the changes arises from their comfort with the current habits. The feeling is that “well enough” should be left alone. The resistance also stems from the fact that so many efforts for reform have been introduced before, only to be replaced again. Leaders need to provide professional development opportunities that motivate staff members to take action. When a professional learning community (PLC) culture is developed, administrators and teachers can collaborate in the common effort to do what it takes to reach all students. The shift will then take natural shape and consensus may be facilitated. Developing effective procedures for collaborating and disseminating student progress information to families and the community can be difficult if staff consensus is not reached. This is because it takes a collaborative effort to communicate with families. Families need to connect with teachers, counselors, school psychologist, and all staff who are involved in providing services for their children.  Jerald (2010) stated that to achieve and sustain significant improvement in school reform, a school-wide system of support must be developed. Shared school-wide strategies and team efforts are required for school success as stated by the author. When all stakeholders are of like mind, involved, and well informed, schools have a greater likelihood of success in their efforts to develop a successful PS/RTI program and involve the families. The school leader’s practices are the major factors that determine the failure or success of the school reform.

Buffum, A. G., Mattos, M., & Weber, C. (2012). Simplifying response to intervention: Four essential guiding principles. Bloomington, IN: Solution Tree Press.

Jerald, C. (2010). Helping schools engage in collaborative, strategic problem solving. The Center for Comprehensive School Reform. Retrieved from http://www.education.com/reference/article/Ref_Helping_Schools_Problem _Solving/

Specialized and Differentiated Instruction

Although specialized instruction is an element of differentiated instruction, each of these instructional processes has unique characteristics. Differentiated instruction maximizes student growth and individual success by providing multiple avenues for the acquisition of content to demonstrate what they have learned (Demirsky & Goddard). Differentiated instruction involves structuring the learning environment for flexible grouping and individualized instruction. Student abilities and achievement levels, interests, or learning styles are taken into consideration for planning instruction and grouping considerations, as stated by the authors. Specialized instruction involves adapting the content, methodology, or delivery method to the student (Autrey & DeMuth).  It aims to address the unique needs of individual students to ensure access to the general education curriculum. The specific needs of students are assessed, and actions are taken to accommodate them. For example, an individual student may need to use a highlighter during reading comprehension instruction or he may need to use graphic organizers to successfully complete writing assignments. Both types of instructional approaches focus on opening avenues for students to access the curriculum. Within the differentiated classroom, specific students may require more specialized instruction to meet their needs and assist them in performing to acquire the content.

All students in my setting are supported by differentiated instructional approaches within the general education classroom. Students are provided flexible grouping supports for various lessons. Students who have similar needs or perform at similar levels are given instruction in small group settings. Individual students who require more focused considerations receive one-on-one specialized instruction within the classroom or in the resource room to meet their unique instructional need for specific content.

Demirsky, S., & Goddard, Y. (2010). Differentiated instruction and RTI: A natural fit.Educational Leader, 68(2), 1-3. Retrieved from http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/oct10/vol68/num02/Differentiated-Instruction-and-RTI@-A-Natural-Fit.aspx

Autrey, S. (2012). Processing deficits, specialized instruction and accommodations. Retrieved from Fayette County ECS website: http://www.doe.k12.ga.us/Curriculum-Instruction-and-Assessment/Special-Education-Services/Documents/IDEAS_processing_deficits_ppt.pdf

The Role of Assessment in Understanding Behavior

As a member of the problem-solving team at any school, when dealing with the need to find the underlying causes of behavior, I would recommend that the team administer a Functional Assessment of Behavior (FBA) to analyze the antecedents, specific behavior and the maintaining consequences for the purpose of developing a hypothesis as stated by Filter and Horner (2009). Observations, interviews, and data collection must be used to target the causes of her behavior. After developing a hypothesis, the next step would be to determine the best intervention and reinforcement to eliminate the specific behavior. An experiment using an ABAB design would be the best method for evaluating the student's behavior and to determine if the intervention would effectively diminish her negative behavior. Baseline data would show the student's frequency in aggressive behavior without interventions and the implementation of the interventions with additional data collection would help to determine if it is effective. An additional set of baseline data, then intervention data would solidify the effects of the intervention (Laureate Education, Inc., 2012). For the student's specific behavior problems, an intervention that includes a daily “check-in” and a discussion session with her counselor at least once weekly to receive frustration tolerance instruction would help to reduce her negative behavior. Continuous monitoring and data tracking should be a part of her support to inform her long term needs and to provide information about whether the school-wide problem-solving system works (Buffum, Mattos, & Weber, 2012).

Since the student's academic progress is also a concern, the teacher collaborative team should review her present levels of academic progress from data collected by her classroom teachers. Tier II interventions should then be administered to provide more intensive supports with progress monitoring data collection to determine how best to continuously meet her needs. The behavior interventions and academic interventions should be provided simultaneously and with equal intensity to prevent any negative effect that one may have on the other. Algozzine, Wang, and Violette (2010) stated that acceptable behaviors should be taught as persistently as academic content to ensure progress.

Algozzine, B., Wand, C., & Violette, A. (2010). Reexamining the relationship between academic achievement and social behavior. Journal of Positive Behavior Interventions, 13(3). doi:10.1177/1098300709359084

 Buffum, A. G., Mattos, M., & Weber, C. (2012). Simplifying response to intervention: Four essential guiding principles. Bloomington, IN: Solution Tree Press.

Filter, K., & Horner, R. (2009). Function-based academic interventions for problem behavior. Education and Treatment of Children, 32(1). Retrieved from http://http://ehis.ebscohost.com.ezp. waldenulibrary.org/ehost/detail?sid=14990fc5-f77d-43db-b47e-6ce64471eab3%40 sessionmgr114&vid=1&hid=105&bdata=JnNjb3BlPXNpdGU%3d#db= a9h&AN=36632573

                                                                                        

Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2012). Student behavior in a multi-tiered system of support. Baltimore, MD: Author.

The Impact of Leadership on Fostering Problem Solving

Conflict plays important roles in the problem-solving team process. Team members bring differences in background, expertise, views, habits, preferences, and personalities, therefore conflict is inevitable. Since it can be anticipated, effective planning can ensure that conflict adds to the productivity of the process. If left to chance, on the other hand, it can be destructive to the process. Leaders must make it a priority to teach team members the skills needed to resolve conflict among themselves (Townsley, n.d.). If originated from personality conflict differences, disagreements are more likely to prove destructive to the task performance. On the other hand, if originated from task conflict, disagreements could induce productivity through the development of innovative insight (De Dreu, 2001). School leaders will benefit the team problem-solving process by providing professional development to teach specific conflict management strategies and the use of positive debate strategies to reach desirable conclusions. Burns, Peters and Noell (2008), stated that providing performance feedback consistently to the problem-solving team will increase task fidelity in the problem-solving process.

Burns, M. K., Peters, R., & Noell, G. H. (2008). Using performance feedback to enhance implementation fidelity of the problem-solving team process. Journal of School Psychology, 46, 540. doi:10.1016/j.jsp.2008.04.001

De Dreu, C. (2006). When too little or too much hurts: Evidence for a curvilinear relationship between task conflict and innovation in teams. Journal of Management,32(1), 84. doi:10.1177/0149206305277795

Townsley, C. A. (n.d.). CSWT Reports-Townsley. Retrieved May 5, 2013, from http://gram.eng.uci.edu /~ghubbard/mae189/Townsley.html Townsley, C. A. (n.d.). CSWT Reports-Townsley. Retrieved May 5, 2013, from http://gram.eng.uci.edu/~ghubbard/mae189/Townsley.html