Scholarly Works, Agricultural, Leadership, and Community Education
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Browsing Scholarly Works, Agricultural, Leadership, and Community Education by Author "Anderson, James"
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- Coaching for Improvement: Developing the DoDEA Coaching ModelKaufman, Eric K.; Schuermann, Patrick J.; Cannon, Mark; Coartney, Jama S.; Mitra, Shreya; Anderson, James (2019-07-09)The International Coach Federation defines coaching as “partnering with clients in a thought provoking and creative process that inspires them to maximize their personal and professional potential.” While the concept of coaching is nothing new, it is gaining ground in new settings, including educational leadership. As a practical illustration, we highlight the transformative approach of Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA) towards restructuring its worldwide school system. DoDEA’s approach included formation of Centers for Instructional Leadership, and the work of those centers depends upon effective coaching. This paper describes the professional learning that contributed to emergence of the DoDEA Coaching Model.
- Comprehensive Evaluation of DoDEA's Centers for Instructional Leadership: Final ReportKaufman, Eric K.; Coartney, Jama S.; Archibald, Thomas G.; Cash, Carol; Anderson, James; Sen, Anuradha (2020-02-28)Since 2016, Virginia Tech has been partnering with DoDEA to support the Centers for Instructional Leadership (CILs) through professional learning delivery and evaluation. While activities of the cooperative agreement have been highlighted in prior reports, this report represents the final deliverable for the comprehensive evaluation of the CILs. The primary goals of this report include: 1. Inform decision-makers of the current state and stage of the program initiative, based on the desired long-term outcomes. 2. Evaluate the extent to which progress is being made on the intermediate goals of building instructional leadership capacity. 3. Based on the identified progress, provide recommendations and suggestions to continuously improve the program design to help attain the desired outcomes. This third and final phase of the comprehensive evaluation involved investigation of multiple sources of data, including 20 focus groups, 10 key informant interviews, and analysis of a wide array of documents. The report findings are structured around the following evaluations questions: ● To what extent do instructional leaders identify the CIL as a key resource for their growth and advancement as leaders? ● How is instructional leadership shifting as a result of CIL facilitation and support of system priorities? ● In what ways have the CILs facilitated learning networks that instructional leaders value? ● In what ways do the CILs share and scale innovative best practices through situationally-appropriate improvement strategies? ● Based on DoDEA’s definition and framework of ‘Instructional Leadership,” are the CILs truly serving as Centers for Instructional Leadership? The interviews and focus group sessions were an invaluable opportunity to advance our understanding of the CILs’ work, particularly among the four CIL functions: (1) Leadership Development and Support, (2) Development for Systemic Priorities, (3) Learning Networks, and (4) Innovative Best Practices. Although the CILs were formed before DoDEA’s Blueprint for Continuous Improvement, instructional leaders are recognizing the integral relationship between the work of the CIL and DoDEA’s priorities at large. The progress extends beyond isolated success stories. From a big picture standpoint, it is helpful to consider where DoDEA would be without the CILs: “Before the CIL existed, if we think about that, everything either came from Headquarters or through ISSs…. Now, there’s a regional, as well as district, and complex support; and we’re bringing not only the systemic priorities, but we’re modeling them.... I wonder if just the CIL itself—and that whole Theory of Action—brings innovation and life to the agency itself.” (focus group participant) Do the CIL efforts for improved instructional leadership result in improved student achievement? This question for long-term evaluation remains as important as ever, yet the influencing variables are constantly changing. Accordingly, a snapshot in time is never sufficient. While the work of the CILs is functionally removed from the classroom, the CIL Theory of Action presents a conceptual roadmap for the intended impact. In order for the CILs to maintain a viable role within DoDEA, they must demonstrate regular progress toward strategic initiatives outlined in DoDEA’s Blueprint for Continuous Improvement. This report concludes with recommendations aligned to the interconnected phases of AdvancED’s Continuous Improvement System: Learn and Share, Examine and Plan, and Act and Evaluate.
- DoDEA CIL Instructional Leadership ToolkitKaufman, Eric K.; Sen, Anuradha; Coartney, Jama S.; Anderson, James (2020-07-22)These are PDF portfolios of resources provided to the Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA) for use by the Centers for Instructional Leadership (CILs) in their efforts to initiate and launch improvement cycles. The dynamic toolkit is designed to help regions, districts, and schools establish, grow, and maintain a culture of inquiry and data use that can inform decisions that will have a positive impact on teaching and learning in a region, district and school. The Toolkit is organized into four major sections. Section 1 of the Toolkit deals with concepts about change and its management to achieve desired outcomes. Section 2 borrows from adult learning theory and focuses on developing the capacity of yourself and others to work effectively in focused collaborations/professional learning communities. Section 3 provides models and skill aids for leading professional learning around facilitative leadership; coaching for learning; and assessing needs, action planning, and performance monitoring for change in practice. Section 4 focuses on data-driven decision making and will deepen your understanding of how a variety of data sources can be used to improve, increase and enhance teaching and learning in the region, district, school and classroom. Each section of this Toolkit has multiple professional learning opportunities designed to build new knowledge or reinforce existing knowledge. The Toolkit can be used by an interested individual, in teams, or school/region wide. Professional learning opportunities may include video clips to view and respond to, articles to read and respond to, case study to analyze, tools to try, templates to complete, checklists, infographics and more.
- Planning Change: A Case Study on Cooperative Extension's Contribution to Creating a Culture of Continuous Improvement in Educational ProgramsAnderson, James; Kaufman, Eric K.; Ripley, Dana; Cash, Carol S.; Guy, Timothy M.; Coartney, Jama S.; Mitra, Shreya (Association for International Agricultural and Extension Education, 2019-04-02)Introduction Over the decades, the US Federal Government has invested billions of dollars, intellectual resources, and human capital to assist partners both domestically and internationally with addressing challenges related to global development and human welfare. This support has reached across many sectors, including agricultural and food security, human rights and governance, health, water and sanitation, and education (USAID, 2018). Accordingly, federal agencies have sought efficient models for accomplishing the work in light of an increasing world population relying on finite resources. To this end, this case study presents a framework employed by a team of Extension and Education Specialists to work with the US Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA) instructional leaders to develop a process for continuous improvement within their schools. The goal of this effort is to equip educators with the knowledge and skills needed to effectively prepare students to enter the supply pipeline as skilled workers through a college and career readiness curriculum in the DoDEA schools, which are in 9 states and US territories as well as 11 countries in Europe and Asia. The improvement planning framework emerged by drawing from a variety of leadership theories and practices that focus on change and improvement (Dufour, Dufour, Eaker, & Many, 2006; Forman, Stosich, & Bocala, 2017; Kirkpatrick & Kirkpatrick, 2016; Park, Hironaka, Carver, and Nordstrum, 2013). The themes for the continuous improvement framework are: 1) a focus on purpose; 2) a recognition of change as a continuous and complex process; 3) utilizing data-based practices, structures, and systems; 4) capitalizing on relationships and professional collaboration; and 5) building capacity. Project Methods Guided by the five points of the continuous improvement framework, the project team, in close collaboration with DoDEA leadership, developed face-to-face and virtual professional learning activities and offered them over the course of a two-year period to instructional leaders that made up the three regional (i.e., Americas, Europe, and Pacific) Centers for Instructional Leadership (CILs), a newly developed instructional support structure for DoDEA school administrators. These activities included job-embedded learning, research-grounded implementation, follow-up support, and supplemental job-aids related to developing professional learning communities and implementing transformative coaching in order to create a culture of continuous improvement in schools. After implementation of the professional learning for CIL personnel, key procedural documents, meeting notes, personal communications between the project team and DoDEA, and focus group transcripts were analyzed to evaluate the fidelity of implementation of the continuous improvement framework. Project Outcomes According to the documents analyzed, purpose is the driving force of the organization; it is the overarching goal that informs improvement initiatives. DoDEA developed and used Community Strategic Plans (CSPs) to coordinate and communicate their overarching purpose and initiatives towards that purpose throughout the organization. Additionally, the current CSP focuses on change as a continuous and complex process by highlighting the progress being made and explicit next steps in the change process, specifically related to changes to the organization’s Vision and Core Values. In order to assist with this systemic process of change, the CILs have received professional learning on focused collaboration and transformative coaching, which they have begun to roll out data-driven practices, structure and systems that support continuous improvement globally based on the organization’s stated priorities, stakeholder needs, and assessment data. Additionally, the CILs help to create consistency with the implementation of strategic initiatives that build capacity of instructional leaders throughout the three regions by capitalizing on relationships and professional collaboration both internal and external to DoDEA. Implications While continuous improvement is not new to education or international development initiatives, implementing it with fidelity in various contexts remains difficult (Park et al., 2013). The 5-point framework presented in this case study is based on current literature in the field of leadership development and education and provides the necessary components that Extension Specialists can implement when planning and facilitating continuous improvement in international education and training programs. DoDEA serves as an adequate case to explore this framework because it operates schools worldwide and as a result of being exempted from the educational mandates of US public schools, has removed levels of regulation that often impact change and improvement efforts in those schools. To this end, we believe that the framework is readily transferable to a variety of different contexts making it a feasible innovative model for Extension Specialists to use in international settings to create a culture of continuous improvement. References Dufour, R. DuFour, R., Eaker, R. & Many, T. (2006). Learning by doing: A handbook for professional learning communities at work. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press. Forman, M., Stosich, E.L., & Bocala, C. (2017). The internal coherence framework: Creating the conditions for continuous improvement in schools. Cambridge. MA: Harvard Education Publishing Group. Park, S., Hironaka, S., Carver, P. & Nordstrum, L. (2013). Continuous Improvement in Education. Stanford, CA: Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. Kirkpatrick, J. D., & Kirkpatrick, W. K. (2016). Kirkpatrick's four levels of training evaluation. Alexandria, VA: Association for Talent Development. USAID. (2018). US Agency for International Development: What we do [Website]. Retrieved at https://www.usaid.gov/what-we-do
- Studying Leadership as Praxis: Experience With a Worldwide Education SystemKaufman, Eric K.; Coartney, Jama S.; Anderson, James; Mitra, Shreya; Sen, Anuradha (International Leadership Association, 2020-11)Leadership scholars have called for public leadership research to go beyond the traditional case study method, yet there is limited guidance on how to enact such research. This session will highlight praxis-oriented leadership research, through the lens of Raelin’s (2019) leadership-as-practice (L-A-P) framework. We will draw upon insights from a multi-year cooperative agreement with the Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA), as they worked to restructure and enhance the organization’s leadership. Reflection upon the experience yields a more clear vision for public leadership research that embodies mutual learning, deep understanding, and collaborative action—for the betterment of all involved.
- A Transformative Approach to Collaborative Change in an Educational OrganizationKaufman, Eric K.; Anderson, James; Coartney, Jama S.; Mitra, Shreya; Ripley, Dana (2019-10-26)Educational organizations can effectively apply a variety of strategies for leading and accelerating desired change. As a practical illustration, we highlight the transformative approach of United States’ Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA) towards restructuring its worldwide school system. DoDEA’s approach included formation of Centers for Instructional Leadership, and the process appropriately reflects many of Kotter’s accelerators for leading change.
- Using the Engelbart Organizational Learning Schema to Frame Professional Learning for College EducatorsAnderson, James; Kaufman, Eric K.; Cash, Carol S.; Coartney, Jama S.; Mitra, Shreya (North American Colleges and Teachers of Agriculture, 2019-06-19)In an ever-changing higher education climate, the need for improving instruction has never been as compelling or as challenging as it is today. The new trend of cross-institutional and globalized education continues to define higher education and impact the way quality teaching is conceptualized, facilitated, and evaluated. Previous studies have identified a significant gap in literature on the impact of the outcomes of instructional development at the meso level. The meso level focuses on such things as the relationship between professional learning and institutional culture, institutional and department practices, and teaching teams. Keeping this in mind, this case study of the professional learning unit for the Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA) presents how the Engelbart Organizational Learning Schema was used to frame three types of professional learning events for educators in order to facilitate a culture of continuous improvement in instruction. Level-A is individual learning, Level-B is learning within a unit, and Level-C is learning across units within an organization. Analysis of 16 focus group sessions with educators who participated in the aforementioned professional learning yielded the following outcomes: 1) there was an increase in commitment to the work of improving instruction; 2) a structure for instructional coaching and support was established; and 3) everyone involved in the professional learning aligned their instructional practices with the academic goals of the institution. Accordingly, this schema provides a feasible structure for colleges seeking to incorporate instructional professional learning into their academic culture.