HOW LEADERS IMPACT
CLASSROOM TEACHING AND
LEARNING
Where to Show Up and What to Do
Jon Saphier
Research for Better Teaching, Inc.
Objective
 Leave with a plan for leading in a
new arena of influence on classroom
teaching
 or augmenting the way way you
already lead in an arena.
(Picking what will be the Big Rocks
for your school.)
What is the most significant variable in
increasing student achievement?
Teaching Expertise
What Teachers
Know, Believe
& Can Do
Increased
Student
Achievement
FIFTH GRADE MATH SCORES ON TENNESSEE STATEWIDE TEST
BASED ON TEACHER SEQUENCE IN GRADES 3, 4, 5
(Second Grade Scores Equalized)
Research by Sanders & Rivers (1996)
96
100
T
e
80
s P
t e
r
S c
c e 60
o n
r t
e i
s l
e 40
b
y
79
44
20
0
Students with 3 Least Effective
Teachers
Students with 3 Average
Effective Teachers
Students with 3 Most Effective
Teachers
CHANGES IN MATH SCORES ON TENNESSEE STATEWIDE TEST AMONG STUDENTS WITH
EQUALIZED SECOND GRADE SCORES BASED ON TEACHER SEQUENCE IN GRADES 3 ,4 ,5
Research by Sanders & Rivers ( 1 9 9 6 )
80
75
70
60
Percent ile
50
St udent s wit h 3 Most
Ef f ect ive Teachers in Grades
3 ,4 ,5
50
Dif f erence of 5 0
percent ile point s
St udent s wit h 3 Least
Ef f ect ive Teachers in Grades
3 ,4 ,5
40
30
25
20
10
0
Equalized Second Grade Scores
Fif t h Grade Scores
Poll
Mathematics, Grade 4
Use the diagram below to answer question 19.
3
19

4
5
How long is the truck?
A. 5 34 inches 27
B. 2 34 inches 39
C. 5 12 inches 27
D. 2 12 inches 6
6
7
8
Mather School student
responses to this
question.
Reporting Category for Item 19: Measurement (p.230)
Questions and Sequence of Steps For
Teams Doing Error Analysis
1. What might the student have been thinking to make
this error?
2. How can we find our which of these hypotheses is
right?
3. What different teaching strategies could we use to
“fix” or undo whatever lead to this error- and help the
student solidify his/her skills and concepts?
Questions and Sequence of Steps For
Teams Doing Error Analysis
4. How are each of us going to plan and manage tasks
and time during the instructional period so that we’ll
get 15 minutes to re-teach skills and concepts at least 3
times a week for those students who made errors?
5. How can the team help?
High Functioning
Results
Orientation
Teams
Accountability
for Norms
Legitimate
Decisions
Open, passionate
debate
Trust I can be vulnerable
Research for Better Teaching
The Five Dysfunctions of a
Team, 2002
Overcoming the Five
Dysfunctions of a Team, 2005
by Patrick Lencioni
Research for Better Teaching
LEADERSHIP TEAMS
The charter of your leadership team
(that is, its purpose, its mission, its
main reason for being) is to
improve the teaching and learning
in every classroom in the building.
It’s primary purpose is not
management.
Leadership Teams
The starting point is PD of the
Leadership Team itself to do
these things skillfully.
LEADERSHIP TEAMS
You are colleagues, under the
leadership of the principal, and you
form a common vision of what
good teaching and learning looks
like. You make a plan of action to
achieve that vision in increments,
and you implement that plan it
together.
This team, working under the leadership
of a clear and mission-driven principal,
is the necessary condition for large
scale improvement of teaching and
learning. You can’t do it alone.
Principals, as the instructional leaders
of the building, need multiple allies,
many teacher leaders, to improve
teaching and learning.
The leadership team should consist of
those who have maximum access and
influence over the teacher corps in the
building.
High Functioning Grade Level and
Subject Specific Teams:
How would you know if you had one?
A Professional Learning Community is teams of
teachers who teach the same content and have common
planning time together regularly. That’s only the start.
What they do and how they act together defines whether
they are really a PLC.
Here’s what they do:
Mathematics
Which list of numbers is in order from GREATEST to LEAST?
A) 0.08, 0.4, 0.29, 0.107
13.86%
B) 0.08, 0.107, 0.29, 0.4
22.89%
C) 0.4, 0.29, 0.107, 0.08
39.16%
D) 0.4, 0.08, 0.29, 0.107
24.10%
KEY CONCEPTS
• Areas of Performance
• Repertoire
• Matching
Overarching
Objectives
Curriculum
Design
CURRICULUM
PLANNING
Objectives
Assessment
Learning
Experiences
Personal
Relationship
Building
Class Climate
MOTIVATION
Expectations
Clarity
Space
Principles of
Learning
Time
Models of
Teaching
INSTRUCTIONAL
STRATEGIES
Routines
MANAGEMENT
Attention
Momentum
Discipline
FOUNDATION OF ESSENTIAL BELIEFS
So to summarize…
 A big idea of this day for me is……
 One thing I think I’ll try is…..
 A question I have is…..