LessonCast helps learning communities design professional development that targets specific needs and changes instructional practice. We support a continuum of professional learning that spans support for teachers new to the classroom, experienced teachers with expertise to share, and leaders guiding a community in improving instruction. The Common Core Conundrum – Why We Can Set the How or the What but not Both
2013-05-02 12:17:50
Once upon a time, I learned that in leading a school initiative I could specify the how or I could s...
Posts Tagged 'applying lean methodology to k12'
Applying Lean Methodology to K12 (Part V): What I’d do differently
This is my final segment for this particular series on applying lean startup principles to the process for improving learning in the K12 environment. My previous entries recount the journey of developing an MVP for education, determining what to build, measuring for impact, and learning how to move forward. I’ll conclude this series by sharing what I’d do differently knowing what I know now. If I could go back into time, I would have admitted up front that education is an experiment: – an act or operation for the purpose …
Applying Lean Methodology to K12 (Part IV): What We Learned
Recapping Part I – Developing an MVP: We identified our problem, crafted a hypothesis, and used lessoncasts as the communication vehicle to define the minimum viable practice. Part II – What to Build: We developed a two-week cycle to facilitate collaborative planning, reflection, iteration, and refinement. Part III – How to Measure Impact: We developed lookfors to observe during classroom instruction and created shared assessments to measure student learning over time. As the school year progressed, we continued to engage in this process of using a lessoncast to focus on a …
Applying Lean Methodology to K12 (Part III): How to Measure Impact
Here’s a quick recap of parts I and II… In applying lean methodology to guide the implementation of our reading strategies initiative, we defined our problem, crafted a hypothesis, and used lessoncasts as the communication vehicle to define the minimum viable practice (the essential elements required for effectively implementing the identified teaching practice). We developed a two-week cycle to facilitate collaborative planning, reflection, iteration, and refinement. Evaluating the impact of an educational tool, strategy or professional development initiative has always faced the steep challenge of tying adult efforts to student …
Applying Lean Methodology to K-12 (Part II): What to Build
Recapping Part I of our journey to apply lean methodology in a K-12 setting… We started by defining the problem to be solved: increasing reading comprehension despite a limited amount of instructional time devoted to literacy instruction. Then we crafted a hypothesis: if we identify key reading strategies and apply them across content areas, then we’ll increase the amount of time spent in authentic reading-to-learn experiences and improve the students’ ability to comprehend a range of texts. And we developed a minimum viable practice (MVP): getting clear on the essential elements for effectively implementing the …
Applying Lean Methodology to K-12 (Part I): Developing an MVP
Preface A week ago Thursday, June 28, the LessonCast team attended an edtech event hosted by New Schools Venture Fund and Imagine K12. Eric Ries shared his lean startup methodologies and how they relate to education startups. (Katrina compiled a great list of 10 takeaways in her blog.) Among the gathering of education companies, new and veteran, Eric Ries spoke interview-style with Jennifer Carolan to share his lean startup methodologies and discuss how they relate to education startups. The prevailing theme seemed to be that every sector (including education) thinks that …
A Principal for Failing Fast
Author:
Nicole Tucker-Smith
Categories: EditorBlog
In attempts to erase achievement gaps, transform instruction and invigorate learning communities, we school leaders craft improvement plans with targeted initiatives and specific objectives. But many are familiar with the military adage, “No plan survives contact with the enemy.” (Field Marshall Helmuth von Moltke) While we are not at war, schools face numerous challenges like limited time, money, and capacity; poverty-related issues; and – perhaps worst of all – satisfaction with the status quo. School improvement plans involve real students, real teachers, and real administrators. The most effective and simultaneously …
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