The TIL Approach
Texas Instructional Leadership is a program through which we provide training and support to campus and district leaders on their ability to build the capacity of educators that they manage. It consists of a suite of trainings intended to foster continuous improvement by helping campus and district administrators grow concrete instructional leadership skills in the areas of observation and feedback, schoolwide culture routines, and data driven instruction.
TIL trainings are aligned with many of the best practices described in the Effective Schools Framework, and ESCs that offer TIL trainings are among the approved vendors for schools seeking a technical assistance provider or capacity builder to support in the execution of a campus improvement plan.
Components of a TIL Training
Face-to-Face Professional Development
Education Service Centers across the state of Texas will be offering Observation & Feedback, Data Driven Instruction, Schoolwide Culture Routine, Lesson Alignment, and Formative Assessment trainings for campuses and districts looking to increase student achievement overall, and close gaps between student sub-groups. As with many other trainings offered at ESCs, Texas Instructional Leadership trainings have a face to face professional development component. Campuses and districts that choose to participate in a training will be part of a cohort of campuses that will meet together learn instructional leadership best practices, and have an opportunity to practice their new skills together in a low stakes environment.
Observation and Feedback
Observation/Feedback is intended to provide campus and district leaders opportunities to develop proficiency in establishing and coaching toward effective instructional practices in every classroom. Toward that end, it blends the practices and principles in Paul Bambrick-Santoyo’s Get Better Faster: A 90-Day Plan for Coaching New Teachers with the T-TESS appraisal framework.
It introduces a paradigm shift in the way we view teacher observation, and suggests that the primary purpose of observation and feedback is not to evaluate a teacher but to develop them. In Observation/Feedback, you grow educators by letting them See It, Name It, and Do It – see a model of success, name the bite-sized, yet highest leverage steps that led to growth, and practice doing those steps to develop skill.
Data-Driven Instruction
Data Driven Instruction is a highly effective, research-based training that guides teachers and administrators to spend less time teaching their students what they already know and more time on what their students need.
Data driven instruction is a highly effective, research-based training that guides teachers and administrators to spend less time teaching their students what they already know and more time on what their students need. It also answers the questions, “How do I know if my students are learning? And if they aren’t, what do I do? Based on the protocol developed by Paul Bambrick-Santoyo and described in his books Driven by Data 2.0 and Leverage Leadership 2.0, TIL DDI advocates for a deeper analysis of student work.
Schoolwide Culture Routines
Culture is not formed by motivational speeches or statements of values. It is formed by the repeated practice of good habits.
Schoolwide culture is not formed by motivational speeches or statements of values on the wall. It is formed by the repeated practice of good habits, beginning with a vision of what a positive, inclusive culture looks like minute-by-minute. Leaders of schools with strong student culture don’t achieve it through sheer force of personality. They develop a vision for each part of the school day, and then bring their vision to life by building systems that enable teachers, students, and anyone else on their campus to know what they should be doing and when at all parts of the day with a high level of detail. They lead with their consistency and by modeling for staff how to maintain emotional constancy and reset expectations when procedures break down.
Lesson Alignment
Lesson Alignment is a training designed to support campus and district leaders as they lead teachers to practice high leverage instructional planning strategies. Leaders are trained to guide teachers in planning for and assessing student learning by answering the questions: What are students supposed to be learning and how do I know they are learning it? The training is rooted in the practices and principles of Paul Bambrick-Santoyo’s Leverage Leadership 2.0: A Practical Guide to Building Exceptional Schools as well as the work of Dylan Wiliam’s Formative Assessment, John Hattie’s Visible Learning for Teachers, and Mike Schmoker’s Focus.
Formative Assessment
Formative Assessment builds off of the work of Lesson Alignment and is designed to support campus and district leaders as they lead teachers to practice high leverage instructional monitoring strategies. Leaders are trained to guide teachers in assessing student learning by answering the questions: What are students supposed to be learning and how do I know they are learning it? The training is rooted in the practices and principles of Paul Bambrick-Santoyo’s Leverage Leadership 2.0: A Practical Guide to Building Exceptional Schools as well as the work of Dylan Wiliam’s Formative Assessment, John Hattie’s Visible Learning for Teachers, and Mike Schmoker’s Focus.
Implementation Support
Unlike many of the other trainings offered by ESCs, Texas Instructional Leadership trainings also include two additional training components beyond the face to face professional development. The first of those components is implementation support. Following face to face professional development, trainers will observe participants attempting to implement their new skills on their campuses or in their districts either virtually or in person, and provide additional tailored support to ensure the skills are applied successfully.
One-on-One Coaching
Following implementation support visits, trainers will coach district administrators on how to best guide principals toward successfully integrating the instructional leadership best practices on their campuses, as well as provide one on one support to shape district practices and policies to make the work more sustainable.
Evidence of Impact
“We piloted these practices in select districts across the state, and saw an incredibly positive impact on student achievement, particularly for campuses whose leaders trained with Relay Graduate School of Education or Teaching Trust, both of whom adhere closely to the practices on which TIL trainings are based.”
