How we support you
The challenges in education are unlike any in recent history. Administrators are expected to have a bevy of skills, extensive knowledge in curriculum, cultivate culture within the school community as well as positively impact student growth.
The TLA leadership team is comprised of former and current superintendents, central office administrators, and building-based leaders representing urban, suburban, regional, and rural school settings who are focused on school improvement. The leadership team is uniquely positioned to collaboratively develop and offer customized support for schools and districts
How can Teaching and Learning Alliance help School Leaders?
We leverage support for administrators in partner districts through strategic professional learning models. Below are some recent examples of how we have supported our partner schools and districts:
Strategic Planning
We offer a unique process of assisting districts in developing and implementing a three to five year strategic plan that serves as the district’s road map for improvement. This three-phase process includes collecting and analyzing data the district uses to measure itself in order to inform phase two of the process. In phase two, a mission, vision, core values, strategic initiatives and objectives, and a theory of action are developed. In the final phase, discussion occurs around implementation of the plan and uses its contents to drive organizational change horizontally and vertically. Find a sample of our strategic plan work here .
Time Redesign
We create innovative approaches applied to structural supports for optimized and efficient student learning. In conjunction with the school, academic needs are determined and structures are created to support those needs.
Leading Improvement Communities
The Leading Improvement Community (LIC) provides the opportunities for groups of people representing a district, or groups of districts, to come together for collaborative learning around a specific, identified topic. Our LICs are tailored to district needs and the discussions and activities support the development of broader skills and knowledge to promote improvement in the teaching, learning, and leading.
Learning Walks
The use of learning walks can be a very effective tool in inspecting and improving the teaching, learning, and leading in a school or district setting. At TLA, we have defined a process to collaborate with districts in identifying expectations of what good teaching and learning looks like and sounds like in practice. Using the Leading Improvement Framework (Borstel, 2018), teams of educators inspect identified expectations in practice, provide specific feedback regarding identified trends and patterns , and engage in conversations around improvement.
Leadership Coaching
New and experienced school-based and district leaders benefit from the one on one coaching by our experienced team. In the initial meeting, an assessment is made to determine individual strengths, possible growth opportunities and specific needs of the individual. Coaches develop support sessions with high leverage focus areas that are strength-based opportunities utilizing proven frameworks and protocols to develop shared meaning and understanding.
Professional Learning Book Clubs
Books are selected to support initiatives and/or needs of the school/district. A series of group discussions and activities are custom developed from the selected educational topics to meet the goals established by the school/district.
Educational Workshops
Workshops closely match the structure of Book Clubs with school/district selected topics but may include larger groups for half and full day meetings. Workshops series can be designed based on the current and future needs of the school/district. Small groups extensively discuss and analyze topics developing a shared pool of understanding and common vocabulary.
Leadership Induction Programs
This program is done in collaboration with district staff to support new leaders, building and district level, in acclimating and navigating the first year as an instructional leader. Our coaching is done individually or in Leading Improvement Communities (LICs) focused on leadership development, school improvement, and academic achievement.
