SIS: A New Profession
The School Improvement Specialist is a relatively new role
in K-12 education which has evolved from the advent of education
accountability. The role is performed by professionals assigned by state
education agencies to assist schools in improving educator and student
performance; regional education agencies which provide support to school
districts and schools; school district leaders and staff assigned to support
school improvement, and school leaders, including Academic Coaches and other
teacher leaders.
What is a
“Profession”?
A role is recognized as a profession when the following have
developed, typically through a professional association or other entity that:
·
Maintains Standards of Practice.
·
Maintains a Code of Ethics.
·
Provides continuing education.
·
Provides professional certifications and
designations
·
Provides a membership in a professional
home/association that supports and advances the role.
·
Speaks with a unified voice for the role.
Does the SIS
Profession Meet Those Requirements?
Standards of Practice
The School Improvement Specialist role has standards of
practice, the CertifiedSchool Improvement Specialist™ Standards developed by
Dr. Judith Hale, Senior Consultant and co-founder of the Institute for
Performance Improvement in 2010.
The CSIS™ standards are:
- Analyze and Apply Critical Judgement
- Facilitate Deriving Meaning and Engagement
- Focus on Systemic Factors
- Plan and Record
- Organize and Manage Effort and Resources
- Guide and Focus Collaborative Improvement
- Build Capacity
- Demonstrate Organizational Sensitivity
- Monitor Accountability and Adoption
- Implement for Sustainability
The School Improvement Specialist Code of Ethics is part of
the Certified School Improvement Specialist™ Application process.
Applicants attest to adherence to the code of ethics in their performance and
demonstration of their proficiency in the CSIS™ standards.
Provides Continuing
Education
The Institute for Performance Improvement provides
continuing education for school improvement practitioners.
The LAUNCH!™ Learning and Development Experience is designed for state,
local and regional education agency staff, school leaders, academic coaches and
other teacher leaders. Aligned to the the Certified School Improvement
Specialist™
standards, the course helps participants to apply the standards in practice to
their day-to-day school improvement facilitation efforts. Participants practice
with coaching and social learning, and provide evidence in proficiency of
facilitation of a systemic, collaborative school improvement process that gets
results and is sustainable. The program is rigorous, job-embedded and
evidence-based. Successful program completers earn a verifiable digital badge.
The Institute offers a wide range of development programs to
support school improvement facilitators. Visit TIFPIEdu.org/school-improvement-training/.
National Cohort
To apply to join a national cohort complete the LAUNCH!™ School Improvement FacilitationLearning and Development Program Application or contact Deb Page at Deb@TIFPI.org. The next national cohort will be offered via
blended learning in the Spring of 2019 in the Atlanta, Georgia area and
online.
Regional and Local
Cohorts
To arrange a cohort in your school district, region or through
a professional association, contact Deb Page at Deb@TIFPI.org.
Certifications and
Designations
The Institute provides a fully evidence-based Certified School Improvement Specialist™ Certification.
Applicants document their school improvement facilitation efforts and results.
The process requires three to five years of experience guiding school improvement.
Applications require triangulated data to show the
correlation of school improvement efforts, changes in performance, and student
achievement. Attestation is required by a supervisor, lients or others who can verify
the accuracy of the application.
The application is processed via a double-blind review
process. Successful applicants are awarded a verifiable digital badge, good for
three years.
For more information contact Certification National
Director, Dr. Jean Quigg at Jean@TIFPI.org.
Membership in a
Professional Home/Association
The Institute partners with the International Society for
Performance Improvement (www.ISPI)
to provide the SIS Network within ISPI to link school improvement practitioners
in learning and networking. ISPI membership provides SIS Network members access
to proven practices, tools and experts in performance improvement; national and
regional conferences, research, periodicals and other resources to support
their practices.
Thanks For Reading!
Deb Page
President/CEO The Institute for Performance Improvement
deb@tifipi.org
Deb Page
President/CEO The Institute for Performance Improvement
deb@tifipi.org