Michael Canic, PhD

President & Chief Flagbearer, Making Strategy Happen

Meredith I. Honig, PhD

Professor, Education Policy, Organizations & Leadership; and 

Director, District Leadership Design Lab (DL2); University of Washington

Shane Safir

Founder and Principal at Listening & Leading for Equity; and 

Founder, Safir & Associates (Street Data)

Dr. Kevin Godden

Superintendent of Schools, Abbotsford School District, British Columbia

Dr. Ruth Gotian, Ed.D., M.S.

Chief Learning Officer, Weill Cornell Medicine, Author of The Success Factor: Developing The Mindset and Skillset For Peak Business Performance

Dr. Gregory C. Hutchings, Jr.

Founder and CEO of Revolutionary ED, LLC.

Kevin Lamoureux, BA, MEd, PhD Candidate

University of Winnipeg

High Performance Leadership Schedule

All LIVE webinars and networks will be hosted at 11:00am EST.

SESSION #1

Session Description:

When all is said and done, a lot more gets said than done. Yes, of course all of us want education to be more equitable, but do we know how to create an environment that promotes, supports, and reinforces more equitable education?

In this fast-paced session, we will cover:

• Why most strategic initiatives fail
• The common element of those that succeed
• A model for creating an environment that is aligned with your equity objectives
• Examples, tools, and practices to help you create that environment

To assist you in personalizing the content, we will also conduct exercises so you can better understand why previous strategic initiatives you were involved with succeeded or failed.

Good intentions are not enough. Creating the right environment can play a major role in helping you meet your equity objectives.

Session Description:

Realizing equitable teaching and learning across school systems takes dedicated support that district central offices (in the U.S.) and School Boards (in Canadian Provinces), historically have not provided. Research by Meredith Honig and the District Leadership Design Lab (DL2) at the University of Washington shows that doing better requires central office transformation—deep shifts in long standing ways of working in central systems to support equitable teaching and learning as their core mission. Why is central office transformation essential to realizing equitable teaching and learning in schools?  How do common central system reforms fall short of transformation? In this session we will explore DL2’s research on those questions and on what transformation involved in the case of one key central system function: principal supervision. Findings emphasize the importance of principal supervisors shifting their long-standing roles as evaluators, compliance monitors, and operational supports to dedicating their time to helping principals grow as instructional leaders from a teaching-and-learning stance.

SESSION #3

Shane Safir, Founder and Principal at Listening & Leading for Equity; and Founder, Safir & Associates (Street Data)

Topic: Street Data: A Next-Generation Model for Equity, Pedagogy, and School Transformation

Live Webinar Date: November 22, 2022

Network Date: November 29, 2022

Co-presenter: Dr. Kevin Godden, Superintendent of Schools, Abbotsford School District, British Columbia

Session Description:

Street data is the qualitative and experiential data that emerges at eye level and on lower frequencies when we train our brains to discern it. Street data is asset based, building on culturally responsive education by focusing on what’s right in our students, schools, and communities instead of seeking out what’s wrong. Street data embodies an ethos and a change methodology that will transform how we analyze, diagnose, and assess everything from student learning to district improvement to policy. Join us for this dynamic webinar as author Shane Safir introduces this transformational model, which will help you shift your focus from satellite-level data (test scores and other metrics) to real-time, on-the-ground stories, experiences, and artifacts.

Session Description:

This session, a follow-up to session #2 of this program, begins with a brief review of the key ideas about central office transformation that grounded the first session. Those ideas emphasize that realizing equitable teaching and learning in schools requires U.S. school districts and Canadian school boards to shed many long-standing ways of working that have historically marginalized students of colour and those affected by poverty and transform their central systems in particular ways. This session then explores DL2’s research on one central system function—Human Resources (HR)—with a focus on how central systems recruit, select, place, and retain teachers.  Findings emphasize the importance of HR significantly cutting red-tape and redirecting time and other resources to helping school principals staff teacher teams in ways that foster teacher learning, success, and retention, especially for teachers of colour.

Session Description:

This session will provide a unique model superintendents, principals, school board members and other educators can use to reimagine educational equity, actively dismantle institutional racism, and implement strategic, methodical policies that benefit the entire school community including:

• A detailed case study of antiracist educational transformation
• What it really means to commit to racial equity
• Guidance for dismantling de facto segregation
• Positive, equitable alternatives to typical disciplinary practices
• Six steps to building an antiracist school system

Racism isn’t always intentional. Antiracism, on the other hand, must be. Now antiracist education leaders can put their intentions into action—and grant the promise of an equitable and culturally rich education to all students.

Session Description:

Nobody wakes up in the morning aiming to be average. Many people want to be successful but don’t know how to approach this path. They have the potential but need a plan. Based on research and in-person interviews with astronauts, Nobel laureates, CEOs, and Olympic champions, this presentation outlines the methodological approach that individuals aspiring to improve their performance can adopt to achieve success.

High achievers share the same four attributes (intrinsic motivation, perseverance, strong foundation, constantly learning through informal means). The key to their success is that they do all four of these things in tandem. 

Based on the book The Success Factor and using these four shared attributes as a guide, this workshop helps you reach peak performance by applying the lessons of high achievers in your own life: identify your passion using a Passion Audit; learn how and where to find a mentor and how to build a mentoring team; develop your own community of practice; pursue your interests through informal learning; and manage your time and energy.

SESSION #7

Kevin Lamoureux, BA, MEd, PhD Candidate, University of Winnipeg

Topic: Ensouling our Schools

Live Webinar Date: February 22, 2023

Network Date: March 1, 2023

Session Description:

In an education in which standards and accountability are the norm, schools can become places of stress, marginalization, and isolation instead of learning communities that nurture a sense of meaning and purpose.

During the Ensouling Our Schools session, presenter Kevin Lamoureux will weave together methods of creating schools that engender mental, spiritual, and emotional health while developing intellectual thought and critical analysis.

Kevin contributes his expertise regarding Indigenous approaches to mental and spiritual health that benefits all students and addresses the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada’s (TRC), Calls to Action.

SESSION #8

Michael Canic, PhD – President & Chief Flagbearer, Making Strategy Happen

Topic: Ruthless Consistency: Embodying the Right Commitment

Live Webinar Date: March 8, 2023

Network Date: March 22, 2023

Co-presenter: Catherine McCullough, CMC Leadership

Session Description:

All LIVE webinars and networks will be hosted at 11:00am EST.

All speakers, topics, dates and times are subject to change.

Our Approach

Our comprehensive learning approach includes three major components for the 2022-2023 program.

1. Speaker Series

Watch eight LIVE webinars with reputable keynote speakers and engage with them directly. Or review recordings (video or audio) at your convenience. Executive summaries, presentations and additional resources will all be available on the online learning platform.

2. Network

Following each webinar, there will be an opportunity to participate in follow-up small group networking session that will continue to build on the learning’s by examining evidence-based research and exploring approaches provided by national education leadership experts. Networks will be led by a skilled facilitator, using a problem-based learning approach to more deeply implement the learnings and optimize “skills transfer”.

3. Executive Coaching – Optional

(Additional fee, contract required)

Executive Coaching will be offered as a way for interested participants to more fully develop their leadership capacity. A roster of certified executive coaches with senior-level education experience are available and coaches will support participants with leadership development, goal setting and execution. Individual assessment tools are also available. These tools enable deeper self-awareness, encouraging participants to reflect on their learning journey throughout the program. Examples include: EQi2.0 Leadership Assessment, EQi 360, Change Style Inventory, and Influence Style Indicator.

Click here and register now!

Topics Based On The Seven Evidence-Based Priorities for Leaders in Education

The topics selected for the 2022-2023 program are based on the seven evidence-based priorities for leaders in education outlined below.

Ways To Engage In The Learning

• Watch each webinar LIVE and dialogue with each keynote speaker
• View all webinar recordings or listen to the audio on your own schedule
• Connect with professional colleagues across Canada and globally
• Access FREE resources, presentations, reflective questions, and worksheets

Strategic Equity-Focused Leadership

• Understand the equity leader’s role in Strategic Plan management
• Optimize district processes and service delivery approaches
• Lead change

Leadership Approaches You Will Learn

• Apply new frameworks of thinking to persistent organizational challenges
• Receive objective advice and input from other leaders facing similar issues
• Learn evidenced-based strategies to optimize your approach
• Deliver tangible value for your organization

Leading Individuals & Teams

• Develop your school leaders with a focus on equity
• Build exceptional teams
• Engage with your community

Interpersonal Leadership

• Deepen your understanding of culturally responsive practices
• Learn more about trauma, and student and staff well-being practices
• Lead through support, leverage influence and develop shared learning