Summer Institute Speaker Terry Mazany

Terry Mazany is President and CEO of one of the nation’s largest community foundations
with assets of more than $1.5 billion and grant making exceeding $100 million that annually
benefits more than two thousand not-for-profit organizations in metropolitan Chicago.

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Guiding Principles

• Student achievement and well-being serves as the foundation and purpose of our work.
• The path to increase student achievement lies in building both individual and organizational capacity to continually improve.
• Adult and student learning are enhanced through example and modeling in an environment of trust.
• Quality staff development involves a comprehensive and sustained effort.
• Professional growth opportunities must reflect the individual needs of the learner

CDAS

As schools and districts become increasingly accountable for raising student achievement, the need for high quality classroom diagnostic tools has become imperative. National and state testing results shared with classroom teachers on a yearly basis are insufficient for making strategic instructional decisions on a day to day basis. While many districts and schools have moved to “benchmark” or “interim” assessments, given on a more frequent basis (quarterly, semester, or 6-8 week intervals), the cumulative nature of such tests are wholly inadequate for measuring student mastery of individual content standards, and fail to provide student achievement data in a timely manner.

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In order to successfully meet the demands of a changing educational environment, schools and districts must be prepared with the knowledge, skills and expertise to effectively adapt and transform their organizations.  As educational institutions, schools can no longer afford to ignore the challenge of preparing every student to be a successful participant in their own future.

The Focus on Learning program provides schools with an opportunity to acquire the tools and strategies of an adaptive organization, the resources to facilitate needed changes and the capacity to lead their institution into the 21st century.  Life Long Learning & Associates believes that by focusing on the teaching and learning process, schools and districts will become the highly effective institutions our communities have come to expect.

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• The role of the collegial coach in supporting reflection and professional growth at the school site
• The basics of the reflective process
• Developing and maintaining trust among professionals
• Questioning strategies to stimulate reflecting thinking and analysis
• Non-verbal communication in the reflection process
• The process of cognitive coaching vs. clinical supervision as a vehicle for improving teaching
• Taxonomies to assess growth in reflectivity

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