SAIL for Education Programs: A Comprehensive Overview
The educational landscape is constantly evolving, and the COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the need for innovative approaches to leadership and instruction in schools. SAIL (School Administrators Institute for Transformational Leadership) programs offer a structured and collaborative framework for school districts to address these challenges and improve outcomes for all students. This article explores the various facets of SAIL, drawing upon testimonials from educators and administrators, and outlining the program's features and benefits.
Addressing Challenges in Education
The COVID-19 pandemic placed unprecedented stress on school districts, highlighting core challenges. SAIL addresses these challenges by providing a framework for collaborative leadership and long-term planning.
What is SAIL?
SAIL is a program designed to provide school districts with a focused direction, common language, and a framework that promotes teacher clarity around the vital few elements that most impact student results. It is a systematic way of thinking and problem-solving applicable to a variety of scenarios across a school or district.
Program Structure
SAIL is often structured as a two-year cohort program.
Core Components
The core components of SAIL include:
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- Professional Learning: Resources to strengthen practices as a team and focus on the adult learning needed to achieve a bold learning goal for students.
- Coaching: Support and guidance through the process, with coaches committed to the team's success.
- Accountability: A cycle process that keeps teams accountable and on track.
- Action Plans: Development and implementation of 100-day plans with steps to monitor progress.
Benefits of SAIL
Districts that have participated in SAIL have reported numerous benefits, including:
- District Coherence: SAIL builds district coherence and focuses inquiry on what is important.
- Focused Direction: SAIL provides a focused direction for school improvement work.
- Common Language: SAIL establishes a common language among staff.
- Framework for Clarity: SAIL provides a framework that promotes teacher clarity.
- Improved Communication: SAIL has made us reflect, has got us talking, and is resulting in impact.
- Collective Efficacy: SAIL is a starting point in messaging to faculty how serious the leadership team is about establishing collective efficacy.
- Data-Driven Decision Making: SAIL allows districts to re-focus continually on the data-driven areas of need.
- Transparency and Ownership: SAIL supports transparency and ownership of student learning data.
- Reflection and Change: SAIL fosters a willingness to reflect more deeply and change teaching practices.
- Unified Staff: SAIL unites staff toward a common goal.
Testimonials
- "Our administrative team's experience with SAIL has brought a focus and a clear direction to our district and its planning. The cycle process keeps teams accountable and on-track. The coaches provide tremendous support and guidance through the process and are truly committed to your team's success." - Dr.
- "AWSA's SAIL Academy has helped hold our MCPASD Leadership Team toes to the line… the professional learning and resources have helped us strengthen our practices as a team and focus on the adult learning needed to achieve a bold learning goal for students… We particularly appreciated SAIL’s Joe Schroeder and Tammy Gibbons for helping us chart our course and navigate toward greater outcomes for MCPASD students and staff members." - Dr.
- "Our district took advantage of the SAIL leadership institute, mainly to build district coherence and focus inquiry on what is important. The intentional coaching actions promote our teaching/leadership team efforts in being responsive and prepared to meet our district's needs and to build distributive leadership capacity. The institute is providing us step-by-step implementation guidance to be both learning and leading. It is by design, not happenstance, that progress is happening in our district." - Dr.
- "SAIL Academy participation has been instrumental in aligning our district and school teams in our most important work for student success. SAIL has made us reflect, has got us talking, and is resulting in impact. Bringing coherence to an entire system, large or small, is always a challenge. SAIL has given our district a focused direction, common language, and a framework that provides teacher clarity around the vital few that most impact student results."
- "The School Administrators Institute for Transformational Leadership (SAIL) has greatly benefitted the School District of Bloomer Administrative Team. Through the SAIL program our team has grown and learned together while developing focus around a few key goals. Participating in SAIL has been a starting point in messaging to our faculty how serious the leadership team is about establishing collective efficacy, having a focused direction, and taking action in our school. SAIL is a systematic way of thinking and problem solving that can be applied to a variety of scenarios across a school or district. Going through this process has forever changed the way I look at, and address, problems of practice."
- "The SAIL workshop has provided our leadership team with clarity of purpose and focused direction for our school. After living the first 100 days, I can really see the coherence of our action steps, which, as a principal, has guided the planning for our staff meetings and PLC days. SAIL allowed our school’s guiding coalition to identify and reaffirm the root cause factors preventing our students from learning and achieving the way we know they can. Through our SAIL work, we brought our school’s vision into focus for all staff to develop a truly shared understanding of what we need to do to reach all learners, how, and why. SAIL guided us through challenging, but necessary, conversations to plan for how we can build the instructional capacity of our staff and realize results based on intentional actions. During our first two action plans, we saw an increase in the percentage of students hitting their mid-year benchmarks for the first time in six years. SAIL has allowed us to re-focus continually on the data-driven areas of need in our district. Our SAIL planning days are transforming our school improvement work. It is supporting transparency and ownership of student learning data and we are beginning to see a willingness to reflect more deeply and change teaching practices. I definitely would recommend the SAIL Academy to all education leaders and including teacher leaders. SAIL has been the difference for me in talking about how we do things to actually being able to put into action what we are doing and why we are doing it and how we are going to get there together. SAIL has been the most unifying experience I have had as an administrator with teaching staff. With the many school initiatives and the fast paced change in education, the structure of SAIL has united our staff toward a common goal. Our coaching sessions during the school year have caused us to reflect and suggestions offered have improved our school improvement process. The SAIL Academy has provided our school leadership team the opportunity to reflect upon our current systems and the barriers that impact results we want. The tools provided allowed us to develop our next 100 day plan with the steps to monitor that plan directly embedded into the work. SAIL has been a great way for Waukesha to set up a framework and put systems into place. We have moved from problem identification to implementation of a 100-day plan that is lived and consistent throughout the district. The Theory of Action drives our work and articulates where we are going. The SAIL process has walked us through and given us the time to set up this framework and keep it consistent and moving forward. The result has been defined expectations and direction, which aligns our work."
Targeted Services and SAIL
SAIL also encompasses targeted services designed to provide additional learning opportunities to academically targeted students.
Sunrise SAIL
Sunrise SAIL is a before-school reading program designed to help students develop a love for reading, exploring stories, and learning new information.
SAIL After School Program
SAIL After School program is a targeted services program that runs from October 6 through April 30, Mondays through Thursdays, from 3:30 until 5:00 PM each day. The focus is on reading, math, and STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics).
SAIL (Social Acquisition of Interpersonal Language)
SAIL (Social Acquisition of Interpersonal Language) is an educational K-12 program serving students who require moderate to intensive instruction. It aims to provide all students, regardless of disability, an educational program in a supportive environment that meets the student's individual needs.
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Program Structure
Elementary, middle, and high school classrooms can accommodate eight students. They are led by a licensed intervention specialist and supported by qualified aides. Students receive instruction in the core academic areas with either a standard or a modified curriculum based on the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce Standards and Extended Standards.
Key Components
- Academic Instruction using Ohio's Academic Content Standards, including the Extended standards, as applicable.
- Opportunities for participation are available, including academic, extracurricular, reverse mainstream, and/or social skills groups.
- Highly trained staff utilize both Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) and TEACCH structures.
- Community and Vocational Development.
- Communication and Assistive Technology.
- Social and Behavioral Skill Development.
- Sensory Integration.
- Academic Development.
- Recreation and Leisure Skills.
- Related Services: Adaptive Physical Education, Occupational Therapy, Physical Therapy, Speech and Language Pathology, Nursing Services, Board Certified Behavior Analyst Services.
Staff Philosophy
The staff philosophy emphasizes a multi-methodological approach to education.
- All students should have access to the Ohio Academic Content Standards, including the Extended Standards.
- Curriculum materials should be modified to progress student learning.
- Skill development is imperative to student success: attention, imitation, communication and language, social relationships, symbolic play, imagination, self-regulation, and fine/gross motor.
- All behavior has a communicative purpose, and it is our responsibility to assess and strive to determine the communicative intent of each behavior.
- All students should be respected as intelligent individuals and be challenged to meet their fullest potential.
- Families need to be active partners in their child's education process.
- Vocational education is an important part of educational programming.
SAIL Membership and Community Engagement
SAIL also offers membership opportunities for individuals interested in lifelong learning and community engagement.
Benefits of Membership
Membership offers the joy of discovery, friendship, and enrichment through organized study groups, engaging discussions, and lively social events.
Ways to Get Involved
Individuals can get involved in the SAIL program by volunteering, teaching a course, or gifting a SAIL membership to a friend or family member.
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