An Interview with Rick Hassler

Those times when we crash and burn in our careers can be the most transformative for us, as leaders. Being a part of the one-to-one iPad project at LAUSD meant learning leadership lessons that would have a lasting impact on Hassler’s approach to change.

Hassler stresses the importance of knowing the culture of our organizations and having a relentless drive to enroll people in the transformation. Over communication is essential in any kind of new pursuits, especially ones that require paradigm changes in the way that technology implementations often do.

Tell us about your background.

I started my career as a history teacher. That part of my career lasted for seven years. Then, I moved up to be a teacher on special assignment, helping teachers integrate technology. My career took a turn and I moved out of education for a little bit and worked as a project manager in the private industry. Next, I went back to education and worked for the Los Angeles Unified School District, first as a specialist and then as a Coordinator of Implementation and Deployment.

Eventually, I was given the opportunity to work as the coordinator on a little-known project: the one-to-one iPad project. I was in charge of all of the logistics and operations when it came to the instructional side, and I was the liaison between the instruction and the information side of everything.

It was hard work.

My work days lasted for 16 hours, on average. The lessons learned from the experience, however, abound. This opportunity happened many years ago when people planned on buying iPads, putting them in teachers’ and students’ hands, and then waiting for the ‘magic’ to happen.

We really needed to consider modifying the teachers’ practices and the kind of change effort that would be required. Instead, our efforts were often misguided.

This season in my career was foundational to the leadership philosophy I carry with me today. I remember during my interview to be the Chief Technology Officer for the Baldwin Park Unified School District, I told them I could teach every lesson learned in terms of implementing technology into the curriculum and helping teachers change their practices because I had been part of that collective development process.

It was a huge growth process for each of us. 

Each district has to learn the lessons of how to influence change in complex systems. Now, I am the Chief Technology Officer of the Baldwin Park Unified School District. I manage the information technology (IT) side, the educational technology side, and the student information system side.

Basically, I manage everything to do with technology.

What were the biggest struggles you encountered in the LAUSD one-to-one iPad project?

It was a crash and burn on all sides.

One of the strengths of the iPads became a weakness for our intended use. The iPads were designed as personalized devices and our students were prepared to leverage that potential from the very beginning. The devices we purchased leveraged what are called Apple IDs, which at the time were tied to a specific person.

Students started putting their personal identifiers into the devices, instead of the Apple IDs assigned to them by the district. Those missteps included them entering their personal email addresses and even in some cases, their credit card information.

These practices made mobile device management unmanageable. Today’s Apple IDs being administered by districts are not personalized in this way, so it is a much smoother process.

From the instructional side, we also experienced challenges.

Our teachers needed more professional development. We had one coach for every four schools to support teachers. But, as we learned fast, that is not really enough. What we needed was a sustained professional support plan.

Sadly, because of the lack of coaches, professional support plan, and the speed with which we tried to roll-out, the devices sat in the back of the classrooms.

What instructional changes have you witnessed?

The shift I have seen is not in integrating technology; it is about changing teachers’ approaches. It can be incredibly difficult for teachers to adjust to a new way of approaching their role as a facilitator of learning, instead of a deliverer of content. Just the other day, a teacher accused me of trying to alter her pedagogy.

She stated emphatically, “You’re trying to make me change my teaching!”

I smiled, “Yes, that’s exactly it! This is much better than integrating technology.”

Technology is a waste of money and time if the teachers don’t systematically change their teaching practices to be more student-centered. Nowadays, we have structures, tools, and methodology to support the changes.

We have the Triple E model, SAMR (Substitution, Augmentation, Modification, and Redefinition), and the ISTE (International Society for Technology in Education) Standards. These all really help to support teachers in changing their methodology as well as equipping leadership teams to alter their mindsets.

Being in this role, do you suggest helping leaders transition to a different mindset before you even provide the technology?

I have created presentations for leaders in the past. I now realize that is not enough. You actually have to develop a curriculum, a whole curriculum, to support leaders in changing their own mindsets and on how to support their teachers throughout the process. It is essential that leaders understand the Triple E model, SAMR, ISTE, and project-based learning.

We have to help them not just understand the ‘why’ but ‘how’ to do it.

Leaders are busy.

The one thing I always reference from the iPad project with LAUSD is Project RED. One of the findings from Project RED is that the biggest success factor for any initiative is leadership.

The principal has to be involved and walk the walk, not simply delegate. A lot of times, principals will delegate professional development and instructional leadership to their assistant principals. What Project RED found is that principals have to be the instructional leader. They have to get up there, model it, walk the walk, and provide ongoing feedback on the project.

The biggest success variable is the actual school leadership. If the school leadership is on board and they are pushing it, we are all going to be more successful.

You cannot push an initiative from the district office. It simply doesn’t work. The district office is too disconnected from the school sites. As much as we can do at the district office, it is just not enough. The whole initiative falls apart in two or three years if it is not sustained at the school site level. It only works when it comes from the grassroots.

Another challenge is the mindset of senior staff. Sometimes, we hear from senior staff that we have spent too much on technology. We have to invest more in our teachers! A lot of times, the money is spent on professional development, supporting teachers and shifting mindsets. That aligns with everything else that we are doing in education.

As you get teachers and leaders onboard, how do you prepare them for changing their pedagogy?

We took inspiration from Tustin Unified School District’s plan and have now implemented it here at Baldwin Park. It is much more of a coaching model. Teachers go through a whole year of training. Each teacher is assigned a coach to help support them.

The teachers participate in eight professional development opportunities each year and have their classes covered. Each coach is assigned between three and five teachers to support.

This is what I call the formal, structured support system, but it is still not enough. What we are starting to do is integrate it with the professional learning community model.

How important is a mindset shift in getting everyone on board?

It is important to create a shared vision. There is an overall vision for the district and a vision for the school, as well as a collective goal. A collective goal is needed to get to the state that is desired. That all comes by  working collaboratively with the staff.

Everything must be quantifiable and measurable. That should be part of the plan. But, at the same time, as a leader, one must say, ‘This is where we’re going,’ and get everybody on board. The leader points to the direction and that is the way we all go.

Tell us how you approach change management.

The one thing that can be easily underestimated is change management methodology. I usually use the ADKAR model, which stands for Awareness, Desire, Knowledge, Ability, and Reinforcement. In the ADKAR model, start with teacher awareness – meaning, if we are on a burning platform, we have to show teachers that the platform is burning.

If we don’t change, bad things can happen.

Next, leaders have to manage teachers’ desire. Part of the change management plan is that teachers have to desire a change.

We can tell teachers to change, but if we don’t give them the desire, a “What’s in it for me?,” the reality is that they are not going to change.

Then, we provide the knowledge for the change, the ability to apply that knowledge, and finally, reinforce the change. That is the formalized change management plan. For example, in industry, banks might want to change a program that their tellers use. They will go through a whole change management program. They will hire expensive change managers to do the implementation plan for all of their branches across the country.

In schools, however, we are trying to change teacher practices but we don’t invest anything into it. We just say, “Go to a professional development event and God bless you.”

What else do you consider in implementing these kinds of changes?

As a leader, you have to know your staff. You have to know your culture. You have to go through that change management methodology. You must leverage the collective agreement that everybody is on board with. As a school leader, you have to bang the drum over and over and over again, never giving up. You have to be relentless.

Do you have any final thoughts for educational leaders seeking to have lasting impacts at their schools?

Work with your staff, get in front of them so you really understand deeply where they are coming from, and then design solutions using the design thinking methodology. Between vision, design thinking, and change management methodology, you are on your way to transformative change.