“Response Fear” is a sometimes irrational skepticism of survey respondents who fear their loss of confidentiality. We can all imagine a scenario in which a feared boss uses survey data to explore the hearts and minds of his or her team. When conducting surveys with teachers and staff, it is important not to marginalize this fear as it is, in some organizations, a well placed fear. However, it is also one of the biggest factors (along with apathy) that hamper response rates of staff surveys.
We at the National Center for School Leadership are in the midst of our fall research study on School Climate and Culture. We conduct studies of this sort each school year with public school districts throughout the country. An employee survey is typically a significant component of our data gathering. Despite our years of experience in this, I am unfailingly surprised at one piece of input I receive consistently: teachers are, in some cases, very fearful that survey responses lacking confidentiality.
Our experience in conducting surveys with teachers is deep. Given that virtually all school districts who conduct surveys will deal with the distrust of teachers and employees to some extent, we put together the following list as a guide for schools and school districts to follow when soliciting input from teachers and employees.
1. Clearly Explain the Purpose of the Survey. When you ask for time from every teacher and every employee in your districts to take a survey, be sure to take the time to fully explain what you are trying to accomplish. If you are conducting a review of attitudes and beliefs, say that. If you are trying to understand morale, say that and tell staff why you are interested and what you plan to do with the information.
I have found that an explanation regarding your need to improve is helpful. Teachers and other staff like the idea of being problem solvers. People inherently form opinions and ideas about the organizations in which they work. Tapping into this vast pool of thoughts and commentary is, with the proper filter mechanism, and worthwhile pursuit.
2. Reassure Early and Often. The confidentiality of any survey needs to be stressed in every communication regarding the process. The confidentiality message should be succinct, clear and unambiguous. If you are promising confidentiality of all responses, be sure to underscore that point. Be clear about how the data will be used. Assure staff that this is about improving the organization and not sorting out “non-believers”, “bad apples” and the generally disgruntled.
3. Use a Third Party Administrator. We always act as a third party administrator for our members. It is our hope that with our involvement in the process, teachers see that this is not a case of the “fox guarding the hen house”. Primarily districts will use a third-party to administer a study based on the need for expertise and data management. Do not underestimate the important as well of having a neutral third-party act as your data aggregator. Teachers and staff tend to associate more credibility with those types of studies and feel more confident in the confidentiality of their responses.
4. Be Honest. The quickest route to destroying credibility is to be untruthful. If you are collecting information to evaluate schools (by the way, we do not recommend an employee satisfaction survey for this), then be honest and tell your staff that is what you are attempting. If individual responses can be reported, tell them that so they will answer accordingly. Usually schools and school districts spend a significant amount of time ensuring safety and confidentiality of response data. If there are any fears that are rooted in fact, it is best to be upfront with that information.
5. Summarize Data. Response data should always be grouped and never reported for sub-groups containing less than 3 respondents. This ensures that data users cannot apply multiple filters (e.g., Hispanic, Teacher-only, Specific-School, Specific-Grade level, etc.) to narrow response results that can only be for a certain person. Reports for survey data should never show response data unless a minimum number of respondents are included in the sample. In fairness, unless you have 20 to 30 responses in a sample, your sample is not statistically significant. Looking at smaller groups can still be very useful but when you drop below 3 respondents, the data becomes close to meaningless in drawing inferences about the organization.
6. Focus on the Need to Improve. Superintendents and principals who focus of their desire to improve strike a chord with teachers and staff. Again, our natural tendencies to be problem solvers kick in and we want to be part of the process. Be clear about the role that teacher and employee input have in your process and the value you place on their input. There is a wealth of improvement ideas in your schools. Acknowledge this in order to tap into it.
7. Have a Manual Option. People understand that technology can do a lot without our knowledge. I often hear of the fear that the computer system is tracking an individual’s response to a survey. Usually the district administrators will roll their eyes and groan when they hear this fear expressed by teachers, considering it as more unfounded paranoia. But, the truth is that technology can be used to do this. We typically disable the ability to match response data to individuals unless we need to tie response data back to student achievement data. When we do enable the option, we never provide clients with the ability to report at the individual level. But the truth is, the fears of technology stripping us of the confidentiality of our responses are not without justification. Despite our assurances of how we are collecting and using data, this fear can persist. It is always wise to provide a paper hardcopy as a backup for individuals who express their fears of the technology. Sometimes just providing the option provides the necessary assurance that you take confidentiality seriously.
Utilizing these guidelines can help improve response rates by generating trust among your employee group. If you still cannot get over the trust hurdle, you need to acknowledge that you have found, without looking at any response data, a major culture issue within your school or school district: A lack of trust.
Scott Wallace is the Executive Director of the National Center for School Leadership. To learn more about their services and how they work to improve school culture and develop school leaders, visit their website at http://www.ncfsl.org/
Monday, October 26, 2009
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Principal Interview: Sheri Marcotte of Chapel Hill 7th and 8th Grade Center
Chapel Hill 7th and 8th Grade Center is a middle school on the west side of Indianapolis. MSD of Wayne Township Superintendent Dr. Terry Thompson has overseen an impressive series of building initiatives which, most recently, included rebuilding the school into a state-of-the-art facility. As part of that makeover the school also got a new principal. I had chance to speak with Sheri Marcotte this past week. She is an experienced and impressive educator. I asked her to comment on lessons learned in her first year at her new school. Below are excerpts that I have paraphrased from her responses to a number of questions posed to her in our conversation.
What is your background?
I graduated from Indiana University and worked at a wholesale produce company while I did my student teaching. It was an invaluable experience and gave me some great insight into customer service and how to really focus on what your customers want and need. That experience has served me well as an educator.
My career has been spent in the Indianapolis area including teaching in IPS (Indianapolis Public Schools) and as a middle school administrator and principal in both Franklin Township and Warren Township. I have worked in 5 different middle schools of the past 35 years.
What motivated you to take a new position at Chapel Hill?
I live on the westside closer to Chapel Hill and I am very familiar with the school corporation. It sounds materialistic but the new building was a very attractive to me and a big reason I wanted to come. In the end though the Superintendent Terry Thompson and Assistant Superintendent Dr Jeff Butts both convinced me that this was a place that needed me and that would give me lots of opportunity to positively impact students.
Describe the situation at the school when you arrived.
First of all, the people were great. I could tell that the hiring process the school had been through was excellent. The staff was really top notch.
I was aware that some of the staff might be resentful of me. I was prepared for some groups of staff to harbor some animosity towards me. That seems typical for a lot of new principals. But, I did not really experience that. I felt very comfortable with the people almost immediately.
The school had plenty of instructional programs. That was not a problem. In fact, my first impression was that there were too many instructional programs. The school seemed to lack a bit of focus.
The biggest thing I noticed was that the school generally did not deal well with large groups of students. Classroom management was fine but once students were in the halls, moving between classes, going to lunch, attending an assembly or going to the buses the environment became chaotic. This was not acceptable to me. I believe that students should behave well at all times in a well-run school. The passing periods and going to buses should be no exception. The lax atmosphere was sending a message to our students that acting in this way was acceptable behavior.
Fortunately, I came from a very similar school with a very similar demographic of students. Instilling order is second nature to me so I knew we could address this need.
What was the culture of the school when you came in? What did you do to change things?
Many of the staff members seemed to feel powerless in their inability to impact and address negative student behavior. I think they felt some underlying needs but didn’t really know what could be done about it. I tried to be focused and deliberate in my first year. I focused on just a few things.
First, as I mentioned, we added a lot of structure around how we dealt with large groups of students. The staff was skeptical that we could easily deal with this. Dismissal, in particular, was horrible. When you have 1,200 middle school students headed for the buses at the same time, it is important that you have order or things can get out of hand. We began by having teachers walk their classes to the buses. Students were required to be quiet and orderly. We saw an immediate and drastic change regarding how smoothly dismissal went. It was great. Teachers would come up to me in the halls and thanked me for creating such an orderly dismissal process.
Shortly after we began this practice, some teachers began to ask how much longer we would be walking kids to the buses. I realized that our management of students was not yet part of our culture. I became encouraged though when other teachers began to speak up and request that we always walk students to buses. This told me that they got it. It wasn’t a one time thing. We needed to maintain our focus on managing the environment of the school. I my mind it, starts on ensuring that the classrooms, halls and all common areas were as orderly as possible.
Another thing I changed pretty quickly was when the schools leadership team met. As a group they met each morning at the start of school. This meant that many of my best teachers were not in homeroom classes with students. To me, students are our number one priority so I changed the schedule around so that every teacher had a group of homeroom students – including those on the leadership team.
What are your plans for the coming school year? What will be your focus in the coming year?
Generally a lot of what I did in the first year was to instill order. The school was a chaotic environment and one where not everyone felt safe. We worked hard to address that immediately.
This year we are working on “Engagement by Design”. We want to ensure that our students are truly engaged in their studies. I don’t think this happens by accident and it doesn’t always happen naturally. We are being intentional about engagement with our students.
The other things we are doing this year is nothing. By that I mean we are doing nothing new. This school corporation is well known for its excellence and for staying on the leading edge of educational practice. But sometimes it translates into doing too much or changing practice too much. For this year, we are going to stick with the great curriculum we have and make it work for us. I am excited about that.
Scott Wallace is the Executive Director of the National Center for School Leadership. To learn more about their services and how they work to improve school culture and develop school leaders, visit their website at http://www.ncfsl.org/
What is your background?
I graduated from Indiana University and worked at a wholesale produce company while I did my student teaching. It was an invaluable experience and gave me some great insight into customer service and how to really focus on what your customers want and need. That experience has served me well as an educator.
My career has been spent in the Indianapolis area including teaching in IPS (Indianapolis Public Schools) and as a middle school administrator and principal in both Franklin Township and Warren Township. I have worked in 5 different middle schools of the past 35 years.
What motivated you to take a new position at Chapel Hill?
I live on the westside closer to Chapel Hill and I am very familiar with the school corporation. It sounds materialistic but the new building was a very attractive to me and a big reason I wanted to come. In the end though the Superintendent Terry Thompson and Assistant Superintendent Dr Jeff Butts both convinced me that this was a place that needed me and that would give me lots of opportunity to positively impact students.
Describe the situation at the school when you arrived.
First of all, the people were great. I could tell that the hiring process the school had been through was excellent. The staff was really top notch.
I was aware that some of the staff might be resentful of me. I was prepared for some groups of staff to harbor some animosity towards me. That seems typical for a lot of new principals. But, I did not really experience that. I felt very comfortable with the people almost immediately.
The school had plenty of instructional programs. That was not a problem. In fact, my first impression was that there were too many instructional programs. The school seemed to lack a bit of focus.
The biggest thing I noticed was that the school generally did not deal well with large groups of students. Classroom management was fine but once students were in the halls, moving between classes, going to lunch, attending an assembly or going to the buses the environment became chaotic. This was not acceptable to me. I believe that students should behave well at all times in a well-run school. The passing periods and going to buses should be no exception. The lax atmosphere was sending a message to our students that acting in this way was acceptable behavior.
Fortunately, I came from a very similar school with a very similar demographic of students. Instilling order is second nature to me so I knew we could address this need.
What was the culture of the school when you came in? What did you do to change things?
Many of the staff members seemed to feel powerless in their inability to impact and address negative student behavior. I think they felt some underlying needs but didn’t really know what could be done about it. I tried to be focused and deliberate in my first year. I focused on just a few things.
First, as I mentioned, we added a lot of structure around how we dealt with large groups of students. The staff was skeptical that we could easily deal with this. Dismissal, in particular, was horrible. When you have 1,200 middle school students headed for the buses at the same time, it is important that you have order or things can get out of hand. We began by having teachers walk their classes to the buses. Students were required to be quiet and orderly. We saw an immediate and drastic change regarding how smoothly dismissal went. It was great. Teachers would come up to me in the halls and thanked me for creating such an orderly dismissal process.
Shortly after we began this practice, some teachers began to ask how much longer we would be walking kids to the buses. I realized that our management of students was not yet part of our culture. I became encouraged though when other teachers began to speak up and request that we always walk students to buses. This told me that they got it. It wasn’t a one time thing. We needed to maintain our focus on managing the environment of the school. I my mind it, starts on ensuring that the classrooms, halls and all common areas were as orderly as possible.
Another thing I changed pretty quickly was when the schools leadership team met. As a group they met each morning at the start of school. This meant that many of my best teachers were not in homeroom classes with students. To me, students are our number one priority so I changed the schedule around so that every teacher had a group of homeroom students – including those on the leadership team.
What are your plans for the coming school year? What will be your focus in the coming year?
Generally a lot of what I did in the first year was to instill order. The school was a chaotic environment and one where not everyone felt safe. We worked hard to address that immediately.
This year we are working on “Engagement by Design”. We want to ensure that our students are truly engaged in their studies. I don’t think this happens by accident and it doesn’t always happen naturally. We are being intentional about engagement with our students.
The other things we are doing this year is nothing. By that I mean we are doing nothing new. This school corporation is well known for its excellence and for staying on the leading edge of educational practice. But sometimes it translates into doing too much or changing practice too much. For this year, we are going to stick with the great curriculum we have and make it work for us. I am excited about that.
Scott Wallace is the Executive Director of the National Center for School Leadership. To learn more about their services and how they work to improve school culture and develop school leaders, visit their website at http://www.ncfsl.org/
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Is ELearning For Teachers One Answer to School Reform?
School leaders face many challenges in today's education environment. As school districts are just coming to grips with the accountability components of No Child Left Behind, our new administration promises to create even more requirements for public schools. Meanwhile the realities of improving student achievement remain as prevalent and underfunded as before. School superintendents and school principals do admirable jobs pursuing school reform and keeping up with the needs of their teachers and students, however with their lack of resources and changing federal expectations, this challenge can appear overwhelming.
One component of effective school improvement and reform is teacher professional development. Oftentimes schools need to completely overhaul a curriculum based on declines in student achievement necessitating costly and time-consuming training. Other times, curriculum directors are forced to train and retrain on existing curriculum due to the inconsistency of its application in the classroom. And each year, many teachers are new to the profession and need significant training above and beyond what they receive in their teacher college programs. These realities require school districts to invest heavily in the continuing education of teachers. Indeed this is one of the most important components of any school reform program.
New research introducing innovative teacher techniques and facts about how and why students learn are another factor driving the incessant need for teacher training. Most educators are so driven to see their student succeed that they are prone to lack of focus. With so many teaching and learning approaches, how are educational leaders to choose? The research-based requirements of No Child Left Behind have helped provide a high bar for new initiatives to achieve prior to serious consideration. But even so, superintendents and curriculum directors need to maintain a razor-like focus on their own district improvement plan as they select from these educational best practices. Each new practice can only be successful if properly deployed to the teaching staff with an appropriate focus on teacher training.
Once selected, deploying these best practices into America's classrooms is difficult for any number of reasons. The cost associated with deployment can be prohibitive. Education consultants brought in to teach typically require high daily rates and associated travel expenses. And even internally taught classes require pulling teachers from classrooms resulting in the expense of substitute teachers and loss of teaching time. Even the best intended professional development plans often end up with inconsistent implementation. It is not uncommon to see two teachers, who attend the same class, implementing (or not implementing) very different versions of what is supposedly the same methodology.
School districts use job-embedded staff development and rely on full time internal coaches to help deal with some of these issues. While this is routinely effective, school districts are still constrained with how much change the system can absorb. And, like it or not, oftentimes successful school reform centers around how much change a school district can enable in a relatively short amount of time.
One solution to help work within the constraints of teacher schedules and school district budgets is more online delivery of teacher professional development. The case for online delivery is as compelling for teacher training as it is for supplemental or primary student teaching. The schedule issues are greatly reduced as technology relieves us of the requirement of getting all participants in a room. Technology also allows us to extend the class size as appropriate. Whereas a classroom-led training session is difficult when done in large groups, it is not necessarily so for online teaching. The facilitation of conversation can, in some instances, be of a much higher quality with online platforms as participants are - depending on class format - allowed to chime in with the benefit of more time and more contemplation versus a live classroom.
The reason for why online learning hasn't been more prevalent are diminishing rapidly. Until now, schools and school districts suffered from a lack of online content that was tailored toward their specific needs. Now content is becoming increasingly easy to generate bringing development costs down significantly. Previously online content was static or not engaging (or very expensive if it was) but, again, with technology advances, the cost of engaging content is accessible to all districts even for internally generated course content. And given the availability and capability of ready-made learning management systems, the ability of participants to easily and productively interact is automatically enabled - all at a fraction of the cost required just a few years ago.
One technology that has made this happen is Moodle (www.moodle.org). Moodle is an open source learning management systems that can be easily and quickly deployed to address the specific needs of staff developers. Because Moodle is open-source there is no cost associated with purchasing the software. And as with many open-source platforms, there is an extensive developer network with whom to borrow and share ideas and modification.
Moodle has most, if not all, of the capabilities required of a learning management system. It is easy to implement and can be managed easily from a robust administrative back-end interface. The emphasis was to develop a secure and easy-to-manage system that did not require technical management. The course components allow for unlimited numbers of classes. Classes can utilize a range of activities including forums, quizzes, glossaries, resources, choices, surveys, assignments, chats, and workshops. The system supports and facilitates collaboration across the learning community as defined by the system user and administrators.
While the core software is certainly compelling, what makes Moodle so interesting is the user and developer communities that support the platform. Add-on modules include everything from the ability to integrate social networking platforms into your Moodle platform to the ability to seamlessly include and publish podcasts into your lessons. These add-ons are also available under the GNU General Public License which means they are also free to use and modify.
To be sure, there are many learning management systems available beyond Moodle. Most have a significantly higher cost to license and to develop. That said, in some cases these other platforms may be better suited to the needs of the individual school or school district. Regardless of the platform, online delivery of teacher training is a cost-effective solution that should be part of any professional development program.
Scott Wallace is the Executive Director of the National Center for School Leadership. To learn more about their services and how they can help you implement a Moodle-enabled Learning Management System, visit their website at http://www.ncfsl.org
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com
One component of effective school improvement and reform is teacher professional development. Oftentimes schools need to completely overhaul a curriculum based on declines in student achievement necessitating costly and time-consuming training. Other times, curriculum directors are forced to train and retrain on existing curriculum due to the inconsistency of its application in the classroom. And each year, many teachers are new to the profession and need significant training above and beyond what they receive in their teacher college programs. These realities require school districts to invest heavily in the continuing education of teachers. Indeed this is one of the most important components of any school reform program.
New research introducing innovative teacher techniques and facts about how and why students learn are another factor driving the incessant need for teacher training. Most educators are so driven to see their student succeed that they are prone to lack of focus. With so many teaching and learning approaches, how are educational leaders to choose? The research-based requirements of No Child Left Behind have helped provide a high bar for new initiatives to achieve prior to serious consideration. But even so, superintendents and curriculum directors need to maintain a razor-like focus on their own district improvement plan as they select from these educational best practices. Each new practice can only be successful if properly deployed to the teaching staff with an appropriate focus on teacher training.
Once selected, deploying these best practices into America's classrooms is difficult for any number of reasons. The cost associated with deployment can be prohibitive. Education consultants brought in to teach typically require high daily rates and associated travel expenses. And even internally taught classes require pulling teachers from classrooms resulting in the expense of substitute teachers and loss of teaching time. Even the best intended professional development plans often end up with inconsistent implementation. It is not uncommon to see two teachers, who attend the same class, implementing (or not implementing) very different versions of what is supposedly the same methodology.
School districts use job-embedded staff development and rely on full time internal coaches to help deal with some of these issues. While this is routinely effective, school districts are still constrained with how much change the system can absorb. And, like it or not, oftentimes successful school reform centers around how much change a school district can enable in a relatively short amount of time.
One solution to help work within the constraints of teacher schedules and school district budgets is more online delivery of teacher professional development. The case for online delivery is as compelling for teacher training as it is for supplemental or primary student teaching. The schedule issues are greatly reduced as technology relieves us of the requirement of getting all participants in a room. Technology also allows us to extend the class size as appropriate. Whereas a classroom-led training session is difficult when done in large groups, it is not necessarily so for online teaching. The facilitation of conversation can, in some instances, be of a much higher quality with online platforms as participants are - depending on class format - allowed to chime in with the benefit of more time and more contemplation versus a live classroom.
The reason for why online learning hasn't been more prevalent are diminishing rapidly. Until now, schools and school districts suffered from a lack of online content that was tailored toward their specific needs. Now content is becoming increasingly easy to generate bringing development costs down significantly. Previously online content was static or not engaging (or very expensive if it was) but, again, with technology advances, the cost of engaging content is accessible to all districts even for internally generated course content. And given the availability and capability of ready-made learning management systems, the ability of participants to easily and productively interact is automatically enabled - all at a fraction of the cost required just a few years ago.
One technology that has made this happen is Moodle (www.moodle.org). Moodle is an open source learning management systems that can be easily and quickly deployed to address the specific needs of staff developers. Because Moodle is open-source there is no cost associated with purchasing the software. And as with many open-source platforms, there is an extensive developer network with whom to borrow and share ideas and modification.
Moodle has most, if not all, of the capabilities required of a learning management system. It is easy to implement and can be managed easily from a robust administrative back-end interface. The emphasis was to develop a secure and easy-to-manage system that did not require technical management. The course components allow for unlimited numbers of classes. Classes can utilize a range of activities including forums, quizzes, glossaries, resources, choices, surveys, assignments, chats, and workshops. The system supports and facilitates collaboration across the learning community as defined by the system user and administrators.
While the core software is certainly compelling, what makes Moodle so interesting is the user and developer communities that support the platform. Add-on modules include everything from the ability to integrate social networking platforms into your Moodle platform to the ability to seamlessly include and publish podcasts into your lessons. These add-ons are also available under the GNU General Public License which means they are also free to use and modify.
To be sure, there are many learning management systems available beyond Moodle. Most have a significantly higher cost to license and to develop. That said, in some cases these other platforms may be better suited to the needs of the individual school or school district. Regardless of the platform, online delivery of teacher training is a cost-effective solution that should be part of any professional development program.
Scott Wallace is the Executive Director of the National Center for School Leadership. To learn more about their services and how they can help you implement a Moodle-enabled Learning Management System, visit their website at http://www.ncfsl.org
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
The Good News and Bad News about Arizona Schools
The school year has officially begun across Arizona and the rest of the country. Discussion topics have shifted from vacations and summer camp to homework and new teachers. Parents have suddenly found new enthusiasm for carefully comparing notes on everything from math curriculum to testing policies. Parents agonize at length about whether their child's teacher is the best match to the needs of their children. No detail regarding the school, teacher or curriculum is left unanalyzed. We explain to anyone who will hear how great our school is and what a wonderful experience our children are receiving.
In my years working with schools, I have observed this “new school year” phenomenon with much interest. It seems that all parents believe that their school is above average virtually without exceptions. When I have conducted focus groups with parents in inner cities, they too exhibit a high degree of satisfaction in their local school as do parents from affluent suburbs. It seems that even the average school is, surprisingly, above average.
In most states the issue of which school is best is somewhat, well, academic. Unless you are willing to move or go to a private school, your school is your school. However in Arizona this is not the case. Arizona provides open enrollment (on a space available basis) to all of its schools. If you are willing to provide transportation, you have the opportunity to send your child anywhere you like to receive a public education.
This level of competition among schools was designed to improve schools. The thought being that if our enrollment (and thus our survival as a school) depended upon meeting the needs of students, then educators would work harder at meeting the needs of students. Opinions regarding the impact of this are, of course, mixed. But the general consensus is that more choice is better than less and so the system remains largely popular.
Since school choice in Arizona seems unlikely to go away it becomes much more that a measuring tool to determine which schools are best. Presumably many parents would drive 5 minutes (or even 10) past their current school in order to have their children attend a much better school. and in practice, many parents do. But on what basis? Parents often tell me that it “felt” right or that it just "seemed to click". Other conduct bonafide research on the internet reviewing school rating website. My own decision making required a somewhat more rigorous approach including (though not limited to) discussions with key staff and teachers, school walk-thru’s and classroom observations.
To provide a bit of objective information to assist prospective “school shoppers” in the Arizona “market”, we compiled a quick analysis of Arizona’s best schools. The list below represents the best 25 schools in Arizona among those with over 200 students. The results are based on the average Spring 2009 Terra Nova scores across all grade levels within a given school.
BASIS Scottsdale
Mesa Academy for Advanced Studies
University High School
BASIS Tucson
Gilbert Classical Academy Jr.
Arizona School For The Arts
Great Hearts Academies - Chandler Prep
Great Hearts Academies - Veritas Prep
Self Development Charter School
Cambridge Academy East
Tempe Preparatory Academy
GPS Traditional Academy
Cheyenne Traditional Elementary School
Great Heart Academies - Scottsdale Prep
Hamilton Prep
Keystone Montessori Charter School
Bright Beginnings School #1
Kyrene Altadena Middle School
Esperero Canyon Middle School
McDowell Mountain Elementary School
Orange Grove Middle School
Foothills Academy
Quartz Hill Elementary
Valley Academy
Cochise Elementary School
This list of the top 25 schools in Arizona contains a number of charter schools and traditional schools. We congratulate each of them as they represent the top 2% of Arizona schools. What follows in this article is not meant to detract from their accomplishments.
The Bad News About Arizona Schools
Arizona ranks 48th out of 51 (include the District of Columbia) in terms of per pupil expenditures. I am shocked that when I discuss this fact with parents they have no idea that this is the case. The State of Arizona simply does not provide its schools with as much monetary resources as other states provide to their schools. Is this reflective of a fiscally conservative voting electorate? I suppose it. More importantly, does the introduction of school choice and reliance on charter schools overcome this funding gap?
In an effort to explore this topic, one simply needs to take the next step in the analysis. The above list represents the top 2% of schools in Arizona. These results are based on the Terra Nova test which is a nationally normed test. How did this group of schools fare when compared with schools nationally? The answer is that they did fairly well. As a group they scored at the 85% percentile. Pretty good right? But wait. Shouldn’t they, all else being equal, score at the 98% or 99% percentile? Yes, but that would suppose that they were in the top 2% nationally. Unfortunately the top 2% in Arizona only equates to being at the 85th percentile nationally.
To explore the numbers further we broadened the scope of the "top school analysis" to encompass the entire top decile (in terms of Terra Nova test score performance) of Arizona schools. The top 140 schools, representing the top decile of school in Arizona scored, on average, at the 77th percentile nationally. Thus while this group of top schools scored on average at the 95th percentile within the state, they were only able to attain the 77th percential nationally. This represents an 18% gap on state-vs-national percentile ranking. This is even worse than the 13% gap represented by the top 2% of Arizona schools.
It is difficult to look at these very straightforward numbers and easily dismiss the issue of public education in Arizona. To be sure, this analysis does not represent an exhaustive review of educational issues in Arizona. But I suspect that the issues that Arizona has are very similar to the issues in other states. Despite this apparent relationship between funding and poor national test scores, I am not saying to throw money at the problem nor am I suggesting that the reasons are easily understood or addressed. But when your top schools cannot break into the top decile nationally, I think there’s a problem worth exploring.
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Do we listen to teachers? Five ways to ensure upward communication in your school and school district.
I was speaking with the superintendent of a mid-sized district in the Midwest this week. He is an old friend and we had not had a chance to connect in some time. He was updating me on developments in his districts and we were sharing thoughts on all manner of tangentially related topics.
The conversation turned towards my current research project on School Climate and Culture. He is very familiar with the work we do in this area and has used our services in prior districts. As we discussed the need for and importance of conducting nationally normed school culture studies, he said something rather simple but profound. “We do a pretty good job of talking to teachers but I don’t think we always do a great job of listening,” he said. I assumed at the time that he was speaking about district administrators in general. Not surprisingly, I agree with him.
The lack of two-way communication is prevalent at all levels of education. (In fact, it is prevalent at all levels in many types of organizations not just schools and school districts.) Communication, like water, tends to flow most easily downhill. Yet at the best schools and the best school districts, communication also flows “uphill” nearly as well.
Best practices in communication would fill a book. But with respect to two-way communication, I will attempt to summarize what I’ve seen in a few paragraphs. Here goes:
1. Upward communication takes work. Downstream communication seems to happen naturally in most schools and school districts. It may take some effort but information tends to get dispersed through a variety of means. Yet communication and feedback that moves UP the chain of command does not always happen naturally. Leaders have to be ready to listen and to hear. They need to communicate that willingness to listen to staff. They need to set up structures for staff to be heard. This takes work and requires being intentional about your upward feedback goals.
2. Committees are not enough. Committees are a great way to create formal or in-formal groups to deal with a variety of issues. Oftentimes permanent or ad hoc committees of teachers will work on key issues like discipline, text book adoption, or school improvement. These are great opportunities for teachers to be heard and to exercise their own leadership skills. But they are not enough. The task of committees are limited both by the scope of their charter and the individuals who are assigned. Upward communication should be much broader. It should draw from a wider range of individuals and topics. And, even with a proper structure of committees, school and district leaders must be ready to listen and hear what is said.
3. Create a feedback culture. In some schools, staff members feel a strong sense of empowerment and entitlement to speak their mind. They do so in an appropriate and useful manner. And they benefit from a cultural element that they, very likely, take for granted. Many schools simply do not operate that way. Some school administrators are either unwilling or unable to listen to feedback from teachers. Teachers either feel at-risk for sharing their ideas or feel dismissed when presenting their opinions. The typical results it to drive these idea underground. This is not good. Otherwise good (and sometimes bad) ideas are forced underground and become fodder for the malcontents in the organization. Left unchecked, a principal will have a rapidly “toxifying” culture on his or her hands.
4. Use 360 degree feedback with school leaders. There are fabulous 360 degree feedback tools for school administrators. By using these with principals, assistant principals, department heads, and district administrators, it does a couple of things. First, it provides valuable input to leaders about what their superiors, peers and subordinates think about their leadership style. Second, it sensitizes these leaders to thinking objectively about how their style is being perceived. Done correctly, these types of tools create a better empowered and better educated school leader.
5. Share some decision making – but not all decision making. Despite all of the importance that we place on listening and developing structures to enable faculty members to be heard, the ultimate responsibility for the school lies with the principal. He or she should be prepared to listen and make decisions. Even after carefully weighing input, a principal will still need to make tough decisions. Sometimes those decisions will not be popular. In my experience however, the leaders who take the time to listen and provides the opportunity for all sides to be considered will gain better buy-in from staff regardless of the decision.
Scott Wallace is the Executive Director of the National Center for School Leadership. To learn more about their services and how they work to improve school culture and develop school leaders, visit their website at http://www.ncfsl.org/
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Flawless First Day of School
I took my children to the first day of school yesterday morning. It was a new school for all of us and our proud and excited kindergartner’s first day of school ever. I have to admit that I felt nervous as did my wife and second grader (the kindergartner was too excited to be nervous). We had moved to a new school and knew very little about what to expect. How did drop off occur? How did the little ones get, physically, to the classroom? Where we allowed to go with them? Where did the newly purchased supplies go? Would our second grader have to carry her own backpack, lunch and huge bag of first-day-stuff? The anxiously anticipated first day of school had arrived.
We live in Arizona where we are allowed to send our children, space available, to any school in the state so long as we are able to provide transportation. We moved our children this year to an out-of-district school and we were all feeling the apprehension that comes with a big move like this.
As I waited in the line with the other second graders and their parents, I was reminded of a dialogue I had had regarding the first day of school. Several years ago I had a conversation with a friend of mine about the importance of the first day of school. We were coming up on the beginning of the school year at the time and he had good cause for concern. He was the new superintendent of a large school district of over 160 schools with a total of about 140,000 students.
Historically, his district’s first day was a chaotic swirl of activities and misadventures as everything that could go wrong did. One of the glaring bits of data he received in his first six months was that parents were almost universal in their feedback regarding the first day of school. It was, to be blunt, bad. Buses ran routes at the wrong time. Schools were not well provisioned with the necessary supplies. Classrooms were not set up in advance of students arriving. A surprising number of staff members would actually call in sick for the first day. Staff and volunteers were not in place at many schools to assist with directions and the questions that accompany the first day of school. Schools were reportedly disorganized and there were more “kinks” to work out that there were things that went well. Or so it seemed.
All of us who work in schools (or work with schools) know that opening a school at the beginning of the year can pose some problems. And most schools work hard to be prepared in advance. But this superintendent, based on both prior experience and feedback he had received about his new district, drove home a program he created that explicitly stressed this need. He called it the Flawless First Day of School.
To hear him talk about it, their entire school year would be based on the results of their first day. He discussed, district-wide, his expectations for the first day at length on many occasions. And he reiterated his expectations over and over again to drive these points home. Buses on-time. Teachers on-time and present. Classrooms prepared ahead of time complete with student names posted on desks. All logistics at each school carefully planned, documented, and communicated to the regional assistant superintendent for approval. The list went on.
In fairness I thought it overkill at the time. His held seemingly unending discussions on the topic; the Flawless First Day required loads of extra work for principals and teachers. He was not satisfied with assurances that activities would run efficiently; he wanted to see written plans. He was still relatively new in his role (he had started in January of the prior year) and felt as though he had unlimited influence. I warned him to invest his goodwill wisely and be careful of using it all on this one subject; he had many initiatives to push and he would need to converse his political capital. He would not be deterred.
The results were, of course, not flawless. But it was the best school year beginning in many years for the district. The school administrators and teachers alike were very pleased. Buses did run the correct routes at the correct times. These routes and times were well communicated. Classrooms were decked out and ready to receive students. Teachers had actual lesson plans ready for the first day and were prepared to jump right into the challenging curriculum. Parent nights had be held prior where they received information about what to expect the first day / week / year. Staff and volunteers were carefully briefed and deployed to help direct students and parents to the appropriate place. Central office staff were, largely, deployed to schools to assist.
The superintendent later explained to my why the first day was so important to him. He had a large organization that, over time, became more focused on the internal workings of their jobs than on students and parents. In a huge cultural shift he needed to get the organization focused on caring for students, focus on their learning, on their experience. He used the first day exercise as an important reminder of two things: 1) students are the most important thing to us and are the reason we are here, and 2) by being intentional we can perform tasks exceedingly well. But we have to be diligent in how we go about executing those tasks.
It was an interesting activity to observe for me at the time and I think benefited him well. The first day of school marked a small but significant turning point in the culture of the schools and in their ideas about what was most important. To be sure, shaping and moving the culture of an organization that large is no small task. But influencing culture in a school district is not about one big task. It is about many small tasks and initiatives. It is about communicating a consistent message and consistent expectations regarding how we teach our students and how we operate our schools. This initiative was one small but important step in that direction.
I thought about this experience as I worked through my morning at my children’s new school. There were adults with orange vests at every turn to help. We ask one of the orange vests where second graders were supposed to go. She told us. Another explained the daily drop off procedure that made more sense with her pointing rather than referring to the map on the website. There were signs posted everywhere.
My kindergartner’s class was well prepared. Parents were welcomed (encouraged) to stay for the entire first day. My daughter’s name was on a desk which she quickly found. The teacher began a well prepared introduction to the class for the kids. As if on queue, she finished and the (new) principal came on the loudspeaker for the days announcements. We all did the pledge of allegiance. And the principal ended her announcement with the simple statement “Welcome again to the first day of school. We have no substitutes in the building.”
Scott Wallace is the Executive Director of the National Center for School Leadership. To learn more about their services and how they can help you improve school leadership and assess school culture, visit their website at http://www.ncfsl.org
We live in Arizona where we are allowed to send our children, space available, to any school in the state so long as we are able to provide transportation. We moved our children this year to an out-of-district school and we were all feeling the apprehension that comes with a big move like this.
As I waited in the line with the other second graders and their parents, I was reminded of a dialogue I had had regarding the first day of school. Several years ago I had a conversation with a friend of mine about the importance of the first day of school. We were coming up on the beginning of the school year at the time and he had good cause for concern. He was the new superintendent of a large school district of over 160 schools with a total of about 140,000 students.
Historically, his district’s first day was a chaotic swirl of activities and misadventures as everything that could go wrong did. One of the glaring bits of data he received in his first six months was that parents were almost universal in their feedback regarding the first day of school. It was, to be blunt, bad. Buses ran routes at the wrong time. Schools were not well provisioned with the necessary supplies. Classrooms were not set up in advance of students arriving. A surprising number of staff members would actually call in sick for the first day. Staff and volunteers were not in place at many schools to assist with directions and the questions that accompany the first day of school. Schools were reportedly disorganized and there were more “kinks” to work out that there were things that went well. Or so it seemed.
All of us who work in schools (or work with schools) know that opening a school at the beginning of the year can pose some problems. And most schools work hard to be prepared in advance. But this superintendent, based on both prior experience and feedback he had received about his new district, drove home a program he created that explicitly stressed this need. He called it the Flawless First Day of School.
To hear him talk about it, their entire school year would be based on the results of their first day. He discussed, district-wide, his expectations for the first day at length on many occasions. And he reiterated his expectations over and over again to drive these points home. Buses on-time. Teachers on-time and present. Classrooms prepared ahead of time complete with student names posted on desks. All logistics at each school carefully planned, documented, and communicated to the regional assistant superintendent for approval. The list went on.
In fairness I thought it overkill at the time. His held seemingly unending discussions on the topic; the Flawless First Day required loads of extra work for principals and teachers. He was not satisfied with assurances that activities would run efficiently; he wanted to see written plans. He was still relatively new in his role (he had started in January of the prior year) and felt as though he had unlimited influence. I warned him to invest his goodwill wisely and be careful of using it all on this one subject; he had many initiatives to push and he would need to converse his political capital. He would not be deterred.
The results were, of course, not flawless. But it was the best school year beginning in many years for the district. The school administrators and teachers alike were very pleased. Buses did run the correct routes at the correct times. These routes and times were well communicated. Classrooms were decked out and ready to receive students. Teachers had actual lesson plans ready for the first day and were prepared to jump right into the challenging curriculum. Parent nights had be held prior where they received information about what to expect the first day / week / year. Staff and volunteers were carefully briefed and deployed to help direct students and parents to the appropriate place. Central office staff were, largely, deployed to schools to assist.
The superintendent later explained to my why the first day was so important to him. He had a large organization that, over time, became more focused on the internal workings of their jobs than on students and parents. In a huge cultural shift he needed to get the organization focused on caring for students, focus on their learning, on their experience. He used the first day exercise as an important reminder of two things: 1) students are the most important thing to us and are the reason we are here, and 2) by being intentional we can perform tasks exceedingly well. But we have to be diligent in how we go about executing those tasks.
It was an interesting activity to observe for me at the time and I think benefited him well. The first day of school marked a small but significant turning point in the culture of the schools and in their ideas about what was most important. To be sure, shaping and moving the culture of an organization that large is no small task. But influencing culture in a school district is not about one big task. It is about many small tasks and initiatives. It is about communicating a consistent message and consistent expectations regarding how we teach our students and how we operate our schools. This initiative was one small but important step in that direction.
I thought about this experience as I worked through my morning at my children’s new school. There were adults with orange vests at every turn to help. We ask one of the orange vests where second graders were supposed to go. She told us. Another explained the daily drop off procedure that made more sense with her pointing rather than referring to the map on the website. There were signs posted everywhere.
My kindergartner’s class was well prepared. Parents were welcomed (encouraged) to stay for the entire first day. My daughter’s name was on a desk which she quickly found. The teacher began a well prepared introduction to the class for the kids. As if on queue, she finished and the (new) principal came on the loudspeaker for the days announcements. We all did the pledge of allegiance. And the principal ended her announcement with the simple statement “Welcome again to the first day of school. We have no substitutes in the building.”
Scott Wallace is the Executive Director of the National Center for School Leadership. To learn more about their services and how they can help you improve school leadership and assess school culture, visit their website at http://www.ncfsl.org
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
In the Mind of Teachers: Measuring Commitment
Many of my clients are anxious to learn about how their teachers really feel. Principals typically feel as if they know whether teachers are generally pleased or not with their current lot. But, if their teachers are unhappy, just how unhappy are they? If their teachers are highly committed, how highly committed are they? And most importantly, if school leadership is focused on a massive school improvement initiative, how successful can they be if their teachers are marginally committed to the school?
The methodology for conducting this sort of research is not as easy as it may seem.
First, designing appropriate ways to ask the question is important. You can’t just ask “How committed to our school are you on a scale of 1 to 10”. The way individuals assess this questions is so variable that you see wild swings in the numbers because, frankly, this is poorly structured questions. But the fact remains, the only way to know for sure is to ask; we just need to be sure the questions are structured properly.
Second, one question won’t usually suffice – particularly with one broad, straightforward topic like “Commitment”. We use a survey design tool that we like to call “question layering”. By layering multiple, related questions on the respondent, we get a better sense of the strength of his/her feelings on a larger spectrum.
Lastly, we rely heavily on measuring results using norm data. Knowing how happy or unhappy a group of teachers is becomes relevant only when we know that measure in relation to a similar but different group of individuals.
If school leadership is focused on a massive school improvement initiative, how successful can they be if their teachers are marginally committed to the school?
In our research, when asked the question “I am committed to seeing my school succeed” very few teachers disagree with that statement. We use a 5-point Likert scale from “Strongly Agree” to “Strongly Disagree” for questions like this. If teachers, en masse, disagree with this statement then we have a big problem. But the truth is, once in a while you will get a teacher who will mark the questions “Neutral” or “Disagree” which is spurious, outlying data that we can typically discount. We almost always (98% of the time) see teachers rate this item favorably “Agree” or “Strongly Agree” with this questions.
This makes perfect sense. Why wouldn’t you be committed to seeing your school succeed? What kind of teacher would you have to be to “Disagree” with this statement? Probably an unhappy one who we all hope will find more luck in another field of work. The problem with this item is that it is of little use to us unless the results are different between our study group and our norm data. So we keep asking questions.
The next question in this series we will sometimes ask is “I am proud to be a member of my school”. This also a question that most teachers have a difficult time rating as anything besides “Agree” or “Strongly Agree”. Again, this makes sense given how closely teachers identify with their peers and students. Furthermore, the question doesn’t delve into particular hot spots that may be top of mind for teachers (pay, accountability, etc.) and, in avoiding these topics, makes in fairly easy to agree in schools where the culture is strong.
However, in schools with toxic cultures, this is where we begin to see the cracks. In a typical school it will be rare to see more that 2 to 5 percent rate this item anything other than “Agree” or “Strongly Agree”. But in schools with a toxic culture the level of agreement begins to deteriorate and it shows up loud-and-clear in survey data.
Individuals think little of dedicating themselves to a flawed organization but they will stop well short of recommending that organization to others.
The next “layer” in a well-devised commitment series of questions will be the deciding factor of whether the school has a positive culture or a toxic culture: “I would recommend my school to a friend seeking employment.” The psychology behind this question is interesting: individuals think little of dedicating themselves to a flawed organization but they will stop well short of recommending that organization to others. Thus, the results on this item are much less positive even in schools with a strong, positive culture. This illustrates the concept of “layering” question quite well. Agreeing with each question becomes, even in a positive environment, progressively more difficult. Average schools may have 15% to 20% of respondents “Disagree” or “Strongly Disagree” with this statement. This is much higher than the first two layers but still within the realm of acceptable.
The real difference comes when we look at the results of the school with the toxic culture. On the first two questions, even schools with a fairly negative climate and culture will still rate favorable. No so with item #3. Teacher will stop short here. They will not recommend their school (with its negative environment) to their friends. It is not unusually to see 30+% of teachers “Disagree” or “Strongly Disagree” with this statement. This is strongly indictment on the culture of that school. While 30% might not seem like a lot on an absolute basis (Hey, it’s less than a third), we only see negatives responses of this magnitude on this item in schools with some significant climate and culture issues.
If you are in a school leadership role at one of those schools, you are no doubt asking yourself what you should do to change. What might be cause your cultural problems? How might you improve school climate? However, the results of even the best survey remain murky. More research is needed to determine the cause of the organizational distress -- ideally with formal and informal discussions with teachers. We recommend facilitated focus groups in extreme circumstances.
The drivers of these culture problems are vastly complex. Too often, principals either refuse to acknowledge culture and climate problems within their schools, or they jump to conclusion as to its cause. Take time. Figure it out. Talk it though. React slowly and positively. If the problems stem from fatigue related to your change initiative, perhaps you can reevaluate your timeline. Or you can rack up culture as a price worth paying for you change initiative. No one can tell you the answer. But by asking questions, correctly, school leaders can gain some valuable insight into the minds of their teachers.
Scott Wallace is the Executive Director of the National Center for School Leadership. To learn more about their services and how they can help you assess school culture, visit their website at http://www.ncfsl.org
The methodology for conducting this sort of research is not as easy as it may seem.
First, designing appropriate ways to ask the question is important. You can’t just ask “How committed to our school are you on a scale of 1 to 10”. The way individuals assess this questions is so variable that you see wild swings in the numbers because, frankly, this is poorly structured questions. But the fact remains, the only way to know for sure is to ask; we just need to be sure the questions are structured properly.
Second, one question won’t usually suffice – particularly with one broad, straightforward topic like “Commitment”. We use a survey design tool that we like to call “question layering”. By layering multiple, related questions on the respondent, we get a better sense of the strength of his/her feelings on a larger spectrum.
Lastly, we rely heavily on measuring results using norm data. Knowing how happy or unhappy a group of teachers is becomes relevant only when we know that measure in relation to a similar but different group of individuals.
If school leadership is focused on a massive school improvement initiative, how successful can they be if their teachers are marginally committed to the school?
In our research, when asked the question “I am committed to seeing my school succeed” very few teachers disagree with that statement. We use a 5-point Likert scale from “Strongly Agree” to “Strongly Disagree” for questions like this. If teachers, en masse, disagree with this statement then we have a big problem. But the truth is, once in a while you will get a teacher who will mark the questions “Neutral” or “Disagree” which is spurious, outlying data that we can typically discount. We almost always (98% of the time) see teachers rate this item favorably “Agree” or “Strongly Agree” with this questions.
This makes perfect sense. Why wouldn’t you be committed to seeing your school succeed? What kind of teacher would you have to be to “Disagree” with this statement? Probably an unhappy one who we all hope will find more luck in another field of work. The problem with this item is that it is of little use to us unless the results are different between our study group and our norm data. So we keep asking questions.
The next question in this series we will sometimes ask is “I am proud to be a member of my school”. This also a question that most teachers have a difficult time rating as anything besides “Agree” or “Strongly Agree”. Again, this makes sense given how closely teachers identify with their peers and students. Furthermore, the question doesn’t delve into particular hot spots that may be top of mind for teachers (pay, accountability, etc.) and, in avoiding these topics, makes in fairly easy to agree in schools where the culture is strong.
However, in schools with toxic cultures, this is where we begin to see the cracks. In a typical school it will be rare to see more that 2 to 5 percent rate this item anything other than “Agree” or “Strongly Agree”. But in schools with a toxic culture the level of agreement begins to deteriorate and it shows up loud-and-clear in survey data.
Individuals think little of dedicating themselves to a flawed organization but they will stop well short of recommending that organization to others.
The next “layer” in a well-devised commitment series of questions will be the deciding factor of whether the school has a positive culture or a toxic culture: “I would recommend my school to a friend seeking employment.” The psychology behind this question is interesting: individuals think little of dedicating themselves to a flawed organization but they will stop well short of recommending that organization to others. Thus, the results on this item are much less positive even in schools with a strong, positive culture. This illustrates the concept of “layering” question quite well. Agreeing with each question becomes, even in a positive environment, progressively more difficult. Average schools may have 15% to 20% of respondents “Disagree” or “Strongly Disagree” with this statement. This is much higher than the first two layers but still within the realm of acceptable.
The real difference comes when we look at the results of the school with the toxic culture. On the first two questions, even schools with a fairly negative climate and culture will still rate favorable. No so with item #3. Teacher will stop short here. They will not recommend their school (with its negative environment) to their friends. It is not unusually to see 30+% of teachers “Disagree” or “Strongly Disagree” with this statement. This is strongly indictment on the culture of that school. While 30% might not seem like a lot on an absolute basis (Hey, it’s less than a third), we only see negatives responses of this magnitude on this item in schools with some significant climate and culture issues.
If you are in a school leadership role at one of those schools, you are no doubt asking yourself what you should do to change. What might be cause your cultural problems? How might you improve school climate? However, the results of even the best survey remain murky. More research is needed to determine the cause of the organizational distress -- ideally with formal and informal discussions with teachers. We recommend facilitated focus groups in extreme circumstances.
The drivers of these culture problems are vastly complex. Too often, principals either refuse to acknowledge culture and climate problems within their schools, or they jump to conclusion as to its cause. Take time. Figure it out. Talk it though. React slowly and positively. If the problems stem from fatigue related to your change initiative, perhaps you can reevaluate your timeline. Or you can rack up culture as a price worth paying for you change initiative. No one can tell you the answer. But by asking questions, correctly, school leaders can gain some valuable insight into the minds of their teachers.
Scott Wallace is the Executive Director of the National Center for School Leadership. To learn more about their services and how they can help you assess school culture, visit their website at http://www.ncfsl.org
Thursday, August 6, 2009
Transforming School Culture
In my work with schools I have seen all forms of resistance to change. In some groups of educators their focus on the status quo is difficult to spot. The untrained ear hears rational, logical arguments for current methodologies and current approaches. We can be quickly lulled into tranquility ... and loss of action. In other groups, the overt resistance to new initiatives is so obvious that it can be identified immediately. While we are not lulled into inaction, the hard-edged, purposeful resistance of an entire school of teachers is nearly impossible for even experienced school administrators to overcome.
In Anthony Muhammad's book, Transforming School Culture he does an excellent job of discussing these challenges. He also provides us a framework for understanding the different levels of resistance we may encounter. In doing so, he codifies the participants in resistance to better enable us to understand who they are, what they believe and how we can have an impact on them. Good stuff and very relevant.
However, I found something even more interesting. If you have not listened in on the Voicethread conversation regarding this book, please do it now. Hosted and moderated by Bill Ferriter of the Tempered Radical, this conversation is amazing. Anthony Muhammad contributed to the discussion throughout.
Here are a few of the interesting questions posed by the book and the discussion:
- How do we avoid exacerbating an us-vs-them mentality in public education in an age of accountability?
- How are we passing cultural expectation on to new teachers? Are we intentional about passing information on to new teachers through our actions or are we letting the "bad apples" pass on their own cultural expectations?
- How do we enable teachers (in an age of increased reliance on each other with collaboration, PLCs, etc.) to confront their peers? How can principals and other school leaders teach the skills to teachers which enable them to address their peers appropriately? How can we provide them with the courage and moral authority to do so?
- Are we overlooking a valuable group of people in our schools -- technology coordinators and media specialists -- who are best positioned to help enable cultural shifts in our schools? Does their school-wide (but non-administrative) role provide a communication point with all teachers that is critical in transforming the cultural norms of a school?
These are all topics of ongoing thought and discussions. Listen, enjoy and think.
In Anthony Muhammad's book, Transforming School Culture he does an excellent job of discussing these challenges. He also provides us a framework for understanding the different levels of resistance we may encounter. In doing so, he codifies the participants in resistance to better enable us to understand who they are, what they believe and how we can have an impact on them. Good stuff and very relevant.
However, I found something even more interesting. If you have not listened in on the Voicethread conversation regarding this book, please do it now. Hosted and moderated by Bill Ferriter of the Tempered Radical, this conversation is amazing. Anthony Muhammad contributed to the discussion throughout.
Here are a few of the interesting questions posed by the book and the discussion:
- How do we avoid exacerbating an us-vs-them mentality in public education in an age of accountability?
- How are we passing cultural expectation on to new teachers? Are we intentional about passing information on to new teachers through our actions or are we letting the "bad apples" pass on their own cultural expectations?
- How do we enable teachers (in an age of increased reliance on each other with collaboration, PLCs, etc.) to confront their peers? How can principals and other school leaders teach the skills to teachers which enable them to address their peers appropriately? How can we provide them with the courage and moral authority to do so?
- Are we overlooking a valuable group of people in our schools -- technology coordinators and media specialists -- who are best positioned to help enable cultural shifts in our schools? Does their school-wide (but non-administrative) role provide a communication point with all teachers that is critical in transforming the cultural norms of a school?
These are all topics of ongoing thought and discussions. Listen, enjoy and think.
Thursday, July 30, 2009
School Turnaround: Does it take an outsider?
School turnaround experts are becoming ever more popular in certain parts of the country. A recent NPR report on the use of Turnaround for Children in the Bronx provides an interesting overview on the situation creating this need as well as some insight into their approach.
The keys to success are clear (especially when studied in hindsight):
The keys to success are clear (especially when studied in hindsight):
- Focus on behavior. Don't allow classrooms to be disrupted. Learning does not happen when behavior problems arise. Teach teachers how to deal with these issues quickly and effectively. Ensure that school administrators do their best to support teachers.
- Separate academic issues from social / emotional issues. Schools must be able to sort through the issues and directly address the most significant issues first. Doctors call this triage. Do not try to do it all at once. Focus on where you will get the best return on your time.
- Individualize needs of students. This may be the most difficult part especially for large urban schools. Different students, different families have vastly different needs. Some have money problems, others have logistical issues. For some there are large cultural and language barriers. Understand this up front and focus on getting these students and families matched with the resources that can help. Quickly.
- Do it with existing staff. There are not enough quailified teachers. Period. Most schools and school districts do not have the luxury of replacing staff en masse. And while some may disagree, I content that most teachers are in it for the right reason. Focus on getting rid of the few bad apples if you need to. But work with the staff you've got.
So, if it is so straightforward (and let me assure you, in most cases it is), why do we need outsiders to do it for us? Or do we? There are some reasons for and against and I understand the emotionally charged nature of this topic. But I will offer an opinion: We need outsiders to do the work. Period.
In fact, schools use outsiders (by the classic definition) all the time. A school in need usually gets a new principal. He or she is - for the first two years anyway - effectively an outsider. They come in with few sacred cows or internal political issues. Their agenda is simple: do a good job as measured by student performance. Unfortunately a few things happen along the way that derail these efforts.
First, a new principal may be just that: a new principal. A school in need of turnaround is rarely a great environment for a first year principal. While some new principals are more afraid of following a great principal (perhaps rightly so though for different reasons), entering the treacherous water of a school in need is no place to learn.
Second, the district agenda and biases are still in play. A principal, though new to the school or even the district, is still subjected to many of the same machinations of the school district that the last principal was. This may be good though oftentimes it means business as usually. For turnaround situations, the status quo is rarely a positive.
Third, even experienced principals might lack the experience or the approach of a turnaround expert. Let us be honest. Turning a school around requires a certain stubborness, a thickness of skin, but also a perspective and approach that only comes from experience. Unfortunately most great principals I know end up at the central office never to return to school leadership. And so few principals, even great ones, have a full depth and breadth of experience in turning schools around.
So of course, bringing in a new principal is not the same as bringing in a true outsider. A true outsider would be unfettered from the cultural bonds that restrict his or her ability to make change. They are not worried about the perceptions of staff beyond the immediate term. They have the breadth and depth of experience. But not all of these will play as advantages either.
A lack of connection with the community will be felt by anyone who is clearly there on a temporary basis. And staff and students will feel this as well. As while turnaround organizations clearly have some resources and expertise to leverage, no two situations are exactly alike. These factors need be considered as well.
The best approach may be simply a blend of internal leadership talent supplemented by outside expertise. And regardless of whether an outsider is used or not their lessons can be applied to all: Focus on the areas where you can improve school effectiveness by the largest margin.
Saturday, July 25, 2009
How Will Performance Pay Impact School Climate? It Depends on Leadership.
There is considerable discussion on performance pay for teachers given that it is a cornerstone of the Obama administration's education policy. Arne Duncan has spent considerable time discussing the issue to reporters and in public forums. The NEA has weighed in on its resistance to the notion. But the administration has remained steadfast: performance pay will be part of the renewal of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) regardless of the new name.
Teacher groups have shown tremendous resentment towards these plans. One has only to listen to the NPR interviews and read the news clipping to understand that teachers feel strongly that this is not a good thing. So the question is: how will this impact school climate? Will it adversely impact teacher morale? My guess is that it will impact teacher morale adversely – but maybe just in the near term.
I remember conducting focus groups with teachers six or more years ago. All I heard about (it seemed though I am sure they talked about other things too) was how the accountability components associated with No Child Left Behind were an unfair attempt to discredit public education. Introducing accountability was absurd. Accountability was an unwelcome hardship laid at the feet of teachers. The teachers believed (and perhaps many still do – right or wrong) deep in their hearts that accountability was unjust. They also believed that it would not last. Clearly, however, accountability is here to stay.
Interestingly, as the years progressed I heard a shift each year in my conversations regarding accountability. It started with administrators but trickled down to teachers. They seemed (albeit slowly in some cases) to accept the need to objectively measure student performance. Even more promising, educators were able to figure out how to think about accountability as more than just
I credit much of the shift in sentiment regarding accountability to district and school administrators. The leaders who were successful recognized the need to measure student performance. But more importantly, they recognized the need to bring teachers along. To convince them that this was important. To challenge their assumptions without challenging their dedication. Effective leadership was key for many schools who undertook the significant cultural transformation towards being data driven. The same type of leadership will be necessary to lead this transformation.
Now let’s be fair and accurate. Many teachers still feel that they are teaching to the test. And perhaps they are. But many educators have embraced the need for measuring progress and have adapted well within the framework of No Child Left Behind. Most senior-level administrators I know firmly support accountability today despite that fact that far fewer supported the legislation when it was first introduced.
Will performance pay for teachers follow a similar pattern? Will teachers and administrators, after several years of protesting, realize that the best in the profession might actually be able to make more than the worst in the profession? Clearly the devil is in the details. Issues remain and details are fuzzy. How will the legislation work for great teachers who work with challenging student populations? How will it ensure that teachers who teach in suburban schools with great test scores aren’t the beneficiaries of higher pay simply because they inherited schools with higher test scores?
As the details of the new administration’s platform emerge, many of these questions will be answered. However, time will tell. We all know that the No Child Left Behind legislation was not perfect. But parts of it did work. It is my hope that we will see further, though different, gains in education through the Obama administration’s plans.
Please share your thoughts and comments. And remember, we can disagree without being disagreeable.
Teacher groups have shown tremendous resentment towards these plans. One has only to listen to the NPR interviews and read the news clipping to understand that teachers feel strongly that this is not a good thing. So the question is: how will this impact school climate? Will it adversely impact teacher morale? My guess is that it will impact teacher morale adversely – but maybe just in the near term.
I remember conducting focus groups with teachers six or more years ago. All I heard about (it seemed though I am sure they talked about other things too) was how the accountability components associated with No Child Left Behind were an unfair attempt to discredit public education. Introducing accountability was absurd. Accountability was an unwelcome hardship laid at the feet of teachers. The teachers believed (and perhaps many still do – right or wrong) deep in their hearts that accountability was unjust. They also believed that it would not last. Clearly, however, accountability is here to stay.
Interestingly, as the years progressed I heard a shift each year in my conversations regarding accountability. It started with administrators but trickled down to teachers. They seemed (albeit slowly in some cases) to accept the need to objectively measure student performance. Even more promising, educators were able to figure out how to think about accountability as more than just
teaching to the test. Positive developments in the thinking about how schools were or were not successful began to emerge. Educators learned to study data in complete new ways. They had a new and healthy appreciation of the challenges that were theirs.
I credit much of the shift in sentiment regarding accountability to district and school administrators. The leaders who were successful recognized the need to measure student performance. But more importantly, they recognized the need to bring teachers along. To convince them that this was important. To challenge their assumptions without challenging their dedication. Effective leadership was key for many schools who undertook the significant cultural transformation towards being data driven. The same type of leadership will be necessary to lead this transformation.
Now let’s be fair and accurate. Many teachers still feel that they are teaching to the test. And perhaps they are. But many educators have embraced the need for measuring progress and have adapted well within the framework of No Child Left Behind. Most senior-level administrators I know firmly support accountability today despite that fact that far fewer supported the legislation when it was first introduced.
Will performance pay for teachers follow a similar pattern? Will teachers and administrators, after several years of protesting, realize that the best in the profession might actually be able to make more than the worst in the profession? Clearly the devil is in the details. Issues remain and details are fuzzy. How will the legislation work for great teachers who work with challenging student populations? How will it ensure that teachers who teach in suburban schools with great test scores aren’t the beneficiaries of higher pay simply because they inherited schools with higher test scores?
As the details of the new administration’s platform emerge, many of these questions will be answered. However, time will tell. We all know that the No Child Left Behind legislation was not perfect. But parts of it did work. It is my hope that we will see further, though different, gains in education through the Obama administration’s plans.
Please share your thoughts and comments. And remember, we can disagree without being disagreeable.
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Can Web 2.0 Break School-to-Home Barriers?
Many school and district administrators I speak with spend a significant amount of time figuring out how to connect with parents. The research clearly indicates that parental involvement is critical to student success. And so, educators create elaborate (and often time consuming) ways to increase parent interaction with the school.
Some of the most effective methods are creative in their approach(though decidedly low-tech): serving breakfast before school (parents invited, of course!), newsletters, evening and weekend school events, and parent workshops. Many schools encourage teachers to make a certain number of phone calls to parents each week. These methods, while effective, can be challenging given that they are time-consuming. Even the best school-to-home communication plans have to pick and choose methods because you can’t do it all.
Then consider this: how much true interaction do these forms of communication enable? Newsletters are a one-direction form of communication. Information posted to websites must be changed frequently; most school and district websites don't easily facilitate the exchange of thought but rather just the dissemination of information (this could be changed though!). Also websites require a parent to proactively visit and don't "push" the information out effectively. Email can be great -- no longer do we require the student to bring home a piece of paper -- but can be overdone. I admit that I stopped reading all the emails from my daughter's school when I began to receive 3 to 4 per day! These mediums are fairly static in nature. They don't build on some of the most powerful promises of technology which will enable better sharing and rich interactions.
And so we see an emergence of Web 2.0 technologies particularly in the area of communication. In a recent eSchool News article (click here) the most commonly used Web 2.0 technology is online communication tools for parents and students, as identified in a research study commissioned by Lightspeed Systems and Thinkronize Inc.
In thinking about this, I began to consider the different and interesting uses of technology that I've seen -- specific to the school-home communication area. Here are three of the most interesting and straightforward ideas that I have seen in this area listed from low-cost to high-cost:
1. Extending the website
Your school and your district already has a website. But are you utilizing it fully? This is a great and low-cost way to share information that you already have ready-to-serve!
Status quo: Many schools have static websites. Some post new content semi-frequently.
Best practice: Schools and districts have a constant flow of new information. This can be done easily with out-of-the-box software that will require no technical expertise to publish information. These information posts are supplemented with RSS Feeds that allow parents and students to subscribe to any and relevant feeds which are conveniently served up in their RSS Reader of choice.
Cost: Low. The content is usually already there and the tools to make this possible are readily available, free or low-cost, and easy to deploy.
2. Teacher Generated Content
With a bit more work and investment, schools and school districts can provide their teachers with the ability to easily publish to a class website, attach homework, provide a calendar of events, etc. When teachers have the ability to share this information, on their website, without relying on another person to update the webpage, we see an explosion in content.
Status quo: Teachers send home schedules, handouts, reminders. Sometimes these are sent via email as well. The information is not posted to a teacher-specific website.
Best practice: Teachers have publishing tools that enable them to post their information to a web page which is specific to their class. They can attached documents as well as post announcements and alter a calendar/schedule. RSS feeds and email subscriptions are available so parents can get updates automatically without visiting the web page directly.
Cost: Low to Medium - While you can opt to spend a lot on a sophisticated content management system, there are a number of low cost options that will require minimal set up to implement. Granted with a bit bigger budget you get better functionality but you can do a lot with very little in this category.
3. Parent Portals (w System Access)
Nirvana of home-school communication would include password protected parent access that allows for checking on personal information (grades, attendance) as well as class specific information (homework, test dates, field trip dates, etc.). Furthermore, a parents "calendar" would combine the schedules associated with the classes (and only the classes) specific to their students. And of course these would be enabled through "push" technologies such as RSS feeds and automatic email distribution of new content. There are some systems that allow for pieces of this -- particularly the password protected access to grade and attendance information. We have yet to see all the functionality we'd like.
Status Quo: Wait until progress report and report card times to communicate grades and attendance.
Best Practice: Proactive, automated, real-time access to information for parents at any hour. Provide parents with the ability to receive automated information in a number of ways. Facilitate discussion and networking via internet including teacher-parent and parent-parent.
Cost: High. Feel free to share the costs if you are a school or school district who as implemented a system. When I've asked the typical answer given indicates that it is a hefty sum!
Here are few companies that offer a publishing platform. This list should not be thought of as an endorsement on my part. I know district using each of them though so they are certainly in production. That said, if you have experience with any of these, please comment. Also if you know of other platforms that are effective (or ineffective) please share:
Principle Data Systems
Edline
Infinite Campus
Some of the most effective methods are creative in their approach(though decidedly low-tech): serving breakfast before school (parents invited, of course!), newsletters, evening and weekend school events, and parent workshops. Many schools encourage teachers to make a certain number of phone calls to parents each week. These methods, while effective, can be challenging given that they are time-consuming. Even the best school-to-home communication plans have to pick and choose methods because you can’t do it all.
Then consider this: how much true interaction do these forms of communication enable? Newsletters are a one-direction form of communication. Information posted to websites must be changed frequently; most school and district websites don't easily facilitate the exchange of thought but rather just the dissemination of information (this could be changed though!). Also websites require a parent to proactively visit and don't "push" the information out effectively. Email can be great -- no longer do we require the student to bring home a piece of paper -- but can be overdone. I admit that I stopped reading all the emails from my daughter's school when I began to receive 3 to 4 per day! These mediums are fairly static in nature. They don't build on some of the most powerful promises of technology which will enable better sharing and rich interactions.
And so we see an emergence of Web 2.0 technologies particularly in the area of communication. In a recent eSchool News article (click here) the most commonly used Web 2.0 technology is online communication tools for parents and students, as identified in a research study commissioned by Lightspeed Systems and Thinkronize Inc.
In thinking about this, I began to consider the different and interesting uses of technology that I've seen -- specific to the school-home communication area. Here are three of the most interesting and straightforward ideas that I have seen in this area listed from low-cost to high-cost:
1. Extending the website
Your school and your district already has a website. But are you utilizing it fully? This is a great and low-cost way to share information that you already have ready-to-serve!
Status quo: Many schools have static websites. Some post new content semi-frequently.
Best practice: Schools and districts have a constant flow of new information. This can be done easily with out-of-the-box software that will require no technical expertise to publish information. These information posts are supplemented with RSS Feeds that allow parents and students to subscribe to any and relevant feeds which are conveniently served up in their RSS Reader of choice.
Cost: Low. The content is usually already there and the tools to make this possible are readily available, free or low-cost, and easy to deploy.
2. Teacher Generated Content
With a bit more work and investment, schools and school districts can provide their teachers with the ability to easily publish to a class website, attach homework, provide a calendar of events, etc. When teachers have the ability to share this information, on their website, without relying on another person to update the webpage, we see an explosion in content.
Status quo: Teachers send home schedules, handouts, reminders. Sometimes these are sent via email as well. The information is not posted to a teacher-specific website.
Best practice: Teachers have publishing tools that enable them to post their information to a web page which is specific to their class. They can attached documents as well as post announcements and alter a calendar/schedule. RSS feeds and email subscriptions are available so parents can get updates automatically without visiting the web page directly.
Cost: Low to Medium - While you can opt to spend a lot on a sophisticated content management system, there are a number of low cost options that will require minimal set up to implement. Granted with a bit bigger budget you get better functionality but you can do a lot with very little in this category.
3. Parent Portals (w System Access)
Nirvana of home-school communication would include password protected parent access that allows for checking on personal information (grades, attendance) as well as class specific information (homework, test dates, field trip dates, etc.). Furthermore, a parents "calendar" would combine the schedules associated with the classes (and only the classes) specific to their students. And of course these would be enabled through "push" technologies such as RSS feeds and automatic email distribution of new content. There are some systems that allow for pieces of this -- particularly the password protected access to grade and attendance information. We have yet to see all the functionality we'd like.
Status Quo: Wait until progress report and report card times to communicate grades and attendance.
Best Practice: Proactive, automated, real-time access to information for parents at any hour. Provide parents with the ability to receive automated information in a number of ways. Facilitate discussion and networking via internet including teacher-parent and parent-parent.
Cost: High. Feel free to share the costs if you are a school or school district who as implemented a system. When I've asked the typical answer given indicates that it is a hefty sum!
Here are few companies that offer a publishing platform. This list should not be thought of as an endorsement on my part. I know district using each of them though so they are certainly in production. That said, if you have experience with any of these, please comment. Also if you know of other platforms that are effective (or ineffective) please share:
Principle Data Systems
Edline
Infinite Campus
Friday, July 17, 2009
Seeking Participants!
We are conducting, through the National Center for School Leadership, a research study on School Climate and Culture. The Center has conducted such studies on behalf of school districts for years but this year we decided to change things a bit. We're going completely national. And it's FREE to participate.
Why are we doing this? The primary reason is quite simple. We are changing our survey tool significantly and we'd like to quickly gather more normative data. This way, rather than simply saying "Your teachers do/don't feel valued" we can say "Your teachers feel less(or more) valued than teachers in similar school districts." Is there value in that? We think so.
If you are a school district administrator and would like to participate in this research project, visit the Research Calendar for the National Center for School Leadership.
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Top 3 Culture Killers
Climate and culture within a school is often underrated as a cause of failure among our schools. Indeed most leaders spend far more time focused on instructional related matter, personnel issues, bus schedules and even lunch duty. While these are all important aspects of running a school, many leaders spend little time truly understanding and actively managing school culture.
There are countless resources and studies that one can review for approaches to school culture. There are equally countless books on leadership that school leaders can leverage to understand how to address the management challenges associated with addressing culture issues. Our intent here however it simply to share some of the recurring themes we see in schools. While I am sharing three of the recurring themes that we have heard from teachers related to school culture, these will differ significantly school to school.
1. No one is listening to me
In many professions and in many organizations, employees often feel as though they have no say in how the organization is operated. And typically this is true by design. Leaders are often so busy that they not only do not seek input, they subconsciously avoid it. Let us face it: it takes time to be collaborative. This issue is exacerbated in schools where organization leverage ratios (the ratio between supervisors and subordinates or administrators to faculty) are over 1:25. Organizational theory suggests that and leverage ratio of 1:6 or 1:8 is optimal.
2. I feel overworked
The demands placed upon educators today is extreme. No Child Left Behind has imposed accountability for results with scant incremental budgetary resources. School leaders have worked diligently to test various instructional initiatives, implement new teaching methods and refine assessment processes. Teachers have felt the pressure as districts and school initiatives grasp at these initiatives often taxing teachers time inside and outside of the classroom.
3. I am not supported with discipline issues
Another of the most consistent themes I hear from teachers in schools with rifts between administration and faculty are related to discipline. Teachers may feel that administrators are more likely to "take sides" with the student or parent on discipline issues. Meanwhile, the situation may seem far different that through the eyes of the administrators. Often times the truth lies in the middle. Teachers do not like to feel unsupported. Administrators often want to reserve judgment until they have heard all sides to a story. However, reserving judgment leaves teachers with the feeling that although they feel they have already passes judgment, the administrators don't trust that the teacher has made a fair decision. This disconnect between administrators and faculty creates a nebulous understanding for teachers of their role as it relates to discipline and often leads to inconsistent (and progressively less effective) delivery of discipline.
Any of these three issues may be present in a given school. The reasons and the background are often complex and unique to the situation at a particular schools. However there are many themes associated with these issues that any school leader can learn from. Solutions to these types of culture problems should address the specific reasons for the culture and climate gap.
There are countless resources and studies that one can review for approaches to school culture. There are equally countless books on leadership that school leaders can leverage to understand how to address the management challenges associated with addressing culture issues. Our intent here however it simply to share some of the recurring themes we see in schools. While I am sharing three of the recurring themes that we have heard from teachers related to school culture, these will differ significantly school to school.
1. No one is listening to me
In many professions and in many organizations, employees often feel as though they have no say in how the organization is operated. And typically this is true by design. Leaders are often so busy that they not only do not seek input, they subconsciously avoid it. Let us face it: it takes time to be collaborative. This issue is exacerbated in schools where organization leverage ratios (the ratio between supervisors and subordinates or administrators to faculty) are over 1:25. Organizational theory suggests that and leverage ratio of 1:6 or 1:8 is optimal.
2. I feel overworked
The demands placed upon educators today is extreme. No Child Left Behind has imposed accountability for results with scant incremental budgetary resources. School leaders have worked diligently to test various instructional initiatives, implement new teaching methods and refine assessment processes. Teachers have felt the pressure as districts and school initiatives grasp at these initiatives often taxing teachers time inside and outside of the classroom.
3. I am not supported with discipline issues
Another of the most consistent themes I hear from teachers in schools with rifts between administration and faculty are related to discipline. Teachers may feel that administrators are more likely to "take sides" with the student or parent on discipline issues. Meanwhile, the situation may seem far different that through the eyes of the administrators. Often times the truth lies in the middle. Teachers do not like to feel unsupported. Administrators often want to reserve judgment until they have heard all sides to a story. However, reserving judgment leaves teachers with the feeling that although they feel they have already passes judgment, the administrators don't trust that the teacher has made a fair decision. This disconnect between administrators and faculty creates a nebulous understanding for teachers of their role as it relates to discipline and often leads to inconsistent (and progressively less effective) delivery of discipline.
Any of these three issues may be present in a given school. The reasons and the background are often complex and unique to the situation at a particular schools. However there are many themes associated with these issues that any school leader can learn from. Solutions to these types of culture problems should address the specific reasons for the culture and climate gap.
Sunday, May 17, 2009
Lessons for New Leaders
I am often asked the questions "Can leaders be made or are they born?" This is a central theme that has spurred discussions, indeed arguments, among leadership experts always.
I tend to believe that with a few exceptions, all leadership skills can be learned and developed overtime if one is willing to truly self-reflect and improve. Instead of an absolute in terms of leadership (i.e., you are or you are not), I see leadership as a journey. As we begin we may have many gaps in our approach and style that causes us problems. As we develop, we improve and grow into more well-rounded leaders. If you view leadership as a continuum, the first thing we must admit is this: Not everyone is a great leader. While an individual may develop into a great leader, their current leadership practice may be missing the mark in a dramatic way.
In K-12 education we are often looking at the role of principal or assistant principal when we ask this question with a particular candidate in mind. New school administrators are often facing their first true leadership role. And what a challenging role it is. I often tell clients that to be a good principal, you need to be a great leader. Other roles in school districts may require some leadership skill but the role of principal requires excellent skills in this regard.
As much of my work is with new principals, it seemed relevant to share a few themes that I try to underscore with new administrators. We all have blind spots: those areas where we lack skills and, furthermore, make lack the ability to identify this specific lack of skill. New leaders are no different. Some of these blind spots that I see consistently are among the following. And while these may seem obvious, there is a depth to each of these that even the most accomplished leader does not do well enough.
Be Collaborative. But Do Not Vote
As leaders we often times strive to define our style of leadership immediately. We may want others to see us as democratic. Alternatively we may perceive that the situation requires that we be direct, decisive and even authoritarian. Many elements of leadership style are personal to each of us. It is our leadership thumbprint which defines who we are as a leader and provides our subordinates with a certain level of expectation as to how we will approach a situation. And while there is a large degree of flexibility in style, I tend to believe that new leaders should be collaborative with their staff, but only to a degree.
Why is this? Collaborating with and seeking buy-in and involvement from your faculty is the only way I know of to generate a shared sense of vision for a school. Without their involvement, it will not matter if you have the perfect vision, the best mix of academic plans, or the exact right intervention model. You will have failed if the faculty does not also see the way. We get that through collaboration. Many leaders spend more time on coming up with what they think is the right solution rather than developing buy-in among staff. It is better to implement a solution that, to you, feels only 80% right but with 100% of the faculty behind it, than to implement a perfect solution alone.
There is a caveat to buy-in. Schools are public institutions and funded by the government for the local communities. We are beholden to our communities and elected school board to perform in the roles we are given. But schools are not democracies. Majority opinion does not rule and sometimes teacher are, in fact, wrong. Indeed, you will hear so much conflicting opinion that by definition everyone cannot be right. As the leader it is your job to listen to ideas and opinions and then make a decision. The direction of the school is a decision on the part of leadership, not a vote. But we must have buy-in from staff to make it all work.
Be Visible, Be Positive
As new school leaders, we are often overwhelmed by the magnitude of the job. With a job that has you moving as quickly as this, it is easy to lose focus on what is important. Many new leaders spend large amounts of their time in meetings with district administrators, parents, community, students, and teachers each presenting a variety of issues and challenges. The frenetic schedule can often create two problems for a new leaders. The nature of dealing with daunting challenges on a seemingly non-stop basis can sap our positive energy. Meanwhile, the demands on time may make if difficult for new leaders to maintain a level of visibility among staff and students.
The power of being visible and positive to staff and students is often overlooked. And yet it is one of the most important thing a new leader can maintain. Visibility may be as simple as walking the halls throughout the day, every day, and greeting everyone you meet. Positive means simply not letting the stress show. Always project the sense that, even if the solutions is not obviously apparent, we can address the issues before us. Great leaders project this sense of positive, confidence. It may seem phony to you at first if you doubt yourself; however you will develop more confidence over time if you maintain a positive outlook and continue to believe that your team can tackle any issue in front of it.
Over-communicate Your Focus
"But we talked about this at the last staff meeting! How come they do not remember?" Principals ask me this question (or questions like it) all the time. Truth is, just because it is crystal clear in your mind does not mean it is so clear in the minds of others. John Kotter, of the Harvard Business School and noted expert on change management, once said if you believe you are communicating your vision enough, do it ten times as much and then maybe you will be doing it enough.
Leaders consistently under-communicate their vision because they think people may already know or even be sick of hearing it. Great leaders figure out ways to integrate the discussion of their focus into almost every conversation. They weave the theme of their school through every component of the school system and ensure that conversations relate back to the focus of the organization.
I tend to believe that with a few exceptions, all leadership skills can be learned and developed overtime if one is willing to truly self-reflect and improve. Instead of an absolute in terms of leadership (i.e., you are or you are not), I see leadership as a journey. As we begin we may have many gaps in our approach and style that causes us problems. As we develop, we improve and grow into more well-rounded leaders. If you view leadership as a continuum, the first thing we must admit is this: Not everyone is a great leader. While an individual may develop into a great leader, their current leadership practice may be missing the mark in a dramatic way.
In K-12 education we are often looking at the role of principal or assistant principal when we ask this question with a particular candidate in mind. New school administrators are often facing their first true leadership role. And what a challenging role it is. I often tell clients that to be a good principal, you need to be a great leader. Other roles in school districts may require some leadership skill but the role of principal requires excellent skills in this regard.
As much of my work is with new principals, it seemed relevant to share a few themes that I try to underscore with new administrators. We all have blind spots: those areas where we lack skills and, furthermore, make lack the ability to identify this specific lack of skill. New leaders are no different. Some of these blind spots that I see consistently are among the following. And while these may seem obvious, there is a depth to each of these that even the most accomplished leader does not do well enough.
Be Collaborative. But Do Not Vote
As leaders we often times strive to define our style of leadership immediately. We may want others to see us as democratic. Alternatively we may perceive that the situation requires that we be direct, decisive and even authoritarian. Many elements of leadership style are personal to each of us. It is our leadership thumbprint which defines who we are as a leader and provides our subordinates with a certain level of expectation as to how we will approach a situation. And while there is a large degree of flexibility in style, I tend to believe that new leaders should be collaborative with their staff, but only to a degree.
Why is this? Collaborating with and seeking buy-in and involvement from your faculty is the only way I know of to generate a shared sense of vision for a school. Without their involvement, it will not matter if you have the perfect vision, the best mix of academic plans, or the exact right intervention model. You will have failed if the faculty does not also see the way. We get that through collaboration. Many leaders spend more time on coming up with what they think is the right solution rather than developing buy-in among staff. It is better to implement a solution that, to you, feels only 80% right but with 100% of the faculty behind it, than to implement a perfect solution alone.
There is a caveat to buy-in. Schools are public institutions and funded by the government for the local communities. We are beholden to our communities and elected school board to perform in the roles we are given. But schools are not democracies. Majority opinion does not rule and sometimes teacher are, in fact, wrong. Indeed, you will hear so much conflicting opinion that by definition everyone cannot be right. As the leader it is your job to listen to ideas and opinions and then make a decision. The direction of the school is a decision on the part of leadership, not a vote. But we must have buy-in from staff to make it all work.
Be Visible, Be Positive
As new school leaders, we are often overwhelmed by the magnitude of the job. With a job that has you moving as quickly as this, it is easy to lose focus on what is important. Many new leaders spend large amounts of their time in meetings with district administrators, parents, community, students, and teachers each presenting a variety of issues and challenges. The frenetic schedule can often create two problems for a new leaders. The nature of dealing with daunting challenges on a seemingly non-stop basis can sap our positive energy. Meanwhile, the demands on time may make if difficult for new leaders to maintain a level of visibility among staff and students.
The power of being visible and positive to staff and students is often overlooked. And yet it is one of the most important thing a new leader can maintain. Visibility may be as simple as walking the halls throughout the day, every day, and greeting everyone you meet. Positive means simply not letting the stress show. Always project the sense that, even if the solutions is not obviously apparent, we can address the issues before us. Great leaders project this sense of positive, confidence. It may seem phony to you at first if you doubt yourself; however you will develop more confidence over time if you maintain a positive outlook and continue to believe that your team can tackle any issue in front of it.
Over-communicate Your Focus
"But we talked about this at the last staff meeting! How come they do not remember?" Principals ask me this question (or questions like it) all the time. Truth is, just because it is crystal clear in your mind does not mean it is so clear in the minds of others. John Kotter, of the Harvard Business School and noted expert on change management, once said if you believe you are communicating your vision enough, do it ten times as much and then maybe you will be doing it enough.
Leaders consistently under-communicate their vision because they think people may already know or even be sick of hearing it. Great leaders figure out ways to integrate the discussion of their focus into almost every conversation. They weave the theme of their school through every component of the school system and ensure that conversations relate back to the focus of the organization.
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