That ding you just heard was another text or email coming in to a principal who is already overworked and underappreciated as he or she tries to get through the last lunch of the day without having to call an ambulance or calm down an irate parent.
It leaves us to wonder how in the world a principal might have the time to set forth an instructional vision and if that vision can somehow, someway mesh with the increasing demands we all feel related to state accountability measures and teacher appraisal.
To wrap our arms around these disparate initiatives and bring them together under one unifying vision, a top-notch instructional leader must know the key levers to pull to make it all work. That means avoiding the temptation of focusing too much on the latest trainings, book studies or strategy “fads” in favor of something that is more lasting: an instructional vision that is connected a few core instructional principles that all teachers can buy into.
No matter what others will tell you, there is no such list of sure-fire, best practices nor any exemplar plan for school improvement that we can all copy from and that works in every instance. That is why principals must be savvy enough to decide which lever to pull in light of their school’s unique needs. In the previous commentary posted on this topic (part I of II), we posed some examples of how this might work.
Creating synergy: Less is more when setting instructional vision.
One such idea that a principal might consider is focusing his or her staff on one or two key strategies that the staff can rally around. This is not to say that each staff member will not work to improve in areas that are unique to them, but that as one team we have agreed to master a few, key things that will make our school a model for others.
Instead of grasping each year at this or that, it may be best to key in on something from a menu of best practices typically associated with school improvement – no matter the state or district you work in or the evaluation framework you use.
Here are a few key strategies to consider:
-
Teaching to the standards / lesson pacing / distributed practice
- Are the teachers in your school teaching students at the rigor required by the standard? Are your teachers progressing through the pacing guides efficiently to ensure that all students are acquiring adequate exposure and practice in the standards? Are the teachers providing enough review of foundational skills and already-covered standards so students have ongoing practice in hopes of cementing these skills into their long-term memories?
-
Student agency / collaboration / accountable talk
- Are the students in your school provided time in class to discuss the class content? No matter what you call this, there is increasing evidence to support the need for students to “own” their own learning and that is tied, in part, to student-to-student talk (as long as that discussion is tied to content).
-
Student data chatting / goal-setting / measuring growth
- Are the students in your school aware of their strengths and weaknesses? Is anybody (the teacher?) discussing with them where they stand in relation to the skills and standards? Is there any systematic way for the students in your school to get extra practice in the things they struggle with?
-
Parallel assessment / student feedback / assessment “for” learning
- Are the teachers in your school using assessment “for” learning in addition to assessment “of” learning? Is there a system of assessment in place designed for students to get feedback as to their progress? Might there be “similar” or “parallel” assessments in place so that students get multiple attempts to show growth and mastery?
School management. This is what we do here. 100% is not 99%.
No matter the strategy a principal and staff employs to improve their school, the strategy must be rooted in the core convictions of the instructional leader. What matters to you as the principal? What do you want to see in every class, every day? Is this the key thing that your teachers have to get right to increase student learning and improve your school data?
One of my favorite strategies that has not been mentioned yet is the “100 percent rule.” This idea has been well-articulated by Doug Lemov in his popular book titled “Teach Like A Champion.” In short, Lemov describes this rule related to classroom management – that a teacher must require that 100% of her students are tuned in and on task for learning. He correctly points out that any slippage starts us down a slope where we hold some students to high standards and others not-so-much. This is one of those skills that master teachers know well and that less-than-effective teachers do not.
I bring up the 100 percent rule here because it is another great lever that a principal might pull when looking for a schoolwide strategy to impact student learning. I also mention it because our best instructional leaders (like our master teachers) do not allow some students to do things well while other students do not and do not allow some teachers to do things well while others do not. Everybody must be expected to meet the standard.
A strong instructional leader creates buy-in around these few strategies that everyone must do well, while also holding everyone accountable for doing them correctly. The message goes something like this: “At this school, we’re going to do these things perfectly no matter what because they are key to student learning in our school.” No matter the pressures that come from the outside, our best principals stay the course in knowing where they are going instructionally and they invest the time in getting their teachers and students to buy in.
Why?
“Because this is what we do in our school. Because it is the right thing to do. Because, in the end, our plan will work. No matter the critics, we will get this part right, because this is what we believe in. No matter how long it takes, we shall get this right. Our students shall benefit. And we shall win the day.”
