Leader 2 Leader

HAVE, DO, BE: A Shared Visioning Activity for School Leaders Have you been hired as the new principal? Are you thinking making an adjustment to your school’s vision and mission? This cooperative process can assist you in ensuring that all stakeholders have the opportunity to share in what they want your school to acquire, to accomplish, and to be acknowledged for. Four years ago, I stepped into a building that had just undergone the Differentiated Accountability (DA) process with the State and had lost approximately half the Staff, due to related stressors. With the new school letter grade designation of a “B” from the previous year’s “D”, it was time for our school to rebrand itself! I gathered the Staff to meet in our media center during the preservice week, with a goal of learning about how the staff felt about the school. The dedicated employees that remained, after the mass exodus, had much to say about how they were tired of being “looked down upon”, as they worked hard...

By: Kyle Dresback, Associate Superintendent for Student Support Services, St. Johns County Schools Over the last twenty months, it has been hard on educators. Whether you are the bus driver, food service worker, teacher, principal, or district administrator, we have all gone through challenging times. However, one thing to remember is so have our students and families. Education is a very complex business. We do not make “widgets” or manufacture items. Most mission statements include creating students who will be positive contributing members of society. To that end, education requires that principals need to see the value of people. When I was the principal at a high school, I would ask my faculty and staff to close their eyes and think about their favorite teacher. I would wait a minute then ask them to open their eyes. I then asked, “Tell me your favorite teacher’s best lesson plan, content of the lesson, differentiation for the class needs, etc.” No hands would go up and no com...

 Highly effective instructional leaders are intentional in their school improvement efforts. They employ a systems-thinking approach to problem-solving and exercise strategic planning skills to support increased student performance outcomes. Successful leaders ascribe to do the following.   Align curricula, state standards, instructional practices, and assessments to meet student learning needs and collaborate with a team to develop a cohesive plan. Never be the expert in the room! Utilize the strengths of your academic coaches, teacher leaders, and support service providers to create an action plan that addresses the school’s areas of need, identified through thorough data analysis. Be sure to designate who is responsible for student performance data collection, but always assume ultimate accountability. Meet regularly to assess progress toward the goal(s) and amend the plan! An effective leader seeks forward progress and will take action to improve instructi...