Guest post by Jamie Richardson

School leaders talk often about innovation in education, but as much as we want it, we have to admit it’s hard to get past talking about it and actually change. Change is scary and uncomfortable. Even with well thought out plans, the outcome is unknown and the stakes are high. A far greater risk, though, is maintaining the status quo. But I have seen the power of change at LaCreole Middle School. Our stellar staff faces their fears, takes risks, and embraces new ideas so that we all work toward a true common goal.

How can leaders help schools move away from mediocrity and make strides toward innovation? Here are some of the key lessons that have helped us become agents of positive change:

Create a foundation. In order for change to happen, you must have a purpose that is meaningful. Our foundation came from viewing the documentary “Most Likely to Succeed.” This film exposes the inadequacies of conventional education programs and highlights innovative, inspiring approaches. Staff discussions that followed revealed that we knew what we needed to do and, more important, wanted to do to become one of these schools. We talked about how our own fears of high-stakes testing and accountability kept us on a more traditional path. Identifying these goals and fears helped us gain a solid foundation to implement worthwhile change.

Build teacher ownership. The next step in our move from good to great was giving teachers ownership over their own growth as professionals. We realized that in order to move forward, each staff member had to take a different risk unique to that teacher’s content area and experience level. One of our teachers wanted to establish a makerspace, another wanted to create a new Business Through Design course, and a group of teachers wanted to work together to implement a collaborative fairy-tale project.

So how can school leaders support teachers to foster each person’s individual professional growth and create a collective mindset of innovation? To overcome this challenge, we developed a people-driven process model that utilizes our PLCs to foster teacher ownership and hold them accountable for their own professional growth. Shifting our PLC focus to meet the unique needs of our teachers has made a positive impact in creating a mindset of innovation.

Share your success. An ongoing communication plan can help promote a culture of innovation. Our social media presence has played a vital role in creating a positive image for our patrons as well as our own staff. Whether it is a PBL project, STEAM challenge, or physical activities, we write our own story. Social media has taken us from the “realm of mediocre” to a school that parents and the community often brag about and celebrate.

Stay patient. It takes time to establish a culture of innovation. Like students, staff members develop differently and it is important to keep their growth in perspective. Know your people in a way that allows you to understand their fears and insecurities. Be empathetic, yet keep enough pressure to create discomfort for positive growth. It is important to note that the progress your staff makes will not reveal itself immediately. It takes time and commitment to change a culture, so stay the course!

It is important as leaders to engage fully in the work of our schools and to know firsthand the challenges our teachers experience. Change is uncomfortable, and building a culture of innovation takes work. Modeling and learning through our own risk-taking helps create a culture where teachers take risks to innovate and create more meaningful learning opportunities for our students.

How can schools support teachers to take risks and create a culture of innovation?

Jamie Richardson is principal of LaCreole Middle School in Dallas, OR. He is a 2017 Digital Principal of the Year. Follow him on Twitter @JamieR42.

Guest post by Kevin Lein

Throughout my career in education, various school choice initiatives have come and gone, but now school choice has the backing of our current political administration and Secretary DeVos. As a staunch advocate of public education, I am deeply troubled by these efforts to undermine and dismantle the progress we have made in our public schools. I believe that the solution to the question of school choice lies not in offering choices between schools, but rather in promoting choice initiatives within our public schools. 

Proponents of school choice say that thought competition will create better learning environments and better opportunity. But unless we determine our students to be “products” and retreat to assembly-line, industrial-aged thinking, business models alone will never create the intended result—i.e., to level the playing fields for all demographics and meet students where they are to take them as far as they can go.
Only when we acknowledge these realities will we have a solid foundation from which to explore the effects of school choice.

Relocating students is not always the best option. Such an approach underestimates the power of technology and the support our communities can provide. Instead of thinking about moving students between different schools, we should be looking for ways to encourage students to move within their existing environments, according to their needs and abilities. In other words, we should aspire to develop an IEP for every student. Practically speaking, it may be difficult to achieve this vision with existing resources, but the point is we need to shift our mentality and look for new and better ways to help our students succeed in their own communities. For example, we should aim to:

• Offer certification programs in the community or online rather than graduation “treks.”
• Destigmatize vocational routes and encourage dual targets of academia with CTE-focused possibilities.
• Allow for more work-based credits to unlock opportunity and promote schedule flexibility.
• Integrate non-traditional demonstrations of mastery and practice to provide more sustainable and credible assessments for certain student populations.

Skills-based curriculum and assessment must be the rule rather than the exception. We should focus more on developing traits that can be generalized to any future, such as discernment, discrimination, communication, critical thinking, creativity, accountability, and responsibility.

To the proponents of school choice, I ask you to consider a different path. Instead of pushing policies that relocate students to different schools and making education a for-profit enterprise, push instead for choice within our public schools.

To my colleagues leading our public schools, I ask you make a conscious effort and set a goal to integrate more skills-based curriculum, teacher training, and student assessments. Think about ways to encourage student mobility and choice within your campus community.

Kevin Lein, EdD, is the former principal of Harrisburg High School in Harrisburg, SD, and current regional administrator for Prairie Lakes Area Education Agency in Jefferson, Iowa, where he continues his work to create customized learning environments for students. He is the 2016 South Dakota Principal of the Year.

Guest post by Ryan Rismiller

With so much going on in education policy these days, it’s easy sometimes to lose focus of what matters most—students. At Graham High School, we are using a program we call Career Gears to provide relevant opportunities for our students district-wide. Working with stakeholders throughout the community, we create relevant experiences that can help students identify their career interests and build professional skills and relationships for the future. 

Career Gears Mission

The focus for Career Gears started with a district mission: “Success today, prepared for tomorrow.” This mission led to critical board work that created policies of service and shadowing district-wide. In other words, all students in our elementary, middle, and high schools receive experiences that encourage them to dream about their futures and open doors for many opportunities. Career Gears started its initial rollout in August 2016. Our administrative team and staff work closely with our career centers, universities, and community stakeholders to find and coordinate service and shadowing experiences for our students.

Unique Opportunities 

Some of the opportunities that we have brought to students include a district-wide service day and various internships and services projects with our community partners. Students at the high school have interned with the United Way, health care facilities, local offices, farms, the Board of Education, and more. Our middle school students participate in hands-on lessons to develop an energy bike. ​And during our district Tour Day, our elementary students serve in various leadership roles to promote their building.

In cooperation with the Champaign Economic Partnership, our district participated in Manufacturing Day on October 6, 2017, which let students explore the manufacturing industry through visits to local facilities. Our students learned firsthand about modern manufacturing and technology, and asked questions about career opportunities in this sector. Another unique experience for some of our high school students is training and receiving certification in Geographic Information Systems (GIS) equipment that identifies the location of wastewater utilities such as fire hydrants, valves, sewers, and storm drains.

Student Career Growth

In addition to these relevant experiences, Career Gears also supports students in the growth of necessary skills and knowledge for work and life outside of the classroom. Students utilize Naviance, a computer application that provides tools for college planning and career assessment. This program helps students identify career pathways in which they may be interested. We also offer students opportunities to receive college credits or industry credentials/certifications for demonstrated competencies. In general, our district supports career growth through various K–12 programs and coursework that build career and college readiness skills like communication, teamwork, collaboration, problem-solving, creativity, and more.

Student Success 

Career Gears has already made a positive impact on students in our district. Through the various service opportunities and district-wide service day, we have promoted unity as a school system and within the community. Students who have visited local manufacturers realized that exciting career opportunities exist for them in their home county. And some of our students have turned unpaid internships into paid positions. We are hopeful that Career Gears will help pave the way for more of our students to receive opportunities and experiences that are relevant to their futures.

Think about what programs you have to expose students to potential career pathways. Is your district doing this at every level, K–12? How could you work with your fellow school leaders to design a long-term strategy for students to explore career interests and develop skills in partnership with community stakeholders? 

Ryan Rismiller is principal of Graham High School in St. Paris, OH. He is the 2017 Ohio Assistant Principal of the Year. 

Guest post by Annette Wallace

My professional learning network—or as I like to call them, my tribe—is a group of people whose ideas, opinions, and research inform and motivate me as a school leader. I found most of these people online, but I also have used my online presence to develop more educationally meaningful relationships with educators in my district who I often don’t have time to work with face-to-face. I’ve come to appreciate that professional development is my responsibility and taking charge of my own learning has helped me improve as a leader in my own school and district, as well as the wider education community. 

I should begin by giving a shoutout to NASSP and MDMASSP for the opportunity to participate in the National Principal of the Year Institute. The institute instantly expanded my professional learning network. I was already a Twitter user, but my colleagues showed me how to harness the power of a hashtag, create lists, and utilize other Twitter hacks. I also learned about Google hangout, Smore, Voxer, blogging, YouTube live, TedTalks and more.

Through this network of world-class educational leaders, I am able to borrow ideas, collaborate on projects, and seek out sound advice from school leaders much wiser than myself. I love the freedom and the flexibility of social media. My job as a high school principal is extremely time consuming. The ability to participate in EdChats on Twitter late in the evening after a night duty, or catch the Storify of the chat if I miss it, allows me more flexibility than the normal professional development model of sit and soak (absorb the knowledge being “dropped” on you!).

My online professional learning network has not only increased access to educators who help me “keep my bucket full,” but it has also increased my interaction to more educators in my school system who are doing amazing things and changing the lives of students in my local area though our new school system chats, #WoCoTeach and #WoCoLead, that I co-founded. As educators, we can become siloed and work so hard that we miss the amazing things going on in the classroom “next door” or the classroom “two doors down” at a neighboring school. It has truly been wonderful to discover a tribe of people who grind like me in my district.

So principals, get out there and develop your PLN! You—and only you—can prevent boredom and complacency in your leadership development. It is your duty to seek out those who grind like you and learn, borrow, and lean in on those amazing educators!

Annette Wallace is principal of Pocomoke High School, a high-poverty school on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. She believes that in order to change her community she must provide students with access to an education beyond high school by breaking down any and all barriers that might get in the way of her students achieving their dreams. Annette is also committed to being a #JoyfulLeader and a #FitLeader. Since losing her father, she has become an advocate for suicide prevention. Annette is the 2017 Maryland Association of Secondary Schools Principal of the Year. Follow her on Twitter @Aewallace8. 

Guest post by Doug Crowley

As a principal, an assistant principal, or a director at a district office, leadership is sort of “there” for your taking; you are viewed as a leader by virtue of your title. At DeForest Area High School in Wisconsin, our “titled” leaders work hard to create a culture where staff and students feel comfortable and, dare say, entitled to find ways to lead. How can school leaders create this same culture of leadership and encourage their staff and students to take the lead?

 Trust Building

The first step in creating a culture of leadership is building trust with staff and students. Trust takes time and is not developed overnight. One of the key ways our administrative team fosters trust is by allowing staff and students to take risks and try new things even if they fail. It may take repeated encouragement to let them know that you are OK if they move forward and do something. By building trust, you are creating a safe environment for teachers to express their ideas, think creatively about new approaches to problems, and take professional risks.

Numbers Don’t Lie

Another way to promote leadership is to involve your staff in analyzing your school’s data. Instead of just hearing your analysis of the data, get your teachers involved so that they can see the areas that need attention. Use part of every staff meeting to share important school data. When teachers see the data trends, they understand when a problem needs a solution. For instance, when our staff examined our academic and discipline data, it determined that the data was disproportionate within various subsections. In response, our staff created a Cultural Diversity Committee (CDC) to first identify where the gaps fell, what were our options to try to improve them, and then what to do.

Uneven Growth

When empowering others to become leaders, it is important to know that growth happens in spurts. The CDC group wanted to make changes quickly and to start working with students on culturally sensitivity, but the group soon realized that it needed to adjust its thinking. Instead of focusing on students, the group’s first goal changed to training all staff members in culturally sensitive practices. CDC leaders shared classroom inclusion strategies with the staff, asked students to share their stories in a panel discussion, and continued to gather data. It takes time for emerging leaders to gain confidence, test ideas, and try out solutions. Now the CDC members are leading two book studies, have dedicated time in each staff meeting for a report, and have started to stretch their arms around other buildings in the district to develop teacher leaders at each level.

Empowering Students to Lead

What about our students? Our students need opportunities to find a passion, find a voice, and find solutions. At DeForest Area High School, we try to cultivate student leadership in a number of ways. We have dedicated leaders like any high school: the class presidents, the club leaders, the Student Council. But our student leadership doesn’t end there. Taking a cue from our CDC, three students from last year’s discussion panel came forward wanting to take action and discuss “real world” topics impacting them. With the help of an advisor, Ms. Alex Garcia, they formed a group called the Ethnic Student Union with a mission to include all students and help voice their concerns and ideas about school.

What are your experiences with empowering students and staff to lead? How do you build a culture of leadership in your school?

Doug Crowley is an assistant principal at DeForest Area High School in DeForest, WI. He is the 2017 Wisconsin Assistant Principal of the Year.

Guest post by Bobby Dodd

I will always remember the first leadership book I read as an administrator. I had recently read Diane Coutu’s piece, “Leadership Lessons from Abraham Lincoln” in the Harvard Business Review, discussing the greatest leadership characteristics of Lincoln. As I began to do more research on Lincoln and read more about his legacy, my wife purchased the book Lincoln on Leadership: Executive Strategies for Tough Times by Donald T. Phillips. I can still remember the stories from Lincoln’s days as president and the knowledge I gained on leadership throughout the book.

Reading Helps Shape My Leadership

One of the stories and leadership lessons in Phillips’ book has always stood out to me through the years. Lincoln rarely let his emotions get the best of him. There were times when he was frustrated with members of his cabinet and wanted to vent to let them know he was upset. To add to his frustrations, Lincoln couldn’t just pick up a phone and speak to his cabinet. As we know, in those days, a great deal of communication occurred using written letters or telegrams, not using email, texts, or Snapchat.

Lincoln would often write letters to his cabinet members to express his displeasure with them. He would take the time to write a letter, seal it, and put it in his desk or leave it on top. Years after Lincoln passed away, dozens of sealed, unopened letters were found. Lincoln never sent the letters to his staff. He used the power of time and reflection to alter his decision making on sound leadership practices to help his staff get better instead of leading by emotion.

I always made it a point to not let my emotions get the best of me when speaking with students, staff, and stakeholders. I take the time (even if it means waiting until the next day) to think through situations and make decisions based on my leadership principles rather than my emotions.

Three Ways Reading Defines Us as Leaders

As leaders, we need to take the time to read books, blog posts, magazines, and websites, and listen to podcasts to learn more about leadership. One of my favorites is John Maxwell’s book The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership. In this work, Maxwell writes “Leaders are readers”—one of my favorite quotes—to make the point that he as a leader is constantly reading to hone his craft. As leaders, we need to make a point to model lifelong learning. Leaders need to read (and listen) in order to:

1. Grow as a Leader

Reading and listening provides us the opportunity to get better. I find pleasure in reading books and magazines on education, leadership, business leadership, and innovation to find new strategies to utilize. I enjoy participating in Twitter chats and other forms of social media to see what others in our profession are reading. Try to focus on reading one book a month, listening to one podcast a week, or reading two magazines a month to help you improve as a leader.

Books such as Dale Carnegie’s How to Win Friends & Influence People, Todd Whitaker’s Shifting the Monkey, and Peter Dewitt’s Collaborative Leadership are just a few to get you started. Magazines and sites such as www.inc.com, Fast Company, Entrepreneur, and Make: are also good resources that will expand your thinking and engage your creative process in leadership.

2. Help Others Grow

Helping others is an integral part of leadership. Reading allows us to share the knowledge we gain with others. Sharing allows us to provide coaching to others and help them improve their teaching and leadership. In the end, sharing this knowledge will benefit education as a whole.

3. Reflect on our Work

Reflection is a lost art in leadership. Reading helps us reflect on what we have done and how we can improve our leadership decisions. I enjoy reading books and blog posts, and listening to podcasts where I can see and hear what others have done in different situations, which allow me to visualize how I can handle similar situations and make improvements.

We are constantly learning as leaders. With the abundance of resources that exist, we need to take full advantage of them to continue our growth. While time is a precious commodity, we have to make the time to become better leaders. Managing our time better to create reading and listening opportunities will not only improve our roles as leaders, but also help our districts, buildings, and, ultimately, our students grow.

What resources can you share that help you “read to succeed” as a leader?

Bobby Dodd is principal of Gahanna Lincoln High School outside of Columbus, OH. He encourages educational leaders to focus on Connecting, Collaborating, Confidence, and Creativity. He is the 2016 NASSP National Digital Principal of the Year. Follow him on Twitter @bobby__dodd.

Guest post by Robert Nolting

For many students, school seems to be done to them, not with them. At Victor J. Andrew High School (VJA) in Tinley Park, IL, we make it a point to raise a student’s voice not only as a spotlight, but a headlight—leading the way, we carry on throughout the year. At VJA, this starts with our Senior Leaders and Principal’s Advisory groups. 

The Principal’s Advisory is a group that meets biweekly with the principal, associate principal, and superintendent. Its main function is to provide student perspective on a variety of issues. However, the members’ value is not only their input, but their ability to be part of the entire process of change. Annually, the Principal’s Advisory group selects an objective for the year based on discussing their concerns, their hopes, and even our school improvement plan. At that time, they set aside time to discuss that topic throughout the year. We follow a Study-Plan-Act (SPA) model. The “study” phase includes reading, watching YouTube videos, and sharing ideas about how to go about change. We even study another school that we feel “does it right” and invite them to our campus to get their feedback. Then, around second semester, we move into the “plan” phase—and get the students involved in working with idea generation, problem-solving, and designing timelines.

At the end of this effort, we turn to the “act” phase. Most of act is adults working, but we consistently revisit the actions taken to determine if we’ve accomplished our original goals. Since 2011, our advisory group has done the following: 1) revised our bell schedule to incorporate an advisory period; 2) designed our 1:1 Chromebook implementation; 3) increased co-curricular participation; 4) developed an empathy initiative based on our increasing diversity; and 5) increased student attendance at athletic/fine arts events.

A great complement to the advisory group, our Senior Leaders are a representative group of senior students who are leaders in academic programs, athletics, fine arts, and competitive activities. However, they have a slightly different mission—to make the current school year special. These students begin by selecting a theme, one that both embodies the identity of the senior class while also challenging the school to achieve something great. Then, they create opportunities to celebrate that theme throughout the year. In the past seven years, the themes have included Legacy, Unity, Togetherness, Excellence, Change, Boldness, and Impact. Those words have created things that have become the backbone of our school, such as:

• A Legacy Wall to honor our senior classes through pictures of all 500+ seniors doing things together
• Senior Last Day, which brings their class together for one last celebration before they graduate
• Sunrise/Sunset, which involves seniors opening the year in August at 5 a.m. to watch the sunrise and closing the year at night in May to watch the sunset
• “Golden Bolts” Awards, which recognizes ALL stakeholders to impact others

The Senior Leaders also become ambassadors and spokespeople, and are ultimately accountable for a great year. And it works! Each year we reach new heights with community service hours, cocurricular participation, AP Scholars, College Scholarships … these are all things our kids can control and strive to attain. Additionally, other groups have followed suit—Student Council, NHS, and Class Councils have embraced the concept of student voice in how they lead their programs.

With all the good that comes with the way student voice has impacted VJA, the one criticism I annually get (from a small few) is “you give the kids too much (power, control, influence, etc.).”

To that I say, YES, I DO!” And I would not have it any other way. When you give students an active voice in their school, the results speak for themselves.

What new opportunities can you create for students to raise their voices and get more involved in strengthening their school community?

If you want any exemplars from the programs above, reach out to me at rnolting@d230.org.

Robert Nolting is a principal at Victor J. Andrew High School in Tinley Park, IL. He has been principal for nine years, a director for the Illinois High School Association, and the 2016 Illinois Principal of the Year.

Guest post by Angela K. Doll

A parent request for hourly behavior updates.

A student sent to the office for repeatedly trying to staple himself to his chair.

A community member’s plan to improve the school by eliminating all technology.

As school administrators, we get to deal with many strange, silly, and sometimes dumbfounding things. Add to this the pressures to increase achievement, solve staffing situations, fix facility issues, and prevent escalating social problems—all while on a limited budget—and our daily lives as school leaders can wear us down, cause us to lose focus, and put us into a fixed mindset of doom. We start to question if our efforts really matter at all. 

When the stress and struggles of school administration have you questioning your choice of careers, I have found it helpful to know what matters to me as a leader to maintain a growth mindset and move forward. Our incoming freshman study the 7 Mindsets to Live Your Ultimate Life by Scott Shickler and Jeff Waller to lay a strong foundation for personal successes in high school. I’ve found this paradigm, too, has allowed me to discover, understand, and foster what matters to me. And what matters to me is that in our high school, we see all of our students for who they really are, meet them where they are in life, and help them discover and develop their talents.

How do you determine what matters to you? Here are some lessons I’ve learned that have helped me figure it out:

Identify your passion. What would you do if money was no object, if your possibilities were endless? Chances are, it might be different from school leadership (mine is!), but when you figure out what you would really love to do, pick that apart and ask yourself why you would do that. What would you intrinsically get out of doing what you’re passionate about? Then reflect on how your leadership does or doesn’t mirror that in some way and use that as the core to what matters to you. This gives you the “why” you go to work each day.

Build relationships. We cannot be alone on an island. We need colleagues, family, and friends in our lives to stay connected and maintain our health. Get to know your teachers, students, and community members and let them get to know you. Take the time to talk to others and be present at student, staff, and community events and get-togethers. Connecting with community helps administrators find support when the stress and struggles of our jobs get us down.

Give your best self to those you lead and hold yourself accountable for your own happiness. Remember that we are in these positions because we have something to give to others—whether that is leadership, a different perspective, encouragement, or simply a feeling of belonging.

Take time for yourself and realize that right now is the best time to start leading with purpose, servitude, and openness. To do this requires some vulnerability too. When you share with others what you struggle with, what you wish to improve, and what your vision for the future is, you are communicating what matters to you.

We need to be cognizant of the things that wear us down and our responsibilities as school leaders. But we need to also work on ourselves to the be the leaders we need to be to foster a culture of community and positivity in our schools. It’s human nature to want to feel as if we belong to something bigger than ourselves. As an administrator, you have the opportunity to use that natural tendency to create a culture and climate that nurtures achievement and growth in your building. That starts with you and with knowing what matters. Once you know what matters to you and you know why you are here, you are able to have a clarity and a zest for leadership.

Think about your communication style to students and staff and try to incorporate more of your own personal perspective by sharing what matters to you and why. Then ask your students and staff to share feedback on what motivates them. Reflect on and combine your views together to foster a more inclusive and collaborative school culture.

Angela K. Doll has served as assistant principal at Moorhead High School in Moorhead, MN for five years and was a special education administrator for four years prior to her current role. She is the 2017 Minnesota Assistant Principal of the Year.

Guest post by Jethro Jones

We often give lip service to the idea of empowering students.

Yes, we all agree it is important, but the adults in the building are the ones who really know best.

Yes, kids’ ideas matter, but they don’t really know what they’re talking about.

Yes, kids have good ideas, but the adults still take credit for those ideas. 

Too often as principals, we let our egos get in our way and limit our effectiveness as school leaders. Instead of believing in our own importance and needing to have all of the right answers, it’s time for us to practice humility and start listening and empowering those who we lead: our students.

A couple years ago, I had a really challenging student who was mostly interested in defying the adults in the building, just because she found that to be a fun pastime. While talking to her about disrespecting yet another teacher, I asked her why she was getting in these positions so much.

Her response was essentially that she was bored, and I asked her how I could help. 

After months of working with her, she had started to believe that I was sincere and opened up to me about her views of the school. She told me that our advisory program really stunk. I suggested that she help me figure out a solution. She suggested that we give kids who need extra help more time in a class and give kids who are doing well an opportunity to do what they want.

That’s exactly what we did. Listen to this podcast to find out more about the redesign of our advisory program that resulted from this young lady’s great idea.

And guess who took the credit for the idea among her peers? She did. She told everyone it was her idea. I’m fine with that!

In another situation, Amy Fast, an assistant principal in McMinnville, OR, truly listened to her students about all kinds of issues at her school. She asked them about how they felt at school, what they wanted, and then she and the rest of the administrative team followed up. You can learn more about her story here.

In both these situations, the leaders were able to get their egos out of the way and truly listen to students.

Here are three ways you can empower students in your building this week:

1. Eat lunch with the kids and ask them what would make the school better. Ask for lots of ideas, and then implement one of them.
2. Form a student voice council and include the “naughty kids” who always get in trouble. At first, their answers will be totally inappropriate and impossible, but dig deep and get the real answers from them.
3. Do what Jimmy Casas does and ask every single student, “As your principal, what is one thing I can do to make your time here better?”

Want to know what happened to the student whose favorite pastime was disrespecting her teachers? When she was struggling in a course and actually had to go to an advisory class, she went, she learned, and she got better. She didn’t complain or cause problems. She was invested in the solution because she was part of it.

That’s pretty cool.

What are your experiences with empowering your students? 

Jethro Jones is the principal at Tanana Middle School in Fairbanks, AK. He is the host of “Transformative Principal,” a podcast featuring interviews with principals, leaders, and influencers who help improve K–12 education throughout the world. He is a 2017 Digital Principal of the Year. Follow him on Twitter @jethrojones.

Guest post by Ryan Maxwell 

Teachers these days are constantly being told that they must “take ownership” for all of their students to meet the standards and succeed. But at the same time, teachers often receive mixed messages from their own school leadership that raise doubts about whether the leaders above them really believe in these goals. At Sunnyside High School (SHS) in Sunnyside, WA , our school leadership focuses on supporting teachers so that they can fully support their students. When teachers’ efficacy is high, they are much more likely to support their own students. The manner in which SHS leadership builds teacher efficacy is through a unified message of teacher ownership. It begins with administrative leadership believing and internalizing the following quote from the distinguished educator and author Carl D. Glickman:

“Teachers are in the forefront of successful instruction; supervision is in the background, providing support, knowledge, and skills that enable teachers to succeed. When improved instruction and school success do not materialize, supervision should shoulder responsibility for not permitting teachers to succeed.”

Along with the following guiding framework, there are three primary tools that our administrative team uses to build teacher efficacy.

Overall Conceptual Framework 

Figure 1 below illustrates the conceptual framework that guides our work at SHS. The three components of the framework are: Systems of Support, Academic Press, and Relational Trust. This guiding framework drives the interactions between administration, staff, and students, ensuring all systems of support are interacting effectively with one another.

Figure 1, Et al Dr. Salina, Gonzaga University

The “Garden” Approach to Administrative Accountability 

The Glickman quote above is a guiding principle for us as it sends a clear message to teachers that they are supported. Administration is in teachers’ classrooms every day, not only as evaluators, but rather as part of the overall support system. Hotspots are able to be diagnosed before they become systemic, thus allowing for administration to be freed up more to provide further support. At SHS, each assistant principal (five total) has a “garden” for which they are held accountable. Within a garden, they are expected to provide full support for their teachers. It appears that such efforts are paying off: In the last year, the state survey that teachers have taken since 2010 saw the statement “I believe all my students can be successful and meet standard,” increase in positive responses from 50 percent to over 92 percent.

The Data Dashboard: Real-Time Transparency for KPIs

The administrative team has defined key performance indicators (KPIs) for which they are each held accountable. Teachers in the building are aware of each administrator’s KPIs, and together they can track progress. Each administrator has a section of a data dashboard (see Figure 2 example) that has real-time data. This data is reviewed at a weekly administrative meeting and then filtered out through the Professional Learning Communities (PLC) by each administrator. The data is reviewed in the “Kaizen Mindset” and the “current reality” is determined from the live data. Based on these facts, the administrator determines the “ideal” and devises steps to move forward—thus, there is perpetual improvement within their “gardens.”

Figure 2

Final Note: Embrace Ingenuity and Failure

One last thing to note: In the current atmosphere of test scores and assessments, teachers must still have the ability to be creative without reprisal or without the concern of short-term failure. At SHS, administration has created “banks of the river” (adherence to standards, equity, and weekly collaboration) that teachers must abide by, but teachers are also encouraged to look at their classrooms as real-time-action research. Failure is not only acceptable, but it is often embraced. The trust with administrators and colleagues allows for teachers to feel safe to use their talents in a way they see fit.

What do you do within your building to develop teacher support systems and to build teachers’ efficacy? How would you envision yourself as a leader utilizing the SHS conceptual framework as you interact with staff and students? 

Ryan Maxwell is principal at Sunnyside High School in Sunnyside, WA, where he has worked for the past 19 years, first serving as a history teacher and assistant principal. He is the 2016 Washington State Principal of the Year. Follow him on Twitter @RyanMax65111533.

View the Sunnyside Story: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wDuyhf1bDiE

Follow SHS on Facebook @shsadministration

Guest post by Alison Maurice

What better way for principals to welcome their students back for the new year than by offering them a nutritious, balanced breakfast at the beginning of their school day. With the help of your nutrition department, you can pilot a Breakfast After the Bell program in your school and make sure your students are ready to learn.

Busy morning schedules, late bus arrivals, a desire to socialize with friends, and the stigma that school breakfast is only for “poor kids” are all reasons students do not eat breakfast at school. Breakfast After the Bell is an innovative strategy that moves breakfast out of the cafeteria and to the start of the day, removing the many barriers students face with traditional school breakfast. By making this important morning meal a part of the school day and school culture, the program ensures students get the nutrition they need to succeed academically.

With Breakfast After the Bell, breakfast can be served in the classroom or in high-traffic areas through a “grab and go” model. This alternative method increases school breakfast participation—a win-win for schools and students.

Children who eat breakfast show improved cognitive function, attention, and memory. Furthermore, students who eat breakfast at school—closer to class and test-taking time—perform better on standardized tests than those who skip breakfast or eat breakfast at home. School breakfast participation is also associated with improved attendance and behavior, and decreased tardiness. Many schools offer a morning meal or snack on testing days to improve standardized test scores. Breakfast After the Bell extends this to keep students focused on a daily basis and performing better throughout the year.

The Food Research & Action Center (FRAC), in partnership with NASSP, surveyed 105 secondary school principals who implemented Breakfast After the Bell and found that 87 percent of the principals were pleased with their breakfast programs and believed other principals should consider launching a similar model. The positive response inspired FRAC and NASSP to release a toolkit that assists principals with launching the program in their schools.

Start the year off fresh with a Breakfast After the Bell program so your students receive the morning nutrition they need to be healthy, alert, and ready to learn. For more information, visit www.frac.org or contact Alison Maurice at amaurice@frac.org or 202-986-2200, ext. 5056.

Alison Maurice is a child nutrition policy analyst at the Food Research & Action Center.

Guest post by Brent Rowland 

Do you have a handful of rock star teachers who are your go-to people, so you keep going to them over, and over, and over?

Imagine finding that just-right leadership spot for all of your teachers—that place where school needs match teacher interest. What would that do to connect them to the school’s mission, distribute leadership, and develop teacher capacity?

Imagine no longer, but take a step to make it a reality at your school. With the generous support of the Wallace Foundation, NASSP, and NAESP, a group of your colleagues—principals from urban districts across the country—convened four times over two years to develop tools to increase teacher leadership in your building and see the effects on school climate. They interviewed district leaders, colleagues, and national experts to define principals’ needs around principal leadership, and to identify research and theory that could best shape effective practice.

Follow this link to find the presentation they gave at the National Principals Conference in July. The presentation is full of tools and resources to help you plan teacher-leadership opportunities, identify the right teachers for the opportunity, develop teacher leaders with training modules, and reflect with your teacher leader on the experience.

The plant metaphor shows how the four components of growing teacher leaders interrelate to have a positive effect on school climate.

Plan

The Opportunity to Lead planning tool leads you to think about the purpose of the teacher-leader opportunity, how it fits the school’s mission and vision, results you want, characteristics of the right teacher for the job, training that the teacher may require, how the outcomes will be assessed, and how the teacher-leader might be compensated.

Identify

The Identify section brings together tools to help you and the teacher identify strengths and interests that lead to a good fit in the right opportunity. Tools include a teacher self-assessment that examines working with adult learners, collaboration, communication, and knowledge of content and pedagogy, as well as a model application you can revise for teacher leader positions in your school.

Develop

Teacher leadership opportunities should grow teachers and build capacity, and the Develop section does that. The five learning modules that make up Develop can be used for faculty meetings, PLCs, or teacher self-study. They ground teachers in adult learning theory and motivation to help them make the shift from pedagogy to andragogy (teaching adults).

The module on facilitating meetings guides teacher leaders to prepare for their first meeting with the participant in mind as they build an agenda that incorporates collaboration, time stamps, activities, follow-through, and a clear connection to the organization’s purpose and mission. The module also includes an introduction to use of structures and protocols to help peer groups collaborate and discuss even tricky topics, along with links to protocols they can adapt.

Third and fourth modules combine tools for conflict resolution and problem-solving to help the teacher leader navigate issues that may arise when she begins interacting with colleagues in different ways a result of her new role and enhanced functions.

Finally, the fifth module digs into mentoring, helping teachers reflect on the mentors that made a difference to them, understand different ways to mentor, and create a calendar of mentoring activities for the year.

Reflect

The Reflect component gives the principal and teacher leader a tool to talk about the leadership experience and ways to improve future leadership experiences.

What gets in the way of growing teacher leaders in your building? Which tools will be most useful to you as you plant teacher leaders in the rich environment of your building and nurture their development to help your school climate bloom? 

Brent Rowland, Wallace Principal Pipeline Project 2015-17. Brent is principal of Grissom Elementary in Tulsa, OK, and past president of Tulsa’s principal association. Along with 10 other principals and facilitator Nancy Phenis-Bourke, Brent presented, “Cultivating School Climate, Growing Teacher Leadership,” at the 2017 National Principals Conference.

Guest post by Brian M. Stack

As school principals, most of us are measured by how many of our students “meet the standard” for getting to the next level, and therefore, we often focus first on making sure that failing students don’t fall too far behind. But what if this is the wrong metric and the wrong mentality? The fact is, the way we measure educational achievement today puts too much emphasis on staying above the bare minimum, rather than aiming as high as possible. And I’m not just talking about helping the most gifted students do even better. Too many of our students at all levels have figured out how to be “successful” without mastering all of the skills they actually need. If we are to truly advance learning in our schools, something needs to change, and it needs to change fast.

Consider Kasey, a typical 11th grade student. Kasey has a stable family support system and aspires to go to college. Her parents know what colleges look for in the admissions process, and together they make decisions to increase her odds. Here are some of the common approaches that Kasey could take that do not sit well with me as a principal:

1. Kasey tries to enroll in as many honors level and AP courses as she can reasonably fit in her schedule, even if she doesn’t meet the prerequisites for these classes.

2. In honors and AP classes, most teachers weight tests between 40 and 60 percent of final course grades, but Kasey is not confident about her test-taking abilities. Instead, she focuses on racking up as many “easy points” as possible—e.g., 20 points for homework and 10 points for participation.

3. Some teachers give Kasey additional opportunities to game the system by allowing her to drop her lowest test grades. The assistant coach for the football team gives her extra credit for attending games.

Kasey’s approach to getting good grades is logical given the way the system is set up. However, these tactics make me uncomfortable as a principal because I don’t believe that such traditional grading and assessment systems are an accurate representation of what students like Kasey know and are able to do. These systems, in general, create incentives for students to play the game of school by racking up points in behavior-based areas but they do not directly reflect knowledge or aptitude. How will a system like this ever result in the promotion of deeper learning and authentic assessment? The answer is simple. It won’t, unless we make fundamental and philosophical changes to the way we operate our schools.

Competency education is one way to address these challenges. This approach is sometimes called mastery learning, proficiency-based learning, and even, to a lesser degree, standards-based learning. At its core, competency education focuses on enhancing the ways students learn and are evaluated.

Nearly a decade ago, a colleague and fellow elementary school principal Jonathan Vander Els and I engaged in this redesign transformation with our staffs in a small New Hampshire school district near Boston. It was the most rewarding yet difficult experience of our educational careers. Others are discovering this approach to be worth the effort as it is gaining traction across the country. According to a 2016 report by the International Association of K–12 Online Learning (iNACOL), there were only six states that had not yet developed policies to support competency education.

Schools across the country that have successfully made the shift from a traditional to a competency-based model are doing right by their students. They have redesigned all aspects of their school, including their curriculum; their practices for instruction, assessment, and grading; how they support students throughout the learning process; how they offer learning pathways to meet individual student needs; how they use time; and ultimately, how they report out on student achievement. By making this shift, school leaders can help all students understand that education is not a game to be played until you reach the next level, but rather a lifelong journey of self-improvement that must be continuously pursued.

To further support our peers who want to be part of a successful reform movement, Jonathan and I are excited to announce that we recently co-authored a book titled Breaking With Tradition: The Shift to Competency-Based Learning in PLCs at Work (2017, Solution Tree). Please feel free to contact me at bstackbu@gmail.com with any questions or to discuss further.

Think of instructional practices at your school that might be encouraging students to play the game rather than truly learn. Then consider whether a competency-based approach could help improve teacher instruction and student performance. 

Brian M. Stack is the 2017 New Hampshire Secondary School Principal of the Year. He is principal of Sanborn Regional High School in Kingston, NH, and also serves as a member of the Nellie Mae Speakers Bureau and as an expert for Understood.org. You can follow him on Twitter @bstackbu or learn more about him by visiting his blog. 

Guest post by Amber Rudolph

Robin Williams once stated, “All it takes is a beautiful fake smile to hide an injured soul, and they will never notice how broken you really are.” Sadly, these painful words mirrored Williams’ true feelings, as he succumbed to suicide after a long struggle with addiction and his mental health. Like Williams, many adolescents also mask their painful struggles with abuse, neglect, bullying, and other traumas. How do we as administrators create a supportive environment that addresses the often-hidden emotional lives of our students?

I’ll never forget a boy from last year who hated to do his homework. We were understandably frustrated with him, especially when he skipped a help period we created just for him to complete his missing work. What we didn’t realize was that homework was the least of his concerns. His older brother sexually abused him and was being released from prison later that week. On top of this, his father recently committed suicide, leaving him and his brothers with a single mom with numerous issues of her own. Simply put, this one student faced more trauma than any 12-year-old should ever have to. He was understandably depressed, but he covered it well, masking his pain as apathy, something very challenging for caring and involved educators.

Sadly, this young man is just one of many students who struggle with mental illness in our schools. Often, they feel shame and do not reach out for help due to the social stigma associated with it. North Dakota is no exception. According to the most recent Youth Risk Behavior Survey, roughly one-third of our students struggle with depression and anxiety. Ten percent have attempted suicide. This heartbreaking reality is a crisis we can no longer ignore.

My school district in West Fargo, ND recognizes that we need to make significant, systematic changes in order to provide our students with a trauma-sensitive environment. Our discipline policies in the past have been more punitive than restorative. Our social-emotional learning opportunities have been limited to counselor-led monthly classroom lessons and support groups for students courageous enough to admit they need help.

This year, we are piloting Trauma Sensitive Schools, a program that provides training to staff in adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), responsive classrooms, and restorative practices. The training consists of five modules developed by Heather Simonich, a licenced professional counselor (LPC) who counsels traumatized children:

1. What is childhood trauma (ACES)?
2. Trauma on the brain (neurobiology)
3. Strategies for classroom teachers working with students with trauma
4. Strategies for a school working with students with trauma
5. Strategies for educators taking care of themselves

The purpose of this training is to educate teachers that behavior, affect, attitude, and capacities may not be choices students make. Instead, they may be normal biological adaptations to toxic stress and adversity during development. The training is more about changing adult responses to traumatized students and providing strategies to address these students in a supportive and appropriate way. It’s building empathy and creating compassionate instruction while still maintaining high expectations.

In addition to the Trauma Sensitive Schools training, another way we have addressed these issues is by creating a new position for a health wellness liaison whose primary role is to support students with mental health issues, regardless of any other labels they may or may not have. Our liaison works closely with counselors and families to get students connected to outside mental health resources. Some of the duties entail filling out paperwork, finding therapists, applying for financial assistance, driving students to appointments, referring students to certain agencies, and more. Having this liaison has been beneficial since our counselors—who have a 300:1 student to counselor ratio—don’t often have the time for these duties and don’t have connections to all of the available mental health resources.

We are hopeful that with these measures, we will be equipped to address the impact of trauma and adverse childhood experiences for our students in the West Fargo School District. Our goal is to not only identify an injured soul but actually help mend it.

What are your experiences in dealing with adverse childhood experiences? What can schools do to create a trauma sensitive learning environment?

Amber Rudolph is an assistant principal at Cheney Middle School in West Fargo, ND, which serves roughly 1200 students in grades 6–8. She is a National Board Certified Teacher and the 2017 North Dakota Assistant Principal of the Year.

Guest post by Carrie Jackson

Do you wonder whether or not all stakeholders on your campus clearly understand your expectations? For example, do all staff members, students, and families know your expectations for interactions with one another? For grading practices? For student arrival and dismissal? 

Effectively communicating expectations with clarity and fidelity can be a challenge. Personal conversations are best, but getting an audience with various stakeholder groups at different times can bring varied interpretations of what you intend to be the same message. Finding time to meet with a host of groups presents a great challenge in the harried lifestyles of the communities we serve.

I have long used a blog to convey in writing my philosophy and vision with our community. While it is good to have these ideas in writing, I have learned that communicating in writing alone can sometimes lack a personal touch. The written word omits voice inflections and facial expressions that can assist with positive tone and intent.

This is why I have forayed into the world of “vlogging,” or video blogging. It takes a different level of courage for me to video myself speaking, and it takes another level of courage to watch it back once I have recorded it, but our staff and community appreciate the personal touch.

We used my video blog to solve a problem this year. In our four-year middle school, serving grades 5 through 8, our staff members are stretched in a host of directions before and after school. We have attempted faculty meetings in a variety of ways, from varied time offerings to flipped meetings, to meetings during the day, to no meetings at all. In eight years as a campus, we just have not yet found that ideal fit.

This year we have “virtual faculty meetings” via my video blog. Here is how it works:

• Each month (or so) I post video content that we would normally cover in a faculty meeting to my blog.
• I chunk the content into small sections so that it is not one lengthy video. Nobody wants to view a 20-minute video.
• I invite others to provide content as well so that other voices are represented (i.e., viewers are not just listening to me all the time).
• To receive credit for having attended the faculty meeting, each staff member needs only comment on the post with key takeaways, questions, or something she/he has learned from the meeting.

To see one of our virtual faculty meetings in action, click here.

Benefits of our online faculty meeting:

• The content of the meeting is publicly viewable. This means our students, families, and community can access it and know what we as their school leaders discuss and value. (Parents, students, and others are welcome to comment and ask questions too.)
• Every staff member has a voice in the meeting. We have seen people who normally say nothing in an in-person meeting bring up great points in their blog comments.
• It familiarizes everyone with blogging and/or commenting on a blog.
• It models positive digital citizenship and virtual learning.
• Staff members are able to access the content in a time and place that is convenient to them, and they can call it back up if they need it later on.

While our virtual faculty meetings are new to our campus this year, we have already experienced positive outcomes. Our staff overwhelmingly likes the online format because it is more conducive to their busy work/life schedules and allows them to refer back to it to read and watch the information at a later time. Teacher engagement and retention of the information has increased as evidenced by the types and frequency of questions and comments posted. Perhaps the reason for this increase is that the online format allows teachers to come to the meeting more focused and, as one teacher says, it “allows us to get to it on our own time when we aren’t thinking about the other things we should be doing or cancelling other commitments.”

What experiences have you had with vlogging? Could a virtual faculty meeting benefit you and your staff?

Carrie Jackson is principal of Timberview Middle School, Keller ISD, in Fort Worth, TX. A middle school principal for over 12 years, she has been actively involved with NASSP as a Digital Principal of the Year in 2013 and Texas State Coordinator. She is currently serving as the State President of TASSP. Follow her on Twitter @jackson_carrie.

Guest post by Brandon Mowinkel

In a day and age where public schools seem to be under constant scrutiny, it is vital that principals become advocates for our schools and the students we serve, sharing our stories of success and the challenges we face. When I became an administrator, I would have never imagined that I would be in regular contact with my state and federal representatives to ensure a high-quality education for all students. Stories matter, and it is our responsibility to be sure they are being told.

So, what can you do as a building leader to ensure your representatives understand the influence their decisions will have on your school and students? Here are some lessons I have learned on my own journey of advocacy.

Start Local

Even if becoming politically active isn’t something with which you feel comfortable, at a minimum get to know your school board members, city council members, and state representatives. Your local and state professional organizations can be a great resource when it comes to

building relationships and trust with these elected officials. Through your involvement in these professional organizations, like the NASSP and your state organization, you will be exposed to and become familiar with the issues that may affect your students.

In any organization, there will be people that have done advocacy work before and are there to guide you in your personal advocacy journey. Rely on your mentors and trusted peers to help you take that first step in sharing your story. Being able to tell personal stories from your experiences is critical in getting your message across.

Correspondence

When issues arise, use the relationships you have built with your elected officials to have open and honest conversations. Write letters and emails, make phone calls, and use social media appropriately and professionally to make your position known. Elected officials don’t know what they don’t know, and if administrators aren’t telling their school’s stories, someone else will. Take the opportunity to control the narrative and prevent detractors from being the only voice elected officials hear.

Persistence

Don’t become discouraged if it feels like your advocacy efforts are falling on deaf ears. Be persistent and keep your message on point. If

support for career and technical education is your passion or concern, be sure to maintain that message in all of your correspondence. Find different ways to get your message across but most importantly share how the issue directly impacts your students and staff. Once you get the opportunity to have your voice heard, be sure to thank your representatives for their time and let them know to contact you if they have further questions so that you can be a resource on the subject.

Additionally, invite your representatives into your building to see the great things happening and to speak to your staff and students. Be persistent in your invitations as it may not happen on the first or even fifth try. We had the privilege this fall of having Congressman Jeff Fortenberry visit Milford High School and speak to our students after multiple invitations to visit. It was a great opportunity for him to see firsthand what is happening in our building and for our students to be exposed to government. And don’t forget to invite your local media to the event as everyone enjoys positive press.

Answer the Call

Actively advocating for public schools, and ultimately your students, can lead you to opportunities most administrators never imagine. Through relationship building, active involvement in professional organizations, and a passion for what you do, your voice can and will be heard by those responsible for governing our schools. Growing up in rural Nebraska, I never imagined I would have the honor of being in Washington, D.C. representing the students, staff, and communities of Milford Public Schools as well as public schools across the state of Nebraska on Capitol Hill. It was through the encouragement of my mentors and a passion for educating students that my advocacy journey unfolded.

Every school has a story and these stories are powerful when it comes to advocacy. Whether you are actively involved at a local, state, or national level, it is important for principals to be aware of the political issues facing schools and what can be done to ensure we serve ALL students.

What is the next step on your advocacy journey? Who are those trusted individuals that can guide you along the path to advocacy? Are you ready to answer the call?

Brandon Mowinkel is the principal at Milford Jr./Sr. High School in Milford, NE, where he has spent his entire career—also serving as the industrial technology teacher and an assistant principal. He is actively involved in the Nebraska State Association of Secondary School Principals and is the current president of the organization.

Guest post by Melissa King-Knowles

When I was a teacher, I started using feedback looping processes to survey my high school students about particular units and methods of assessment. I asked what they liked and didn’t like and sought input on my teaching practice. With their brutal (ahem, I mean beautiful) honesty, students brought me to my knees on a couple of occasions. Once I reconciled that my ego needed to take a back seat to the needs my students expressed, it became much easier for their feedback to play a powerful role in the learning process in my class. The feedback also provided useful insights into my instruction that ultimately transformed my teaching practice and made me a better educator.

After transitioning into the role of administrator, I knew feedback looping could be easily replicated campus-wide. If done correctly, this process could encourage essential conversations that foster collaboration and drive decisions that benefit even more students than any one classroom could.

Here are some important lessons I have learned about using feedback looping as an administrator.

1. There are a few key non-negotiables when using feedback loops to foster a collaborative campus culture. As a leader, one must be willing to:

• Ask real questions that lead to honest answers
• Remain intent on listening, even when it’s tough
• Affirm those who share
• Respond through visible and transparent action
• Include others throughout the process

2. To best involve stakeholders in feedback loops, one should:

• Solicit and gather feedback—I typically do this at least three times a year with all stakeholders
• Review and reflect on feedback and other relevant data
• Share the feedback and data
• Develop action steps in response—I recommend that you do this through teams, if at all possible
• Communicate the action steps to the appropriate stakeholders
• Collect and analyze data and mid-point feedback
• Revise action steps (if needed)
• Keep communication going—transparency is key
• Collect and analyze data and end-of-cycle feedback
• Determine if goals have been achieved

3. Trust is a critical component in a culture of collaboration, perhaps the most vital of all. Although trust takes time, incorporating these lessons will help build trust more quickly.

Using feedback looping with teachers, students, and parents has helped my school foster a collaborative campus culture. Here’s how we use feedback looping with each of these stakeholders and the benefits that have occurred as a result.

Teachers

Teacher surveys and questionnaires help assess climate and culture and collect feedback. The results assist us in planning professional development and defining individual and team goals and plans.

The outcomes of these recurring feedback loops allow our administrative team to address thematic needs with the staff. If we need to improve consistency with discipline or provide additional training for differentiated instruction, we can quickly detect such needs through the data.

Parents

Periodically, parents complete surveys on climate and culture, safety, and communication. The feedback they provide is synthesized and shared back to them through Principal Coffees.

Anonymous feedback opportunities as well as structured and transparent reports let our parents know their voices matter. The feedback looping affirms that parents truly are partners in helping to shape our school community.

Students

Surveys for students provide them open-ended opportunities to tell us what they like and what they wish would change about school. But the surveys are just the first step; we further explore their input through feedback sessions, classroom visits, and specific conversations with the principal.

The feedback looping has helped our administrative team collaborate with teams of students to address their concerns. For example, last spring, a group of our eighth-grade students decided they wanted to create a kindness wall to help others who needed an extra pick-me-up. We provided support but empowered the students to create and sustain this added feature of our school.

Final Thoughts

Implementing these processes can be tough. Feedback looping will challenge the complacent and disrupt the comfortable. It takes time for some stakeholders to see the merit in sharing their thoughts. However, once it is clear that feedback is valued, once it is evident that the input is being used to drive improvement, collaboration takes on new meaning. This kind of collaboration engages stakeholders in a way that promotes sincere efforts toward continuous improvement.

How do you collect and share authentic feedback from your campus stakeholders? How does this input impact campus decisions?

Melissa King-Knowles is in her second year as principal of Sartartia Middle School in Sugar Land, TX, which serves 1,295 students in grades 6–8. She was the 2016 Texas Assistant Principal of the Year. Follow her on Twitter @K2Melissa.

Guest post by Nathan Boyd

One of the most important lessons I have learned as a school principal is that children need to be in a relaxed state of mind in order to perform at their full potential. If students’ physical and emotional needs are not being met, their minds will not be ready to engage. Sounds obvious, right? Actually, creating the right conditions for students to learn is one of the biggest challenges for us as educators, because so many factors are beyond our immediate control.

Here are a few tips based on my experience working with teachers, parents, and community leaders, to cultivate a supportive environment for our students.

1. Begin by ensuring that all students feel safe and surrounded by a school community that values student diversity, differences, voice, and need for security.
2. Invest in professional development and teacher collaborations that promote clarity, growth, and student engagement within the classroom.
3. Develop inclusive strategies that help create multiple pathways for students (and teachers) to experience and celebrate successes.
4. Seek out and provide a variety of opportunities for students and teachers to take calculated risks in a climate and culture that supports innovation.
5. Promote children’s health initiatives and focus on making health-related education and school-based activities a visible priority.

Pursuing all of these objectives will require discipline, organization, and constant communication—but remember you should not do all of the talking. Good leadership starts with active listening skills. Take the time to really focus on and hear what others are saying—and what they may not be saying, which is sometimes just as important. I’ll never forget when a parent once told me how embarrassed she was when she received an invitation to our school-led parenting class. While our intentions to provide resources and support for students in need were noble, we had not put ourselves in the shoes of a proud parent who wants the best for her child.

How many parents in your school can identify with the way this mother felt? How often do we truly take time to invest in meaningful relationships with our families, engaging in discourse that allows opportunities for parents and school personnel to exchange ideas in an environment free of fear and tension from both parties? Despite the high-stakes assessment game that each of us is forced to play, I urge you to choose to build a school culture and climate that supports and nurtures the whole child and engages families in a more meaningful way.

The pathways toward meeting a child’s needs should not be some revered secret recipe, only shared with some. It should mean that we collaborate with one another and that all school personnel are truly ready to invest in our school community. To be sure, it is not easy, and it won’t happen overnight. But don’t forget to have some fun, too. A little smile can go a long way to make everyone feel comfortable and ready to learn.

Challenge yourself to become a more active listener and leader, ready to engage and rally your team to build a more adaptive school community that meets the needs of students and their families head-on.

Reflect on how you engage parents: Do you ask or do you tell them about their children? Consider trying new ways to share and receive feedback from parents.

Nathan Boyd is the director of African American Student and Parent Services for South Bend Community School Corporation. As a former school administrator of 13 years, he prides himself on being a champion for children. He received the 2012 ISCA Exemplary Administrator Award, he was 2017 NASSP Indiana Principal of the Year, and in 2012, his school received a National Blue Ribbon of School Excellence. Follow him on Twitter @Principal_Boyd.

Guest post by Nicholas Indeglio

Before the emergence of the World Wide Web, competitive endurance athletes relied on magazine ads to find like-minded locals to train with, to compete against, and to engage as a race crew. The internet broadened that scope globally and now platforms like Strava, Zwift, and MapMyFitness provide slick user interfaces which allow athletes to connect virtually through shared workouts, weekly challenges, diet and nutrition, comment areas, and more. A whole new world of connectivity has emerged. Fortunately, similar networks exist for school leaders and the most powerful one is absolutely free.

Twitter provides a forum for cutting-edge professional development and it links principals with similar interests or challenges. Now, an elementary principal in rural North Dakota who wants to learn more about PLCs can hop on Twitter and connect with other principals from every state and country.

The quickest and most effective way to begin building a strong network on Twitter is by homing in on important hashtags and chats that are geared toward principals. By using the search feature in Twitter (indicated by the small magnifying glass icon), a user simply enters a hashtag and hits the Search button. From there, the user can scroll the results and begin following whomever they like: experts in the field, educators who are nearby, or those they just find interesting.

When you search for a hashtag, Twitter will display a results screen that features the most popular tweets using the hashtag, the most recent tweets, people who frequently use the hashtag or are referenced (these are great people to follow), photos (which are often useful infographics), news stories from recognized websites, videos, and live broadcasts from users via Periscope (similar to Facebook Live and YouTube Capture).

The “definitive” list of active education chats can be found at https://sites.google.com/site/twittereducationchats/ and is maintained by Jerry Blumengarten (@cybraryman1), Chad Evans (@cevans5095), Connie Hamilton (@conniehamilton), Tom Murray (@thomascmurray), and Jonathan Rochelle (@jrochelle).

For beginners, these hashtags are a great place to start because they attract a large number of prolific tweeters in the area of educational leadership:

• #AppleEDUChat – the Apple Distinguished Educator’s chat features content that focuses on critical thinking about educational philosophy and instructional practices
• #Admin2B – an active chat for aspiring administrators and educational leaders
• #APChat – a chat for assistant principals coordinated by NASSP and Jared Wastler (@jcwastler), an ASCD emerging leader and Maryland Assistant Principal of the Year
• #EdTechChat – a live, weekly chat highlighting information related to instructional technology with a focus on pedagogy and sound practices
• #mnlead – a chat about social media and digital citizenship moderated by Bret Domstrand (@bretdom) and Kimberly Horst (@khurdhorst)
• #PrinLeaderChat – a chat for principals coordinated by NASSP and Dr. Winston Sakurai (@winstonsakurai), a National Digital Principal of the Year
• #satchat – a heavily attended Saturday morning chat for teachers, principals, superintendents, and educational companies, moderated by founders Brad Currie and Scott Rocco with occasional guest hosts
• #sunchat – similar to #satchat but with a more free-form structure

Stay tuned for my next post on February 7 about whom to follow on Twitter.

What topic would you like covered in an educational Twitter chat? It’s possible a quick search on the site will bring up just what you are looking for. If not, let a chat moderator know.

Nicholas Indeglio, EdD, is the principal of Downingtown Middle School in Downingtown, PA. He is a 2017 Digital Principal of the Year. Follow him on Twitter @DrIndeglio. 

Guest post by Robert Suman

In a suburban school district 20 miles southeast of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, school leaders in the Norwin School District took a proactive stance against one of the fastest-growing epidemics to sweep the country—opioid addiction.

In the last calendar year alone, Norwin has lost five recent graduates to this quiet killer and elected to pursue and implement a program to educate its student body.  Norwin personnel have come to realize that no one is immune to this epidemic, regardless of age, race, gender, or socio-economic status. We can take two courses of action—be proactive or be reactive. With a drug problem that is trending quickly in the wrong direction, we have elected to be proactive and take an active role in educating our students.

Two short years ago, Norwin Middle School, in collaboration with several district stakeholders, became the first school in the nation to participate in a newly crafted outreach program titled Operation Prevention. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and Discovery Education created this research-based curriculum that is aligned to national health standards. The program aims to educate students about the science of addiction and the impact that opioid drugs have on the body.

The district strategically implemented the program at the middle school for several reasons. The middle school years are a prime time in students’ lives when some of them are beginning to take part in highly competitive sports, which often leads to injuries requiring surgery. Additionally, at this age, some students experience the removal of wisdom teeth. Both of these encounters usually are associated with prescribed pain medications.

We implemented this program in multiple steps to ensure that we, as a district, were moving in a direction that would allow for proper alignment.  The first stage of implementation was establishing a steering committee that would meet to review the Operation Prevention program via a phone or web conference to learn more about the product. Once we determined that Operation Prevention offered a program that would supplement our goal of opioid addiction education, I was able to provide three of our health and physical education instructors with two days of professional development time to review and audit the existing health curriculum in our middle school (comprised of 830 students in grades 7 and 8). During this time, teachers were able to cooperatively plan and implement what we believed to be appropriate elements for effective instruction within each grade level.

The unique and advantageous aspect of the Operation Prevention program is that it is not a “one-size-fits-all” curriculum. Instead, it includes educator guides with digital lesson plans, virtual field trips, and a parent toolkit that can be supplemented where applicable. This flexibility allowed the district to design a well-rounded unit of study.

We hope that after exposure to classroom lessons, internal dialogue, and classroom discussions, parents will take time to utilize the parent toolkit as a means to supplement and enhance discussions from the home front. After completing the pilot program, the district created a short survey and emailed it to Norwin Middle School parents to obtain their feedback. The results showed support to expand the Operation Prevention curriculum to additional grade levels. The steering committee met and agreed to implement grade-appropriate lessons at both our intermediate school (Grade 6) and our high school (Grade 10) this year.

We at Norwin School District encourage all schools and districts to embrace the same proactive approach in an attempt to save young lives. All Operation Prevention resources are available for immediate implementation, at no cost at www.OperationPrevention.com.

Author bio: 

Robert Suman is the building principal at Norwin Middle School.  He is a 25-year veteran in the field of education, serving in an administrative role in the past 16 years.  He currently serves as a member of Norwin School District’s K­­–12 Operation Prevention Advisory Committee.