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10 Steps School Leaders Can Take to Support ELL Success in 2020–21
What are some steps that school leaders can take to help English-language learners (ELLs) succeed in the coming year? These tips are based on feedback that ELL educators shared with Colorín Colorado,...
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Finding Your Why Before Your Way: Setting Vision and Creating Missions
Hey there, remember me? Honestly, I don’t fully recognize myself right now either. What a marathon we’ve been through. From flipping how we teach and lead, to navigating conversations and learning...
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‘Flatten the Walls’: Communicating During the Pandemic
When we shut our doors in March due to the COVID-19 pandemic, my inbox almost became unmanageable with the flood of questions from parents. Being the senior class assistant principal, you can only...
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Sea Glass and Hope: Reflections for the Year to Come
There’s always that one teacher—the one whose content they taught pales compared to the lessons you learned from them. One of my favorite teachers growing up was the art teacher in my hometown. I say...
View ArticleFinancial Education: The Proof is in the Pandemic
In tough times, I frequently find myself turning to this quote from Ovid, “Be patient and tough; someday this pain will be useful to you.” As principals, you undoubtedly are facing some of the greatest...
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Leading Majority-White Schools as a Black Administrator
As educators prepare for the start of the 2020–21 school year, we are facing unprecedented challenges as we seek opportunities to innovate, collaborate, and implement necessary changes to do what is...
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Reconsidering Ability Grouping Through an Equity Lens
I have worked in public education for 20 years. I entered the profession because a freshman sociology class in college introduced me to the idea that there were two institutions that impacted...
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Class Disrupted: Lessons From a Pandemic Podcast
When the coronavirus upended school earlier this year, parents had lots of questions. We launched the “Class Disrupted” podcast to address some of the challenges families faced with the switch to...
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Making Time for ‘Time-Ins’
Over the past ten years of being an assistant principal at the middle school level, I’ve come to realize how every meeting in my office—even the timeouts for disruptive behavior—have become “time-ins.”...
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Lead Like a Ninja: How a ‘Fringe’ Virtual Program Anchored A District’s...
A key job of every school leader is to establish and nurture strong relationships with key stakeholders—not the least of which is the faculty. When you have the opportunity to open a school, those...
View ArticleGetting Students Engaged Through Voter Registration
Today is National Voter Registration Day, and it is critical that we as principals support voter registration efforts in the school as we are preparing the next generation of the workforce and...
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Leading During Times of Uncertainty
During times of uncertainty, staff, students, parents, and even members of our local communities turn to school leaders for guidance and reassurance. It is normal for leaders not to have all of the...
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Four Strategies to Implement Effective PLCs
Richard DuFour’s six characteristics of effective professional learning communities (PLCs) have been around for almost 22 years, and their benefits have been well documented by researchers. So why are...
View Article‘The State of American Education’
Kathryn Procope, head of school at the Howard University Middle School of Mathematics and Science in Washington, D.C., has been focused on “digital poverty”—what’s now commonly referred to as the...
View ArticleLeading By Example: How School Principals Can Support LGBTQ Students
The following interview first appeared on the Human Rights Campaign website as a guest post contribution. As equality and acceptance continue to be top of mind for many, many school leaders continue to...
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In 2020, We Are All First-Year Principals
As we celebrate National Principals Month during this unusual school year, there’s one thing all 90,000-plus of us have in common: Given the continuing challenges our schools and communities face, we...
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5 Keys to Developing a Future-Driven School
This year has demonstrated in extraordinary ways that we’re preparing students for an unpredictable world. We can’t possibly envision the challenges and opportunities our students will experience in...
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Self-Care Lessons From My Four-Year-Old
As an assistant principal, teachers come to me for advice about dealing with the difficult situations they face, many directly related to the sudden switch from in-person to virtual learning. The...
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Crushed by the ‘No’
A few years back, the director of counseling and I brought in a group of high school leadership students. We tasked the students with developing a student workroom/support center. The only major job I...
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Meaningful Connection: Going Beyond the Virtual Classroom
I recently went to visit one of my students who lives in a migrant labor community near the border of our school district. This was already my 18th visit to a home in this area in the past three weeks....
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