Personal Leadership

Teachers describe their initial resistance to change and eventual buy-in to principal's vision for workstations. Principal provides opportunities for teachers to share and practice strategies to build their comfort level with workstations. Principal reflects on personal leadership lessons and importance of having difficult conversations with resistant staff.

Analyzes strategies for facilitating data-driven professional dialogue and engaging adults in collaborative instructional decision-making. Focuses on how staff analyzes student data to identify an area of need, collectively implements a focused instructional response, and collaboratively examines student work to monitor the effectiveness of instruction.

Follows the process used to establish a data-driven culture among faculty through highly focused PD centered on assessing students' progress and setting goals. Explains how a principal set up structures to support vertical and grade-level planning based on an in-depth understanding of students' progress toward SMART goals.

Principal shares thoughts on addressing school's challenges through corrective action and restructuring. Principal, 4th-grade, and ELL teacher also discuss adaptations principal made to professional development program in response to needs of veteran staff.

A charter school employs strategies and protocols for board decision-making, due diligence, and planning that have helped build consensus around the role of its board of directors in overseeing school leaders and providing strategic direction for the school.

Elementary teachers set literacy targets for the grade level below their own. By implementing a process for identifying skills teachers want students to arrive with in their own classes, school leaders are able to raise teacher expectations for students.

This is the Colorado Department of Education (CDE) School Support Team Report on the scholastic review they conducted of Abraham Lincoln High School in the spring of 2006. The excerpt includes the following sections:

A principal fosters a data-driven culture by facilitating data-analysis discussions in full-faculty, grade-level, and individual teacher meetings. Through pointed questions, he prompts teachers to reflect on the "why" behind the data. Grade-level team examines student performance on common assessments to brainstorm cross-curricular instructional responses.

Principal describes process for entering school and shares how he observed a lack of instructional consistency, no follow-through on professional development, and resistance to change. He explains how he set up grade-level meetings, which he also attends, to promote a more collaborative and reflective school culture.

Principal reflects on how she built credibility among elementary staff despite her high school background. She discusses how she utilized state educator to develop her elementary expertise and provide elementary leadership. Teachers reflect on how she earned their trust through shared goals for students, open communication, honesty, and support of their work...

Articulate a personal vision, as well as assess capacity to convey school vision and achieve buy-in. Workshop includes two videos, visioning exercise, and postwork. A Visioning Graphic Organizer allows participants to define the "end state" aligned to their personal vision. (Developed for Chicago New Leaders, fall 2009)

Focuses on the practices the leadership team puts in place to define "The Bruce Randolph Way" and how they develop a plan to describe the systems, structure, and protocols of the school. Demonstrates how the school uses the "Challenge 2010" plan as a tool to define a school culture and support new teachers in successfully managing their classrooms.

Identify and analyze key processes that enable effective facilitation of data-team meetings. Workshop includes two videos. Participants engage in small-group and whole-group discussions, as well as reflect on their own capacity to lead or support data teams. (Developed for New Leaders Summer Foundations, 2009)

Follows the process used to establish a data-driven culture among faculty through highly focused PD centered on assessing students' progress and setting goals. Explains how a principal set up structures to support vertical and grade-level planning based on an in-depth understanding of students' progress toward SMART goals.

Principal shares thoughts on addressing school's challenges through corrective action and restructuring. Principal, 4th-grade, and ELL teacher also discuss adaptations principal made to professional development program in response to needs of veteran staff.

Teachers describe their initial resistance to change and eventual buy-in to principal's vision for workstations. Principal provides opportunities for teachers to share and practice strategies to build their comfort level with workstations. Principal reflects on personal leadership lessons and importance of having difficult conversations with resistant staff.

A principal and humanities facilitator meet with the teacher leaders of a PD session to provide coaching on the content and facilitation of the session. Participants reflect on the requirements for effective facilitation, the challenges of stepping into the role of teacher leaders, and important moves for ensuring that PD addresses the needs of teachers.

Shows how a principal prioritizes her time to develop teachers' skills through modeling to clarify her expectations for classroom instruction. Highlights the leadership moves a principal makes to focus on instruction, including moving her office to the hallway, tutoring students during in-school hours, and conducting a morning reading session.

Principal meets at her hallway office desk with 1st-grade teacher to give debrief of lesson teacher employed based on strategies and activities that the principal had modeled on the prior day. Teacher reflects on her practice. Principal then shares her own observations.

Observe and analyze how principals guide and support high-performing teams, including vertical and grade-level teams. Workshop includes two videos, prework, participant polls, and self-reflection activities. (Developed for Aspiring New Leaders, winter 2010)Aspiring principals will also:

Principal facilitates 6th-grade math team discussion of instructional strategies to address a common student misconception based on benchmark assessment data. They record strategies on an action-plan template where they identify individual students who are struggling and document small flexible groups.

Teachers describe their initial resistance to change and eventual buy-in to principal's vision for workstations. Principal provides opportunities for teachers to share and practice strategies to build their comfort level with workstations. Principal reflects on personal leadership lessons and importance of having difficult conversations with resistant staff.

A principal and humanities facilitator meet with the teacher leaders of a PD session to provide coaching on the content and facilitation of the session. Participants reflect on the requirements for effective facilitation, the challenges of stepping into the role of teacher leaders, and important moves for ensuring that PD addresses the needs of teachers.

Explores how a principal implements "Data Talks," a systemized, schoolwide protocol for ensuring teachers know how to use data to drive instruction. Highlights how she developed the roles of "lead teachers" to support their grade-level peers in honing their instruction.

Shows how a principal prioritizes her time to develop teachers' skills through modeling to clarify her expectations for classroom instruction. Highlights the leadership moves a principal makes to focus on instruction, including moving her office to the hallway, tutoring students during in-school hours, and conducting a morning reading session.