A Recommended Book

I just finished reading, Adams vs. Jefferson: The Tumultuous Election of 1800, by John Ferling.

It is an excellent, though somewhat dry accounting of the ramp up to the election of 1800. The election that truly proved that the American Political Experiment would be successful. Put this book on your summer reading list if you are a fan of American History.

The book definitely puts our jobs into perspective. Leading a school is not that difficult when you compare it to creating a new country, a new political system, and new infrastructure, all while more powerful countries are trying to either influence or destroy you. Couple that with the fact that the two smartest men in the country (Hamilton and Jefferson) were in opposite political camps, so no matter which side you were on, the other side could (and probably would) eviscerate you with scalpel-like precision.

Enjoy this holiday weekend and remember those that the day memorializes.

Your turn…

A Reader Writes... (...Not Getting The Job Done - Part 3)

In response to the post “Who Really is Not Getting the Job Done,” and subsequent posts, a reader writes:

“I am not sure Cain is right in all cases when he says teachers want great leadership. High school teachers especially have earned a reputation for seeking isolation. I have specialized in turning around highly dysfunctional high schools, and many of those teachers have not craved leadership. They wanted to be left alone and blamed the dysfunction on those kids. I am not talking about one or two teachers in a dysfunctional school with that attitude; I am talking about almost all of them. The teachers viewed themselves as experts in the field. In fact, they viewed themselves as such experts that they rejected the best practices of the field, even the works of Marzano and Bloom. Not much fun for the principal brought in to pull the school out of the ditch.

The first question you get is, “why not get ‘buy in?’”

“Buy in,” is great, especially if you are moving towards a new curriculum, or a new program. But getting “buy in” to have teachers adhere to best practices accepted by the field of education? This level of “buy in” expectation is over the line. It’s like getting a quote from a plumber, and he tells you, “By the way, I know we have codes and expected standards for good plumbing, but I don’t really go by those standards because I don’t agree with them. I have been doing it this other way for years and it has been working just fine for me so far.”

Would you hire this plumber? If you had hired him and then he told you this, would you stand for it?

Principals that work at all schools face this attitude to some extent. For principals working in highly dysfunctional high schools I think you will find this is a very common teacher philosophy. By the way, Cain is right about leadership. Dysfunctional high schools have this attitude running rampant and the high schools get dysfunctional because plenty of principals, superintendents, and school boards have allowed it to happen. Trying to straighten the mess out is the challenge of a lifetime.”

SC Response
All right Lead Your School Readers, this reader just raised the bar for comments. What are you going to do about it?

Think. Work. Achieve.

Your turn…

A Reader Writes... (Using Rewards - Part 4)

In response to the post, “Using Rewards,” and the subsequent comments, a reader writes:

“Giving people a goal to work towards, such as a reward, is absolutely a great idea. Too bad the State of Texas virtually refuses to allow schools to reward students for excellent performance on TAKS. However, I will say this: rewards will not “save your bacon”. I have seen highly dysfunctional schools try to get better, by using rewards for students. It does not matter how motivated the student is, if the student doesn’t know anything. What I mean is don’t think you can come up with a program or reward system that will make up for a lack of quality instruction. Creating and maintaining a good school boils down to having high quality, student centered, rigorous, bell-to-bell instruction, everyday. If you don’t have that, forget the rewards as they will do nothing for you.”

SC Response
The reader is spot-on. The only thing I will add is this; as adults, not only do we have a responsibility to motivate our students, our students naturally do an excellent job of both mimicking our level of motivation and meeting our expectations. After years of experience and 1000’s of observations and site visits, I can assure you that when you hear adults say, “they just aren’t motivated to try on the test,” you have adults who are not motivated by student success and/or don’t believe their kids can pass.

Think. Work. Achieve.

Your turn…

A Reader Writes... (... Not Getting the Job Done - Part 2)

In response to the post, “Who Really is Not Getting the Job Done,” a reader writes:

“I liked this topic, and I cannot agree more. However, what about former leadership that has left a wake of weak, entrenched teachers flailing about, who are too numerous to fire in one years time? The reality of public education is that leadership changes regularly, and often times they do not handle difficult HR issues before they leave, out of fear! Ultimately, they leave the incoming leadership with a campus of low morale, sub-par teaching, and an "us against them" attitude that is very hard to overcome in a short period of time. As a new VP this year I have witnessed a little of this at my campus. I have done my best to raise morale and still enforce intense accountability, but there are some entrenched teachers who are politically connected that will never be fired. It is just frustrating that some teachers are "above the law." Please educate me on what you do about entrenched, politically protected, less than marginal teachers.”

SC Response
First, this situation is not uncommon. Generally speaking, the weaker the leader is, the weaker the staff. There are a number of reasons for this, but the primary one is as follows: If I am a teacher with skills, ambition and options, why would I work for somebody who has no capacity to make me better. To paraphrase Maxwell, if you look around and notice that all your staff is sorry, you need to step up your game. All of that to say, that with some skill and experience it is possible to turn around the described situation.

As a stated in a previous post, we all crave leadership. A lot of staff behavior is the result of no leadership. Give your people something worthwhile to work for; bring them the tools they need to be successful; give them support, feedback and a kick in the butt when they need it. You will find that most of the staff will start to respond positively. Then, watch those that don’t respond positively. Find the one that is actively working against you and make that person your special project. They will either improve (you win) or they will leave (you win). You don’t have to (and can’t) fire everyone. So act strategically. Co-opt or remove the opposition leadership and if your mission is compelling, the masses will quickly fall in line.

As for “above the law” teachers, you generally have three options. One, you can cater to them, like everyone else has. I wouldn’t do it, but I have been told that you can catch more bee’s with honey than with vinegar. Two, you can get in a war. Build your case, bury them in the objective proof that they are bad for kids and relentlessly push for their improvement or removal. With this strategy, do know that you can win the battle and loose the war (especially if you are in a small town and the Ag teacher is the problem). Finally, you can “nothing” them. To “nothing” someone is to act as if they do not exist. You are a driven, busy educator that is working everyday to make things better for your students. You have limited time and resources. Those that are working with you, receive that time and resource access. Those that are not working with you get, “nothing.”

Think. Work. Achieve.

Your turn…

A Reader Writes... (Using Rewards - Part 3)

In response to the post, “Using Rewards,” and the subsequent comment, a reader writes:

“I agree 100% with SC response!”

SC Response
And I agree with the reader. Thanks.

Think. Work. Achieve.

Your turn...

A Reader Writes... (Using Rewards - Part 2)

In response to the post, “Using Rewards,” and the subsequent comment, a reader writes:

“I don't think any teacher would condone "false flattery" to promote a child academically. It's the idea that a teacher is actually looking for the good and acknowledging the student's progress.”

SC Response
Let me re-post the line from my comment so I can present it in better context. I wrote, “…I think that it is “achieving goals” that is the critical concept. False flattery and unearned praise does not lead to the sense of accomplishment and pride that drives significant behavior change.”

By false flattery, I was really addressing two issues. First, I don’t believe in the practice of “everyone always gets an award.” If everyone always gets an award, no one has to work for anything. I (the student) know when I didn’t get the job done, if you lie to me and tell me I did, I’m never going to trust you and I’m never going to equate effort with reward.

On the other hand, I’m (me again) a firm believer in shaping behavior. If as an adult, I know that you have no chance of achieving the big goal, I should break the big goal down into smaller objectives and coach and reward as those objectives are achieved.

Second, the concept of false flattery lends itself to the practice of generic or unspecific praise. Random “good jobs,” are much less powerful than, “I really appreciate your comment. It shows that you are really thinking about this assignment and it allowed me to clarify some information for the entire class. Good job.”

Finally, I have seen all types, adults who don’t believe in shaping behavior, adults who believe in shielding students from all accountability and adults who try to effectively use any tool that will lead their students to success in the classroom and beyond.

Think. Work. Achieve.

Your turn…

A Reader Writes... (... Not Getting the Job Done)

In response to the post, “Who Really is Not Getting the Job Done,” a reader writes:

“Teachers want great leadership. However, we sometimes get so caught up in our daily routines that we forget what our job is about. As educators, we need to focus on what is best for the children and how can we make the staff we have the best they can be. We cannot stand by as we watch ineffective teachers educate our classrooms. We must take charge of the situation and find a solution. If after it is all said and done and the teacher does not improve replace that person.”

SC Response
Everybody craves leadership. And, we all function better when we trust leadership and believe that leadership is vested in our success. Key though, is how success is defined. Great leaders ensure that the definition of success is concrete and constantly communicated (examples: Take THAT hill; If it is not right for students, it is wrong; etc.). Struggling and poor leaders either do not know or cannot define organizational success; and/or do not regularly communicate their expectations. In that void, the organization devolves into an every man for himself (or every teacher in their own silo) situation.

Second, behind defining and communicating organizational success, is providing tools and training for staff. Great leaders prepare their staff to be successful. They ensure that a common scope and sequence is available. They ensure that the master schedule is logical and is conducive to quality instruction. They ensure that training is geared towards building critical skills (such as the Cain/Laird Fundamental Five). They ensure that staff receives critical information in a timely fashion. Poor leaders just throw their people into the meat grinder and hope for the best. The lucky (?) staff simply survives to fight another day.

Third, great leaders constantly monitor, support and enforce. In a school setting, they hyper-monitor, noting trends and responding to organizational strengths and weaknesses. They provide regular and timely support, specifically geared to allow staff to meet organizational goals. And, they enforce expectations. They understand that not working with the organization is the same as working against to organization. Poor and less effective leaders hide from classrooms and avoid the uncomfortable leadership tasks that are critical to protecting and improving the organization.

Finally, leadership does not just mean "Principal". Leadership encompasses lead and master teachers, department chairs, instructional coaches, assistant principals and a host of others. The Marines believe that whenever there are two or more Marines together, one is always the leader. So, Lead Your School Reader, who are you today? Who will you be tomorrow?

Think. Work. Achieve.

Your turn…

A Reader Writes... (Using Rewards)

In response to the post, “Using Rewards,” a reader writes:

“In my 18 years of experience in education, I have yet to witness someone not react positively to being rewarded for achieving their goals. I have seen students and teachers blossom merely from receiving a few kind words of acknowledgement for their efforts. It goes along with the idea of shaping behavior through building relationships. Someone recently introduced me to the idea of “2 by 10”…spending 2 minutes engaging in positive conversations with someone for 10 days will change one’s behavior. Try it, it works.”

SC Response
In one short paragraph, the reader hits on some key points that should be highlighted. First, people do respond positively to rewards and acknowledgement for achieving goals. However, I think that it is “achieving goals” that is the critical concept. False flattery and unearned praise does not lead to the sense of accomplishment and pride that drives significant behavior change.

Second, I like the “2 by 10” idea. This practice could easily be adapted and used by classroom teachers, counselors and administrators. The idea seems highly correlated to Marzano’s strategies of “Providing Recognition and Reinforcing Effort.” The bottom line, as the reader points out, is that shaping behavior by proactive and positive means is much more effective than using intimidation and negative feedback.

Reader, this was a great addition to the original post, thank you.

Think. Work. Achieve.

Your turn…

I Predicted This One

Dateline Texas: Another teacher merit pay plan bites the dust.

Texas is canceling the Texas Educator Excellence Grant (TEEG) program and is shifting some of the funds to another incentive program. The TEEG program rewarded individual teachers at poor schools for individual performance. Surprisingly, to the State and the sponsoring politicians, the program was not successful.

Lead Your School Readers, I was there when this plan was hatched. When the project was assigned to TEA, I was called to give them my ideas on how to best implement the plan. Here’s what I told them:

1. The plan must award teams of teachers. When teachers are awarded individually, it quickly creates a “pie” mentality. If you get a piece of pie, then my piece of pie becomes smaller. In effect, this “pie” mentality reinforces teachers working in isolation, instead of breaking down the practice. Now, I have a financial incentive not to help other teachers. Instead, reward teams of teachers for reaching team goals. Now, I have an incentive to help my team, because if we lose – I lose.

2. The metrics must be based on the concept of value added. Otherwise, there is a disincentive to work with the most difficult students.

3. Get an expert to help craft the basic plan. Building an incentive plan is only easy at a surface level. There are lots of moving parts and it requires a lot of attention. Letting busy, but well-meaning amateurs create their own local plans from scratch is a recipe for disaster. As an aside, Ed Rogers, of the Penicle Group (www.peniclegroup.com) is an excellent resource if you are considering implementing an incentive pay plan.

By the time I finished point 3, it was obvious that they were irritated with my advice. So, I told them good luck and that I hoped that they would prove me wrong. After four years and $100 million, they didn’t.

In summary, I do think that the way that we approach compensation in education needs to be addressed. Raw experience should not be the sole determinant of salary. But, when people think that incentive plans can replace leadership and collaboration, failure is assured.

Think. Work. Achieve.

Your turn…

Who Really Is Not Getting The Job Done?

Right now it is very news worthy to talk about bad teachers. I guess it shows how tough and no-nonsense that you are. It also show how little time that person actually spends on campuses. Here is the dirty little secret about bad teaching… It generally is the visible symptom of bad leadership.

Let me explain. First, are their bad teachers in schools today? Absolutely. Second, should they be removed? Faster than the speed of light! But, one or two bad teachers is a personnel issue. You re-train them; you coach them; and if they don’t or can’t respond, you fire them. However, most schools don’t just have one or two teachers who are ineffective, they have numerous less than effective teachers. And that readers, is system failure. And who is responsible for the system? Leadership!

Leadership is responsible for providing teachers with the tools and training they need to be successful. Leadership is responsible for procedures, facilities, supplies and logistics. Leadership is responsible for hiring, monitoring, and coaching. Leadership is responsible for the success of the system. A lone teacher cannot significantly impact any one of the things that I have just listed, but they can and do serve as a convenient scapegoat.

When I was the State Director of Innovative School Redesign, I would get panicked calls from central office types as they were getting ready to submit the redesign plans for their academically unacceptable campuses. Often the question was this, “We’re going to make all the teachers re-apply for their jobs, and we don’t plan on hiring all of them back, do you think that is a good idea?”

To which, my response was always this, “It’s a great idea, provided of course that the principal and assistant principals that drove the school in the ditch have to re-apply. And that the Curriculum and Training departments that didn’t respond fast enough have to re-apply. And the HR department that hired and didn’t fire in an effective manner has to re-apply. And the Assistant Superintendent for the feeder pattern that took years to produce the unacceptable campus has to re-apply. That is in the plan, isn’t it?”

I never received any answer other than stunned silence.

In summary, if one or two teachers are struggling on your campus, that is a personnel issue. If lots of teachers are struggling, that is a system issue. One bad classroom, blame the teacher. One bad school, blame the principal. Multiple bad schools (a bad system), blame senior and support leadership.

Think. Work. Achieve.

Your turn…

Weird Advise - An Almost Boss

Years ago, I was at a crossroads in my career. I had interviewed for two jobs, the one I wanted and a safe one. The safe job called first and I went to the final (just a formality) interview with the deputy superintendent. In the course of the meeting, the Deputy tells me (with all seriousness) that I should always remember that…

“The difference between ‘Fail’ and ‘Fall,’ is one letter.”

I have to admit, that statement threw me. She wasn’t even my boss yet and I was already confused. I thanked the very nice woman, told her I had one last loose end to tie up, and I would let her know what I would do within 24 hours.

I left her office, called the district where I wanted the job and told them that I had another job on the table that I had to commit to within the day. Three hours later, I went to work for Bob Brezina.

And, I still have no idea what the advice means.

Think. Work. Achieve.

Your turn…