Saturday, July 11, 2009

A Reader Writes... Spoke Too Soon

A reader/contributor writes:

“I see that Commissioner Robert Scott shut down Pearce Middle School! I have to eat my words now! Too bad it took five years of kids getting the short end of the stick to make this happen.”

SC Response
Yet the story hasn’t ended yet, local political leaders are still trying to save the school. They are using the same old excuses.

Excuse #1: “We need more time.” So evidently after 5+ years of horrific results, they almost have it figured out.

Excuse #2: “We’ve made progress.” They can't face the reality that in the 5+ years that it has taken the campus to go from failing miserably, to just failing, means that they are harming students at a wholesale level.

Here is what we (both the LYS company and the LYS network) know: In terms of adding value and performance growth – Some schools outperform most schools; and some teachers out perform most teachers. To be the “one of the some” requires the right tools, a singular focus on students, the discipline of an extra-ordinary work ethic, and the willingness to engage in the fight against aggressive ignorance.

If you haven’t done it in five years, you aren’t going to do it at all. And it is being done, right now. Here are a few examples:

  • John Montelongo (a Brezina and Brown Guy) just took Fox Tech High School from “unacceptable” to “recognized,” in two years.

  • Mike Seabolt (a Brezina and Brown Guy) took Blue Ridge High School from “unacceptable” to “recognized’” in less than two years.

  • And at a district level, Tommy Price and Mike Laird (both Brezina and Brown Guys) now have the following results: When they took over the district two years ago, they inherited 4 “acceptable” campuses and 1 “unacceptable” campus. Now, they have 1 “exemplary” campus, 3 “recognized” campuses and 1 “acceptable” campus. And, pay attention to this, the “EXEMPLARY” campus is the one that started out as “UNACCPETABLE.”

Time is not the critical factor for improving schools, but time does doom students.

Think. Work. Achieve.

Your turn…

Friday, July 10, 2009

A Reader Writes... (Brezina and Brown Advice Combined)

In response to the post that combined Brezina’s and Brown’s advice, a reader writes:

“I totally agree with Cain on the issue of politics. However, the principal does not have the luxury of setting the priorities of the district. As Cain has mentioned, and I agree with him, we need to shift the focus from the Superintendents to the people who are leading the service, the Principals. But until this happens principals are at the mercy of superintendents, which in the vast majority of cases translates to politics. I am not suggesting principals should bow to politics, just that they must be situational aware, and every situation has its own DNA. There are certainly times I wish the State would come in and help, but I have yet to see it.

As another Brown guy, M.L., once pointed out, he would just LOVE to see the State of Texas actually do something, just once. Of the recent times the State of Texas has taken direct action, it seems governance and money were the issues, not kids. With the two most blatant examples being Wilmer-Hutchins ISD and North Forest ISD.


I will say to everyone, pay special attention to Cain’s take on speed, especially items 2 and 3. Those are real jewels, that will make or break you.

SC Response
Two points that I want to add.

1. You are right about the Superintendent setting the priorities of the district. But the principal drives the priorities of the campus (refer to Brown's rule on the principal's role). Depending on your skills, past success, and willingness to get bloodied and bruised, as a principal, you can bend district priorities to best meet the needs of your campus and your students. Brezina not only tolerated this, he expected it. When he moved me up to run all of his schools he told me, “A good principal is difficult to manage. A great principal is damn near impossible to manage.”

That being said, you can only fight central office for as long as central office let’s you fight them (Brezina expected it, that's why he hired you. 96% of you don't have the luxury of working for someone like Brezina). There are school leaders who can work for organizations and there are school leaders who can work for individuals. Take my career, I worked for individuals. The skill set I bring to the table is critical for speed and change. Qualities that some leaders appreciate and most organizations are uncomfortable with. The key is to understand who you are and put yourself in the situations where you are most effective.

2. In regards to the State of Texas taking action against bad schools, yes, the the pace is entirely too slow. And the process is driven by politics. However, sanctions and closures do occur. With your example districts, WHISD and NFISD, money and governance issues were the levers that let the state act. But, it was the disservice to students that got the state’s attention. Also, this is the perfect illustration of the individual vs. organization orientation I discussed above. The organization, T.E.A., has long had the authority to address cancerous districts and campuses, but still doesn’t have the organizational will. Dr. Neely had the will.

Think. Work. Achieve.

Your turn…

Wednesday, July 8, 2009

A Reader Writes... (Comments on Brown's Wisdom)

In response to the comments and commentary dealing with, “Brown's Wisdom,” a reader writes:

“I completely agree that there are different types of principals. The reality of this is that no matter what type of principal you work with, a team makes the difference. True leaders grow leaders. The principal may be the nucleus, but a team of strong administrators can guide and lead teachers to lead in their classrooms.”

SC Response
What I feel sometimes gets lost in this forum, but what I always emphasize when I present, is that yes, the principal is the big picture catalyst for positive movement and change. But, leadership at every level has to step up and move their teams to aggressively meet student needs.

The tenured teacher who is respected by the staff has a responsibility to use his/her influence to keep teachers focused on improving the craft. The department chair has the responsibility to actually lead the department. The assistant principal has to keep her team focused on providing quality service and instruction. In the long run, campus leadership is a team sport.

Can a principal do it alone? In the short run, yes. But, for a campus to operate at a consistently high level, over time, leadership must be multi-layered, mission oriented, and willing to engage. If as the principal, I am not working everyday to build that level of embedded leadership capacity, my efforts will not survive my departure. And, I have to ask myself, “Am I actually leading?”

If as a support leader, I am not focused on moving my team forward, supporting the mission of the organization, and making the tough decisions that are within my pay grade, I am a liability to the organization. And, I have to ask myself, “Is this really what I want to do?”

Think. Work. Achieve.

Your turn...

A Reader Writes... (Brezina, Brown and Recent Comments)

In response to the posts that relate to Brezina’s and Brown’s rules and advice, a reader writes:

“The last writer is hitting in the right zone, but let’s integrate the advice of Brezina and Brown.
From Brezina:
I believe how you fix a problem depends upon the situation you are in, each ISD has its own DNA and how you fix it in one school can be different in the next. I will be speaking to the, then what?’


People take jobs for a variety of reasons. Sometimes they need a job. Sometimes they want to be assistant principal, or principal, or superintendent, and take the jobs available to them.
People leave jobs for a variety of reasons. Sometimes they are moving on to bigger things. Sometimes they find the district they are in has a DNA that can’t be tolerated. Sometimes life just throws us unusual curve balls and personal tragedies that change circumstances.

Also consider Brown’s condition:
“The principal as the only pure advocate for the student.”

I take this as true, as I do everything E. Don tells me. Now consider this as how I synthesize Brezina and Brown together:

You can’t be a student advocate if they fire you. You can only make changes and advocate for students if you have a seat at the table of power. How much of a seat you have varies. Some districts I know of support principals when they non-renew 40% of their staff. Some districts won’t support you if you discipline one teacher. Your mileage may vary, so you had best know your vehicle (school).

People learn at certain rates. You can not make people learn faster than they want to or are capable of. This applies to PEOPLE, i.e. students, teachers, principals, superintendents, boards.
You can try to motivate anyone to learn (move, if you will) faster, but you will eventually reach THEIR limit. At that point your choices are very much limited by how much support you have at the seats of power, which is never constant, I will add. If you don’t like this, you can either be patient or move on to a district that is ready to move at your pace. Good luck. Know that you can get caught between the Devil and deep blue sea with patience. If your school has to make rapid changes or else face state sanctions, your future depends greatly on the DNA of the district. You have to move forward, or else. Remember in the classic western “Shane,” Shane knew he couldn’t stay after he cleaned up the town. In education, I refer to this as the “Shane Syndrome”. Doing good deeds may or may not save your rear end.

I say all of this for a reason. There is a need for balance, as determined by your districts DNA. If you exceed that balance, they will certainly fire you, even if you are successful in some cases.

If the balance if so out of kilter you can’t adjust to the districts messed up way of doing things, do as Brezina says and leave on your own terms, and I would add QUICK. Understand that in all districts to maintain a seat at the table of power you will in some way have to stroke what is important to many others at the table, which again includes in this order:

1 - Politics
2 - Money
3 - Kids

You may not like this, I certainly don’t. But if you forget it, those with more power than you will remove you from the table of power, and then see how much of an advocate you can be for kids. So, moving full speed ahead varies depending on whether you are in a VW Bug or a Corvette. Push your vehicle as hard as you can, and if it doesn’t run like you think it should, find yourself another vehicle."

SC Response:
Just some random thoughts related to the above comments.

First, politics. When I was working for the Great State of Texas, I was meeting with the Superintendent of a very large district that was in trouble. This Superintendent took pride in his reputation as a politician. I was there to explain in no uncertain terms, that the clock was ticking. Frustrated, that I would not yield, he said, “Well, the Commissioner never had to deal with politics like this.”

To which I responded, “I have worked with lots of Superintendents. The ones that I have to clean up after are the ones who worry about the politics first. The ones that put students first, like Neeley and Brezina, never seems to find themselves in this position.”

Politics are always an issue, but when you put students first, and have results to showcase, the next (if necessary) job will find you.

Second, speed: Learning is not the critical factor I am looking for, engagement is. Get people to engage rapidly and the learning will follow. If you can’t generate any engagement, you are a dead man walking. So how do you generate rapid engagement? Here are some helpful cliché’s. However, as Fullan argues, it is the artful understanding of the nuance that drives the success of any rule. So understand that just because this worked for me, it may not work for you.

1 - Live and execute the principle that you are ‘frequently wrong, but never in doubt.’ I learned this early. I was a quarterback. When I called the play in the huddle, if I didn’t exude the complete confidence that there was no better play for the situation than the one called, we were stopped before the ball was snapped. If you are not supremely confident, your staff will hedge their bets. Now, ‘frequently wrong,’ this is the hard to do side of the equation. No one is always right, and the more dynamic the situation, the more likely that you will be wrong. Know that up front and look to constantly adjust. Again, from my quarterback days, we ran a triple option. That meant that the play evolved based on what the defense did. Every time we were wrong, we adjusted, at full speed.

2 - Always sell. You have to constantly be out with your people, selling them on what is being done and why it is being done. If you don’t, know one else will sell the message you need sold. Instead they will sell their own message. The message that furthers their agenda. And as we know, the connection of that replacements agenda to the betterment of students can be tenuous.

3 - Love is conditional. That’s right, conditional. Your staff needs to know that when they do right, they get all your love (and make sure it is a lot). When they do wrong, they get no love until they do right again (there should be a noticeable difference between love and no love). Interestingly, a nun taught me this.

Third, reaching the limit of individual staff. Yes, this happens. Sometimes, the issue is not willingness, but aptitude. This is where attrition is powerful. Todd Whitaker writes, “The most valuable asset a principal has is a staff vacancy,” and he is absolutely right.
Use attrition to increase the capacity of the organization. And realize that everyone is not a “Superstar.” That is why you have to work on the system and provide your staff with the tools they need to survive. When I design district and campus systems, this is my intent. 1 - Expose the frauds. 2 – Get the weak to average. 3 – Get the average to strong. 4 – Get the strong to great. 5 – Be able to reload without moving backwards.

Finally, when you are in a “no win” situation, you have to “out work, out think, and out achieve” the competition. If you lose, you get to leave with your head held high, but there is a good chance you may pull out a win. Most people are lazy and don’t have the commitment to finish the job, especially is the job is messy or uncomfortable. Use this to your advantage.

Out Work. Out Think. Out Achieve.

Your turn…

Monday, July 6, 2009

A Reader Writes... (Brown Wisdom)

In response to the comments relating to, “Brown’s Wisdom,” a reader writes:

“Let's not fool ourselves; most principals are NOT the main advocates for students even though they should be. In most cases they are caught up in political mumbo jumbo, employee issues, and district office garbage that consumes most of their advocacy time. I am sure glad Sean can say it like it is and refocus the leaders who really want to be advocates.”

SC Response
I do agree that most principals are not the main advocate for students, which is why the system is generally designed for adult comfort. If the person who occupies the advocate’s role does not engage, that is the logical result. However, I think the reasons for not embracing the role are varied. Here are just a couple (feel free to share others):

1. There are bad principals that shouldn’t have received their job. Just like there are bad teachers, bad superintendents and so on. Some people just aren’t cut out for the job, even though they interviewed well. These principals are the "Unwilling and Unable."

2. There are some principals have been beaten down to the point that all they know to do is hunker down and go with the flow. These principals are the "Injured."

3. There are some principals that just don’t know that they should put students in front of adults. These principals are the "Uninformed."

4. There are some principals that haven’t had the right mix of mentors to help them develop their ideas and professional character. These principals are the "Unlucky."

I may be the luckiest school leader ever, my personal list of mentors includes: Dr. Richard Hooker (the early godfather of Texas school finance); Bob Brezina (who LYS readers know); Wayne Schaper Sr. (the godfather of Spring Branch ISD, TASSP and UIL); Fred Richardson (TASSP president); Harlan Yetter (Principal); E. Don Brown (who LYS Readers know) and Dr. Shirley Neeley (Commissioner, Texas Education Agency). If I don’t do right, there is a long line of people who are still more than willing to remind me why we really do this job.

5. There are some principals who are working on a figurative island, who have no one to bounce ideas off of and shore themselves up with. These principals are the "Isolated."

Again, I can not be any luckier. The following are just a few of the active Principals that I get to have serious conversations with, more than once each month: John Montelongo (HS Principal); Justin Marchel (MS Principal); Leslie Thomas (ES Principal); Barbara Fine (ES Principal); Jerry Gibson (HS Principal); Mike Seabolt (HS Principal); and Lesa Cain (ES Principal). That’s a network of a lot of powerful brains that are linked for one purpose, their students outperforming your students.

I was taught early in my career (and didn’t understand until much later) that the two most important people in the system are the Superintendent and the building Principal. The organization focuses on the Superintendent (and central office) because he or she is the source of power. The organization overlooks the Principal (and the campus), even though he or she is the source of service.

My goal (or agenda) is to shift the focus of the organization from the Superintendent and central office to the Principal and the campus. This means that the Unwilling and Unable Principal will no longer have a place to hide. And that every other Principal and campus leader will have at least one external source of support as they fight the good fight. One person is a lonely voice, two people are the genesis of a team.

Think. Work. Achieve.

Your turn...

Sunday, July 5, 2009

Blog and E-mail: A Review of Functions

Some of you have seen a version of this post before, but since I wrote it, the number of Lead Your School readers has more than doubled. Therefore, I thought a refresher might be in order. The following is my attempt to explain the features that are embedded in the blog site and the e-mail updates.

Note: This section relates to the blog site (not the e-mail updates).

1. On the left side of the page: If you enter your e-mail address in the subscribe box, you will get a daily e-mail update of all the postings within the last 24 hours, after you respond to the confirmation e-mail (a spam preventative).

2. On the left side of the page, under the e-mail subscription area: Links to the Lead Your School campus support site and Cain Notes.

3. On the left side of the page, under the Lead Your School Resource area: Current School News. Click on any of the four key words and the most current news stories that relate to that key word will be displayed.

4. On the left side of the page, under Current School News: RSS Feeds. I don't have a clue. The tech guys just said it needed to be there. Can anyone out there explain it?

5. On the left side of the page, under RSS Feeds: Followers. Again, no clue (just following tech guy instructions). Some of you do this, care to explain it to the rest of us?

6. At the bottom of the blog page, under the last post of the week: Blog Archives. Click on a week, and all the posts from that week will be displayed.

Note: This section relates to the actual posts (on the blog site).

1. If you click on a post title, it will pull up a comment box at the end of the post. Just type in your comment and click the "post comment" button.

2. At the bottom of each post, click "comment" and you can leave a comment or read comments others have left. However, the majority of the comments, I post under the heading, "A Reader Writes."

3. At the bottom of each post, click the envelope if you want to e-mail that post to another person.

4. At the bottom of each post, if you click a "Label" word, it will pull up all the other posts that have the same label words.

5. At the bottom of the post, there are reaction boxes. You get to rate the post.

Note: This section relates to the E-mail updates.

1. If you click on "Lead Your School", it will take you to the web site.

2. If you click on a post title, it will take you to the post and there will be a comment box at the bottom of the screen. Just type in your comment and click the "post comment" button.

Note: This section relates to Reader Comments.

This is how all comments are handled:

1. Your comments, opinions and question are welcomed and encouraged. Keep them coming.

2. All comments opinions and questions are reviewed by me before they are published.

3. With comments, opinions and questions, where it is asked that the information not be shared, receive a private response from me.

4. One liners and comments that do not require a response are just posted as a comment.

5. Comments opinions and questions of merit (99% of them) are posted as, “A Reader Writes…” They are posted in a first come, first serve fashion. So sometimes it takes a while to get to yours.

6. I don’t know if it is proper blog etiquette or not, but I spell and grammar check comments before I post them.

Post format:

1. Purple text is the comment of the reader.

2. Your turn… This is your invitation to weigh in and join the conversation.

Think. Work. Achieve.

Your turn...