A Reader Writes... (Latest School Rankings - Part 1)

In response to the post, “Latest School Rankings,” a reader writes.

“Sean,

First, thanks so much for bursting our bubble over here with a big hefty dose of reality!

Second, I want to let you know what I am MOST proud of is our relative rank in the state. I’ve been asked many, many times by teachers, "What schools are ahead of us? Who is our competition?"

Now we know. Shift is happening over here - I love it!

SC Response
Good. This ties into a conversation we had earlier. The biggest danger to a school like yours is hubris. You show up at work, things are pretty darn good, so why break a sweat? Now you have a big, fat, juicy target. Make it your mission to catch the school in front of you

But here’s the kicker, first you have to make that mission public and prominent. Second, if you miss your mark, you have to hold you and your staff accountable. Turn up the heat and break a sweat next year. And here is how it starts. I’m assuming you are about to start your summative assessments. You have to include the following statement in each appraisal conference, “Our current performance is the expectation. The only way you can exceed expectations is to exceed what we are currently doing.”

Do that and you change the context. Now you show up at work, things are not getter better, so you have to do something different.

Think. Work. Achieve.

Your turn...