Friday, January 25, 2013

A LYS Principal Writes... Incongruent Demands


A LYS Principal shares some of the difficulties of actually being data-centric.

SC,

Elephants are fighting and the grass is suffering. I have attempted to work within a system for many years with the hope of improving student learning. I had some successes and many learning opportunities. Two years ago, my superintendent encouraged us to work not only "within" the system but "on" the system as well.

Through the lens of the Foundation Trinity, my systems approach became more targeted and refined this year. I finally felt that the years I spent in underperforming schools and redesign were coalescing to finally reveal a solid foundation, an operational system. Instead, as is so often the case, it is two steps forward, one step back.

All year we have used the Foundation Trinity to guide and evaluate our efforts and decision-making. Frequent formative assessments are alive and well on our campus. We are getting better each day. We know more about our fragile students than we have ever known. We know more about our instructional practices than we have ever known. I was informed today that the student information system we use to create, analysis, and disaggregate our CBA data would no longer identify Socio-economic status. We can no longer monitor our ED students in the same fashion and ease we have done in the past. The same students the State holds us accountable for are now the very students we can no longer monitor with our current system

I am currently attending a seminar on Formative Common Assessments. Our presenter (like you) has said multiple times... data needs to be assessed quickly and in a coherent fashion in order to make timely adjustments to instructional practices. But right now, I can’t get data that was available yesterday. Does anyone not on a campus actually understand what we have to do?

SC Response
I feel your pain.  Early on, I too recognized the disconnect between the mandates and goals that I was required to fulfill and the inadequacy of the tools I had at hand.  Which is why even now, the true campus-level data geeks still rely on their notebooks and excel spreadsheets.  I wish I had a better solution for you, but most electronic tools that are provided to campuses are like Swiss Army Knives, seemingly the answer to everything without providing a practical tool for anything.  The good news is that you and your staff are operating at a level of awareness where you recognize the problem.  Sadly, too many of your peers don’t even realize that there are any ramifications to the change.  Which means that though they may talk the talk, you have been walking the walk.

Think. Work. Achieve.
Your turn...
  • Call Jo at (832) 477-LEAD to order your campus set of “The Fundamental 5: The Formula for Quality Instruction.” Individual copies available on Amazon.com!  http://tinyurl.com/Fundamental5 
  • Call Jo at (832) 477-LEAD to order your campus set of “Look at Me: A Cautionary School Leadership Tale” Individual copies available on Amazon.com!  http://tinyurl.com/lookatmebook
  • Now at the Apple App Store: Fun 5 Plans (Fundamental 5 Lesson Plan Tool); PW Lite (Basic PowerWalks Tool); PW Pro (Mid-level PowerWalks Tool)
  •  Upcoming Presentations: North Dakota Principals Association Conference (Keynote Speaker), TASSP Assistant Principals’ Workshop (Featured Speaker), American Association of School Administrators Conference (Multiple Presentations), National Association of Secondary School Principals Conference (Multiple Presentations), Texas Association of Secondary School Principals Conference (Multiple Presentations)
  • Follow Sean Cain and LYS on www.Twitter.com/LYSNation

Thursday, January 24, 2013

Readers Comment... Debt is a Detriment to Leadership - Part 1


In response to the 10/12/12 post, “Debt is a Detriment to Leadership,” a number of readers sent in comments.  The comments fell into three categories: A) Interesting; B) You are right; and C) I wish someone had shared this with me early in my career.

I was lucky, I had a number of mentors that got into my personal business and insisted that I keep my financial house in order. Who were these mentors? They were the heavy weights in school finance and school leadership in the 80’s and 90’s, Dr. Richard Hooker, Robert ‘Bob’ Brezina, and Dr. John Sawyer.  Here is the short version of their advice:

1.  If you are lucky, you will be able to move up in your current organization.  Don’t plan on it. The higher you go, the more likely it is that you will move.

2. As you move up in position, it is likely that initially you will move down in salary.

3. Live well below your means.

4. Don’t buy a house that you can’t lease or sell quickly.

5. Financial liquidity equals options and opportunity.

I hope this advice serves you as well as it has served me.

Think. Work. Achieve.
Your turn...
  • Call Jo at (832) 477-LEAD to order your campus set of “The Fundamental 5: The Formula for Quality Instruction.” Individual copies available on Amazon.com!  http://tinyurl.com/Fundamental5 
  • Call Jo at (832) 477-LEAD to order your campus set of “Look at Me: A Cautionary School Leadership Tale” Individual copies available on Amazon.com!  http://tinyurl.com/lookatmebook 
  • Now at the Apple App Store: Fun 5 Plans (Fundamental 5 Lesson Plan Tool); PW Lite (Basic PowerWalks Tool); PW Pro (Mid-level PowerWalks Tool) 
  • Upcoming Presentations: North Dakota Principals Association Conference (Keynote Speaker), TASSP Assistant Principals’ Workshop (Featured Speaker), American Association of School Administrators Conference (Multiple Presentations), National Association of Secondary School Principals Conference (Multiple Presentations), Texas Association of Secondary School Principals Conference (Multiple Presentations)
  • Follow Sean Cain and LYS on www.Twitter.com/LYSNation

Wednesday, January 23, 2013

A Principal Asks... Immediate Feedback After a Short Walk-thru


A Principal asks:

SC,

Should I give teachers feedback after every short walk-thru?

SC Response
Good question.  But first I have a question for you.  Can you objectively determine the quality of a teacher or the quality of instruction in just three minutes?

If your answer is, “No,” (which is the correct answer) then what are you basing your feedback on? Your opinion?

So the answer is, “No,” don’t try to give feedback after every short-term walk-thru.  Instead, commit to conducting lots of walk-thrus and meeting with teachers every 3 to 6 weeks to discuss trends, patterns, practices and goals.  The purpose of walk-thrus is to improve the quality of the coaching conversations that we have with our teachers.  Which means I have to see enough to distill random occurrence from typical practice, before I talk. That’s the reflective power of coaching and that is what our teachers really need.

Think. Work. Achieve.
Your turn...
  • Call Jo at (832) 477-LEAD to order your campus set of “The Fundamental 5: The Formula for Quality Instruction.” Individual copies available on Amazon.com!  http://tinyurl.com/Fundamental5 
  • Call Jo at (832) 477-LEAD to order your campus set of “Look at Me: A Cautionary School Leadership Tale” Individual copies available on Amazon.com!  http://tinyurl.com/lookatmebook
  • Now at the Apple App Store: Fun 5 Plans (Fundamental 5 Lesson Plan Tool); PW Lite (Basic PowerWalks Tool); PW Pro (Mid-level PowerWalks Tool)
  • Upcoming Presentations: North Dakota Principals Association Conference (Keynote Speaker), TASSP Assistant Principals’ Workshop (Featured Speaker), American Association of School Administrators Conference (Multiple Presentations), National Association of Secondary School Principals Conference (Multiple Presentations), Texas Association of Secondary School Principals Conference (Multiple Presentations)
  • Follow Sean Cain and LYS on www.Twitter.com/LYSNation

Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Top LYS Tweets From the Week of January 13, 2013


Here are the Top LYS Tweets from the week of January 13, 2013.

1. Congratulations to LYSer, Dr. Jerry Burkett! He is the new Director of College Readiness and Partnerships in Grand Prairie ISD. Who will be next?

2. A large part of greatness is consistency. It's not based on an extraordinary act. It's based on ordinary acts done consistently over time. (By @jaredpeters23)

3. MET Project Final Report...Do your PowerWalks!!! (By @brandyjbaker)

4. In PowerWalks conference with teachers today. All conferences are positive and each teacher wants to see her next report, ASAP! Which means get in classrooms more!

5. Two quotes from a teacher today - 1. Teachers must model hard work for their students. 2. Each teacher can control her standard of excellence. (By @scot_wright)

6. Altering the schedule or length of school year will not make us better if we do not improve our craft. (By @dsteeber)

7. Not closing the lesson is like doing 15 push-ups and then eating 6 donuts and smoking a cigarette. Yes, you did something good. Then you undid it.

8. Self-doubt can use up mental resources that we could otherwise apply to absorbing knowledge or solving problems. (By @anniemurphypaul)

9. While affluent parents debate styles of strollers, 1 in 5 children in the U.S. are growing up below the poverty line. (By @anniemurphypaul)

10. Why is it a "cost" when government spends money on training or infrastructure but "investment" when spent by business? (By @haaspolicy)

Think. Work. Achieve.
Your turn...
  • Call Jo at (832) 477-LEAD to order your campus set of “The Fundamental 5: The Formula for Quality Instruction.” Individual copies available on Amazon.com!  http://tinyurl.com/Fundamental5
  • Call Jo at (832) 477-LEAD to order your campus set of “Look at Me: A Cautionary School Leadership Tale” Individual copies available on Amazon.com!  http://tinyurl.com/lookatmebook
  • Now at the Apple App Store: Fun 5 Plans (Fundamental 5 Lesson Plan Tool); PW Lite (Basic PowerWalks Tool); PW Pro (Mid-level PowerWalks Tool) 
  • Upcoming Presentations: North Dakota Principals Association Conference (Keynote Speaker), TASSP Assistant Principals’ Workshop (Featured Speaker), American Association of School Administrators Conference (Multiple Presentations), National Association of Secondary School Principals Conference (Multiple Presentations), Texas Association of Secondary School Principals Conference (Multiple Presentations)
  • Follow Sean Cain and LYS on www.Twitter.com/LYSNation

Monday, January 21, 2013

MLK Jr. Day


“Almost always, the creative dedicated minority has made the world better.”

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Think. Work. Achieve.
Your turn...
  • Call Jo at (832) 477-LEAD to order your campus set of “The Fundamental 5: The Formula for Quality Instruction.” Individual copies available on Amazon.com!  http://tinyurl.com/Fundamental5 
  • Call Jo at (832) 477-LEAD to order your campus set of “Look at Me: A Cautionary School Leadership Tale” Individual copies available on Amazon.com!  http://tinyurl.com/lookatmebook
  • Now at the Apple App Store: Fun 5 Plans (Fundamental 5 Lesson Plan Tool); PW Lite (Basic PowerWalks Tool); PW Pro (Mid-level PowerWalks Tool)
  • Upcoming Presentations: North Dakota Principals Association Conference (Keynote Speaker), TASSP Assistant Principals’ Workshop (Featured Speaker), American Association of School Administrators Conference (Multiple Presentations), National Association of Secondary School Principals Conference (Multiple Presentations), Texas Association of Secondary School Principals Conference (Multiple Presentations)
  • Follow Sean Cain and LYS on www.Twitter.com/LYSNation