Superintendent Search in West Texas

LYS Executive Search

~ Superintendent ~

Culberson County-Allamore Independent School District

A West Texas school district is searching for its next Superintendent of Schools

The successful candidate will have

• Demonstrated leadership success as a principal and/or district level administrator 
• Demonstrated success educating diverse student populations
• Firm understanding of school finance
• LYS training and experience, preferred

Information of note

• Enrollment - 450 students
• Rural setting
• Two campuses
• Competitive salary and benefits

Qualified and interested candidates submit the following to Search@LeadYourSchool.com

• Letter of interest
• Resume
• Administrator’s certifications
• List of references
• Recent campus/district performance data

Search Consultant: Robert 'Bob' Brezina

LYS Executive Search

(832) 477-5323

LYS Nation, once again a school district wants YOU!

Think. Work. Achieve.

HS Principal Search - Last Day to Apply

LYS Executive Search

~ High School Principal ~

Rockport-Fulton High School / Aransas County ISD

A Gulf Coast Texas school district is searching for its next high school principal

The successful candidate will have

• Demonstrated leadership success as a secondary campus administrator
•  Demonstrated success educating at-risk student populations
• LYS training and experience, preferred

Information of note

• Enrollment - 1,000 students
• Suburban setting
• Diverse student population
• Competitive salary and benefits

Qualified and interested candidates submit the following to Search@LeadYourSchool.com

• Letter of interest
• Resume
• Administrator’s certifications
•  Recent campus performance data

Application Deadline: March 27, 2015

Search Consultant: E. Don Brown

LYS Executive Search

(832) 477-5323

LYS Nation, once again a school district wants YOU!

Think. Work. Achieve.

A Kindergarten Assessment Plan We Can All Get Behind

The following post his based on an observation in the book, Think Like a Freak, by Steven D. Levitt & Steven J. Dubner. I heartily recommend this great book to all school leaders, both formal and informal.

In the general population, one in every four children has poor eyesight.  Drill down deeper and you will find that up to 60% of struggling learners have poor vision.  Which makes sense. It’s hard to read when it is hard to see. Yet, we educators test to determine if students have understood what they have read. We create interventions for those who have trouble reading. We are rated based on annual student reading performance. But we forget to check the most basic, and correctable, physical attribute related to reading... student eyesight.  We all (I know I did) assume that someone else must have done so previously.

So let’s quit assuming. I suggest that within the first week of school that all students are screened for vision issues, starting with Kindergarten students.  Notify the parents of any student that seemingly has a vision problem and make sure that the child gets the glasses that he/she needs.  Every day a child with uncorrected vision problems is in school is a day that child is falling behind his non sight impaired peers. 

On a personal note, undiagnosed vision issues affected my GPA when I was in high school.  I am color blind to over 60% of the Red/Green spectrum.  This was not diagnosed until a Department of Defense (DoD) physical I took when I was 18.  This fact explained why I darn near failed a semester of biology.  The reason I couldn’t indentify attributes of slide specimens, wasn’t due to a lack of trying... the specimens were highlighted with red and green dyes. Which is why I never saw enough of anything to identify. Oops.

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 
• Now at the Apple App Store: Fun 5 Timer (Fundamental 5 Delivery Tool); PowerWalks CLC (Networked Formative Observation Tool) 
• Upcoming Presentations: TASSP Summer Conference (Multiple Presentations); TEPSA Summer Conference (Multiple Presentations); NAESP National Conference 
• Follow Sean Cain and LYS on www.Twitter.com/LYSNation  and like Lead Your School on Facebook

The School Accountability Hypocrites

Accountability without the tools and resources necessary to meet the required standards is hypocritical policy.

Just for you, the policy makers in the state houses across the country, I’m going to share a little “Real School – 101.”

The variable most highly correlated to student performance is wealth of the family. No judgment attached to this statement, just fact. Meaning, that if all things are equal, the child from a more affluent family will outperform (academically) the child of a less affluent family.

The practical implication of this FACT is to just meet minimum standards the school serving the least affluent students needs the most resources (comparatively).  Which also means that “fairness is not sameness;” school funding should be weighted, but that is another topic for a later discussion. 

For school serving economically disadvantaged students, without additional resources, accountability standards can be such that meeting them is a near impossible task. Hence, the completely predictable (if the policy makers would have listened) fatal flaw of NCLB.

At the very minimum, schools and teachers serving the most at-risk students must be provided with an aligned to the standards scope and sequence, basic data disaggregation tools, on-going training, and implementation time.

Sadly, the most vocal proponents of accountability in the political arena seemingly view accountability standards as a way to justify NOT allocating resources to the schools that serve the most fragile of learners.  Which would lead a prudent person to infer that a better education for all is not their true agenda.

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 
• Now at the Apple App Store: Fun 5 Timer (Fundamental 5 Delivery Tool); PowerWalks CLC (Networked Formative Observation Tool) 
• Upcoming Presentations: TASSP Summer Conference (Multiple Presentations); TEPSA Summer Conference (Multiple Presentations); NAESP National Conference 
• Follow Sean Cain and LYS on www.Twitter.com/LYSNation  and like Lead Your School on Facebook

Readers Write... The We Must Save Students From Failing School Myth - Part 1

In response to the 2/13/2015 post, “The Manufactured We Must Save Students From Failing Schools Myth,” a number of LYSers sent in comments.  Here are a few.

LYS Principal

And that deserves a Hallelujah and an Amen!!

LYS Principal

So when are you going to tell us what you really think about this?  Great piece!

LYS Superintendent

A Freaking Awesome Post!

LYS Assistant Superintendent

No one writes posts like this.  This is why I read the blog everyday.

LYS Teacher

Thank you, I wish more educators would speak up like you do.

SC Response

LYS Nation, here’s the deal. We have to do more that just wring our hands.  While the Legislature is in session (NOW), you have to call and write your State Senator, State Representative, Lt. Governor Patrick, and Governor Abbott.  Let them know, clearly and professionally, that you are against this, you vote, and you talk to your neighbors.  Our elected representatives equate “no comments” to be voter agreement.  If this is important to you, you must act to make it clear that is not the case.

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 
• Now at the Apple App Store: Fun 5 Timer (Fundamental 5 Delivery Tool); PowerWalks CLC (Networked Formative Observation Tool) 
• Upcoming Presentations: TASSP Summer Conference (Multiple Presentations); TEPSA Summer Conference (Multiple Presentations); NAESP National Conference 
• Follow Sean Cain and LYS on www.Twitter.com/LYSNation  and like Lead Your School on Facebook

Top LYS Tweets From the Week of March 15, 2015

A number of you in the LYS Nation are now Twitter users.  If you haven’t done so yet, we want you to join us.  To let you see what you are missing, here are the Top 10 LYS Tweets from the week of March 15, 2015.

1. The A-F grading system for Texas schools is a new low for the Texas Legislature. It's the height of hypocrisy to grade schools without properly funding them. (By @pastors4txkids)

2. The Texas Legislature doesn't need a bill to grade their low performance in their constitutional duty to fund Texas schools. A big fat F. (By @pastors4txkids)

3. Education is a public trust. That is, a provision "by the public, for the public," as John Adams so aptly put it. Not a private enterprise. (By @pastors4txkids)

4. "The attack on public education by the elites funding privatization is part of the shirking of collective responsibility. (By @ongoingly)

5. The Goal of Instructional Coaching: To move from implementing best practices randomly to implementing best practices purposefully and habitually. (By @CabidaCain)

6. Today's Quote: “Always remember - the fundamental purpose of school is learning, not teaching.” (By @DrRichAllen)

7. If, as principal, you are the most knowledgeable about all of the Curriculum and Instruction at your campus, then you have hired poorly. (By @TroyMooney)

8. In a Lesson Frame, the close is not the task. It is the articulated proof of understanding after doing the task. (By @LYSNation)

9. Research shows writing down a goal or objective will increase the likelihood of you carrying out that goal by 50%. (By @lynnfishman)

10. You can easily judge the character of someone by how they treat those who can do nothing for them. (By @CoachKWisdom)

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 
• Now at the Apple App Store: Fun 5 Timer (Fundamental 5 Delivery Tool); PowerWalks CLC (Networked Formative Observation Tool) 
• Upcoming Presentations: ASCD Annual Conference; TASSP Summer Conference (Multiple Presentations); TEPSA Summer Conference (Multiple Presentations); NAESP National Conference 
• Follow Sean Cain and LYS on www.Twitter.com/LYSNation  and like Lead Your School on Facebook

Junior High School Principal Search

LYS Executive Search

~ Junior High School Principal ~

An East Texas school district is searching for its next junior high school principal

The successful candidate will have

• Demonstrated leadership success as a campus administrator
• Demonstrated success in increasing staff effectivenss and student performance 
• LYS training and experience, preferred

Information of note

• Enrollment - 450 students
• Suburban setting
• Competitive salary and benefits

Qualified and interested candidates submit the following to Search@LeadYourSchool.com

• Letter of interest
• Resume
• Administrator’s certifications
• Recent campus performance data

Application Deadline: April 27, 2015

Search Consultant: E. Don Brown

LYS Executive Search

(832) 477-5323

LYS Nation, once again a school district wants YOU!

Think. Work. Achieve.