The Bad School Improvement Plan - Computer Version

Running an effective school is a lot like building an airplane.  Ignore the laws of aerodynamics when building a plane and you will end up as a greasy spot in a field.  Ignore the fundamentals of effective schools and you will squander the future of scores of students.  The sad thing is that since there isn’t a big crash, though bad school improvement plans are a big risk to students, they are adopted all to frequently because they represent almost no risk to the adoptee.

Delivering quality, effective instruction to a classroom of students is the second most labor-intensive endeavor known to man. With good parenting being the first. In spite of this fact, “replace the teacher” school improvement plans keep re-surfacing, even though they DO NOT work.

Over the next two posts we will look at the two common version of this figurative “bad penny.”

Bad Plan Number 1

Many school improvement plans are built around the concept of replacing the teacher with a computer.  Do know, the only people who truly think this is a good idea are the people who make money selling computer hardware and software and people who know nothing about instructional delivery.  These program advocates may even show how their magic program really improves student performance.  This is simply a case of lies, damn lies and statistics.  Yes, there are some students who complete the computer tasks rapidly and satisfactorily, but that is a specific type of student.  It is the student who can read at the 6^th grade level or higher and is motivated to complete the work.

The proponents will sometimes claim that by putting this group of students in front of the computer it will allow the teacher to better teach the more difficult to reach students and hence, decrease the achievement gap.  But I would argue that any plan to close the achievement gap by under-teaching a group of students is misguided at best and a cynical money grab at worst.  

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: American Association of School Administrators Conference; National Association of Secondary School Principals Conference (Multiple Presentations) 
• Follow Sean Cain and LYS on www.Twitter.com/LYSNation  and like Lead Your School on Facebook

Legendary Leadership Badge (December 2015)

There are those that don’t understand the power of reflective observation.  They mistakenly believe that there is nothing to learn after a few cursory visits to a classroom.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  In fact, the most important key to building insight and deeper understanding about teaching and learning is to engage in a steady volume of daily classroom observation.  What we have learned over the past ten years is that after about every 300 classroom observations, the observer will notice, discern, and/or learn something new... something that was previously hidden. It is the “Eureka” moment, and there is nothing else like it in instructional leadership.

In this pursuit, there is the PowerWalks Legendary Leadership Badge that is earned every 300^th PowerWalks Observation. The following instructional leaders have already earned the Legendary Leadership Badge for the 2015/2016 school year (as of 12/31/15).

Two Badges

Pattie Myers: October 2015; December 2015

Shelia Ochoa: December 2105; December 2015

Janie Snyder: November 2015; December 2015

One Badge

Pete Armstrong: December 2015

Anna Bryant: December 2015

Shele Coburn: December 2015

Shannon Clancy: December 2015

LuJean Daniel: December 2015

Charlotte Goudeau: December 2015

GayLynn Holt: December 2015

Gail Johnson: December 2015

Stephen McCanless: December 2015

Kimberly McKnight: December 2015

Edna O’Bryant: December 2015

Dawn O’Connor: December 2015

Denise Poland: December 2015

Rebecca Smith: December 2015

Christina Spears: December 2015

Marti Turner: December 2015

Tamika Washington: December 2015

Cody White: December 2015

Pamela Williams: December 2015

Glenn Barnes:  November 2015

Esther Boateng: November 2015

Karen Ivy: November 2015

Shirley Jenkins: November 2015

Ana Lopez: November 2015

Erica Moody: November 2015

Jeffrey Smith: November 2015

Sheila Stephens: November 2015

Sandra Wilson: November 2015

Wes Brown: October 2015

Todd Durham: October 2015

Edward Husk: October 2015

Van LeJeune: October 2015

Steve Sherrouse: October 2015

Nassrin Spencer: October 2015

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: American Association of School Administrators Conference; National Association of Secondary School Principals Conference (Multiple Presentations)
• Follow Sean Cain and LYS on www.Twitter.com/LYSNation  and like Lead Your School on Facebook

PowerWalks Hero School (December 2015)

In furtherance of a LYS Nation tradition, we will take this time to tip our caps to the campuses that have embraced the most important step in creating and maintaining an action oriented professional learning community.  These are the campuses that have conducted an extraordinary number of formative classroom observations in a given month.  For the month of December, the PowerWalks Hero School Targets were as follows:

December Hero School Targets

High Schools – 120 PowerWalks Observations

Middle Schools / Junior High Schools – 90 PowerWalks Observations

Elementary / Intermediate / Combined Campuses – 80 PowerWalks Observations

Alternative Schools – 40 PowerWalks Observations

With the availability of more school days in January, we will adjust the targets to the following levels:

January Hero School Targets

High Schools – 150 PowerWalks Observations

Middle Schools / Junior High Schools – 120 PowerWalks Observations

Elementary / Intermediate / Combined Campuses – 100 PowerWalks Observations

Alternative Schools – 50 PowerWalks Observations

In December, all of the schools using the PowerWalks Instructional Observation System conducted a total of 7,796 classroom observations. A commendable job, LYS Nation! But now, without further ado, here are your thirty PowerWalks Hero Schools for the month of December 2015.  Congratulations!!!

Elementary Schools & Combined Campuses	Middle Schools & Junior High Schools	Alternative Schools	High Schools
Southside PS (CISD) - 419	Cleveland MS (CISD) - 379		Fairdale HS (JCPS) - 508
Eastside ES (CISD) - 377	Kermit JH (KISD) - 169		Cleveland HS (CISD) - 340
Colonial Hills ES (NEISD) - 369	Marlin MS (MISD) - 157		Kermit HS (KISD) - 313
Northside ES (CISD) - 305	Borger MS (BISD) - 109		Borger HS (BISD) - 176
McFee ES (CFISD) - 220			Mayde Creek HS (KISD) - 128
Live Oak Learning Center (ACISD) - 212
Kermit ES (KISD) - 203
Zapata North ES (ZCISD) - 178
Marlin ES (MISD) - 173
Dublin ES (DISD) - 163
Ray ES (HISD) - 151
Veterans Hill ES (HISD) - 150
Fulton Learning Center (ACISD) - 128
Gateway ES (BISD) - 126
Paul Belton ES (BISD) - 100
Rennell ES (CFISD) - 94
Ault ES (CFISD) - 92
Johnson ES (HISD) - 88
Borger IS (BISD) - 84
Hutto ES (HISD) - 81
Cottonwood Creek ES (HISD) - 80

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: American Association of School Administrators Conference; National Association of Secondary School Principals Conference (Multiple Presentations) 
• Follow Sean Cain and LYS on www.Twitter.com/LYSNation  and like Lead Your School on Facebook

Top LYS Tweets From the Week of January 3, 2016

If you are not following @LYSNation on Twitter, then you missed the Top 10 LYS Tweets from the week of January 3, 2016 when they were first posted.  And if you are on Twitter, you might want to check out the Tweeters who made this week’s list.

1. "Education truly matters ... because in the end there is nothing so confining as the prisons of our own perceptions.” (By @DrRichAllen)

2. Leadership that cannot self correct cannot thrive. (By @blitzkrieg607)

3. Your best players have to unite and inspire the group… Otherwise, they’ll divide the group. – Jeff Van Gundy (By @CoachMotto)

4. Stop wasting your potential in areas that aren’t related to your purpose. (By @stevenfurtick)

5. Don't be a thermometer, reacting to the environment around you. Be a thermostat and control the environment around you with a good attitude. (By @RobertShipley2)

6. When you talk to everyone, you talk to no one.  When you have a personal conversation, you may have an impact. (By @EkCoulson)

7. Many of life's failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up. (By @CoachKWisdom)

8. “The only limits on our lives are those we set for ourselves.” (By @DrRichAllen)

9. The pain of discipline is far less than the pain of regret. (By @RobertShipley2)

10. Be careful what you reward. As what you reward gets done. (By @blitzkrieg607)

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: American Association of School Administrators Conference; National Association of Secondary School Principals Conference (Multiple Presentations) 
• Follow Sean Cain and LYS on www.Twitter.com/LYSNation  and like Lead Your School on Facebook