A Superintendent Writes... The Foundation Trinity

A LYS Superintendent shares the following:

SC,

I was recently listening to a principal discuss The Foundation Trinity with a group of teachers during professional development.  The principal concluded that the success of the campus was due to implementation of The Foundation Trinity.

My response... “Sort of.”

Certainly, The Foundation Trinity is an excellent system, but simply going through the motions is not enough.  Just as The Fundamental 5 can have an impact on instruction.  But in isolation, that's not enough.

The Foundation Trinity is a system that if worked properly will identify the strengths and weaknesses in your school.  But so what?  Too many people stop there, but that is where the real work begins.  Because the real question is, what are you going to do to address the problems identified by The Foundation Trinity?

In too many cases, the answer is virtually nothing.

So, don't deceive yourself into thinking that doing Common Assessments, Power Walks, and The Fundamental 5 are enough.  Those are the core components of your system and will identify who is learning, who is not learning, and why.  The real question is, what are you going to do about it? 

Think. Work. Achieve.

Your turn...

A Reader Asks... Principal Coaching - The Low Performing Campus

A LYS Assistant Superintendent asks the following:

SC,

I have a Principal with potential whose campus is struggling with student performance.  I will be the coaching this principal but don’t want to waste the principal’s time and effort. Any suggestions?

SC Response

With the underachieving campus, the initial focus must be on The Foundation Trinity

1. Scope and Sequence: How does the principal know for sure that what is being taught today is what is supposed to be taught today? There are three concurrent practices that must be in place.

   a. Leadership must be involved in planning.

   b. Leadership must live in classrooms.

   c. Leadership must monitor short-cycle common assessment results.

2. Common Assessments: How does the campus use common assessment results to adjust instruction? Again, there are three areas to address.

   a. Are the common assessments being used to ensure / confirm that teachers are on pace with the scope and sequence?

   b. Are the common assessments being used to confirm what instructional practices are working

   c. Are the common assessments being used to confirm what instructional practices are not working?

3. PowerWalks: Is the Principal in classrooms enough and correctly implementing the process to:

   a. Cue new / improved instructional practices.

   b. Coach staff on better implementation.

   c. Problem solve in an expedited and efficient manner.

Spend most your coaching time with the Principal in the hallways and observing classrooms. This facilitates discussing solutions to real campus issues that are occurring “live.” Keep the conversations focused on actions.  What do you see? What needs to occur? How will this get done? When will the action begin?

I hope this helps.

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 
• Upcoming Conference Presentations: Texas ASCD Summer Conference, Virginia Middle and High School Principals Conference; The National Principals Conference; The Fundamental 5 National Summit (Keynote) 
• Now at the Apple App Store: Fun 5 Timer (Fundamental 5 Delivery Tool); PowerWalks CLC (Networked Formative Observation Tool) 
• Follow Sean Cain and LYS on www.Twitter.com/LYSNation  and like Lead Your School on Facebook

Inside vs. Outside Solutions

Recently, the LYS team completed the assessment of a struggling high school campus serving a high poverty clientele.  Things were not good. Teachers were not even pretending to follow the district’s scope and sequence. The quality of delivered instruction (when there was instruction, not a given) was sub-par. Student engagement was extremely low, with sleeping and watching YouTube rivaling actual on-task behavior.

When I asked the Principal what his main priority was for the next year, his response was, “Strengthen our volunteer mentor program.”

I suggested that his time would be better spent implementing, supporting and monitoring The Foundation Trinity, he was skeptical.  He was putting all his eggs in the “If the mentors can convince the students that school is important, then the teachers could do their job and the school would be successful,” basket.

That’s quite a stretch, and frankly, a passive approach and mind set.  It is never our recommendation to wait for outsiders to rescue you.  Instead do the hard work that matters, make your own luck and actively improve student lives. 

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 
• Upcoming Conference Presentations: Texas ASCD Summer Conference, Virginia Middle and High School Principals Conference; The National Principals Conference; The Fundamental 5 National Summit (Keynote) 
• Now at the Apple App Store: Fun 5 Timer (Fundamental 5 Delivery Tool); PowerWalks CLC (Networked Formative Observation Tool) 
• Follow Sean Cain and LYS on www.Twitter.com/LYSNation  and like Lead Your School on Facebook