Common Assessment "Failure"

For most people in the general population failure is so mentally painful that they shy away from anything where failure is a distinct possibility. 

Now consider those is our profession (education). As a group, we are much more risk adverse than our peers in other professions. So actually, we run away from failure before we can learn anything useful from it.

That is the genius and the problem of the LYS short-cycle common assessment process. The genius is that the process creates little, low risk failures that teach a staff how to incrementally improve. The problem occurs when there is no leadership will and a staff succumbs to fear and quits the process.

There is no such thing as “risk-free” improvement.  But with the right process and the right leadership, there can be “risk-reduced” improvement.

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 
• Follow Sean Cain and LYS on www.Twitter.com/LYSNation  and like Lead Your School on Facebook

A Reader Writes... Sometimes It Pays to Play the Game - Part 1

In response to the 6/26/13 post, “Sometimes It Pays to Play the Game,” a LYS Assistant Superintendent writes

SC,

This post was brilliant.  Will schools do it?

SC Response

Thank you.  But to answer your question, for 98% of the high schools in the state, “No, they will not do this.”  

This schedule is too different from what has always been done.  And in a risk adverse profession like ours, it is better to be wrong in a big group than be right alone.  So they will come up with reasons "why not" instead of "how to."

In short the effort to change adult practice will outweigh the potential for increased student success. A sad indictment... 

But also why those in the LYS Nation are different and their schools consistently lead the pack.

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: The Fundamental 5 National Summit (Multiple Presentations); NASSP National Conference 
• Follow Sean Cain and LYS on www.Twitter.com/LYSNation  and like Lead Your School on Facebook

A LYS Principal Submits... Lead Your School

A LYS Principal submits the following:

Sean,

I hope all is well with you this summer. I thought you did a great job at the TASSP conference—a much needed shot in the arm. I enjoyed visiting with you and the rest of the LYS Coaching Staff.

I thought I would share some thoughts with the LYS nation today. Douglas Reeves in his book The Daily Disciplines of Leadership notes:

Feedback (i.e. data) is not about transmission of information. It is about using that information to change us.

• What will you do differently from what you did last year?

• What will you stop doing that you did last year?

• How and when will you know that you are making progress?

If the answer to the first question is a list of initiatives and the second question remains unanswered, then the new initiatives are doomed. If the answer to the third question does not include measurable results produced at frequent intervals—the daily disciplines of accountability and feedback—then we should not expect anything to change.

Remember, at the intersection of principles and evidence lies an opportunity to Lead Your School. Leadership carries great risk, much discomfort and plenty of unpopularity—as does doing nothing. While the realization concerning the above-mentioned questions may sting like a jab to the noise—know that the fundamentals, practiced daily, and with discipline always lead to improved student achievement.

Regroup, plan with simplicity and fundamental clarity, and come out hitting hard and fast from day one. Administer the Foundational Trinity with clinical discipline and precision. Always coaching to enhance lesson frames, increase power zone frequency, refine FSGPT transitions, recognize & reinforce more specifically and critical write, write, write…..

Above all remember we’re LYS Principals—I can’t think of a better point from which to begin “Tipping” from….

Succeeding Together…Whatever It Takes!

SC Response

Great post, great reminder. There is a reason why your staff keeps producing exemplary ratings year after year. Keep raising the bar for all of us.

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/4ydqd4t

Follow Sean Cain and LYS on www.Twitter.com/LYSNation

Doc Seabolt Clarifies... (Common Assessment Data Analysis - Part 3)

In response to the 4/22/2011 post, “Common Assessment Data Analysis – Part 2,” Doc Seabolt continues with:

When I say at first let kids choose their level of differentiation, the operative words are "at first." Combined with a concept like Game On, most kids will strive for more. However, if a student is observed consistently choosing below their ability level, the instructor must step in and make better decisions for the student. I recently saw a classroom doing TAKS review problems on fire with competition, and the instructor wasn't even trying to make the kids compete, they did it naturally. The good use of formative assessment and reinforcing effort and success immediately and energetically lit the students on fire. Of course the teacher leading the class is truly extraordinary, but any teacher can learn the techniques.

SC Response

Great clarification. Student failure, often the result of student choice, is the equivalent to the check engine light signal on a dashboard. Something needs attention and adjustment.

Anybody can deliver content. But the artistry in the classroom occurs when every students “chooses” to engage and strives for success. The more at-risk the student, the bigger the role of the teacher in that “choice” equation. Which is why you have to put your absolute best teachers in front of your most difficult students. To not do so places the comfort of adults ahead of the needs of students.

Making that particular staffing decision is one of the first critical steps in the transition from good principal to great principal. Survive it (yes, this does come with some risk) and the discussions and actions of the campus inherently become more student-centric. Avoid it and your campus is always leaving performance on the table. This idea is not unique. It mirrors the exemplar business practice of putting your best people in the areas with the most untapped potential. Which is a very profitable way to operate and continuously grow. If we simply viewed student results as “profits,” then a lot of our decision-making would be more cut and dried.

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/4ydqd4t

Follow Sean Cain and LYS on www.Twitter.com/LYSNation

A Reader Writes... (Problems with the Boss - Part 2)

In response to the post, “Problems with the Boss,” a reader writes:

“SC, this is all great advice, but how do you proceed with something if your boss never gives you a straight answer? Or, any time you ask about the same thing, it is always a different answer? Or, it is an ‘I don't know, let me get back to you’?”

SC Response
The first thing you have to realize in this case is that you are dealing with a manager, not a leader. Managers avoid decisions and perceived risk. Leaders take calculated risks and make decisions.

Working for a manager can work to your advantage if you remember a couple of things.

1. Don’t present the manager with a choice of options. Provide your manager with one solution and a significant pitfall if the solution isn’t implemented.

2. Quit asking and start doing.

3. Make sure your results are beyond reproach.

4. Frame everything in terms of benefits for students.

5. Learn to beg for forgiveness instead of asking for permission.

I once worked for a “classic” manager. It was good for my career. As long as my decisions made her look good, she didn’t want to know any details (thus no blame for her if the decision failed). I focused on student success, her boss recognized what I was doing, and both me and my students won.

There is a caveat. Working for a manager will eventually suck the passion out of your work. Keep your eyes open for a leader whose team you can join. You will probably work harder, but the accomplishment and sense of purpose will be worth it. Work is always work, but who you work for can determine if you feel like you going somewhere or simply treading water.

Think. Work. Achieve.

Your turn...