Leadership Matters: Leadership Really, Really Matters!

Leadership is one of the most critical components of every organization and plays a crucial role in the success of the organization.  In all walks of life, we know that leadership matters.  The military has always known how important leadership is to success and been purposeful/intentional in training leadership, as well as having a structure to sustaining leadership when a leader goes down.  Leaderless armies would be a massacre and tragedy waiting to happen.  Businesses also know how important leadership is and are purposeful in making sure they have leadership that can lead the organization to great performance and often financial gains.  Churches also have leadership structures and know that the leader of the church sets the vision and expectations for everyone in the church.  What’s the first thing an NFL or NCAA team does when they have a losing season?....fire the head coach and replace them with someone they think can lead them to more wins and championships.  Everyone may not explicitly say it, but we all know that leadership definitely matters! 

 

I’ve always felt that any organization’s success is directly tied to the people in the organization, not the programs or material things.  Two positions in a school are the most critical for student academic success:  the principal and the teacher.  Great teachers and great leadership are the two most important parts to any school being successful.  The foundation of effective and successful turnaround is built on the foundation of effective leadership, hiring or building better leaders in schools and districts.  In the majority of school turnaround models originally utilized, replacing the principal and/or replacing the staff or a percentage of the staff were mandated to turn around a failing school.  There were also models like restart or closure, which still shifted people or shifted students to staff that was more effective.  Turn around models from NCLB, RttT, and the CARES Act have all been targeted at improving instructional leadership capacities within schools.  In building great leadership, we also have to remember that great leaders also help others to grow and improve their leadership capacities so that an organization’s improvement is sustained and continuous.  The investment is in people and there is more than enough science and research that shows how to build instructional leaders, but the key is in doing and putting that knowledge to work and in practice.  

 

Many principals and superintendents inherit schools or districts that are not only underperforming but also have a myriad of issues and concerns from students, teachers, parents, and the community. They are pulled in many directions every day. The jobs of superintendents and principals can be very fragmented and it is easy to put aside the most important work of school or district improvement. Leaders must be intentional about what they focus on. What the leader focuses on is exactly what the people in the school and district will focus on.  Everyone in an organization knows what the leader is focused on by where they spend their time. When leadership makes learning and building instructional capacity a priority, everyone in the organization focuses on this and this is the focus of the school.   In the current state of education, with shortages of great teachers and leaders, it’s more important than ever for leaders and organizations to build capacity in their people.  This is especially true for building instructional capacity in both teaching and leadership.  Real school improvement does not happen one teacher at a time. Real school improvement requires a collective, cohesive effort. This collective effort is led by a leader that understands the role of the lead learner is to build the capacity of the staff on an ongoing basis. There is an urgency that exists and helps to accelerate the learning of everyone involved. The schools and district understand that accountability for learning and results is everyone’s job.  Everyone is responsible for every student’s learning.  

 

The two best ways to improve an organization are to hire better people or make the ones you have better.  Great leaders do both!  Leadership matters!: It Really, Really Matters!

Chasing Rainbows: Don't Give Up, Don't Ever Give Up!

This weekend, my wife and our kids traveled to the Great Smoky Mountains for our anniversary.  In visiting Pigeon Forge, there's a building in Dollywood that's named "Chasing Rainbows."   There's also an award given out annually (Chasing Rainbows Award) under the banner of the National Network of State Teachers of the Year (NNSTOY) to a teacher that has inspired children to chase their dreams.  The meaning behind the phrase is clear that you should chase your rainbow, follow your dreams, and that you can accomplish anything in life that you put your mind to and are willing to work/persevere for.   It reminds us of Jim Valvano's Espy Speech and "Don't Give Up, Don't Ever Give Up!"   It also resonated that Dolly chasing her rainbow had a profound impact on the entire community in that area of Tennessee and the Imagination Library has brought the gift of books and reading to kids worldwide.  

While walking through the exhibit and reflecting, the message hit a chord with me and the journey in education so far.  Getting accepted into an education program wasn't easy for me after a pretty rough academic start in college.  The dean of the College of Education at NC State told me that I was wasting my time trying to get into education and that I'd never make it to be able to be a certified teacher.  Talk about smashing someone's dream and telling them there's no pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.  I realized that I didn't have the greatest start academically in college, but I always wanted to teach and coach in my hometown.  I wanted to see students and players have the same type of awesome experience that I was able to have in high school.  There was even something in me that wanted to lead a schools and a school district to have a positive impact on the lives of as many students and athletes as I could. Leading a school district is a dream that I've always had that would allow me to give back to so many that have helped me along the way and to have a significant impact on the lives of generations of children and an entire county or community.  It was at that point where the Dean of Education told me that I would never be able to make it into education, and return to do that in my hometown, that I was determined to chase my rainbow and have a career in education and educational leadership. I took tons of extra classes and alternative licensing to be able to be a certified teacher; however, a couple of years after completing certification I also completed the National Board of Professional Teaching Standards (national board certified teacher).  I also went on to get a master degree, educational specialist degree and doctorate degree in Educational Leadership.  I was able to be a principal at all levels in K-12 education and in two states.  I fulfilled another goal of working for the NC Department of Public Instruction to help transform low-performing schools so that ALL children can have the right to a great education so that they'll be able to chase their dreams.  I'm still chasing my rainbow and enjoying the ride along the way.  It's been a long journey that has led me through tons of detours that have helped to prepare me for the next step in the journey.  I've met so many people that have been influential in my career and have helped me to grow professionally.  This journey has taken me to places and positions I would've never imagined, but I know it's all part of the path that the Lord is leading me on to prepare me to do His work in education!

I had rainbows I chased as an athlete and a coach.  I always wanted to play college football and win weightlifting competitions.  Somehow I was able to be a member of the Wolfpack football team and go to a bowl game in college.  Through dedication and hard work, I was able to win individual State Championships in both powerlifting and olympic weightlifting.  I was able to coach several kids that won state championships in weightlifting, coach teams that won state championships in weightlifting, and even coach kids in college that competed at the Collegiate Nationals in Reno.  All of those championships started with a friend that encouraged me to get kids to a weight meet in Savannah, GA.  We had no money and little hope of winning, but we found a way to scrape up enough money to pay for gas, slept in the truck, and took food with us to eat.  There's true power in hope and not letting the word "can't" be part of the conversation.  I was blessed to coach football in my hometown for many years and see the program rise to tremendous success with many players going on to play college football.  Making it to the playoffs became the norm and playing at least into the 3rd and 4th rounds became the expectation year in and year out in trying to win a state championship.  The lessons learned as an athlete and as a coach have translated into school administration and leadership.  

I chased rainbows in my personal life too.  I always wanted to be married and have kids, family.  It took a long while for this dream to come to fruition.  I am blessed to have a wife and two kids.  Recently, I had a substantial injury that required surgery and will take many months to recover.  My wife was there through every part of it with me, from surgery to doctors appointments and physical therapy, even helping with the basic things like getting in the house and to the bathroom and getting dressed.  You find out how much people love you and care about you during tough times.  That means more to me than I could every put into words, but I will always love her and be indebted to her for standing by me during this time.  You are truly blessed in life if you have someone like that.  

We have a lot to be grateful for each day when we think about it.  There are many rainbows that we've already found in our lives and some that we we are still chasing.  Don't ever let someone destroy a child's dream, don't ever let someone destroy your dream!  If you want it, go get it.  Where there's a will, there's a way.  There are people along the way that will try to keep you from your dream and others that will be positive and encourage you to chase your dream.  God puts both of those types of people there for a reason.  I hope each of us in education is one of those people that inspire others to chase their dreams!  I'm still chasing mine professionally and will as long as the good Lord allows me to chase it!   This rainbow that I've been chasing in my professional life isn't about me, but about having a significant impact on the lives of others, making a positive difference and being an advocate for ALL children, and making the place where the Lord calls me to a little bit better for others!  Keep Chasing Your Rainbows and keep being a bright spot in the lives of others!

 

Not Just Success, But The Significance of Our Work!

I was recently going through videos on Youtube and ran across a video that struck a emotion with me on Tim Tebow speaking to a large group about the importance and significance of our actions and our lives.  If you haven't seen it, it's definitely worth watching:

Tim Tebow's Speech on Significance

It reminded me so much of why most people go into education, although they may not think of it in this light.  When you interview teachers and ask them why they went into the field of education, the top responses are usually that they love kids or they love what they teach or because they were impacted by a teacher/coach along the way.  How significant is it that someone impacted a child's life so much that they wanted to follow in their footsteps.  I am blessed that I get to experience this in my profession and this is such a great honor that you've had this type of impact on someone.  

Do you know the difference between success and significance?

Success and significance seem like they'd be synonymous or go hand-in-hand, but there's a distinct difference.  The difference goes back to your purpose in your work.  Success is knowing your purpose in life, growing to your maximum potential sowing seeds that benefit others The big question is: Once you’ve learned something, do you have a heart to share it with others, or do you hold it for yourself? Success is indeed a journey, but if you stop at adding value to yourself, you miss the reward of significance.  The journey is a process that takes time where success is usually the steppingstone to significance.  Sometimes it takes a given amount of success in someone's life before they are willing to look beyond success and themselves for a higher purpose or a deeper degree of fulfillment.  Rusty Rustenbach, in his pastoral article Giving Yourself Away, hits this topic out of the park. He writes, “You and I live in an age when only a rare minority of individuals desire to spend their lives in pursuit of objectives which are bigger than they are. In our age, for most people, when they die it will be as though they never lived.” Once significance is sensed, nothing else will satisfy. I think Katherine Graham put it best: “To love what you do and feel that it matters—how could anything be more fun?” I know a lot of people who love what they do but don’t feel it matters much. And I know some people who don’t love what they do but do feel it matters. But when you can love what you do and feel that it is making a difference in the lives of others, now you have the right combination.  

The changes that teachers and school administrators have encountered and overcome over the past two years have been tremendous, probably as much or more than any other time in history.  There has been a great degree of success, but the work we do in education is undoubtedly significant in the lives of many children each and every day.  Our work matters and I hope teachers still find joy and fulfillment in their work.  When people say they don't teach for the money, it doesn't mean they don't need or want a paycheck.  It simply means there's a greater purpose to their work and a level of significance derived for the outcomes they see in generations of children.  They know the impact of their work is going to live on far past their time.  

Five Differences Between Success and Significance   (John Maxwell)

1. Motives

With success, my motives may be selfish; with significance, my motives cannot be selfish. Significance and selfishness are incompatible. When I was a young pastor, I would go to a church and look at my laypeople, and my first thought—as wrong as it was—was, What can they do to help me? As I matured, it turned around where I would think, What can I do to help them? In my experience, motives matter because: •    Selfish people seldom find significance. •    When you help others, you help yourself. When you help yourself, you may not help others. •    As Solomon wrote in Proverbs 23:7, “As [a man] thinketh in his heart, so is he.” 

2. Influence

With success, my influence is limited; with significance, my influence is unlimited. Here’s an anonymous quote I found that will help illustrate: “When you influence a child, you influence a life. When you influence a father, you influence a family. When you influence a leader, you influence all who look to him or her for leadership.”

3. Time

Success can last a lifetime; significance can last several lifetimes. People who desire significance value time. They evaluate what they do with their time, and they invest their time wisely. M. Scott Peck said, “Until you value yourself, you won’t value your time. Until you value your time, you will not do anything with it.”

4. Focus

Success asks, “How can I add value to myself?” Significance asks, “How can I add value to others?” My evolution from selfishness to significance went something like this: What can others do for me? → What can I do for myself? → What can I do for others? → What can I do with others, for others? 

 5. Reward

If I pursue success, my joy is the result of my success; if I pursue significance, my joy is the result of others’ success. Very frequently I’m asked what motivates me. And I tell you, I crossed the line a few years ago where the success of other people is a higher reward to me than my own success. Why is it so rewarding for me to add value to others? First, it’s my calling. Second, it’s so productive to get beyond myself and to help people grow and develop. And third, it’s rewarding for me because it pleases God.

Schools Don't Change, The People in Schools Change

Years ago in a professional development session, I was fortunate to hear Todd Whitaker speak.  In his presentation, he made one of the most profound statements about improving schools that I've ever heard.  He simply said that "There are two ways to improve schools.  (1) Hire better teachers and (2) make the teachers you have better.  Great principals do both!"  He hit the nail on the head that the people in an organization are the most critical part to the success of the school.  I'd add to that profound statement that we could/should also add "Leadership" with teachers.  The two most significant factors that determine student success are great teachers and great leadership.  The question becomes "What do we do to build instructional leadership in schools (principals and teachers)?"

Over the course of the years, I've seen a great success rate with focusing on several factors that include:

     - Prioritized instructional leadership as the core function of the school leader. Develop teacher-leadership and leadership teams.  

     - Use student work and academic achievement data to inform decision-making.....based on standards.

     - Utilized frequent and targeted feedback loops with targeted practice to drive improvement and growth. 

     - Implemented change with a balance of drive and humility. Remember the "human" portion of everything we do.  A positive staff and student culture is critical.  

The important component of each of these four things that have demonstrated a great return on investment are the people that are implementing and carrying out these factors.  No improvement strategy can ever be more important than people.  Great teachers and great leadership are the two keys to the success of our schools.  We've known for several years that there was a teacher shortage and that the shortage would get worse.  Covid accelerated and increased the shortage.  Great leaders planned ahead and made sure that teacher recruitment and retention were at the top of their priority list.  Great leadership also realizes that teachers have been and will be the heart of a school's success.  The future of education will be decided by how we attract people into teaching, how we support all teachers, how we successfully we retain teachers, and how we hold our teachers in the high regard they deserve.  

Are We Doing The Right Things or Are We Just Doing Things Right?

Sometimes the questions asked by leadership are just as important as the answers we often give.  The questions we ask also show if we are leaders or managers.  How many times have we been focused on or seen people in leadership positions that constantly wanted to make sure everything was done "right"? This is a great question and it's definitely important to make sure things are done right.  But are we asking the important question "Are we doing the right things"? "Are we doing the things that'll get us to where we want to go?" 

In every school,  there are people that are so passionate about their work and helping children.  They're dedicated and work extremely hard.... just not on the things that will yield the greatest impact for the effort they put in.  This is why leadership is so important in making sure the team is doing the right things and not just doing things right.  Time is one of the most valuable resources we have and leaders must ensure we make the the most of the time we have.   What we focus on determines how much we improve and how fast we improve.  

We want to make sure we leverage our time and efforts. The science is out there, but we must put that science into practice.  Many times we don't have a problem in knowing,  but instead a problem of doing.  As leaders,  constantly ask yourselves and your team "Are we doing the right things,  is this right for us and right for us at this time, andis this going to get us where we want to get to?"  Then, don't be afraid to adjust as needed and put the science into practice.  Results are what counts! 

They Haven't Learned How to Quit Yet.......

A new parent went to visit his newly born infant in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU).  The baby was born months premature and only weighed about 2 pounds.  Worried about his baby, he asked the nurse on duty several questions.  One question he asked was “How many of the babies in critical condition in this unit survive?”  The nurse responded that well over 90% survive and go on to live perfectly normal lives.  The parent asked the nurse “Did you say well over 90%?  Really?”  The nurse responded “Yes sir.  Babies haven’t learned how to quit yet, all they know is to keep fighting no matter the challenge.”  What a powerful statement and one that resonates with the challenges public school face daily. 

 

Have you ever wondered why some people, when pursuing their goals, face adversity, get knocked down and then knocked out?  While others, encountering similar circumstances, bounce back from their challenges, stay motivated, and remain focused.  The difference between these two types of people is a never quit mindset.  No matter what you do, challenges in life and work are expected; giving up, however, is an option!  People who refuse to quit are driven by commitment.  People with a never quit mindset have made a commitment to stay the course, no matter what. Their feelings may not be consistent, but their commitment can be. Consistent action with consistent commitment is what can set you apart from everyone else.  A commitment is an unbreakable promise to yourself that you will find a way to succeed.

 

Giving up will surely deny you a valuable learning opportunity. Whether you succeed or fail, you can learn and grow from both experiences.  Now a never quit mindset doesn’t mean you won’t have to alter your plans to get where you want to go. Kayambila Mpulamasaka, cofounder of LinkedIn, said “When things don’t go according to plan, plan according to how things go.” Because we live in a world of constant change, be prepared to adapt and adjust.  Certainly, we all encounter difficulties that are not our fault, for which we’re not responsible. Regardless, all of us are responsible for our responses to life’s ups and downs.  How you respond to your circumstances determines the course of your life.  What happens to you doesn’t matter near as much as how you react and adjust to find a way to be successful. 

 

Principals and teachers in today’s schools are facing more challenges than in any point in history.  One of the most important things we can communicate and model, as leaders, is a never give up mentality and attitude.  We expect students to not ever give up on themselves and each other, teachers to never give up on students, principals to never give up on teachers and staff, etc.  Sometimes what we perceive as “failure” is actually a very teachable moment and great learning opportunity.  The key is continuous growth and improvement.  

"What Qualifies You To Be In This Room?"

At a recent professional meeting, the leader (a really strong leader that is transforming a district I'm working with) asked the question “What qualifies you to be in this room?”  Every member in the meeting got up and tried to verbalize what their purpose for being in the room was.  I thought back to my coaching days and the locker room.  The locker room is a special place to a football team.  The only qualification we ever had for entry to the team and locker room was the commitment to the team’s success.  If you were totally committed and willing to contribute to the team’s success, you were in and you stayed in as long as you continued the commitment.  It wasn’t about race, height, weight, skill, level of play, or any other factor other than a true commitment to the team and being willing to contribute the most they could to helping the team be successful.  Some of the most important members of the team didn’t necessarily paly the most minutes or snaps on the field on Friday, but they were so committed that they understood their contribution was to prepare the starters for Friday nights and prepared themselves to be ready to go into the game if called upon.  There was also an exit door to the locker room.  We never kicked anyone out of the locker room, but they chose to remove themselves for various reasons and various ways they showed the team they were not committed to the common good and success of the team.  It’s powerful when everyone in the organization or team is committed to a singular goal of the team’s success.  In the old NY Giants' stadium there was a sign leading to the locker room that said "Losers assemble in small groups and complain abut the coaches and other players.  Winners assemble as a TEAM and find ways to WIN!"  In short, one team and one goal.

So the question or thought for reflection of the day is simply “What qualifies you to be in this room?”  What is your commitment to this team?  Have you done everything you can and are you willing to do whatever it takes for the team to be successful?  Are you committed to “One Team, One Goal”? 

Gone to Carolina in My Mind

I've been blessed to have had the opportunity to serve as the Principal of McBee High School for the past two years. McBee High is blessed with an excellent team of teachers and staff. Over the past two years, the staff there has done some great things for students. They've reconciled the financial situation from being significantly in the negative to having every account in the positive, the facility has improved tremendously and is far cleaner, they achieved 100% CCR this year, the highest graduation rate in the school district, some of the highest EOC scores at the high school level, the middle school has the highest MAP growth scores in Reading and Math in the school district, expanded opportunities in both middle and high school, and both the Arts and Athletics programs have had tremendous successes. The teachers, staff, and students have truly done some awesome things!

Leaving a place and staff you love is a hard thing to do, but I know the staff at MHS will continue the commitment to making every decision around what is best for students and will have tremendous success this school year. Chesterfield County Schools made an outstanding choice in selecting Carolyn Caldwell as the next principal of McBee High and I know she's going to do great things.

This coming school year I will be transitioning to the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction in Regional and District Support (Division of Transformation) for the Sandhills region. I officially start on August 2, 2021. I look forward to working with a great team that is going to make a tremendously positive impact for many schools and districts, administrators, teachers and staff, and most importantly for students in NC. The knowledge and coaching I received from working with NCDPI as a principal has had a profoundly positive impact on my career. I'm blessed that NCDPI leadership had the trust and confidence in me to allow me the opportunity to serve in this capacity.

I will always be thankful and grateful for the opportunities I've had in Anson County Schools and Chesterfield County Schools. I'll always be indebted to the school and district leaders that took a chance on me, coached and mentored me, and all the people I've been blessed to work with over the years. It's been an unbelievable journey so far in being an administrator at all levels K-12 and in two states.

I've always felt that leadership is about service and helping others be successful. Woody Hayes was right that "You Win with People!" I’ve tried to live/lead by Dabo's philosophy that we are accountable to God for all the kids and teachers/staff he's given us an opportunity to impact! Ive always thought Bear Bryant had the perfect leadership philosophy...."If anything goes bad, I did it. If anything goes good, we did it. If anything goes really good, then you did it. That's all it takes to get people to win games for you!" The heart of everything we do in education is all about relationships and People!

Exit Strategy: There's a Reason the Windshield is Bigger than the Rearview Mirror

What is an exit strategy?  Why is having an exit strategy so important?  An exit strategy is a means of leaving one's current situation, either after a predetermined objective has been achieved, or as a strategy to mitigate failure.  An organization or individual without an exit strategy may be in a quagmire. At worst, an exit strategy will save face; at best, an exit strategy will deliver an objective worth more than the cost of continuing the execution of a previous plan considered "deemed to fail" by weight of the present situation.  Exit strategies are associated with warfare, business, and public policy. 

 

Unfortunately, many parts of the administrative side of the field of education has very little to do with helping children.  Unfortunately, political agendas and the politics required to appease boards or governing bodies will sometimes win out over what might actually be in students’ best interests.  Unfortunately, this side of education can be very business-like and cold-hearted…..very different than the heart of a true educator.  Unfortunately, we aren’t always able to look out for our own or those we recruit to be on our team as much as we would like to without putting ourselves in harms way without being terminal to our careers or cause unrecoverable damage to relationships with our bosses.

 Several years ago, I worked for a Superintendent that talked with school and district leadership about the concept of an exit strategy.  He was a former military officer and took great pride in training leadership.  At the time, I had just started in administration and was a little confused about why he’d talk with us about an exit strategy.  A friend of mine was in the same professional learning and growth session and spoke with me about it afterwards but under the framework of coaching.  Very few coaches go an entire career without being fired, being forced to leave, resigning, or having a situation where exiting was the best possible strategy.  Even the top coaches, the most elite, often leave under duress or against what they truly would like to see happen.  But this is part of life, the sooner you can transition to moving forward and getting to work moving forward the better off you’ll be sooner. 

 

Sometimes an exit strategy can be a huge door opened to opportunities for growth and advancement.  While it is tough to leave a staff and people you care about, change can be beneficial for everyone.  The best way to reduce the stress of potential change is to start working towards the solution or getting to work making a difference for an organization that needs your help and wants you to help them improve.  Once the exit strategy is put into place, it’s important to remember there’s a reason the windshield is so much larger than the rearview mirror.  Get to work and make a difference where you are wanted and needed!

Total Instructional Alignment: Prior Planning Prevents Poor Performance

We started our instructional alignment and preparation summer phase two weeks ago that I call "Total Instructional Alignment."  This is the first year we've gotten to do this here at MHS since I've been here due to Covid last summer.  Attached is a schedule of summer instructional staff developments, the ELA and SS pacing guides created for middle school, the PIA calendar created for alignment and monitoring, benchmark assessments, and the data spreadsheet for targeted small-group (data moves test scores).  This has generally been at least a three year process to get working and performing well with teachers (Year 1: Curriculum alignment, pacing, standards-based focus, common instructional framework - Year 2: Curriculum scope and sequence adjustments based on EOC/MAP/Benchmark data, data protocol in place with benchmarks and formative assessments, targeted small-group and RTI focus, blended curriculums to include literacy across all content areas, continue CIF - Year 3: Adjust curriculum scope and sequence based on date, adjust benchmarks and formative assessments, dial in RTI process, data utilization protocol, continue CIF).  

This will let us know that we are teaching what is tested and aligned to how students will be assessed, give us a way to monitor instructional pacing, give us a formative means of assessing and remediating, strategically target the growth component in the bottom 20%, and have an intentional and intensive RTI piece in place.  Benchmarks and formative assessments are created with Schoolnet so that we know the questions are vetted and aligned to standards at the levels they will be tested on EOCs based on DOK and they are uploaded into Mastery Connect for data collection.  MS ELA and Math are in year 2, everyone else here is in Year 1.  I've also included a student data-tracker that we created for students to be able to monitor their own progress on priority standards mastery this Spring.  

Once all teachers return in August, our PD will focus on a Common Instructional Framework, 5 basic components of facilitating instruction that we want to do effectively in all classrooms that we know will have the biggest impact (basically Zemelman with the blended curriculum piece already in place through the PIA process) that includes: Scaffolding Instruction (Gradual Release of Responsibility), Effective Questioning (Strategic Thinking, Formative Reflection/Assessment), Writing to Learn (Representing to Learn, Formative Reflection/Assessment), Classroom Talk/Collaboration (Collaborative Activity, Formative Reflection/Assessment), Literacy Across the Curriculum (Integrated Instruction, Classroom Workshop).  The four things within every school's control that move scores and enhance student academic growth the most are done in a continuous cycle of improvement.  These include Professional Development, Instructional Planning (standards alignment, sequencing, pacing, and instructional facilitation based on PD), Observation/Feedback (based on PD, Planning, and Data), and Using Data to drive performance.  A major focus this year will be on getting better at engaging students and using data to move numbers (standards and students).  

Equal Opportunity, Different Starting Lines

 As we do our data dives and end-of-year performance reviews to create the plan of action going into next school year, we are reminded that all children are different and have different starting points, foundational skills, learning interests, learning styles, etc.  Our systems give tests that measure both proficiency and growth.  Thank goodness we’ve finally started to focus on growth for every child.  Most people would think that I’m merely referring to students at the bottom that are significantly behind, but I’m also glad we are focusing on growth for the students at the top (identified as gifted and talented) as well as ALL students.  The goal of any public school should be to help ALL students grow and perform at the given maximum capacity.  Performance analysis used to look at primarily proficiency levels to determine the effectiveness of a school.  In this model, the focus is on moving the middle and bubble groups that can increase the proficiency number.  The students most often neglected or not challenged in this type of system at the students at the bottom, where people may feel like they aren’t able to reach proficiency in one school year, and the top, where it’s taken for granted that they will “pass.”  This shouldn’t be the goal of any school in just moving numbers.  Instead, proficiency numbers take care of themselves when we grow ALL students in a school. 

 

One of the arguments from teachers in many schools is that they have many students coming to them significantly behind or reading multiple years below grade level.  While it can’t be used as an excuse for failure, we do have to acknowledge that it is foundationally true.  The great thing is that it isn’t detrimental or “hurt” a school when our focus is on growth and we are held accountable for primarily growth.  This goes back to comparing “equal versus equitable.”  Equity versus equality has been a long debated and scrutinized comparison in education. The key is to provide the least restrictive environment with the appropriate supports needed for success. For many years, people have come up with new and different ways of providing or facilitating education. Instructional leaders have researched and sought after the models that would give them the solution to increasing student achievement and raising test scores. One premise has held true to the test of time……one size doesn’t fit all. We do know that research says that most factors and actions taken in education have some validity in raising test scores. That’s the good news. The fact still remains that every child sitting in our classrooms are very different. We can use research to design programs, methods, and actions that generate the greatest gains in student achievement, however there are differences for each child. The phrase “Do We All Have a Pair of Shoes or Do We All Have a Pair of Shoes That Fit?” is borrowed from a great superintendent in South Carolina that uses that phrase to discuss meeting the needs of all children.  Do we try to fit all children into a one-size-fits-all approach or instructional strategy?  Or do we realize and put into practice that every child learns differently and sometimes requires different methods and vehicles to get to the finish line?  Do we take into account that they all have different starting lines and it's our job to get them as far as we can as fast as we can?  

 

Shifting from proficiency to growth and from equal to equitable requires a fundamental shift in thinking and the way we look at performance and data.  I’ve seen a school that was at 80+% proficiency with a growth rate of -1 and a different school with 45% proficiency and a growth rate of +4.75.  Who did the better job teaching and learning?  Which one had the most significant instructional impact that school year for children?  Which school would you send your child to?  Fairness does not mean everyone gets the same. Fairness means everyone gets what they need.  It means that every school does everything they can to reach every student every day!  

You're Either Part of the Solution or Part of the Problem!

As we start end-of-grade and end-of-course testing this week, we know there will be a focus on the results.  With all the challenges and opportunities this school year has encountered, we will all still be measured by the impact we had on student learning.  Through the continuous cycle of improvement, does leadership ever hinder the process of improvement?  Are we part of the problem or part of the solution?

 

This reminds me of the story of Dr. Semmelweis, a maternity doctor in Vienna around 1846.  This was "the start of the golden age of the physician scientist." This was the era when doctors were shifting from thinking of illness as an imbalance caused by bad air or evil spirits. They looked instead science and doctors got interested in numbers and collecting data.  Dr. Semmelweis was a maternity doctor at General Hospital in Vienna and wanted to figure out why so many women in maternity wards were dying from puerperal fever — commonly known as childbed fever.  He compared two maternity wards in the hospital: one was staffed by all male doctors and medical students, and the other was staffed by female midwives.  When he crunched the numbers, he discovered that women in the clinic staffed by doctors and medical students died at a rate nearly five times higher than women in the midwives' clinic.  The quest was “why”?  What was the root cause?

 

Dr. Semmelweis looked for every possible difference between the clinics.  He noticed women laid on their sides to deliver in the midwives’ clinic and on their back in the doctor’s clinic, there was a priest that walked through the doctor’s clinic and an attendant ringing a bell but not in the midwives’ clinic, and even the routes and routines of each clinic.  He made a hypothesis, tried the change, and came back to the drawing board each time.  Dr. Semmelweis had a colleague, a pathologist, that got ill and died from puerperal fever from a needle prick.  He then realized puerperal fever was not limited to only women after childbirth but was contracted by others in the hospital.  This still didn’t explain “why” so many people in the doctor’s clinic were dying from the sickness.  After digging a little further, he discovered that the normal routines for doctors during that era was to do autopsies and scientific research with cadavers in the morning and attend to patients in the afternoon.  The big difference between the doctors' ward and the midwives' ward is that the doctors were doing autopsies and the midwives weren't.  Semmelweis hypothesized that there were cadaverous particles, little pieces of corpse, that students were getting on their hands from the cadavers they dissected. And when they delivered the babies, these particles would get inside the women who would develop the disease and die.  So he ordered his medical staff to start cleaning their hands and instruments not just with soap but with a chlorine solution.  And when he imposed this, the rate of childbed fever fell dramatically. What Semmelweis had discovered is something that still holds true today: Hand-washing is one of the most important tools in public health. 

 

 
In education and all organizations, it’s important to keep working to the root cause of “why” and not simply to stop at “what” was the cause.  Sometimes we can have great intentions but actually may be part of what prevents performance increases.  Sometimes you can be so ingrained and involved in the work that we don't see the big picture or the potential alternatives/solutions.  No one does it intentionally, but the adage of “that’s the way we’ve always done it" permeates many educational settings even when we know something isn’t working effectively.  We hope that everyone comes to work and does the very best they are capable of with the knowledge, skill sets, and capacity they currently have.  It’s the job of administration to make sure we are always pushing to increase performance and build capacity.  It’s a function of leadership to make sure the ship gets to the right destination, not just management to make sure it runs well.  It's a function of leadership to make sure the organization has a solutions focus!  One of the best football coaches I ever played for or coached with said "There is no such thing as staying the same.  You're either getting better or someone else is and they'll go by you if you don't constantly try to improve."  The best way to move from a problem focus to a solutions focus is to start working on it.  Let’s make sure that we constantly reflect, constantly raise expectations, and constantly not allow complacency so that we are always striving to be part of the solution instead of being part of the problem!

Retaining Great Teachers and Leadership: Do People Quit Their Jobs or Their Bosses?

This time of year is always interesting and exciting with the personnel shifts we see in schools and districts.  Some people leaving, some retiring, some shifting to new positions, changes in leadership roles, changes in school and district office leadership, etc.  For some districts, it's offers a time to bring in new and fresh ideas, energy and enthusiasm, experience, and different perspectives.  For other districts, it fearful to try to staff schools when you are competing with districts that have a greater competitive advantage.  One of the most important concepts for leadership to understand is “why people leave their jobs.”  This was a topic at the BB & T Leadership, Distinguished Leadership in Practice, and numerous advanced leadership trainings over the years. 

 

The saying that most people seem to use is “People don’t quit jobs, they quit their bosses.”  While this quote has a good degree of truth to it, there’s more to the story and underlying cause.  It’s not the boss as a person many times that pushes the person to leave but instead the climate and outcomes generated by the boss’ or organization’s leadership.  There was an article in the January 11, 2018 edition of the Harvard Business Review that specifically looked at the dynamic of why people left their jobs for other positions.  Of course nobody wants to work for a horrible boss, but employees leaving because they disliked their boss only accounts for a small percentage of workplace transitions in the study.  The study went on to specifically analyze why people left their jobs at Facebook.  Goler, Gale, Harrington, and Grant (2018) said “But our engagement survey results told a different story: When we wanted to keep people and they left anyway, it wasn’t because of their manager…at least not in the way we expected.    The decision to exit was because of the work. They left when their job wasn’t enjoyable, their strengths weren’t being used, and they weren’t growing in their careers.  At Facebook, people don’t quit a boss — they quit a job. And who’s responsible for what that job is like? Managers.”  Managers didn’t necessarily mean the CEO, but referred to those in direct supervision or even temporary supervision of departments and sections of the workforce. 

 

Sometimes change is individually, organizationally, or mutually beneficial when someone leaves.  There is also an organizational cost that goes along with these transitions where the organization can lose a huge investment in human capital and incur a large expense in training someone new to be able to perform at that position at an adequate level.  The biggest question is “how do we retain our irreplaceables?”  How do we keep our top performers and high achievers motivated, growing, challenged, and appreciated?    While money does have a degree of impact, it isn’t the primary reason most high-achievers leave their jobs.  On the flip side, mediocre or below-average employees rarely leave employers that compensate them very well.  In the end, many organizations often take the easiest route of promoting them in hopes they will do less harm in a different position.  Could you imagine a football team where the 5^th string tackle, 3^rd string quarterback, and 4^th string linebacker were the team captains and the waterboy was calling the plays?  It’s not good for a team if the starters and superstars are frustrated and want to leave or don’t perform up to their capabilities.  I don’t imagine a team with this type of approach would be very successful.  Is education really any different?  The simple key to being successful is great teaching and great leadership with high expectations for success! 

 

The Harvard Business Review study worked with a People Analytics team.  They crunched the engagement survey data to predict who would stay or leave in the next six months, and in the process learned something interesting about those who eventually stayed. They found their work enjoyable 31% more often, used their strengths 33% more often, and expressed 37% more confidence that they were gaining the skills and experiences they need to develop their careers. This highlights three key ways that managers can customize experiences for their people: enable them to do work they enjoy, help them play to their strengths, and carve a path for career development that accommodates personal priorities.  If you want to keep your people — especially your stars — it’s time to pay attention to how we design and support their work. Most companies design jobs and then slot people into them, education is no different. The best leaders sometimes do the opposite: When they find talented people, they’re open to creating or adjusting jobs around them to challenge them and to leverage their strengths for the organization.  I’ve always tried to make the most of our teachers and put them in situations that took advantage of their strengths, challenged and empowered them, and gave them opportunities for leadership and input.  One of the biggest frustrations as a leader is knowing you have someone special that can make an extremely positive difference for children and losing them because you weren’t able to design the work to give them opportunities to grow in the way other schools could or when your managers or assistants frustrated the top performers and high-achievers to the point they left.  It’s sad and a travesty for children when either one of these happen.  It’s almost like a player fumbling on purpose or a coach knowingly calling a bad play or kicking your star running back off the team without you being able to get them back. 

 

When I think of the moves I’ve made in my career, I’ve never left because of pay, hating my boss as a person, or because I didn’t like the people that I worked with on a daily basis.  I’ve worked with some great people over the years and I’ve been blessed, at five schools, to work with many people that love students and put doing what’s best for kids as their priority in all decisions.   Every boss I’ve had, I’ve learned something from…..sometimes what to do and sometimes not what to do, but always learned from them.  I’m thankful to have had the opportunity to work for five different superintendents, that each was willing to take a chance on me, and I’ve respected their leadership.  I think very highly of my current boss and my loyalty to him is unwavering.  Being able to work for him and the potential for career opportunities were what got me here. 

  

Why people leave spills out in exit interviews — a standard practice in every HR department to find out why talented people are leaving and what would have convinced them to stick around. But why wait until they’re on their way out the door?  Many times employees face a personal/professional trade off when they take a position deemed as a promotion, ending up sacrificing more time away from family and friends due to driving distance or work requirements.  Exit interviews consistently show that the same employees would’ve stayed if there was an opportunity for some type of advancement or challenge in their current organization.  In education, we often don’t have these opportunities available to be able to keep our top performers.  We don’t have teacher-leader positions that allow teachers to still work with students, their passion, and also leverage the strengths of what they do to help other teachers improve.  There aren’t positions within an organization to prepare people for the next level of leadership and the organization ends up having to go outside to hire instead of being able to do succession planning.  This is often true for both school and district leadership.  Do we have the positions to prepare teachers to be teacher-leaders and instructional coaches/interventionists?  Do systems design assistant principal positions/trainings and other school leadership opportunities to prepare them to be ready to lead a school?  Do we have mid-level district office positions that transition school leaders to be able to successfully take on the roles of district level leadership positions while still taking advantage of their strengths in leading a school?   Research tells us, through both engagement and exit surveys, that lack of relationship/trust with their boss, not enjoying the work, not being challenged, and not having the opportunity for advancement are the major reasons people leave their job for another job……all are a direct result of the organization’s leadership to some degree.  As a school leader, I want to do everything I possibly can to retain great teachers, great support staff, and great managers/leaders.  This is important for all levels of leadership to understand and work toward addressing prior to it being substantiated in another exit interview. 

“Success isn’t owned. It’s leased, and rent is due every day!”

The quote from J.J. Watt “Success isn’t owned.  It’s leased, and rent is due every day!” is one of the most true and accurate statements for any leader and anyone that wants to be great.   J. J. goes on to say: “Every single day someone’s coming for your job, someone’s coming for your greatness. If you’re the greatest, someone else wants to be the greatest.  So if you’re not constantly improving your game, somebody else is.”  Jim Collins says that “Good is the Enemy of Great!”  What they are saying is that we can never allow complacency and there’s always room for improvement, we can’t ever be okay with being just okay. 

There are no days off, there is no time limit on mental focus on improvement, there is no limit on improvement.  You've got to wake up every morning and say, "What can I do today to climb that mountain and stay on top of the mountain?" “What did I do today to be better than I was yesterday?”  The true challenger is yourself.  “What are you doing each day to get better?  The greatest thing is that this is about effort and not limited to ability.  We all control the amount of effort and focus we put into something.  It doesn’t matter what your current position or title.  Whatever you have, somebody else is coming for it, and rent is due every single day.  Somebody always wants a shot at your position or an opportunity to show they can do better.  Even when you’re on top, especially when you’re on top, there’s always somebody coming up from the bottom trying to push you off the pedestal. It doesn't make life easy. It doesn't make life quiet, but that's the reality.  The reality is that there is no such thing as staying the same.  Coach Ed Emory used to say  that “there’s no such thing as staying the same, you’re either getting better or someone else is.”  Such a very true mentality.  Even when things are going well and you’re on top of your game, you still must improve just as much or more than every single competitor, or they’ll catch you some day. 

 

Michael Jordan, arguably the best basketball player of all-time, was at the peak of his sport for over a decade.  You’d watch him in practice, even at the end of his career, trying to be the first on the team in sprints for conditioning at the end of practice.  He’d always try to be the best in every inter-squad scrimmage.  He wanted to have the highest free-throw percentage, both in games and practice.   He even wanted to beat all of the stadium crew in pitching quarters.  Everything was always a competition and 1^st place was the only place for him and even then he always thought he could be better.  This mentality is what made him the greatest.  While he had tremendous talent, there were other players that had just as much, if not more talent.  Everyone in the NBA was chasing him and wanted to knock him off the top spot, but he was always working to get better and never complacent with his or his team’s performance.  Complacency was not a word in his vocabulary. 

 

One of the biggest problems in education is complacency. Success is simply a product of day-in-day-out application of habits and disciplined actions…..small steps each day to improve, paying the rent daily.  If your school isn’t performing the way you’d like, take a good look at where you are falling short. Chances are you’re probably a little behind in the rent in those areas.  Aristotle once said, “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit”. In the Ancient Greek mythology, the story was told of how everything is achievable through consistent daily routine. What does it take to not be complacent and always push for improvement?  Four things come to mind:

 

#1 CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT: The secret of sustained success is continuous improvement. Marshall Goldsmith once said, “What Got You Here Won’t Get You There”.  This is a never-ending process. 

#2 PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT AND GROWTH: John C. Maxwell said, “There is nothing noble in being superior to someone else; progress is becoming superior to your previous self”.  Always have a growth mindset.

#3 DREAM AND PASSION: Henry David Thoreau said, “If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live a life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours.”  Improvement doesn’t happen in a status quo environment. 

#4 GIFTS AND TALENTS: Everyone has a talent or something that they are really good at.  Your talent is something you’re good at, that comes naturally for you.  Don’t try to change your style to fit someone else’s mold.  Accentuate your strengths and your students’ strength while you work on opportunities for improvement. 

 

I was proud of our team this week, not just for their scores but the attitude they took toward the scores.  In math, 75-85% of our students met or exceeded MAP growth projections.  While this is good, our team wanted to know what we could do help the @20% that did not meet to be able to improve for SC Ready (EOGs).  It would’ve been easy to be just be happy with the improvements and successes, but our teachers want more.  One of our consultants was doing a PD with our teachers and presented them with a chart of 9 different images.  She asked them which one shows their reaction to their MAP data.  None of them chose the images that were indicative of being completely satisfied with the scores.  Everything we do is about attitude and being successful is mostly about attitude and work ethic, things we control.  Great schools and great leaders are never complacent.  They celebrate successes and accomplishments, but are never complacent with the results.  The results take care of themselves when we do the very best we can every single day on being the best we can at each part of the process.  

 

If you really want to know the reason why some people succeed and others don’t, you need not look far-the secret is in their daily routines and attitude toward constant improvement. Success is the sum of small efforts, repeated day in and day out.  For something to change, something must change.  You can’t ever be okay with being okay and you must realize that you don’t from when you’re comfortable.  You must learn to be comfortable with being uncomfortable.   The questions are simple…. Did you, as a principal or instructional coach, give your teachers and staff the best you had to give that day?  Did you, as a teacher give your students the best you had on that day?  Did students give you the best they had to give?  Do you take care of rent each and every day?