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"Spiro, Jody"
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Effective principals in action
The idea that principals should focus more closely on teaching and learning did not emerge prominently until the mid-1990s. Then educators and policy makers began to realize that school leadership matters to student achievement. In a dozen years of working with states, districts, researchers and others, the Wallace Foundation has pinpointed five key practices of effective principals. (1) Shaping a vision of success for all students; (2) Creating a climate hospitable to education; (3) Cultivating leadership in others; (4) Improving instruction; and (5) Managing people, data, and processes.
Journal Article
Plan, but Be Prepared to Pivot: Leadership Lessons from the Pandemic
This article summarizes lessons and examples from a learning community of leaders from 78 large and medium school districts across the U.S. that has been meeting monthly throughout the pandemic, that other educators might apply to their work as they continue to navigate difficult and ambiguous times. The learning community members have identified three main learnings, each of which has its roots in what experts in the discipline of change management would advise (Spiro, 2018): (1) Keep what has worked in the past combined with what has worked well these last two years; (2) Pursue and celebrate early wins, both big and small; and (3) Communicate early and often.
Journal Article
5 STRATEGIES KEEP POLARIZATION F ROM DERAILING TEAMS
Leadership teams increasingly have to deal with strong opinions on both sides of issues when working within the team and with external stakeholders. Since the 1980s, partisan political polarization has become a defining feature of our political system. According to one study, more than 80% of Republicans say Democrats are \"brainwashed\" and \"hateful,\" while more than 80% of Democrats say the same about Republicans (Hawkins et al., 2022). When those team members listen to each other, capitalize on each other's skills, and learn and grow together, they stretch their thinking and ultimately get more done for the benefit of students. If team members value work/life balance, team meetings should take place during the school day and not interfere with personal family time.
Journal Article
PROFESSIONAL LEARNING BOOSTS TEAMS' SKILLS AND COLLECTIVE EFFICACY
After a leadership team has developed its vision and problem of practice and identifed an early win (Spiro & Reyes-Guerra, 2024), members should discuss and agree on the skills needed to carry out the immediate plan and determine next steps for longer-term strategies. Educators in all roles commit to building their knowledge and skills to learn in concert, remaining open and curious about their students and colleagues, and supporting one another to achieve the goal of improved learning for all students. Tese might include any or all of the following: * Book studies with team discussion * Collaborative study of curriculum and standards at multiple grade levels * Attending a conference with the intent to change or improve a specifc instructional practice over time and planning for applying the learning over the next six months * Leading professional learning for educators in your school or district * Participating in or leading professional learning communities using evidence-based practices * Taking a virtual or in-person course that provides opportunities to practice and refect on new skills * Nonevaluative peer observation and feedback on teaching techniques, skills, and strategies * Structured refection with tested protocols and clear norms As team members implement their learning plans, they should regularly debrief what they are learning with the entire team to enrich the team as a whole and enhance team cohesiveness and collective efcacy.
Journal Article
STRENGTHS-BASED FOCUS BUILDS TEAM COLLABORATION
Douglas Fisher (dfisher@ sdsu.edu) is chair of educational leadership at San Diego State University. Essential elements for building collective efBcacy include: developing a climate of respect among team members; using everyone's perspectives and experiences; having explicit ground rules that become part of the group's culture; having specific and clear individual responsibilities; ongoing monitoring of the work; stating any nonnegotiables up front; and testing assumptions of what the group has agreed upon before taking action. How do teams avoid the trap of deficit thinking and instead build on the strengths of their members and school communities? A strengths-based approach in collaborative planning focuses on identifying and leveraging the individual strengths and skills of team members to enhance overall team performance and achieve common goals.
Journal Article
COMMUNICATION SKILLS KEEP TEAMS ON TRACK
Some effective ground rules are that team members should: address the subject at hand rather than digressing to extraneous topics; only contribute comments that are appropriate for the whole team; say nothing personal about any given team member; use data to support arguments when possible; and be constructive and propose solutions rather than criticisms. Ask team members for comments and revisions, then resend the document with those comments refiected. [...]it is equally important to know where team members' values diverge because confiicts may arise, even when some values are widely held - some members' values might privilege other values more highly. What are the Communications styles of team members? o Are we honoring and making good use of team members' different styles? o How do these styles change under stress?
Journal Article
STRONG TEAMS START WITH COLLECTIVE VISION AND EARLY WINS
When all team members have a clear and consistent vision, they are more likely to allocate their time and effort toward accomplishing what is most important. Design each cycle's goals to be achievable in the allotted time frame to encourage wins that build momentum and lead to further wins. * Engage teachers in peer observations through classroom visits. Having an early win establishes momentum and builds confidence among team members and the entire community.
Journal Article
TEAMS MAINTAIN MOMENTUM WITH EARLY WINS
There was no clear assignment or understanding of team members' roles, and this was keeping them from building on everyone's strengths and opportunities in ways that would provide greater instructional leadership. Define individual strengths, exact roles, and responsibilities for each administrator; develop a set of actions to address instruction that emphasized relevancy to students and aligned with the state's curriculum standards; and convene a leadership team retreat to review changes to the teacher teams' lesson planning. REFLECTION QUESTIONS As you and your teams develop and implement steps to achieve your own early wins, consider the following questions: * What is our shared vision for our team's effectiveness? * What problem of practice do we need to address to achieve that vision and meet our school or district goals? * What early win can help us demonstrate progress toward this vision within the next one to three months? * How will our success or progress be measured and in what timeline? * How will we use data from the early win to plan improvements to our team process? * How will we communicate our findings to the larger school community? * How will we capitalize on the momentum achieved by the early win to drive our team process forward?
Journal Article