Leverage Leadership
WEEK FOUR
Let's Go Team!
AND...if you're like me and in need of a pep talk after a long year, check out Kid President at the end of this flyer. See you back in linkedin! :)
Week 4 – Chapter 7 : Managing School Leadership Teams
1. Read Chapter, p. 221-236.
2. Reflect on a recent meeting with your leadership team. Identify which common error (p. 229) you may have made. What is your plan to fix it?
3. Work with your own school leadership team. Redesign an upcoming agenda to include a review of the seven levers. POST ONLINE IN LINKED IN TO THESE QUESTIONS: Which of the seven levers are your leadership team’s key areas for improvement? Which lever can you easily focus on immediately? Which lever will require more time/strategizing/pd to implement? Explain.
The Seven Levers (from http://uncommonschools.org/node/2186)
Instruction
Without great teaching, nothing else matters. The first four levers push every teacher to continually improve and excel.
Data-Driven Instruction
If you teach and students do not learn, is it really teaching? You cannot know if students are learning at the highest levels if you don’t assess that learning. Data-driven instruction, then, becomes a road map for rigor. Thousands of schools have followed the data-driven instructional model highlighted in Driven by Data, leading to significant gains in achievement.
Observation and Feedback
A tennis player never got better by a semi-annual observation & review of their performance. The best coaching happens on-the-spot: in repeated, consistent, small chunks. Exceptional school leaders don’t leave this to chance: they build a schedule that allows teachers to get more development in one year than most do in twenty.
Planning
You wouldn’t go on a road trip without a map. Thoughtful lesson and unit planning does the same thing for teaching. Leaders can make that planning even more effective by supporting teachers directly in the planning process, preventing problems before they occur.
Professional Development
What keeps professional development from being a series of isolated workshops that have little impact on instruction? Great leaders connect it to the other instructional levers, creating an avenue for giving teachers multiple chances to practice before implementing in the classroom.
Culture
Without great culture, student learning cannot thrive.
Student Culture
Student culture is not formed by motivational speeches or statements of values. It is formed by repeated practice—using every minute of every day to build good habits. From opening morning routines to the final bell, students receive a constant message that nothing is as important—and engaging—as learning.
Staff Culture
Great staff cultures don’t come from irreplicable charisma; they come from a consistent number of tiny actions that create a strong foundation. From hiring to onboarding to daily interactions, exceptional leaders keep their ear to the rail to ensure a positive, joyful, strong staff community.
Managing and Developing an Instructional Leadership Team
Teams don’t win championships with only one star player. Highly effective principals develop other leaders to implement the seven levers and then hold them accountable for change. This sets up a culture where everyone is improving their craft.
http://uncommonschools.org/node/2186 (REFERENCE LINK)