Visible Leading
Principal academy connects and empowers principals
By Learning Forward
Categories: LeadershipAugust 2015
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A superintendent’s perspective
By John Fahey
Three principals in my school district participated in the SURN Principal Academy. The high school principals (two within the past two years) led a school that was not fully accredited. It is now fully accredited, and math end-of-course state assessment scores have improved 40 points over the past two years. This is visible and high-yield data that increased community pride in a high school that was once labeled “a dropout factory.” The high-poverty (76%) middle school’s new principal participated in the Principal Academy with a largely new staff and new schedule. They also experienced visible growth.
The middle school’s transformation is visible and evident in its culture. The principal and staff reviewed every aspect of school governance to examine student engagement, high-yield strategies, and visible student and staff learning. The staff and principal engaged in professional learning that targeted tangible evidence of student engagement.
The principal led by example. He taught in classrooms to model his expectations and his focus on engaged instruction. The school became the most improved in the district. The payoff has been a much happier middle school staff, student body, and community. In two years, state assessment math scores improved by 25 points. We attribute this focus to the Principal Academy.
A principal’s perspective
By Rachel Ball
My participation in the SURN Principal Academy coincided with my first year as a principal at Cool Spring Primary School in King William County (Virginia) Public Schools. As an administrator, I immediately experienced how various responsibilities and tasks compete for my time. However, the Principal Academy reiterated the need to prioritize my role as an instructional leader.
My goal for the school year was to align our professional learning, classroom observations, and decision making with John Hattie’s research (Hattie, 2009). I envisioned a professional staff whose practices reflect evidence of high-yield strategies within the classroom. Through book studies, ongoing professional learning, monthly emails in which I highlight classroom applications of research-based strategies, weekly sharing of captioned images or video clips identifying high-yield strategy use observed in our school, observations, and post-conferences, staff members found themselves constantly immersed in visible learning. Conversations at faculty meetings, team planning sessions, and leadership meetings revolved around strategies that support increased student engagement.
Through full immersion in high-yield strategies, I witnessed the development of a school culture that centered on student engagement. Teachers’ commitment to their own professional growth translated into positive outcomes for students. A year of observation data established the groundwork for next year’s professional learning.
References
Dweck, C.S. (2006). Mindset. New York, NY: Ballantine Books.
Hattie, J. (2009). Visible learning. New York, NY: Routledge.
Hattie, J. (2012). Visible learning for teachers. New York, NY: Routledge.
Nottingham, J. (2013). Encouraging learning. New York, NY: Routledge.
The Wallace Foundation (2013). The school principal as leader: Guiding schools to better teaching and learning. Available at https://bit.ly/1ift7d9.
Learning Forward is the only professional association devoted exclusively to those who work in educator professional development. We help our members plan, implement, and measure high-quality professional learning so they can achieve success with their systems, schools, and students.
Categories: Leadership
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