Great principals are instructional leaders who drive second-order change through building trust and developing a collaborative vision. They establish a leadership team to motivate staff and connect changes to shared beliefs and goals. Data is used to monitor student growth over time on an individual level, rather than just competitive scores. Principals treat everyone with dignity, develop cultural norms like trust and collaboration, and focus on improving teaching to best support all students.

1. LEADERSHIP FOR CHANGE What Great Principals Do Differently

2. Research: School Leadership Leadership is second only to classroom instruction among all school-related factors that contribute to what students learn at school. Leadership effects are usually largest where and when they are needed the most. ( Leithwood, Louis, Anderson,& Wahlstrom, 2004)

3. Marzano (2003 & 2004) Leadership could be considered the single most important aspect of effective school reform. Leadership is a necessary condition for effective reform relative to the school level, the teacher level, and the student level factors.

4. COTTON’S 25 LEADERSHIP PRACTICES (2003) 1. Safe & Orderly School Environment 2. Vision & Goals Focused on High Levels of Student Learning 3. High Expectations for Student Learning 4. Self-confidence, Responsibility and Perseverance 5. Visibility and Accessibility 6. Positive and Supportive School Climate 7. Communication and Interaction 8. Emotional and Interpersonal Support 9. Parent and Community Outreach and Involvement 10. Rituals, Ceremonies, and other Symbolic Actions 11. Shared Leadership, Decision Making & Staff Empowerment 12. Collaboration

5. Cotton’s 25 13. Instructional Leadership 14. Ongoing Pursuit of High Levels of Student Learning 15. Norm of Continuous Improvement 16. Discussion of Instructional Issues 17. Classroom Observations & Feedback 18. Support of Teacher Autonomy 19. Support of Risk Taking 20. Professional Development Opportunities 21. Protecting Instructional Time 22. Monitoring Student Progress & Sharing Findings 23. Use of Student Progress Data for Program Improvement 24. Recognition of Student and Staff Achievement 25. Role Modeling

6. LEADERSHIP VS MANAGEMENT “ The manager administers, the leader innovates. The manager has a short-range view; the leader has a long-range perspective. The manager asks how and when, the leader asks what and why. The manager accepts the status quo; the leader challenges it. The manager does things right; the leader does the right thing. (Bennis, 1989)

7. TYPES OF CHANGE FIRST ORDER CHANGE- first order change is “incremental”. It can be thought of as the next most obvious step to take a school or district. SECOND ORDER CHANGE- second order change involves a dramatic departure from the expected, both in defining the problem and in finding solutions. Second order change is “deep change”.

8. CHARACTERISTICS OF FIRST-ORDER CHANGE AND SECOND ORDER CHANGE First Order Change Perceived as extension of past practice Fits with existing paradigms Can be implemented with existing knowledge and skills Requires resources that are currently available Accepted because of common agreement that the change is necessary. Second Order Change Perceived as a break with the past Lies outside existing paradigms Requires the acquisition of new skills and knowledge May require resources to be reallocated May be resisted because only those who have a broad perspective of the school see the innovation as necessary.

9. LEADING 2 ND ORDER CHANGE “ The only way to discover the limits of the possible is to go beyond them into the impossible.” (Arthur C. Clark) Second order change will impact the entire school community and if not approached proactively by the leadership will result in broad based resistance.

10. WHAT GREAT PRINCIPALS DO DIFFERENTLY DEFINING LEADERSHIP: “ Interpersonal influence directed through the communication process toward the attainment of some goal or goals.” (Tannenbaum, Weschler, Massarik, 1961) Effective leadership means more than simply knowing what to do…. It is knowing when, how, and why to do it.

11. “ BEGIN WITH THE END IN MIND” ( Steven Covey) “ Effective leaders put words to the formless longings and deeply felt needs of others.” (Warren Bennis) “ Community building must become the heart of any school improvement effort.” (Thomas Sergiovani) “ School cultures can not be changed from with-out; they must be changed from with-in.” (Roland Barth, 2001)

12. SCHOOL CULTURES Every school building has a unique culture… some are hospitable to learning and at the other extreme…some are toxic to the promotion of learning. School cultures are incredibly resistant to change. Unless teachers and administrators work together to change the culture of the school, all innovations will simply be superficial add-ons. “Window- dressing”.

13. KEEP THE END IN MIND “ A leader is a juggler, a person who maintains a dynamic vision of “what could be” while dealing with the everyday “what is” crises and mundane demands.” ( Matusak & Young, 1997)

14. The vision “thing” EXAMPLE: The school community is challenged to create and maintain a culture that is hospitable to the promotion of human growth and learning.

15. QUESTIONS DRIVE LEARNING What questions come to mind when you read this vision? What would we need to define in this vision? What concrete ingredients would create an ethos hospitable for the growth of human learning? What actions prevent the growth of human learning? Other ??????

16. It’s People, Not Programs “ In our rush to reform education, we have forgotten a simple truth: reform will never be achieved by appropriations, restructuring schools, rewriting curricula, and revising texts if we continue to demean and dishearten the human resource called the teacher on whom so much depends.” (Parker Palmer)

17. 12 Healthy Cultural Norms (Saphier & King, 1985) Collegiality Experimentation High Expectation Trust & Confidence Tangible Support Reaching out to the knowledge base Appreciation and recognition Caring & humor Involvement in decisions Protection of what is important Traditions Open & honest communication

18. “ Education is always a vocation rooted in hopefulness.” (B. Hooks) TREAT EVERYONE WITH RESPECT AND DIGNITY…EVERYDAY…ALL THE TIME…. NO EXCEPTIONS SET THE EMOTIONAL TONE OF YOUR BUILDING ( BE A THERMOSTAT NOT A THERMOMETER) REWARD ROUTINELY, RECOGNIZE RELENTLESSLY

19. “ TRUST” IN SCHOOLS “ Principals establish both respect and personal regard when they acknowledge the vulnerabilities of others, actively listen to their concerns, and avoid arbitrary actions. Effective principals couple these behaviors with a compelling school vision and behavior that clearly seeks to advance their vision. This consistency between words and actions affirms their personal integrity. Then, if the principal competently manages basic day to day school affairs, an overall ethos conducive to the formation of trust will emerge.” (Bryk &Schneider,2003)

20. “ You can’t mandate what matters.” ( Fullan, 1997) Trust is the “connective tissue” that holds improving schools together. Trust is the “social lubricant” that makes difficult work possible. Bryk & Schneider found: Schools with a high degree of “relational trust” are far more likely to make the kinds of changes that help to raise student achievement.

21. Trust First vs Vision first (Thomas Sergiovanni,2005) Vision First Set a vision Develop a strategy Move to action Work on trust Monitor performance, increase evaluations, train/retrain Try to mend fences, improve relationships, and get more people on board to improve effectiveness.

22. Trust-First Approach 1. Establish trust first 2. Set a vision 3. Develop a strategy 4. Move to action 5. Return to vision and strategy to modify in light of: a) what works and what doesn’t b) what assumptions are valid c) what core values are compromised 6. Use accumulated “trust” to forge new strategies for improving effectiveness.

23. TEACH THE TEACHERS “ No amount of good feeling is adequate without the pedagogical dimension, without students actually knowing more and being able to do more at the end of the school year then they could at the beginning.” (Kohl, 1998) “ A key to school improvement is the willingness and ability of principals to assume the role of staff developers who make it their mission to alter the professional practices, beliefs, and understanding of school personnel toward an articulated end.” ( DuFour,Berkey, 1995)

24. INSTRUCTIONAL EFFECTIVENESS “ Holding high expectations for students without also providing top-notch instruction is tantamount to educational malpractice.” (Elaine McEwan,2003) Instructional leaders work with teachers to systematically translate “fuzzy standards” into plain english so they have a detailed and understandable direction for instruction. GREAT PRINCIPALS ARE THE LEAD LEARNERS AND TEACHERS IN THEIR SCHOOL !

25. 2 nd ORDER CHANGE BE PROACTIVE Establish a school leadership team The school leader needs to drive 2 nd order change but needs collaborative help! Leadership must motivate & inspire staff to buy into operating at their; “ edge of competence.” Mindfully connect the second-order change to the vision & beliefs of the school. Define the work- Use data for a “Balcony View”

26. Defining Excellence 3 Models of Excellence 1. Competitive Victory Model 2. Comparative Growth Model 3. Individual Student Growth Model

27. NO ONE ELSE IS COMING ! If the conditions in which children live are such that the behavior of the principal does not make a difference in children’s schooling, then we can blame lack of success on circumstances…. However, if it is true that what “we” do can have a profound effect on children’s lives then we have the ethical and moral obligation to create conditions in schools that reflect the best of what we know !!