Get Schooled

By jim d

August 27, 2008 8:58 AM | Link to this

In business when hiring leaders I look for mavericks who are willing to take a few risks. True innovation and change can only be brought about by people like this.

However, in the case of education, where the status quo is all important I suspect I’d be looking for puppets without a brain, willing to follow every command.

By Marta

August 27, 2008 9:07 AM | Link to this

Yesterday’s article about the N. Cobb principal demoted for sexual harassment is rather telling. Even more telling is that the man will be moved into a classroom….now instead of harassing adults, he can harass 13 year old girls.

Far too many administrators have no idea what is going on in their building. Far too many of them are just not very smart. Far too many treat their schools like a personal fiefdom.

By Ernest

August 27, 2008 9:28 AM | Link to this

You are on a roll, JimD!!! :) Excellent point about seeking ‘change agents’ for this responsibility.

We discussed this before and I would still come back to seeking candidates with ‘experience’ in different aspects of the school system. It ‘seems’ that some principals are taking leadership classes after a few years in the classroom then begin interviewing for AP positions right away. Having principals that have been in the trenches for a while helps them to ‘empathize’ with with the front line workers.

FWIW, I seem to recall some saying a workable benchmark might be 10 years in the classroom and 5 years as an AP before becoming a principal. Is this too ‘structured’???

By jim d

August 27, 2008 9:46 AM | Link to this

Ernest,

Is this too ‘structured’

yep! A good school leader in my thinking wouldn’t need to have ever been a certified teacher. The candidate should have a solid business background with a fare amount of experience as middle management. They should be smart enough to know they don’t need to know everything, that what they do need to know is people with the answers and be open to listening and learning from these sources.

JMHO, but every successful leader I’ve ever seen has surrounded themselves with people competent in the job they’ve been assigned. These are the folks that can make a manager shine, if treated properly. Leadership in schools would be no different.

By Jeff

August 27, 2008 9:49 AM | Link to this

Following Ernest’s benchmarks, wouldn’t it be good to also sunset these principals?

Say, on a 30 yr career:

10 in the classroom

5 AP

10 Principal

5 again in the classroom (granted, at this point I’d give them some of the easier-to-handle students, but I’d also give them a LOT of mentoring-type duties with younger teachers, particularly those within their first 5 yrs)

By jim d

August 27, 2008 9:52 AM | Link to this

And Ernest,

Promoting principals from within the ranks of teachers is a bad idea.

Be honest here for just a minute and ask yourself how many true leaders have you seen teaching school? I’m not slamming teachers here, the truth of the matter though is that true leaders won’t stay in a teaching profession where they are denied using their natural abilities.

Sadly schools are not looking for leaders within the teaching ranks, they gravitate towards hiring followers.

By HS Teacher, Too

August 27, 2008 9:52 AM | Link to this

Ernest, I like the idea, though I’m not sure it needs to be 10 years in the classroom. Maybe 5?

There are some graduate degree programs (in education in particular, but also in other fields) that require x amount of time in the field before a person is eligible to apply. For example, a Ph.D. program in Educational Leadership might require five years of classroom teaching, or something along those lines, before an applicant qualifies for admission. This kind of thing gets at what you’re describing.

If the colleges and universities understand the necessity, why don’t our school systems?! Of course, with so many of our local leaders doing the correspondence/weekend programs, many of which really only require that you pay, that doesn’t help.

So I think the problem can be addressed in two ways: graduate programs can make it part of their requirements, and local systems can, as well.

That’s not to say that there aren’t some outstanding administrators who go from relatively little classroom experience to administration; but in my experience, there are too many people who go into administration almost immediately, just for the increased pay and “to get out of” the classroom. What a shame.

I’m on board with you, Jim D and Ernest. But your mindset doesn’t seem to be the norm in GCPS. (Or, if it does — if you can find the rare think-for-himself renegade administrator — he or she is almost always overruled at the County level.) Tell you one thing: I wouldn’t want that job!

By jim d

August 27, 2008 10:00 AM | Link to this

HS Teacher, Too

Remember, In GCPS we have Napoalvin, so we need no other leaders! :-)

By Jeff

August 27, 2008 10:19 AM | Link to this

Principals need to be in the mold of some combination of Principal Jacobs from Mr. Holland’s Opus, Joe Clark, Tommy Harris, and the three leaders - Lt. Burton, Cole, and Trainer McNally - from Annapolis.

Change that. LEADERS need to be in that mold, and Principals need to be LEADERS who happen to be in the education field.

By Tony

August 27, 2008 10:38 AM | Link to this

An interesting development in Georgia’s approach to certifying school principals is the change to a performance based approach. During the last two years colleges and the PSC have developed new standards for certifying principals. It will now be required that school leaders receive mentoring and coaching as part of the certification process.

Up front I recognize my bias before I present my opinion. Hiring people with no clue as to what takes place in the classroom will not help to improve schools. A school leader must have an understanding of how classrooms work in order to lead change in a school. I credit my success to three things: successful teaching, knowing how to develop and implement a plan using data, and having people skills that help promote good working relationships.

One of the images I use to describe my job as a principal is this. Imagine the school as a machine. With one hand I crank the machine to cause it to produce. With the other hand I keep outside influences away so the machine can do its job. The outside influences range for central office interference, state interference, parents who want to distract, community and business influences that distract, and other extraneous negative forces.

On the change agent idea, one of the most refreshing changes that could come right now is simply letting our teachers teach. As jim d so eloquently defined yesterday, teach is a verb and it is what we should be doing.

In my school I deliberately set out to identify leaders and encourage them to grow. Taking risks is one of the hallmarks, but another is how a person enacts their beliefs about learning. People respect others who act according to their beliefs (when those beliefs align with what is right for learning) and this is a critical element for someone to be a successful school leader.

School systems who hire “yes” people might as well go ahead and sign the death warrant for the school. Principals must have the ability to think and act independently. Even as middle managers, principals have broad authority under the law to run the school as they see fit to produce results.

School leaders must have a vision for their school and this vision must be shared by others. Getting people on board to move towards a vision requires communication. Here is where many people miss the point. Communication is not a one-way street. It requires listening more than talking. Hearing and understanding what others have to say is critical to success for a school.

Finally, a principal must have the courage to confront people who are adversely affecting the school’s mission. This includes teachers and staff as well as district personnel who interfere with the operation of the school. They must have the courage to establish order and discipline within the school. This includes standing up for teachers who need help with unruly kids. It includes rooting out teachers who should not be teaching.

There is so much more, too.

By TheBlogger

August 27, 2008 11:47 AM | Link to this

Point aboout risk takers or change It is not good to change or take risks just for the sake of change. It must be a logical risk with a purpose. That is a very important point.

About principals It seems to me that the path to become a school principal consists primarily of butt kissing without other qualifications. And, the people that best kiss butts are the ones with the time to do it properly (coaches, art teachers, etc.). Unfortunately, the good teachers are spending their time on their students and not butt kissing.

We need principals that are first and foremost good classroom teachers in an academic area. They will know and understand what it takes to make a school academically successful.

Unfortunately, the new GA method to certify new administrators is through “performance.” The translation in plain English is simply, “more butt kissing.” This mentoring is nothing more than giving that person a few administrative duties. That person doesn’t have to do a great job of it, they just need to excel at puckering up in order to get a great review from their mentor.

By the way, notice that there is no training or qualifications to be a mentor. Interesting, huh?

By TheBlogger

August 27, 2008 11:56 AM | Link to this

jim d I shutter to think of any principal without classroom experience. Imagine having a boss or manager that has no clue about your job. Not a good idea.

I also shutter to think of anyone without teaching experience in an academic area as a principal. If their knowledge/experience is a music teacher, how would they know the challenges for any academic area?

If these schools are graded on academic subjects on the CRCT, EOCT, GHSGT, then the leaders need to come from academic areas. It only makes sense.

Finally, I hate that your idea is that all teachers are followers. I know many teachers that are great leaders. Get to know a few of them. They may change your mind.

One last thought School systems do not want leaders as principals. They want people that will simply follow their rules, period. Anyone that doesn’t march to the beat of the school system drum isn’t a good principal. Every GOOD principal that tried new ideas to improve their school and didn’t follow their rules was promptly removed.

By just a teacher

August 27, 2008 12:43 PM | Link to this

Not really on topic per se, but I have to say that is very frustrating that the only “advancement” in education is out of the classroom.

I’m in my 9th year as a teacher and I never thought that I would care about such things, but I hate that I have the same title that I had at 22 with no experience. I’m a good teacher and a good leader, but I have no interest in being an administrator (or department chair, which is administration lite.) And yet, there appear to be no options. Teaching is so fulfilling in so many ways, but they are nearly all intrinsic, and when the well is dry, there’s not really much else to sustain you.

Back on topic, kind of, I think the best principals are not necessarily the best teachers, but they need to have been in the classroom. They need to know how every part of the school functions.

From a principal I want integrity, trust, support, and inspiration. I’ve worked for four so far, and most have 2 or 3 of those. The current one has all 4, just not all at the same time. (One gem was 0 for 4.) Oh, and fifth trait: competence. I forget to mention that, but it needs to be stated.

By Teacher, Too

August 27, 2008 1:44 PM | Link to this

Today is not a good day for this teacher. I just want to teach.

Tony, I would love to have a principal that allowed me to teach. I gladly hand in lesson plans. I gladly call/e-mail parents. I do my job.

What I need my principal to do is to allow me to teach, rather than repetitive, silly paper work that most people make-up any way, just to appease the admins and clip-board people.

Again, not a good day for me. I feel like I’m in a paper circus.

By AJ in Hall

August 27, 2008 2:02 PM | Link to this

THIS:

“One last thought School systems do not want leaders as principals. They want people that will simply follow their rules, period. Anyone that doesn’t march to the beat of the school system drum isn’t a good principal. Every GOOD principal that tried new ideas to improve their school and didn’t follow their rules was promptly removed.”

Here is the biggest problem in GA education.

If you are not part of the central office ‘inner circle’ or a total yes man/woman you are ultimatley doomed as a principal (if you ever get to the position in the first place). Speak up against a band wagon or policy and you are labeled or drummed out (no tenure for school administrators - they can nonrenew you after 20 years if they want - so most are completly job scared.) There is allways a friend or crony of the supt. to put in your job.

This breeds total mediocracy. Go along to get along. Those that don’t have most of their effectiveness negated and their fire eventually dies off.

By verdi73

August 27, 2008 5:03 PM | Link to this

OK, I am going to say my piece and move on. First, I am a middle school chorus teacher, and the way things are now a days, I teach not only music, but incorporate language arts (we write every day), science (sound, anatomy, intensity, decibels, etc.), reading (got to read the words, what do they mean, is there a hidden meaning?}, social studies (songs from other countries, heritage, foreign language), math (we do algebraic equations on the board, the kids have to translate from music form into numeric form). We DO NOT just sit in a circle a sing feel good songs all day. How many academic teachers do that in one day? Second, I have my leadership degree from a state university here in GA. We had to do 200 hours of internship that covered various standards. This was on top of teaching a full load every day. I had to do this during planning and before and after school. This is not counting going to class after school until 10PM, and the countless papers I had to write. After graduating, I still took time from planning to help with various administrative duties and committees that work on academic improvement. I do not see this as butt kissing because I actually enjoy it. I am not trying to brag or boast, or want any pity, but I feel all of this work has made me a better teacher, and more prepared to become an administrator one day. Third, and finally, I am not alone. I have several friends who have done this, but we are constantly looked over for AP jobs because we are not friends with the superintendent, or the principal, or a board member. It is still who you know, not who is the most qualified. I find it amusing that my principal trusts me enough to do administrative work at my own school, and help our school become better, but I am not good enough for school A.

I am sorry to rant, but I lost out on 2 AP jobs this summer because of “so and so is friends with you fill in the blank”

Thanks for hearing me out. I feel much better now.

I apologize for any grammatical or spelling errors up front.

By catlady

August 27, 2008 5:35 PM | Link to this

Principals need to be experienced teachers. You would not want the chief of surgery to be just any good adminstrator, would you?

They need to have SIGNIFICANT, WIDE experience as a teacher in the area (both geographical and subject matter) they are administering. For example, someone who has lived in Affluent East Cobb County all their lives and gone to, say, Emory, would not be a good candidate for a gritty urban school or a poor rural school either. A person who has taught high school for 5 years should not be put in charge of a primary school. A person who has only taught fifth grade for 5 years does not need to be in charge of a school. And doing Central Office Administration in any form is NOT the same as being in a classroom.

A manager is not the same as a principal.

I have worked under three fair principals, one good principal, and several very poor principals in 34 years. The ones who have were promoted as noted above were NOT good.

By Another in hall

August 27, 2008 5:52 PM | Link to this

Wouldn’t it be nice if teachers and the principal had the capability to make curriculum decisions for their own schools? Everything we do comes from the top and the principals are puppets following orders because that is the only way they can get ahead. Teachers are job scared; they have to close their doors to do some good teaching. (Lots of non-renewals of teachers that had very high test scores in their classrooms, but they didn’t do the latest fluff) Principals can’t possibly believe in the silly bandwagons being forced, but they do the many walk-throughs to make sure they are being implemented. All the while kids suffer and scores go down. How can all this be fixed?

I agree with you about the good principals having a messy desk! All the good ones I worked for had piles of work always ongoing because they would rather spend time in the classrooms.

By Lee

August 27, 2008 7:58 PM | Link to this

One thing that everyone seems to have overlooked is the current trend to rotate principals in and out of a school on a regular basis.

I can remember the principals when I went to school as long time principals who worked in the same school for years and years. It was not uncommon for these guys to have 20-25 years principal experience in one location.

On the other hand, my wife has had four different principals in the past eight years. The AP’s are rotated through on an almost annual basis. This translates into zero continuity from year to year. Each principal will have a different management style and about the time the teachers and staff learn what to expect, they run another principal through.

Personally, I would just like to see a principal exercise a little common sense. A trait far too rare in today’s workplace.

By jim d

August 28, 2008 8:00 AM | Link to this

**INTERESTING DEVELOPMENT IN CCPS

By Andrea

August 28, 2008 1:11 PM | Link to this

We have a GREAT principal at our middle school, Sequoyah Middle in Doraville and he does welcome parent and other stakeholder involvement in all areas. Decisions get made based on what benefits our students and we have made AYP for three years running despite great challenges. He had extensive classroom experience as well as AP experience and we worry each summer that Dekalb County will reassign him. I do yearn for the days when principals put down deep roots in their school.

By Terry

August 29, 2008 10:33 AM | Link to this

Promoting from within is not a very good idea. In georgia, we are ranked 47, that’s because we keep doing the same things over and over again. Leadership comes from successfully overcoming challenges. Georgia needs to import the superintendent from Hartford Schools in Connecticut, who has successfully turned around that system. Faced with extreme budget cuts, a deplorable economy, and children from poor neighborhoods, they are now boasting somewhere around a 95% graduation rate, with few if any drop outs. The governor recently created an education task force—- with a list of the usual educrats who will not embrace change. If the governor was serious about this task force, parents, veteran teachers, superintendents from around the country, social workers, etc would be invited to the task force. Instead, we get more of the same, and I believe we will get the same result.