The Aspiring Principal 50

Critical Questions for New and Future School Leaders

Baruti K. Kafele

• Publisher: ASCD
• Year: 2019
• ISBN:
  9781416627777
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Leadership in Education

So, you want to be a principal? Are you a new principal who could benefit from the wisdom of a successful four-time principal? Could you use help preparing for a school administrator job interview? Then this is the book for you.

In The Aspiring Principal 50, school leadership expert Baruti Kafele presents reflective questions aimed at assisting both new and aspiring school leaders as they work to become effective school leaders and consider making a leap to a leadership position, respectively. This book will help aspiring principals determine whether "The Principal" is truly who they want to be and help new principals grow and thrive in the principalship. Additionally, the book contains an entire chapter devoted to preparing for the school administrator job interview.

Kafele infuses the book from beginning to end with succinct advice on everything from remaining focused on the principal's number one priority—student achievement—to addressing maintenance concerns, managing budget allocations, and ensuring that the school's website puts the school in the best possible light. With The Aspiring Principal 50, you can increase the likelihood that your tenure as principal will be a successful, beneficial, and healthful one.

---

Chapter 1

---

Principal Leadership Nonnegotiables

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Q: How will I reconcile the reality of the correlation between my leadership effectiveness and the success or failure of my school?

For the past 20 years I have repeatedly stated that leadership is everything—whether it be business leadership, government leadership, organizational leadership, sports leadership, or school leadership. Show me a school full of phenomenal teachers in every classroom and an ineffective leader (the principal), and I'll show you an underperforming school. While the school may be considered high-performing because of the performance level of the teaching staff, it is not performing optimally because its leader is ineffective. On the other hand, show me a school full of young, fresh-out-of-college, brand-new, and inexperienced teachers with a seasoned, effective leader (the principal), and I'll show you a school with a wealth of potential. I say this emphatically because this effective principal understands that his role includes ensuring that these new teachers receive all the support, guidance, direction, and leadership required for their future success. It is leadership that leads the effort toward making this happen.

The effective principal understands that the success or failure of his school rests squarely on his shoulders. As the principal goes, so goes the school—despite any challenges that the school may encounter. Strong and effective leaders both understand that they must confront any challenges faced by their schools and know what they must do to overcome them. When you become the principal of your own school, your leadership will be the primary determinant of the success or failure of your school. Notice that I said "your leadership" and not "you." Your leadership will make all the difference in your school. Are you ready to handle that? Will your shoulders be strong enough to carry such a burden?

The Principal Is the Face of the School

In the world of professional sports, each team (hopefully) has at least one standout player that teammates and fans primarily associate with the team. When they think of the team (for example, the old Chicago Bulls), they first think of this individual (Michael Jordan). When they think of this individual (for example, LeBron James), they think of the team (the Cleveland Cavaliers, before James left). Michael Jordan and LeBron James were the "faces" of the Bulls and Cavaliers, respectively. Their presence made their teams relevant to fans and nonfans alike. Well, it works the same way in school leadership. As the one-day principal of your school, you will be both the leader of your school and the "face" of your school. When staff, parents, and members of the community think of your school, they will think of you. And when they think of you, they will think of your school. As a result of becoming the leader of your school, you will become the "face" of the school.

I am known to remind principals that there are two names on the school's façade—that of the school (visible) and that of the principal (invisible). Although the name of the principal is invisible, the public will see it! As long as you are associated with a school, your name and face will be associated with it—and everything, good and bad, that goes on inside. Be prepared to handle that reality.

The Principal Is the Backbone of the School

Think of yourself as the backbone of the school. The spine. In order for the school to stand up straight, you will need to be effective. That doesn't mean that you are the only important person in the building; you aren't. Everyone, and I mean everyone in your school, is important, but you alone will be the leader—the one who provides leadership to everyone else in your school. You will be the glue that binds all of the parts together. As you go, so goes your school.

Reflective Practitioner (Studying Your Game Film)

The reality that the success or failure of your school hinges on your leadership will force you to become a reflective practitioner. To use another professional sports analogy (as you can see, I love sports), teams don't return to the practice field the day after a game to prepare for their next opponents; that's not yet a priority. The priorities immediately after a game are the study, review, analysis, and dissection of the film of the game just played. The players and coaches need to be able to gain a firm handle on what worked, what didn't work, and why. They need to be able to analyze themselves toward devising a strategy to capitalize on their strengths and eliminate or minimize their weaknesses going forward. So the day after the game (and days throughout the week) is spent watching the game film.

Well it works the same way in school leadership. You must daily carve out time to "watch your film" if you are going to be able to sustain a high level of leadership effectiveness. You must daily analyze your leadership effectiveness toward devising a strategy to capitalize on your strengths and eliminate or minimize your weaknesses going forward. The good thing is that you don't need a camera to follow you around your school. What you must do is engage in self-reflection, self-assessment, and, ultimately, self-adjustment. You must daily just "run the DVD of your mind" and watch yourself in action to determine what worked, what didn't work, and why. Equally important, you must daily engage in brutally honest self-assessment. You must evaluate … you. As I am known to say, you don't need an evaluator of record to tell you about your effectiveness on a daily basis. Your "mirror" will be honest, and it will tell you the truth every time. You must simply dare to use it because you must modify your leadership constantly via self-adjustment (so that you won't lead in October as you led in September). You must consistently and regularly demonstrate leadership growth—which will be rooted in your study of your "game film" and your daily self-reflection, self-assessment, and self-adjustment.

Servant Leadership

Throughout this book, I am talking about you. I am talking about your role as the leader of your school. I am saying in multiple ways simply this: your leadership matters. I am not, however, saying that your school is all about you, because it's not. It's about the people who you lead—your students, your staff, your students' parents—and the community in which the school is situated. As principal, you will be there to serve them. They are your customers, and you are the provider—of leadership. You can never lose this perspective. When it becomes about you, everyone loses. Always keep in the forefront of your mind and in your planning that you are there to serve.

The Structure of Your School

When I think of school structure, what immediately comes to mind are school policies, procedures, routines, expectations, and programs. As principal, one of your many duties and responsibilities will be to lead the effort to provide your school with structure. Leaders of schools without structure do not last very long, and achievement suffers exponentially. There have to be ways of doing things that you and your team have determined are most effective. What do you feel are the policies and procedures that will be most conducive in providing your school with the level of structure that it will require in the most equitable fashion? What routines will you put in place to maintain a sense of order and decorum and to ensure that students feel safe and secure physically and emotionally? What will be your overall expectations for students and staff in various categories? What programs will you put in place that meet the social-emotional needs of all students? Structure, though crucial to the success of a school, must stand on a solid foundation—and that solid foundation is your leadership.

Q: How will I maintain a focus on my number one priority—student achievement—while dealing with the minute-by-minute challenges that I will encounter daily?

Student achievement is the principal's number one priority. I repeat, student achievement is the principal's number one priority. As a new or aspiring principal, you can never lose sight of this reality. In addition to meeting the academic needs of your students, you are going to want to implement numerous programs in your school toward meeting students' nonacademic needs, and I would argue that those programs will more than likely be vital to the social-emotional development of your students. As the leader of your school, you must always remember that such programs are vehicles to your number one priority. Though they are a means to an end, they are not the end. In other words, the social-emotional needs and challenges that many of your students may bring to school with them must be addressed and met so that they can focus and concentrate on learning. Social-emotional learning, culturally responsive teaching and learning, and restorative practices and equity in all classrooms, for example, though vitally important and necessary, are vehicles that help you help your students reach their academic destinations. To that end, the challenges associated with being an effective school leader and the challenges associated with your school being a high performer will be nonstop and endless. Therefore, it is imperative that, as the leader of your school, you develop the skill (through sustained professional development) and wherewithal to balance and prioritize all the challenges and responsibilities that will come your way so that you may maintain a concentrated focus on student achievement.

Instructional Leadership

When I was in graduate school studying education administration, I was simultaneously excited about all that I was learning and the prospects for my school leadership future and somewhat overwhelmed. I continually thought to myself, "How will I balance and prioritize it all?" And because I was at the time teaching in an environment where addressing discipline was a huge priority, I had developed a "disciplinarian mindset" and believed being a strict disciplinarian when I became a principal would take care of achievement (I obviously had a lot to learn). Toward the end of my graduate school program, I did a one-semester internship in the district and school at which I taught. During a conversation with my mentor, he said something that has resonated with me ever since he said it in 1996. He said, "Mr. Kafele, always remember that the purpose of your supervision of teachers will be the continued improvement of instruction." Wow! That changed everything for me and put everything into perspective regarding my leadership priorities. Had he not said that, I don't know that I would have evolved into the leader that I became. His words made it clear to me that, above everything else, as principal I had to be more than a disciplinarian. I understood then that my number one priority was student achievement via effective instructional leadership. Those words made it clear to me that if my future school was going to be successful, how I supervised staff was absolutely crucial. Just as instruction had to be at the core of my supervision of my teachers, instruction must be at the core of your supervision of your teachers.

Time in the classroom is key. As a principal, your days will be long—particularly if you lead the right way. Toward making instruction and student achievement your priorities, you must be able to maximize your time in classrooms. If you and your team fail to maximize your time in classrooms, you will have no "voice" regarding what goes on in your classrooms, and your school will be "instructionally leaderless." You have to lead the effort in creating a climate and culture in your school that will enable you to maximize your time in classrooms (which will be discussed further in Chapter 2). Your teachers must be able to look at you and realize that they have grown significantly as a result of the collegial relationship they have with you. This means that you must not fall into the trap of spending quality time in classrooms solely during evaluation season. Rather, you will spend quality time observing instruction and providing immediate feedback to your teachers frequently and throughout the course of each school year toward the continued improvement of the instruction of your teachers. Yes, your other responsibilities will be enormous. Yes, you will have tons of paperwork to address. Yes, you will be pulled in several different directions. But while students are in the building, your priority and focus must be student achievement via your instructional leadership.

Exceed the minimum. In many districts, formal observations and evaluations for tenured teachers are required only once or twice per year. As the instructional leader of your school, these cannot be the only times that you enter a classroom. Purposeful visits to observe instruction must be your norm. Providing immediate feedback to teachers must be your norm. Sustaining a collegial relationship with your teachers must be your norm. Homing in on those areas in which you and your teachers mutually agree need improvement must be your norm. For example, your teachers' instructional strategies must be able to address the various learning styles, ability levels, and needs of your students in an equitable, student-centered, culturally responsive learning environment. This is what instructional leadership is all about. Your role and purpose as the instructional leader of your school will be "the continued improvement of instruction." Your teachers will not improve as a result of your leadership if you do not lead them instructionally. Occasional or once-per-year visits will yield neither improved instruction nor improved student achievement.

Q: Given the demands on my time and energy, how will I keep my staff informed and inspired?

In the last section, I talked about your role as your school's instructional leader and just how time-consuming that role can be. Another critically important aspect of principal leadership is keeping your staff informed and inspired throughout the course of the school year.

The Principal as Head Coach (Keeping Staff Informed)

You don't need to know anything about sports to know that all athletic teams have a head coach. Just imagine for a moment if they didn't. Where would teams' direction, guidance, structure, information, and leadership come from? The fact of the matter is that teams would probably fall into chaos due to lack of leadership. The head coach, like a principal, has endless responsibilities. Among them are to teach and inform. In order for the athletes to continue to improve, the coach has to continually "coach up the team." The coach has to teach the team members technique, skills, how to play their positions, and, ultimately, how to win. In team sports, you can have great athletes who fully understand how to play their respective positions but don't know how to win. Therefore, the head coach, in addition to other responsibilities, has to be able to teach the athletes how to win, which is rooted in his ability to teach and inform. As a principal, you are your school's head coach. You, too, must be able to provide direction, guidance, and structure. You, too, must teach and inform. You, too, must teach your team members (your staff) how to win. That is, you must continually "coach up your staff."

Throughout the school year, there will be a plethora of public information (on the latest research, trends, instructional strategies, etc.) that you will have access to toward keeping your staff informed. To build a winning team of educators, you need to keep your staff informed. You must maintain a constant flow of pertinent information relative to the challenges that your staff will face. You must be able to establish a culture whereby staff read the information that you provide—but you shouldn't be satisfied with simply having them read the information that you provide. For the information to be concrete and applicable, it will need to be discussed and, ultimately, implemented. This is where your teaching comes in. Just like the head coach, you, too, must teach and inform (which in this case means that you have to be able to take the information provided and make it relevant and applicable to the work that you and your staff are doing at your school). You must strive to continually be that head coach of your staff, your staff's informational leader.

The Principal as Cheerleader (Keeping Staff Inspired)

In addition to being your staff's head coach, you must also be your staff's biggest cheerleader. Although this might sound like a contradiction, it isn't. You'll need to simultaneously provide your staff with the information they need in order to be phenomenal f...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Table of Contents
• Other books by Baruti K. Kafele
• Dedication
• Acknowledgments
• Introduction—Why This Book?
• Chapter 1. Principal Leadership Nonnegotiables
• Chapter 2. Principal Leadership Determines Outcomes
• Chapter 3. Principal Leadership Requires Making Tough Decisions
• Chapter 4. Principal Leadership Requires a Commitment to Self-Care
• Chapter 5. Thoughts to Consider for the School Administrator Job Interview
• Conclusion
• Bibliography
• Related ASCD Resources
• About the Author
• Copyright