How to Help Your School Thrive Without Breaking the Bank

John G. Gabriel, Paul C. Farmer

• Publisher: ASCD
• Year: 2009
• ISBN:
  9781416616450
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Education General

How to Help Your School Thrive Without Breaking the Bank will help you improve your school without investing in externally developed, expensive, and time-consuming reform programs or initiatives. It's packed with replicable strategies and practical tools that educators in any school can incorporate to transform the culture and improve student achievement and professional practice. You'll learn how to

* Hone your own leadership and grow new leaders among your staff;
* Develop a vision and a mission for your school;
* Promote excellence among both staff and students;
* Make the most of your time and facilitate effective meetings; and
* Mine and use data with purpose.

For most schools, times are tough and money is tight—but school leaders must still focus on how to steadily improve student achievement. Academic performance will improve in the long term only if your school has a healthy culture marked by integrity, a strong work ethic, collaboration, and reflective risk taking. Strengthening those foundational elements will help you sustain positive change in your school, even in difficult economic times.

The good news is that you already have the resources you need to help your school thrive. This book will help you to maximize them.

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Chapter 1

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Honing Your Leadership and Growing New Leaders

What Is an Effective Leader?

Imagine that it is a balmy April afternoon, and a long-awaited leadership position has just opened up in your district. In your current school-level leadership position, you have had a positive effect on students and staff. This new position, however, could mark the beginning of the next stage of your career and increase your sphere of influence in improving academic achievement. You weigh the decision of applying for the opening with your mentor, your supervisor, your family, and your friends, all of whom are encouraging. So you draft a cover letter, hone your résumé to highlight your key accomplishments, and practice answering potential interview questions with trusted colleagues.

When the morning of the interview arrives, you put on your most professional attire and take a look in the mirror. There is no doubt that you are the leader they are looking for. You arrive early and, while waiting to be called in to the interview room, examine the district literature on display and mentally rehearse your talking points and questions for the panel. When you are brought in, you radiate warmth and confidence as you shake hands and make eye contact with the panel members. You knowledgeably and convincingly discuss the district's vision, pertinent data, and your educational philosophy. But then the panel asks a question for which you are not quite prepared: "How do you get the most out of your leadership?"

Essentially, what the panel is asking is, What does an effective leader do? This is an important question. Any leader with some level of preparation can parrot buzzwords, share his or her credentials and work history, and describe how he or she efficiently coordinates department or building operations. A leader is expected to do all these things. But an effective leader does more.

Effective leadership is the key to improving academic achievement and attaining lasting change. If you want to help your school thrive, it is a given that what you need to do will hinge on your leadership as well as on those around you. For our purposes, we define leadership as a "process of persuasion or example by which an individual (or leadership team) induces a group to pursue objectives held by the leader or shared by the leader and his or her followers" (Gardner, 1990, p. 1). To reach these objectives, leaders also need to be good managers. Conversely, not all managers are good leaders.

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Leadership is a complex, multilayered function essential to any organization's success. A leader's main purpose is to push an organization forward and farther, whereas a manager's primary function is to ensure that the organization operates efficiently.

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These two roles have one crucial difference: leaders deal in change, whereas managers deal in stability. Because the current U.S. education climate is focused on accountability, growth, and improvement, effective leadership is particularly important right now. As educational researcher and consultant Robert Marzano (2003) observes, "Leadership could be considered the single most important aspect of effective school reform" (p. 172). As such, leadership continues to be widely discussed and dissected in educational literature and public forums. Therefore, to hone your own leadership and to grow new leaders, you must first examine what effective leaders do.

Effective Leaders …

… Inspire. Effective leaders inspire those around them. They accomplish this through the vision they set forth, the picture of the future toward which everyone strives. Their passion is contagious, and their energy is evident in everything they approach. Their dedication, commitment, and ability motivate others not just to do as their leaders do but also to believe that what they work toward is within their reach. Effective leaders use themes, mottoes, and symbols to inspire staff members and to maintain their focus on shared objectives.

… Develop Relationships. Thomas Hoerr (2005) notes that "leadership is about relationships" (p. 7). As much as effective leaders focus on improving instruction, they also invest time in cultivating personal connections. Good leaders listen to staff members and recognize important issues in their lives; they talk with them not just as colleagues but also as people. As a bonus, building these connections uncovers teachers' individual talents and strengths and helps leaders get the most out of their staff.

… Monitor School Climate. Simply put, effective leaders know what is happening in the building. They are aware of the web of relationships connecting students, staff members, teams, and departments. They stay on top of concerns and complaints connected to school operations. They are conscious of hidden problems, emerging problems, and public problems. Their proactive approach may be as simple as anticipating supply needs and room arrangements or as serious as observing and addressing instructional and personnel issues. Although they must prioritize, they do not minimize any issues' importance to staff members.

… Nurture. So much of what effective leaders do is nurture others. Wise leaders cultivate their staff members' leadership skills, both to ensure support in carrying out and sustaining change and to establish a network of rising leaders to fill future positions. Effective leaders make sure that no teacher is left behind: they pick up those who have fallen, lend an ear or a shoulder to those who need support, and generally help to recharge staff members and prepare them for another day. Good leaders may not like all of their staff members, but they are sure to demonstrate care and concern for each and every single one of them through their words and actions.

… Set Culture. Not all leaders have the opportunity to create a culture from scratch; most inherit it from previous leaders. Whether setting a new culture or shifting or enhancing the existing one, however, effective leaders put in place norms and practices—including their choices and methods in hiring, promoting, or not renewing faculty—that ensure productive collaboration, data analysis, staff development, and professional dialogues.

… Maintain Visibility. When one administrator we know solicited feedback from staff members, the most common observation he heard was that he was not visible enough. He seemed to be around only when things were either really good or really bad. Effective leaders are visible on a regular basis; they are the face of the team, the department, or the school. They are in the halls not only during class changes but also during class, and they find time to talk to teachers and students during lunch and before and after school. Such visibility helps leaders stay in touch with people's needs, wants, and concerns and demonstrates that they are shoulder-to-shoulder alongside their staff in the field.

… Diagnose. Effective leaders have a keen ability to sense what (or who) isn't working and are able to analyze data to determine what needs to be fixed to improve academic achievement. They understand the nature of problems as well as their far-reaching effects. They pinpoint problems through effective questioning, and they coordinate plans of action with staff members when appropriate. After diagnosing a problem, effective leaders also discover ways to minimize, sidestep, or eliminate it.

… Celebrate. Without celebrations, work feels too much like work, and things that once felt fun can become onerous. Therefore, effective leaders find reasons to celebrate. They keep morale up by ensuring that victories and gains—no matter how small—are recognized in some form. Verbal or written, personal or public, these celebrations reinforce expectations and help propel staff forward. Effective leaders are creative with how they recognize people, especially if there is no financial support for it. They might provide a special parking space, create a monthly award, or cover a class, but they also know that sometimes the simplest recognition—just thanking someone—can be the best recognition.

… Communicate. Communication is the foundation of effective leadership. One of the most common staff complaints we hear is that leaders do not communicate in an effective manner. This may mean that they do not communicate expectations clearly or that they disseminate the information too late, causing people to react to it instead of plan for it. Effective leaders eliminate confusion by ensuring in a timely manner and through a variety of methods (such as e-mail, memos, and displays) that staff members are on the same page. These leaders also recognize that communication cuts more than one way: it involves encouraging and listening to feedback from staff.

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Say what you mean, and mean what you say.

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… Work with Others. Effective leaders tend to make us feel as though we are working with them, not for them. They distribute leadership, collaborate with staff, and treat everyone fairly and respectfully. These leaders have a better chance of both accomplishing change and creating a stable environment. Authority is present, but the relationship between staff and leader is collegial, not despotic.

… Acknowledge Mistakes. People want to work with someone who is human and fallible—and who does not cover up mistakes or pass the buck. Effective leaders are willing to own up to their mistakes. Doing so does not damage their credibility but actually builds it. Leaders who acknowledge errors demonstrate humility and the fact that they are able and willing to grow and learn from their mistakes. When bottlenecks surface, leaders might be tempted to point the finger at others, but good leaders will first "stop and examine a bottle. Notice where the neck is. It is not at the bottom" (Kline, n.d.). Of course, they must also demonstrate that they will take action to prevent such mistakes from recurring.

… Model. When leaders "model the way" (Kouzes & Posner, 2002, p. 14), they lend credibility to their leadership. Effective leaders "take every opportunity to show others by their own example that they're deeply committed to the values and aspirations they espouse. Leading by example is how leaders make visions and values tangible. It's how they provide the evidence that they're personally committed" (Kouzes & Posner, 2002, p. 77). Effective leaders demonstrate their willingness to benefit the learning community in any way they can, and they never ask staff members to do something they wouldn't do themselves.

… Commit. Effective leaders do what they say they will do, whether they have pledged to a large-scale project or made a minor commitment. This builds credibility and trust among staff members, who realize that their leaders' promises are not empty words. These leaders take on additional responsibilities when necessary, realizing that they may need to sacrifice their own personal desires and work twice as hard as everyone else to fulfill the vision. They demonstrate patience and fully commit to initiatives, not abandoning them midstream if there aren't immediate results.

… Adjust. We've known leaders who, when faced with adversity or an unexpected obstacle, are unable to continue with a plan of action. Effective leaders are able to regroup and determine a new course. They understand that needs and goals change over time and are able to adapt to meet them, and they know that sometimes they need to adjust their leadership style to complete a specific task or to work with a particular staff member.

… Lead. Although this area seems obvious, it deserves a brief mention nonetheless. Effective leaders initiate and innovate. They have the courage to make decisions, and their actions lead people toward the pursued objective. As former first lady Rosalynn Carter once said, "A leader takes people where they want to go. A great leader takes people where they don't necessarily want to go, but ought to be."

Evaluate and Improve Your Leadership

A question we often ask leaders is, How do you know whether you are effective? Evaluating your own leadership style, and its attendant strengths and weaknesses, is crucial to getting the most out of your leadership. The sections that follow will get you started on the process.

Self-Evaluate

Evaluative instruments such as Myers-Briggs can be useful tools in determining leadership efficacy. They can help us understand our work and leadership styles and often offer tangible results that enable us to work toward self-improvement. However helpful they are, though, these instruments are costly resources that not every school or leader can afford.

An alternative and inexpensive means of self-evaluation is to keep a journal. Simply recording daily interactions and the events leading up to your decisions—and then revisiting them a little later—can provide remarkable objectivity and clarity with regard to your leadership.

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The unexamined leader is a stagnant leader.

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The purpose of journaling is to reflect on what you have done to better understand what you should do in the future. If you are unable to find the time to journal, then set aside some time each day to answer the following questions:

• Did you identify the desired outcome before taking action?
• Was the actual outcome the best possible solution?
• How effective was the method you used in reaching the outcome?
• If it was not effective, what could you have done differently that would have helped you reach a better outcome?
• Are you able to repeat your effective behaviors to get similar future outcomes?
• What are you willing to do differently in the future? What must you do differently in the future?
• Who were the others involved, and what were their positions, interests, and stakes?
• What really happened, or what was the subtext of the situation or conversation?

While we are in the moment, we are often unaware of how we are thinking, talking, acting, and leading. In our experience, effective leaders find the time to look back on the day's events while simultaneously looking ahead to what they will do in the future. Reflective practitioners "analyze the uniqueness of a problem confronting them, frame the problem in ways that structure its intelligibility, think about the results of their actions, and puzzle out why things worked." These steps help them "build up a reservoir of insights and intuitions that they can call upon as they go about their work" (Starratt, 1995, p. 66).

Survey Staff

A no-cost leadership evaluation approach is to talk to those whom your decisions directly affect. If you feel secure enough to put yourself in this vulnerable position, then surveying your staff is one of the best ways to get meaningful feedback. Just be ready to discuss and respond to their comments. If you don't want to seriously consider the feedback, then don't bother asking for it in the first place.

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Bring out the best in your leadership skills by asking your staff what you can do differently to be the leader they need.

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If you implement a department- or schoolwide survey, make sure that participants are able to respond anonymously (see Resource 2). Although we would all like to know who thinks what, respondents are less likely to be honest if they have to put their names on the survey. We recommend distributing one survey to each staff member's mailbox. Each respondent then returns his or her survey to an "objective observer," such as a secretary, who crosses off the staff member's name on the roster to ensure that people participate only once. This objective observer would then be responsible for pulling all the responses together for your review.

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Accepting criticism is only part of being a good leader; if you hope to be effective, you must act on it as well.

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As helpful as surveys can be, some find them a little stifling; teachers are only able to share what they are asked to share. So sometimes a more open-ended approach can be helpful. At your next department or faculty meeting, designate an objective observer to pass out sticky ...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Table of Contents
• Dedication
• Acknowledgments
• Introduction
• Chapter 1. Honing Your Leadership and Growing New Leaders
• Chapter 2. Developing a Vision and a Mission
• Chapter 3. Promoting Excellence Among Your Staff
• Chapter 4. Helping Students Succeed
• Chapter 5. Making the Most of Your Time
• Chapter 6. Facilitating Effective Meetings
• Chapter 7. Mining and Using Data with Purpose
• Afterword
• Resources
• References
• About the Authors
• Related ASCD Resources
• Study Guide
• Copyright