Great practical advice. How do administrators help each other improve? It seems like administration can be siloed depending on how a district is structured. What do you think would an effective method for administrators to build each others capacity?
Hey Josh! Great question and a super important one. I once worked in a district where we principals introduced the following successfully: Small problems for practice groups sharing.
Four or five administrators, meeting once a month, each one bringing a real headache from their building. Not a book study, not a slideshow. One person lays out the problem. Everyone else asks questions before they offer advice. Then the group checks back in next time to see what happened. That follow up is the part people skip, and it’s the part that actually matters.
Instructional rounds do something similar. Principals together walk each other’s buildings with one specific thing to look for, then talk about it honestly afterward.
Two things make or break this. The group needs to be trusted peers, nobody evaluating anybody else, or people just perform instead of admitting what’s broken. And…the district needs to fund the time and then stay out of the room. The second central office asks for a report on what happened in these sessions, people stop being honest in them. Hope this helps.
Those are really great questions.
great questions that I think every leader should be asking.
Unfortunately, I think this is skipped all the time. Slow down, evaluate; this is much more valuable.
I am looking forward to your next article.
It’s easy to rush ahead without honoring what happened.
Great practical advice. How do administrators help each other improve? It seems like administration can be siloed depending on how a district is structured. What do you think would an effective method for administrators to build each others capacity?
Hey Josh! Great question and a super important one. I once worked in a district where we principals introduced the following successfully: Small problems for practice groups sharing.
Four or five administrators, meeting once a month, each one bringing a real headache from their building. Not a book study, not a slideshow. One person lays out the problem. Everyone else asks questions before they offer advice. Then the group checks back in next time to see what happened. That follow up is the part people skip, and it’s the part that actually matters.
Instructional rounds do something similar. Principals together walk each other’s buildings with one specific thing to look for, then talk about it honestly afterward.
Two things make or break this. The group needs to be trusted peers, nobody evaluating anybody else, or people just perform instead of admitting what’s broken. And…the district needs to fund the time and then stay out of the room. The second central office asks for a report on what happened in these sessions, people stop being honest in them. Hope this helps.