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Why Leaders Need to Collaborate More

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Education Week - Peter DeWitt's Finding Common Ground

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Watching adults and children run into school every day eager to learn should be the goal of every school leader. Unfortunately, the process to achieve that level of energy becomes more complicated as leaders are faced with dealing with state and district mandates, dwindling budgets, working with diverse stakeholders in the school community who may not always have a deep focus on learning, and handfuls of students who suffer from trauma.

Still interested in leadership?

We know leadership is not easy, and it's not for the faint of heart. Anyone who has been in a leadership position has a deep understanding of that, and new leaders find that reality soon after they take over a position. There are so many different issues pulling at the time and energy of the leader, and as we move from year to year it seems to get even more complicated.

According to the Organisation for Economic and Co-Operational Development (OECD. 2008):

More and more tasks have been added to school leaders' workload.

Most of the leadership tasks are carried out by one individual

Insufficient preparation and training

Leaders are charged with many responsibilities. Robinson (2011. p. 9) sites, Establishing Goals and Expectations (.42), Resourcing Strategically (.31), Ensuring Quality Teaching (.42), Leading Teacher Learning and Development (.84), and Ensuring an Orderly and Safe Environment (.27) as the most important aspects of instructional leadership.

What puts leaders at risk of failure is that too many of them believe they have to be experts at every single one of those responsibilities. After all, they were hired to lead? This is where we need to foster a change in mindset, because no one can meet all of the demands of leadership by themselves. And no one, needs to be an expert at everything. What leaders need is the belief that they can meet those demands by working collaboratively with their staff and school community.

Who is Doing the Collaborating?
A while ago I met up with a group of teachers who wanted to take a deep dive into the subject of collaboration. Collaboration, like leadership, is not an easy subject because in many cases collaboration doesn't work any better than if a teacher was going to do it on their own. Why? It's because adults typically want to avoid conflict, and do not challenge the thinking of those they are collaborating with in the group. If collaboration is to work, it works best when those collaborating challenge each other's thinking.

Additionally, working with others is not why many of us got into teaching. Most of us wanted to become teachers because we wanted to work with children and young adults, or because we were passionate about a subject that we wanted to teach. Working with adults was not part of our plan, and our pre-service programs rarely focused on the topic.

As we discussed ways to collaborate, the last question they asked before we parted ways was the one that bothered me most. They asked, "how do we get our new leader to collaborate with us?" They had been working with a newer leader who spent more time in the main office and less time in the classrooms of the teachers. They explained that their previous experience was different, because their former leader was always in the classrooms or spent time at grade level meetings. Without collaboration, can we really have energized schools?

So many times, teachers are the ones who are criticized for not wanting to collaborate, but in many cases leaders are the ones who do not take part in the collaboration. Those leaders believe their job is to get others to collaborate, but not necessarily take an active part in the process of collaboration. This is not always the fault of leaders, but it's more about how they were trained.

They were trained to build consensus around ideas, check lesson plans to make sure teachers followed standards, and provide time so teachers could collaborate together. Some leaders simply do not have the self-efficacy to dive into collaborative groups and inspire the people within those groups to focus on learning. Too often, leaders feel they need to be compliance officers who control the collaboration from a higher elevation, as opposed to jumping into the deep end of the pool.

The Self-Efficacy of a Leader
Bandura researched the phenomena known as self-efficacy, and defined it as, "Beliefs in one's capabilities to organize and execute the courses of action required to produce given attainments" (1997). Tschannen-Moran and Garies (2004) found that, "Self-efficacy beliefs are context-specific, however, people do not feel equally efficacious for all situations." As you can imagine, this is vitally important for school leaders. If they do not believe in their own capabilities, the challenge they face in that situation may be too great, and they tend to give up.

Using the image below, if a leader does not feel efficacious when it comes to their own subject-matter knowledge of chemistry, but their job is to go into to do two or three formal observations on a chemistry teacher, it is very likely that they will go into the classroom, do the time required, and the formal observation conversation that takes place after the observation becomes a surface level discussion and the teacher leaves feeling very let down by the process.

However, if a leader feels efficacious when it comes to observations, regardless of their subject-matter knowledge, and co-constructs a goal with the chemistry teacher before the lesson, provides feedback directly related to that goal, and asks for clarification when the teacher may have done something the leader did not understand, that formal observation process may be much more effective for the teacher and leader.

Bandura's research supports the above flow chart, because he found that, "When faced with obstacles, setbacks, and failures, those who doubt their capabilities slacken their efforts, give up, or settle for mediocre solutions. Those who have a strong belief in the capabilities redouble their effort to master the challenge." How can a leader help foster an energized school in this era of so many challenges, especially if we know they do not feel equally efficacious in all situations? That's where collective efficacy comes into play.

Building Collective Efficacy
Tschannen-Moran and Barr, (2004) define collective efficacy as, "the collective self-perception that teachers in a given school make an educational difference to their students over and above the educational impact of their homes and communities." Why is this important for leaders?

Knowing that leaders do not feel efficacious in all situations, means that they can raise their self-efficacy by working directly in collaboration with the teachers they lead. Research shows that efficacy is raised through achieving a personal performance accomplishment, vicarious experiences, social persuasion (positive feedback is the major contributor), and physiological conditioning (social-emotional). All four of these can help a leader raise their own sense of self-efficacy.

As a former school principal, we went through a school consolidation where we closed a one-classroom per grade level school, and our elementary school absorbed the whole population. There was upset in the school community when the announcement was made, and social media was a buzz with support from some adults and hate speech from others.

Over the few months we had to make the consolidation work, our teachers and many parents came together to help me, not only make the consolidation work, but helped create an energized school climate that brought together two somewhat fractured communities.

Besides the school consolidation there were countless other situations, both good and bad, that we went through together. Collective efficacy is about believing in our teachers so much that they know they have our support as leaders. That belief happens when teachers see leaders grow in their position as much as leaders believe they have to help foster growth in their teachers. That sense of collective efficacy is what leads to an energized school.

In the End
We need to be able to talk about the challenges we face, as well as the challenges our diverse student populations face. Leaders of energized schools take a deep look at themselves, as well as their codes of conduct, board policies, curriculum, images on their school walls and the literature offered in the library media center. If there are students missing from those books, curriculum and images, we need to ask ourselves why.

Additionally, leaders need to understand that they need not feel less than other leaders merely because they don't feel like an expert in every situation. No one is an expert in every situation, which is why we need to understand self-efficacy and collective efficacy. Leading an energized school means we focus on our strengths at the same time we talk about our areas of growth, and that's why it's difficult to do.
Peter DeWitt, Ed.D. is the author of several books including Collaborative Leadership: 6 Influences That Matter Most (Corwin Press. 2016), School Climate: Leading with Collective Efficacy (Corwin Press. 2017). Connect with him on Twitter.

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If Collaboration Makes Us Better, Why Aren't More Leaders Doing It?

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Watching adults and children run into school every day eager to learn should be the goal of every school leader. Unfortunately, the process to achieve that level of energy becomes more complicated as leaders are faced with dealing with state and district mandates, dwindling budgets, working with diverse stakeholders in the school community who may not always have a deep focus on learning, and handfuls of students who suffer from trauma.

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How Principals Drive School Success

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The nation's more than 90,000 principals are key to the long-term success of their schools-but maybe not in the way they might think, according to a new analysis by the University of Chicago Consortium on School Research.

Principals are the linchpin of the Windy City's efforts to overhaul schools, according to Chicago's Schools Chief Janice Jackson,who has highlighted efforts to give school leaders more say in district policies. The study suggests the most effective leaders in the district are those who focus more on culture than curriculum.

"It's a shift in perspective from a focus on the curriculum and individual teachers to focusing on the collective work of the school," said Elaine Allensworth, co-author of the report. "A lot of times people think school climate is something you work on and take care of so you can get to the real work of teaching and learning, but what we find is learning is inherently social and emotional. If students don't feel safe and engaged, they aren't learning."

The consortium tracked seven years of data, from 2007 to 2014, from about 600 elementary and secondary schools in the Windy City, comparing student test results with surveys from teachers and students about their experiences in school. Then the group conducted 12 deeper case studies, comparing elementary and high schools with rising or declining test scores.

Researchers found schools with the largest student achievement gains over the long-term had leaders who built and supported teacher teams and created an "opt out" school culture. That means principals in improving schools set up systems to automatically enroll at-risk students in support-rather than relying on students to "opt in" by asking for help-and to bring all teachers together to solve problems. For example, students who miss several homework assignments would be automatically enrolled in lunchtime tutoring or afterschool homework help; they could choose not to attend, but the school policies would make it easier to seek help than avoid it.

"A lot of times principals are really concerned with improving test scores and they think that means they need to focus on the tests themselves. So they focus on test-prep or asking teachers to teach to the test, and we find there's no strong evidence for that," Allensworth said. "We just keep finding over and over again, the more students feel safe and supported in school ... the stronger the learning gains and the bigger the improvement in learning gains. It's easy to get caught up in all the other things you could be doing as a principal and lose sight of the importance of students feeling safe and supported."

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A Look at How Principals Really Drive School Improvement

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The nation's more than 90,000 principals are key to the long-term success of their schools-but maybe not in the way they might think, according to a new analysis by the University of Chicago Consortium on School Research.

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How Principals Should be Communicating

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March 2018 | Volume 75 | Number 6
Leading the Energized School Pages 90-91

Thomas R. Hoerr

Is it time for a reality check on how well you communicate?

Ok, principals, raise your hand if you are an above-average leader with superior communication skills. Yes, I thought so! If we look around our metaphorical room, we'll see that just about every hand is raised. Almost all of us see ourselves as strong leaders who communicate well (my hand is up, too). Of course, we're probably wrong.

Effective two-way communication is an integral part of leadership. We all know that, but often we're too busy to make communicating a priority. Or, as evidenced by our raise-your-hand experiment, we think that we're communicating better than we really are. This superiority illusion isn't limited to principals. Leadership writer Derek Murphy notes that "96 percent of leaders today believe they have above-average people skills, according to a study by the Stanford University School of Business."

Hello? Can You Hear Me Now?

This communication disconnect was evident in comments that groups of high-achieving teachers from around the United States recently made. ASCD convened these teachers to gather their thoughts on the teaching profession and challenges they face. Spontaneously, these super teachers began talking about a lack of communication with their principals, a lack of recognition and appreciation, and a failure to be included in discussions, as these quotes-by three separate participants-reflect:

"The principal will tweet things or post stuff on Facebook and community members will respond back, saying you [the principal] are doing such a wonderful job at that school. But what about the ones who are in the trenches doing the actual work with these kids? [What about] something as simple as responding back that it's not just about me, it's about my teachers, it's about what they're doing. ... Little things like that, I think, would make a world of difference, because right now the community sees us at the bottom of the barrel when it comes to education."

"I've been in that position where the principal didn't like me or speak to me. Like last year, not at all. But you've got to be fine with that if you're putting the students first."

"Teacher voices are not heard enough when educational policy decisions are made. When you have those big decisions made at a higher level that directly affect the students in our classroom, teacher voices aren't heard."

Mind you, these teachers were gathered because they were award winners and highly skilled professionals. If these kinds of educators feel that way about relationships with their principals, imagine how the rest of the faculty must feel.

Awareness Is All

I suspect the principals these teachers referenced were unaware that members of their staff experienced their communication style as ineffective or hurtful. Chances are good that your communication skills aren't quite as strong as you think, and that you're not aware of this, So, what to do?

Begin by recognizing the five elements of good communication:

It's two-way. Effective communicators ask more than they tell and listen well. They are curious; they want to know what others think and why they think that way.

It's frequent. Effective communicators don't wait for a problem. They explain (perhaps even over-explain) what they are doing and their rationale for those actions.

It's inclusive. It's important to engage and hear everyone, not just those with whom we are likely to agree.

It's face-to-face. Understandably, leaders rely on electronic and paper communications for day-to-day business. So they must create times to talk in person. As a principal, I used to host optional "Breakfast with Tom" sessions a half-dozen times each year, providing an opportunity for teachers to join me and talk about whatever was on their minds.

It's responsive. Effective communicators let others know what they heard, repeating back the message they received and clarifying it when necessary.

Why not have faculty anonymously give you some feedback about how well you communicate, perhaps having them rate you on a three-level scale (Needs Improvement, Adequate, and Superior) on how successfully you carry out various communication tasks? For instance, you might ask all teachers to rate you on how well they think you listen, communicate, engage them, share your thinking, and make yourself available for in-person meetings.

The responses may disappoint you, but we need to know what others are thinking. And once you learn your teachers' perceptions and your own weak spots, you can address them. Begin by sharing what you learned from this exercise and how you plan to use that information. Doing that will make a powerful statement!

Now, raise your hand if you are going to work to improve your communications.

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Maybe Your Mirror Is Fuzzy - Educational Leadership

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March 2018 | Volume 75 | Number 6 Leading the Energized School Pages 90-91 Thomas R. Hoerr Is it time for a reality check on how well you communicate? Ok, principals, raise your hand if you are an above-average leader with superior communication skills. Yes, I thought so!

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Leaders Empower Others. Leaders Serve. Leaders Inspire. Leaders Have Vision. Leaders Love.

Joshua Fredenburg is a nationally acclaimed speaker, author of five books, member of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity Inc., Tedx Speaker, and President of the 'Award Winning Circle of Change Leadership Experience that specializes in providing emerging and seasoned leaders with the leadership skills necessary to lead effectively in a diverse world and make a positive impact in their community, nation, and world.

For the past decade, he has served as a keynote speaker for different lectures, conferences, retreats, and trainings at various colleges, non-profit organizations, and corporate events in forty-four different states. He is a dynamic speaker who is known for delivering an inspirational message with expert advice that leads to immediate, life changing, and transformational results!

In addition to a highly successful speaking career, Joshua has appeared on various television/radio shows, created a leadership development curriculum for emerging and seasoned leaders, and serves as the President and Founder of the "Award Winning" Circle of Change Leadership Conference.

Currently, Joshua is pursuing a doctoral degree in Organizational Leadership from Nova Southeastern University, serves as a husband and father of two wonderful children, and accepted a community service award from the Young Professionals Urban League of Los Angeles for his service and work with emerging and seasoned leaders of the younger generation.

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Leadership, Diversity, and Relationship Speaker Leaders Empower Others. Leaders Serve. Leaders Inspire. Leaders Have Vision. Leaders Love. Experience Joshua Fredenburg Joshua Fredenburg is a nationally acclaimed speaker, author of five books, member of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity Inc., Tedx Speaker, and President of the 'Award Winning Circle of Change Leadership Experience that specializes in providing Read the full article...

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March 2018 | Volume 75 | Number 6
Leading the Energized School Pages 40-44

Jenni Donohoo, John Hattie and Rachel Eells

In the 1970s, Albert Bandura, a psychologist at Stanford University, uncovered an interesting pattern in working-group dynamics. He observed (1977) that a group's confidence in its abilities seemed to be associated with greater success. In other words, the assurance a person places in his or her team affects the team's overall performance. Researchers have since found this to be true across many domains. When a team of individuals share the belief that through their unified efforts they can overcome challenges and produce intended results, groups are more effective. For example, in communities where neighbors share the belief that they can band together to overcome crime, there is significantly less violence (Sampson, Raudenbush, & Earls, 1997). In companies, when team members hold positive beliefs about the team's capabilities, there is greater creativity and productivity (Kim & Shin, 2015). And in schools, when educators believe in their combined ability to influence student outcomes, there are significantly higher levels of academic achievement (Bandura, 1993).

Bandura named this interesting pattern in human behavior "collective efficacy," which he defined as "a group's shared belief in its conjoint capability to organize and execute the courses of action required to produce given levels of attainment" (Bandura, 1997, p. 477). There have been many studies investigating collective efficacy in schools-this is not a new topic. By the turn of the century, collective teacher efficacy had been operationalized, and instruments had been developed to measure it (Goddard, 2002). Models for collective efficacy in schools have been tested and refined, with researchers finding that as successes and support strengthen teachers' confidence in their teams, student achievement increases as well (Goddard, Hoy, & Woolfolk Hoy, 2004; Adams & Forsyth, 2006).

Rachel Eells's (2011) meta-analysis of studies related to collective efficacy and achievement in education demonstrated that the beliefs teachers hold about the ability of the school as a whole are "strongly and positively associated with student achievement across subject areas and in multiple locations" (p. 110). On the basis of Eells's research, John Hattie positioned collective efficacy at the top of the list of factors that influence student achievement (Hattie, 2016). According to his Visible Learning research, based on a synthesis of more than 1,500 meta-analyses, collective teacher efficacy is greater than three times more powerful and predictive of student achievement than socioeconomic status. It is more than double the effect of prior achievement and more than triple the effect of home environment and parental involvement. It is also greater than three times more predictive of student achievement than student motivation and concentration, persistence, and engagement (see fig. 1).

Source: John Hattie

Cultural Beliefs

Since collective efficacy influences how educators feel, think, motivate themselves, and behave (Bandura, 1993), it is a major contributor to the tenor of a school's culture. When educators share a sense of collective efficacy, school cultures tend to be characterized by beliefs that reflect high expectations for student success. A shared language that represents a focus on student learning as opposed to instructional compliance often emerges. The perceptions that influence the actions of educators include "We are evaluators," "We are change agents," and "We collaborate." Teachers and leaders believe that it is their fundamental task to evaluate the effect of their practice on students' progress and achievement. They also believe that success and failure in student learning is more about what they did or did not do, and they place value in solving problems of practice together (Hattie & Zierer, 2018).

When efficacy is present in a school culture, educators' efforts are enhanced-especially when they are faced with difficult challenges. Since expectations for success are high, teachers and leaders approach their work with an intensified persistence and strong resolve.

In addition, collective efficacy influences student achievement indirectly through productive patterns of teaching behavior. Such behaviors include implementing high-yield strategies-for example, integrating literacy instruction in content-area classrooms (Cantrell & Callaway, 2008), soliciting parental involvement (Kirby & DiPaola, 2011), and finding productive ways to deal with problem behavior (Gibbs & Powell, 2011). Clearly, collective efficacy has a large ripple effect.

Conversely, if educators' perceptions are filtered through the belief that there is very little they can do to influence student achievement, negative beliefs pervade the school culture. When educators lack a sense of collective efficacy, they do not pursue certain courses of action because they feel they or their students lack the capabilities to achieve positive outcomes. The culture reflects a solemn satisfaction with the status quo. School communities experience an inclination to stop trying, decreased expectations, and lower levels of performance (Tschannen-Moran & Barr, 2004). In addition, when collective teacher efficacy is lacking, educators are more likely to ascribe failure to students' lack of ability, seek exclusion for challenging students (Gibbs & Powell, 2011), and experience higher levels of stress (Klassen, 2010; Lim & Eo, 2014). Conversations are often reflective of external blame, or an "us" versus "them" mentality.

The Role of Evidence

So how do school leaders build collective efficacy? The primary input is evidence of impact. When instructional improvement efforts result in improved student outcomes that are validated through sources of student learning data, educators' collective efficacy is strengthened. Evidence of collective impact, in turn, reinforces proactive collective behaviors, feelings, thoughts, and motivations. Bandura referred to this as "reciprocal causality" (Bandura, 1993), noting that collective efficacy is a social resource that does not get depleted by its use; it gets renewed.

It is essential, therefore, to help educators make the link between their collective actions and student outcomes. To understand collective impact, teams need to determine if changes in classroom practice positively influenced student outcomes by examining specific evidence of student learning. They need to hear from students about their learning, their progress, their struggles, and their motivation to keep learning. They need to examine student artifacts such as assignments, tests, portfolios, and other indicators of daily progress. With all these activities, the key is making the link between teachers' actions and student outcomes explicit, so that teachers understand that the factors behind student progress are within their collective sphere of influence.

School leaders play a key role in creating non-threatening, evidence-based instructional environments. By promoting a culture of collaboration focused on "knowing thy collective impact," leaders have the potential to support school improvement in ways that positively influence teachers' collective efficacy beliefs and thus promote student achievement. Leaders do this by engaging in conversations with teachers about the meaning of impact, about the difference between achievement goals and progress, and about the use of dependable evidence. These conversations help to shift educators' thinking from task-related concerns (for example, "How much of my time is x going to require?" or "How will I manage x as part of my daily routine?") to broader impact concerns ("What was the impact when I did x?" "How did x affect the students in my classroom?" "How can we work together to make x even better?"). Teachers can increasingly orient their work around outcomes: "Did the students gain the essential understandings and skills?" "How do we know?" "How can we use evidence of student learning to improve classroom instruction?"

Leaders can also influence collective efficacy by setting expectations for formal, frequent, and productive teacher collaboration and by creating high levels of trust for this collaboration to take place. "Productive" means that teachers' collaborative efforts can help to account for consequences in the classroom. The emphasis should be on identifying student learning needs and detecting problems that need to be addressed in classrooms, using a variety of evidence to determine if approaches made a difference, and making adjustments as necessary. When leaders ensure that dependable, high trust, collaborative structures are in place, teachers learn from and with one another and build common understandings. Teachers need to see how collecting evidence fits into their daily routines, how they can use daily evidence to determine impact, and how they can make adjustments to their classroom practices when results aren't demonstrating increases in student outcomes.

Building common conceptions of progress requires more than just the structures that increase forms of collaboration. Hargreaves and Fullan (2012) warn about "administrative contrivances" that become artificial and short-lived. In addition, the collective impact typically only occurs where there are high levels of social sensitivity among the group members. Therefore, school leaders must foster empathy and effective interaction among teams. Administrators can model social sensitivity by paying close attention to verbal and nonverbal clues and exercising situational awareness-including heightened awareness of the undercurrents that have the potential to derail joint problem-solving (Marzano, Waters, & McNulty, 2005). When leaders have a pulse on the emotional tone of the team, they can anticipate potential pitfalls that might occur during collaboration, sense when tensions rise, and not only have the fortitude to address the issues, but do so in a way that is respectful to the feelings and viewpoints of others.

Resetting the Narrative

Team members' confidence in each other's abilities and their belief in the impact of the team's work are key elements that set successful school teams apart. Publicly seeking evidence of positive effects on student learning does not happen serendipitously or by accident and neither does a sense of psychological safety. School leaders must work to build a culture designed to increase collective teacher efficacy, which will affect teachers' behavior and student beliefs. The power and promise of collective efficacy is that it can be influenced within schools, so focusing on it as a change point is a viable path to greater student achievement, greater commitment to learning, and a more inviting place to come and learn.

The greatest power that principals have in schools is that they can control the narrative of the school. If the narrative is about bus timetables, tweaks in the curriculum, and test schedules, this percolates through the school as the purpose of schooling-compliance to procedures. In such schools, students think learning is coming to school on time, sitting up straight, keeping quiet, and watching the teacher work. But if instead the narrative is about high expectations, growth in relation to inputs, what it means to be a "good learner" in various subjects, and what impact means, then teachers and students will think about learning in a different way. They will believe that learning is about challenge, about understanding and realizing high expectations, and that setbacks are an opportunity to learn. Students will also believe that coming to school means investing energy in deliberate practice.

Success lies in the critical nature of collaboration and the strength of believing that together, administrators, faculty, and students can accomplish great things. This is the power of collective efficacy.

References

Adams, C. M., & Forsyth, P. B. (2006). Proximate sources of collective teacher efficacy. Journal of Educational Administration, 44(6), 625-642.

Bandura, A. (1977). Self-efficacy: Toward a unifying theory of behavioral change. Psychological Review, 84(2), 191-215.

Bandura, A. (1993). Perceived self-efficacy in cognitive development and functioning. Educational Psychologist, 28(2), 117-148.

Bandura, A. (1997). Self-efficacy: The exercise of control. New York: W.H. Freeman and Company.

Cantrell, S., & Callaway, P. (2008). High and low implementers of content literacy instruction: Portraits of teacher efficacy. Teaching and Teacher Education, 24(7), 1739-1750.

Eells, R. (2011). Meta-analysis of the relationship between collective efficacy and student achievement. Unpublished doctoral dissertation. Loyola University of Chicago.

Gibbs, S., & Powell, B. (2011). Teacher efficacy and pupil behaviour: The structure of teachers' individual and collective beliefs and their relationship with numbers of pupils excluded from school. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 82(4), 564-584.

Goddard, R. D. (2002). A theoretical and empirical analysis of the measurement of collective efficacy: The development of a short form. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 62(1), 97-110.

Goddard, R. D., Hoy, W. K., & Woolfolk Hoy, A. (2004). Collective efficacy beliefs: Theoretical developments, empirical evidence, and future directions. Educational Researcher, 33(3), 3-13.

Hargreaves, A., & Fullan, M. (2012). Professional capital: Transforming teaching in every school. New York: Teachers' College Press.

Hattie, J. (2016, July). Mindframes and Maximizers. 3rd Annual Visible Learning Conference held in Washington, DC.

Hattie, J. A. C., & Zierer, K. (2018). Ten Mindframes for Visible Learning: Teaching for Success. Routledge.

Kirby, M., & DiPaola, M. (2011). Academic optimism and community engagement in urban schools. Journal of Educational Administration, 49(5), 542-562.

Kim, M., & Shin, Y. (2015). Collective efficacy as a mediator between cooperative group norms and group positive affect and team creativity. Asia Pacific Journal of Management, 32(3), 693-716.

Klassen, R. (2010). Teacher stress: The mediating role of collective efficacy beliefs. The Journal of Educational Research, 103(5), 342-350.

Lim, S., & Eo, S. (2014). The mediating roles of collective teacher efficacy in the relations of teachers' perceptions of school organizational climate to their burnout. Teaching and Teacher Education, 44, 138-147.

Marzano, R., Waters, T., & McNulty, B. (2005). School leadership that works. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.

Sampson, R., Raudenbush, S., & Earls, F. (1997). Neighborhoods and violent crime: A multilevel study of collective efficacy. Science, 277(5328), 918-924.

Tschannen-Moran, M., & Barr, M. (2004). Fostering student learning: The relationship of collective teacher efficacy and student achievement. Leadership and Policy in Schools, 3(3), 189-209.

Jenni Donohoo is an education consultant currently working with the Council of Ontario Directors of Education. She is the author of Collective Efficacy: How Educators' Beliefs Impact Student Learning (Corwin, 2016). John Hattie is director of the Melbourne Educational Research Institute at the University of Melbourne, chair of the Australian Institute of Teaching and School Leaders, and co-director of the Science of Learning Research Centre. He is the author of Visible Learning (Routledge, 2009). Rachel Eells is dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Concordia University, Chicago.

KEYWORDS

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March 2018 | Volume 75 | Number 6 Leading the Energized School Pages 40-44 Jenni Donohoo, John Hattie and Rachel Eells In the 1970s, Albert Bandura, a psychologist at Stanford University, uncovered an interesting pattern in working-group dynamics. He observed (1977) that a group's confidence in its abilities seemed to be associated with greater success.

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“Leadership is influence.” —John C. Maxwell

“A leader is one who knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way.” —John Maxwell

“People buy into the leader before they buy into the vision.” –John C. Maxwell

“Leaders must be close enough to relate to others, but far enough ahead to motivate them.” —John C. Maxwell

“A leader is one who knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way.” – John C. Maxwell

“Leadership is not about titles, positions, or flowcharts. It is about one life influencing another.” –John C. Maxwell

“A great leader’s courage to fulfill his vision comes from passion, not position.” —John Maxwell

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5 Leadership Lessons From The Black Panther

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White men are still over-represented in school leadership positions, although the number of female and ethnic minority leaders is slowly increasing.

Although teaching has long been a female-dominated profession, men are more likely to occupy leadership roles, with the difference particularly pronounced at principal-level, according to new figures.

And men still progress faster than women to principal positions, suggesting there is still much work to do to achieve gender equality in schools.

Ethnic minority teachers are also under-represented in school leadership teams, although there is no difference in the rate of progression to leadership between white and ethnic minority teachers.

Although the proportion of women in leadership roles in England has increased in recent years, they are still under-represented, according to released by the U.K.'s Department for Education.

While women make up 85% of all teachers in primary schools - for children aged four to 11 - they occupy just 73% of headteacher or principal roles, but this does represent an increase from the 71% in headteacher roles in 2010.

The disparity is more marked in secondary schools - for children aged 11 to 16. Women constitute 62% of the teaching population, but just 38% of headteachers, a figure that is unchanged from 2010.

It is not the initial step from classroom teacher to leadership that appears to be a stumbling block for women, however.

In both primary and secondary phases, women take up approximately the same proportion of middle leadership roles as they do across all teaching roles, 86% in primary and 62% in secondary.

But the proportion steadily falls the higher up the career ladder they progress, through assistant and deputy head roles.

There is a similar pattern in rates of progression to leadership roles, at least at secondary level. While both male and female teachers are in their first leadership roles in secondary schools within seven years of first qualifying as a teacher, men reach headteacher roles faster than women.

Half of new female headteachers had been qualified for 21 years or less, compared with 19 years or less for new male headteachers.

Some of this disparity may be explained by the greater likelihood that women will take time out of to raise a family, potentially causing a career hiatus.

In primary schools, men progress to leadership roles faster then women - perhaps a reflection of the 'shortage' of men in this phase - with half of new male leaders qualified for six years or less, compared with nine years or less for female leaders, and half of new male headteachers qualified for 15 years or less, compared with 18 years for new female headteachers.

There were no significant differences in rate of progression to leadership and headship positions by ethnic group, but ethnic minority teachers were still under-represented in school leadership teams.

The proportion of ethnic minority school leaders has increased, but they are still under-represented compared to the number of ethnic minority teachers, and even more so compared with the population as a whole.

While 11% of primary teachers and 17% of secondary teachers are from ethnic minorities, they make up just 7% and 9% of headteachers in their respective phases, although this is up from 5% and 7% in 2010.

Around one in five of the population of England and Wales are members of an ethnic minority, according to the 2011 census.

These figures suggest that while there has been progress in improving leadership opportunities in schools for women and ethnic minorities, there is still some way to go to achieve true equality.

The data also reveals the degree subjects studied by school leaders: just over one in five (21%) of headteachers studies English or history at university.

History graduates in particular are over-represented at headteacher level - making up one in 20 teachers but one in 10 headteachers. Business studies, geography and physics graduates are also over-represented in headship positions, while math, biology, art and design and technology graduates are more widespread in teaching as a whole than in headship.

Computing graduates are particularly hard done-by: 3% of teachers but only 1% of headteachers have a computing degree.

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White Men Are Still Over-Represented In School Leadership

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White men are still over-represented in school leadership positions, although the number of female and ethnic minority leaders is slowly increasing. Although teaching has long been a female-dominated profession, men are more likely to occupy leadership roles, with the difference particularly pronounced at principal-level, according to new figures.

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10 guiding principles for leaders | TED Talks

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It never hurts to have a basic set of guiding principles. Let these insightful talks help shape, redefine and build out your own leadership goals. (Curated in partnership with SAP)

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Blog:  Teaching Leadership in the Classroom

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Blog:  Teaching Leadership in the Classroom

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Hi teachers! I wanted to stop by today with some ideas for teaching our students how to be leaders! Each day we hope that we teach our students how to be kind, how to have courage, and how to be a great friend. Teaching them to be LEADERS means that they show kindness and courage even when no one else will! Leaders stand up for others and stay true to what they believe in.

I've caught myself saying "Be a leader" or "Don't do something just because your friends are!" But taking the time to really discuss this with my students has made all the difference! I have a few lessons in my Leadership pack as well as some picture book recommendations I wanted to share with you! 🙂

Like each of my character packs, I break the unit into 4 lessons. 🙂 In my classroom, our character lessons were usually about 20-30 minutes so we typically do a classroom discussion and then a quick reflection activity. 🙂

To start off our leadership unit, I always ask my students "What is a Leader?" We play Follow the Leader to really "hook" them and then we make a class chart all about leaders in our lives. I explain it to them as someone we look up to or someone we watch and follow.

We usually study authority figures pretty early on in the year so they we can pull from that if we need to! Then I have my students reflect on a leader in their life! I really stress that a leader is someone who teaches us what to do! 🙂

After a long discussion about leaders in our lives, the following week (or lesson) we talk about what makes a GOOD leader. I make sure to explain to my students that some leaders are NOT good. I think it's important that they know how to identify a good leader and a bad leader! Of course this isn't a discussion on respecting grown ups...it's more about looking at our peers, older friends, brothers, sisters, etc. and making sure they are acting in a way we should follow. 🙂

We make a class chart all about good leaders! 🙂

Then, we sort different scenarios into being a leader and NOT being a leader. 🙂 Then students draw and write about it. The scenarios I use are things that could truly happen! I throw in a few silly ones, but it's so important to me to use this time to really discuss things that my students could see and how to handle that! 🙂

The third lesson is on recognizing each other when they're being leaders! I introduce our Letters to a Leader bucket to my kiddos and explain that when one of their friends leads them they can acknowledge it and thank them! 🙂 It's so important that our little ones take time to notice and recognize each other! 🙂 Of course, the teacher could also write notes to kiddos!

The last lesson in our unit would be on really talking about how WE are leaders. Students think about someone in their life that they lead (younger students, their friends, younger kids at the grocery store, etc). We also read some situations as a class and talk about how to handle each one as a leader! 🙂

This entire unit focuses on leadership, but it hits on kindness, fairness, and so much more! Being a leader means showing all of these things! 🙂 All of the above pages and activities are included in my Leadership pack! 🙂 You can click any picture to head there and learn more! 🙂

I also put together a list of some great books with strong leaders in them! For this list, I only included GOOD leaders. There are also lots of picture books with BAD leaders (like Recess Queen) that you might choose to read and discuss how someone stands up to them! : ) I've included fiction and nonfiction books! Underneath the picture, you can find the title, author, and link! 🙂
Martin's Big Words by Doreen Rappaport The Right to Learn by Rebecca Langston-George The Story of Ruby Bridges by Robert Cole Nelson Mandela by Kadir Nelson Tacky the Penguin by Helen Lester
There are truly so many great ways to teach our little ones to be leaders! I truly believe having these discussions and teaching our students exactly HOW to do these things makes all the difference! Our kiddos are looking to us...we are shaping the future! YOU are so important teacher!! 🙂

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Hi teachers! I wanted to stop by today with some ideas for teaching our students how to be leaders! Each day we hope that we teach our students how to be kind, how to have courage, and how to be a great friend.

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Thanks in no small measure to a push from technology companies and vendors, school principals are embracing personalized learning.

But the ways in which principals are bringing that big idea into their schools are far more modest than many proponents would like. And for all their enthusiasm, principals also express pointed concerned about the potential downsides of the personalized learning movement.
FULL REPORT & SURVEY
Technology Counts 2018 includes deep reporting on principals' view of personalized learning, screen time, social media, and computer science.

" School Leaders and Technology," published by the Education Week Research Center, has the complete survey results.

Those are some of the key findings from the Education Week Research Center's exclusive, nationally representative survey of more than 500 school leaders (including principals, assistant principals, and deans) from across the United States.

Among principals, "we're generally seeing cultural acceptance of personalized learning as part of the future of schooling," said Justin Bathon, an associate professor of education leadership at the University of Kentucky who has trained school leaders on effective technology use for more than a decade.

"But there's a big disconnect between the think-tank literature and the reality of running schools," Bathon said.

Here are eight big takeaways from the survey:
1. Principals are buying into the idea of personalized learning.
More than half of principals view personalized learning as a "transformational way to improve public education" (28 percent) or "promising idea" (23 percent.)

Just 9 percent of principals, meanwhile, view the movement as a "passing fad" or a "threat to public education."

And in the world of school leadership, personalized learning has friends in high places.
2. Principals say the push to embrace personalized learning is coming primarily from technology companies and vendors.
"I think it's the wave of the future," said Daniel Kelley, the president of the National Association of Secondary School Principals, who also heads Rhode Island's Smithfield High.

Fifty-five percent of principals said they feel mild or strong pressure from industry, and 46 percent said they feel such pressure from district leaders.
3. Proponents tout personalized-learning technologies as a way to dramatically re-envision schools. Most principals do not.
Contrast that to how many principals said they feel similar pressure from students (31 percent), parents (27 percent), and teachers (19 percent.)

"There are market forces at play, driving narratives to principals for market-based reasons, to increase access to particular software products,"said Bathon of the University of Kentucky.
4. Principals are bullish that personalized-learning technologies can help teachers motivate students and differentiate instruction.
Just 16 percent of principals said such technologies are "central to our mission and operation."

Far more often, principals said such technologies were "an important supplemental resource" (57 percent) or "an occasional add-on" (24 percent.)

"This really hits on a disconnect between the think-tank literature and the reality of running schools," Bathon said. "Lexia and Dreambox are nice supplemental tools, but I wouldn't say they mean a child is experiencing personalized learning in school."
5. Principals were less confident that personalized-learning technologies can help with reaching the whole child.
Nearly three-fourths of principals (74 percent) said they had a lot of confidence that such tools can help schools customize the learning experience for each student.

And 62 percent of principals said they had a lot of confidence that such tools can help with student engagement.

This is why principals such as Dwight Carter of Ohio's New Albany High School are enthusiastic about the trend.
6. Principals are very worried that digital technologies to personalize learning will contribute to greater student isolation.
"Technology can free up teachers to do more one-on-one instruction," Carter told my colleague Michelle Davis for her Technology Counts 2018 story, " Why Principals Are Embracing Personalized Learning."

A full 73 percent of principals said they had no confidence or very little confidence that such tools can be used to improve students' social-emotional skills.

Principals were also lukewarm about the idea that such tools can help educators better understand their students. More than half expressed "some" or "very little" confidence in this.
7. Principals are also worried about the role of the ed-tech industry in the personalized-learning movement.
To better understand these dynamics, listen to the voices of principals in Davis's story.

"There are a lot of ways to personalize learning that have nothing to do with technology," said Jeffrey J. Thoenes, the principal of Michigan's Williamston High School.
8. Principals are less worried about personalized learning diminishing the role of the teacher. New Albany High School principal Dwight Carter.-- Maddie McGarvey Follow @BenjaminBHerold for the latest news on ed-tech policies, practices, and trends.
Of the principals surveyed, 85 percent expressed "some" or "a lot" of concern that such technologies will lead to students spending too much time on screens.

And 77 percent of principals expressed "some" or "a lot" of concern that such technologies will lead to students working alone too often.

Such findings have clearly caught the attention of ed-tech and personalized-learning skeptics such as parent- and privacy-advocate Leonie Haimson, who has long raised related concerns.

85% principals concerned that #edtech will lead to too much screen time for students, 77% cause them working alone too much, 72% companies collect too much data , 67% tech industry w/too much power over education but most feel pressed to adopt it anyway https://t.co/28WG72m2KL pic.twitter.com/v9yCcVlhGo
-- leonie haimson (@leoniehaimson) April 18, 2018

More than 7 of 10 (72 percent) of principals expressed "some" or "a lot" of concern about companies collecting too much student data in the name of personalized learning.

And 67 percent of principals expressed "some" or "a lot" of concern about the tech industry gaining too much influence over public education.

For a fuller exploration of these dynamics, see Education Week's November 2017 story, "T he Case(s) Against Personalized Learning."

This fear is frequently raised by personalized-learning opponents. But 63 percent of principals expressed no concern or very little concern.

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Principals on Personalized Learning: 8 Takeaways From Ed Week's Exclusive Survey

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Thanks in no small measure to a push from technology companies and vendors, school principals are embracing personalized learning. But the ways in which principals are bringing that big idea into their schools are far more modest than many proponents would like.

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May 2017 | Volume 74 | Number 8
Lifting School Leaders Pages 28-31

Cathy A. Toll

New school leaders typically start out full of enthusiasm. They're going to make a difference by bringing about changes that benefit students. They'll support teacher growth while creating an environment of collegiality and success. They'll lead by sharing helpful information, data, and practices. They are energized!

And then, sometime in their first year, these new leaders often find themselves disappointed, exhausted, and full of self-doubt. Their efforts have been met with apathy or resistance. Their initiatives have encountered unexpected obstacles. They thought they were well-liked professionals, but sometimes they feel like they are amateurs, imposters, or monsters.

When new principals, coaches, curriculum developers, special education consultants, or others in schoolwide leadership positions find themselves in these situations, they often redouble their efforts. They send more e-mails, provide more explanations at staff meetings, work longer days, and attempt to prove their qualifications by showing extreme competence in all they do. But these efforts often merely dig the new school leader deeper into exhaustion and despair, like a driver who tries to get the car out of mud or snow by pressing harder on the accelerator and as a result mires the car more deeply. What's needed is not harder work, but a shift in perspectives.

Here are five perspectives that helped me when I was an elementary school principal, a reading program coordinator, and a literacy coach. I have shared these perspectives in workshops, conference presentations, and publications and I find they have been helpful to other educators around the world. Reflecting on these five shifts can make all the difference in the success of school leaders, old and new.

Perspective 1:

Teachers are well-intentioned, hard-working people who care about students.

This first perspective often seems obvious to everyone who works in schools. They think, "Of course teachers are good people." However, on further reflection, school leaders sometimes find that their everyday thoughts and actions don't always reflect this belief.

New school leaders sometimes spend their energies sorting out which teachers are the hard-working ones, the doers, the ones who care about students-and which teachers aren't. They make a mental list of the teachers who appear innovative, the teachers who seem old-fashioned, the younger teachers (whom they assume will be more energetic), the veteran teachers (whom they assume are stuck in their ways), the teachers who need help, the teachers who don't seem to care, and so on. This mental sorting often reflects opinions based on superficial interactions and a lot of judging.

Although school leaders may assume that these inner thoughts are not evident to others, that's often not the case. School leaders may hint at their thoughts by subtly implying dissatisfaction-for instance, saying "We have a lot of work to do to bring the curriculum to life in every math classroom at school"-or by subconscious body language, such as a shift of the shoulders or a crossing of the legs when a particular teacher is voicing an opinion.

As humans, we're hardwired to sense danger, which in the modern world may mean a supervisor's lack of trust in one's work or a colleague's intention to reshape our practices even though she doesn't fully understand the context of our work. Typically, teachers and others in such situations don't articulate their concerns explicitly; in fact, they may not even be consciously aware of them. Rather, they experience a general sense of mistrust or dissatisfaction with the school leader, which often spirals into low morale and dysfunction in the entire school.

The concept of "giving an A" (Zander & Zander, 2002) can be helpful to new school leaders. With this perspective, one approaches all people with the assumption that they deserve a grade of A. For school leaders, this means that all teachers and other staff are considered A-quality teachers, teaching assistants, specialists, custodians, and so forth. If certain employees are not performing at their best, these leaders assume it's because something has gotten in the way of the employees' success, not because they are poor-quality employees. The leader's job, then, is to help people figure out what's getting in the way and remove those obstacles so that everyone's innate " A-ness" shines through.

Perspective 2:

It's not about information.

New school leaders are often eager learners who take graduate courses, attend professional conferences, and read extensively in their field. That's excellent. But as a result of their own learning, new school leaders are sometimes eager to share their knowledge with others, under the assumption that if others understand what the leader understands, everyone will be onboard with the leader's ideas. To their disappointment, these leaders often find their well-intentioned information-sharing rejected or ignored.

At play here is the phenomenon-recognized by researchers in fields such as cognitive science, linguistics, and political science-that people's beliefs will often supersede information that contradicts those beliefs (Dossey, 2016). So when school leaders share information that teachers are not ready to believe, the information is often ignored or contradicted. Worse, the purveyor of such information may be labeled as a know-it-all or pushy.

When school leaders understand the limits of information, they start with beliefs and values. They do so by focusing on a passion that virtually every teacher shares: the well-being and success of students. By focusing on the teachers' care for their students, leaders start with what drives most teachers to pay attention and to open up to others' ideas. Then, savvy leaders enact a problem-solving cycle that enables teachers to explore any challenges preventing their students' successes and identify what they-the teachers-want to learn to implement the strategies they believe will help (Toll, 2017). Teachers are less likely to reject new information that contradicts their beliefs when they have control over what they learn and how they learn it (Calvert, 2016).

Perspective 3:

Everyone has their own vision of success.

Some preparation programs encourage leaders to develop a vision for their school or their program and then find ways to get others to "buy into" that vision. In other words, the leader's task is to market his or her ideas to others.

Such an approach is problematic for several reasons. First, it puts the decision-making power entirely in the domain of the school leader. Second, it assumes that the school leader knows what is best for every teacher and every situation in the school. And third, it fails to recognize that most people don't like to be "sold" anything; people want to feel that they are making choices in their own lives. It is no wonder, then, that school leaders who announce their vision or their great new idea often meet resistance.

Sam Chaltain (2009) asserted that a leader's job is to find the school's vision, not to create one. In other words, savvy leaders pay close attention to what's happening in the school and then guide the staff in developing a vision that reflects the priorities and passions of those who work and learn there.

In addition, school leaders may want to catch themselves when they ask questions that begin, "How can I get teachers to ... " As soon as the word get shows up in relation to others, wise leaders will realize that they are trying to persuade or control people in an effort to reach their own goals. At best, such an effort would require a sales job; at its worst, it would require a battle. Instead of pursuing their interest in "getting" someone to do something, leaders might rework their interest to consider how they can collaborate with others around the topic or problem at hand, so together teachers and leaders can develop a plan that's owned by all.

Perspective 4:

Resistance makes perfect sense to the person who's resisting.

When new school leaders encounter resistance to a great idea, they often find themselves mentally criticizing the people who oppose it. These leaders conclude that those who are resisting are unwilling to change, lack a strong work ethic, or have misplaced priorities.

It might be more productive for school leaders to think about times when they've resisted others' ideas-for instance, times when they told their child he could not have a begged-for toy (or tattoo!); or when they told their physician that a particular treatment was not for them; or when they told their spouse that it was not the right year to take a big vacation. When people think about why they've resisted others' ideas, they usually realize that their reasons were good ones. For instance, parents say no to children to keep them safe, patients select treatments that will best fit their individual needs and approach to health, and spouses want to be good stewards of the family budget.

Similarly, when teachers resist the ideas or initiatives of new school leaders, their reasons make perfect sense to them. For instance, these teachers might have worked hard to develop their current practices and view these practices as best for students. They might believe that a proposed change would be too demanding on their time, or they might think that a new idea reverses the trajectory of school programs of the past few years. When school leaders understand resistance from this perspective, they avoid judging teachers negatively. Instead, they tune in to better understand what teachers are thinking. This process has the potential to create a productive dialogue, enabling teachers and leaders to approach problem solving and planning together to address school needs.

Perspective 5:

Every situation is best approached by listening first.

New school leaders sometimes respond to challenging situations by immediately focusing on what they need to say or do. After all, they were hired to take the lead. Sometimes, too, they're insecure about how they're viewed by others and want to be sure they're seen as knowledgeable and decisive. Thus, they step up to the challenge and declare what should happen next.

This quick response may lead to a solution, but it's just as likely to backfire. Difficult situations require discernment, which takes time. Often, new school leaders don't fully understand the multiple dimensions of what's happening and the history of how the school has addressed similar situations before. In addition, some staff members may have valuable information, practices, or beliefs related to the situation, but a quick-acting school leader is likely to miss these resources.

It's wiser to listen and learn first. When leaders tune in to others, they understand challenges more completely, and as a result they'll be more likely to come up with productive solutions-or even better, to solicit further involvement by others. Solutions are nearly always better when leaders have help in choosing a path, and those who were involved in developing a plan are more likely to be enthusiastic about implementing it.

In fact, this fifth perspective summarizes the key idea behind the previous four: Tune in, and be inclusive. Remain open to others; value their knowledge, skills, and beliefs. The irony is that leaders who do less of the work themselves are often viewed as more effective. Such leaders are likely to face less resistance and indifference because they've learned how to involve many people in shaping the work of the school.

References

Calvert, L. (2016). Moving from compliance to agency: What teachers need to make professional learning work. Oxford, OH: Learning Forward and NCTAF. Retrieved from https://learningforward.org/publications/teacher-agency

Chaltain, S. (2009). American schools: The art of creating a democratic learning community. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield.

Dossey, L. (2016). Compasses, craziness, and the thieves of reasons: How thinking goes wrong. Explore, 12(5), 295-301.

Toll, C. A. (2017). A problem-solving model for literacy coaching practice. The Reading Teacher, 70(4), 413-421.

Zander, B., & Zander, R. S. (2002). The art of possibility: Transforming professional and personal life. New York: Penguin.

Cathy A. Toll ( www.partneringtolearn.com) is a consultant and university professor and a former principal, curriculum leader, and educational coach. Follow her on Twitter.

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Five Perspectives for Leadership Success

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May 2017 | Volume 74 | Number 8 Lifting School Leaders Pages 28-31 Cathy A. Toll New school leaders typically start out full of enthusiasm. They're going to make a difference by bringing about changes that benefit students. They'll support teacher growth while creating an environment of collegiality and success.

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May 2017 | Volume 74 | Number 8
Lifting School Leaders Pages 10-14

Baruti K. Kafele

For the past year, I have been conducting a workshop with school leaders called "Is my school a better school because I lead it?" I typically have my audiences reflect on this question and prompt them to point to evidence that supports their contentions. Then I ask whether they feel their staff would have similar perceptions. I often have to force myself to leave this question at some point during the workshop because it alone can generate enough reaction and lively discussion to fill up an entire day.

That being said, it's a very difficult question to answer, and school leaders are initially hesitant to address it publicly. There's a vulnerability with this question. It takes courage and honesty to answer-both for leaders who feel that their school is, in fact, a better place because they lead it and for leaders who feel that their leadership is not the difference maker it should be. After I pose the question, I can tell that participants are engaged in deep reflection; it just takes time for them to open up and reveal their responses.

During a workshop I conducted in the Southeast, a principal shared with the group that he felt strongly his school was better off because of his leadership. He provided solid evidence, such as a dramatic increase in assessment scores and a significant improvement in the school's overall climate and culture. In contrast, at a school in the Midwest, one principal emotionally shared that she needed to do more and didn't feel that her leadership was making the impact it could. She said that the question was helpful because it provided her with a continual prompt for self-reflection.

So, I ask you, is your school a better school because you lead it? Are your students in a better position to succeed because you steer the ship? Will your teachers experience exponential professional growth because you lead them? The answers to these questions are related to your overall leadership effectiveness, including your leadership identity, mission, purpose, and vision. Let's explore each.

Leadership Identity

Think about professionals who wear a uniform for their work-firefighters, pilots, chefs, and athletes, for example. When we see these individuals out of uniform, we generally know nothing about what they do professionally or how effectively they do it. When they put on their uniforms, everything changes. We know what they do, which leads us to have expectations about how well they do their work. We expect the firefighter to extinguish fires, the pilot to fly the plane safely, the chef to prepare excellent food, and the athlete to compete to win. In other words, their uniforms give them a professional identity.

Although you likely don't wear a uniform as a principal, your leadership identity works in a similar way. First and foremost, principals must have a firm grasp of who they are as leaders before they walk into the school building each day. Away from school, you are who you are relative to your home life, family, friends, interests, and hobbies. These assets make up your personal identity. But your personal identity is not necessarily your leadership identity. It may inform your leadership identity to some extent, but it's not who you are as the leader of your school.

As you transition every morning from who you are at home to who you are at work, what exactly are you transforming into as your school's leader? What is your identity? What does your presence mean in the eyes of your students, staff, parents, and the community? When your students and staff see or think of you, what comes to mind? Does your leadership identity affect the climate, culture, and achievement in your school? Is how you see yourself consistent with how others view you?

These questions mattered to me when I led schools over the years. In my capacity as principal, I wore an assortment of hats, but at my core, I was a motivator. I saw inspiring and "firing up" my students and staff as my essence. It was my reputation and what my presence represented. I knew that many of my students came to school each day with challenging realities going on at home. I had to ensure that the day always started with an inspiring and empowering morning message to lay a solid foundation for the day by setting a positive tone. Going back to the central question at hand, I am well aware that my role as a motivator made a significant impact on who we were as a school and the results we achieved.

There is no right answer to these questions about identity. The important thing is that you explore them and gain clarity on your role. At a recent workshop with rural and urban principals, one principal determined that she was a nurturer. Nurturing her students was a priority for her, and she devoted a tremendous amount of energy to playing this role for every student in her elementary school. The principal hoped that every one of her 500 students saw her as a nurturer. She felt strongly that her leadership identity played a significant part in creating a positive, warm school climate and culture.

Leadership Mission

With all that is on your plate, what's the one thing you feel you must absolutely accomplish? What drives you above all else and keeps you up at night? What is your leadership mission?

My mission began as an undergraduate student when the plight of black male grade school students became an area of concern for me. I knew I wanted to influence this specific population, but I wasn't sure how to go about doing so. A couple of years later, I decided I would make that impact as a classroom teacher. I eventually became a 5th grade teacher in a predominately black school and focused on helping my boys make the transition from being young males to young men. I taught them the standards and criteria for earning the distinction of being called men.

Several years later, I became an assistant principal and subsequently a principal. Once again, I focused on the young men in my school. It became my mission to defy the stereotypes of black males from urban communities. I intentionally set out to show our young men that they were scholars in every sense of the word. They were what I was about and what drove me.

Do you have a leadership mission, and does it drive what you say and do? It's imperative that you make your mission clear and specific and that you "walk in it" daily. In a recent conversation, an urban principal in the Midwest told me that his mission was to prove that his inner-city, underserved students of color could achieve at the highest levels. He passionately explained to me that he would not allow poverty to be an excuse for himself, his students, his staff, or his students' parents. He was on a mission to show the world that despite poverty, his students were going to soar high.

Leadership Purpose

If your leadership mission is your "what" (as in, "What is your work about?"), then your leadership purpose is your "why" (as in, "Why do you do it?"). My mission was to improve outcomes for black males. Why did I want to do that? My purpose was to empower these young people. I saw what was happening to so many of them across the United States, including massive underachievement and high suspension, dropout, and incarceration rates. I was determined to be part of the solution. I wanted to present a different reality at my school-and I did because my leadership mission had a purpose behind it.

What is your purpose? Why specifically do you do this work? Why did you make the decision to lead a school? Like your mission, your "why" drives what you say and do daily. I don't have to tell you about the enormous challenges of this work, which can become very frustrating. Your purpose keeps you focused on the mission at hand.

An urban principal from the Northeast recently confessed to me that she had led her school for years devoid of a "why." She hadn't considered a "why" until she heard me speak about it in a workshop and decided to develop her leadership purpose. She explained that more than 75 percent of her students read below grade level by the time they reached 3rd grade. Her mission was to ensure that all of these students ended up reading at grade level. Her work was driven by a purpose: She knew that literacy skills have lifelong implications for her students. The principal told me emphatically that her work was much more than a job-it was her reason for walking into the building every morning. Consequently, data now show that her school is on its way to making her mission a reality.

Leadership Vision

Finally, what is your vision for your leadership and school? As a leader, how will your skills evolve? How will you improve and become more effective as a leader one year from today? What will this improvement look like? Your leadership vision is a crucial component of your overall effectiveness. As an example, my leadership vision was to improve in all aspects of school leadership, but particularly as an instructional leader. I knew that as I grew instructionally, both my staff and students would benefit.

It's equally essential to have a vision for your school. Where will your school be in five years as a result of your direction? Although your school's vision statement is important, that's not what I'm referring to here. I'm talking about your personal vision for your school. To what heights will it rise because you are at the helm? In what way will it distinguish itself from other schools?

The vision of the principal matters because before you can think realistically about what your school can accomplish, you must already have a vision for what it will accomplish. For instance, one principal I'm currently working with has a vision for all of her seniors to be accepted into four-year colleges. When she assumed the leadership of the school three years ago, only 42 percent of seniors were college bound, leading skeptics to call her vision unrealistic. Today, 77 percent of her students are headed to college-in large part because of her vision for the school.

Leading with Confidence

"Is my school a better school because I lead it?" It's my strong belief that to lead your school forward, you must consider this question daily. To answer this question affirmatively, you must be absolutely clear about who you are as the school leader, what your mission is, what purpose drives your work, and how you envision the future of your leadership and school. These characteristics determine who you are, what you're about, why you're about it, and where you are going. They serve as a mirror for why you do this work in the first place. You must lead your school with the confidence to say, "Yes, my school is, in fact, a better school because I lead it." And when you do, students win.

Baruti K. Kafele ( www.principalkafele.com) is an award-winning former urban principal in New Jersey and a current education consultant. He is also the author of several books, including The Teacher 50: Critical Questions for Inspiring Classroom Excellence (ASCD, 2016) and The Principal 50: Critical Leadership Questions for Inspiring Schoolwide Excellence (ASCD, 2015). Follow him on Twitter.

KEYWORDS

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Is Your School Better Because You Lead It?

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May 2017 | Volume 74 | Number 8 Lifting School Leaders Pages 10-14 Baruti K. Kafele For the past year, I have been conducting a workshop with school leaders called "Is my school a better school because I lead it?" I typically have my audiences reflect on this question and prompt them to point to evidence that supports their contentions.

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43 quotes from EntreLeadership: 20 Years of Practical Business Wisdom from the Trenches: 'Seth Godin says, "Instead of wondering when your next vacation ...

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What it takes to be a great leader | Roselinde Torres | TED

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Encore Episode: EP150 5 Great Ways To Sabotage Yourself

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Have you ever felt as though you were sabotaging your own success? Many women in business - especially those in leadership roles - unknowingly, unintentionally, unconsciously self-sabotage their potential for success and drastically limit the scope of what is possible for themselves in their careers, their income, and their lives.

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How to integrate emotional intelligence into the classroom

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Social-emotional learning. Character education. Bullying prevention. These programs all fall under the larger umbrella of emotional intelligence (EQ)-the ability to manage one's feelings and intera...

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Many schools invest in environment like this, but one of the elements that makes this school different is the relationship between its teachers and administration. This charter school's administrators still spend time in the classroom.

Weilenmann's school director, Cindy Phillips, explains, "The most significant contribution that is made at a school is teaching and in the relationship between the teacher and the student. I want to be a part of that." Her administrative staff buys in to the model. Both the middle school dean and the assistant lower school director have some classroom periods of their own. The school's director of special education spends a portion of her day teaching as well.

During my workshop, the administration wasn't just sitting in the back and stepping in and out as needed, which is typical. The director and her school leadership team were among their staff, designing their own lessons and units to use in their classrooms. They went through the professional development, not just to show support but to actually implement what we were learning.

The Benefits of This Model

Walking the walk: Allowing administrators to remain, for at least one or two periods, in the classroom is a model many wish could be adopted more often. Jennifer Miyake-Trapp, assistant professor of education at Pepperdine University, sees many benefits in this model. "Administrators build their credibility as instructional leaders when they consistently demonstrate classroom expertise by modeling instructional practices, collaborating on curricular initiatives, and enacting the classroom culture they envision for the whole school," she says.

Building school community: Miyake-Trapp observes that administrators in the classroom "can also openly engage in reflective processes by sharing moments of classroom success as well as challenges. Exhibiting this public vulnerability creates a culture of trust, values risk-taking, and most importantly, positions school leaders as learning partners."

Staying connected: A good number of administrators would admit that it takes just a short time after leaving teaching to feel distanced from students and teachers. Returning to teaching as administrators "decreases the need to find time to interact with your teachers," Phillips points out. "You're in the copy room, you're running to the bathroom. You're accessible and available in a very nonthreatening way."

Phillips also feels that taking on a teaching assignment creates a more efficient workflow. "It forces you to prioritize your own duties as an administrator," she says, adding that "you are also the first one to feel your poor decisions, and that makes for a very dynamic turnaround!" She points out that this model sends a message that "teaching and learning are the primary activities of a school."

Recharging batteries: "There is nothing more amazing," Phillips says, "than going into the classroom and teaching those wonderful students after doing some grant writing or state-mandated something. You enter that room and you get to teach some kids something about a favorite topic-it's just amazing."

Challenges Do Exist

So what stops school leaders from joining their teaching staff? Well, for one thing, time. Teachers talk a lot about the hats we wear and the increased amount of work being thrust upon us, but administrators are also overloaded.

Miyaki-Trapp attributes some of the problem to past practice. She says, "Traditional views of administrator as manager prevent schools from implementing hybrid teacher-administrator roles" in such a way that their classroom time remains protected and valued.

Phillips admits that balancing both roles is a challenge. Even though this is a model based on "transparent leadership, there are times when you need to be the decision-maker," she says.

Adopting This Model

To move to this system, schools would have to design a more pliable master calendar that allows administrators to flex their teacher muscles. Additionally, collaboration would have to rev up a few notches. Administrators have to actively encourage teachers to build their leadership skills. As Miyake-Trapp says, staff must be "empowered to handle issues that may arise while administrators are teaching."

It truly does take a village to educate students. And as teachers and school leaders, we are all in this endeavor together. When a school approaches the mission of teaching with creativity and flexibility, as seen at the Weilenmann School of Discovery, something magical can happen.

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When Administrators Keep Teaching | Edutopia

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Many schools invest in environment like this, but one of the elements that makes this school different is the relationship between its teachers and administration. This charter school's administrators still spend time in the classroom. Weilenmann's school director, Cindy Phillips, explains, "The most significant contribution that is made at a school is teaching and in the relationship between the teacher and the student.

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Students' online behavior outside of school is a big worry, survey shows. But most principals don't feel prepared to tackle the challenge.

More than half of U.S. school principals say they're extremely concerned about children's use of social media outside of school, but just 14 percent describe themselves as "very prepared" to help students use social media responsibly.

That's according to a new national survey of school leaders conducted by the Education Week Research Center, which found the fears are particularly acute in middle schools.

The scope of the challenge is evident in the 67,000-student Virginia Beach, Va., district. There, 11 middle schools received threats of violence, many made by students on social media, in the weeks following the February massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla.

"This is the world our teenagers are living in," said Freddie P. Alarcon, the principal of Corporate Landing Middle School, where a student was charged by police with "threatening harm by use of electronic communication" after one of the incidents.

Experts say it's no surprise principals feel overwhelmed.

Long before Instagram and Snapchat, the teenage years have been a developmentally sensitive time when students take risks, navigate fraught social relationships, and try to carve out their own identities. Now, though, social media is an integral part of those often-messy processes, giving children previously unimaginable power to document and broadcast their every action and thought.

The result is that schools face a steady stream of disruptions caused by everything from shooting threats to cyberbullying to nude photos. For principals, that means a constant low-level headache, which periodically escalates into crisis.

Part of the challenge school leaders face is that there's no set checklist they can follow in order to proactively keep students safe on social media or respond effectively when things go sideways.

In response, a growing number of companies are pushing technology solutions, often based on surveillance of students' social media.

Advocates and researchers, meanwhile, suggest a focus on "digital citizenship," building a positive school climate, and counting on students to monitor each other.

Add it all up, and the nation's school leaders are in an unenviable position, said Amanda Lenhart, the deputy director of the Better Life Lab at New America, a Washington think tank.

"I think our expectations of principals have become increasingly unreasonable," Lenhart said."They're fighting a losing battle."

One thing principals can't do is ignore social media.

"It has a tremendous impact on the day-to-day culture of a school," said Daniel Kelley, the president of the National Association of Secondary School Principals and the leader of Rhode Island's Smithfield High School.

The worry for school leaders isn't so much about how students use social media during the school day.

The challenge is that what happens on social media on weekends, evenings, and on the school bus often spills over into the school day, said Anne Collier, the founder of iCanHelpline.org, a social-media helpline for schools.

Most often, she said, that includes problems that never make the local news.

"There's nothing surprising in what principals bring to us," Collier said. "It's bullying, harassment, fake profiles, mean comments, sexting, and stupid pranks."

For principals, the challenge of addressing such problems begins with identifying where students are actually leading their digital lives. Many of the platforms and services young people use-such as Snapchat, Instagram, musical.ly, WhatsApp, Kik, and LINE-may be unfamiliar to the average principal.

And even if school leaders can see what's happening, they must navigate murky legal waters before reacting, said Sonja Trainor, the managing director for legal advocacy at the National School Boards Association. Courts have generally ruled that the First Amendment protects students' speech on personal social-media accounts used outside of school, Trainor said, unless that speech infringes on other students' rights or is likely to cause disruption inside school. Figuring out where that line is drawn can be tricky.

It's also important for school leaders to recognize just how difficult it is for grown-ups to fully grasp the context that helps explain what's taking place on social media, said Lenhart of New America.

Sign up to get Education Week's latest ed-tech news in your inbox.

"You're not the audience for what is happening on these platforms," Lenhart said. "Your ability to understand the full interpersonal space you're digging into is really limited."

Companies such as Geo Listening and Social Sentinel promise to use algorithm-driven technologies to monitor students' public social-media posts for everything from suicidal thoughts to school-shooting threats.

A growing number of districts-including Virginia Beach, which is engaged in a "limited pilot" of such a service, according to Spence, the superintendent-are giving it a try.

But school leaders should be skeptical that such companies will actually deliver what they promise, said Faiza Patel, the co-director of the Liberty & National Security Center at the Brennan Center for Justice, which has studied the use of such tools by law enforcement.

There's limited evidence such surveillance-based approaches are effective, Patel said. They generate a tidal wave of information, including lots of false positives (including flagging a post in which a particularly good pizza was described as "the bomb").

And there's every reason to believe that the stereotypes and attitudes that have contributed to racial disparities in student discipline for offline behavior will end up baked into social-media-monitoring tools, Patel argued.

"It's put forward as a panacea," she said. "But everything I've seen about social-media monitoring leads me to believe it's prone to mistakes and not reliable at doing the things we want it to do."

Instead, Patel and other experts agreed, principals are better served by proactively teaching responsible student social-media use on the front end and encouraging a culture of peer monitoring and reporting on the back end.

There's a ways to go before that vision becomes a reality. According to the Education Week survey, more than a third of principals described themselves as "a little prepared" or "not at all prepared" to identify such strategies.

But resources-including a popular K-12 digital-citizenship curriculum from Common Sense Education -are available.

And Collier of iCanHelpline.org said school leaders can take lessons from the broader bullying-prevention field. Getting students involved as part of the solution-by reporting problems to adults and serving as social-media interpreters, for example-is seen as key, she said.

"Social media is much more about people than technology," Collier said. "Kids are your best source of information."

Ultimately, that approach is where Virginia Beach schools have placed their biggest bet.

It starts at the beginning of each school year, when administrators remind students about the consequences for such actions as cyberbullying and sexting.

At Corporate Landing Middle School, such efforts continue throughout the year, said Alarcon, the principal. Digital citizenship is playing a big role in advisory and library time, he said, and it's also a big part of the curricula used in the school's technology education classes.

Virginia Beach also has a districtwide campaign called "Be Social. Be Smart. Be Safe." One big goal is to encourage students and parents alike to report problematic content-and to provide clear, anonymous ways for them to do it.

In that context, argued Spence, the superintendent, the rash of recent arrests of students for making social-media threats against their schools-before any real violence was committed-is actually a sign of progress.

"We would not have known about any of these things if people hadn't felt comfortable reporting them to us," Spence said. "Our culture of saying something is working."

Published in Print: April 18, 2018, as On Social Media, Principals Struggle to Keep Pace

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On Social Media, Principals Fight Losing Battle to Keep Up With Students

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More than half of U.S. school principals say they're extremely concerned about children's use of social media outside of school, but just 14 percent describe themselves as "very prepared" to help students use social media responsibly. That's according to a new national survey of school leaders conducted by the Education Week Research Center, which found the fears are particularly acute in middle schools.

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3 ways our school uses data to drive instruction

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For the last six years, data has been part of our "secret sauce" here at Bronson Elementary School in Bronson, Fla. Many of our students come from economically disadvantaged homes so we know we nee...

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Often I was the only female FBI agent on my squad. I learned how to be successful amidst a variety of situations and circumstances. Most importantly, I learned what not to do if I wanted to compete in a male dominated environment:

Here are 7 things successful women never do:

1. SUCCESSFUL WOMEN NEVER IGNORE THEIR FEARS

Successful women know they need to confront their fears head-on. They do not waste valuable energy trying to avoid them; instead, they manage their emotions, thoughts, and behaviors in ways that set them up for success in life.

Suppressing a negative feeling only gives it more power, fueling our fears and slowing us down. In fact, trying to control what we fear will increase the likelihood it will happen.

2. SUCCESSFUL WOMEN NEVER RUN FROM CONFLICT

Successful women have gotten burned by conflict, criticism, and unfairness-just like everyone else. The difference is that they were not cowered into accommodating others to avoid enduring those negative feelings again.

People who shy away from conflict assume that conflict always looks aggressive, overbearing, and disrespectful. This is not true because conflict can camouflage itself in many forms. We need to be alert for any behavior from others that is attempting to manipulate our emotions or thoughts. Once we recognize conflict for what it is, we can choose how we respond to it, rather than react out of fear or ignorance.

3. SUCCESSFUL WOMEN NEVER LET OTHERS CONTROL THEIR THINKING

Successful women eliminate inner voices of doubt and anxiety. They have the mental strength to focus their attention on positive feedback and constructive criticism.

Mental toughness is being able to control how your mind thinks, rather than letting your mind control you.

If left on its own, our mind always defaults to fear and anxiety because the "fight or flight" response has kept us safe since the caveman days. But not everything that is new or different is a threat to our safety in this day and age, so we need to stay calm and regain control of our emotional responses.

4. SUCCESSFUL WOMEN NEVER EXPECT PERFECT CIRCUMSTANCES

Successful women do not worry that conditions are not perfect. They can differentiate between the pain of growing and the pain of suffering.

It's easy to say that conditions are poor, nothing is going your way, and that you've been dealt an unfair hand. These are all excuses as you move further down the road of surrender.

Use what is at your disposal to keep moving forward in life-take a tip from MacGyver and learn to make the best of your situation. Mental toughness is approaching your circumstances with the right perspective and not expecting a break.

5. SUCCESSFUL WOMEN NEVER LOOK AT THEIR PAST AS A MISTAKE

Successful women value their past mistakes because they have learned from them. They don't hold on to guilt or regret; instead, they learn from the past and then they let it go.

Some mistakes from our past were painful or bad, but instead of wallowing in misery, look at them as opportunities to learn something that you didn't know before it happened. Walk beside friends and colleagues who have made mistakes-you can learn from them, too.

The past does not define us, it simply prepares us for our journey toward success and wisdom.

6. SUCCESSFUL WOMEN NEVER MISS OPPORTUNITIES TO SHINE

Successful women know that many times the best way to be successful is to do what others are unwilling to do.

Identify those things that others hesitate to take on. It can be small and simple-it doesn't matter. Whatever it is, do it well and you will instantly differentiate yourself from the pack.

Then keep going because you never know where it will lead; often, we don't know what opportunity looks like until we're closer to it.

7. SUCCESSFUL WOMEN NEVER FAIL TO KEEP THEIR COOL

Successful women know they are in total control of their life.

One of my favorite quotes is from St. Ignatius of Loyola: "Pray as if God will take care of all; act as if all is up to you."

Many people make excuses for themselves by saying luck determines whether they are successful or not. Mentally strong leaders are in control of their own luck because they see success or failure as something over which they are in control.

Luck may have had some role in their present circumstances, but they don't waste mental energy by worrying about what might happen.

Control your own luck by seizing opportunities to improve your life and situation. The result will either be a lucky break or the regret of a road not taken.

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Often I was the only female FBI agent on my squad. I learned how to be successful amidst a variety of situations and circumstances. Most importantly, I learned what not to do if I wanted to compete in a male dominated environment: Here are 7 things successful women never do: 1.