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Leadership Roles for School Counselor in identifying and Supporting 2E.

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Leadership Roles for School Counselor in identifying and Supporting 2E.

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This is can located in ASU library.

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School counselors have a variety of opportunities to serve as advocates and leaders for students identified as twice exceptional (2E). We explore these opportunities and discuss the academic and social/emotional challenges 2E students face and current operational definitions for this population. We also discuss strategies school counselors can use to help students increase their academic and social success. We introduce strengths-based educational approaches as a best practice for working with this unique population, including the use of support strategies, enrichment clusters, and extracurricular activities.

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Leadership Roles for School Counselors in Identifying and Supporting Twice-Exceptional (2E) Students - Sara J. Renzulli, Nicholas Gelbar, 2019

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School counselors have a variety of opportunities to serve as advocates and leaders for students identified as twice exceptional (2E). We explore these opportunities and discuss the academic and social/emotional challenges 2E students face and current operational definitions for this population. We also discuss strategies school counselors can use to help students increase their academic and social success.

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BEING A DOER ISN'T ENOUGH FOR SCHOOL COUNSELORS. STUDENT NEEDS DEMAND SCHOOL COUNSELORS MOVE BEYOND REACTING TO LEADING. Are school counselors doers or

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School Principals working with School Counselors

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School Principals working with School Counselors

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Today's school leaders face many challenges. In addition to advancing academic achievement, principals also attend to an increasing array of mental health challenges with which students are faced. At the same time, secondary school leaders are under pressure to ensure all students are set up for success in college and the workforce. Understandably, principals can feel overwhelmed by these enormous pressures. However, they might be missing an untapped resource in their buildings-school counselors.

School counselors are uniquely positioned to support students' academic achievement, social-emotional well-being, and postsecondary readiness and success. Multiple studies have shown that strong school counseling programs are linked to improvements in attendance, increased college-going rates, decreased discipline referrals, and other positive outcomes. However, in some parts of the country, school counselors struggle to meet students' diverse needs because of high caseloads, ambiguous job descriptions, outdated and low expectations, limited professional development, and sometimes a lack of support from school leaders who may not understand how the counselor role should be carried out.

While providing clearer and higher expectations for school counselors can go a long way, meeting the myriad challenges students face calls for a reenvisioning of the school counseling profession. School counselors could work more efficiently, and students could be served more effectively, if they embraced an approach to school counseling that author Mandy Savitz-Romer refers to as an "academic home" in her book Fulfilling the Promise: Reimagining School Counseling to Advance Student Success. In this approach, counselors work at the hub of student supports, connecting and coordinating services much as primary care physicians coordinate patient care in medical settings.

In this role, school counselors serve as the first point of contact for students, providing as much support as is feasible and referring students for specialized services when needed so they don't fall between the cracks. Specialized supports could include mental health counseling, legal support for immigration issues, or even individualized assistance with college essays. Most school counselors already work within a robust network that includes teachers, administrators, and community partners. In the "academic home" model, the counselor serves both as the first point of contact in a student support system and as the person who provides leadership to create alignment among the services provided by community partners that might otherwise become fragmented or inequitable.

Use the following strategies to be sure you're maximizing the impact that counselors can have on students' academic and social-​emotional development.

1. Protect School Counselors' Time With Students

Historically, there's been some confusion about school counselors' roles and where their priorities should lie. To support a comprehensive school counseling program, principals need to have a clear understanding of counselors' roles and how their time can best be utilized to support the school's mission.

The American School Counselor Association (ASCA) offers guidelines for appropriate counselor responsibilities. Principals looking to unlock their counselors' potential might begin by developing a clear, shared understanding of how counselors spend their time. Talk to your counselors about their duties and see if certain responsibilities could be distributed to other staff to allow for more time directly supporting students.

It might not seem revolutionary to suggest that school leaders formulate clear expectations for counselors' roles, but as the profession has evolved and counselors have found themselves adjusting their roles to meet changing societal needs, it's time for educational leaders to update their expectations, too. (For instance, when counselors are asked to carry out extensive noncounseling duties such as test administration, it compromises their ability to provide critical direct services, such as implementing a social skills lessons, meeting with a student struggling with gender identity, or reviewing attendance data and identifying appropriate interventions.)

2. Adopt Clear Mission and Vision Statements

School leaders know that mission and vision statements are an important factor in creating a school culture founded in core values. Most schools' mission statements emphasize key components of school counselors' purpose, namely promoting academic achievement and postsecondary readiness. It is important not to overlook that these are also primary goals of counseling offices. Therefore, principals should consider how a school's mission statement might reflect a commitment to supporting students' personal development as well as their academic and postsecondary development.

Many school counseling programs also offer their own mission statements to reflect their internal core values and purpose. Not only does this help situate the counseling program within the larger educational vision of the school, but it helps focus programming. When the goals of counselors are aligned with those of school leaders, it increases commitment and motivation to pursue that vision. Also, because students and families may not understand what school counseling today offers them, updating your mission statements can offer a clear message to outside stakeholders about how these professionals support students.

3. Provide School Counselors With Leadership Opportunities

Some of the most promising school counseling programs we have found place school counselors on the leadership team. More often than not, this decision reflects the school leaders' vision of school counselors as experts on their students and it highlights school counseling as instrumental to meeting schoolwide goals.

In September of 2018, NASSP hosted an informative roundtable exploring the principal/counselor relationship. "Our counselors provide what I like to call 'qualitative formative assessment' data on the culture and climate of the school. Simply put, they have and understand the pulse of the school," noted Tommy Welch, former principal of Meadowcreek High School in Norcross, GA, during the roundtable. "This information is vital when implementing a new initiative."

At TechBoston Academy in Dorchester, MA, the director of school counseling partnered with the school's special education director to launch an intervention team that included active participation of the principal. The team meets weekly to identify struggling students and connect them with the appropriate support programs or interventions, further ensuring that no student falls through the cracks. Because the school's principal attends each week, the team often sees their feedback turned into action-they spot changes they can make at their school to better serve all students. Positioning counselors to take on leadership roles enables them to launch new systems that serve the entire school community.

4. Invest in School Counselors' Professional Learning and Development

Just as professional development is critical for improving teachers' content knowledge and instructional practice, similar training for school counselors provides new learning opportunities. Indeed, students' needs are constantly evolving, and today, they depend on counselors to support them on issues ranging from homelessness and anxiety to managing admissions processes that are increasingly competitive and complex.

Our research shows that counselors say they don't always engage in professional learning opportunities due to financial constraints, lack of relevant opportunities, and sometimes, because of limited support from school leaders. Certainly, school leaders try to offer school-based professional learning that applies to the majority of the school staff. However, this may miss the mark for counselors. Fortunately, there is a range of virtual and in-person professional development associations that can offer support to counselors at a reasonable cost. Organizations such as ASCA and the Southern Regional Education Board offer webinars and online learning opportunities for counselors. School leaders should budget for counselors to attend these sessions, as they not only provide great learning opportunities, but they also enable counselors to network with colleagues-something that is often missing for counselors.

Mentoring programs across schools, especially for new counselors, ensure that counselors can consult on ethical issues or learn new ways of approaching a challenging issue. I have also seen school districts offer meaningful districtwide professional learning on topics for which there is a shared interest. Using professional learning communities, book clubs, or affinity groups, school counselors gain opportunities for networking and sharing best practices within role-alike groups. School and district leaders might also consider partnering with nearby school districts to share the cost of bringing in professional development providers.

5. Encourage School Counselors to Use Data-Driven Practices

Like teachers, school counselors have adopted the use of data-driven practices to improve student outcomes. The ASCA National Model states that school counselors should be proficient in collecting, analyzing, and interpreting data. As school counselors implement a comprehensive school counseling program, utilizing attendance, behavior, and academic data allows them to meet the diverse needs of all students. School climate data can drive schoolwide counseling initiatives, such as antibullying programs. Data can be used to provide financial aid workshops based on low rates of FAFSA applications the previous year. Additionally, school counselors can use data to support targeted student interventions by identifying students with multiple unexcused absences or who are not on track to graduate.

School leaders can support counselors' use of data by ensuring they have access to data reports on early warning indicators and academic milestones, or statewide data regarding wellness. Because some school counselors report feeling intimidated by the use of data, principals might also include them in schoolwide data inquiry teams, research-practice partnerships, and other opportunities where other school-based staff is engaging with data.

Moving Forward

Too often, graduate programs fail to prepare principals for their role in supporting school counselors; therefore, administrators must collaborate with their counseling staff to identify systems and supports they can implement to improve counselors' practice. In addition to implementing these strategies, principals might consider adopting biannual administrative conferences to discuss school responsibilities, updating school counselor job descriptions, or identifying goals for the year and outlining plans for the counseling department to meet those goals. With a national average of 482 students to every one counselor, principals may not be able to budget for additional staff. However, they can create conditions for current counselors to positively influence students' educational experiences.
Mandy Savitz-Romer, PhD, is a professor at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Laura Colletta is the former assistant director of College Counseling at the Urban Assembly School for Law and Justice in Brooklyn, NY. Danielle Duarte is an education leadership doctoral candidate at the Harvard Graduate School of Education.

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Leadership for a Strong School Counseling Program: March 2020

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Today's school leaders face many challenges. In addition to advancing academic achievement, principals also attend to an increasing array of mental health challenges with which students are faced. At the same time, secondary school leaders are under pressure to ensure all students are set up for success in college and the workforce.

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Being more aware of Emotional Imtelligence

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Being more aware of Emotional Imtelligence

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The more that you, as a leader, manage each of these areas, the higher your emotional intelligence. So, let's look at each element in more detail and examine how you can grow as a leader.

Emotional Intelligence in Leadership

1. Self-awareness

If you're self-aware, you always know how you feel, and you know how your emotions and your actions can affect the people around you. Being self-aware when you're in a leadership position also means having a clear picture of your strengths and weaknesses, and it means behaving with humility.

So, what can you do to improve your self-awareness?

Keep a journal. Journals help you improve your self-awareness. If you spend just a few minutes each day writing down your thoughts, this can move you to a higher degree of self-awareness.

2. Self-regulation

Leaders who regulate themselves effectively rarely verbally attack others, make rushed or emotional decisions, stereotype people, or compromise their values. Self-regulation is all about staying in control.

This element of emotional intelligence, according to Goleman, also covers a leader's flexibility and commitment to personal accountability.

So, how can you improve your ability to self-regulate?

Hold yourself accountable. If you tend to blame others when something goes wrong, stop. Make a commitment to admit to your mistakes and to face the consequences, whatever they are. You'll probably sleep better at night, and you'll quickly earn the respect of those around you.

Practice being calm. The next time you're in a challenging situation, be very aware of how you act. Do you relieve your stress by shouting at someone else? Practice deep-breathing exercises to calm yourself. Also, try to write down all of the negative things you want to say, and then rip it up and throw it away. Expressing these emotions on paper (and not showing them to anyone!) is better than speaking them aloud to your team. What's more, this helps you challenge your reactions to ensure that they're fair!

3. Motivation

Self-motivated leaders work consistently toward their goals, and they have extremely high standards for the quality of their work.

How can you improve your motivation?

Re-examine why you're doing your job. It's easy to forget what you really love about your career. So, take some time to remember why you wanted this job. If you're unhappy in your role and you're struggling to remember why you wanted it, try the Five Whys technique to find the root of the problem. Starting at the root often helps you look at your situation in a new way. And make sure that your goal statements are fresh and energizing. For more on this, see our article on Goal Setting.

4. Empathy

For leaders, having empathy is critical to managing a successful team or organization. Leaders with empathy have the ability to put themselves in someone else's situation. They help develop the people on their team, challenge others who are acting unfairly, give constructive feedback, and listen to those who need it.

If you want to earn the respect and loyalty of your team, then show them you care by being empathic.

How can you improve your empathy?

Respond to feelings. You ask your assistant to work late - again. And although he agrees, you can hear the disappointment in his voice. So, respond by addressing his feelings. Tell him you appreciate how willing he is to work extra hours, and that you're just as frustrated about working late. If possible, figure out a way for future late nights to be less of an issue (for example, give him Monday mornings off).

5. Social Skills

Leaders who do well in the social skills element of emotional intelligence are great communicators. They're just as open to hearing bad news as good news, and they're experts at getting their team to support them and be excited about a new mission or project.

Leaders who have good social skills are also good at managing change and resolving conflicts diplomatically. They're rarely satisfied with leaving things as they are, but they don't sit back and make everyone else do the work: they set an example with their own behavior.

So, how can you build social skills?

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Emotional Intelligence in Leadership - Learning How to Be More Aware

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Relating to others is vital in today's workplace. Learn how to build your emotional intelligence (EI) with this article.

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The Global Emotional Intelligence Test uses 40 questions which are derived from, the Global instrument, which contains 158 items. These are based on Goleman's four quadrant Emotional Intelligence Competency Model (2002). Click EI Capability Assessment here for more details. Short EI quizzes such as this are meant to be fun, and to give you a guide to which EI areas you are doing well in and those which perhaps you need to focus on for development.

This Test, is a forced-choice psychological test which requires you to choose Instructions for the FREE EI Test one statement in each pair of statements that describes you best. For each pair of statements, select the statement that best applies to you. Do not over-analyse the questions, or try to think of "exceptions to the rule." Be spontaneous and choose the statement that comes closest to the way you are.

Occasionally there will be questions that ask you to make a close call between two choices. This is because the Test is trying to distinguish between specific areas. If a question is very close and you can't decide which statement applies to you best, you can come back to it after you have completed the other questions.

The Test usually takes about 10 minutes to complete. At the end of the test, click on the Score Test button, and wait for the computer to generate an EI profile of your scores. If you have answered honestly and accurately, your scores will reflect your capability level within each of the EI quadrants.

We cannot guarantee the accuracy of the results of this Test - only that it can help you begin your journey of self-development!

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Emotional Intelligence Test - Global Leadership Foundation

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Free emotional intelligence test developed by Global Leadership Foundation

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An individual who has grown through social-emotional learning (SEL) is able to manage his or her feelings in a professional manner while being aware of others' feelings and viewpoints. SEL focuses on the soft skills that humans acquire as they learn to interact with one another in appropriate and respectful ways.

Through SEL, humans learn how to build strong, positive relationships with others by showing empathy, making responsible decisions, and being emotionally aware. Further, once the traits are ingrained, individuals are able to set priority deadlines, contribute to teams, and be assertive while remaining calm.

By investing in SEL, a school will have a staff that is more likely to operate at higher levels of thought and approach concerns and problem-solving from a more logical standpoint. In many ways, having strong social and emotional skills can be more important than content knowledge related to job duties. People who are positive are more likely to have longer tenures within a job and accomplish more within the role. Emotional Intelligence (EI) is the degree to which an individual incorporates social-emotional learning in their daily life and actions.

SEL should be part of a culture that is embedded in daily operations as opposed to being viewed as an add-on. Rather, SEL and its related philosophies should guide daily interactions among various school stakeholder groups. School counselors are part of the school leadership team, so it is imperative that these key people know that they are valued and respected within the school community.

Operating from a SEL dimension shows value and respect in a modeled fashion. This manner of interaction will be reciprocated in other interactions if it is modeled by leadership. Therefore, using SEL to support school counselors will trickle down and the school's culture will improve as a return on this investment. SEL can be used by a school leader to grow leadership capacity within his or her school.

Why is Social-Emotional Learning Important for School Counselors?

As vital members of the school leadership team, counselors need to know they are valued and are essential to support multiple stakeholder groups. Other school leaders should incorporate SEL in their interactions with school counselors. An emotionally cognizant culture and climate should be prioritized and discussed.

As these skills are modeled, counselors will be more aware of their own actions and model these traits to other groups. Human interaction is a critical piece of learning and development. By operating with a SEL viewpoint, both the modeler and follower will grow. As a result, the entire school will become more emotionally aware as SEL is paid forward.

Employers often agree that problem-solving and relationship skills are a much greater need in a potential employee. School leaders must model and create an environment in which social-emotional learning for counselors is prioritized.

As school counselors become more emotionally aware, time management, relationship skills, and problem-solving skills will flourish. School counselors need to work as a contributing member of a team that can be assertive and flexible. Further, the counselor must make students, parents, and teachers feel at ease. The key to all of these collaborative skills is understanding others and prioritizing their feelings and needs.

Building a strong social and emotional climate in a school will pay off with stakeholders who feel more valued and are more likely to succeed when presented a new challenge. Communication should be timely, respectful, and show an awareness of the emotions of the intended audience. A school counselor's words and actions should have a calming effect that conveys support and empathy. Active listening is essential for emotionally intelligent communication.

How to Use SEL to Support School Counselors

Normalize Asking for Support

Principals must be approachable and mindful of the needs of counselors. Counselors will feel valued through regular check-ins in which the principal offers any support needed. Through this process, support is normalized. Support access should not be confused with micromanagement, which hinders SEL. Further, a leader should get to know the duties of the counselor so that he or she can assist when needed.

Respect Professional Boundaries

A key characteristic of a supervisor who is lacking EI is not respecting professional boundaries. Employee retention and satisfaction will dwindle if counselor personal time is not protected and respected. Principals must prioritize the counselor's time with family and days away from work. By allowing employees to have unencumbered time with family, employee productivity will improve.

Everyone needs to have time away from work. Time off is earned, and a supervisor should only contact an employee in the event of an emergency. Counselors need time to exercise and relax. Emotionally intelligent people do not define their life and value through work, but rather know that how they treat others will define their legacy. Further, work is about quality not quantity.

Foster Autonomy and Self-Efficacy

Trust is a core value of operating through SEL. A supervisor should model self-regulation and effective time management. Praise should be given as the counselor completes a task at an exemplary level.

Micromanagement shows a lack of SEL on the part of the supervisor. If you cannot believe in a counselor to operate without constant direction and supervision, perhaps the wrong employee was hired. Further, the person really lacking in EI might be the superior if he or she is not able to let go and manage only the larger picture.

Through high expectations combined with needed support and earned autonomy, the counselor will enjoy higher productivity and increased self-efficacy while experiencing decreased stress. Positive thinking will result in a person who works better with other team members and excels more in all the diverse counselor roles.

Prioritize Relationships

Modeling and developing strong relationships will support the counselor directly in his or her role. Working on a collaborative team is a focus of SEL, and this skill is woven into almost all counselor duties. A support focus on SEL will help the counselor grow and remain focused on developing strong relationships.

A person who is emotionally intelligent will not be judgmental or close-minded. SEL prioritizes not critiquing others' work if the person has not stepped in to try to assist in the effort. These characteristics are essential for a quality school counselor. Empathy is a core value of EI. Therefore, supporting a counselor using SEL will pay off by heightening the skills necessary to excel in the position. Supporting a counselor through SEL will enhance counselor competency.

Individualized Professional Learning Plan

Professional development plans should be individualized to meet the needs of an individual employee. Therefore, counselor professional development should be tailored to the needs of the counselor. A principal has to get to know the counselor and support the counselor through SEL to develop a personalized plan.

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Social-Emotional Learning for the Role of School Counselor - Graduate Programs for Educators

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An individual who has grown through social-emotional learning (SEL) is able to manage his or her feelings in a professional manner while being aware of others' feelings and viewpoints. SEL focuses on the soft skills that humans acquire as they learn to interact with one another in appropriate and respectful ways.

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For years, the research has been clear: Teacher-student relationships matter. And now, a new working paper shines more light on just how important these relationships can be for students' academic success.

Some students form deep connections with their teachers, counselors, or athletic coaches, who are often the adults they see most often aside from family. And those bonds may organically develop into an informal mentorship, in which educators support students both academically and socially. These types of relationships, experts say, will be particularly important this fall as students return to school still grappling with trauma from the pandemic.

Indeed, according to a national longitudinal study, more than 15 percent of adolescents identified a teacher, counselor, or coach as the adult who, other than their parents or stepparents, had made the most important positive difference in their lives. About 90 percent of the reported school-based mentors were counselors or teachers, and students were most likely to have met them toward the end of 9th grade or the beginning of 10th grade.

"These relationships last for many years in the vast majority of cases, and in many cases, well after students graduate from high school," said Matthew Kraft, an associate professor of education and economics at Brown University and the lead author of the working paper. "We know these are not just interactions that are part of teacher-student relationships inside the classroom or on the sports field or in the counseling office. ... School-based natural mentors go above and beyond and step outside their formal role."

Yet the students who research shows would benefit the most from mentoring-namely students from low-income families-are less likely to have access to those types of relationships.

Kraft, Alexander Bolves of Brown University, and Noelle Hurd of the University of Virginia analyzed data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health, which followed a nationally representative sample of middle and high schoolers for three decades, starting in the 1994-95 school year. While their analysis is not proof positive of a causal effect, Kraft called this "the most robust empirical evidence to date" on the relationship between school-based natural mentors and students' long-term success.

The respondents commonly said their school-based mentors gave them advice and guidance, encouraged them to stay out of trouble, and helped them grow up. These are often long-lasting, close relationships-80 percent of young people said their mentor remained actively important in their lives after they graduated from high school. The educators helped shape students' identities, notions of self-worth, and moral values, respondents said.

Mentoring is "individualized and different for every kid," Kraft said, but school-based mentors often help students with their homework, offer advice, and support them as they apply to college and navigate the financial aid system.

And it works: The study found that when students have a school-based mentor, they are more likely to pass their classes, earn more credits, and earn a higher GPA. And in the long run, they are 15 percentage points more likely than students without mentors to attend college and complete almost an entire year of higher education.

Students don't have equal access to natural mentors at school

The study found that Black and Latinx students, as well as students from low-income families, were less likely to report having a school-based mentor. White and Asian students-particularly Asian male students-from more-affluent families were the most likely to report being mentored by an educator.

Kraft said it's not surprising that fewer students of color have a school-based mentor because past research finds that mentors and mentees often share similar backgrounds. The teacher workforce is comprised mostly of white women from middle- and upper-middle-class backgrounds.

Past research also finds that adults are more likely to mentor adolescents whom they see as being academically gifted, physically attractive, outgoing, and easy to get along with. Yet teachers often have implicit racial biases, and studies have shown that many perceive Black students as angry when they're not.

Hiring more teachers of color, Kraft said, could help improve students' access to school-based mentors.

"I think there's a real paradox in the promise that mentoring holds," he said. "These are more likely to be relationships that white students and students from higher socioeconomic backgrounds develop. However, we also find evidence that students from lower socioeconomic backgrounds appear to benefit most from natural mentoring."

School-based mentors are particularly beneficial to Asian male students, the study found, and Kraft said more research is required to find out why that is. The study also found that students from low-income families see even greater benefits than their more-affluent peers when it comes to reductions in course failure rates and an increase in college-going rates.

Jennifer Kline, a counselor at Festus High School in Missouri, said she makes herself available to all students who need help with homework or a safe space to decompress. Students who don't have strong support at home often are the ones who take her up on that offer, she said.

"I meet the needs of all my students, but I tend to find the ones who need that little bit extra and spend that time with them," she said.

For instance, Kline developed a relationship with one student who transferred to Festus High School partway through her freshman year. Over time, the girl, who had been to 18 different schools and was placed in foster care at age 16, began confiding in Kline, telling her things she had never told anyone else. Kline helped make sure the student had more structure in her life, and eventually, she began to succeed.

That student had a 60 percent attendance rate when she started at Festus High School, but by the time she graduated, she had a 98 percent attendance rate and had earned all As and Bs her senior year. She went to community college, and is now working to earn both her bachelor's and master's degrees in social work. Kline still keeps in touch with her.

"As soon as you treat them as a person, they start to realize you care," Kline said. "When they know someone's on their side, they don't want to disappoint you."

Mentoring is more common in certain schools

The prevalence of mentorship in school communities varies significantly, the study found, with mentoring rates more than twice as high in some high schools. The authors found three significant predictors of why mentorships develop in certain schools more than others:

Students have a strong sense of belonging in the school community.

Class sizes are smaller. The study estimates that for every 10 fewer students in a classroom, the probability a student forms a mentorship with an educator increases by about 20 percent.

There are more sports teams for students to join.

Kraft said school leaders should also focus on fostering a diverse and supportive school environment where educators have the capacity to engage in these informal mentorships. But leaders shouldn't try to force these relationships, which by definition are naturally developing, Kraft warned: "It wouldn't be authentic if we tried to take a more heavy-handed approach."

This fall, students are expected to return to classrooms dealing with trauma, with many having fallen behind academically during the pandemic. Strong educator-student relationships will be key to helping students thrive, Kraft said.

"When we think about what an effective school is and does, we need to expand our vision beyond what happens inside of classrooms and on playing fields to those types of relationships that take place on the margins of schooling," he said.

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When Teachers and School Counselors Become Informal Mentors, Students Thrive

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For years, the research has been clear: Teacher-student relationships matter. And now, a new working paper shines more light on just how important these relationships can be for students' academic success. Some students form deep connections with their teachers, counselors, or athletic coaches, who are often the adults they see most often aside from family.

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Research has shown that every child who winds up doing well has had at least one stable and...

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Create a School-Based Mentor Program

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Why Do Some People Become Great Leaders?

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Why do certain people become great leaders? Leadership theories seek to answer this question and usually fit into one of eight basic types.

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Last Updated November 22, 2021

Transactional vs. transformational leadership is not a question of a good vs. bad, right vs. wrong approach to leadership. While they are in fact opposite approaches to leadership, both offer advantages and are important styles of leadership to understand and apply in certain types of situations.

A leader may naturally gravitate towards either the transactional or transformational side in their style and methods. However, the best leaders understand that both can be utilized and integrated into their overall leadership toolkit. Those who aspire to leadership in the business world should develop an understanding of the differences between the two and recognize how they can apply the appropriate style based on the situation.

What Is a Transactional Leadership Style?

A transactional leadership style follows a managerial philosophy of reinforcement and exchanges, managing employees by establishing specific goals and then offering a reward for achieving them. That's the "transaction" in transactional leadership. Effective transactional leaders recognize and reward a follower's accomplishments in a timely way.

A study in Psychiatric Services found transactional leadership "more practical in nature because of its emphasis on meeting specific targets or objectives."

Transactional leaders are often found in manufacturing, where line workers are expected to hit a set production quota per shift. Another area where a transactional mindset is beneficial is sales, as the team and individual members are driving to hit specific sales goals. Transactional leadership can also be most effective in situations where teams are working under strict time constraints to deliver on a project and/or where financial resources are limited.

Transactional leadership often goes hand-in-hand with maintaining a status quo of actions and processes that have proven successful. It tends to work best with self-motivated employees who do not seek or need inspiration from their managers or company executives, making it a leadership approach more often used at established companies.

What Is a Transformational Leadership Style?

The transformational leadership style is grounded in four components, commonly referred to as the four "I's" of transformational leadership:

Intellectual Stimulation: encouraging new experiences and ways of thinking for themselves and employees

Individual Consideration: mentoring employees and supporting their professional development

Inspirational Motivation: imparting a vision for an organization that employees internalize and make their own

Idealized Influence: serving as role models for how they expect employees to conduct themselves

As the four I's detail, transformational leaders focus on nurturing and positively motivating their employees. Rather than micromanage, transformational leaders foster an independent workplace that promotes creativity, desires innovative thinking and empowers employees to make their own decisions in their work.

Transformational leaders emphasize personal and professional growth and encourage all employees to think creatively in developing solutions to longstanding challenges, but they can be most impactful in leading younger employers, helping to integrate them into the company culture and giving them a sense that their work is a part of something special.

The leadership style works well in organizations or teams where the goals include developing the talent of the employees, and not just meeting an immediate production quota or sales goal.

Transformational leadership can also be the preferred approach in an environment where a product or service is new, or in an industry where innovation is key to survival. Many of the constraints and quotas may still be in play-limited financial resources, strict deadlines, specified quotas-but with a new product or start-up company, "the rules" and processes are not yet established, and open and innovative thinking on how to produce, grow, survive and thrive may be needed and even expected.

Transactional vs. Transformational Leadership: Which is Better?

It all depends. Neither approach is "better" than the other, and, despite the clear differences, the two are not mutually exclusive. A blended approach often works best because both leadership styles work, but they work best in in different situations, depending on the desired outcomes and on the leader.

Leadership Effectiveness

Both transactional and transformational leadership are effective in achieving intended results.

Transactional leaders focus on organizational performance and employee supervision. These leaders are not looking much toward innovating for the future, but rather maximizing productivity in the present. They focus on making the day-to-day business of an organization flow smoothly.

Transformational leaders focus on organizational change and employee development. These leaders devote more time to developing a strategy for the future of their team or organization, then motivating and inspiring employees to buy into that vision. This leadership is most effective in organizations or teams that need a leader to guide them towards positive change.

The most effective leaders recognize when and how to apply the elements of both. For example, sales may be transactional at its core, with the sales team driving towards specific and continuous sales targets, whether that be monthly, quarterly or annual sales goals. But sales is also about people, with developing and managing customer relationships at its heart.

Sales team leaders need to understand what motivates and inspires people (both their employees and customers) and look beyond the sales transaction to be innovative in seeking out new customer relationships, emphasize the strategic thinking behind key account management and may even need to lead the team in transforming their sales approach in response to market factors.

Promoting Growth, Innovation and Creativity

The transformational leadership style has clear advantages when it comes to promoting growth, innovation and creativity within individuals, teams and an organization as a whole.

A study in Frontiers in Psychology found that transactional leadership led employees "to perceive the culture as more goal, than innovation, oriented," whereas transformational leadership led employees to see the organizational culture as more innovative. Employees feel they are encouraged to develop as professionals, growing their base of skills and knowledge.

A key part of the overall strategy of a transformational leader is to encourage innovation and creativity in the workplace. The focus on employee development is important to cultivating the future leaders an organization needs, as employees grow into the shoes of their leaders and emulate their style.

Transactional vs. Transformational Leadership: How They Complement Each Other

In developing, adapting and applying these two styles of leadership, it's important to consider both the advantages and disadvantages of each, along with the current work situation your team and organization may be functioning in.

Transactional Leadership: While it's the best approach for maximizing operational efficiency, transactional leadership can fall short in the areas of innovation, long-term strategy creation and employee development.

Transformational Leadership: While best for creating strategy and fostering organizational change, transformational leadership sometimes lacks the attention to detail, as these leaders are less concerned about daily workflow and processes. It also relies on having the type of leader who can sustain both a great deal of motivation and passion for a long period of time.

If there is anything that the year 2020 taught organizational leaders, it is that change is happening faster than ever, and those efficient processes and set goals can be upended in an instant.

You can help motivate your team during turbulent times and successfully lead them through transformation, confidently driving your organization toward positive change with transformational and visionary leadership. How do you become this leader?
Enhance your leadership capabilities with MSU's Strategic Leadership & Management Certificates.

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Transactional vs. Transformational Leadership: What's the Difference?

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Aspiring to leadership in the business world? Know the differences between transactional and transformational leadership and how to best apply each.

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You've just gotten promoted and are now leading a team. You're intent on being the best leader you can be, and you're trying to discover what that means for you.

The truth is that there isn't a "one-size-fits-all" leadership style.

You're going to have to determine what your natural abilities are.

You'll also need to figure out what your organization requires of you and what you want the people you lead to believe about you as a leader.

It's as much about asking questions as finding answers. Asking the right questions will empower your journey toward leadership excellence.

Let's discuss the concept of transactional leadership. You'll learn its definition, who it works best for, and how you can apply it to your leadership style.

The different styles of leadership

Harvard Business Review contributor Jon Maner writes that there are two basic directions that leaders choose to take. These styles are selling and telling.

Each direction contains its own set of traits or leadership styles. With every leadership style comes different advantages and disadvantages.

Leadership experts agree that the best leaders can use elements of both.

Let's take a look at these two types of leadership styles:

Selling styles

First, there are the "selling" styles. These include coaching, democratic, servant and coach, and transformational leadership styles.

Many leaders with these styles have compelling visions. They also foster collaboration and innovation and create learning organizations.

This is especially true of transformational leaders.

They value developing people over upholding fixed rules and regulations. These leaders influence people rather than command them.

But, transformational leaders may fail to pay enough attention to short-term objectives. They can also struggle with the policies and procedures necessary to make the organization efficient. And they may hesitate to take control in a crisis.

In this case, they would do best to adopt behaviors consistent with telling styles, which we will cover next.

Today, most leadership development experts advocate selling styles over telling styles. They put a premium on transformational leadership.

After all, where would we be without the Elon Musks or the Jeff Bezos of the world? They've radically transformed the way we live.

Let's be clear, though - transformational leadership is a style.

And it's not the only option out there. There are plenty of telling-style leaders who have also radically transformed businesses and even the world.

Telling styles

"Telling" leaders also offer great value. For many organizations, times will come when circumstances and context call for leaders with this style.

These leaders will be able to offer grounded stability when the organization needs it most.

Leaders with these styles embrace a fixed hierarchical structure. They give mandates from the top of the organization and hand out firm directives to subordinates.

Rules trump innovation. There is a clear chain of command.

Telling styles of leadership, with various ranges of effectiveness, include the following four styles:

Pacesetter

These are charismatic leaders who rely on a personal appeal to motivate followers. Visionary "selling leaders" influence people to join in. Pacesetters inspire people to walk behind.

Autocratic

An autocratic leader relies on their own decisions. They expect their people to follow through. Followers execute. Their mindset is fixed on their own goals for the company.

Bureaucratic

Bureaucratic leaders believe that organizations operate best within:

Formal developed structures

Policies

Strict procedures

Transactional

Managers with this style motivate employees through offers of punishment and reward.

If you give them what they want, they'll give you what you want.

These transactions lead to the running of a tight smooth-sailing ship. Everyone is crystal clear on the goals and objectives of leadership.

They also understand what responsibilities they have to achieve their goals and objectives.

What is transactional leadership? Definition and history

Let's take a deeper dive into this leadership style and how it came about.

Transactional leadership origins

Max Weber developed the transactional leadership framework. He was an eminent 20th-century sociologist studying how people lead.

In his seminal book, Economy and Society, he said that there are three distinct leadership categories:

Charismatic authority, based on the personal appeal of the leader

Traditional authority

Legal-rational (now known as transactional leadership)

His premise was, "The exercise of control on the basis of knowledge."

Transactional leadership gained prominence in the 1950s following World War II, a time when political and social stability was of utmost importance.

Its darker side emerged with the rise of anti-communist Senator Joe McCarthy.

But its brighter side came out with General and President Dwight Eisenhower. He was who led the U.S. into peace and prosperity.

Political scientist and historian James McGregor Burns promoted Weber's theory in his 1978 book, Leadership. He said that great transactional leaders show high moral principles. They're honest and fair.

Responsibility and honoring their commitments are paramount.

Transactional leadership at work

Transactional leadership is often seen in companies that want or need to operate swiftly. To succeed as quickly as possible, their leaders implement standardized regulations and similar, if not identical, protocols at every organizational level.

The transactional leadership style appears most often in mid-to-large-sized organizations. It's often used in manufacturing or in other highly regulated industries.

Transactional leadership can keep everyone operating with fixed ways of working. Policies and procedures dominate these methods. This is most true in global organizations.

That's because leaders must manage people from different cultures with different languages.

The sales industry also has its share of transactional leaders.

This is especially true in organizations where employees need to meet aggressive quotas. If you meet your quota, you get a bonus or raise. If you don't, forget the bonus, and in many cases, your job, too.

Sounds harsh, but to a transactional leader, results come first.

A transactional approach assumes that all employees value external rewards. An example would be monetary compensation. It works on the belief that people are not self-motivated.

Many emerging leaders feel motivated by intrinsic rewards. This is especially true for younger generations, who are less likely to be loyal to a company and thus are less likely to stay.

Here's an example: 65% of millennials want their employer to support their development through training and mentors.

They want their higher-level needs addressed, such as belonging, esteem, and self-actualization. Rewards come in the form of opportunities for growth, meaningful work, and increased opportunity.

The future of transactional leadership

According to a recent Deloitte study, there are three stages of leadership emerging from the COVID-19 crisis. All stages reflect elements of transactional leadership blending with emerging transformational leadership.

Let's take a look at the three stages:

Respond

This is the first crisis-management stage. It requires a leader who can stabilize things quickly and lead through unprecedented times with no clear answers.

They express confidence, transparent communication, and empathy. This leader is pragmatic and lead-taking.

During the first stage of the COVID-19 pandemic, General Motors Chairman and CEO Mary Barra found an opportunity. She demonstrated transactional leader characteristics.

This leader co-authored a playbook on health and safety protocols for reopening GM's factories. She also sent back-to-work packages describing ways in which people could safely return.

She also acknowledged people's fear and was empathetic in her execution. Barra is well-known for her transformational leadership style.

Recover

As things stabilize in the next stage, people need a leader who is careful and risk-reducing.

Imagine how tough it must be for a transactional leader to have their people work remotely. Dropping by to see how things are going is challenging, if not impossible, in such a scenario.

Still, their blended style gives people a vision for the future. This leader moves the organization toward innovation and more long-term strategies.

Thrive

This style calls for:

Moderate flexibility

A long-term strategy

Intentionality

Attending to development in emerging leaders

This is the area where transformational leaders shine.

5 transactional leadership characteristics:

Here are five traits of transactional leadership:

1. Act with urgency

Transactional leaders can act with urgency. At their best, they are effective executors. They take charge. They turn ships around.

They're especially skilled in times of crisis. That's because they use their authority to take decisive steps, even in ambiguity.

2. Communicate their expectations clearly

Transactional leaders have a high degree of clarity. Employees know exactly what their leader expects from them.

As a result, they feel productive in reaching clearly defined goals and objectives.

This leads to effective leadership where group performance matters.

Vince Lombardi, former coach of the Green Bay Packers, is hailed as one of the best football coaches of all time. He was a master at training his teams through rigorous, methodical practice with step-by-step instructions. As such, his team was virtually unstoppable.

3. Direct communication style

Transactional leaders have a direct and transparent communication style.

People follow them because they know they can trust them. This leader knows that loyalty follows trust.

4. Opposed to change

Transactional leaders have their own approach to how their subordinates must execute a task.

As such, employee performance can suffer if a given task could benefit from a new approach.

5. Focused on short-term goals

A transactional leader will know the goals they're trying to achieve. Usually, these goals are short-term and don't take long-term organizational goals into account.

This means a team working under a transactional leader will excel at short-term goals such as monthly sales volume. On the other hand, they may not be as effective regarding leadership development for various members of a team.

Pros and cons of transactional leadership

A great example of this kind of leader is Gen. Norman H. Schwarzkopf, former commander of U.S. Central Command.

A master organizer of human resources, he handled tens of thousands of U.S. troops in Operation Desert Storm in 1990.

Schwarzkopf led the NATO coalition to a decisive victory over Iraq and Kuwait. With his leadership, he saved thousands of lives.

At their best, transactional leaders are effective executors. They establish processes, rules, and protocols and expect that people will adhere to them.

Many transactional leaders can be "hands-off" in the way that they manage. As long as things are running smoothly, managers don't interfere. Instead, they closely track work to identify problems as they emerge.

Let's take a look at Bill Gates, who is a transactional leader. Gates frequently makes the rounds to check in on operations and ensure that things are going as planned.

He wants to see that efficiencies are met and that nothing is falling through the cracks. Under his leadership, Microsoft has literally changed the world.
"The first rule of any technology used in a business is that automation applied to an efficient operation will magnify the efficiency. The second is that automation applied to an inefficient operation will magnify the inefficiency." - Bill Gates
However, there are disadvantages to the transactional leadership style.

Valuing stability over innovation may result in a reactive, rather than proactive, mindset.

Many transactional leaders do not value divergent thinking and behaving. They're less likely to solicit ideas from their people. Innovative ideas at lower levels go up a strict chain of command which may or may not reach the top.

Conformity and status quo are organizing principles for transactional leaders.

They can put the professional and personal development of the individual on the back burner. When leaders focus only on short-term goals, they jeopardize the organization's sustainability.

If left unchecked, their dominant style could show up as inflexibility and bullying.

However, great transactional leaders are empathetic, like any effective leader.

Though their style may seem impersonal, people know their leader cares about them. This is true even when they have to make hard decisions that may negatively impact others.

Let's consider Jacinda Ardern, New Zealand's prime minister.

She took swift and courageous action to lock down the country in the first months of the pandemic. Still, she communicated transparency and empathy. She fostered trust through frequent Facebook Live chats - in her sweats!

That brings us to the current leadership disruption - the COVID-19 pandemic.

This has the potential of transforming the way we look at leadership styles. It gives a different view of how a leader can blend styles using their own approach while adapting to changing times and circumstances.

How to know if transactional leadership is for you?

You'll begin to discover your own leadership style as you build your emotional intelligence. This involves asking some critical questions.

What are my strengths? What do I value?

Not all leader types value the same things. For example, if you value extrinsic motivation, you most likely would thrive as a transactional leader.

The VIA Institute on Character is a great resource that offers a free survey that determines your character strengths.

How would others describe my leadership?

It takes a degree of vulnerability to ask people about your style, but it's an important step.

Ask specific questions that you may be curious about. Then, listen and say thank you.

What does my organization need from me?

Different circumstances, times, and events may require different styles.

Your organization may currently need someone who can improve short-term employee engagement. Perhaps it needs to improve performance for the next few months. If this is the case, transactional leadership may be for you.

How willing am I to grow?

You may not be exactly where you need to be to become the best leader you can be.

But if you have a will to grow and improve yourself, you're one step ahead of those who don't.

Leadership is a journey, not a destination.

Become a noteworthy leader using transactional leadership

If you are going to be an effective leader, you have to be willing to acknowledge that as the world shifts, so does the landscape.

Great leaders navigating dynamic organizational environments are on a trek to self-awareness. They keep questions as trail markers along the way.

You can learn how to become a better leader, whether you use the transactional approach or not, with BetterUp.

Try a demo to see how you can improve your leadership skills today.

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Transactional leadership style: Pros, cons, and examples | BetterUp

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You've just gotten promoted and are now leading a team. You're intent on being the best leader you can be, and you're trying to discover what that means for you. The truth is that there isn't a "one-size-fits-all" leadership style. You're going to have to determine what your natural abilities are.

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Shackleton's Way Leadership Lessons from the Great Antarctic Explorer

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Shackleton's Way Leadership Lessons from the Great Antarctic Explorer Home Page

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Teamwork 5 Dysfunctions | The Table Group

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organizational health, teams, teamwork, teambuilding, online assessment, team assessment, team effectiveness, team survey, team field guide, executive team, offsite facilitation, executive consulting, Lencioni keynote speaker, team video

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How Covid-19 has affected Students and Teachers

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How Covid-19 has affected Students and Teachers

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The pandemic has shone a spotlight on inequality in America: School closures and social isolation have affected all students, but particularly those living in poverty. Adding to the damage to their learning, a mental health crisis is emerging as many students have lost access to services that were offered by schools.

No matter what form school takes when the new year begins-whether students and teachers are back in the school building together or still at home-teachers will face a pressing issue: How can they help students recover and stay on track throughout the year even as their lives are likely to continue to be disrupted by the pandemic?

New research provides insights about the scope of the problem-as well as potential solutions.

The Achievement Gap Is Likely to Widen

A new study suggests that the coronavirus will undo months of academic gains, leaving many students behind. The study authors project that students will start the new school year with an average of 66 percent of the learning gains in reading and 44 percent of the learning gains in math, relative to the gains for a typical school year. But the situation is worse on the reading front, as the researchers also predict that the top third of students will make gains, possibly because they're likely to continue reading with their families while schools are closed, thus widening the achievement gap.

To make matters worse, "few school systems provide plans to support students who need accommodations or other special populations," the researchers point out in the study, potentially impacting students with special needs and English language learners.

Of course, the idea that over the summer students forget some of what they learned in school isn't new. But there's a big difference between summer learning loss and pandemic-related learning loss: During the summer, formal schooling stops, and learning loss happens at roughly the same rate for all students, the researchers point out. But instruction has been uneven during the pandemic, as some students have been able to participate fully in online learning while others have faced obstacles-such as lack of internet access-that have hindered their progress.

In the study, researchers analyzed a national sample of 5 million students in grades 3-8 who took the MAP Growth test, a tool schools use to assess students' reading and math growth throughout the school year. The researchers compared typical growth in a standard-length school year to projections based on students being out of school from mid-March on. To make those projections, they looked at research on the summer slide, weather- and disaster-related closures (such as New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina), and absenteeism.

The researchers predict that, on average, students will experience substantial drops in reading and math, losing roughly three months' worth of gains in reading and five months' worth of gains in math. For Megan Kuhfeld, the lead author of the study, the biggest takeaway isn't that learning loss will happen-that's a given by this point-but that students will come back to school having declined at vastly different rates.

"We might be facing unprecedented levels of variability come fall," Kuhfeld told me. "Especially in school districts that serve families with lots of different needs and resources. Instead of having students reading at a grade level above or below in their classroom, teachers might have kids who slipped back a lot versus kids who have moved forward."

Disproportionate Impact on Students Living in Poverty and Students of Color

Horace Mann once referred to schools as the "great equalizers," yet the pandemic threatens to expose the underlying inequities of remote learning. According to a 2015 Pew Research Center analysis, 17 percent of teenagers have difficulty completing homework assignments because they do not have reliable access to a computer or internet connection. For Black students, the number spikes to 25 percent.

"There are many reasons to believe the Covid-19 impacts might be larger for children in poverty and children of color," Kuhfeld wrote in the study. Their families suffer higher rates of infection, and the economic burden disproportionately falls on Black and Hispanic parents, who are less likely to be able to work from home during the pandemic.

Although children are less likely to become infected with Covid-19, the adult mortality rates, coupled with the devastating economic consequences of the pandemic, will likely have an indelible impact on their well-being.

Impacts on Students' Mental Health

That impact on well-being may be magnified by another effect of school closures: Schools are "the de facto mental health system for many children and adolescents," providing mental health services to 57 percent of adolescents who need care, according to the authors of a recent study published in JAMA Pediatrics. School closures may be especially disruptive for children from lower-income families, who are disproportionately likely to receive mental health services exclusively from schools.

"The Covid-19 pandemic may worsen existing mental health problems and lead to more cases among children and adolescents because of the unique combination of the public health crisis, social isolation, and economic recession," write the authors of that study.

A major concern the researchers point to: Since most mental health disorders begin in childhood, it is essential that any mental health issues be identified early and treated. Left untreated, they can lead to serious health and emotional problems. In the short term, video conferencing may be an effective way to deliver mental health services to children.

Mental health and academic achievement are linked, research shows. Chronic stress changes the chemical and physical structure of the brain, impairing cognitive skills like attention, concentration, memory, and creativity. "You see deficits in your ability to regulate emotions in adaptive ways as a result of stress," said Cara Wellman, a professor of neuroscience and psychology at Indiana University in a 2014 interview. In her research, Wellman discovered that chronic stress causes the connections between brain cells to shrink in mice, leading to cognitive deficiencies in the prefrontal cortex.

While trauma-informed practices were widely used before the pandemic, they're likely to be even more integral as students experience economic hardships and grieve the loss of family and friends. Teachers can look to schools like Fall-Hamilton Elementary in Nashville, Tennessee, as a model for trauma-informed practices.

3 Ways Teachers Can Prepare

When schools reopen, many students may be behind, compared to a typical school year, so teachers will need to be very methodical about checking in on their students-not just academically but also emotionally. Some may feel prepared to tackle the new school year head-on, but others will still be recovering from the pandemic and may still be reeling from trauma, grief, and anxiety.

Here are a few strategies teachers can prioritize when the new school year begins:

Focus on relationships first. Fear and anxiety about the pandemic-coupled with uncertainty about the future-can be disruptive to a student's ability to come to school ready to learn. Teachers can act as a powerful buffer against the adverse effects of trauma by helping to establish a safe and supportive environment for learning. From morning meetings to regular check-ins with students, strategies that center around relationship-building will be needed in the fall.

Strengthen diagnostic testing. Educators should prepare for a greater range of variability in student learning than they would expect in a typical school year. Low-stakes assessments such as exit tickets and quizzes can help teachers gauge how much extra support students will need, how much time should be spent reviewing last year's material, and what new topics can be covered.

Differentiate instruction-particularly for vulnerable students. For the vast majority of schools, the abrupt transition to online learning left little time to plan a strategy that could adequately meet every student's needs-in a recent survey by the Education Trust, only 24 percent of parents said that their child's school was providing materials and other resources to support students with disabilities, and a quarter of non-English-speaking students were unable to obtain materials in their own language. Teachers can work to ensure that the students on the margins get the support they need by taking stock of students' knowledge and skills, and differentiating instruction by giving them choices, connecting the curriculum to their interests, and providing them multiple opportunities to demonstrate their learning.

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Covid-19's Impact on Students' Academic and Mental Well-Being

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The pandemic has revealed-and exacerbated-inequities that hold many students back. Here's how teachers can help.

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Administration & Leadership

A lack of substitute teachers has educators feeling strained, but there are things principals can do to help.

Scott Laumann / The iSpot

Late fall is typically when school administrators and teachers fall into a familiar rhythm, but staffing challenges in schools have made that rhythm hard to find this year.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the local and state education job sector lost 161,000 jobs in September. Educator job vacancies in schools have made it difficult for school leaders and staff to find a familiar stride. Having unfilled teaching positions, let alone having to cover absent teachers, has made school life challenging. Few staff members' roles are as defined as they once were. The "other duties as assigned" clauses in job descriptions have taken on new meaning. It's first important to remember that leaders must be more agile and more adaptable if we are to navigate the daily uncertainty that staffing shortages create.

"A couple of times this year, I've had teachers have to go into the library to monitor someone else's class while they teach theirs," said Greg Cole, a high school principal in Nevada whose school has seven teacher vacancies. "They have to teach their own Algebra I class, for instance, and they volunteer to accept another Algebra I class that same period in the library and teach them both."

Other principals throughout the country share that they are experiencing a shortage of substitute teachers. Their difficulty arises when they must cover instructional staff members who are absent from work. The difficulty covering absent teachers intensifies the higher the school's poverty level.

"I feel like I'm putting together a jigsaw puzzle some mornings when it comes to covering absent staff," said Christine Richards, EdD, a middle school principal in New York. "We often don't have enough substitutes to come in. We have to prioritize and determine which classes have students with the highest needs, ensure those classes are covered, and ask teachers to cover the rest."

As school leaders, we have to remain flexible when traversing staffing challenges and help staff members do the same. We can't control which teachers or their family members get sick. We also can't control all the mechanizations that lead to a candidate being placed into a job vacancy. We have to do the best we can to help as many children as we can with the staff members who work alongside us every day.

The Academic Impact

It's important to remember to be courageous and creative in how we help students learn standards amid a staffing shortage. Teaching is an art and a science. These are times that may require more artistry from us. The impact of staffing shortages may create challenges outside of your or your staff's experience.

The situation is taking a toll on teachers. They are exhausting the time and energy they have to help their students learn. As administrators, sometimes we must ask teachers to go consecutive days without taking their scheduled planning and preparation times to ensure that every child has access to classroom teachers.

Sometimes the substitute shortage affects a school's professional development opportunities.

"We can't find subs," said Steve Brand, a high school principal in Iowa. "We have to handle professional learning differently because I can't find substitutes to come in for a day to cover a department so that we can learn together."

Stephanie Brant, an elementary school principal in Maryland, echoed this sentiment.

"When substitute teachers don't pick up jobs in my school, the staff development teacher, the reading specialist, the assistant principal, the school counselor, and I cover for the shortage of substitutes," said Brant. "It takes us away from supporting the work of teaching and learning. Our faculty depends on us to facilitate conversations and provide resources. It trickles down to kids because teachers don't have quick access to those resources or supportive conversations with resident experts."

Some schools, districts, and states have found ways to mitigate educator shortages. Utah retained teachers throughout the pandemic, despite many teachers leaving districts throughout the United States.

"I haven't had to ask teachers to give up their collaboration time," said Milton Collins, an elementary school principal in Utah. "I have zero teaching vacancies this year. We have been fortunate to be able to get experienced subs when teachers are out. I have paraprofessionals that are trained to take over a classroom for a day if needed."

Adjusting Expectations

To help leaders and teachers to navigate daily staffing uncertainty, districts must be mindful of what they ask educators to do with fewer people. When short-staffed, schools don't know if staff absences will upend the best of plans, and administrators can't count on asking teachers to dedicate their prep times to collaborate to meet new directives their districts may demand.

Ramona Esparza is a retired high school principal and vice president of the Leadership Institute of Nevada. She reminds administrators to balance the need to improve learning and the uniqueness of leading during the Covid-19 pandemic, which has affected many functions of schools, such as staffing.

"Leadership matters," said Esparza. "This is the time for districts to attend to the needs of teachers and leaders. Leaders need to attend to the socio-emotional needs of employees. This pandemic has brought so much trauma into people's lives. As leaders, our students, families, and staffs are still addressing trauma, loss of loved ones, food insecurity, and so much uncertainty that we need to adapt, [and] be agile to address these needs first. How do we find the balance leading empathetically while maintaining a focus on academic learning? If we navigate them simultaneously, rewards will be in student achievement."

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Administration & Leadership A lack of substitute teachers has educators feeling strained, but there are things principals can do to help. Scott Laumann / The iSpot Late fall is typically when school administrators and teachers fall into a familiar rhythm, but staffing challenges in schools have made that rhythm hard to find this year.

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Changing your Teaching Philosophy to meet the needs of this generation of Students  

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Changing your Teaching Philosophy to meet the needs of this generation of Students  

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Revising Your Teaching Philosophy for This Crisis

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For many teachers, their statement of teaching beliefs no longer matches their work. Revisiting and simplifying it can help chart a path forward.

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The mass school shooting this week in Oxford, Mich., marks the deadliest such incident in the United States since the 2018 shooting in Santa Fe, Texas, in which 10 people died. And it marked a grim milestone: 2021 will go down as the year with a record number of shootings-29 and counting-since Education Week began tracking the phenomenon three years ago.

Four students were killed when a 15-year-old sophomore opened fire Nov. 30 on Oxford High School; seven other people were injured, including one teacher.

Local media recounted harrowing stories from students who had barricaded themselves in classrooms, tearfully texted loved ones, and armed themselves with scissors against a gunman who reportedly impersonated law enforcement while on his rampage.

While much remains unclear about exactly what took place this week, Oxford is likely to join the list of locations-like Parkland, Fla., Littleton, Colo., and Sandy Hook, Conn.-that have become shorthand for school violence.

There is no balm for the wrenching grief and difficult questions that the Oxford school community serving some 5,500 students will face in the days, months, and years ahead. At least initially, parents, teachers, and students joined vigils to remember the slain.

According to the Associated Press, Madisyn Baldwin, 17, was a talented artist who loved to draw, read and write; Tate Myre, 16, played on the school's varsity football team and was an honor student, the football team's tribute to him on Twitter said; Hana St. Juliana, 14, was remembered for her passion and commitment to athletics; Justin Shilling, 17, was described on the Facebook page of a restaurant where he was employed as a "devoted friend and co-worker... and simply a pleasure to be around."

Grieving will give way to hard questions-and then to demands for answers.

"My guess this morning is that the Oxford High School community is waking up, and one of the first questions on their mind is: How did this happen here? Much like we woke up Feb. 15, wondering how could the tragedy have unfolded in Parkland the way it did," said Ryan Petty, whose daughter, Alaina, was among 17 people killed at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in 2018.

And as happened in Parkland, those agonizing questions have the potential to tear a traumatized community into two camps-those who will seek answers to what specifically might have prevented the bloodshed at the high school, and those who will resuscitate calls for more general solutions like gun control.

So far, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, a Democrat, has said it's too early to comment on what school safety steps the state should consider.

Details have yet to emerge about what precipitated the shooting in Michigan. But nationally, the last few months have been unusually violent both generally and in the view of many school officials and parents, also in K-12 schools. Below are some of the school safety implications that are likely to emerge.

Violence in schools seemed on an uptick before the Oxford shooting

EdWeek's overall trends on school shootings, meanwhile, are paralleled by other collections, such as those maintained by the Gun Violence Archive and Everytown for Gun Safety, both of which have more expansive criteria.

Some criminologists said that the Oxford attack comes as another signal that the U.S. has grievously misjudged its school safety policies.

"We have really failed this generation of kids. Basically we've put this problem on their backs. We've said you need to go through active shooter drills and metal detectors and have police in your schools in order to feel safe, because we've failed to act on other things that would keep guns out of schools in the first place," said James Densley, a professor and department chair of criminal justice at Metropolitan State University in Minnesota, who studies mass shootings.

Gun sales surged during the pandemic. Is that a factor in the shooting?

Among the only clear details yet on the Oxford shooting is that the semiautomatic pistol used in the attack was purchased by the alleged gunman's father days before the incident. It is not yet clear how the son obtained the gun.

"School shooters tend to be children, and by virtue of their age, the only way they can get firearms is either illegally, or from parents and families who have stored them unsafely," Densley said. "There is just kind of a mathematical formula here: More guns increases the likelihood that guns fall into the hands of kids."

Little is known about the Michigan shooter, but some details are familiar

The alleged shooter, a sophomore, exercised his 5th Amendment right not to speak to police, and his parents have hired an attorney.

Some news reports quoted parents who said rumors were floating about a possible violent incident at the high school, but county law enforcement has urged caution about leaping to conclusions before detailed investigations are conducted.

While there is no profile of school shooters, analyses suggest that, as in this case, they are almost always men who act alone.

Oxford High School had taken steps to improve safety

The Oxford district had trained staff and students in lockdown procedures by the ALICE Training Institute, an approach that includes active-shooter simulations, among other pieces. Law enforcement has so far credited this with preventing more bloodshed, though it is likely to be closely scrutinized.

"It is ... evident from the scene that the lockdown protocols, training, and equipment Oxford schools had in place saved lives as well," Oakland County, Mich., Sheriff Michael Bouchard said in a statement.

Such training is not without controversy. Some school safety experts say it is not research-based and can frighten students. Teachers have reported being shot with Nerf balls during the training. In one Indiana district, teachers participating in the training were hit by plastic pellets, leading to a civil lawsuit. (ALICE Training uses a train-the-trainer model so there is much variation in how programs are designed.)

The Oxford district had also established a tip-line program for reporting threats, an intercom controlled-access entryway system, and taken other safety steps, though apparently the school did not use metal detectors.

The shooting potentially raises new questions about school-based law enforcement

To date there is also little firm evidence to suggest that they prevent mass shootings in school, so the role of the school-based officer in Oxford is likely to attract much attention in coming days.

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What This Week's Mass Shooting Can Teach Us About School Safety

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The mass school shooting this week in Oxford, Mich., marks the deadliest such incident in the United States since the 2018 shooting in Santa Fe, Texas, in which 10 people died. And it marked a grim milestone: 2021 will go down as the year with a record number of shootings-29 and counting-since Education Week began tracking the phenomenon three years ago.

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Are schools suffering from tech fatigue?

Recent survey data from the Clayton Christensen Institute about blended learning -a mix of face-to-face instruction and use of digital learning tools-suggests that might be the case.

Nearly half of the educators surveyed by the nonprofit think tank said their schools offered blended learning in the past, and 29 percent said they offer it currently. But just 9 percent say they plan to offer blended learning once the pandemic is over. That's according to a survey of 1,074 educators conducted in October.

The recent data also suggests declining interest from last spring to October in offering blended learning.

A report based on survey data from April and May concluded that the huge emphasis on digital learning during the pandemic would provide a boost for blended learning going forward. For instance, while just 12 percent of teachers said they used an intensive blended learning model known as the "flipped classroom" prior to the pandemic, 18 percent said they expected to use the strategy once the pandemic ends. Flipped learning involves students covering class content online at home, and in-person instruction is used for discussions, projects, practice, and individualized help from teachers.

One possible explanation, according to Thomas Arnett, a senior research fellow at the Christensen Institute and the author of both reports: Schools are stretched thin and not ready to dive into less-familiar forms of instruction, such as blended learning.

"If a school is back [to full-time, in-person instruction], they're struggling to get everything to work. Having to do blended learning on top of that is a real challenge," he said.

What's more, the legacy of the 2020-21 school year, in which many kids failed to make much progress learning virtually full-time or in hybrid programs, might have left many educators disappointed about the value of online learning.

"Generally, there's a sense that like, 'Oh, we tried that online learning stuff, and it wasn't great. We need to leave that behind,'" Arnett said.

So how are school districts prioritizing other types of instruction?

According to the Christensen Institute survey, 65 percent of educators surveyed in October said they are currently offering tutoring services, and 22 percent say they plan to continue that work post-pandemic. Twenty-nine percent said they offered tutoring in the past.

The vast majority of districts offering tutoring-93 percent-say tutoring is being provided at least in part by certified teaching staff, while 16 percent are allowing some K-12 students to serve as tutors. Just 9 percent say they are working with an outside organization that specializes in tutoring, and even fewer-6 percent-say they are using an online platform that facilitates tutoring.

While full-time virtual education remains an option in many districts, commitment to it appears to be declining. Forty-three percent of the October respondents said they currently provided students with the option of a full-time virtual school, while only 13 percent said they plan to stick with the option once the pandemic ends.

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Schools Are Battling Tech Fatigue. How Are They Responding?

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Are schools suffering from tech fatigue? Recent survey data from the Clayton Christensen Institute about blended learning -a mix of face-to-face instruction and use of digital learning tools-suggests that might be the case. Nearly half of the educators surveyed by the nonprofit think tank said their schools offered blended learning in the past, and 29 percent said they offer it currently.

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How can we support the emotional well-being of teachers? - Sydney Jensen

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Teachers emotionally support our kids - but who's supporting our teachers? In this eye-opening talk, educator Sydney Jensen explores how teachers are at risk of "secondary trauma" - the idea that they absorb the emotional weight of their students' experiences - and shows how schools can get creative in supporting everyone's mental health and wellness.

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How to comfort a grieving teen: Bridget Park at TEDxUniversityofNevada

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Rita Pierson, a teacher for 40 years, once heard a colleague say, “They don’t pay me to like the kids.” Her response: “Kids don’t learn from people they don’t like.’” A rousing call to educators to believe in their students and actually connect with them on a real, human, personal level.

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Park. B. (2014). How to comfort a grieving teen. [Video]. TED Talk. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ySeZLAqcnuo.

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Pierson. R. (2013). Every kid needs a champion. [Video]. TED Talk. https://www.ted.com/talks/rita_pierson_every_kid_needs_a_champion?language=en

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Scott-Robbins. Z. (2021). Leading through a staffing shortage. Edutopia. https://www.edutopia.org/article/leading-through-staffing-shortage.

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Terada. Y. (2020). Covid-19’s impact on students’ academic and mental well-being. Edutopia. https://www.edutopia.org/article/covid-19s-impact-students-academic-and-mental-well-being

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Tombrella. A. (2020). Revising your teaching philosophy for this crisis. Edutopia. https://www.edutopia.org/article/revising-your-teaching-philosophy-crisis

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