So, how is the summer “break” going? I know, you are only a few days into it by now, but I thought I would ask. By the way, I always found it funny when people would ask me if I “worked” over the summer after I became a school administrator. I always patiently explained to them that in many ways,…
I was a school counselor for four years. In many ways, it was the most fun I had in my career! As I was contemplating moving “to the dark side” into administration, I asked some school leaders I respected what they though about me moving in that direction. Every one of them told me that school counselors make bad administrators.…
Ever feel like you’re leading one crisis at a time? Like your job is a never-ending game of academic Whac-A-Mole? Yeah, me too. School leadership has a way of pulling our focus to the next class period… or if we’re lucky, next month’s PD day. We plan in short bursts. We measure in test scores. We lead like we’re stuck…
My first flight was brutal. Buffalo to South Carolina, and it felt like we were in a crop duster bouncing down a gravel road. But since it was my first flight, I thought, “Well, I guess this is just how flying works.” Fast forward a few years, and I realize, no, that flight was chaos. But because I didn’t know…
Collaboration V. Coordination Everything I am about to share with you is based on the work Dr. Hobart Harmon and Dr. Jerry Johnson are doing about this topic in rural schools and communities. In other words, the idea is not originally mine, although I have put my spin on it. When we think about “collaborating” as school leaders, what image…
I published a book in 2021 entitled School Leadership: Learner-centered leadership in times of crisis. At the time I wrote the book, the COVID crisis was in full swing, and the book was my humble attempt to help school leaders not only navigate the crisis but thrive in it. The book tells the story of a school leadership team navigating the…
School leaders must stop myopically thinking of themselves solely as instructional leaders. Instructional leadership at the Cabinet level is dead. That mindset is too narrow for the moment. We need to embrace a new frame…civic leadership. Civic leadership means recognizing that our role is not just to manage curriculum or improve test scores. It means understanding that we are one of the…
In the past few months, I’ve found myself advising several superintendents whose contracts were suddenly not renewed. This, despite leading districts with vision, professionalism, and deep community engagement. These weren’t struggling leaders. They were, by any fair measure, doing excellent work. They were learner-centered, collaborative, and committed to instructional leadership. Despite this, they were not renewed. It’s becoming increasingly clear…
On a podcast I was listening to recently, the concept of a “noble lie” was discussed. Since I don’t remember being exposed to the concept of a noble lie, I did some research…and it is fascinating. Fascinating because of the origins, but also because it made me think of the noble lies we tell ourselves in public education. In Plato’s…
Charts like these either get one of two reactions from me: an eye roll or a vigorous shake of the head in agreement. Well, this one received both of those reactions! The first time I looked at it, I eye-rolled. My immediate reaction was that there was a lot of hubris in trying to predict what future skills will be…