After reading the 6/12/18 post, “School Performance – The Big Picture, Part 1” and the 6/13/18 post, “School Performance – The Big Picture, Part 2,” an old school LYSer shares the following.
It’s still perplexing to me that people think that it’s “other factors” outside of the day-to-day on-campus leadership that makes the difference in actual schools.
I’m amazed – like jaw dropping amazed – that the PLC movement seems so “new” (see Bell HS, Texas, mid-1980’s) to people and that they believe that it will “finally be the answer” to school improvement. Completely ignoring the fact that we have had the knowledge and chose not to apply it – because actually leading a PLC takes sweat equity…. time commitment, strategic scheduling of your day and management of time, tools, talents and all the resources you can muster up and grow up in others.
I am still mortified by the all too common practice of the un-informed, aggressively ignorant new principal that shows up and tears down everything. Just so they can call their new campus “a fixer upper” (yes- a catchy new session title I recently saw at a conference). Oblivious to the fact that they are the the actual wrecking ball and the manifestation of poor leadership choices and mentoring from the higher ups.
The hard part of leadership is fidelity. Fidelity to systems, practices and students. Fidelity is “people in the day and paperwork at night.” Fidelity is the road to real student success used by school leaders who actually focus on student success. A great school leader once stood before a group of principals and clearly stated this message, “You applied. You interviewed. You are the factor. Now do your job.”
Thank you for pushing the work – pushing the bar- keeping the same focus- and never making excuses.
Lead on.
Think. Work. Achieve.
Your turn…
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