Managing Up, Part 1 – What is the Problem You are Trying to Solve?

I have a friend I’ve been coaching and collaborating with for a couple of years now. He may be one of the best principals in the business at rapidly turning around a campus. He sent me some questions that his assistant superintendent gave him to answer. Here are my answers to the first set of questions, his were similar.

Q: What is the problem you are trying to solve?

A: The problem that this principal is trying to solve is to the bridge the chasm between best instructional practices and current campus instructional practices. This disconnect is reflected in student performance.

Q: What does this have to do with improving teaching and learning?

A: This has everything to do with improving teaching and learning. As adult practice improves, student performance improves. The correlation is that direct and is almost immediate.

Q: What data (qualitative & quantitative) have you used to understand the problem and create urgency for change?

A: This principal has primarily used R4 Hyper-monitoring data, short-term common assessment data, benchmark data, state assessment data and graduation rate data.

Your turn…