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Don’t Be The Limiting Factor

I was recently talking to a good, young Principal whose campus is beginning to separate itself from its peers. This is a Title I campus that is now outperforming a number of non-Title I campuses in the area. The campus is buzzing and there is a new feeling of HOPE spreading throughout the staff and…

Principals, You Really Need To Think About Spring Sports

It’s too late now, but this is the absolute right time to fix this for next year.   Multiple times a week I’m on a secondary campus. And without fail, during the Spring, I’m greeted with the same welcome… “Glad you’re here. Just want to let you know that we have a lot of subs…

Top LYS Tweets – January 14, 2019

If you are not following @LYSNation on Twitter, then you missed the Top 10 LYS tweets from the past week when they were first posted.  And if you are on Twitter, you might want to check out the Tweeters who made this week’s list. 1. I just read this interesting thread about whose job is the…

School Performance Drivers – Instruction

The first two school performance drivers (Segregation and Life Experience) are outside the control of the educators working in the building. The last two school performance drivers (Instruction and Motivation) are in our control. Today, will discuss instruction.   The instructional program is completely in our control as educators. We control what we teach, when we…

School Performance Drivers – Life Experience

Of the four primary school performance drivers (Segregation, Life Experience, Instruction, Motivation) none is more over-relied on and misattributed than life experience.   All things being equal a student with more enriched life experiences will outperform the student with less enriched life experiences. This has nothing to do with aptitude.  It is simply a result…

School Performance Drivers – Segregation

Of the four main school performance drivers (Segregation, Life Experience, Instruction, Motivation) none is more insidious than segregation.   Segregation separates into groups of those having some advantage (have’s) and those not having the required advantages (have-not’s). The advantages can be varied. Common advantages are wealth, power, connections, aptitude, and/or motivation. Not surprisingly, when compared,…

School Performance Drivers

Too many people seem to believe that the factors of school success are either complex, invisible, random or magical. The fog of this situation confuses the well-meaning and serves as cover for the opportunists, manipulators and/or profiteers.   But for the objective observer / practitioner, the situation is exceedingly clear. In the modern U.S school…

Chronic Misbehavior

I was recently on a campus where I observed the following;   A chronic and wide-spread tardy problem.   Chronic and wide-spread unpreparedness for class. Simply showing up with assigned readings not being completed, notebooks forgotten, and nothing to write with or on.   Wide-spread personal use of cell-phones for entertainment purposes during lectures and…

Balance

A young campus administrator asked me, “How do you find balance in your life? Balance between career, family, relaxation, etc.?”   This is a good question with a harsh answer.   I replied, “Before I answer, I need to know if you want to be great at something?”   He said,“Yes, I want to be…

Your Attendance Goal for the Upcoming School Year

As we prepare for the upcoming school year, nearly every campus will have a student attendance goal. Which will mean nothing. The brutal truth is that student attendance is not an issue at the vast majority of schools. My theory on student attendance goals is that we have them so we are assured of having…

Does Your Campus Have a Staff Induction Program

It always amazes me how often campus operations and practices are left to chance. We hire staff and then hope that through luck and osmosis the new hires will know what to do.  There is a better way.  Implement a new hire induction program.   Why?   Because an induction program ensure that new hires…

A Reader Writes… School Performance – The Big Picture, Part 3

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…

Top LYS Tweets – May 14, 2018

If you are not following @LYSNation on Twitter, then you missed the Top 10 LYS tweets from the past week when they were first posted.  And if you are on Twitter, you might want to check out the Tweeters who made this week’s list.   There is a simple logic to rating schools A-F. Meaning,…

Increasing Success Vs. Reducing Failure

If you are trying to improve performance, what should you focus on? Increasing success? Or, reducing failure?   It really depends on where you are, either personally (as a teacher) or organizationally (as a leader).   If your success rate is relatively low, less than 92%, then focus on increasing success. Let’s face it, an…
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