Coaching and Managing Principals To Be Instructional Leaders

In this important Kappan article, Paul Bambrick-Santoyo (managing director of nine high-performing charter schools in Newark, NJ) addresses how superintendents and their designees can manage principals in ways that improve teaching and learning in their schools. In many school districts, says Bambrick-Santoyo, the first step is delegating operational work so those who directly supervise principals can provide expert coaching. “A move from business and facilities administration to instructional leadership doesn’t mean the former functions aren’t important,” he says. “Ideally, however, a district can appoint a leader or a team to manage the operational work for its schools. This frees the principal coach to focus on helping school leaders improve the quality of instruction.” 

Bambrick-Santoyo believes many central-office leaders have been using problematic approaches to manage principals:

• Quick walking tours of schools – These can give a good sense of the school’s culture, but unless they are backed up by a careful analysis of the school’s data, they tell very little about its instructional well-being.

• Periodic school inspections – These usually last 2-3 days (once a year) to check up on a school’s documentation and compliance, but they don’t tell the real story about the quality of teaching.

• Supervising from afar – This approach relies on a series of reports on a school’s progress, without site visits. “Even with fantastic tools, this method is badly flawed,” says Bambrick-Santoyo. “Imagine a baseball coach who only e-mailed advice to his players based on their batting averages and a few other key statistics. The player who swings too early will never get the feedback he really needs because the coach wasn’t around to see the problem.” 

So how should principals be coached and managed? “Adult learning theory suggests that the work of principal managers should mirror the work that the best principals do with teachers,” says Bambrick-Santoyo. “That is, school leaders need ongoing support and coaching, just as their staffs do. This not only drives their growth but further aligns them to the districtwide vision.” 

What specifically does this look like? For superintendents or area superintendents who manage seven principals, it means a weekly, in-depth school visit (for those with 15 schools, it’s a bi-weekly or monthly visit). Central-office leaders should spend about 50 percent of their time “shoulder to shoulder with their instructional leaders,” says Bambrick-Santoyo, focusing on training them to manage their schools, coaching them continuously, and systematically monitoring progress in seven key areas:

• Effective use of interim assessment data on student learning;
• Classroom observation and feedback;
• Curriculum planning;
• Professional development;
• Student culture;
• Staff culture;
• Managing the school’s instructional leadership team.

Clearly all this can’t happen in a single school visit, and Bambrick-Santoyo recommends a rotating cycle of six agendas:

• Week 1: Co-observe teachers with the principal or observe the principal giving feedback to a teacher. What are the highest-leverage actions for teacher improvement and the best action steps?
• Week 2: Review documentation of classroom observations: Has the principal observed enough? Is feedback actionable and measurable? Role-play a feedback meeting with the principal to provide practice in clear instructional coaching.
• Week 3: Watch a video of a recent principal/teacher feedback meeting and critique the feedback. Do the same with other members of the school’s leadership team.
• Week 4: Tour the school with the principal to assess school culture; observe a professional development workshop and comment on the quality and follow-up.
• Week 5: Review a teacher’s unit or lesson plan and practice or critique feedback given to the teacher.
• Week 6: Look together at interim assessment data from a specific classroom and plan and role-play the analysis meeting the principal will have with the teacher.

“Leading Leaders” by Paul Bambrick-Santoyo in Phi Delta Kappan, November 2012 (Vol. 94, #3, p. 70-71), www.kappanmagazine.org; the author can be reached at 

pbambrick@uncommonschools.org 

From the Marshall Memo #462