A most responsible decision is to open discussions where people with all opinions, bias, concerns, and support can be heard and considered. Coming together to make sense of all sides and arriving at a place where most of those involved can agree is challenging and takes a good amount of open mindedness. It might even mean a leader has to change his/her mind and position as the cloud of opinions clear and the facts are clear. An example from outside of education can be found in Robert…

Many institutions of higher education around the country offer an annual faculty award for innovative teaching. But, this phenomenon happens with much less frequency in K - 12 schools. We wonder how we can encourage the development of innovation for their students if they, themselves, are not recognized and rewarded for it. Does it present a dilemma for leaders whether or not to recognize with distinction, those teachers who pepper the school building with innovative thinking and…

When change has no constituency and the status quo has a strong one, when the world in which our students live is in a constant state of flux, when our students and we, ourselves, have access to learning by accessing experts on YouTube and to communication through Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, when our classrooms and facilities resemble the past century, we need to build a change constituency. Yet, it is only those leaders who have come by their leadership capacities naturally that…

With diminishing resources, it is unlikely that an ongoing review of assessment development is in the budget.  However it is essential. As curriculum changes, as the way students learn evolves, as the demands on educators increase, so must the assessments we use advance. Little, if any, instruction in teacher and leader programs are devoted to assessment building. It is unlikely, after assuming teacher or leader positions that assessment building attracts our attention amidst the…

The delivery of hardware and access to the Internet and other sources of information alone, with hopes that all will be well is ill advised.  It won't happen.  We believe, as with all changes, unless this implementation is well planned for systemic implementation, including putting a learning and monitoring system in place, it will result either in another failed initiative, or one of those pendulum swings with which educators are far too familiar.…

In schools, observations and evaluations of teachers and principals can be a contentious event rather than a productive process. Watching someone teach or facilitate a meeting changes the event being observed. Observing something, for the most part, involves the conditions of the observed to change. For example, how a teacher interacts with students may be different if a supervisor is watching. This can be a good difference or a bad difference, but it is different. The same goes for…

Teachers are known within their community.  Reputations are built child to child, parent to parent, event to event.  All of us know taxpayers who advocate for public employees to live in the districts and communities where they work. But, we also know how valuable a bit of privacy can be when grocery stores and doctor's offices and restaurants become only an extension of the office for those who see us and want to talk to us or about us. In a majority of cases, teachers are part of the…

Few professional development offerings are designed to help leaders and teachers develop their trustworthiness and to develop their ability to trust each other. It is not something that may come across one's desk or in email. If it did, it might not be something that feels as urgent as scheduling standardized tests, analyzing data, or preparing the budget. However, trust remains one of the accelerators of change, and the foundation of healthy relationships.…

Certainly, there are some among us who are prepared to facilitate those larger conversations in which opposing views can come together with the intention of finding a fundamental value or truth upon which to agree. But, why would they want to? Because a school, an organization, a community or a country cannot, as Lincoln said, survive if divided against itself.  This doesn't mean disagreements are bad; in fact they can be good and they can promote forward movement but only if the…

Goals are best, to use Jim Collins' term, if they are big, audacious, and hairy!  They should come from the passionate center of those setting them. Teachers spend much of their time establishing the environment in which students can learn optimally. In that environment, they work with students who are present or not, learning or not, engaged or not. In the midst of the interplay among student, teacher, content and environment goals are established and are met or not. Teachers become…

The loss of civility on the campaign trail vacillates between being simply disappointing, to being disgusting, demeaning and frightening. The worse it gets, the more attention it is given and the larger the crowds watching become. Wasn't it just weeks ago that we heard "politically correct" discarded as a ridiculous constraint on expression and kindness take a back seat to the worst things that can be said as a way to enhance readiness for the presidency. And, all of this is inflamed…