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…

Most often unable to change the stressors that the children bear, we design systems to ameliorate the distraction of those stressors and help refocus the children on to their job as learners. But drug use is not always something one can see or uncover when wondering why a student isn't doing well. Meetings can be held, even tutoring or counseling can be put in place, but unless the fact that drugs are in play is uncovered, time is wasting.  …

There were two recent articles about STEM, one, in the New York Times, A Rising Call to Promote STEM Education and Cut Liberal Arts Funding by Patricia Cohen and, the other, in the Washington Post, entitled, …

If we return to our raison d'être - to prepare children to know how to learn even beyond our reach, and to be ready, when walking across our graduation stages, to go on to college or directly into a career - then we have a responsibility to look at financial literacy as a part of the k-12 curriculum.

As early as the 6th grade, when percentages are taught, the concepts of credit and interest can be spiraled upward into other math classes. The economic…

What does leadership become when compliance rules the day? Is the conversation how to get the job done and make people feel good about it? There is new curriculum, a teacher evaluation process, new standardized tests, new assessments, more data and new technology. None come with new resources to support the work.  All purportedly are intended to improve teacher performance and student achievement. The messages come fast and furious through administration, through teachers, and land on…

Teachers and leaders alike have been calling for students to be seen as more than a number earned on a standardized test. We know that our intention is to prepare them for college and career, but the focus on standardized measurement has pulled attention away from the other measures that count as well. Multiple measures to assess and demonstrate readiness need to be returned as central. The high school diploma holds the potential to help pull attention away from the singular measures…

It is the leader who understands, on a deep personal level, what change asks of a person and who can operate off of that personal understanding who can engender trust. That was the difference between our friend's  failed attempt and the slower but more successful second attempt. He overcame resistance and resentment by becoming a sense maker as he invited the organization to accompany him on the change journey. …

Understanding the needs of 21st century school change, and working with districts that are struggling to do the work set before them on a daily basis while leading forward, takes more than developing, understanding, and leading a shared vision for change. It requires the capacity to understand one's self and to muster up the courage to do the work we were called to do. It calls for moral and ethical behavior. It requires the leader to have the strength to…

We must be careful, as educators, not to allow being 'politically correct' be interpreted as weakness.  In our business, neither strength nor bravery can be associated with demeaning or deriding others. Both in children and adults, labeling and name-calling allows the speaker to express hostility, vitriol, or mockery.  Name-calling is brutal and hurtful and inflammatory.  For some, the shell of defense may be so hard that the receiver does not note the expression as immediately…

A few years ago, we were asked to join Leadership360 to tell Goochland's story about Values-Based Leadership. Since that time, we have seen phenomenal enhancements to and recognitions for our school division; however, we believe it was that initial focus on placing values at the center of our work that has brought us to…

The success of leaders depends, maybe more now than ever, upon the ability to know one's self, be one's self, and stay true to the purpose that guides one's life. If that ability can be paired with the ability to extend open minded and open hearted welcome to others, then break through moments can happen.  For a few, these seem to be naturally occurring co-creative, innate gifts. They inspire us but we cannot depend on those with natural gifts, only.  …

We believe that a systemic understanding of what STEM can be and do in schools allows for a locally chosen disruptive innovation that can catapult education into a new learning design. Our definition of STEM is broader and different from others. It is an inclusive term that reaches beyond the four subjects of science, technology, engineering, and math. It…

No matter from where the demands come, preparing students for college and career remains primarily in the hands of the educators. A global economy has impacted workplaces and technology is redefining required workforce skills. Educators must keep pace with the world outside our walls. Only with that growing understanding can we prepare students for their graduation into college or career. Teaching and learning, itself, must be alive and…

Conversations about mandated change are far easier than having conversations and leading non-mandated change.  It is familiar to attribute the problems associated with change (loss, resistance, reallocation of resources, relocations, etc)  to the source of the mandate, be it a legislature or a regulatory agency or a board. It is where the leader begins alone, this territory where he or she raises questions and initiates change that is not mandated.  'Let sleeping dogs lie' is a short…

The impact of childhood adversity and trauma--such as physical and emotional abuse or neglect, or mental illness, addiction or incarceration of a parent or close family member--can last through adulthood. Research shows that children exposed to adversity are at higher risk of chronic illnesses like heart disease and diabetes, learning difficulties in school, contact with the justice system, as well as addiction and economic hardship. The crisis crosses socio-economic, racial and…

Praise is certainly not a bad thing, but knowing what to praise and when makes the difference. Carol Dweck's research teaches more than mindset. In her 1999 article entitled "Caution-Praise Can Be Dangerous!", Dweck argues that one sentence of praise can have "powerful and pervasive effects."  Students are extremely sensitive and, from the interactions and experiences they have with adults,…

Bias is a very personal and deeply stealth orientation, set of feelings, and frame of mind; so deeply, in fact, can bias be hidden that it can go totally unnoticed by the holder. Denial may not be dishonest. It may be the result from simply being unaware. Gender bias exists from the very beginning of life. It does not begin in schools. It begins at birth.  One might think that "we've come a long way baby" and in some ways we have.  But evidence that "we've got a long way to go" exists…