Effective Principal

“Producing a decided, decisive, or desired effect: impressive, striking: ready for service or action: actual: being in effect: operative. This is how Merriam- Webster defines the highly-sought adjective in today’s world, “effective.” Another dictionary defines it as “adequate to accomplish a purpose; producing the intended or expected result.” However, when this mighty adjective is put before “principal” or “school leader” it encompasses more than its explicit meaning in the dictionary.  

“The intended or expected results” of business is to make money. Neither business nor leaders of such business would be called effective if there is no profit involved. One would not call his/her car “an effective way of transportation” if it is not moving, hence not serving its intended or expected result.

Role of Supervision and Evaluation in Education

The process by which most teachers are supervised and evaluated in our schools is inefficient, ineffective, and a poor use of principals’ time. It’s based on a flawed theory of action: that supervision and evaluation will improve teachers’ effectiveness and therefore boost student achievement. I think the process drastically needs to be streamlined and be linked a more effective strategy for improving teaching and learning. I have not seen any teacher who told me that a formal summative evaluation changed his teaching style or improved her/his instruction.

A Mind boggling video on Goverment Debt...

I hope this is not true...What this "Government Gone Wild" video talk about is more than scary...If Congress stopped ALL spending today and did not spend a nickle on anything else and they made payments of a $100 M a day, it would take us 389 years jut to pay off our national debt...
Click here for the video...

School Culture Begins with Staff: A Great Tool for School Leaders

In the summer of 2000, I was cruising down the tortuous Old Pacific Highway 101 with three of my ninth grade students. It was a road trip that I had organized when I was teaching in a charter school in Cleveland, Ohio. I, along with three of my students, drove from Cleveland to California. It took us two weeks and 7,500 miles back and forth where we saw many “see before you die” type of places, had great fun, and came back with unforgettable memories. My students who are now successful college graduates and professionals still talk about the trip.

When I, once, was bragging about our trip to a traditional public school teacher he responded that he “would not take [his students] across the street, yet I took [my students] to California” with such amazement.  Now, I think about his response that is reminds me of another response that I got from one of my teachers when I was a charter school principal years later. When requested to do home visits to her students, this teacher responded to me that she “did not feel safe going to the neighborhood that our students lived in.”

It is the Principal that matters the most...

Although, there are other purposes of schooling such as creating productive citizens maintaining a desired culture, it is mainly preparing students for life and providing them with skills necessary to survive and succeed in the society that they live in. The desired outcome of schooling is learning. The person who plays the most profound role in making sure that learning takes place in a school is the school leader. Effective schools that produce the desired and expected results are created and sustained largely through effective leadership. Both education lore and research on leadership agree on one point: when it comes to creating effective schools, it's the principal that matters the most.

Charter schools, autonomy, and teacher unions...

 There are three premises on which all charter school operate:

Autonomy, Accountability, and Choice.

Therefore, autonomy matters for charter schools. It is the autonomy not only in human resources but also in curriculum, unique, innovative programs and opportunities that they offer to their students, financial management, school calendar, facility, and much more…

Unless charter schools have autonomy over their staff, the rest of the autonomy given to them by the state becomes less meaningful and effective. They are able to utilize all the autonomy that they have in curriculum, programs, budget, calendar, and facility only when autonomy over their staff exist. Staff is the most critical component in their success hence the autonomy over human resources.