Management Blog

School administration managers, or SAMs, have shown to increase the amount of time principals can spend on instructional leadership according to a study by Policy Studies Institute, Inc.  

While at the start of the program, the principals spent on average 32 percent of their weekly time (the equivalent of just over 13.5 hours each week) on instructional leadership, a year into the program they spent 46 percent, or 8.5 more hours on leading instruction. After two years, the 93 principals with data spent 52 percent of their time, or nearly 26 additional hours each week on instructional leadership than they had before the program. 

The State of Iowa uses SAMs in some districts and according to the blog, Governor Branstad wants more districts using them. While the size of the study is small, the effects are encouraging.

SAMs can free up more time for administrators to work on instructional leadership tasks such as observing classrooms, providing teachers with feedback after observations, and working alongside PLCs to improve curriculum, instruction and assessment.  It is vital to our schools, especially with many states working toward implementing common core standards that teachers are working toward the standards in the classroom.  Administration is entrusted by the community to oversee this.  It can most effectively be accomplished while students are in the classrooms and teachers are instructing.  

Instructional Leadership Issue

Alfie Kaohn tweeted a link to his article in Educational Leadership magazine titled "The Case Against Grades."  Claiming grades do more harm than good, he supports dropping grades altogether, which through great teaching will do a superior job promoting learning.  Initially, I predicted the article would jump on the standards based grading wagon, but to my surprise, he dismissed this idea as being no better than letter grades.  Furthermore, Kohn (2011) says, "In my experience, the best teachers tend to be skeptical about aligning their teaching to a list imposed by distant authorities, or using that list as a basis for assessing how well their students are thinking."

Here is my question: How do you evaluate a teacher whom dismisses the standards and leads a successful class in which learning is the focus?  In Iowa, we use the 8-43 to help teachers and administrators pinpoint the qualities of a good professional in the teaching field.  Since the teacher is not necessarily following the curriculum, would you dismiss her?  Would you tell him to change the curriculum to align with the standards?  What if they refused?   Also, what implications does this have in larger schools using PLC's?

As a school manager, I want classes to be aligned, to have common grading scales and assessments.  Through this alignment work, students would be on a more even playing field.  The days of hearing the teachers that grade easy and hard would be gone.  In opposition to the manager is the school leader in me which would celebrate the highly engaging class that builds lifelong learners.  Every school I have been associated with as a student or teacher has a mission statement that includes lifelong learning, so I would hope to celebrate the class, not punish the teacher for being innovative. 

Virtual Classrooms (Technology in Schools)

I tweeted a link to a story by Mother Jones Magazine, a left leaning publication, regarding Jeb Bush's push for virtual classrooms in the future. The story addresses many of the problems that on-line classes have created.  For instance, students in a credit recovery program were found cheating on tests.  How were they cheating?  They used an iPhone to look up the answers.  Some students passed on the answers to others so they could pass the test.  In another class, "half the students were discovered not to even own a computer, raising serious questions about how they were completing all the work they'd supposedly done."

I am by no means a Luddite.  I enjoy using technology in the classroom when it enhances a lesson or product.  I do worry about teaching every student and having an accurate picture of the student's learning.  With cheating being "a chronic problem" according to the article, how can we be assured of student learning?  The other side will say these are minor problems that can be fixed, which may be true.  Computers will not replace good teachers.  A computer cannot teach the whole student.  Like Jerrid Kruse said on October 23, "A computer cannot tell a seventh grader the importance of deodorant."

Finally, how is technology impacting families?  There was a time in our history when parents played an active role in raising their children.  One family member stayed home or if both parents worked, a family member or trusted friend watched the kids.  Families ate dinner together and talked about the day.  Today, hearing the word stay at home mom or dad is unusual.  It is easy to push play on the DVD player or start up the gaming system to keep the kids entertained while the parent accomplishes other tasks.   I am guilty of this.  How will the children parent when their time comes?

Weekend 1 Reflections, New Learnings

I took away three new skills from this weekend, the use of twitter, blogger, and Google docs by administrators.  Inviting others to view and participate, Twitter provides a professional learning community for anyone, anywhere.     School administrators stationed in remote areas can plug in and get advice from thinkers everywhere.  I can follow Robert Marzano and Daniel Pink without attending a conference and read the materials they link to the tweets.  Prior to class, my mental model of Twitter had been formed by spoiled athletes and celebrities in the news because of their Twitter use, so I avoided the application.

The blogger site contributed to my crummy attitude regarding technology use, but just before I could give up on it, my classmates came to my rescue.  Jeremy, Nicole, Michelle and others made me a priority, coming to my aid until my blog displayed on everyone's computer in the cohort.  Had we been working on this in isolation, I'm not sure I could have fixed it.  A strong team, willing to collaborate and stray outside their job descriptions is critical to a healthy, vibrant school culture, a salient point in each Drake Education Leadership course.

Finally, Kristen set up two Google docs, a powerpoint and document, and we used it to begin planning and coordinating our Distinguished Speakers presentation.  Kristen provided Carlene and me support as we learned about Google docs.  In addition, we worked on management principals which included organizing questions, delegating tasks and setting due dates to ensure our presentation is completed on time.  As a leader of a school, I will have to rely on others; I cannot do it myself.  

EDL 279 Day 1

Today started as a very frustrating day.  From computer issues to difficulty connecting with the lessons, I left the classroom with more questions than answers. Tonight, I took some time to explore twitter and blogger after wrapping up my other responsibilities.  My comfort level with twitter increased greatly by typing in key words and groups into the search bar.  I am now following some amazing people and organizations which has changed my paradigm regarding twitter.  

Crossed Fingers

After signing up for all of these web tools, I hope my black Friday computer can handle them.