Plainly put, the problem is this: Districts and states are failing to create the conditions that make it possible for principals to lead school improvement effectively. What happens instead? In some districts, administrators attempt to exert complete control over every phase of instruction and school operations. They try to own all the problems and enforce all solutions from the top down. In other districts, administrators turn all the problems over to the principal, offering little or no sense of direction or support — just a demand for results. Most districts fall into one of these two categories. In the two highly supportive districts, however, district and school board leaders exhibited a clear vision of what constitutes a good school and have created a framework in which the principal has autonomy to work with faculty on an improvement agenda with collaborative support from the district. Few principals have the capacity to rise above a school district’s lack of vision and clear purpose. If district leaders cannot see beyond “test-prep” — if they expend most of the system’s time, attention and energy on getting kids to pass low-level tests and meet minimum standards — then even the most capable principals will likely find themselves trapped in caretaker roles, presiding over schools and faculties that lack the direction, the goals and the belief in themselves necessary to create a powerful learning experience for all their students. The district — including the school board, the superintendent, key staff and influential stakeholders in the community — must have the capacity to develop and articulate both a vision and a set of practices that send a clear message of what schools are to be about. This is a message not only for educators, but for the community at large. This message creates public understanding of what the school system is trying to do to prepare more middle grades students for challenging high school work and to graduate more students from high school prepared for the next step. The authenticity of this message is affirmed through the district’s development of a strategic plan that manifests the vision — and then by district actions that establish the conditions necessary for principals and teacher leaders to create a different kind of school. These conditions include aligning all policies and resources to the plan; creating a collaborative and supportive working relationship with each school; expecting and supporting the principal to become the school’s instructional leader; and communicating the vision and strategic plan to the public in a highly visible way that provides the context for principals to make decisions supported by parents and the larger community. The principal and teacher leaders within each school must engage the faculty and develop a vision of what the school must do if it is to graduate more students who are prepared for life and work in the 21st century. If state and district leaders have done their jobs, if the vision and desired outcomes are clear and the necessary supports are in place, then the principal and teachers can begin to design and implement solutions tailored to the unique needs of their own students and communities. We need programs to ensure that every student is connected with a goal and an adult who will serve as his or her mentor and champion. Under these conditions, principals can be given a broader range of autonomy to make decisions within the boundaries of a strategic framework and to have control over the schedule and placement of faculty within the school. With the vision, framework and supports in place, the principal can be held accountable for working with staff to develop an improvement plan within the boundaries that the district has established, while the district provides support for professional development that can be customized to each school. Ownership of problems shifts from the district to the building level, with the district staff supporting the school in creating and implementing the interventions at the school level. The empowered principal becomes directly responsible for engaging the faculty in creating a comprehensive school improvement plan, for fidelity in implementing that plan and, ultimately, for improving results. The Actions by Districts and Schools needs to be as follows: 1. Work with a cross-section of community and school leaders to create a strategic vision for graduating students who are prepared for a range of postsecondary options. The district must define the purpose of high schools and the core values for achieving their goals. The cross-section of the community creating this vision must include the perspectives of less-educated and less-affluent residents, whose children make up a growing proportion of students. 2. Focus on policies and support services that will enhance each school’s ability to achieve its own strategic vision and plan within the context of the district’s vision. Districts must develop collaborative structures for working with school principals and school leadership teams to create school environments that improve student engagement and learning. This will require a shift in the role of district staff and a corresponding shift in accountability systems to base performance evaluations, rewards and incentives for district staff on their effectiveness in helping schools. 3. Develop tools and processes that principals and teachers can use to ensure that instruction for all groups of students is aligned with college- and career-readiness standards. Districts must define for principals and teachers a level of instruction that engages students in intellectually challenging, authentic and relevant assignments that foster student motivation. Districts cannot rely on the scope and sequencefound in pacing guides to replace creative planning by teachers. 4. Invest in high-quality professional development for the district staff, school principals and teachers. Effective districts invest in the learning not only of students, but also of teachers, principals, district staff, superintendents and school board members. Low-performing schools are not likely to turn around unless educators who work in the schools have extensive opportunities to learn and implement more effective practices to engage students in learning challenging materials. Because many students enrolled in low-performing schools have trouble reading, these schools must initially make literacy the centerpiece of professional development. 5. Lead schools to analyze a variety of data — beyond test scores — and discover the root causes behind student failure or dropping out. To fully understand the causes of low achievement and low motivation, schools need more information about how students perceive their school experiences, the beliefs school faculty hold about students and about the purpose of the high school, and the ways in which at-risk students receive (or do not receive) extra help. Once schools understand why students are failing, districts need to assist schools in defining how to address the problems using proven practices. 6. Give school principals real authority in the areas of staff selection, school scheduling, instructional programs, and use of and redirection of new and existing resources. Principals and teacher-leaders of low-performing schools need flexible resources and the ability to redirect current resources to adopt a comprehensive school improvement design — aligned with the districts’ strategic vision — that can help them improve the school’s climate, organization and practices. 7. Consider working with an external school improvement provider to develop a strategic vision that can move the district forward. Too many consistently low-performing districts try to solve their problems by bringing in new superintendents every two to four years and firing principals of schools that do not make AYP. An outside facilitator can help a district break that cycle by working with district leaders and the school board to identify community goals and create structures that enable school and district leaders to meet performance goals and serve students better. 8. Develop a succession plan for school principals. Districts can help themselves and their schools by investing in professional development to prepare future school leaders. The first step in succession planning is to identify (early in their careers) talented teachers who have the potential to become principals. The district should develop a collaborative approach with a university or approved outside entity to provide potential leaders with learning experiences designed to prepare them to lead and improve the district’s most challenged schools, including authentic internship experiences in the district. 9. Engage parents and the larger community in ongoing dialogue about the changes needed to prepare more students for success in high school, college, careers and citizenship. Districts must work continually with parents and community leaders to ask and answer a variety of questions related to the common vision for school improvement. These questions should guide the community in realizing a vision for schools that require students to think, solve problems and produce high-quality work; help students see a connection between their studies and their future; and require educators to respect students and ensure that students succeed. Strategy 1: Establish a clear focus and a strategic framework of core beliefs, effective practices and goals for improving student achievement. Highly supportive districts provide principals with a focused mission and vision of key beliefs and practices to guide school improvement. This can be a short Introduction the study. mission statement, such as “Striving for excellence — no exceptions, no excuses.” Or, it can be a living framework collectively adopted and developed by the community over a period of time and continuously monitored and revised by an active school board. Strategy 2: Organize and engage the school board and district office in support of each school. In highly supportive districts, the school board continuously focuses on improving student achievement, and central office personnel spend the majority of their time in the schools, working with principals and teachers to create cultures of success uniquely suited to the students’ needs and the faculty’s strengths. Principals are given the authority to make hiring and firing decisions for their schools and are expected to be (and supported as) instructional leaders. Strategy 3: Provide instructional coherence and support. Highly supportive district leaders understand the challenging work principals must do and, in many cases, have been successful principals themselves. These leaders support the principals’ focus on instruction and model that priority by publicly focusing on curriculum and instruction in school board and superintendent’s meetings. They routinely engage school and teacher-leaders in developing and using tools such as walkthroughs, pacing guides and proven, research-based instructional practices — rather than micromanaging staff. Strategy 4: Invest heavily in instruction-related professional learning for principals, teacher-leaders and district staff. Highly supportive districts give principals tools to be effective instructional leaders and continuous learners. The districts set aside time for collective learning and instruction-focused professional development and provide beginning principals with induction andmentoring to increase their chances of success as effective instructional leaders. Strategy 5: Provide high-quality data that link student achievement to school and classroom practices, and assist schools to use data effectively. Highly supportive districts have adopted strategies to help principals disaggregate, analyze and interpret their student achievement data quickly to discern student deficits and identify weaknesses in school and classroom practices. They help schools use formative and benchmark assessments to ensure that the results of high-stakes tests do not come as a surprise to teachers or principals. Strategy 6: Optimize the use of resources to improve student learning. Highly supportive districts provide principals with resources — human and financial — and the flexibility to use those resources to address unique school needs while remaining consistent with school and district improvement frameworks and strategic plans. Schools with greater needs receive greater resources and assistance in assessing which school and classroom practices are working and in eliminating ineffective practices. These schools also are supported with outside coaches and facilitators who are skilled in assisting the school and teacher-leaders to address how low-income and minority students are being taught and how instruction must change if achievement gaps are to be closed. Strategy 7: Use open, credible processes to involve key school and community leaders in shaping a vision for improving schools. Highly supportive districts engage the whole community in setting a common vision for student learning. They seek principals’ and teacher-leaders’ ideas on major decisions about district policies, changes in curriculum and instructional improvements, use of development resources and the district’s budget. They encourage principals to use leadership teams to lead their schools and to engage the school community in setting a vision and creating a school improvement plan. The seven strategies begin with the district setting a direction by articulating a vision for schools, specific goals consistent with that vision and a framework of best practices that principals can use to achieve that vision and meet key goals. The strategies give principals and their teachers the support, the capacity, the resources and the flexibility to meet their goals. A comprehensive strategic plan provides principals and their staff with direction and support so they can shape and implement a school improvement plan based on the unique context of their school and the academic, social and emotional needs of their students. Once the district has assisted each school leadership team in developing a school improvement plan — and has provided the resources, the high-quality professional development, and the technical assistance, coaching and feedback to the school principal and teachers — the school leadership team should be held accountable for implementing the plan with fidelity and, eventually, for improved student performance. As long as school district boards and office staff operate without a sound and comprehensive strategic plan, the flavor-of-the-month approach will prevail, and low-performing schools will not have the continuity of direction and support they need to become functional and successful schools. Supportive districts and their leaders know that without a thoughtful vision, effective principal leadership and teacher cooperation, little progress will be made to improve student outcomes. Thank You, Jason Bates