Educational Blog
Is Your Whole School Greater than the Sum of Its Parts?
Your brain is made up of tons of tiny neurons. None of these neurons have conscious thought, yet all together, they result in the works of Shakespeare, the compositions of Mozart, and the creation of the internet. How? This is the concept of emergence: when the whole is greater than the sum of its parts… Read More »Is Your Whole School Greater than the Sum of Its Parts?
What Every School Leader Needs to Know about Educational Research – Part 3
In our last two parts, we looked at how basics of research and experimental design can impact the strength of a study’s results—and how much we can trust results when determining which programs and strategies to implement in our schools. Nothing might be trendier today than programs and strategies that profess to be “brain-based.” Seems… Read More »What Every School Leader Needs to Know about Educational Research – Part 3
What Every School Leader Needs to Know about Educational Research – Part 2
How many times have you sat through a professional development that promises to be the panacea to all of education’s woes, only for it to be tossed aside a couple of years later when it can’t deliver on its promises? Meanwhile, the frustration at the waste of our time, effort, and money leads to a… Read More »What Every School Leader Needs to Know about Educational Research – Part 2
What Every School Leader Needs to Know about Educational Research – Part 1
So, your colleagues in the next school district over are raving about this great new program they have for helping “catch up” struggling students. They say that you should really look into it for your school district. The catch? It’s pretty expensive. But never fear, they say–it’s research-based. There’s no doubt that the number of… Read More »What Every School Leader Needs to Know about Educational Research – Part 1
6 Reasons New Teachers Leave the Profession—And What Leaders Can Do About It – Part 3
So far in this years, we’ve seen the very real problems that new teachers face—but we’ve also seen that there’s a lot that effective school leaders can do to off-set those problems. Let’s recap so far: previously, we’ve explored Difficult Work Assignments, Unclear Expectations, Inadequate Resources, and Isolation. We’ve seen that the assignment of strong… Read More »6 Reasons New Teachers Leave the Profession—And What Leaders Can Do About It – Part 3
6 Reasons New Teachers Leave the Profession—And What Leaders Can Do About It – Part 2
Remember your first day of teaching—waiting outside your classroom door, pencils freshly sharpened, bulletin board freshly stapled with inspiring slogans and posters? Remember being full of expectation (and maybe some anxiousness), ready to fill the minds of young people with the love of learning? And then the students enter your classroom…and you realize that none… Read More »6 Reasons New Teachers Leave the Profession—And What Leaders Can Do About It – Part 2
6 Reasons New Teachers Leave the Profession—And What Leaders Can Do About It – Part 1
Are you ready for a shocking statistic? Fifty percent of new teachers leave the profession in the first five years. Then again, maybe you don’t find it so shocking. You’ve probably actually witnessed this trend in your very own school or district, leaving us with the question: what can we do to stop it? Quality… Read More »6 Reasons New Teachers Leave the Profession—And What Leaders Can Do About It – Part 1
The Impact of Collective Efficacy on Student Achievement (Part 4)
In the previous three parts of this blog, we have looked at the effect of collective efficacy on student achievement, influences upon collective efficacy and supports needed to foster collective efficacy. This final installment discusses a model for professional development for school leaders that enables them to foster a culture of efficacy in their building.… Read More »The Impact of Collective Efficacy on Student Achievement (Part 4)
Follow through: It isn’t just about your golf swing (Part 1)
A couple of years ago I was looking at our school district’s data regarding the number of classroom observations that were being conducted. We had been focusing on using walk-through forms to collect data and follow through conversations to give teachers objective feedback regarding their teaching, Visible Learning and Teaching and student engagement. Many hours… Read More »Follow through: It isn’t just about your golf swing (Part 1)
The Impact of Collective Efficacy on Student Achievement (Part 3)
In Parts 1 and 2 of “The Impact of Collective Efficacy on Student Achievement” we discussed the definition, effect size and influences on teacher efficacy. Part 3 of this series explores what supports need be in place to increase teacher efficacy. Support and Self Efficacy There is strong evidence that the level of support teachers… Read More »The Impact of Collective Efficacy on Student Achievement (Part 3)
The Impact of Collective Efficacy on Student Achievement (Part 2)
In “The Impact of Collective Efficacy on Student Achievement (Part 1)” we gave an overview of the definition and effect size of collective efficacy. Jenni Donohoo writes in “Fostering Collective Teacher Efficacy: Three Enabling Conditions” According to the Visible Learning Research (Hattie, 2012), this is more than double the effect size of feedback (0.75). Collective teacher efficacy… Read More »The Impact of Collective Efficacy on Student Achievement (Part 2)
The Impact of Collective Efficacy on Student Achievement (Part 1)
When looking at the influences on student achievement, it is important to focus on those things over which we have some amount of control. One of the influences with the greatest impact is collective teacher efficacy. Wayne K. Hoy, Professor Emeritus of the Ohio State University defines collective efficacy as: “the shared perceptions of teachers in a… Read More »The Impact of Collective Efficacy on Student Achievement (Part 1)
Building Capacity in Assistant Principals: Is on the job training enough? (Part 3)
Developing Instructional Leaders In Part 1 of “Building Capacity in Assistant Principals” we looked at why it is important to work with your current assistant principals to develop their instructional leadership skills. In Part 2 we focussed on how to assess the readiness of your current APs and identify which will be ready to move… Read More »Building Capacity in Assistant Principals: Is on the job training enough? (Part 3)
Building Capacity in Assistant Principals: Is on the job training enough? (Part 2)
How deep is your bench? Assessing your assistant principals’ readiness. As we stated in Part 1 of “Building Capacity in Assistant Principals”, it may be up to the assistant principal to seek out opportunities on their own or it can be a collective effort between a principal and their assistant. In some districts, assistant principal development… Read More »Building Capacity in Assistant Principals: Is on the job training enough? (Part 2)
Building Capacity in Assistant Principals: How Deep is Your Bench? (Part 1)
Building Capacity in Assistant Principals: Is on the job training enough? A lot has been written about professional development for teachers over the past few years. While I am in complete agreement that teachers need continual opportunities for professional learning, I find we are overlooking one important group of educators in our PD plans. Assistant… Read More »Building Capacity in Assistant Principals: How Deep is Your Bench? (Part 1)
Herding Cats: How to Get Resistant Teachers On the Bus
Tips for getting resistant teachers to change their practice We all have dealt with resistant teachers. The members of our staff that sit in the back of faculty meetings doing Sudoku, grading papers or taking a quick nap. Getting resistant teachers to embrace new ideas can be like herding cats. The philosophy that they will… Read More »Herding Cats: How to Get Resistant Teachers On the Bus
SIE: 5 Key Elements for a Meaningful Walkthrough
The main objective of using eObservations walkthrough tools is to improve instruction by providing formative feedback to teachers. If your teachers are only accustomed to observations that are evaluative, it is essential that you do some work prior to beginning walkthroughs. 1. Communication: Many teachers comment that they have either never been observed or the observations they… Read More »SIE: 5 Key Elements for a Meaningful Walkthrough
Student Indicators of Engagement: Goal Setting
This is the first in a series of blogs that discuss the research-based strategies to increase student engagement and academic achievement. Of all the strategies on the Student Indicators of Engagement form, “Engages in setting learning goals” is the one most often misidentified in classroom observations. Many times we see the “Observed” box checked and the… Read More »Student Indicators of Engagement: Goal Setting
Feedback: More than just an “attaboy”
“Great lesson!” “Your students really had fun during class.” “I enjoyed your lecture today.” Every conference I have attended recently has had multiple sessions on feedback. Given that John Hattie states in Visible Learning that the average effect size of feedback is .73, it is no wonder that there has been a focus on the… Read More »Feedback: More than just an “attaboy”