Signature Pedagogy Series, Part 4: Essential Signature Pedagogies in Math
The following article is a part of our Signature Pedagogies in the K-12 Classroom series. “Signature pedagogies,” as defined by Schulman in 2005, are “the types of teaching that organize the fundamental ways in which future practitioners are educated for their new professions” and they include three critical aspects: how to think, perform, and act […]
Are You a True Instructional Leader? The Specific Actions of Building Leaders Who Raise Student Achievement
Strong instructional leaders make big impacts on student achievement outcomes (Marzano et al., 2005). They help lead the work to ensure a guaranteed and viable taught curriculum that is aligned with how students will be assessed. In schools with high numbers of students in gap groups (such as economically disadvantaged, English language learners, students receiving […]
Steps to Stand Out: Tips for Snagging an PreK-12 Job Interview
So you found your dream education job. Excellent! The first step, then, is to get yourself in the door to an interview. When dozens of applicants apply for a position, it can be hard to determine who to interview…and we do have to leave some people out of interviews because there are only so many […]
Leadership Matters: Good Leaders Know When to Work…and When to Not
By Kate Wolfe Maxlow With the winter holidays right around the corner, it’s a great time to unwrap one of the best gifts you can give your direct reports: your occasional, purposeful absence. I learned this lesson the hard way the first time I had direct reports. As a new leader, I thought it was […]
Engaging Classrooms: Why We Need More Arts in Every Classroom, Every Day
By Kate Wolfe Maxlow I can still sing the entire jingle from a Milky Way commercial that played non-stop on TV when I was five. I remember all of King Henry VIII’s wives from a coloring page activity I did when I was eight. I can name all of the states in alphabetical order because […]
Leadership Matters: Growth Mindsets…Do Our Actions Match our Words?
by Kate Wolfe Maxlow The term “growth mindset” is a well-worn phrase in education. Yet, sometimes we see schools where the staff talks a good talk about growth mindset, but certain actions or beliefs undercut the philosophy. It turns out, this can actually negatively impact the growth mindset of students. Why does this happen? Let’s […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]