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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]