Schools CAN Change

If there is no change in how teachers teach or in how students learn, we cannot justify the time spent in meetings. This holds true for our PLC's or anytime we come together as teams or as an entire faculty.
School improvement is based upon our ability to create a change system and it requires a culture of discipline. As Jim Collins explains in his book Good to Great, schools require a culture of disciplined people, disciplined thought, and disciplined action.

So what are the fundamentals of effectiveness for school improvement? Aristotle reminds us that, "we are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit." A culture of relationships and collaboration is an essential part of school improvement and increased student learning performance. The school environment must nurture excellence, risk taking, and creativity.

A shared vision is critical for success.
Waukesha North's vision is:

* Waukesha North will be a learning organization dedicated to equity, excellence, and high expectations for all.

* Waukesha North will create a performance culture of learning that promotes innovative thinking, collaborative learning, and personalized learning experiences to prepare students for their future. We will nurture a culture of excellence and equity for a continuum of learners.

Professional learning teams must share this vision for improving school innovation and increasing student learning performance. The guiding question must always be asked, what are students learning and achieving as a result of what teachers are learning and doing in PLC action teams? All teams must engage in cycles of collective learning and inquiry to improve educator practice and student performance. Every team must set specific, measurable targets for improved student learning in their classrooms for each cycle of learning and inquiry during the school year, measure progress toward these targets, examine student work samples and data, and modify work with students. Sound familiar?

You know what needs to be done. For successful change to occur, teams must establish a sense of urgency and create and communicate a compelling vision. All teachers are leaders. Support one another to take action for innovation and improving student learning.

Aim High, Achieve More

This book by Yvette Jackson and Veronica McDermott talk about how to transform urban schools through fearless leadership. One of the main tenants of an urban leader is a commitment to proving that demographics need not be a destiny.

Leadership matters. It has the second-most profound influence on student achievement after classroom instruction. It is through instructional improvement and relationships that we need to support our leaders just as our teachers need support in the work they do.

Fearless leaders inspire others. Our goal is to rekindle moral purpose, fan the fires of intellectual engagement, and restore hope, trust, love, and joy to two crucial, highly reciprocal activities: learning and teaching.

Inspirational leaders know the way, show the way, and get out of the way. :-)

By modeling desired thoughts and behaviors, leaders furnish the inspiration needed to motivate teachers and students to think and act in transformed ways.

In whatever leadership role you possess, may you aim high and achieve more!

The Skillful Team Leader

So, I guess one advantage of spending waiting time in hospitals lately, is that I am able to do a ton of reading. My latest read is a resource for overcoming hurdles to professional learning for student achievement.


I am blessed to have a skillful leadership team. I have three wonderful Associate Principals, and two in house Instructional Coaches, that have helped move forward our values, our vision, and provide guidance to the work that our teacher teams do. What a teacher believes in his core about every student's capacity to learn impacts his effectiveness in the classroom. In turn, what a team leader believes in her core about every teacher's capacity to learn and improve impacts her effectiveness in leading a team. Applied to leadership, the skillful team leader approaches hurdles from a growth mindset with a belief that every student and every teacher can improve as can her own ability to lead them.


Collaboration is fundamental to professional learning. The collaboration most teams hope to achieve, but only some do, is that in which team members work well together, learn from one another, and implement change that yields measured gains for students. How high-functioning is the team that you are a part of?  

The "real" work of all teachers is to promote learning for student achievement. Team goals and action plans should advance that work. This is what all teachers will produce  next school year with evidence in their SLO's.

Rigorous discourse in your PLC teams without data is like trying to get a weightlifter's body without weights. There might be a modest benefit, but no one should expect transformation. My intention as a school leader is to make sure that every teacher, every PLC team....achieves this transformation for the sake of our students!