New Principals and Assistant Principals Workshop presented by AWSP Session One Leading with a Studen

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New Principals and Assistant Principals
Workshop presented by AWSPSession OneLeading
with a Student Learning Focus The First Six
Weeks of LeadershipJuly 25, 26 and 27, 2006
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Welcome!In preparation for our work, please

• Reflect on the questions/topics most urgent for
  you today. Write one on each of the square
  post-its on your table.
• Browse through The New Principals Fieldbook
  Strategies for Success

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Welcome Introductions
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Objectives

• To learn from each other and from fellow
  principals
• To focus on essential survival skills for the
  entry period (first six weeks)
• To leave with concrete drafts and specific to
  dos for the next 10 weeks
• To create relationships for future support

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Overview

• Vision and Values
• Breakout Principals / Assistant Principals
• Reading and Shaping School Culture
• Trust Building, Personalization, Creating
  Caring Cultures
• Breakout Elementary / Secondary
• Critical Policies and Procedures
• Questions and Answers

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Two Important Points

• Break-outs will be opportunities to do real work
  and address your real questions. Take advantage
  and be proactive.
• This session is focused on establishing yourself
  as leader and setting the stage for instructional
  leadership. Be sure to attend Session Two for
  more in-depth work on your role in improving
  instruction in your classrooms.

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Sources

• Input from previous participants
• Input from hiring districts
• The New Principals Fieldbook - Pam Robbins and
  Harvey Alvy
• 9 Characteristics of an Effective School - OSPI
• ISLLC Standards
• Balanced Leadership - Waters, McNulty and Marzano

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Themes from The New Principals Fieldbook

• Committing to a belief that keeps all students at
  the heart of organizational actions
• Being a learning leader
• Building trust and quality relationships
• Acting with integrity and in an ethical manner
• Developing a vibrant, healthy learning-centered
  culture

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Fieldbook contd.

• Recognizing the stages of socialization (and
  surprise) for the newcomer
• Dedicating oneself to being an instructional
  leader by choice not because its mandated by
  the job description
• Managing as an essential instructional leadership
  tool
• Orchestrating school-community partnerships

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Nine Characteristics of An Effective School

• Clear and shared focus
• High standards and expectations for students
• Effective school leadership
• High levels of collaboration and communication
• Curriculum, instruction and assessment aligned
  with standards

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9 Characteristics contd.

• Frequent monitoring of learning and teaching
• Focused professional development
• Supportive learning environment
• High level of family and community involvement

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ISLLC Standard 1

• A school administrator is an educational leader
  who promotes the success of all students by
  facilitating the development, articulation,
  implementation, and stewardship of a vision of
  learning that is shared and supported by the
  school community.

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ISLLC Standard 2

• A school administrator is an educational leader
  who promotes the success of all students by
  advocating nurturing, and sustaining a school
  culture and instructional program conducive to
  student learning and staff professional growth.

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ISLLC Standard 3

• A school administrator is an educational leader
  who promotes the success of all students by
  ensuring management of the organization,
  operations, and resources for a safe, efficient,
  and effective learning environment.

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ISLLC Standard 4

• A school administrator is an educational leader
  who promotes the success of all students by
  collaborating with families and community
  members, responding to diverse community
  interests and needs, and mobilizing community
  resources.

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ISLLC Standard 5

• A school administrator is an educational leader
  who promotes the success of all students by
  acting with integrity, fairness and in an ethical
  manner.

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ISLLC Standard 6

• A school administrator is an educational leader
  who promotes the success of all students by
  understanding, responding to, and influencing the
  larger political, social, economic, legal, and
  cultural context.

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Balanced Leadership Top 10

• Situational awareness details, undercurrents,
  used to address problems
• Intellectual stimulation awareness discussion
  of current themes practices
• Input design, implementation of decisions
  policies
• Change agent challenges status quo
• Culture shared beliefs, sense of cooperation
  community

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Balanced Leadership contd.

• Monitors/evaluates school practices impact on
  student learning
• Outreach advocate, spokesperson to stakeholders
• Order standard operating procedures routines
• Resources materials and professional
  development
• Ideals/beliefs communicates, operates from

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Pair, Share, Compare

• My best hope about being a school
  administrator/leader is . . .
• My worst fear about being a school
  administrator/leader is . . .
• Compare your responses with the challenges
  reflected in the headings on pages 53-63 of your
  Fieldbook.

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Vision and Values

• Fieldbook, pp. 7, 64-65
• Fieldbook, pp. 141-142 leading and learning by
  walking about
• Fieldbook, pp. 153-157 -- use of time
• Fieldbook, pp. 159-160 organizational
  socialization
• Fieldbook, pp. 179-180 -- visibility

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• Your staff list - who do you know, who do you
  know about, who do you not know at all identify
  most essential for individual contact in first
  six weeks
• Your difficult person Fieldbook, p. 201-203

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To Dos

• Make notes about the vision and values you want
  to communicate in words and acts.
• Write a draft of the 3-minute key message you
  will use in first meetings, newsletters, etc.
• Develop a visual that captures your vision.
• Draft essential questions to ask everyone at all
  times.

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Guiding Principles for Guiding Principals

• Kids first
• Learning first
• Honesty with compassion
• Teamwork solutions
• Applause
• - Holcomb, 2002

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Breakout Principals / Assistant Principals
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Special Focus forAssistant Principals

• Read Fieldbook, pp. 1-3
• What do we know about the principal who is our
  new leader?
• What else do we need to know?
• How do we use the energy of our own passions to
  further the priorities and passion of the
  principal?

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To Dos for Breakout

• I will meet with .
• Tentatively scheduled for . . .
• Questions I will ask . . .
• Will invite them by . . .
• People who need special sensitivity are . . .
• Strategies I will use . . .

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• Review people notes you made from your staff
  list. Got your secretary?
• What essential tasks are suggested? Can they
  occur in the next four weeks before school
  starts? Will they occur in the first six weeks
  of the school year?
• What questions or topics do they suggest for
  first meetings? Add same items to more than
  one sheet.

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• Principals
• Staff letter
• Agenda for first staff meeting
• Assistant Principals
• Letter of introduction to parents
• Agenda for first meeting with attendance staff,
  counselors, etc.

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Reading and Shaping School Culture
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Reading the Culture

• Fieldbook, 4 scenarios
• Pg. 15 - 16 The Wreath
• Pg. 18 - 20 Sports Banquet
• Pg. 24 - 25 The Student Stomp
• Pg. 35 - 36 Table of Doom
• Read your scenario and be ready to describe it
  and its implications for surviving in the first
  six weeks.

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Culture

• Read pg. 16-17 regarding influences of the
  culture.
• Read pg. 29-33 about reading the culture.
• Create a T-chart as described on pg. 42.
• Which aspects of the culture will you reinforce?
  How?
• Which aspects of the culture will you address?
  How? How soon?

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Plans

• Your schools improvement plan
• The districts strategic plan
• Other plans..
• Where are we now?
• Where do we want to go?
• How will we get there?
• How will we know we are (getting) there?
• How will we sustain focus and momentum?
• - Holcomb, Asking the Right Questions, 2000

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To Dos re Plans

• Study your schools improvement plan.
• What questions will you need to ask?
• How will you honor the work done on it?
• How can you connect your priorities and passion
  to this document?
• How will you model knowledge and use of your
  schools data?
• Put on your Sherlock disguise find the
  cultural clues hidden in the plan.

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Reminder

• There may be many people concerns.
• There may be many aspects of school culture you
  want to change.
• Be selective
• What is most essential for first six weeks?
• What will I identify to address long-term?

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Priorities

• What did you promise in your intervies?
• Fieldbook, pp. 141, 152-153, 156, 179-180
• Instructional leadership - first six weeks vs.
  long-term

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Trust Building, Personalization, Creating
Caring Cultures

• Fieldbook, Chapter 9, pp. 76-86
• Special Presentation

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Breakout Elementary / Secondary

• Review influences of culture, Fieldbook, pp.
  16-17
• Review the strategies for reading the culture,
  Fieldbook, pp. 29-31,41-42.
• What essential tasks are suggested? Enter them
  on planning sheets.
• What questions or topics do they suggest for
  first meetings? Enter them. Multi-task
  whenever possible.
• If time, read remainder of Chapter 2.

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• What portions of the same content can be used in
  other ways e.g., newsletters, web site.
• Revisit your notes on Plans, Priorities and
  Passion. Enter questions or topics to include in
  first meetings with staff, students, parents /
  community.
• Fieldbook, pp. 64-65, middle of p. 89

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Critical Policies and Procedures
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• Learn to see yourself as a member of the
  district-level team as well as the head of your
  own team at the building level
• larger school system and community whose support
  needed
• principals will be more effective when they learn
  to use the district and the community, just as
  district level officials will be more effective
  once they learn to be more responsive to the
  needs of principals.
• -Schlechty, p. 230

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Building Leader District Player

• Fieldbook, pg. 62
• Fieldbook, pp. 148-160
• Fieldbook, pp. 229-238

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Policies

• What issues/events are most likely to get you
  into immediate, irreversible trouble?
• Theres a policy for that!
• Scan the headings, Fieldbook, pp. 161-177. What
  topics and policies do you need to study before
  school starts?

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Hints

• Crisis management plans
• Fieldbook, pp. 222-223, 226-227, 264-265
• Child abuse reporting
• Student search, censorship
• Bullying, intimidation, harassment
• Suspensions and expulsions

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Personnel

• Is your staff complete for the coming year?
• What are your evaluation responsibilities?
• Review Fieldbook, pp. 94-114
• How many unions are represented in your building?
  What are the key points in their contracts?

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To Dos

• Develop your formal observation and evaluation
  schedule . . . now.
• Read Fieldbook, pp. 94-114.
• Discuss implications for summer staff hiring.
• Block time in 4 weeks before school to visit
  Board policies (hard copy or on website).

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To Dos

• Go back and read complete text of Fieldbook, pp.
  161-177.
• Consult Fieldbook, pp. 236-237. Which central
  office personnel do you need to enter in your
  4-week prep plans?
• Put walk-through of building with head custodian
  in planner for first week on site.

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To Dos

• Plan when you will check your own districts
  expectations regarding contact with media.
• List the contents you will add to Your Big Red
  Book.
• Read pg. 236-237. Who do you need to add to your
  list of people for conversations?

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First know thyself

• Use the self-assessment, Fieldbook, pp. 67-68.
• What are the implications for your initial
  perceptions and contacts?

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Questions and Answers

• Whats left on your post-its?
• Chime in with answers.
• Remember the resources on AWSP website.
• Capture contact information from colleagues.
• Come to Session Two for more answers about
  instructional leadership.

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• As goes the principal . . .
• so goes the school.