Leadership: Empowering Others to Achieve More

Mr. Michael Foran
Principal of New Britian High
2012 NASS
Principal of the Year

Leadership: Empowering Others to Achieve More

The challenge for leaders in urban education today, like leaders in many other fields, is to convince people that they capable of far more than they believe they can accomplish. The federal government tells us in the “No Child Left Behind” legislation that 100% of the students in our schools must be proficient in reading and numeracy by 2014. These include students with learning disabilities, students with other disabilities, students facing the challenges of generational poverty and students that have come from a non-English speaking country as little as 10 months ago and that are learning English for the first time as well as all other students. While common sense tells us that this goal is at best unrealistic, reflection brings us to the conclusion that this is the only acceptable goal for an educator to have. If we do not aspire to reach 100% of our students then we are setting our sites to low. As a leader this is easy to say but how do we get those in the trenches, our teachers and ultimate our students, to continuously strive to get closer to this goal when it seems so unrealistic? How do we create a culture of continuous improvement where we are always seeking to get better at what we do? I certainly do not profess to have the answers to these questions but I do understand that the pursuit of these answers is at the very core of being a leader in the position that I am in. I recognize that my job is to lead sometimes skeptical yet almost always committed people who are used to succeeding in a process towards a goal that logic tells us is impossible to reach.

Leading professionals in this process starts with the realization and acknowledgement that I am not the expert on how to get all of our students to achieve at high level, they are. In order to move our institution forward a leader must recognize and build on the talents of those being lead. He must provide the structures that enable all those being lead to use and share their expertise. A good leader develops leadership at all levels of an institution. In the case of a school, we must develop leadership in all members of the administration, teacher leaders, leadership among all other support personnel as well as students leaders. To maximize effectiveness leadership should be assumed by different individuals at different times based on the situation and their strengths. While it is essential that we create structures that allow all members of the school community to share their varied strengths, the leader must ensure these strengths are being used to move the institution towards a single focus. In the case of our high school that focus is that all of our students will graduate college/career ready. It is the responsibility of the leader to ensure that this focus is effectively defined and to demonstrate a commitment to this focus to all stake holders in his words and more importantly in his actions.  

The most effective way to build a culture of continuous improvement and shared leadership is to create structured collaboration with built in mechanisms for accountability. In schools, teachers must be given time to work in teams. The most effective teams are teams of teachers who teach the same subject. Their meetings must be structured with clearly defined norms and outcomes. One outcome of virtually all of these meetings must be a strategy that can be implemented in the classroom the next day. The results of this strategy are then brought back to the team and analyzed by looking at the student work that is generated by the strategy. This analysis leads to a determination of next steps. This becomes a cycle of continuous growth through collaborative analysis of student work. Because all team members are responsible for bringing student work to the meetings there is built in accountability for all team members to each other. The role of the leader evolves as the team grows more effective. Initially these teams require strong leadership but as the members of the team become more comfortable with the process leadership should be transitioned to the team members. Traditionally in schools teachers and other professionals work largely in isolation so this type of teaming can be uncomfortable at first. It is the responsibility of the leader to establish the singular focus of the team and be sure that all members understand that the goal is continuous improvement of student outcomes and it is not means to critique or evaluate teachers. It is designed to build the capacity of the adults through sharing of their expertise in order to improve student achievement.

In a school as important as developing the leadership ability of the adults is developing opportunities for students to lead and support each other. Traditionally students have had leadership roles on sports teams and in clubs and other activities. In order to continuously improve student achievement we must expand that role for students into the classroom. We now recognize that effective instruction involves providing opportunities for students to teach other students. When students are involved in interaction with each other about their learning all students are actively engaged. When students support each other in their learning both the student being supported and the student providing the support are learning at a high level. When students are actively engaged in this way, teachers have the opportunity to listen and monitor for understanding. Teachers who develop student leaders in their classroom and empower those students to support others are far more effective just as school leaders who empower their teachers to lead their peers are more effective. Schools where this type of shared leadership exist are going to be far more successful in creating a culture of continuous improvement and ultimately move more quickly towards their goal of all students achieving at a high level.

Successful leadership in urban education as well as in other areas where the leader must lead skeptical people is challenging. Dictatorial leadership that assumes compliance based on the roles of the individuals in a hierarchy will not bring about the desired outcomes. The leader must clearly provide those he leads with a clear vision based on shared values and a commitment to a shared singular focus on an outcome. The leader must know when to push individuals beyond their comfort zone and when to slow things down. He must know when to celebrate successes and when to look critically at outcomes that do not meet expectations. More importantly, the leader must recognize the strengths and potential strengths of all the members of the institution and find ways to use those strengths. Ultimate leadership is about relationships. The leader must earn the trust of those he leads by being sure that he demonstrates in his actions the same values that he holds others to by his words. While challenging, shared leadership among all stake holders working towards a common goal can be extremely powerful and lead to success well beyond what individuals may think is possible.