Chapter 5
Leading Instructional Improvements
In this district, you are either teaching children or supporting those who do.
— A district leader
Obviously the heart of the work for district and school leaders is improving instruction for the students. As we know, they don't do this directly but through the skills, enthusiasm, and experience of those who teach children on a daily basis. So, to keep a laser focus and build a strong foundation of shared values—what do leaders actually do to effect excellent instruction for all students? The list is long and important—because the impact is district- and schoolwide.
The strategies span everything from the leader's expertise in teaching both adults and children to his or her ability to making structural changes in school schedules to enable faculty members to plan excellent instruction together. Some strategies used by effective principals include clear curricula with room for individual teacher creativity; teachers observing other teachers—in their school and in other schools; getting students' perspectives on the relevance of what they are learning to incorporate into instructional planning; reflection on instruction (assessing what is working and what isn't—continual improvement); celebrations; and structures that accommodate these activities.
School leaders work shoulder-to-shoulder with teachers to support their instructional practice. This includes the content of teaching and how the content is delivered (pedagogy). Examples include classroom walkthroughs (shorter than fifteen minutes) and observations (longer than fifteen minutes) that include discussion and coaching for the teacher; providing other coaching sessions; conducting and participating in curriculum planning meetings; conducting and participating in skills-building professional development sessions; leading the school leadership team; conducting meetings with parents regarding how they can help their children learn at home; and meeting with the superintendent, principal supervisor, and other district staff to discuss curriculum content.
Little things can be strategic. For example, instead of the good practice of personally greeting each student by name each morning as he or she walks into the building (or during their lunch), one elementary school principal always includes an instructionally specific question. So, instead of just saying, “Good morning, James,” an effective principal might say “Good morning, James. What's the most interesting thing you are learning in science right now?” This is similar to the principal who always has flash cards handy when she greets students at lunch in the cafeteria. Students are always prepared to answer a quick math question. These activities don't take extra time but support the strategy of improving instruction in important ways.
Principals often get students' perspectives directly. Some hold book discussion sessions; some have lunch monthly with groups of students. At a school in Illinois, the principal often shadows a student for an entire day. Students fill out applications to be selected to be shadowed. The principals participate as that student in all lessons and activities. After the shadowing experience, the principals meet with the teachers to discuss the lessons.
Here are some examples of ways to use structure to improve instruction:
- At a middle school in Missouri, teachers in core subjects are provided with a substitute for one class period each week. They use this time to observe another teacher using a new instructional technology. Following that observation, they meet to reflect on what worked and what didn't with the principal acting as facilitator.
- In order to make sure he meets with all new teachers, a principal in Illinois schedules regular meetings with each new teacher every seven to ten days on a rotating basis. The meetings focus on instructional issues.
- At a middle school in Iowa, the principal schedules forty-five-minute sessions each week with teaching teams to work on lesson design.
Of course, district leaders can aid these efforts or thwart them. Effective district leaders develop networks of principals with whom school leaders share their successes and identify areas for improvement that they would like to learn from their colleagues. District leaders find the time to convene these sessions and often facilitate them. They identify learning needs of school leaders, bring in outside experts as needed, and provide professional development and coaching for school leaders.
Knowing what effective instruction looks like—at the school and district levels—is essential to achieving the vision. It is important to narrow the focus from “instructional improvement” to specific ways in which that plays out. Setting those as a districtwide or schoolwide goal is key—along with descriptions of what it looks like in action. Of course, a vision is only a vision unless it comes to life in the district or school.
Effective leaders shift the way teachers perceive instruction—they model, video exemplary teachers, and develop teacher leaders. They give teachers a greater voice in instructional practices.
Here are some examples of visions developed in districts and schools with effective leaders.
- A vision being sought by many schools is the use of ongoing assessments of student work via multiple methods to inform how to individualize the way they are taught going forward (formative assessment). This was the singular focus decided on by one school and everyone was devoted to its pursuit. The teachers of each grade level developed standards (learning targets) for student work and provided feedback to them, they used teacher-made tests, observed students working in small groups, and even set aside time to talk with the other grade-level teachers to compare and contrast the work of their respective students to get a broader perspective.
- All teachers met midyear to report what they had done, how, and the effect it was having. This meeting was also used to reconfirm the commitment to this approach. Teachers report seeing an improvement in student learning, and the principal is pleased that this vision has resulted in a sharper focus on student learning.
Now let's examine how to use the building blocks from chapter 1 (getting buy-in, starting with an early win, and providing ongoing support) to see how they apply to learning instruction.
Getting Buy-In: “We're All in This Together”
It's wonderful when teachers see or are brought to see the benefits of the instructional vision. The effective leader can bring these teachers to a new level of greatness as a result. Getting buy-in from the willing is not an issue. These are likely the people who helped the leader develop the vision in the first place. The issue is how to get buy-in from those who don't see what's in it for them or who are comfortable and satisfied with things are now.
Likely there are teachers who support the change and some who are opposed—but the majority will be in the middle. These are folks whose buy-in is especially important. Fortunately, there are techniques to assist this. An important use of data, as described in the previous section, is to raise awareness of what is working well and what needs improvement. Objective measures are important for getting buy-in so everyone can see the evidence. An elementary school principal in Florida uses teacher surveys to get input on strengths and weaknesses of the school's instructional program.
First, the leader needs to find out if teacher resistance comes from a lack of skill or that teachers are not convinced that the vision will result in a positive change. The former is relatively easy to address through professional development, coaching, and feedback.
More problematic is when teachers don't see the value in the vision or see the value but don't consider it important enough to be worth the effort. The leader is in the position of having to demonstrate the value in the short term so there is confidence that putting in the effort will be worth it in the long term. This can be accomplished by having teacher leaders play a key role with their colleagues. Peer-learning activities and demonstrations by trusted colleagues also help.
This works well and not only at the school level but also at the district level.
It needs to be remembered that, when trying to get buy-in, just as in building a culture on values, it isn't necessary that the participants fully appreciate the vision for the same reason that the leadership team is putting it forth. It matters that the leaders appeal to the self-interest and perceptions of the faculty members. How will this vision help them achieve more of their own goals for students?
Of course, one of the best ways to get buy-in is to start with that early win.
Starting with an Early Win
Let's start this section by describing what an early win in instruction is not. Improving test scores in reading and mathematics by the end of the year is not an early win! Banking on such an improvement as the demonstration of instruction improvements is a poor bet. First of all, everyone has to wait until June to see the results—and, once the results are in, that's that. There is no chance to make further improvements. It's an all-in strategy that is way too risky.
An early win entails starting with the end in mind (those June test scores) and thinking through the steps along the way so everyone will be able to see progress toward the goal. What can be done in September that will demonstrate (with evidence) that we are on the right track?
And, remember the school previously in this chapter that was implementing the parent-involvement model? Even though it is going well now, this wasn't always the case. Although the teachers valued the new partnerships, the new approach involved much new preparation, skill, and effort. An early win turned the tide. Once a small group of teachers tried the model and were successful, their success was celebrated at a schoolwide event. It was apparent that the benefits outweighed the costs and that this was doable. Building on this momentum, the program then was able to be implemented schoolwide.
Providing Ongoing Support
Perhaps the most important source of ongoing support—provided by the district or the school or both—is professional development. This takes several forms, such as workshops, engaging faculty meetings, job-embedded professional development, protocols and tools, teachers visiting other teachers and discussing their lessons afterward, and support from the principal's supervisor, the principal, and the assistant principal.
However, time and again, when principals are asked what the single most important ongoing support they can offer that has led to success, the answer is instructional coaches. Such coaches are the very definition of ongoing support because they are available on a daily basis to model lessons, observe classroom activities, provide advice, share the latest thinking on the content of their specialty content area, ask critical questions to improve teacher practice, and be a sounding board and thought partner to help solve problems. Every day. Finding resources to pay for coaches is one of the most important structural aspects leaders can do to improve instruction.
See It in Action: Principal-Led Instructional Improvements 
Two detailed examples of principals who have developed innovative approaches to improving instruction have been developed by Public Broadcasting Service affiliate WNET. They may be found at http://bit.ly/highpayoff4.
The principals in this video have built instructional leadership capacity among the teaching and administrative staff. We see instructional council meetings, the work of teacher leaders, and visitations among teachers. There is much observable collaboration and teachers opening their classrooms and wanting to assist their colleagues. And we see the principals scheduling the time teachers need for professional development, including meetings held across subject areas and among grade levels,
The schools demonstrate how professional development is delivered. The use of “grade level chairs” is explored in enhancing professional development. There is a theme of building capacity. In this regard, use of teacher leaders is illustrated. The teacher leaders become staff developers. One school shows how they developed a “go to” list where each teacher's strengths are publicized so others can call upon them for this expertise.
What Can Get in the Way?
With all the best of intensions, instructional leadership can go astray. Here are some pitfalls to avoid.
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Observing without coaching
An all-too-common observation among those in NSIP is that when leaders analyze their time use, they find that they are spending time in walkthroughs and observations. That's good, right? Not really—because they are not following up with feedback and coaching. Observing a lesson without feedback not only misses an opportunity to discuss strengths and areas for improvement with the faculty member but also it sends exactly the opposite message—that the purpose of the observation is compliance and monitoring. Neither of these activities is particularly effective in improving instruction.
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Being reactive instead of proactive
If the leader's mind-set is compliance—with teacher evaluation requirements, student test score requirements, and so on—then it isn't leadership. Effective leaders, such as those who were interviewed for this book, have a vision and focus and make the mandates work for them. If the leader knows what should happen to improve instruction, ways will be found to use requirements in the service of those goals. Teacher evaluation is a good example. There may be requirements for this activity, but there is no requirement against using this activity as an opportunity for coaching and ongoing support!
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Trying to be a jack-of-all-trades
If the goal is to turn all activities into those that further instruction, it is clear that the leader cannot do this alone. Principals and district leaders clearly cannot expect to have expertise in every subject area—especially at the middle and high school levels. The answer here is to develop assistant principals and teacher leaders who can engage in these content-specific activities frequently with faculty members. The principal's and district leader's job is to develop and facilitate the networking of these leaders.
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Avoiding the most challenged staff
It is human nature to try to avoid uncomfortable situations. Unfortunately that isn't possible when trying to improve instruction in districts and schools. One of the most important—and most difficult—jobs of the leader is trying to improve the performance of those who are having the most difficulty performing well. It is much more fun to spend time in the classrooms of teachers who are inspiring and engaging with their students. But, it is of paramount importance that school leaders spend time with teachers who are having difficulty and district leaders spend time with principals who are having a hard time. These are the people who need the most support if instruction is going to improve schoolwide or districtwide.
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Therefore, there is much a leader can do to improve instruction even though not working directly with students. Fortunately there is a tool to assist the leader in assessing the attitudes and aptitudes of those who do provide direct instruction that will provide the vision, data, buy-in, and help to plan the early win and identify ways of providing ongoing support. That tool is presented in chapter 6.