STANDARD TWO: Instructional Leadership
Principals set high standards for the professional practice of 21st century instruction and assessment that result in a no-nonsense accountable environment. The school executive must be knowledgeable of best instructional and school practices and must use this knowledge to cause the creation of collaborative structures within the school for the design of highly engaging schoolwork for students, the on-going peer review of this work, and the sharing of this work throughout the professional community.
Element 2a. Focus on Learning and Teaching, Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment
As the lead learner in a school, school executives must lead the staff in discussing curriculum and instruction while integrating state and district mandates with the schools needs and vision. During my Principal Residency at JF Webb High School, I developed a staff Professional Development session (below) focusing on creating and using Performance-Based Objectives (PBOs) to guide instruction and learning. During the PD, I shared walkthrough data on existing use of Performance-Based Objectives and co-led a session to help all teachers to create PBOs for upcoming lessons. I also introduced teachers to an online ACT preparation application called Method Test Prep that was used during homeroom and class to help students (especially juniors) prepare for February 2020 ACT assessment.
IMPACT:
IMPACT:
- Teachers felt more prepared and support to create curriculum-aligned performance-based objectives.
- Teachers received follow up guidance and feedback through classroom walkthrough, which helped improve the use and quality of PBOs throughout the school.
- With improved objectives, students were better able to explain what they were learning and why.
Element 2b. Focus on Instructional Time
One crucial role for school leaders is to create processes, procedures, and schedules to protect instructional time and teacher planning periods. While I did not help create Webb's master schedule, I worked with Principal Rice and other school leaders to maximize instructional time through several strategies:
- Expecting teachers to teach "bell to bell" and providing feedback and support for teachers who struggled to fill 90 minutes of instructional time.
- Protecting teacher planning periods by limiting duties and other administrative tasks.
- Limiting classroom disruptions by having a school announcements only twice per day - before lunch and at the end of the day and using email and other non-disruptive reminders to release student athletes for games.
- Providing feedback and support to help teachers increase engagement and decrease disruptions due to student behaviors.
- Using restorative practices with students who habitually disrupt instructional time.
For the 2019-2020 school year, Webb leadership developed two new programs to help provide additional support to Webb students beyond the traditional classroom. By carefully adjusting the master schedule, we provided a homeroom student advising period each Wednesday.
In January 2020, Webb school leaders realized that many students needed additional academic help and so we created a daily Warrior Period, a modified version of "Smart Lunch" used in many high school. IMPACT:
|
|