Thoughts on School Safety

        Crisis drills are nothing new. in the 1950s through the mid 80s, schools were  teaching students how to "duck and cover" in response to possible air raids and/or nuclear attacks. Those drills were then

replaced with drop drills, active shooter drills and now the current lock down drills, which teach our students what to do when there is an active shooter or some sort of emminent threat on their campus.  These drills have become an unfortunate necessity in our schools, as more school shootings are popping up all over the world. My former district, like so many others, requires all students, staff, and faculty to wear their ID badges along with a badge-sized emergency response protocol card with reminders of what to do in different situations. Malcolm and Swearer (2018) asserted, "devising and implementing effective measures to address [school safety] will require clear-headed, open-minded, fact-based analyses of proposed policies. Our children deserve nothing less."  As administrators, it is our duty to lead this charge on our respective campuses. 

            As I think about safety policies and procedures through the lens of an administrator, I think back to the countless drill I have been part of. While these drills prepare students and staff to respond to various emergencies, I wonder about the climate of our school. Are we as educators doing enough to promote the type of school climate that will reduce the chance of a shooting incident?  Woodward (2018) outlines seven tasks that need to be completed in order to foster a positive school climate. While all the tasks listed are important, the two that stand out to me the most are demanding that active listening occur in our schools, and building positive relationships. When trusted adults such as teachers, administrators and law enforcement personnel not only listen to student and staff concerns, but also act on them, there is no way of knowing just how many tragedies could be prevented. Furthermore, active listening naturally lends itself to building positive relationships. When students feel they can trust their teachers and administrators, they are more likely to open up about things that are bothering them, and report potentially violent or harmful behavior.

        One procedure I would put in place at my new campus, if given the chance is to have grade level behavior meetings with my staff.  In my experience, these meetings give teachers a chance to address student concerns and discuss strategies to help those they consider to be high risk. This type of open communication is a great way to begin a dialogue among all interested stakeholders, which can be very empowering for those who may think they are the only ones having trouble with particular students. Furthermore, these meetings also lend themselves to updating current discipline management and safety plans, since teachers and administrators have the opportunity to share strategies that have proven successful based on individual student needs. 

Malcolm, J., & Swearer, A. (2018, March 19). Focusing on School Safety After Parkland. The Heritage Foundation. https://www.heritage.org/firearms/report/focusing-school-safety-after-parkland. 

TEDXMileHigh. (2018). School shootings can be prevented -- here's how: William Woodward: TEDxMileHigh. https://youtu.be/89XeX4eeulw. 

Thoughts on Handling Budget Deficits

        One of the things I  appreciated about my former principal, is that he was very transparent about budget cuts, and where funding should go and why, based on campus needs. Now that we are the other side of two very tough years, funding in many districts has now been cut for the next year.  There is much concern about surplusing teachers when it seems like our campus should be getting more teachers, due to the fact that it is on the brink of falling under restructuring because of low STAAR scores.  Harwin, Lloyd and Blomstrom (2019) asserted, "For policymakers and taxpayers alike, school

finance is an uneasy balance between effort—how much they're willing or able to spend—and equity, or how fairly that money gets spread around to schools and districts."  It is, therefore, up to principals to carefully consider where and how  limited resources are used. The problem I see in years of budget deficits, however, is that central office staff and adminstrative positions are not considered as areas where funds can be conserved. In my 23 years in education, I have noticed that even in years of budget deficits, central office personnel will still get their offices redecorated. 

         As a principal, the first step I would take is to utilize my core Campus Academic Leaders(CALs), instructional coaches  and my assistant principals so that we can go through the campus improvement plan to determine our most pressing needs. Including the CALs in this process is important because each department needs to have a voice to advocate for their respective departments and let them have a say in what their departments really need and what they can do without.  We would start looking at items that we can cut that do not directly affect student learning. We would also look at creative ways to utilize existing staff; for example, instead of having a dedicated AVID teacher, we might ask a few teachers to teach a section of AVID. In this digital age where schools have gone one-to-one with technology, we would look for areas to eliminate paper copies and challenge teachers to go 100% digital.  Finally, as a committe, we would want to look at the curriculum for each subject, to ensure that our students are getting what they need to be successful.  "When states and districts target their money toward well-proven initiatives, researchers have found, academic outcomes significantly improve, especially for poor and minority students" (Burnette II, 2019). This is especially important in a deficit year, since schools do not want to spend money on ineffective initiatives when they can invest that money in a more efficient ways. 

        As we look to remedy the immediate concerns, it is also important that we look at the long-term improvement plan to ensure that the changes we make for the short term will not sabotage best practices for years to come. Being transparent about all of the changes and giving the why behind them is a critial piece in ensuring that the faculty on our campus will buy into the necessary cuts and shifts in budget. 

References

Burnette II, D. (2019). Just How Much Does Money Really Matter? Education Week, 38(34), 13–14

Harwin, A., Lloyd, S. C., & Blomstrom, O. (2019). Charting the Continued Friction Between K-12 Spending, Equity. Education Week, 38(34), 10–13.

Thoughts on Implementing Curriculum Change

        When implementing a change in curriculum, educational leaders need to keep in mind that oftentimes teachers treat their content as if it were their children; and they tend to be very protective of it. Therefore, it is imperative that these changes are not only relevant and meaningful, but also that key teacher leaders are included in designing the scope and sequence within their respective content areas.
This empowers teachers to take ownership in the new curriculum while ensuring that is designed to meet the needs of the students on their campus and in their classrooms. A major challenge, especially for district leaders in bigger school districts, is that they are oftentimes several steps removed from the campus level (as is the case in my former district). Now that I am in a much smaller district, I see that the challenge is still the same, just on a more manageable scale. 

         The best way for district leaders to partner with campus level teachers  to  ensure that curriculum is being followed is to make regular visits to their assigned campuses,  conduct walkthroughs in classrooms and sit in on PLCs. As a district leader, I would want to see lesson plans posted outside each classroom, so I can glance at it before walking into a classroom. Knowing what is supposed to be happening on any given day in a classroom makes it easier for campus and district level leaders to know what to look for as they walk in and out of classrooms.

        Furthermore I would also want to see the objectives and I will statements displayed clearly and conspicuously so I know what to look for. Viewing posted lesson plans, objectives  and I will statements.    These elements not only give me something to discuss with teachers either privately or in PLCs, but these elementst also help the students know what they will be working on each day, and what their goals are. Conducting learning walks and calibration walks are also great to help teacher leaders know what refinements need to be discussed in their respective PLCs. 

DeMatthews, D. E. (2014). How to Improve Curriculum Leadership: Integrating Leadership Theory and Management Strategies. Clearing House, 87(5), 192–196. https://doi-org.libproxy.lamar.edu/10.1080/00098655.2014.911141

Accountability Incentives: It's not just about core

      While I do agree that there needs to be some accountability measures in place so that teachers can continue to improve their practice and schools can increase student achievement, the "one-size-fits-all" approach does not work. When too much emphasis is placed on the results of on arbitrary test given on one particular day, the pressure that is placed on both students and teachers is stifling. The No Child Left Behind act (NCLB) caused a lot of unnecessary stress on teachers to perform, because it is difficult to control every  student's behavior and study habits, not to mention the external factors that can preoccupy students' minds on any givien day.   It is important to recognize that "the learning process for every school, like every child, is a personalized journey of continuous improvement" (Elgart, 2016).  Students all learn differently, and teachers must have the freedom to make adjustments to their curriculum based on the needs of their students. 

        Furthermore, a child's education includes more than just the four core subjects; therefore, districts that connect monetary incentives to student achievement scores should also consider incentivizing growth and student achievement in the elective classes as well. One major advantage to including elective teachers is that they will naturally want to increase the rigor in their classes, which in turn helps student achievement cross-curricularly. As a former electives teacher, I personally felt discriminated against since I did not qualify for any monetary incentives. As an  AVID elective teacher, every skill I taught my students had a direct, positive impact on their achievement scores in their core classes. The same can be said for fine arts teachers, Career Technology Education teachers and physical education teachers, etc.. Therefore should not all of these teachers receive some credit for helping their students achieve higher test scores? I say yes. elective teachers should not be "penalized" or made to feel less important than core teachers by not including them in incentive allotments. However, diving deeper into the why behind it is  a subject best left for a later discussion. 

    

Elgart, M. A. (2016). Creating state accountability systems that help schools improve. Phi Delta Kappan, 98(1), 26–30. https://doi.org/10.1177/0031721716666050