The Principal’s Playbook on Instructional Leadership:: 23 Things That Matter Most for Improving Student Achievement

By Josh McLaurin Ed. D. NBCT

Every principal and instructional leader—no matter what level—needs a playbook for instructional excellence.

Josh Mclaurin, an instructional and educational leader with decades of experience at various levels, explains how instructional leadership impacts student learning in this handbook for instructional excellence. Learn how to:

• increase student achievement;
• execute a turnaround at a struggling school;
• teach the right things in the right ways;
• change teaching methods based on learning styles.

The author also highlights how to teach children in a virtual environment, which has become increasingly important amid COVID-19; ways to motivate unmotivated students; and tips on hiring and retaining great teachers. Other topics include working with instructional leadership teams, increasing student engagement, and making constant improvement a priority.

Great coaches have a playbook that details every play in the offense or defense. The Principal’s Playbook on Instructional Leadership: 23 Things That Matter Most for Improving Student Achievement provides the playbook for instructional excellence.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Archway Publishing
• Release date: Jan 28, 2021
• ISBN: 9781665700306

Josh McLaurin Ed. D. NBCT

Josh McLaurin, Ed.D., NBCT is an instructional and educational leader with decades of experience as a National Board Certified classroom teacher, coach, online instructor, elementary school principal, middle school principal, high school principal, curriculum specialist, and grant writer in North Carolina, South Carolina, and New York. His dissertation was based on principal leadership in effective school turnarounds. He wrote this book to help train the next generation of educational and instructional leadership.

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Copyright © 2021 Josh Mclaurin, Ed.D., NBCT.

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ISBN: 978-1-6657-0029-0 (sc)

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Library of Congress Control Number: 2020924464

Archway Publishing rev. date: 01/28/2021

CONTENTS

Introduction

1     What Matters Most: Prioritizing Instructional Leadership

2     Systemic Instructional Coherence: Intentional And Focused Improvement

3     Non-Negotiable Expectations That Protect Instructional Time

4     Factors Impacting Learning: Evidence And Impact To Make Learning Visible

5     Common Instructional Framework: The Art And Science Of What

6     High Impact Instructional Strategies: The Art And Science Of How

7     Increasing Student Engagement: What Grows Dendrites?

8     Formative Assessment Vs. Formative Assessments: Using Data To Inform Instruction

9     Curriculum: Are We Teaching The Right Thing, The Right Amount Of Time, The Right Way, And How Do We Know What They Know?

10   The Three R’s: Rigor, Relevance, And Relationships

11   Differentiation And Personalized Learning: One Size Doesn’t Fit All

12   Equal Vs. Equitable: Do We All Have A Pair Of Shoes Or Do We All Have A Pair Of Shoes That Fit?

13   Scheduling: The Master Game Plan

14   Teaching From Poverty: Culture And Diversity As A Lever For Improvement

15   What Great Principals And Teachers Do Differently: Exemplars Of Great Principals And Teachers

16   Hiring, Training, Supporting, And Retaining Great Teachers: Great Principals Do All Four

17   Instructional Coaching And Feedback: Investment In Human Capital

18   Instructional Leadership Teams: A Lever To Drive Success

19   Professional Learning Communities (Plc): Learning Together

20   Instructional Rounds: There’s No I In Team.

21   Virtual And Blended Learning: The Digital Era Of Instructional Innovation

22   Motivating Unmotivated Students: Root Cause Analysis And Next Steps

23   The Principal’s Playbook: Cycle Of Continuous Improvement

Summary And Conclusions

Final Note From The Author

References

INTRODUCTION

The role of the principal has changed dramatically over the past two decades since the implementation of No Child Left Behind (2001), Race to the Top (RttT), and state academic accountability models have been put in place to ensure schools are doing the job of educating children at a level that meets or exceeds local, state, and national standards. The primary role of the principal has shifted from being primarily focused on building management and public relations to being the instructional leader of the building to ensure ALL academic performance expectations are met. Principals must also ensure a laser-like focus on systemic instructional coherence so that every event, act, program, lesson, and minute of each day is aligned with improving student academic achievement in a physically, mentally, and emotionally safe learning environment.

Instructional leadership is the priority of today’s role of the principal. Instructional leadership examines the evidence and impact each adult, action, strategy, and factor has on student academic achievement. It means using data on the impact of each factor on student achievement in terms of test scores and standardized accountability measures. Instructional leadership not only matters but is a priority in school leadership and school/student performance.

Most school administrators that are currently in schools were engrossed in the model of transformational leadership as part of their training to lead a school. Over the past two decades, however, No Child Left Behind (2001) federal legislation and education-related state Supreme Court cases changed the game for school administrators. As accountability pursuit increased and the testing requirements were raised, a principal found himself in a school that was identified by the state of North Carolina and the Department of Public Instruction as a school in turnaround, or in the bottom 5% of all schools in the state on student test data. As he entered into school administration, it was necessary to focus on instructional leadership and increasing student achievement. As part of the NCDPI School Transformation program, principals received extensive training on every aspect of improving school academic performance and ongoing coaching/support at all levels. In this program, principals probably received more training and coaching (instructional and leadership) in two to three years than most school administrators will have in a lifetime. This was a blessing to receive such extensive professional development and ongoing leadership coaching. It would be astonishing if all principals could have the experience in this program and would train assistant principals and colleagues with the knowledge and experiences gained through the District and School Transformation program. This training and drive to help other principals led the author of this book to the creation of a notebook of what he had learned, developed into a manual of instructional practices and concepts needed for schools to improve and perform at a high level, and eventually grew into The Principals Playbook on Instructional Leadership: 23 Things That Matter Most for Improving Student Achievement. This was driven by a desire to help other administrators by sharing the knowledge and experiences gained, which leads to helping ALL students learn at a high level.

"I don’t care what your personal mission

statement says: Everyone in the building

knows what you’re about by how you

spend your time. Schools will never be

defined by the mission statement on

the wall: They will be defined by what

actually goes on in classrooms."

Dr. Danny Steele

1

WHAT MATTERS MOST:

PRIORITIZING INSTRUCTIONAL LEADERSHIP

"The Main Thing is to Keep the

Main Thing the Main Thing!"

Stephen Covey

Principals engage in multiple types of leadership within their role of leading a school, including Strategic Leadership, Instructional Leadership, Cultural Leadership, Human Resources Leadership, Managerial Leadership, External Development Leadership, Micro-political Leadership. The heart of the role of the principal is student safety and teaching/learning. In today’s era of accountability, principals are held accountable for the academic performance of their respective schools. Principals must ensure processes, procedures, and protocols are in place to ensure efficient management of the school, ensuring adequate time can be devoted to instructional leadership by the principal and school administration. Prioritizing instructional leadership by the principal is critical to the school’s success and increasing student achievement. The main thing in every school should be student learning, and instructional leaders at all levels keep that as the focus. One of the most frustrating things for a school administrator can be the fragmentation of the position and the distractions that continuously arise that could reduce time spent improving student learning. Many administrators know they need to prioritize student learning, but true instructional leaders find ways to do this. One way that helps immensely is to have structure and organization in the office. The secretary and office staff have a tremendous impact on helping the principal to be able to prioritize instructional leadership. When they can put out fires, and there are processes in place for most scenarios, the systems are in place to ensure principals can focus the majority of time during the school day on teaching and learning.

Instructional leadership takes a commitment, in terms of time and focus, from the principal. Effective principals know how to ensure the managerial and operational facets of the school support the teaching and learning process and protect instructional time. Principals, as instructional leaders, should spend a minimum of 50% and target of 75% of their time devoted to improving student achievement through improving and supporting effective teaching and learning practices.

This was one of the first lessons that a first-year principal learns from a school leadership coach. People know what is essential by where and when they see the principal working on it in school. If they saw the principal frequently in classrooms and working on improving teaching and learning, they knew this was a priority. A good leadership coach will go on to ask how important was a data meeting if the principal did not block off time to be an active part or how important is professional development if the principal stands at the back and answers email on his or her phone? These were pitfalls to avoid that send the wrong message to teachers and staff about a principal’s priorities.

The role of the principal has changed immensely over the past two decades. Principals used to be considered as building managers, but the priority has shifted to being the instructional leader of the school due to the increased accountability measures. The critical role of school administrators should be instructional leadership in the current era of accountability. The review of educational literature shows that the job demands of school principals continue to grow and escalate. While most principals know there is a priority on instructional leadership, it is often overshadowed by school managerial demands. School leaders must prioritize instructional leadership, in addition to the managerial facets of the job.

PRINCIPAL LEADERSHIP

- Hattie 2015

The concept of instructional leadership, defined as attending to instructional matters, is characterized by learning and learning imperative. Many principals often take a managerial approach to instructional leadership. They do some tasks that may contribute to increased student achievement; however, many school leaders lack urgency and skill-sets to make instructional leadership the priority of their role in leading learning for the organization. True instructional leaders put learning at the forefront and emphasize the need to prioritize learning for all. This is critical, based on social learning theory, because the principal models the way for the rest of the school, and his priorities tend to set the vision for all staff.

The foundation of this book is sharing experiences in what it takes to improve instruction and student learning. One of the pieces of advice that a leadership coach shared holds true today about what matters most. The leadership coach was a former principal and superintendent in some of the more challenging schools in two states and had a reputation for calling things just like he saw them without sugar-coating them. The principal worked on the school’s mission and vision through group creation and posted the banners where they were going to put them. He asked how much we spent on the banners and where all we were going to put them. The principal answered the question, then waited for his reply. He said, That is great, putting lipstick on a pig and wasting time and money to do it that could have been spent on helping kids. You can put those banners wherever you want and try to convince people. However, the only thing that counts about your mission and vision is what goes on in every classroom in this school. This was such a profound statement that still resonates today. He went on to say, if I want to know your priorities and what you are doing, I will go in classrooms here because that is what counts the most if you think you are an instructional leader. He was right, and it is not that having a mission or vision is not essential, but if it does not positively impact student learning, you’re just putting on a good show.

According to Robbins and Alvy (2003), the principal must manage challenges and relationships among different constituencies: teachers, central office personnel, and the school community. Setting priorities needs to be related to the overall school vision of the leader. Principals need to distinguish what is more important and what is less critical to prioritize the things that matter most to improving student achievement. Often, it is difficult to prioritize or filter through all of the fragmented situations that arise daily in making the school run effectively. The role of the principal, as the instructional leader, is to make sure that the ship gets to the right destination, not just manage the ship to make sure it runs effectively. Every school principal operates within the same time constraints. The most effective principals, in terms of improving student academic achievement, are instructional leaders and place instructional leadership as their top priority.

Principals often find it challenging to remain focused on their fundamental purpose due to the nature of their job that requires attending to multiple issues and problems throughout the school day. Principals must be able to shift gears quickly and complete tasks in a compartmentalized way throughout the day, always keeping teaching and learning at the forefront. Muse (2011) says, The major difference in managers and leaders is that managers are concerned with directing, and leaders are concerned with influencing. The biggest priority for instructional leaders is always student learning!

All of the things that come at you as a principal can be overwhelming at times. This has consistently been one of the biggest frustrations as a school administrator for many principals. While you want to spend most of your time working on improving instruction, you often get things constantly on the radar that must be dealt with for safety and to maintain a positive environment. In short, you cannot be a great instructional leader if you spend all day every day, putting out fires. Truth be told in many schools, most of the fires you put out or situations that you deal with are self-induced by staff at the school. This is another reason it is so important, as a leader, to surround yourself with great people. Great principals hire great teachers and make the ones they have better. As you can increase the capacity of the staff and help them realize their impact on learning, you spend more and more time on things that matter most for improving instruction at the school. A first-year assistant principal and principal discussed the amount of time the administrative team spent over two weeks dealing with issues that were self-induced or could have been prevented. It took more time dealing with issues from the classroom of a highly-ineffective teacher than it would have if they taught the class themselves when you added up the working hours spent on situations. The administrators knew they were at a point where they had to help the teacher get better very fast, or they had to do whatever it took to get a better teacher in that classroom. One of the worst things about that situation was that it carried over to other classrooms. The principals watched one of their top teachers squelch the situation fast when students started to bring drama into her classroom. Wouldn’t it be awesome if every teacher and staff member was like your best and handled these types of situations effectively and immediately so that everyone, including the students, would focus on learning all the time? That is part of why teachers like this are great and why they are irreplaceable to a school. The more teachers like this you can hire, train, and retain the better the school will be and the more the principal will be able to support teaching and learning to improve student achievement.

An Instructional Leader is one who creates:

• A climate that puts learning first for students and adults

• Contagious enthusiasm and excitement about learning

• A climate free or very limited from distractions from learning

• Clear priorities

• High expectations for students and teachers (Hattie, Visible Learning, p. 83)

How do you know if you are an instructional leader?:

• Do you say no to distracters and limit distractions?

• Do you see evidence in your school and throughout that students and their learning are put first?

• Is the focus in the thought process of decisions always guided by what is best for student learning?

• Are your conversations regularly and consistently focused on how the topic can improve student learning?

• Do you always guide discussions back to the primary focus on improving student achievement?

• Do you stay current in research on best-practice instructional strategies and factors impacting learning?

Good instructional leadership requires effective management. Effective principals are also effective managers to protect and prioritize instructional time and their vision of teaching and learning at the forefront of the school’s purpose. Along with safety, student achievement is the top priority of instructional leaders. Instructional leaders understand that the management functions within the school must be streamlined to support the instructional component of schools and to ensure the administration spends appropriate time on instruction. People within the school know how important instructional leadership is to a principal by merely looking at where he or she spends their time. Instructional leaders spend the greatest amount of their time working on aspects of the school that impact student learning in a significantly positive manner.

All of the things that come at you as a principal can be overwhelming at times. This is consistently one of the biggest frustrations for a school administrator when they feel like time was taken away from working on instruction to take care of issues that could have been prevented or avoided, or blown out of proportion. It’s important to put systemic pieces in place to make sure these types of situations are eliminated or minimized so that principals can spend the needed time on helping teachers improve student learning. It’s important to reduce distractions or barriers to student learning; discipline data often gives school leaders insight into areas for improvement that can support effective teaching and learning. What do you do when a small percentage of students account for a large percentage of discipline and how much time do