Putting Your Beliefs Into Action

May/June 2013, PRINCIPAL--Principals can close the achievement gap by following this six-step framework. By Christopher Wooleyhand

Whenever I read an article that truly grabs my attention and recharges my thinking I create a summary in a mini poster format to hang in inside of my office cupboards or for my data binder. Every time I open them I am reminded of the key concepts I need to fine tune the skills needed to become the lead instructional learner I am striving to be. In the Principal May/June 2013 issue I found the following article helpful in reminding me of the daily actions required by every principal.

BELIEVE – You can make a difference and connect your actions to your beliefs by having genuine concerns for the progress of all students.

2  DISCUSS – Maintain a regular dialogue that focuses on student achievement.

3  LOOK AT THE RIGHT DATA – DuFour & Marzano identified high-leverage Professional Learning Community strategies that provide structures and collaborative teams to focus on students learning.

4  MAKE DECISIONS BASED ON THE RIGHT DATA – Using the results of formative assessments to make critical decisions and for students to examine their own data and set learning goals.

5  CELEBRATE YOUR COMMUNITIES DIVERSITY – Build home-school partnerships

6  BUILD TEACHER CAPACITY – Leadership that is shared is exponentially more effective when teachers and principals work collaboratively.

Here is the link to the full article for your review. https://www.naesp.org/principal-mayjune-2013-achievement-gap/putting-your-beliefs-action