The Hudson Chronicles

In addition to improving and refining specific skills and strategies for classroom efficacy, high quality professional learning in schools builds the leadership capacity of everyone in the organization.   Leadership should not be entirely role specific.  However, when establishing annual professional learning priorities, many districts mistakenly invest almost exclusively in teachers and neglect supporting the growth of those in formal leadership positions who are held accountable for ensuring outcomes are met. According to Marzano, Waters, and McNulty (2005), leadership does matter, but the type of leadership matters most.  Instructional leadership has an effect size of .42 as compared with .11 for transformational leadership. High quality classroom teaching has always been critical to student learning, but as teaching becomes increasingly complex, even the best teachers do not thrive to the maximum extent possible in mediocre schools.  High quality leadership helps build and sustain

Early in my administrative career, I significantly downplayed the importance of Social Emotional Learning (SEL).  My basic premise was essentially that there are too many children who leave our system unprepared to participate adequately in the economy and achieve adult independence.  Until educators start assessing students properly and can ensure that all students learn, grow, and leave our system with the necessary skills to be employable and productive, then, well, there are only so many hours in the day, so we're going to focus on literacy, critical thinking, writing across all content areas, and, most importantly, assessment. I also felt, as I sometimes do today, that the realm of SEL is more comfortable for teachers and, at times, provides a shield from truly reflecting on instructional practices and the extent to which students are achieving academic proficiency  However, I made a huge mistake.  I committed the mortal sin of leadership that I caution everyone against.  I tu