Keep the Focus

As we launch the 2021-22 school year, the vast majority of students across the country will be returning to full-time, in-person learning.  This reality requires every person in the system (i.e., students, parents, teachers, administrators, board members, and taxpayers) to not only reacclimate themselves to school, but, also, reimagine what school is, feels like, and looks like.

People who want to spin things in a negative light will talk about "learning loss," while those who choose a more constructive course will utilize the term "unfinished learning."  Others will gravitate to the obvious social-emotional and/or equity concerns that were in play prior to the pandemic and have only been exacerbated.  As I pointed out in my previous blog, each are equally concerning.  It is not an either-or proposition.

However, even in good times, should anyone recall such a thing, public educators have been challenged to ignore the shiny object.  I call this conundrum "Program as Panacea."  Let's buy this "thing," and it will "fix" what's wrong.  Another common knee jerk reaction that is a fall back for a vast majority of districts across the country is the belief that if we just add more staff, we will resolve all issues before us (hint to the unenlightened:  we tried that and it doesn't work--it just costs money).  Neither of these approaches have made a dent in student learning.  Rather than addressing inadequacies in Tier I instruction, which actually is an approach that at least stands a chance, both of the previous alternatives continue to permeate as preferred approaches.

Jamie Vollmer, in his 2010 book Schools Cannot Do It Alone, famously chronicled the initiative creep that legislators have imposed upon public schools by decade in what has come to be known as "Vollmer’s List."  In the two subsequent decades, the trend has only increased. 

Whether it is the term "Initiative Fatigue," utilized by Doug Reeves, Robert Marzano's reference to the utter lack of ability to cover the sheer number of standards inherent in America's collective K-12 curriculum (Marzano, 2003), or the work of Michael Schmoker (Focus, 2014, and Results Now, 2006), it is clear that a lack of clarity and purpose permeates public education.  The phenomenon is not new.

And, as we enter the 2021-22 school year, teachers are more overwhelmed than ever.  This is my first year in the Arlington Central School District, and, at our Leadership Retreat this August, our principals were introduced to the concept of short-cycle improvement goals to support our priority of strengthening Professional Learning Communities (PLC) work in the District.  Our primary resource is 100-Day Leaders:  Turning Short-Term Wins into Long-Term Success (Reeves and Eaker, 2019).  Another great resource for schools to support the concept of short-cycle improvement goals is the work of District Management Group (https://www.dmgroupk12.com/).  

This past week two principals reported back to me that when they followed the 100-Day Plan methodology and asked teachers to identify all of the initiatives of the District over the past 10 years in an attempt to try to determine what can be eliminated, the teachers were utterly exasperated.  The lists approached 100.  Now, I saw the lists, and I don't truly believe that there were that many in number, but there were that many in perception, which is all that really matters.  One plausible reason for this disconnect is a failure shared by many districts, which is the inability to help teachers see relationships and make connections in the work that they are being asked to do.  I believe that the tenets embedded in the PLC model help teachers make sense of the work.

The exasperation that so many feel does not have to be the norm, and it never did.  (Full disclosure--I do not claim to be perfect in this regard.  As a superintendent, I, too, have been accused of piling on.)  Districts do not need to succumb to all of the outside influences and feel the need to be everything to everybody.  They can take control of their own destiny.  At its July Board Retreat, The ACSD Board of Education identified four priority areas:  Academic Growth and Success; Wellness and Belonging; Communication, Community Engagement, and Partnerships; and Fiscal and Organizational Operations.  Each area has a statement of purpose associated with it, and each year the Cabinet will work with the Board to identify annual goals to support the priorities.  Subsequently, each building will develop two annual sets of 100-Day Plans to create coherence in the system and drive the work of PLCs across the district.

It is critical to narrow the focus.  Once people begin to do the work, understanding grows.  But this is not possible in a fatalistic mindset.  Leaders need to make the big ideas manageable at the local level, and, then, over time, by moving to action and learning by doing, the cumulative successes will create a collective understanding of visionary concepts such as life readiness.  

When taken in its totality, the demands on public education and the expectations of teachers is overwhelming.  But, developing short-cycle improvement goals that focus on the learning needs of students, spur innovation, and yield immediate successes that create the necessary momentum for sustainable, system-wide growth is the best approach I know, and I encourage you to consider it.  

The recipe is simple.  First, narrow the focus and make it manageable for the classroom teacher.  Then, build on incremental successes and scale them.  And, finally, tell the story.  Our communities need and deserve to feel good about the great things that are happening every day in their schools.  Don't be shy about making sure that they do.

Marzano, R. (2003).  What Works in Schools:  Translating Research into Action.  Association for                 Supervision and Curriculum Development:  Alexandria, VA.

Reeves, D. Creative Leadership Solutions, Overcoming Initiative Fatigue:  Focusing Time, Energy and     Resources for Student Results, https://www.creativeleadership.net/resources-content/overcoming-            initiative-fatigue-focusing-time-energy-and-resources-for-student-results (retrieved, September 11,         2021).

Reeves, D. and Eaker, R. (2019).  100-Day Leaders:  Turning Short-Term Wins into Long-Term                 Success.  Solution Tree Press:  Bloomington, IN.

Schmoker, M. (2006).  Results Now:  How We Can Achieve Unprecedented Achievements in Teaching         and Learning.  Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development:  Alexandria, VA.

Schmoker, M. (2014).  Focus:  Elevating the Essentials to Radically Improve Student Learning.                  Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development:  Alexandria, VA.

Vollmer, J. (2010).  Schools Cannot Do It Alone.  Enlightenment Press.