Focus Your School Improvement Efforts

National Outstanding Assistant Principal 2024 recipient Brett Lobben discusses his strategies for helping teachers narrow their focus to accomplish school improvement goals.

• Simplify data work. Gather multiple points of data, both qualitative and quantitative, so teachers can both analyze the numbers and be aware of the stories and context that provide perspective to those numbers. Organize the data in easy-to-review formats.
• Build quality relationships by using a strengths-based approach to coaching. Invite teachers to make sense of the data. Lobben suggests language like “I wonder if …” or “What might happen if …” He notes these sentence starters “are neutral enough and, when presented in a safe, judgment-free manner, allow the staff member to be receptive to thinking about new ideas that build on what they are already doing well. “
• Ask teachers for their “one thing.” Establish the expectation that everyone is working on one new strategy or small innovation relative to the school improvement goal, and then ask how that one thing is going. Leave written notes of acknowledgement or reference the “one thing” in a hallway conversation. The power of such moments is how they build a culture of risk-taking and innovation as well as a deeper level of trust in the relationship.
• Align goals between building and district and stay focused. Keeping the focus narrow and coaching toward the goal (and “the one thing” that builds to the goal) can help you realize your school improvement goals.

Read the full post