Build better schools by training better leaders
A Principal Manager’s Guide to Leverage Leadership answers the question that district leaders have been asking across the country: if Leverage Leadership is a roadmap for principals on how to lead great schools, what can principal managers and districts do to support them on that path? A Principal Manager’s Guide to Leverage Leadership offers a step-by-step guide to coaching principals to the highest levels of achievement, and it is rooted in studying the most successful principal managers and districts across the country. It can be used by principal managers/supervisors, superintendents, district and state leadership, and principal training organizations to accelerate the growth of principals in your community. Used in conjunction with Leverage Leadership 2.0, this book identifies the key actions principal managers should take to create exceptional school leaders, integrating the seven levers of leadership into district culture from the principal manager on up. With a particular emphasis on the two “super-levers” of data-driven instruction and student culture, this book is packed with advice, professional development materials, and real-world videos of principal managers in action, offering principal managers a valuable resource for bringing about change.
A Principal Manager’s Guide to Leverage Leadership introduces a new unifying approach that is also highlighted in Leverage Leadership 2.0: See It, Name It, Do It. It gives you the tools to See it (see models of effective practice and identify gaps), Name it (name concrete actions for improvement) and Do it (provide means to practice these action steps until a principal masters them)
With A Principal Manager’s Guide to Leverage Leadership in hand, principal managers, superintendents and principal training organizations can facilitate district-wide and state-wide transformations and hasten the benefit to the students and community as a whole.
Table of Contents
DVD Video Content ix
DVD Additional Materials xiii
Acknowledgments xix
About the Author xxi
Introduction 1
A Paradigm Shift: From Administration to Instruction 2
A “Practical Guide”: What You’ll Find in the Book 6
Who Should Use This Book - and How 11
The Path Ahead 13
PART 1 What to Coach 15
1 A Primer on Leverage Leadership 17
The Seven Levers of Leadership 20
See It. Name It. Do It. 22
How to Lift the Levers 23
Conclusion 26
2 Identifying the Right Action Steps 27
Criteria for Principal Action Steps 30
How to Use the Leverage Leadership Sequence of Action Steps for Principals 37
Case Studies - Try It Yourself 37
Conclusion 44
Pulling the Lever 66
PART 2 How to Coach 69
3 Coaching Data-Driven Instruction 71
Set the Table: A Primer on the Conditions for Success District Wide 75
Monitor the Learning 89
Coach by Example: Lead Data Meetings 104
Coach by Doing: Monitor Student Work 110
Conclusion 119
Pulling the Lever 124
4 Coaching Student Culture 127
Train the Rollout 130
Monitor Culture 133
Coach by Walking 136
Coach by Meeting 138
The 30-Day Playbook 146
Conclusion 149
Pulling the Lever 155
5 Coaching Teams of Principals 157
Establish the Norm - One School 159
Observe Each Other - Collaborative School Walkthroughs 161
Practice Together - Team Coaching 165
Conclusion 170
Pulling the Lever 170
PART 3 Systems 173
6 Finding the Time 175
Build Your Weekly Schedule 177
Defend Your Time 187
Manage Your Tasks 187
Conclusion 191
Pulling the Lever 192
7 A Superintendent’s Guide to Creating the Conditions for Success 195
Maximize Time in Schools 196
Build Data-Driven Instruction Systems 199
Provide Flexible Support for Turnarounds 200
Conclusion 201
Conclusion 203
PART 4 Professional Development 205
8 Workshops: Overview and Highlights 207
Workshop Overview: Data-Driven Instruction for Principal Managers 208
Workshop Overview: Leading Student Culture for Principal Managers 218
Notes 225
Index 229
