We create equity and close learning gaps by starting lessons in the original rigor and intention of the learning standard. So often well intending teachers start in a scaffold and never reach the rigor of the standard. This practice creates learning gaps and inequities in our students' educational opporunitites. #principalleadership #intervention #literacy #teaching #education #edchat #principal

#principal #edchat #education

Invest the time upfront in interviewing and hiring the right teachers for YOUR campus needs. In additional to spending the time on the front end with screening, interviewing and hiring, this is the time you can set your expectations as you build the team that meets the needs of your unique campus. Take the time to have genuine conversations with your potential candidates and clearly articulate your needs and expectations. Then, allow the applicant to do the same. Ask them wha

As I support campuses that are struggling academically, the need for a principal's instructional leadership role is increasingly evident in all aspects of a school improvement. For example, simply ordering intervention materials to supplement a core curriculum is not enough. Rather, spending time reviewing specific uses for supplement al materials such as test practice, scaffolding resources and spiraled reviews is necessary to streamline the effectiveness of interventions. T

As a nation our educational legislative policies have, at times and likely inadvertently, caused some educators to blame poor achievement on student demographics. We've tried to close achievement gaps by "fixing" at-risk children for decades, yet schools still face inequities in student achievement. As the old saying goes, you can't fix what's not broken; our children aren't broken. Perhaps it's time to turn our efforts to fixing what's really broken, instruction. In an attem

Lately I've noticed a trend, a call to stop encouraging students to self-select books on their independent reading levels. The blog posts, tweets and instagram outcries for student freedom of choice are gaining populatiry like a pop star's baby photos. Although, student freedom of choice is a foundational principle of literacy instruction, abandoining leveled readers is not the answer. If one allows students to self-select a text far more difficult than their reading level, y