Getting Started in Leadership

What issues did you face as a leader?  If you are not currently working in a leadership position, what issues/challenges do you anticipate?

            One of the leadership positions I held was that of Safe Schools Healthy Students Coordinator. In this position, I was to oversee the positions and activities throughout the county associated with a $4.5 million dollar grant. The positions that reported to me were graduation coaches in the middle schools, our GREAT officer, school psychologists, and nurses that were paid using grant funding. One of my responsibilities was to conduct evaluations, so that I could have data for grant purposes. One of the issues I faced was the concern and resistance I faced from the graduation coaches. As Rapacki and Cross Francis (2014) point out, that when you’re in a leadership position that is not clearly defined or understood by everyone, individuals turn on their defense mechanisms and fear of appearing incompetent kicks in. Another issue was trust. A few of the people in these graduation coach positions were previously our school social workers and because of funding, the county was not able to sustain the social worker position, so they were put in these grant funded to positions to “save” their jobs. Not having familiarity with me caused them not to trust me in this leadership position. Building that trust and rapport spoken about in the Rapacki and Cross Francis (2014) article was crucial in helping us have a working relationship that school year. I built trust by visiting them during the school day and in their afterschool programs before scheduling any observations, so they would be comfortable with me and learn more about me in a non-evaluative setting and even going over the evaluation instrument with them so they knew exactly what I would be looking for.

Getting Started in Leadership (continued)

What is this person’s first step or steps in getting “organized” for this new role?

What supports does she need and how could these be acquired?

What would you expect from the principal in this situation?

Note that the supervisor is barely mentioned, what is the supervisor’s role here?

What should our newly minted MIL do about the across grade level mathematics gaps she may have?

If you are currently serving in a leadership role, discuss the challenges you faced as a new leader. What worked for you? 

I think the first step in getting “organized” would be to review and disaggregate the school’s data. By looking at data, this person should be able to pinpoint areas of strength in the school and areas needing improvement. Trends will emerge which will help them narrow down their focus on specific topics/concepts for specific grades or even for specific teachers. They should let the data drive their planning as the Math Instructional Leader (MIL).

The MIL will need the support of the administration and “lead math teachers” within the school. They will have to build rapport with these teachers and administrators by becoming immersed in their daily activities. This includes attending PLC meetings, doing some informal observations in classrooms, attending staff meetings, eating lunch in the lounge with teachers, and having regular communication (Rapacki & Cross Francis, 2014).

I would expect the principal and supervisor to have a vision for what they would like the MIL to work towards and for the principal to communicate that vision with the staff. A lot of times I have seen administrators get “new” positions within the building, but never communicate why that person is there or how they are to be used. It’s often left up to the person in this coaching position to fumble their way through and do what they think is best to increase student achievement. When the principal communicates why the position is needed, the teachers are more willing to work with the person and help them. I think the supervisor continues to be a support and resource to the MIL and will conduct their observations throughout the school year.

Again, meeting with PLCs in different grade levels can begin to give the MIL a foundation of the math skills needed in each grade, sitting in math classes during instruction, and even reviewing the curriculum standards for each grade level will help fill in the gaps. Also attending professional development offered by the school or the district would be very beneficial to the MIL.

Reference

Rapacki, L.J. & Cross Francis, D. I. (2014, May). I Am a Math Coach: Now What? Teaching children            Mathematics, 20(9), 556-563. doi: 10.5951/teacchilmath.20.9.0556