Leadership Focus - Doing the Right Things, Right Now 5.11bpslearningsessions.weebly.com/uploads/9/9/3/2/... · By Douglas B. Reeves* Dr. Reeves welcomes your questions and comments

Leadership Focus:

Doing the Right Things, Right Now By Douglas B. Reeves*

Dr. Reeves welcomes your questions and comments. If you would like a complete copy of

today’s slides or other research articles discussed in today’s presentation, please e-mail

[email protected] or call (303)504-9312, ext. 512.

Today will be a success if _________________________________________________________

The Big Ideas

• Moral imperative

• Implementation

• The essentials: focus, monitoring, and efficacy

• Change leadership

• Evidence

• Sustainability

• 21st century skills

• Grading, assessment, and student performance

1. The Moral Imperative

Essential Goals Present Reality Moral Imperative

Student achievement

Faculty morale

Administrative stress

Community support

Recruiting and developing the best

new teachers and administrators

Other key results

∗ Dr. Reeves is the founder of The Leadership and Learning Center. In partnership with

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, the Center serves school systems around the world. Dr. Reeves is

the author of 30 books and many articles. He received the highest honor from the National Staff

Development Council for his lifetime contributions to the field of professional development. He

was named the Brock International Laureate for his contributions to education, received the

Distinguished Service Award from the National Association of Secondary School Principals, and

the Parents’ Choice Award for his writing for children and parents. He can be reached at

[email protected] or (303) 504.9312, ext. 512.

© 2011 by The Leadership and Learning Center All rights reserved. Copy only with permission. +1.303.504.9312

Leadership Focus Page 1

2. The Implementation Gap

Degree of

Implementation

(Essential leadership

behaviors)

All

Schools

Schools With Declining

Achievement

(Deep implementation

mitigates the impact of

ineffective schools.)

Schools With Improving

Achievement

(Deep implementation

helps high-achieving

schools.)

Low –17.74% –30% +5.0%

Medium –3.98% –14% +10.2%

High +11.65% –1.8% +13.9%

The implementation audit:

• What is our initiative inventory?

• What is the range of implementation?

• What is the relationship between implementation and student learning?

3. The “Not to Do” List

Rules of the game:

• Think small: activities, units, transitions, meetings, emails, contacts.

• Weed your own garden: Take personal responsibility. This activity is a “no

blame” zone, and the only person who can make it succeed is you.

• Consider the consequences of failing to do this: You guarantee failure for every

good idea from this institute because there is not time, resources, or emotional

energy to initiate new activities unless you take some things off the table.

4. Implementation

The impact of implementation on student achievement: How do you measure

implementation? Create an implementation rubric.

Identify an instructional strategy that is important to you right now.



Describe an “acceptable” or “proficient” level of performance for this strategy.

Describe performance that is “progressing” but not quite proficient yet.

Describe performance that is “not meeting standards”—it hurts students

and colleagues.

Describe performance that is “exemplary”—far better than “proficient.” This would

challenge even the most veteran and expert colleague to improve.



5. Example of Rubric for Effective Implementation of Data Teams

4 – Exemplary 3 – Proficient 2 – Progressing 1 – Not Meeting

Standards

Teachers and building administrators

meet at least weekly to examine data

on student results and also

measurable variables regarding

teacher and leadership actions that

were related to those results. Each

meeting has a written record of the

items discussed; data reviewed,

decisions made, and reviews of

previous decisions. There is clear and

consistent evidence of mid-course

corrections during the year, showing

that teachers and leaders modified

their instructional plans, schedules,

assessments, and professional

practices based on the changing

needs of students. There is clear and

consistent evidence of differentiation

for both students and teachers – that

is, students who are struggling or

who need enrichment receive

specifically differentiated instruction

and assessment to meet their needs,

and teachers who need additional

assistance receive coaching, support,

and modeling to meet their specific

needs. The data reviewed includes a

variety of sources, including system-

wide tests, building assessments,

classroom assessments, teacher

observations, and leader

observations. Best practices of

classroom teachers and

administrators are identified,

documented, and replicated. There is

clear evidence that best practices by

one educator or administrator are

replicated by others. The emotional

environment of the data team

meetings is free from fear and full of

mutual encouragement and

exploration. Different teacher-

leaders take roles in leading the

meeting, and there is clearly a

momentum for data analysis focused

on student success that does not

depend upon a single leader.

Teacher and leaders

meet at least once a

month to review

data. There are written

records of each

meeting that show the

data reviewed, the

teacher and leadership

actions considered, and

the relationship

between adult actions

and student

results. There is a clear

and consistent record

of decision-making

directly related to the

data – that is, specific

changes in instructional

and leadership

practices designed to

improve student

results. Reviews of

individual classroom

results lead to the

identification of best

practices, and there is

evidence that these

practices are replicated

by others. The meeting

is typically led by the

principal and one or

two designated

teacher-leaders.

Meetings are held at

least quarterly and are

largely led by the

principal or a

designated teacher-

leader. Most of the

meetings focus on the

display of data,

typically downloaded

from the system’s

data warehouse. The

data are accurate,

clear, and easy to

understand. There is

minimal evidence that

the data are used to

influence teacher and

leadership

practices. Written

minutes are

inconsistent. There is

minimal evidence that

teacher and

leadership actions are

measured and related

in clear and specific

terms to student

results. The

emotional context of

the meeting appears

to be largely one-way

communication from

the leaders to the

teachers, with little

indication that the

data are collectively

analyzed and used to

make better decisions.

Meetings for data

analysis are diverted by

other matters –

announcements,

discipline, parent

issues, and other

matters addressed by

the leader and meeting

participants. Data on

student achievement is

discussed only in the

most general terms –

such as a school-wide

average – rather than a

specific analysis of

student and classroom

performance. Without

this data, there is little

evidence to support

that any claim of “best

practice” is anything

more than something

that faculty members

enjoy doing. If the

data warehouse is used

at all, it is typically

used by one or two

people and the

majority of classroom

teachers either do not

have access to it or do

not use the access that

they have. There is

little or no evidence of

mid-course corrections

based on the available

data on student

achievement, teaching

strategies, and

leadership actions.



6. Focus

Factor analysis as a “constellation”

The constellation of professional practices with the greatest impact on achievement:

• Focus (six or fewer strategic priorities)

• Monitoring (specific observation of adults, not just testing of students)

• Efficacy (certainty that teaching and leadership have disproportionate impact on

student results)

Assess your school, department, or district in e

least one possible way to improve.

analysis as a “constellation”—finding patterns in millions of stars


or fewer strategic priorities)

Monitoring (specific observation of adults, not just testing of students)

Efficacy (certainty that teaching and leadership have disproportionate impact on

department, or district in each of these three areas and identify at

ast one possible way to improve.

Dramatically Higher Impact

on Student Results

Efficacy

Monitoring

Focus

ng patterns in millions of stars.


Monitoring (specific observation of adults, not just testing of students)

Efficacy (certainty that teaching and leadership have disproportionate impact on

ach of these three areas and identify at



7. Standards of Evidence in Education

• Level 1: Personal belief and opinion

• Level 2: Personal experience

• Level 3: Experience, beliefs, and opinions shared by others

• Level 4: Objective observation

• Level 5: Preponderance of the evidence

Common Claim

in My School

Evidence

to Support That Claim

Evidence Level (1–5)

8. What Makes 21st

Century Skills Different?

From To

Standardized conditions Non-standardized conditions

Secrecy Openness

Individual results Individual and collaborative results



9. Assessing 21st Century Skills: Rhetoric and Reality

We Say That We Want Our Assessments Practices

Demonstrate That We Want Comments and Notes

Collaboration Individual work

Creativity One right answer

Communication

(speaking, writing, and

technology)

Bubble sheets and short essays

Critical thinking Response to the stimuli of

money and testing

Real-time response 5-year plans

10. 21st Century Assessment for Teachers and Leaders

Imagine three stacks of data:

• Student achievement—what do students know and do?

• Teacher professional practices—which specific teaching practices are associated

with the best student results?

• Leadership professional practices—which specific leadership practices are

associated with the best teaching practices?

11. Feedback: The Most Powerful Impact on Student Learning

Criteria for effective feedback:

• Accurate

• Timely

• Specific

• Constructive



12. Grading: The Feedback That Matters Most to Parents and Students

Your student has the following performance during the semester:

• C

• C

• MA (missing assignment)

• D

• C

• B

• MA

• MA

• B

• A

What is this student’s final grade? ___________________

13. Engaging Parents, Students, Teachers, and Community Members

14. Improving Grading Systems

• Consequences for missing or poor work

• Average

• Zeros

• Late work

• Incentives for early work

• Menu system

15. Risks

• Risks of improved grading systems—angry colleagues, parents, and students

• Risks of unimproved grading systems—continued failure rates

• Which is the risk you are willing to take?



Dr. Reeves’ Recent Articles

“Changing the System,” American School Board Journal, August, 2011

“Behind the Numbers,” American School Board Journal, July, 2011

“The P-20 Campus,” American School Board Journal, June, 2011

“Making the Best Even Better,” American School Board Journal, May, 2011

“Accelerating Board Expertise,” American School Board, Journal, April, 2011

“Getting Ready for the Common core,” American School Board Journal, March, 2011

“The Shanghai Surprise,” American School Board Journal, February, 2011

“Fact or Fiction,” American School Board Journal, January, 2011

“Sound Grading Policies,” American School Board Journal, December, 2010

“The Write Way,” American School Board Journal, November, 2010

“Fixer or Multiplier?” American School Board Journal, September, 2010

“What Does the Public Really Want,” American School Board Journal, August, 2010

“Focusing on Leadership Essentials,” American School Board Journal, July, 2010

“Getting Accountability Right: Principles and Policies for a New Era,” The AdvancED Source,

Spring, 2010

“Earning Credits, saving money,” American School Board Journal, June, 2010

“Commentary/Common Standards: From What to How,” Education Week, May 12, 2010

“Paying for Performance,” American School Board Journal, May, 2010

“Sizing Up Your Leaders,” American School Board Journal, April 2010

“Dealing With Stress and Anxiety,” American School Board Journal, March 2010

“Resilience Through Adversity,” American School Board Journal, February, 2010

“The Board’s Role in Innovation,” American School Board Journal, January, 2010



A few strategies have a disproportionately large impact oneducation. Here are six questions you should ask about thework that is ongoing in your school district

American School Board Journal ■ www.asbj.com ■ July 2010 39

isn’t an argument that poverty and othersocioeconomic factors are unimportant.Instead, it’s a declaration that the deci-sions you make about critical instruction-al matters, such as feedback, can have agreater impact on student achievementthan socioeconomic factors.

Moreover, wise leaders focus thegreater part of their attention on factorsthat are within their control—the dailystrategies of educators and administra-tors. The first big question for leaders is,“How good is our feedback?”

The purpose of feedback is toimprove performance. It must be accu-rate, timely, and effective. Ask yourselfif your present feedback systems areleading to improved performance bystudents, teachers, and leaders. If not,why persist in using the same feedbacksystems in the future?

Efficacy

When teachers and leaders have a bone-deep conviction that their personal pro-fessional practices influence studentresults, then they have efficacy. By con-trast, when they attribute the causes ofachievement to factors they cannot con-trol, they lack it.

When teachers believe they are theprimary causes of student achievement,student gains are three to five timeshigher than when they assume that the

M oney and time are theresources in greatest demand in short-est supply for school leaders. Despitethe potential of short-term federalgrants, almost all state and local edu-cation budgets are being ravaged byreductions in revenue. Moreover, theagendas of board meetings and the calendars of system-level leaders areovertaxed by a series of never-endingdemands.

Now, more than ever, leaders mustfocus on the essentials, the core strate-gies that have the greatest impact on stu-dent learning and educational equity.Abundant evidence suggests that a fewstrategies have a disproportionatelylarge impact on education. The “big six”are feedback, efficacy, time, nonfictionwriting, formative assessment, andexpectations.

Feedback

The most recent evidence on the powerof feedback comes from a meta-analysisof more than 800 meta-analyses. That isa “study of study of studies,” includingmore than 83 million students, conduct-ed by researcher John Hattie and pub-lished in the book, Visible Learning.

When students receive feedback thatis accurate, specific, and timely, theimpact on achievement is so great that itis more significant than the socioeco-nomic status of children. This certainly

causes are factors beyond their control.The second question you should ask is,“How do our teachers know that theyinfluence student results?”

Time

It’s a fact that, in almost all districts,some students have fallen behind inreading and other essential skills bymiddle and high school. The third ques-tion is, “If we know that a student istwo or three grades behind where heshould be, how will his schedule be dif-ferent from classmates who are ongrade level?”

Consider this: If a quarterback need-ed to improve passing skills, a basketballplayer needed to work on free throwshooting, or a musician had a difficulttime playing a particularly challengingpiece, we would not hesitate to pre-scribe “more practice” as the remedy.Why should changing a student’s sched-ule to provide “more practice” for read-ing, writing, and math be more difficult?

Nonfiction writing

There are no “silver bullets” in educa-tion, but few activities have a greaterand more consistent positive impact onevery other discipline than nonfictionwriting. The overwhelming evidence isthat more nonfiction writing—descrip-tion, persuasion, and analysis—helpsstudents at every level improve think-ing, reasoning, and analytical skills.

Surprisingly, nonfiction writingdemands are infrequent at every level.One of the most frequent complaintsfrom postsecondary programs is inade-quate writing skills. The fourth questionis, “How is nonfiction writing integratedinto our curriculum outside of the regu-

Focusing on the Essentials

Douglas B. Reeves■LEADERSHIP

Continued on pg. 41

Reprinted with permission from American School Board Journal, July 2010 © 2010 National School Boards Association. All rights reserved.

American School Board Journal ■ www.asbj.com ■ July 2010 41

lar Language Arts class?”

Formative assessment

The media and governmental authori-ties focus on end-of-year test scores,but research is clear that formativeassessment—that is, assessments dur-ing the school year that are used to“inform” teaching and learning—have agreater impact on improving achieve-ment than any other form of test.

It’s important to remember thatassessment is not “formative” merelybecause of the label, but because teach-ers and school leaders use the informa-tion in a way that leads to better teach-ing and learning. The fifth question is,“What are teachers and principals doingdifferently today as a result of the mostrecent formative assessment data?”

Expectations

The Pygmalion Effect is named for thecharacter in the George Bernard Shawplay on which the Broadway musical“My Fair Lady” was based. When ElizaDoolittle was treated as a person wor-thy of respect, she was no longer aflower girl, but a lady. Similarly, 40years of research on the subject demon-strates that, when teachers and admin-istrators expect more, they get more;when they expect less, they get less.

The sixth critical question is, “Whatis the evidence in publicly available stu-dent work samples that our expecta-tions for students meet or exceedgrade-level standards?”

In the year ahead, school boardmembers and system leaders willdevote many hours—and millions ofdollars—to matters of policy and prac-tice. Before launching into your nextagenda item, ask if what you are aboutto devote this time, energy, and moneyto is as important as the “big six” of edu-cational impact. ■

Douglas B. Reeves ([email protected]) is an author and founder ofThe Leadership and Learning Center, whichprovides professional development services.

Reprinted with permission from American School Board Journal, July 2010 © 2010 National School Boards Association. All rights reserved.

Create policies that use boundaries to prevent micromanagement

of classroom procedures, maintaining your right to leadership

in this important teacher-student-parent communication

48 American School Board Journal ■ www.asbj.com ■ December 2010

same quality of work should receive thesame grade—the judgment about thequality of work should not vary wildlyfrom one teacher to the next any morethan the length of the football field variesfrom one school to the next. By “fair-ness,” the board means that differencesin grades result from variations in thequality of work, not differences in gen-der, ethnicity, or social class.

By “timeliness,” the board means thatstudents and parents should receiveinformation about student grades intime to correct performance problemsand improve them. By “specificity,” theboard means that the student willreceive useful feedback about how toimprove performance, not only that theperformance is inadequate or superior.

These four boundaries take the boardout of the business of micromanagingthe grading process, but allow you toassert policy leadership on this veryimportant element of teacher-student-parent communication. Teachers retaina great deal of flexibility and indepen-dence, but they are not allowed to havegrading systems that are inaccurate,unfair, untimely, or nonspecific.

Local best practices

Board members and educational leaderswho wish to instigate, support, and sus-tain change should identify their ownislands of excellence—those teachers

I don’t know of a more controversialtopic in educational policy right nowthan student grading. It is front-pagenews in national newspapers, and arti-cles about grading policy can attractangry and emotional responses fromparents, teachers, administrators, andother interested citizens.

Most board members have receivedmore than a few comments about grad-ing policies that are too hard (at least formy kids), too easy (certainly for otherpeople’s kids), and inconsistent. Someteachers accept late work while othersdo not. Some teachers use the averagewhile others do not. Some teachersemphasize the final exam while otherteachers do not give a final exam.

If your district is considering an over-haul of grading policies, here are practi-cal guidelines for the board to follow.

Boundaries, not micromanagement

Every teacher may be accustomed tocertain grading policies and practices,but some uniform values must guide allgrading policies. It’s not necessary forthe board to determine that a score of 93is an A-minus while a score of 92 is a B-plus. However, it is essential to deter-mine the boundaries that will govern thegrading system.

Four boundaries to consider are accu-racy, fairness, timeliness, and specificity.By “accurate,” the board means that the

and administrators who consistentlyprovide superior results and whose pro-fessional practices (grading, teaching,and leadership) are clearly associatedwith superior results.

My published work on grading, forexample, includes what I thought was afairly persuasive case against using thezero on a 100-point scale. But the efficacyof my work paled in comparison to that oflocal teachers and administrators whostarted a “ZAP” (Zeroes Aren’t Permitted)program, and documented to their col-leagues how the elimination of zeroesimproved homework completion, reducedfailures, and improved student discipline.

Other innovative practices in grading,including the use of early final exams,the elimination of the average, the sub-stitution of a four-point scale for a 100-point scale, and others, are best sus-tained not by the dictates of outsiders,but by the models of your own most suc-cessful teachers and administrators.

Safety and value issues

The board always engages in a delicatebalance on grading policy. If board mem-bers say too much, they are accused ofmicromanagement. If they say too little,they are accused of failing to respond toreal-world constituent needs.

What is the right balance? Consideran analogy to school food issues. Itwould be silly for the board to mandateturkey sandwiches on Monday andlasagna on Thursday, but it would not beat all out of line for the board to requirethat school lunches must be safe andhealthy. Similarly, boards do not need tomicromanage grading policies, but theydo need to draw the line at toxic policiesthat threaten student health and safety.For example, policies that are known to

Grading Curve


Copyright, December 2010, National School Boards Association. All rightsreserved. You may make up to 50 copies for individual or noncommercialuse. Any other use requires express written permission. Permission touse NSBA materials does not imply endorsement of any product or service.

American School Board Journal ■ www.asbj.com ■ December 2010 49

magnify failure, dropouts, and disciplineproblems are not matters of “teacher dis-cretion” but are safety and value issues.

Boards should not tolerate friedchicken fingers five times a week, andthey should not tolerate grading policiesthat are the fast food of education—easy, appealing, and lethal.

Getting parents involved

Parents are involved in grading policiesregardless of whether or not you invitethem to participate. The only question iswhether parents are involved as partnersin creating a solution or whether they areinvolved as opponents to the solution thedistrict offers.

The former choice is clearly the wiserone, and effective boards and educationleaders will begin the conversation aboutgrading with a clear consideration of par-

ent ideas and concerns. Boards can save agreat deal of time by establishing whatcannot change before they consider whatwill change.

For example, board members can savea great deal of time and aggravation if theybegin the parent and community conver-sation about grading policy with the fol-lowing statements: “Whatever the changesmade in grading policy, we guarantee thatwe will continue to have a high schooltranscript with letter grades; we will con-tinue to have individualized educationplans for all special needs students, andthe IEP results will be an integral part ofour comprehensive reporting to parents;we will maintain our commitments toaccuracy, fairness, specificity, and timeli-ness in all grading policies; and we willmake our final decisions based on theoverall commitment to improve teaching,

leadership, and learning in our system.” Grading policies always will be contro-

versial, but they need not be the source ofthe anger, stress, and anxiety that now isprevalent. Board members can maintainthe focus on student success rather thanon interest group power when they elevateboundaries over micromanagement, limittheir attention to the most essential safetyand value issues, and engage parents andcommunity members with appropriatereassurances that their core interests willbe protected. ■

Douglas B. Reeves ([email protected]) is an author and founder of TheLeadership and Learning Center, which pro-vides professional development services,research, and solutions for educators andschool leaders who serve students fromprekindergarten through college.

Copyright, December 2010, National School Boards Association. All rightsreserved. You may make up to 50 copies for individual or noncommercialuse. Any other use requires express written permission. Permission touse NSBA materials does not imply endorsement of any product or service.

The desire for school change is great, but much of the advice on how to lead for change is profoundly frustrating.Follow these five ‘shifts’ to see change for the better

While the appetite for change isgreat, the leadership literature on sys-tems change can be overwhelmingand profoundly frustrating. Scholarsof the highest rank have outlined theelements of successful change leader-ship in comprehensive and accessiblefashion, but the vast majority ofefforts fail.

Here are five suggestions for howwe can shift and make successfulchanges in our systems:

From strategic planning to action

Today’s strategic plans are significant-ly shorter than those of a decade ago

as the emphasis of effectiveprocesses has shifted from pro-ducing an elegant documentto directly monitoring thestrategies themselves.

In the past, strategicplanning processes con-sumed enormous quanti-ties of time andresources for districts,often without actuallyleading to specificactions by the adminis-trators and teacherswho implement theplan. Evidence fromresearch I conductedearlier this year suggeststhat fewer priorities are

I t is a rare board member or schoolleader who believes, “My mandate is tokeep things as they are and ensure thatwe do not improve.” Almost everyonewants change, whether it is helping stu-dents meet the demands of global com-petition, helping teachers and adminis-trators improve their skills to improvestudent performance, or helping sys-tems leaders operate more efficientlyto conserve resources in profoundlychallenging times.

directly associated with improved stu-dent results. This supports my earlierresearch that showed strategic planscan and should be reduced to only afew pages at the district level and to asingle page for individual schools.

From ‘5 to 7 years’ to ‘now’

When change efforts run into trouble,a typical bromide often tossed off witha sigh is, “Well, don’t you know thatresearch shows that systems changetakes at least five to seven years?”With that statement, another well-intentioned grand plan sinks into theorganizational quicksand.

But think for a moment. A signifi-cant body of published research, inthis magazine and academic journals,documents many cases of effectivechange that took place in a singleschool year—sometimes within a sin-gle semester. Look at it this way: Whatwould you do if there were unsafeconditions in the school cafeteria or ata busy crosswalk in front of theschool? No one would tolerate theexcuse that “it takes five to sevenyears to change.” If it’s a matter ofhealth and safety, they would demandimmediate change.

The only question, therefore, iswhether student learning is a healthand safety issue. Evidence from theAlliance for Excellent Educationmakes clear that school success meetsthese criteria, as students who failspend billions more in Medicaid anduninsured medical care costs thanthose who remain in school. Once lit-eracy becomes a health and safetyissue, no one will settle for a five-yearplan.

Changing the System


38 American School Board Journal ■ www.asbj.com ■ August 2011

Copyright © July 2011, National School Boards Association. American School Board Journal is an editoriallyindependent publication of the National School Boards Association. Opinions expressed by this magazine orany of its authors do not necessarily reflect positions of the National School Boards Association. Within theparameters of fair use, this article may be printed out and photocopied for individual use, provided this copyrightnotice appears on each copy. This article may not be otherwise, linked, transmitted, or reproduced inprint or electronic form without the consent of the Publisher. For more information, call (703) 838-6739.

American School Board Journal ■ www.asbj.com ■ August 2011 39

From dips to short-term wins

When new initiatives start, many lead-ers are taught to expect an implemen-tation dip—that is, a decrease in per-formance after the change begins. It’snot clear why any organization wouldplan for failure when short-term winsare critical to sustain momentum forchange. If past efforts resulted in adip, then the cause of that dip shouldbe rigorously analyzed and adjust-ments should be made before the nextchange effort.

From ‘vision’ to ‘implementation’

Conventional wisdom holds that ahallmark of effective leadership is cre-ating a compelling vision of the future.In fact, those who adhere to AbrahamZalesnik’s “leadership/management”dichotomy—originally articulated in1977—suggest that leaders create thevision and managers are the less loftyfolk who merely implement it.

This inappropriate distinctionbetween leaders and managers has ledto a generation of university coursesand innumerable professional devel-opment conferences that exalt leader-ship but barely mention management.

An exciting vision that is not imple-mented effectively does not inspireemployees; instead, it breeds cynicismamong people who have seen onevision after another introduced withgreat fanfare only to quickly fade

away, eclipsed by the next grandvision.

Nevertheless, the consulting indus-try remains full of people who offer tohelp craft just the right vision, typical-ly in a bucolic setting with all the crea-ture comforts necessary for deepthinking, while the implementationmust be done in an intensely activeclassroom with a leaking roof and thinwalls.

Here’s a suggestion: Have your nextstrategic planning meeting inside oneof your most challenging schools,preferably in a classroom where it willbe implemented.

From ‘buy-in’ to critical thinking

Perhaps the most important shift ineffective systems change is movingfrom the need for buy-in—or, moreprecisely, the illusion of buy-in—to aprocess of constructive critical think-ing. The best example of illusory buy-in occurred during the frantic days ofDecember 2010 as states completedtheir Race to the Top applications.Board members, union presidents,superintendents, parent associations,and other groups were asked toendorse documents that had not evenbeen written.

Any veteran of board meetingsknows there are two types of silence—one that signals assent and one thatindicates the expression of contrary

views is dangerous and unwelcome. Afar better approach is to welcome con-structive critical thinking with suchquestions as: What are other decisionsthat we could consider? What are theadvantages and disadvantages of eachalternative? What will be the indicatorsthat we made the right decision? Whatwill be the indicators that we need tomake a midcourse correction andadjust our decision? What will we do ifwe are wrong?

In landmark research on processfairness, W. Chan Kim and RenéeMauborgne found that employees whodisagree with a decision are far morelikely to support its implementationwhen they believe the process was fairand they had the opportunity toexpress their views in a safe and openenvironment.

Before you launch your next sys-tems change initiative, reflect on whatworked—and what didn’t—the lasttime you attempted systems-levelchange, and consider these five shiftsas ways to improve your probability ofsuccess. ■

Douglas B. Reeves (dreeves@leadand learn.com) is an author and founder of TheLeadership and Learning Center, which pro-vides professional development services,research, and solutions for educators andschool leaders who serve students fromprekindergarten through college.

Copyright © July 2011, National School Boards Association. American School Board Journal is an editoriallyindependent publication of the National School Boards Association. Opinions expressed by this magazine orany of its authors do not necessarily reflect positions of the National School Boards Association. Within theparameters of fair use, this article may be printed out and photocopied for individual use, provided this copyrightnotice appears on each copy. This article may not be otherwise, linked, transmitted, or reproduced inprint or electronic form without the consent of the Publisher. For more information, call (703) 838-6739.

Burning Questions, Challenges, and Success Stories…

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Leadership Focus - Doing the Right Things, Right Now 5.11bpslearningsessions.weebly.com/uploads/9/9/3/2/... · By Douglas B. Reeves* Dr. Reeves welcomes your questions and comments