The Complexity of Daily Principal Decision-making | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice

The Complexity of Daily Principal Decision-making | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice

The Complexity of Daily Principal Decision-making

Just as the classroom teacher is in charge of the students but wholly dependent upon them to respond, interact, and learn, so too are principals dependent upon their teachers to adhere to district policies, create classrooms where students absorb lessons, and collaborate with peers and school staff. After all there is only one principal (maybe an assistant if enrollment is large enough) and there are, depending on school size anywhere from 10 to 30 teachers in elementary schools and up to 100 in larger secondary ones.The principal is a manager, the staff’s instructional leader, and politician in dealing with student rancor, parental disaffection, teacher squabbles, and district office directives.

An earlier post dealt with teacher decision-to make the simple–actually not so simple–point that teachers engage in daily decision-making before, during, and after a lesson. That engagement is a complex process that spans monitoring the classroom teaching of content and skills, managing behaviors of individual and group of students, and frequent improvising as the unexpected pops up–inevitably, I might add–during lessons.

Although the content of lessons in science or math, or English, or French or U.S. history differ, they have in common a massive CONTINUE READING: The Complexity of Daily Principal Decision-making | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice

Principals Show Bias in Responses to Black parents, New Study Finds | NewBlackMan (in Exile)

Principals Show Bias in Responses to Black parents, New Study Finds | NewBlackMan (in Exile)

Principals Show Bias in Responses to Black parents, New Study Finds

Principals show bias in responses to Black parents, new study finds 

Matt Barnum, Chalkbeat  

Apr 26, 6:00am EDT

A few years ago, thousands of high school principals across the country received a variation of the same email from a parent asking for “any information you can provide about enrolling.”

When the email was sent by “Emily Walsh” seeking to enroll her son “Greg,” 64% of principals responded. But when an identical message came from “Tamika Washington” with a son named “Jamal,” the response rate fell to 57%.

The emails were actually sent by two political scientists, Zachary Oberfield and Matthew Incantalupo, in an effort to gauge racial bias in public schools. Their findings — that principals are less likely to respond to parents who they may have assumed were Black — illustrate one way that bias plays out in schools nationwide, aligning with past research as well as the experiences of many families.

“We wanted an easy ask,” said Incantalupo, a professor at Yeshiva University. “If they’re throwing down hurdles for something as simple as this, it’s not too much of an inference to say there are probably other ways in which inequality manifests in these schools.”

The new paper, published last month, looks at responses from a nationally representative sample of 3,600 high school principals.

White principals, in particular, showed signs of discrimination: They were 9 percentage points less likely to respond to emails from a parent whose name suggested they were Black. Their behavior shapes national trends, as nearly four in five public school principals are white.

“Principals — just like teachers, just like everyone else — have the potential to harbor explicit or implicit racial biases that CONTINUE READING: Principals Show Bias in Responses to Black parents, New Study Finds | NewBlackMan (in Exile)

NYC Educator: Nobody Wants to Talk to the Principal

NYC Educator: Nobody Wants to Talk to the Principal

Nobody Wants to Talk to the Principal

You know, any job you take in which you're a nominal leader of anything will be inconvenient. People don't always agree, and where there's disagreement, there's often blame as well. Someone is always mad at you for something or other. It's part and parcel of the job, no matter how much (or little) power you actually have. 

But usually, someone will stand up for you too. I'm not sure about principals, though. You'd have to ask them, I guess.

In my classes, whenever I give the first assignment of the day, I take attendance. I've gotten it down to a science. Zoom is very odd in that it generally alphabetizes students by their first name. Why that is I have no idea. And there are inexplicable exceptions.

We use Skedula to take attendance, and I've  CONTINUE READING: NYC Educator: Nobody Wants to Talk to the Principal

Connecticut: A Teacher Remembers Cardona | Diane Ravitch's blog

Connecticut: A Teacher Remembers Cardona | Diane Ravitch's blog

Connecticut: A Teacher Remembers Cardona

A music teacher in Meriden, Connecticut, wrote this comment about Miguel Cardona on Facebook. The teacher is a BAT. Jake Jacobs, executive director of the BATS, circulated this post.

I can tell you this much–he was my principal and evaluator for one year, during a low point in my career. Of the nine principals (and couple dozen assistants) I have worked under, he is the only one who has ever had a conversation with me about my teaching. His is the only formal observation I have ever had that was conducted in a way where the goal was to help me be a better teacher. When I needed something, he did his best to provide it. When he had to say no, he explained why honestly and respectfully. When he moved to central office, he focused on teacher evaluation and had frank and honest discussions with teachers about the state of teacher eval and the different issues and potential pitfalls of different systems. He is thoughtful, open, and kind, and treats everyone with respect and compassion. Most important, while he is ambitious–he made no secret as principal that he got his Ed. D. with an eye toward being a CONTINUE READING: Connecticut: A Teacher Remembers Cardona | Diane Ravitch's blog

NANCY BAILEY: A Role That Needs More Attention and Support: The Principalship

A Role That Needs More Attention and Support: The Principalship

A Role That Needs More Attention and Support: The Principalship

By Paul Bonner

Not too long ago, I walked up to a register in a grocery store. The clerk noticed that I had a school district ID and asked, “Are you a teacher?” I replied, “I’m a principal.” She looked at me, smiled, and said sincerely, “I never knew what my principal did.”

The school principal represents a cog in a wheel that is often anonymous. The spokes for a school, students, staff, district, state, and parents, can present divergent agendas. A principal confronts a series of competing expectations from the school community, such as loyalty vs. initiative, people skills vs. authority, compliance vs. risk-taking, and servant vs. taskmaster. Ironically, a principal can be seen as the face of a particular school by the parents, community, and district. A principal has to be part politician, mediator, conciliator, and instructional savant.

A successful school has a positive culture that is led by a principal who is visible and approachable. If agendas around discipline, district policy, or operations become the priority for specific entities and the principal is seen as aloof or impersonal, opportunities for solutions, no matter the endeavor, decrease. Few principals can navigate the challenges in school leadership without trusting support from a district CONTINUE READING: A Role That Needs More Attention and Support: The Principalship