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Five Leadership Skills to Accelerate Performance
"Leadership is like a muscle. The more intelligently you train, the stronger you get."
John Ryan, CCL's president and CEO, is a big believer in giving leaders a serious workout. Based on CCL's research and practical experience and Ryan's 40 years of leadership in the military, higher education and nonprofits, he advises leaders to step up their leadership training in five areas:
Teamwork and collaboration are critical for organizations in two ways. Internally, you won't get much done without it. Externally, you need partnerships with like-minded firms that advance your strategy, whether it's developing new products or breaking into emerging markets. But fostering teamwork is not easy. In a recent CCL study, 97 percent of senior executives told us collaboration is a key factor in organizational success. But just 47 percent believed the leaders in their organizations are skilled collaborators.
Managing change. In our work at CCL, we have found a few key principles for tackling change. First, view it positively and, of course, with a sense of urgency. There's no point in fearing change since it's inevitable and we can't control it. Second, focus on adapting plans as necessary to external pressures. We all had our strategic plans before the recent recession hit. Some organizations stubbornly stuck with them, believing things would return to normal quickly. Others saw a sea change in the marketplace and adjusted their plans accordingly. Third, it's important to manage the resistance to change you are bound to see in your colleagues. It's your role and responsibility to help them understand what's going on externally and why your organization needs to adapt. Be sure to involve others in the design and implementation of major change initiatives, whether it's a workforce restructuring or a new product development process.
Communication. As an executive with a demanding schedule, it's easy to be cut off from the rest of the organization. We can all learn a lesson from A.G. Lafley, the retired CEO of Procter & Gamble. He was a great listener, often visiting consumers in their homes or joining them for trips to the store. In addition to being P&G's CEO, Lafley also established himself as the company's Chief Listening Officer. He knew that getting good ideas required asking people for input and listening to it very carefully. We should all be Chief Listening Officers in our own organizations.
Learning agility. To succeed in a world where our work is always changing, where challenges are unpredictable and competition abounds, we need to be agile learners. We need to apply our new knowledge. Perhaps most of all, we need to believe we can rise to the challenge. There's a growing body of neuroscience research that says we can learn new behaviors and modify deep-set behaviors at any age. It takes hard work and real focus, but all of us really can learn new and effective behaviors — and help take our organizations to new levels of performance.
Judgment is at the core of leadership. Fundamentally, it's about getting the most important calls right — when it comes to both people and strategy. Without good people judgment, you won't have a strong team. Without a strong team, your strategy will not be executed effectively. Look first of all for men and women who have demonstrated strong performance, integrity and the desire to assume higher levels of responsibility. Watch out for candidates who treat others insensitively and abrasively and put their self-interests above the company good.
Strategy judgment calls require leaders to find new paths. Success depends on asking the right questions, experimenting and constantly adjusting your approach. It hinges even more on your level of humility. Are you too confident in your own judgment? Do you believe too strongly in your old ways of doing business? Do you think that because something has worked many times before, it will work again now? Do you have the humility to understand that even with great collaboration you will not get everything right, and that you can't know everything yourself?
To read more about strengthening your leadership skills from John Ryan, download the paper "Accelerating Performance: Five Leadership Skills You and Your Organization Can't Do Without."
-CCL's Leading Effectively, January 15, 2010, www.ccl.org
Did we miss you or one of your colleagues in the news? If so, please email Lynne at lynne@ilprincipals.org.
Capitol Brief
ANOTHER MANDATE ON SCHOOL DISTRICTS
The Senate Education Committee Tuesday evening approved a bill that would add stringent new requirements regarding a school district’s bullying policy. SB 3266 (Lightford, D-Maywood) was approved with Senators Meeks, Martinez, Steans, Demuzio, Lightford, and Frerichs voting “yes” while Senators Garrett, Burzynski, Luechtefeld, and McCarter voted “no” or “present”. The Alliance testified against the bill in committee. The bill, which now goes to the Senate floor for consideration, does the following:
• provides a new 150-word definition of bullying
• requires school districts to adopt a new comprehensive policy on bullying which must include 8 specific points as spelled out in the bill, including:
o procedures for reporting bullying
o required reporting of bullying by school employees
o procedures for a prompt investigation of allegations of bullying
o identification of the person responsible for investigating reports of bullying
o timelines that the school will follow in resolving complaints of bullying
o a list of the consequences and remedial actions taken against bullies
o a list of remedies for a student subjected to bullying
• requires new public posting requirements for the bullying policy
• requires the district to maintain data that records each bullying complaint and the result of the district’s investigation into the complaint. The school district would be required to submit the data to the ISBE.
• If funds are appropriated to the ISBE for this purpose, a “demonstration project” with 5-10 school districts that includes instruction to students and in-service training on bullying for school personnel (defined as all certificated and non-certificated employees of the district, those that contract with the district and volunteers).
• Includes provisions for “Gang Resistance Education and Training” in schools. Though it states that school districts “may make suitable provisions” for this instruction – if a district does offer such instruction – it “must collaborate with State and local law enforcement agencies”.
• Exempts the legislation from being covered under the State Mandates Act.
The entire text of the bill can be found by clicking here.
You are encouraged to call your State Senator and urge a “No vote” on SB 3266. Remind him/her that:
• Current law requires school districts to have a policy on bullying that must be filed with ISBE
• Current law requires that the bullying policy be updated every two years and re-filed with ISBE
• Current law requires that the student discipline policy address bullying
• Current law requires that the internet safety education curriculum include online harassment and cyber-bullying
• The State of Illinois currently owes school districts approximately $735 million in late payments for the current FY 2010 fiscal year
• The Governor has suggested that K-12 education will be cut by $1 billion in FY ‘2011
• This is not the time to mandate additional burdens on local school districts
• Your district already has procedures in place on bullying and conflict resolution. Please explain these to your legislator.
You can stay informed about all legislative activity by reading the Alliance Legislative Reports which can be accessed at http://www.ilprincipals.org/pages/alliance_reports.html. IPA Government Relations Director DeJuan Kea also provides frequent legislative podcast during session. Go to http://web.mac.com/ilprincipals/IPA/Legal_Legislative/Legal_Legislative.html to listen.
Do not miss an opportunity to TAKE ACTION on legislative issues that are important to you by using the IPA’s Cap Wiz website. It’s a resource provided to you that can be accessed by all members of your learning community. http://www.ilprincipals.org/pages/cap_wiz.html
Upcoming IPA Region Events - Don't Miss An Opportunity to Network with Your Colleagues!
Contact your Region Director for final event dates, times and locations as they are subject to change. Your Region Director's contact information can be found at http://www.ilprincipals.org/pages/region_info.html.
Corn Belt Region, 03/16/10, Student Recognition, Baby Bull's, Pontiac, IL
Egpytian Region, 03/09/10, Board Meeting, 9th Street Grill, Mt. Vernon, IL
Kaskaskia Region, 03/10/10, Board Meeting, Governor's Run, Carlyle, IL
Kaskaskia Region, 03/24/10, Student Recognition Breakfast,Greenville College, Greenville, IL
Starved Rock Region, 03/17/10, Board Meeting, Cracker Barrel, Ottawa, IL
Three Rivers Region, 03/24/10,Board Meeting, Cemeno's, Joliet, IL
Wabash Valley Region, 03/10/10, Student Recognition Banquet,Ty's Family Buffet, Olney, IL
West Cook Region, 03/10, Member Recruitment Activities all month
Don't know your IPA Region? Go to http://www.ilprincipals.org/pages/region_map.htm to find out.
IPA Officer Elections to Be Held April 1st - 12th
IPA Members will have the opportunity to elect officers for the 2010-2011 school year online during the window of April 1st through the 12th. Members eligible to vote will recieve an email with the URL, username and password to access the bollot. Candidates, nominated during the January Board of Directors Meeting, are as follows:
President-Elect: Jim Schmid, DuPage Region (Running Unopposed)
Secretary: Barb Hutton, Southwestern Region (Running Unopposed)
Treasurer: Ellen Cwick, Lage Region and Aaron Hill, Egyptian Region
Additional information about each candidate will be included in the March Newsletter and an upcoming PrinciPal. Thank you for voting in April!
IPA Seeks Small Group Session Proposals for 2010 Fall Conference
The Illinois Principals Association invites you to submit a proposal for presenting at the 2010 Principals Professional Conference. Take advantage of this opportunity to tell your colleagues what is working in your school share, your expertise, network and grow professionally. Editable proposal forms can be found by clicking here. E-mail, snail mail or fax them back to Pam at pam@ilprincipals.org, IPA, 2940 Baker Drive, Springfield 62703 or 217-525-7264. All proposals are due by March 31, 2010.
Still Haven’t Taken a Look at IPA’s New Model Student Handbook Service
See all this new service from the IPA has to offer you by watching this 6 minute video from Brian Schwartz, IPA Associate Director and General Counsel.
http://vimeo.com/8615392
For Members Only – Interested in an Interim Leadership Position
Occasionally, the IPA receives requests from school districts seeking educational leaders to serve an interim leadership position. If you are interested in a such a position, please send a letter of interest and current resume to Jason Leahy, IPA Executive Director, by email at jason@ilprincipals.org. In your letter of interest, please include which grade levels and counties you would prefer to serve.
For Members Only – Horace Mann/IPA Awards Program
The IPA is now accepting nominations for the following awards sponsored by Horace Mann:
Innovative Education
Community Service
Friend of Education
Partners in Education
Herman Graves
Winners will receive a $750 honorarium and be recognized at the IPA Fall Conference in October. Nominations are due to Region Directors by April 30. More information about the IPA Awards Program along with nomination forms can be found by clicking here. Go to horacemann.com to learn more about the Horace Mann Company.
Establishing Response to Intervention (RtI) in Middle and High Schools, A Step-by Step Guide-AA #732
Presenter: Jim Wright, M.S., is a Certified School Psychologist and Special Education Administrator in upstate New York. He is the creator of “Intervention Central” (www.interventioncentral.org), a popular website featuring free student intervention ideas. Jim trains regionally and nationally on RTI topics, including curriculum-base measurement, team-based problem-solving, and academic and behavioral interventions. Most recently, Jim has published The RTI Toolkit: A Practical Guide for Schools.
Tuesday, March 23, 2010 - Stoney Creek Inn, 101 18th St., Moline
Wednesday, March 24, 2010 - Hotel Pere Marquette, 501 Main St., Peoria
Thursday, March 25, 2010 - Hilton Garden Inn, 455 Riverstone Pkwy., Kankakee
Friday, March 26, 2010 - Holiday Inn, 7800 Kingery Hwy., Willowbrook
Click here to register!
Governor Quinn Announces Illinois Named ‘Race to the Top’ Finalist
Governor Pat Quinn announced last Thursday that Illinois is one of 16 finalists in the U.S. Department of Education’s ‘Race to the Top’ grant program. As part of the next phase of the competitive process, a delegation from Illinois will travel to Washington D.C. to interview with federal officials in the hopes of securing $510 million for education reform efforts.
“A fulfilling and top-notch education for all Illinois students is our number one priority, and we are in a great position to take full advantage of this federal funding,” said Governor Quinn. “Today’s announcement put us one step closer to securing ‘Race to the Top’ education funding. In these tough economic times, we are working harder than ever to bring federal money home to Illinois.”
‘Race to the Top’ is a $4.35 billion competitive grant program funded through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). ‘Race to the Top’ aims to drive education reform and boost student success, principles that Illinois is deeply committed to. States are evaluated based on their commitment to enhancing standards and assessments; improving data collection and use; strengthening teacher and administrator effectiveness; and turning around struggling schools.
“I want to thank all of our education partners for helping Illinois get this far in the Race to the Top competition,” said State Superintendent Christopher A. Koch. “We would not be able to chart these reform initiatives without the hard work and vision of many stakeholders, including teachers, parents, school management groups and private organizations.”
Today’s announcement reflects innovative laws and policies Governor Quinn has enacted to improve education in Illinois. In December, the Governor named 25 members to the P-20 Council, who make recommendations to boost Illinois’ application. The Performance Evaluation Reform Act of 2010 improves teacher and principal evaluations, and Senate Bill 616 that Governor Quinn signed earlier this year enables non-profit organizations to offer alternative teacher certification programs, increasing the number of high-quality training programs available.
Members of the Illinois delegation will be named shortly, and will meet with federal officials in March. The U.S. Department of Education is expected to announce its final decision April 1. Illinois’ application is available online at www.isbe.state.il.us/racetothetop/default.htm.
Truants’ Alternative and Optional Education Program FY 2011 RFP
The State Board has release a Request for Proposal (RFP) for TAOEP, which offers supplemental services and/or optional education to dropouts, truant, chronic truant or potential dropouts.
Eligible applicants are public school districts, Regional Offices of Education, community college districts, public university laboratory schools, charter schools and area vocational centers. Bidders’ Conferences will be March 4 and March 12. The entire RFP with the details for the bidders’ conferences (Page 2) is available at http://www.isbe.net/grants/html/taoep.htm.
The deadline is April 14. For more information, contact Sally Veach, Innovation and Improvement Division at sveach@isbe.net or 217-524-4832.
2 percent Flexibility for Calculating IEP Subgroup Performance
Starting with the 2005 report card and continuing through the 2009 report card, the U.S. Department of Education (ED) granted Illinois flexibility in how it calculated Adequate Yearly Progress for the IEP subgroup. For schools not making AYP solely because the IEP subgroup failed to meet the meeting/exceeding standards benchmark, Illinois was allowed to add 14 percent to those schools’ percentage of students meeting/exceeding standards for that subgroup.
This flexibility was offered pursuant to federal law, which explicitly limited the duration of this flexibility through the 2008-09 school year. As a result of that time limitation, the transition flexibility that was previously offered is no longer available. As explicitly addressed in a letter from the department, starting with the 2010 report cards, the 2 percent flexibility is no longer obtainable. Given last year 56 schools and 84 districts benefitted, the elimination of this flexibility could have impact in the number of schools and districts making Adequate Yearly Progress in 2010.
Under law the secretary no longer has the authority to extend its use; therefore, this is not something that Illinois can appeal to ED.
President unveils School Turnaround Grants
President Obama has proposed $900 million next year in new grants for school systems that commit to improving their struggling schools through turnaround programs, The Los Angeles Times reports. In an address to a coalition of education advocates at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the president said he wants states to use "last resort" strategies for their lowest-performing schools, which could translate into staff dismissals and closed campuses. To receive turnaround grants for their districts, state officials must draft a set of criteria to determine their lowest achievers. To be considered, a school must have state test scores in the bottom five percent or high school graduation rates below 60 percent. Once the Department of Education has approved the assessment criteria, schools can compete against other schools within their state for funds. Winners will be chosen by officials in each state based on the strength of respective turnaround plans. Although administration officials don't know which schools will get the money, they said many of those targeted are inner-city schools. There are about 25,000 public high schools in America, but fewer than one-tenth of them -- approximately 2,000 -- produce half the dropouts.
Read more here.
-Public Education Network
A high-profile change of heart
In her latest book, education historian and former federal official Diane Ravitch renounces many of the market-oriented policies that she herself once promoted, according to The Washington Post. "In choosing his education agenda, President Obama sided with the economists and the corporate-style reformers," Ravitch writes in The Death and Life of the Great American School System, whose title echoes a seminal 1961 critique of urban planning by Jane Jacobs. Ravitch defends teacher unions, questions the value of standardized test data, and calls the president's support for independently operated charter schools "puzzling." She explains, "I wanted to believe that choice and accountability would produce great results. But over time, I was persuaded by accumulating evidence that the latest reforms were not likely to live up to their promise." She sharply criticizes No Child Left Behind, though The Post writes the initiative "is an easy target because it lost political luster years ago." Ravitch also faults major education philanthropies, including the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, for relying too heavily on business principles for school improvement. In large part because of her prominence and policy involvement, Ravitch's critique of the prevailing reform ideas in government, philanthropies, and think tanks "is reverberating in the world of education," The Post reports.
Read more here.
-Public Education Network
Collaboration and support over pay
According to a massive new survey underwritten by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Scholastic, Inc., American teachers are more interested in school reform and student achievement than their paychecks, reports the Associated Press. The national poll, the largest of teachers ever completed, includes the opinions of teachers in every grade, in every state, and across every demographic, and was conducted to keep teachers' voices in the debate over education reform, according to the Gates Foundation's director, Vicki Phillips. Most teachers surveyed said they feel students in their states are doing okay in school, but believe fewer than 75 percent will graduate from high school ready to succeed in college and work. More value non-monetary rewards like collaboration time with other teachers and a supportive school leadership over higher salaries. Only 28 percent felt performance pay would have a strong impact, with 30 percent feeling it would have no impact at all. A majority of teachers said they would like to see tougher academic standards common to every state, despite the extra work these could create for them. Teachers are not opposed to standardized tests, despite union lobbying against them in states like Washington. But instead of yearly tests, teachers would prefer formative, ongoing assessments to help them understand how much their students are learning over time.
Read more here .
See the survey: http://www.scholastic.com/primarysources/download.asp
-Public Education Network
College Readiness for All Toolbox
Are you interested in preparing more low income and minority students for postsecondary education? Principals and their faculty can use the College Readiness for All Toolbox as an effective set of well-researched tools, lessons learned, resources, and documents designed to do the following:
*Create a college-ready culture for ALL students.
*Enhance student expectations, achievement, and access.
*Provide educators and outreach professionals with self-assessment
and evaluation activities.
*Help students and educators collaborate on postsecondary success.
*Provide an understanding of the change process.
*Create an easy to use roadmap for program implementation.
Click on the link http://toolbox.pathwaystocollege.net/ to take the first steps to creating a college ready culture, and begin exploring the tools, resources, and activities available in the toolbox!
For further information, you may also email NASSP staff member, Lois Hall, at halll@principals.org.
School Social Worker of the Year Award Nominations Sought
IASSW is looking for nominations of outstanding School Social Workers to be considered for the 2010 School Social Worker of the Year award. Nomination forms and award criteria can be found on the organizations web site: IASSW.org
Would you like to have President Obama speak at your graduation ceremony?
Visit http://www.whitehouse.gov/commencement if you are interested.
