Tuxedo Tuesdays

Dressing to impress is always on the minds of high school students. Chuck Briscoe, principal at Century High School in Rochester, is also dressing to impress – and he has impressed many more than he thought he would.

Each Tuesday, Chuck dons his tuxedo for school. "I'm trying to model for students that you dress for success. When I dress up, I do a little better work, I feel better." Each Tuesday, is now known as ‘Tuxedo Tuesday’. Chuck has had this idea rolling around in his head for a while; a friend’s challenge was all that he needed to make it happen this year.

"Tuxedo Tuesday" has had an amazing ripple effect throughout the school. The students are excited to see the tuxedo every Tuesday. Even some of the students and staff have started to dress in their finest on Tuesdays to join in the effort. During spirit week at school, the office staff dressed up in tuxedos to emulate Chuck.

The positive impact that Tuxedo Tuesdays have created is worth the extra effort Chuck takes. "People look at you differently in the real world and the expectations are higher. It's another take off about how you dress is important. You get one chance to make an impression, and if that's the first impression, it may not be a good one…if your pants are on the ground." Chuck chuckled, referencing the recent audition on American Idol.

We all know the three “R”s that schools focus on. Chuck has added a fourth “R” and feels tops them all. The most important "R" that exists in every school is the relationship "R." Great principals work very hard to establish and maintain positive relationships with the student body and the staff. The positive effect of wearing a tuxedo each week is an example on what a leader can do to have an effect on their relationship with everyone in the building.

Chuck tries to get a photo or two each Tuesday with students or staff to commemorate each week as it passes. According to him, he has every vest and tie color under the sun. Beyond the pictures, Chuck recently was contacted by WCCO and a story will be airing in mid-February about Tuxedo Tuesdays.

Mapping a Plan for Success

If you don’t know where you’re going, how will you know when you get there? Or how will you know which road to take? Are we all going in the same direction? Strategic planning and setting goals is instrumental in success for organizations. It provides focus, leadership, and a path for success. The Morris Area School Board and Superintendent Scott Monson have proof of the success strategic planning has provided their district.

Scott continues to put the strategic plan and goals in front of the School Board, schools, and the community. They recently completed ‘Year One’ of their plan and kicked off “Year Two” with a meeting where they reviewed progress and shared updates, committees discussed information specific to their focus area, and brainstormed potential next steps.

The areas highlighted for the Morris Area Schools Strategic Plan are:

• Accountability
• Community partnerships
• Student participation
• Trust and communication
• 21^st Century students
• Fiscal stability

Each area was assigned to a committee composed of School Board, administration, staff, parents, and community members, and progress has been, and continues to be made. The plan also continues to be a topic at every school board meeting, where various updates and relevant information are discussed or shared.

• Accountability

13 action items – 10 were completed, 2 are in progress/partially completed, 1 was not completed

• Community partnerships

6 action items – 4 were completed, 1 is in progress/partially completed, 1 was not completed

• Student participation

6 action items – 5 were completed, 1 cannot be completed until this fall

• Trust and communication

4 action items – all were completed

• 21^st Century students

5 action items – 4 were completed and1 was not completed

• Fiscal stability

5 action items – 4 were completed and 1 was not completed

ALL FOCUS AREAS

39 action items – 90% “success” rate

One of the most impressive aspects of the strategic plan in Morris is the awareness and buy-in of the staff. I believe that because there have been key stakeholders involved in the process, there is more buy-in, awareness, and support for these initiatives. When the staff (N ≈ 47) was surveyed, the “Yes” or “Non-No” responses were overwhelming.

I am aware of the district's Strategic Plan. 98% affirmative
The Strategic Plan is beneficial for me. 93% affirmative
The Strategic Plan is beneficial for our students. 97% affirmative
The Strategic Plan is beneficial for the district. 100% affirmative
I am aware of goals set in the district. 100% affirmative
I am aware of goals set in the building/area I work in. 98% affirmative
Goal setting is beneficial for me. 96% affirmative
Goal setting will benefit for our students. 98% affirmative
Goal setting is beneficial for the district. 98% affirmative

Points Scott really wanted to emphasize are:

- Small(er) districts can and should do Strategic Planning.

· - Input and involvement from stakeholders was very valuable and greatly appreciated.

· - Having a Strategic Plan in our district resulted in:

o increased stakeholder engagement

o common language and dialogue

o action items and positive protocol changes

o focused resources (especially time)

o a feeling of where we are going/direction

o affirmations (what we are doing isn't so bad after all)

We know that progress will continue to be made because of the district leadership’s dedication to the plan and the success of their district.

Identifying & Reducing Conflict Among School Staff

Ed Blog 10/27/09

Identifying & Reducing Conflict Among School Staff:

Surprises re: the Leader's Role

Hope this finds you well, & enjoying a great school year for students, staff, & you! Here is a short vignette re: leader's role in the reduction of conflict among school staff.

I recently worked for three hours with 40+ teachers and two Principals. The group had been experiencing a lot of conflict brought on by a number of factors. The goals for the session included:

1) Briefly review pre-session staff survey (summary)

2) Briefly review research re: effective schools, and causes of school conflict

3) ID desired professional behaviors & communication

4) ID desired professional behaviors to be used during conflict

5) ID desired leadership style from Principals

6) Review next steps & evaluate this session

Pre-Session Staff Survey (Summary)

Here are the results from the staff survey (32 respondents) that was sent before the session (results are not prioritized):

1) What do you feel causes conflict among the teaching staff?

Conflict of interest between Board and Union

Disrespect

Lack of and poor communication

Administration vs. staff, us vs. them

Negative attitudes & feelings

Lack of trust and honesty

Bullying

Intimidation

Deception

Favoritism of certain departments
Talking behind peoples' backs

2. What do you feel should be done to reduce conflict among staff?

Administration needs to take control

Fewer committee meetings and more staff meetings

Attitude adjustments

Set professional standards

Clear expectations

Speak directly to people involved in conflict

Not us vs. them, it’s about the kids

Cooperation not confrontation

Staff trainings

Disciplinary actions

Session Results

Below are the results from the staff session. You can see that the teachers were very clear about what they wanted from other staff & administration:

Desired Communication

1) Be honest & straightforward

2) Honesty, honesty, honesty

3) (tie) Make communication positive, No hidden agendas, Be open-minded

4) (tie) Compliment others, Be respectful, Honest & open, Constructive not critical

Desired Professional Behaviors

1) Put kids first

2) Establish trust & be able to talk without fear of repercussions

3) Be open & willing to see both sides of an issue: pros & cons

4) (tie) Cooperative attitudes, Stop whining, Do your job-stop worrying about hours &

minutes, Provide staff planning time to make curriculum changes, Make sure our

time is used affectively & appropriately

Desired Professional Conflict Behaviors

1) Accept things you can't change

2) (tie) Allow all people of voice to be listened to before decisions are made

2) (tie) Go to the person you have the conflict with

3) Get over it when it's done

4) When you approach someone, come with solutions not just problems

5) Agree to disagree

The Surprise re: Desired Leadership

The staff also identified the most-desired leadership style for the Principals, using the styles identified in The Leader's Window (Beck & Yeagher, 2001; Davies-Black Publishing). Interestingly enough, the staff overwhelmingly wanted the Principals to use Style 2 ("Problem-Solving"; the leader asks for input on a topic, but makes the decision by him/herself).

The Principals were surprised to learn that staff were more than ready to accept leadership behavior that was not "Coach/Developer" (we all decide what to do together), but instead would listen & then decide.

I think that many educational leaders err by being too cautious and listening too long before acting, especially with issues that producer anxiety & unease (conflict, difficult employee behaviors, staff bullying of other staff & admin, teachers not treating students respectfully, etc.).

The leader's lesson here? Be more proactive - act quicker (not uninformed, just quicker) when you can map out a better route on issues that cause staff conflict.

Can Veterinarians Help Teachers Handle Parents?

Well, probably not directly. (That was just to make a catchy headline.) But I suspect that some of you were already starting to brainstorm new uses for bovine restraint tools and large-animal tranquilizers.

But some recently-released research from Dr. Jane Shaw of the Argus Institute at Colorado State University (DVM Magazine, July 2009, page 10) may be of help as you try to coach staff to be more effective with parents, especially those parents that are receiving bad news (behavior/discipline issues, midterm notices, homework problems, etc.).

To summarize quickly, the Dr. Shaw discovered that…

• During wellness visits, vets & pet owners had a dialogue & the owner had an active role due to a partnership approach on the part of the Vet.

• During visits regarding problems, 26% of owners seemed anxious & 14% seemed emotionally distressed (I'll bet the % is higher with parents contacted because of problems at school!).

Dr. Shaw suggests that Vets have a "flexible toolbox" of styles, and to ask open-ended questions to encourage patients to open up.

This research is definitely designed to help Veterinarians improve customer service. There is not much written about customer service in education publications, but this research may provide a novel opener to begin a discussion on this topic with staff.

Leading Where You Sit

Hope this post finds you all well.

As I travel & work with school site-based teams, I frequently tell team members "You are a leader wherever you sit." I first heard that from Dr. Dick Johnson in a SpEd Admin class @ SCSU in 1986. He went on to explain that in small groups, everyone has a leadership role. Over the years, I have come to understand that each person in a small group can either be a positive leader (by contributing & affirming), a neutral leader, or a negative leader (unfocused, hard on people & easy on problems, over-emotional, etc.).

Here is a link on that topic that is a good, quick read:

Why the term "leader" should not be linked only to those in power:

http://hbsp.ed10.net/r/1AH6/CKSDK/WL8BJM/CIBEC/Z2KU8/PJ/t

Great material - happy reading!

"Have a Kleenex & Get Back to Work"

I had a very interesting conversation with the (female) head of a client's HR department. We were having breakfast with a group of #2s discussing the specific challenge of leading clever employees (bright, boundary-crossers, easily bored, can be great contributors; Goffee, R. and Gareth Jones, G. March 2007. "Leading Clever People". Harvard Business Review.).

This person told the group that she was practicing a new skill, reducing the time that some people spent in her office hoping that she would be an ear or their den mother.

She said that her new favorite phrase was "Have a kleenex & get back to work". This phrase was her new defense against time-wasters. She is a very compassionate person, and this phrase was a departure from past practice for her. I know her well enough to know that this is not bitterness or an inappropriate glib response, just a new tack to take when the issue at hand does not deserve as much time as the time-waster wants to spend on it.


For more information on the Big River Group or joining our breakfast series visit www.bigrivergroup.com and click on "Contact Us".

Hey! This blog stuff works! Thanks to Cindy H., Scott M., & Kevin M. for your coaching & making this a reality.

Last Ed blog contained a request to help out an Elementary Principal (old hockey player) that essentially moved into the AYP penalty box. He was looking for other Principals that had worked on the AYP issue.

A number of you responded & we forwarded those contacts to him. He made contact w/ two Principals who really helped out.

Next challenge: That Principal has now moved to a more specific request for assistance as identified in an e-mail to me:

Hey Bruce,

Always great to chat with you. Our specific issue is special education students not making adequate progress.

Here are some areas we are considering in our process:

1. Classroom and special education teachers must own their IEP students.
2. Parent and family support of students not making progress is a must.
3. After school EXCEL program to support only students not making progress.
4. Is the curriculum used for students on IEP's effective?
5. Close progress monitoring of students.
6. Should some students not making progress take the alternate MTAS assessment?
7. Are students receiving enough eyeball to eyeball time (w/ teachers)?

Hope this helps..keep me in the loop with your progress.

Take care,
(Name)

Please respond to this blog & let us know if you have some ideas or proven strategies to address any of those opportunities for improvement. Let's get some best practice ideas up for other educational leaders to review.
Thanks in advance & take care!