Education Leadership

Matthew Lynch published in Education Leadership, First Year Teachers, Teachers January 6, 2020

Teacher Burnout or Demoralization? What’s the Difference and Why it Matters

A study led by Dr. Ingersoll of the University of Pennsylvania showed the staggering reality of the American education system; 15% of teachers leave the profession every year and 45% of new teachers leave within the first five years. The burning question behind these results is why?

When talking with educators, a common discussion topic is the soul-crushing, depressive, and futile nature of the profession. Now, many teachers are lucky enough to be in school districts where they are supported, listened to, valued, and not scapegoated by the administration, parents, and students for items that are not under their control but it seems this is becoming few and far between. In Ingersoll’s study, he focused one portion on first-year teachers who left their current school and polled them on the reasons why. The results, as seen in Figure 15 of the study linked above, are as follows:

32% → School Staffing Action
39.7% → Family or Personal
31.7% → To Pursue Other Jobs
44.4% → Dissatisfaction

Ingersoll and Perda state “On the other hand, high levels of employee departures are worrisome not only because they can be a symptom of underlying problems in how well organizations function, but also because departures can entail costs and other negative consequences for organizations and for the larger system (Ingersoll & Perda, forthcoming).”

Understanding the Difference

The important distinction to make is that these statistics are focusing more on teacher burnout than teacher demoralization. At first glance, these words may seem to be two ways to say the same thing but there is an important distinction to be made. When a teacher is burnt out it more than likely means that they are done. Gassed. Finished. Nothing left. Whether this burnout happened within those first five years of entering the profession or is the culmination of decades of their willpower, desire, and love of teaching being ground down the result is the same; leaving the profession. Ingersoll’s study focuses primarily on this issue.

What is not often discussed, is teacher demoralization which is really what goes on before teacher burn out happened. Teacher demoralization results in teacher burnout. This distinction is vital in addressing the problem within the profession because it allows intervention to be focused on the problem, teacher demoralization, instead of the symptom of the problem which is teacher burnout.

Doris A. Santoro, an associate professor of education and chair of the education department at Bowdoin College, in her publication Is It Burnout? Or Demoralization? addresses this sentiment by saying “we know that teachers are experiencing dissatisfaction (Keigher, 2010), but, like doctors, we must be careful to look for the true source of the problem in order to properly treat it. […] similarly, school leaders need to get to the root of teacher dissatisfaction so it can be diagnosed and treated properly.”

Finding the Cause

The underlying problems that Ingersoll and Perda refer to are precisely the issues that result in teacher demoralization whether it is unruly parents with no administrative support, absurd class sizes with no mandated support, low pay, general lack of administrative support, forced to follow a rigid curriculum, overarching desire for better test scores at all costs, lack of autonomy, etc. The list is nearly endless and is what results in teachers having self-reported stress amounts equal to nurses and physicians according to Gallup’s 2013 State of America’s Schools Report.

Once the difference between teacher burnout and teacher demoralization is made more clear, it can be more easily addressed. It will not be a quick change nor one without growing pains as the profession continues to suffer from these systemic problems but as the reality of these problems become more apparent and felt more by those outside of education, the policies and legislation hamstringing many of these ailments felt by teachers can be changed.

Matthew Lynch published in Education Leadership, School Leadership January 6, 2020

Effective Education Leaders are Accomplished Mediators and Negotiators

Education leaders know how to get what they want and can be extremely convincing. They accomplish this by tapping into the desires of others and building a sense of trust with people and facilitating a fair agreement. From settling differences to overseeing a massive deal, education leaders should be practical, fair, and firm in their negotiations.

Think Win-Win, not Win-Lose

Of course, this may seem a little counterintuitive, as many of us were taught that the purpose of negotiations was to arrange the most favorable terms for you and your company. As a result, you emerge as the winner, and the other party ended up being the loser. However, this does not have to be the case. You should negotiate in a way that everyone walks away feeling good about the terms of the agreement. In a sense, you create a win-win scenario.

When mediating disputes, you follow a similar strategy, except you have to remain impartial while creating a win-win scenario for each party. Any substantial connection with either party should be disclosed. If you feel that you are too close to the situation, you can always recuse yourself and ask a colleague to become the mediator.

Education leaders understand that establishing a fair agreement is the mark of an ethical leader. They work hard to treat others the way that they would like to be treated and thus approach negotiations and mediations with empathy and sympathy. In the end, they develop a reputation for being fair, honest, and trustworthy, and people enter into negotiations with them in good faith, just based on their reputation.

Concluding thoughts

If you learn anything from reading this article, let it be that creating win-win scenarios should be the goal of mediations and negotiations. Why? Because in education leadership, we are all trying to help students maximize their potential and go on to live productive lives. When we play hardball with other organizations within the education space, we may win, but we also decrease another organization’s ability to fulfill its mission.

Matthew Lynch published in Education Leadership, School Leadership January 3, 2020

Effective Education Leaders are Instructional Leaders

School leaders have a responsibility to be one of the best teachers in their building. They are responsible for ensuring that the instruction that each student is receiving is top-notch. Because of this, you have to know what effective teaching looks like, and be able to help teachers become the best that they can be. How can you do this if you are not an instructional leader?

What does an instructional leader do?

So what does an instructional leader look like in action? Instructional leaders do not spend all of their time in their office. They spend a large portion of their day, conducting informal and formal observations of classrooms. This allows them to evaluate the performance of their teachers and, if necessary, create corrective action plans that are meant to help a struggling teacher’s performance improve.

At the end of the day, the school and superintendent will hold you accountable for test scores and overall student achievement. It will be your job in jeopardy, not the teachers. Poor teachers can easily fly under the radar and outlast their principals, or they can easily transfer to another school inside of the district or move to a school outside of the district. Principals who do not make the grade may not be as lucky. A principal that does not perform may find themselves demoted to the assistant principal or fired altogether.

Do yourself a favor and make being an instructional leader your first priority. Sure, you can delegate this task to an assistant principal or instructional coach, but you need to be able to spot good and bad teaching and help good and struggling teachers grow. Also, you need to be able to train your leadership team to do the same, especially if you plan on delegating instructional leadership tasks to them.

Concluding thoughts

As a concluding note, there has always been a tradition of placing coaches and other school staff without an understanding of instructional leadership in the position of principal. As far as discipline goes, they can get the job done without trying, because of the natural respect they have in the school community. However, if you hire them without requiring them to be or become trained as strong instructional leaders, you are setting your school district up for failure.

Matthew Lynch published in Education Leadership, School Leadership January 2, 2020

Effective Education Leaders Solicit Feedback

Great education leaders can teach, but they also love learning. This involves being open to constructive criticism and having the capacity to have an optimistic and grateful attitude about the feedback and use it make changes that will benefit everyone involved. To solicit feedback, first, make sure that you are strong enough to handle it.

If you are the type of person that is thinned skinned, I would work on this before I solicit feedback from my employees. Educators are a pensive and pedantic bunch, and so they notice every little detail. They will give you honest feedback, but you might not be ready for the deep level of honesty and preciseness that is given.

I don’t feel comfortable providing you with feedback

I once had a principal who had the reputation of being the Judge Judy type. Sure she was fair but in a painful, mean, and uncompromising way. She had high standards and expected everyone to fall in line. She didn’t show empathy and sympathy too often, so compassion was not her strong suit. She had a habit of asking us for feedback about her performance in staff meetings and seemed upset when she didn’t receive any. This was a bit perplexing for us. Given your reputation, who on earth would give you feedback in an open forum?

Although she was an intelligent woman, for some reason, she could not see the lunacy in this. Who on earth would risk being her vendetta? Finally, she told her one of her mentors about her problem, and they explained the practical reasons why she was not receiving any feedback from us. During the next meeting, she apologized and sent us an anonymous survey that we could use to send her constructive criticism. To her credit, she genuinely acted on most of it, and it made her a better education leader. She became of my mentors once we got to know each other better.

Matthew Lynch published in Education Leadership, School Leadership December 19, 2019

How To Keep Your Staff Motivated Throughout The Year

As all great principals and administrative staff know, teachers are the lifeline of the school. Teachers not only impart lessons, but they are counselors, healers, guides, and cheerleaders for their students. And very often they do this for their fellow teachers as well. Also, teachers have personal lives too. Teachers spend probably the better part of 24 hours each day giving to others.

This selflessness is what makes teachers great. It also needs to be understood that this constant giving can also be draining. Besides mentoring students, teachers have to be able to deal with all kinds of parents, professional development, and perhaps deal with staff drama. Schools need to recognize that teachers go way beyond just teaching a textbook for 7 hours a day.

The Importance of Recognition

It is safe to say that everyone likes to be recognized. When people are working hard, perhaps with a lot of it being behind the scenes, they thrive on others noticing the work they are doing. Just as students like to hear, they are doing a good job, so do teachers.

In fact, hearing praise from the principal can be incredibly motivating for teachers. Principals can use the staff newsletter to publicly mention how well a teacher handled a particular lesson, etc. If a teacher is not comfortable with this, the principal can simply indicate that he/she noticed what the teacher has done and how nice it was. This shows your teachers that you are watching them, and you notice when they have gone above and beyond. This kind of recognition is good for the teacher’s confidence, and it will inspire them to continue reaching for new ways of teaching effectively.

Make Connections

There is no doubt that the school year is jam-packed from the first day to the last. Try and make some time to connect with your staff at regular intervals during the year. A great way to accomplish this is by moving off campus for some time together. It can be as simple as a breakfast or lunch at a restaurant or a more involved team building activity.

Small Gifts have a Big Impact

Another way to help encourage your staff during the year is by random gift giving. Make sure to build this expense into your budget.

Gifts do not have to be large or expensive. It is, after all, the thought that counts. A small gift card to a local coffee shop or to a local lunch place are thoughtful gifts for a teacher. And both coffee and lunch are an excellent way to help him or her in the morning as well.

Indeed, a small gift on a birthday is another excellent way to help morale. Again, it can be a gift certificate to a local spa for a manicure, a gift card for the local mall, or a gift certificate for a car wash. It doesn’t matter so much what the gift is, but the recognition that counts.

When people are appreciated, they are inspired to work even harder.

Matthew Lynch published in Education Leadership, Teachers December 17, 2019

How To Retain Great Teachers: Start With Leadership Opportunities

Great teachers are an invaluable asset to any school. Principals should go to great lengths to retain these teachers. But what steps can administration reasonably take and how will this be received by teachers?

What does the teacher want?

The first step should definitely be to have a conversation with that great teacher. Make the time to sit with him or her and discuss their goals with regards to their educational career. It is essential to realize that not all teachers have an end goal of becoming the school principal. So it makes sense to consider this when approaching a great teacher. Once your teachers tell you where they see themselves someday, you can begin to tailor some job growth opportunities for them.

Start with the grade level

If you have a teacher who is really looking to stay in the classroom for the duration of their professional career, that’s perfectly fine. The teacher has an obvious love and hopefully a talent for the grade level or subject they teach. This teacher is the perfect candidate to lead the grade level or subject department.

Perhaps you can assign this teacher to be the head of the grade. This will be a perfect opportunity for him or her to work with other grade level teachers. It is an opportunity to mentor new teachers. And your teacher will thrive and be enthusiastic about seeking out other professional development opportunities. Be sure to schedule time regularly to talk to them about new ideas and figure out ways to implement them.

Be a mentor

If your teacher has aspirations of being a principal someday, you need to foster that goal. Make time and opportunities to mentor that teacher. Be available to discuss policy and education trends. Let the teacher give you their thoughts and opinions. It is also a good idea to allow this teacher to experience professional development days that are for principals and administrative staff.

Recognize and encourage initiative

Here is an ideal opportunity to encourage teachers to expand. Let your teachers have some freedom and encourage them to develop their own professional development programs. This is an excellent chance to listen to what they have to say and see if you can offer constructive guidance.

For teachers not interested in an administrative path, encourage them to take part in or develop a peer-based program at school. This gives the teacher a chance to take a leadership role within the grade level. A perfect opportunity to take on a leadership role.

Create a welcoming environment for all

Let your teachers know that you value them and their thoughts and opinions. This gives teachers the freedom and opportunity to share thoughts and ideas without fear of not being taken seriously. A supportive community is essential for encouraging teachers to explore their professional goals.

Along the same line, support your teachers. Teaching often involves walking a fine line when dealing with parents. Teachers need to know that their principal supports them and will stand by them. You can accomplish this by treating your teachers as professionals with the courtesy they deserve.

A respected and well-treated teacher is a happy teacher.

Matthew Lynch published in Education Leadership November 1, 2019

School Administrator Must Reads for Personalized Learning Communities

Fewer than 40 percent of graduating students scored at college- and career-ready levels in recent years. – National Assessment of Educational Progress

Successfully implementing personalized learning has never been more important. Jobs are becoming more highly skilled, and students must be prepared to think critically. To ready kids for what is to come, teachers more and more must become facilitators of learning – rather than instructors who simply give information.

The most effective instructors in personalized learning programs have a true understanding that all students can, and will, learn given what they need. These teachers have high expectations of their students and don’t settle. They are comfortable taking on the role of “instructional facilitator” rather than a lecturer.

Unfortunately, by no fault of their own, many teachers’ experience in the classroom and education are not in line with that type of facilitation. The need for professional development in this area is huge. Making the leap to personalized instruction will take time and commitment. This type of teaching and learning is hugely different from more traditional teaching methods.

Personalized learning is designed to meet the educational needs of all types of learners. The main goal is the optimization of learning for each and every student. Flexibility in the amount of time students are allowed to master concepts is a key difference. This is because the emphasis is on mastery of skills rather than how long kids sit in the classroom. Therefore, changes must be made both throughout the district as well as the school.

In short, the changes that must be made are wide-ranging and vast. But, they are doable and have been done many times before. If you are interested in implementing this kind of learning in your school community, here are three amazing must-reads for principals looking to create a personalized learning community:

This e-book entitled “The Ultimate Personalized Learning Guide” is a resource full of the “nuts and bolts” of the personalized learning and how to implement this type of learning in your school community.

Schools that Learn by Peter Senge is all about changing the way we educate America’s kids. It is “…a rich, much-needed remedy for the standardized, assembly-line, industrial-age institutions that comprise too much of our school system today. Chock full of useful tools, ideas, and exercises, this book is ideal for the many teachers and parents who are intent on resurrecting and fostering students’ innate drive to learn. An essential resource.” (Daniel H. Pink, author of DRIVE and A WHOLE NEW MIND)

Designing Personalized Learning for Every Student by Dianne Ferguson, Cleo Droege, Hafdís Guðjónsdóttir, Jackie Lester, Gwen Meyer, Ginevra Ralph, Nadia Sampson, and Janet Williams challenges schools to reimagine schools as more flexible communities. It offers tips for creating a school environment that is responsive to the broadest range of student diversity.

Do you have a book recommendation for personalized learning? We would love to hear about it. Leave us a review in the comments!

Matthew Lynch published in Education Leadership, First Year Teachers, Teachers October 22, 2019

Reducing the ‘Toxic Stress’ of Starting High School

The transition from middle school to high school is a big step, so most students get overwhelmed and stressed as they go through the process. This can cause them to be less successful at school, and it can cause their grades to drop significantly. So, how do we reduce this stress?

What is the ‘Toxic Stress’ of Starting High School?

Each student has a different mindset and a different way of handling stress, but it is no secret that the start of freshman year is a rough transition for most high school students. These stress levels can actually be tracked by looking at the hormone cortisol of students, which is also commonly referred to as the ‘toxic stress’ hormone.

Students with a fixed mindset, meaning that they believe fixed traits cannot change, were found to have higher stress levels than students with a growth mindset, which is an individual that believes skills can be developed. This is because students with a fixed mindset were not prepared for the drastic changes of high school, which made them not want to adjust their ways of learning.

Why is Starting High School Stressful?

Even though many middle schools try to create an environment that prepares students for a high school setting, it is usually much easier and less stressful for students, so when they get to the actual high school, they are usually hit with a surprising amount of work.

When starting high school, students are given more difficult assignments and a larger workload. This alone is a huge factor as to why students get so stressed. Since the work is more difficult, they have a fear of failure and may work themselves too hard while trying to do something that shouldn’t even take much time.

Plus, high school is also more stressful socially. Teenagers work so hard to fit in and be popular, which can often distract them from focusing on their classwork. Students work hard to be someone they’re not just to fit in, which can easily become exhausting.

On top of everything else, high school is a step closer to college. A lot of high school students still have no idea what they want to be when they grow up, so trying to decide where to go to college can be a huge cause of stress for them, even if it is still years away.

How Can We Fix This?

There is no way to remove the stress of every student completely, but there are ways that parents and teachers can help to reduce the stress of students. The easiest way to do this is to make sure you are accessible to them.

However, many parents are so worried about reducing the stress of their kids that they hold them back and don’t allow them to be challenged enough. But no matter what, there will be challenges in life that kids have to face, so instead of holding them back, the best thing to do is to be there to help students face these challenges.

Conclusion

Yes, high school can be stressful for incoming freshman, but with the help and support of those around them, they can ease into the process better. Stressful situations are much easier to get through when you have someone by your side to help out. Parents need to teach kids that change is okay and teach them how to adapt to their new high school schedule.

Matthew Lynch published in Education Leadership, Policy & Reform, School Leadership October 22, 2019

8 Not to Miss Educational Leadership and Policy Conferences in 2020

Looking for an educational leadership conference to attend in 2020? Don’t worry, just check out our list below.

1. AIEA 2020 Annual Conference February 16-20, 2020/Washington, DC

Higher education leaders who attend this conference will discuss emerging ideas and network with international colleagues and learn about innovative strategies in leadership. If you are an aspiring higher education leader trying to make his mark in the world, then you need to attend this conference.

2. 2020 AASA Conference February 12-15, 2020/San Diego, CA

Superintendents and assistant superintendents should visit the School Superintendents Association conference to be briefed on current research and cutting-edge practices in education. This conference provides senior leadership with several opportunities to network with peers and learn about new issues and trends in education leadership.

3. SXSWEdu March 9-12, 2020/Austin, TX

What do you get when you add together the passion of a conference with the soul of a festival? You get SXSWEdu. Attendees meet in Austin, TX, to discuss research, innovation, and trends that they can take back to their districts, colleges, or organizations. Don’t miss this annual chance to learn from the most innovative thought leaders in education.

4. ASCD Empower20 March 13-16, 2020/Los Angeles, CA

The ASCD (Association for the Supervision of Curriculum Development) offers a wide variety of professional development sessions for educators. You will have the chance to participate in roundtable discussions, simulations, talks, keynote speeches, breakout sessions, presentations, etc.

5. 2020 ISN National Conference on Educational Innovation April 23-24, 2020/Wisonsin Dells, WI

The national conference centered on educational innovation brings together innovative leaders and dreamers to explore issues and trends and issues in education. If you are an educator interested in creating innovative solutions to issues in education, then you need to attend this conference.

6. 63rd Annual Conference of the Comparative and International Education Society (CIES) March 22-26, 2020/Miami, FL

This is an international conference that provides attendees with workshops that discuss global trends and issues in education, education leadership, edtech, etc.

7. 2020 NAESP Pre-K-8 Principals Conference July 12-14, 2020/Louisville, KY

Elementary and middle school principals will converge on Lousiville, KY, to discuss best practices and discover innovative solutions for tough problems in education. If you are a principal that works in K-8, you need to be at this conference.

8. 2020 NASSP Conference July 7-9, 2020/National Harbor, MD

Educational leaders from around the U.S. attend this annual conference to learn innovative solutions to ongoing school pain points, acquire new knowledge, and network with peers. What conference did we miss? Let us know in the comments below.

Matthew Lynch published in Education Leadership, Policy & Reform, School Leadership, Teachers October 17, 2019

What are the Pros and Cons of 4-Day School Weeks?

The four-day school is a phenomenon that has been sweeping across the U.S. When I was a teacher, many moons ago, this was a fringe schooling schedule only practiced by rural school districts. Why did they switch to 4-day school weeks? It was a kneejerk response to dwindling education budgets and the belief that schools could save a ton of money by operating Monday through Thursday, which in theory would lower their operating expenses. So what are the pros and cons of 4-day school weeks? I am glad that you asked. In this article, we will examine this question in depth.

Pros of the 4-day School Week

Adds flexibility to teacher’s schedules. Teachers report that the flexibility of the 4-day work week helps them get more done. This added flexibility is why they are such staunch proponents of the 4-day school schedule.

Increases student attendance. Rural areas report that their student attendance has increased since switching to the 4-day school week. Since many of the families in these areas run farms, it gives families extra time to get work done during the week. As a result, students don’t have to miss school to help out.

School districts save money. In the 4-day school week schedule, the district adds 40 or so minutes to make up for the time lost on the traditional 5^th day. Some school districts have reported saving over 1 million dollars on utilities, busing, and labor costs.

Easier to recruit employees. 4-day school weeks add flexibility to teachers’ schedules and as a result, makes their jobs more manageable in a myriad of ways. Because of this, school districts don’t have a hard time attracting qualified applicants.

Cons of the 4-Day School Week

A potential decline in academic performance for vulnerable groups. Research has shown that in this configuration, students who are low-income, minority, or special needs don’t fare too well academically. Well, at least initially. It takes about 4-years for schools to get these students back on track academically. This is a big con for me, as sacrificing the futures of our most vulnerable students is not worth the trivial benefits of 4-day school weeks.

Potential for juvenile crime to increase. In Colorado, juvenile crime increased by 73% whenever a school changed their school schedules from 5 to 4 days. These crimes occurred all during the week, not just on the weekdays when students were out of school.

It might help school districts save money. The Oklahoma Department of Education examined the economic effect of going to a four-day week across 16 school districts. What they discovered was unexpected. They found out that seven school districts saved money under the new configuration, but nine districts were actually spending more.

A 4-day school week is misleading. Many school districts think they will save tons of money by cutting operational costs on the fifth day, but they forget, they will still be open and running activities on those days off. Administrative staff are required to be on-site, sports teams may need to practice, professional development sessions may convene, etc. Also, since special populations fare poorly in this configuration, the costs of remediating them begin to take a bite out of the budget.

Do 4-day school weeks positively affect student outcomes?

As you can see, there are a lot of pros and cons to the 4-day school week, but in terms of its long-term effect on academic outcomes, the jury is still out. There have been several studies that reported the 4-day school week had positive effects on student’s math and reading scores. On the other hand, there have been studies that found no significant difference in overall academic achievement between four-day districts and five-day districts. Also, there have been studies that found that special populations do not thrive under this configuration. Because the four-day school week has only been around for a decade or so, we simply don’t have enough time, data, or research to make a definitive declaration.