Future-Focused Leadership

The next is a invitee postal service past times Dr. Bill Daggett, Founder in addition to Chairman of the
International Center for Leadership inwards Education (ICLE) and Dr. Guy Sconzo, Superintendent of Humble ISD inwards Humble, TX.

In my last invitee post, I outlined the ways inwards which the Every Student Succeeds Act, late signed into law, gives us a unique take away chances to practice the indicators of achievement that volition hateful in addition to affair to us—indicators catered to the unique deoxyribonucleic acid of our states, districts, in addition to schools. In my post, I called members of schoolhouse boards in addition to instructional in addition to schoolhouse leaders to action: nosotros cause got the chance—the obligation—to phonation our ain frustrations in addition to genuinely cause got them heard, respected, in addition to applied to the procedure of overhauling the organisation in addition to focusing on what matters most: the students. 

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What does it hateful to overhaul the organisation inwards this way? The operate of Superintendent Guy Sconzo of Humble Independent School District inwards Humble, Texas, is a powerful illustration of creating a future-focused system. Over the past times fifteen years, Dr. Sconzo has developed in addition to implemented strategies that fulfill the district’s mission of teaching the well-rounded student—not to the standardized test. These are his 6 guiding principles:

1. Commit to the Whole Child: Understand why your priority is the whole child. Communicate this commitment calmly, clearly, in addition to continually to all of your audiences.
2. Create a Culture of Trust: Start amongst a conversation. Invite ideas in addition to insights from schoolhouse board, district, in addition to community members. Remind your teachers that y'all believe they are far to a greater extent than capable than teaching to a test. Encourage them to uncovering creative ways to learn students to live successful inwards life. Craft a plan, examination out multiple ideas, in addition to live willing to throw out ideas that don’t operate in addition to adjust those that do. Overhaul your evaluation organisation in addition to force it to apply novel indicators that mensurate evolution of the whole child.
3. Win Over the Skeptics past times Personalizing the Conversation: Influenza A virus subtype H5N1 examination grade says really footling nigh a person’s talents in addition to capabilities. Where generalized conversations fail, personal ones tin oftentimes prevail. Ask the doubters, “Can your ain children, nieces in addition to nephews, or other children y'all know live accurately summed upwards inwards a standardized examination score?”
4. Be Flexible in addition to Embrace Trial in addition to Error inwards the Effort to Find New Metrics: How practice nosotros mensurate a student’s interpersonal skills? How practice nosotros mensurate their powerfulness to retrieve creatively? Many cardinal skills are hard but essential to quantify. But nosotros must also accept—and communicate—that in that place are characteristics of a somebody that merely cannot live quantified—and honest messaging on this theme is critical. Where y'all cannot quantify output, uncovering ways to quantify input. The finish is exposure to creative thinking in addition to its procedure in addition to fostering the well-rounded kid who tin connect the dots from 1 dependent champaign to another. Creative confidence in addition to sense is necessary for success inwards whatever career or involvement a pupil pursues, whether it live science, business, a technical vocation, or other field.  
5. Stay Calm During Testing Time: Pressure is contagious. Districts in addition to communities tin generate a rush of anxiety at testing time. Model a calm behavior in addition to resolve inwards keeping testing inwards perspective. Remind teachers in addition to students that y'all are evaluating them on much to a greater extent than than a test. Reiterate your belief that everyone—teachers in addition to students alike—is much to a greater extent than dynamic, interesting, intelligent, in addition to capable than what bubbles on a newspaper mightiness crusade to suggest.
6. Accept Challenges: Creating a novel prototype of pedagogy in addition to learning is a massive undertaking. Innovating inside the confines of the testing organisation is 1 thing; this is exclusively different. This is breaking out of a narrow organisation in addition to edifice something new. Dramatic alter elicits fearfulness inwards many. Acknowledge in addition to honor people’s fears, in addition to continually communicate why such alter is needed. In fellowship for this crusade to gain traction—in your classrooms, schools, districts, states in addition to throughout the country—laser focus, deliberate effort, in addition to enormous patience must precede it.

(For to a greater extent than on Humble ISD’s approach to 21st century teaching in addition to learning, read our co-authored whitepaper, Success Beyond the Test: Preparing Students for Success inwards Real Life.) 

Taking Bold Measures: Are You Ready?

The 2016 Model Schools Conference is the house for exploring ways to nowadays out of the quondam model in addition to build a organisation that’s ready strategically to ready our students amongst the skills they require to excel inwards a complex world. We volition part inspiring stories from disruptors inwards our field—like Dr. Sconzo in addition to Humble ISD—who cause got reclaimed the drapery of student-centered learning in addition to are edifice a progressive organisation roughly it. Using the sense of those who cause got had success creating bold novel structures every bit good every bit the inspiration in addition to motivation of those who are exactly beginning, nosotros volition render practical, exciting tools to practice a civilisation of innovation.

For data on the Model Schools Conference in addition to to register, acquire to ModelSchoolsConference.com.