Blog: Principals & School Leaders
Reclaim Your Sanity and Your Time: 5 Lessons on Using AI as a Teacher’s Productivity Tool
The thought of using AI can be overwhelming, but it doesn’t have to be that scary. In this post, we talk about Mariah Warren’s tips at the 2024 Making Schools Work Conference on how teachers can use AI to make the most of their time.
6 Things School Leaders Should Consider When Considering an Esports Program
Esports are an ever-growing field, and because of this, many schools are considering adding one to their academic programs. If you are a school leader who wants to see some benefits of one of these programs, then this post, filled with insights from Jill Ranucci, is a great place to start.
5 Tips to Improve Literacy in Every Classroom
Literacy is an important component of every classroom. However, it can be hard to get students to want to engage. In this post, we offer six different tips that Scott Warren gave at the 2024 Making Schools Work Conference on how to improve literacy in every classroom.
How One CTE Center Elevated English and Boosted Student Success
How can you work in English credits at a career and technology center? We look at how Northland Career Center, a 2024 Pacesetter School Award winner, did just that.
From Struggle to Success: How a School Leader Transformed His School
What can you do as a school leader to make a difference for your teachers, staff and students? We look at five lessons in leadership we learned at the 2024 Making Schools Work Conference.
Three Ways to Design for Teacher-Led Growth (and Why You Should Care)
Just like you ask teachers to create environments where students feel an ownership over their learning, teachers will do well in a teaching environment where they have ownership over their own growth.
In this post, we talk about how to accomplish this teacher-led growth in your school.
Supporting New School Leaders to Create Great Schools: Three Steps Towards Powerful Leadership
How can you support new leaders in your school or district?
In this post, we are going to talk about three different steps you should take to make sure they get the support they need.
Who You Were Shapes Who You Are: Understanding Emotional Intelligence in Order to Better Support Teachers and Students
Dr. Brian Dinkins discusses how trauma in his own life made him realize the importance of embracing emotional intelligence and using it to better reach teachers and students where they are.
In this post, we talk about what he learned and how he used it to be a better leader.
The Power of a Power Career Pathway: How Western York County Created a Utility Line Worker Program
How can you put all of the tips on creating career pathways we’ve been going over the last few weeks into practice? Let’s look at how York school district one and the Clover school district in South Carolina created a utility line worker program in their school district!
How Can a Roundtable on Education Human Capital Help Your State?
Another school year has started, and nearly every state in the SREB region is facing major human capital challenges including teacher shortages. Schools now face shortages not only in STEM courses and special education but in most subject areas.
The Eisenhower Matrix: A Tool to Help School Leaders Focus Their Time
The Eisenhower Matrix can help busy leaders make the most of their limited time to get things done. During World War II the matrix helped General Dwight Eisenhower plan and carry out the most complex military operation in history, the D-Day invasion of Normandy. He used it as a tool to ensure that he spent his time on the right work.
In This Together: How States Foster Safe Learning Environments
As legislatures convene regular sessions, we at SREB have observed an uptick in bills focused on school safety. Some propose dramatic changes in the way school districts hire and train security personnel, develop emergency plans, or address students’ mental and emotional health. Others make technical changes to standing laws in order to lower the barriers districts face in creating safe learning environments.
Unsung Heroes of America’s Schools
Assistant principals are critical to school success
Assistant principals supervise the hallways and the lunchrooms. They observe teachers and coordinate testing. They serve as the first line of response for discipline referrals, guide wayward students with humor and compassion — and do their best to make their principals look good.
It’s a lot, but most assistant principals truly love their jobs and know that what they do is critical to their school’s success.
Visible Leadership Goes Far in Supporting Teacher Growth
Educator Effectiveness Spotlight
At an elementary school in rural Arkansas, principal Rocci Malone works closely with her teachers to set year-long goals and monitor their progress in improving aspects of their teaching.
Florida Middle School Creates Success Academy
Pinellas Park Middle School is about as challenging a school as
you can find in Florida. The state has assigned it a grade of D
for the past several years. All of its students receive free
lunch. Twenty-three percent of its students have already been in
some form of drop-out prevention program prior to enrolling at
Pinellas Park.
Highly Qualified Turnaround Leaders Emerge in Florida
The Florida Turnaround Leaders Program is a big hit in Florida that will ultimately result in better principals, better schools, and higher-performing students. “This program has provided the best professional development I have ever experienced in my 25 years as an educator,” said one participant.