How Can Principals Fix the K12 System?
D. Scott Schwartz, M.Ed.
Author | Education Thought Leader | I am helping School Leaders Build 21st Century Schools (check out my website for more info)
Before we get started, I need everyone to agree this is a major problem facing schools in 2024: The K12 system is no longer equipped to manage 21st century learners.
You need to agree with me - that this is a major problem.
That doesn't mean there aren't other problems facing schools, but this article is going to address this one MAJOR PROBLEM first - and if you continue reading this article, I hope you will see that if you solve this major problem first - then a lot of other problems will automatically get solved or disappear entirely.
My Background
Before I reveal the solutions to you, let me make sure you know who I am and why over 10,000 educators already trust me and listen to my advice.
For over 20 years, I worked inside the K12 system myself. I was a former teacher, principal and superintendent. But that's not why over 10,000 educators trust me or listen to me. The reason I have their undivided trust is because I am the only educator in the United States to have developed and run three (3) separate pilot programs:
As one teacher said to me, "you're a real educator."
And anyone that has spent significant time inside the K12 system knows that's a high compliment.
I know there are thousands of educational consultants out there and there are even more professional development presenters. But none of them can make this claim - they have run three (3) successful pilot programs.
In addition, I developed Teacher Professional Development Documents that are not only 100% legally compliant, but they have been officially approved by the State of New Jersey and used by over 100,000 teachers in New Jersey every single year. (As a side note, if you go to the Department of Education website and download the State's official documents - those are MY documents).
Let's Clarify the Problem
Teaching has become more difficult in the 21st century. That's not just a feeling, but it's a reality. And principals need to be aware that you can't just throw teachers into a classroom and "hope for the best."
If you do that - you are creating a recipe for disaster.
When I ran the Principal's Academy pilot program, I worked with hundreds of principals and vice principals in over 100 school districts. And the most common misunderstanding was that every teacher can "just figure it out" on their own.
And if you believe this as a principal, its a huge mistake.
Not only that, but you're shooting yourself in the foot.
One of the key benefits of my pilot program was showing principals how to delegate better, as well as reducing the total number of hours they work per week. Most of the principals in my pilot program reported working between 50-70 hours per week running their schools. And based on all of the recommendations and solutions I taught them - we reduced their work week to 45-55 hours.
That's a significant decrease in work - which also means a significant decrease in stress, pressure and life/work balance.
There are a million memes talking about how many unpaid hours teachers work, but there aren't any memes about the number of unpaid hours principals work.
You deserve more free time too!
But there's a reason for these negative outcomes:
Most of the educational consultants think you can solve these issues one by one, but the K12 system has been following that advice for the last 75 years and here are the honest results.
If you focus on solving one problem - then another problem pops up somewhere else.
It's like a big game of whack-a-mole.
So let's keep our eye on the prize.
What do principals want?
Every principal wants to know that every teacher in their school building knows exactly what to do when normal, every day situations occur in their classrooms. Principals want teachers to keep track of student data, make student referrals when necessary, but also be able to handle 99% of the situations that happen in class.
But you and I both know - that's not what happens.
The truth is this is closer to what reality looks like:
Maybe 50% of your teachers know what to do - and maybe only 10% of those teachers can handle 99% of everyday classroom situations.
As a result, kids are being sent to the main office at a higher rate. That means, those kids are missing out on instruction time - which in turn lowers their student achievement and lowers their test scores.
You can teach to the test all you want - but if students are not in class - then what are they learning?
And no one outside of the K12 System wants to talk about this, including every single educational consultant in the country.
But I'm different.
Like one principal from South Dakota said to me, "you're a practitioner, which I like because you know what its like inside the classroom and inside a school."
And that's the point. I don't give advice that I cooked up in some Ivory Tower somewhere and "hope" it will work. I am the only educator in America to have successfully run three (3) separate pilot programs.
Explaining the Solution
Before I tell you what the solution is, let me explain why this solution works. Because I think after you see why this solution works - you will agree this will work for your school and also your career as a principal.
When I first became a principal, my biggest concern was "how was I going to boost student achievement?"
I could be the most inspiring person in the world, but that doesn't mean that my students would learn more or do better on state assessments. Which means, there must be something else that principals are missing in their best practices - that is hurting our student's achievement.
Therefore, if I could figure out what that "missing ingredient" was - I could help boost my student's learning and knowledge. And I don't need to tell you, but if you boost your student's knowledge then you also make them more prepared for college and careers.
Thus, this was super important to figure out.
And here's the secret...
In my Masters Program, I learned this concept "input--throughput--output."
But I had no idea what that meant, sitting in a college lecture hall. It wasn't until I started learning the academic research by Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe that the "input-throughput-output" concept became more clear.
If you're not familiar with their seminal work, "Understanding by Design" or UBD, then let me explain it to you. What Wiggins/McTighe were saying is that if you want to boost student knowledge--you have to decide what you want them to know first, and then work your way backwards to the inputs.
Hmmm, interesting?
So I tried that - and ran into another problem.
That's when I discovered the incredible academic research of Dr. Heidi Hayes Jacobs. And if you're not familiar with Dr. Jacobs, she is the world's leading expert on curriculum design. And her research says that you can't teach 21st century learners the same way we taught kids in the past.
This is a monumental breakthrough in teaching best practices.
I cannot stress this enough.
The K12 system, as we know it, was designed in 1875. And it's done really well for a long period of time - but the problem is it's no longer equipped to handle 21st century kids. Until you wrap your mind around this fact - you will continue to beat your head up against the proverbial wall.
If you want to solve these problems:
Then you need to first admit that the K12 system is no longer capable of handling the needs of 21st century learners.
And once you admit that fact.
YOU ARE FREE!!
领英推荐
Yes, admitting that the problem is the System and not teachers, allows you to stop wasting time on walkthroughs and classroom observations. You're not going to find the solution there. You can also stop wasting time on student referrals and your student discipline policy, because you're also not going to find solutions there either.
The solution and the ONLY solution is to fix the System.
Which means, upgrading your school and district to a 21st century learning environment, one that is ready and capable of handling the needs of 21st century learners is the ONLY solution.
And what do 21st century learners need?
Now you can see why these were the three (3) separate successful pilot programs that I ran from 2009-2019. If you implement all three programs, you will solve 99% of your problems.
But you have to start somewhere.
Real World Examples
I don't want to leave you hanging, but I think you need to test your 21st century leadership skills right now. Principals that have the courage to admit what they don't know - love me. On the other hand, there are principals, who are too afraid to show their vulnerabilities - and they would rather argue and debate with me, because they think they will be able to use double-speak and somehow that will help their students.
If you're too worried about what people think about you or the "impression" you give off, and less focused on student achievement. Then you know the type of results you're going to get.
That's why I want to present two (2) different real scenarios and I want you to put down in the comments what you would do in these situations. Now I need to make this very clear. Both of these scenarios happened to me, so these are not hypothetical scenarios. And in both cases, because of the 21st century leadership decisions I made, both students boosted their achievement and went on to have a very successful academic career.
The question is, "What would you do?"
Scenario 1
What would you do if a 9-year old boy got completely naked in your main office and then decided to urinate all over the floor? How would you handle that situation? What would be your course of action?
Scenario 2
What would you do if you had a 12-year old boy who would scream and start fights with other students for no apparent reason? How would you figure out why the students is getting so upset? What would be your course of action?
Are You Ready to Start Putting the Puzzle Pieces Together?
I have more than 20 years of experience inside the K12 system, I have run three (3) successful pilot programs and I've worked with over 10,000 educators, from teachers to school board members.
And as one State Official put it, "Man, Doc sure talks a lot!"
But I don't want to talk a lot in this article. I love kids and I'm passionate about our school system in America. I talk alot because I want to make America's schools the best in the world and I will not stop talking until people start listening.
Trust me, there are some people who want to try and stop me from talking, but every time they try--I come back with more to say and more evidence and better 21st century communications.
Everyone that has ever worked with me all says the same thing, "man he knows what he's talking about."
The reason I wrote this article is because I'm almost done putting together an online solution for teachers and principals. It's called the Teacher Community and this will solve what my good friend Professor Greg Benner calls "the education silo effect."
If you're a principal, what do you want?
But here's the problem.
The current K12 system is not equipped to handle the needs of 21st century learners, which also means the "System" is not designed to build teacher skills, development or talent. In turn, because your teachers don't get better at their job - they end up feeling overwhelmed, burnt out and eventually decide to quit.
And need I remind you of the "Teacher Burnout Curve" which I have written about extensively on LinkedIn and Medium. So just to recap, the "Teacher Burnout Curve" is based on data collected by the US Department of Education, which tracks teacher data. And according to that data, 60% of brand new teachers quit the profession completely before they reach the end of Year 5.
Every principal in America knows - you need a mix of novice teachers, intermediate teachers and expert teachers in your school for it to function properly. Therefore, if 60% of new teachers quit the profession - there aren't enough expert teachers to go around.
The Teacher Community isn't ready to launch just yet, but it's coming!! So hit the follow button here, so you don't MISS THAT ANNOUNCEMENT!!
What's the First Step?
Are you ready for the solution now?
There are two (2) options you can choose from. The first option is really simple and easy to do and if you're an expert Principal - I can just give you the roadmap and you can implement the changes on your own.
Like I said, I've worked with over 10,000 educators, which means I know everyone is not at the same level of knowledge, expertise or experience. Therefore, if you're a high level principal--Option One is perfect for you.
Option One
Order a Copy of My Book: "Disrupting Education"
Option Two
If you don't have the confidence to read my book and then implement all of the changes you need to make on your own, then Option Two might be perfect for you.
So let's recap the issues you want to fix:
If you want to know how to solve all of these problems--then follow Option Two
Free Solutions First!!
I try to put out as many free solutions as I can. And that's because no matter what I do, there is no possible way for me to talk to all 84,000 schools in America. And that's part of the problem.
Every school needs to become a 21st century learning environment.
Every school needs to upgrade the old, outdated K12 system that is not equipped to handle 21st century kids into a more modern and capable system.
When you fix the "SYSTEM" - you fix the pressure that teachers are currently facing. You also fix the time principals waste during walkthroughs, faculty meetings, parent complaints, student discipline and teacher observations.
When you fix the SYSTEM to be 21st century ready - everything works together again.
Your job as principal is to be the "lead instructor" in the building. That means, you need to fully understand your curriculum maps and how the teachers are supposed to use them in class.
That means, you need to be able to walk into a classroom and know exactly how good your teacher talent is. When you do walkthroughs, are you tracking data you can share with your teachers that is helpful to them?
Or are you just walking around the building with no real purpose?
That also means, do you know how to reduce student misbehavior in each classroom and throughout your building? Do you know how to create a more positive school environment that helps teachers, instead of works against teachers?
These are not simple concepts to understand - which is why I try to put out as much free solutions that I can. If you want more free solutions, then hit the follow button here and also go visit my website Leaf Academy here:
If you decide to check out Leaf Academy, make sure to read the solutions to the Top 10 Most Common Problems Schools are facing in 2024. It's just another way I can try and put out more FREE Solutions for you.
I hope this article helped, if it did - or if you learned one new thing, please hit the "like" button so that the LinkedIn community knows this is an article that every principal needs to read.
(And if you know a principal who would benefit from this article, please directly share it with them)