Why Community Engagement Is in My Teacher Toolbox

Connections to clubs, teams, and organizations can be the glue that holds students to school and imparts the skills and qualities that are core educational goals, says Outstanding Young Educator Brad Kuntz in his latest "In the Classroom With . . ." column.

Consider that academic eligibility requirements and adult guidance from coaches and other organization leaders can be a strong lever to motivate student achievement. In addition, students practice time management, collaborate toward shared goals, and engage in work for authentic audiences.

But what do you do when students seem apathetic and disinterested in taking advantage of opportunities beyond the regular school day? Kuntz says that he assumes students lack awareness and haven't been invited to participate. Keeping a list of students' interests and potential matches to either relevant activities or caring adult leaders they might connect with is Kuntz's first step.

He then reaches out to the student and the adult leader to introduce the potential match. He follows up on whether the student pursues involvement, sometimes walking students to meetings or practices to help ease the transition.

Community engagement is a cornerstone of Kuntz's teaching practice. Have you seen similar benefits?

Report Card Redesign – What Should Be Reported?

Last week, GOOD magazine announced the winner of its "Redesign the Report Card" contest. The winning entry is a design by Polly d'Avignon, and you can see it here.

As a visual design effort, it's a success. It's gorgeous. It's interactive, designed to be posted on a website and support parent and teacher dialog. The example design is a high school report card. Each subject has its own tab and includes six-week grading period averages, a pie chart displaying the elements that went into the average, and a day-by-day log of graded work displayed as bars with roll-over explanations.

Unfortunately, what has been designed into this lovely display is the traditional report card, with single grades for each subject that mix measures of a student's current status on intended standards with measures of practice (like homework) and participation. None of the current best thinking about effective grading practices summarized in the November issue of Educational Leadership has been followed.  

As my own article ("Starting the Conversation About Grading") in this issue suggests, the purpose of a report card must be very clear. The purpose of this report card seems to be home/school communication, mostly but not entirely about parents keeping track of a students' running grade average. Other communication purposes (like announcements about school activities) are served on the same form. I question the purpose of keeping track of a grade average—much better, I think, to keep track of what knowledge and skills students are learning in a way that makes it possible to substitute new information as students learn.

If I read my colleagues correctly, every author in the November EL would take exception to several of the practices encoded into this design. For example, figuring homework and class participation into a final grade confuses what Guskey calls product and process criteria, and the result would be an uninterpretable composite that, as Fisher, Frey, and Pumpian and Vatterott would point out, penalizes students for the ways in which they practice as they are learning. And keeping a running average means that as the reporting period progresses, students have less and less control over their final grade, depressing motivation for new learning or improvement. 

I was so disappointed! Here is all this wonderful work by a talented designer, and yet all it does is pretty up and perpetuate aspects of traditional grading that desperately need changing. It would have been nice if Ms. d'Avignon's design talents had been applied to a more educationally defensible report card.

Post submitted by Susan M. Brookhart, an independent education consultant based in Helena, Mont., and a senior research associate in the Center for Advancing the Study of Teaching and Learning at Duquesne University. Her books include How to Assess Higher-Order Thinking Skills in Your Classroom (ASCD, 2010) and Grading and Learning: Practices That Support Student Achievement (Solution Tree, 2011).

In Case You Missed It

Here's what's new from ASCD:

• Are you unable to attend Fall Conference? ASCD is live streaming several sessions from top educators on October 28–30.
• Glenda Horner gives illustrations of districts that have closed the "knowing versus doing" gap with professional development.  
• When was the last time your staff discussed the "guiding principles" of the organization?
• Eric Sheninger talks about the mobile revolution and his school's bring-your-own-device program. 
• In education discussions and reforms, we have too many people without an education background influencing the outcome, says Tom Whitby.
• ASCD Express examines how to structure lesson plans with learning goals in mind.
• What are effective ways to grade students? Read what educators have to say in the latest Educational Leadership.

Add your own highlights in the comments, and check this spot for our regular weekly digest of ASCD activities.

ASCD's Initial Thoughts on Harkin-Enzi Bill

The storm of criticism aimed at the recently introduced (and passed out of committee) Harkin-Enzi Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) bill highlights why reauthorization is four years overdue. Everyone agrees that the No Child Left Behind Act needs to be fixed, but there is very little agreement on the specific remedies that should be made.

Criticism of the bill is not only coming from all quarters, it is also inconsistent; education groups like those representing school boards and district superintendents have complained about the speed with which the bill was approved by the committee. Yet these are the very same groups that urged Congress to reauthorize the law as soon as possible.

Even though the bill would continue requirements to publicly report student achievement gaps and mandate interventions for the worst performing schools in closing achievement gaps in each state, civil rights groups are concerned that the adequate yearly progress (AYP) goals for these subgroups have been eliminated. These are probably the only organizations in the country (save perhaps, for the business community, which is a story unto itself) who actually want to preserve the widely discredited current federal accountability model.

Even the Obama administration is perturbed that the bill is not stronger in school accountability and evaluating teacher effectiveness, despite Harkin and Enzi's use of the department's blueprint as a framework for their bill. Unsurprisingly, the New York Times's editors also parroted these concerns.

Such nattering obscures the real achievements of the bill, both in terms of the legislative progress and reform:

• First, a congressional committee actually reported out a comprehensive ESEA bill, the first time this has happened since…NCLB.
• Second, the bill received bipartisan support (see above), which is no small task these days where it takes 60 senators to affirm that the year is indeed 2011. Yes, Republicans are holding judgment on supporting the bill on the Senate floor, but so are many Democrats. The point is that Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN), the former U.S. secretary of education and until last month the third ranking Republican in the Senate, is deeply invested in the bill. Indeed, Alexander's interest in working across the aisle on the ESEA bill was likely a reason for his resignation as Republican Conference chairman.
• Third, for all of those naysayers who aren't satisfied with a half loaf and are insisting on their full loaf: good luck. It's hard to see how the 2012 elections will change the makeup of Congress in any meaningful way that would make lawmakers more receptive to such appeals.
• Finally, and most important, the Harkin-Enzi bill does exactly what everyone has been clamoring for in fixing NCLB: it scraps AYP, eliminates the 2013-14 proficiency deadline, emphasizes individual student progress, targets state assistance and resources on the lowest-performing schools, maintains disaggregated data reporting, and greatly eases the states' transition to the Common Core State Standards.

Although we at ASCD believe the Harkin-Enzi bill is not perfect, especially its narrow focus on reading and math to the detriment of other core academic subjects as well as an overreliance on measuring student achievement through state tests in those two subjects along with science, we do believe it is an important and encouraging milestone. 

Legislators have put aside partisanship and have opened a new dialogue in our national education debate focused squarely on crafting solutions to the problems facing the students of today and tomorrow. We have a long way to go in this journey. However, ASCD commends senators Harkin and Enzi for their work to date and encourages them and their colleagues to listen to the input of all stakeholders as they work to refine this bipartisan bill. 

In the coming days, I'll update you on the progress of this legislative effort and provide specifics on how parts of this bill relate to the ASCD Legislative Agenda.

How to Create Independent Thinkers

Do you have habits? How about your students? I am sure you can think of a few habits you'd like to break. But are there a few you wish would develop? Although we can't make our students think, we can teach them how to be skillful, creative, and strategic in their thinking. We do this by helping them develop Habits of Mind (free webinar).

At a workshop hosted by Florida ASCD this month, Art Costa led educators in Discovering and Exploring the Habits of Mind. After interviewing successful people from all walks of life, Costa came up with 16 habits (described here) that you can teach your students to use to extend their thinking. Costa says these habits are "dispositions displayed by intelligent people in response to problems, dilemmas, and enigmas, the resolution of which are not immediately apparent." In other words, they're what you use when you don't know the answer. These habits are nothing new, and you probably use many of them every day. But our students don't have the awareness or vocabulary to express how they think, and may not know they are capable of using these dispositions.

By activating and engaging habits of mind—like persistence, questioning and posing problems, thinking flexibly, finding humor, thinking interdependently, and taking responsible risks—our students become better problem solvers. Specifically, they grow in five dimensions that help them move from teacher support to increasingly independent thinking.

1. Exploring meanings: As students learn to articulate the meanings of the habits, they develop greater capacity and can create complex analogies and later connect them to their experiences.
2. Expanding capacities: As students continue to practice the habits, they become more skillful, have a large repertoire of strategies, and begin using metacognitive strategies.
3. Increasing alertness: Students are more sensitive to cues from the environment. It's easy at first to practice habits of mind in simple contexts. But in new and complex situations, they may need support from the teacher to help them know when to use the habits. With practice, the students become self directed and apply them in the right situation.
4. Extending values: When students begin to effectively use the habits, they begin to make predictions about when and how to use the habits. They can reflect on their implementation and deepen their value of the habit. It becomes a behavior they use in their lives, a habit.
5. Building commitment: This is where students are self-directed, self-managing, self-improving, self-monitoring, self-reflective, and self-evaluating. 

So what does this look like in the classroom? To support students in developing their habits of mind, teachers can

• Infuse the thinking verbs into their questions.
• Engage kids in activities where they have to come up with the answers on their own.
• Create rich tasks that require skillful thinking.
• Teach listening skills (pause, paraphrase, and probe).
• Explicitly teach students how to transfer knowledge from one situation to another.
• Teach them how to think across the curriculum.

"Our job as educators is to create effective decision makers," said one of our workshop participants, New Point Education Partners School Director Niko Demetriou. Teaching habits of mind is an easy way to make this happen.

How are you developing your students' habits of mind?

Post submitted by Alina Davis, an ESOL K–8 resource teacher in Orlando, Fla., and a 2010 ASCD Emerging Leader.

When Parents Push Back on Grading

Educators working to reform grading and reporting often find that some of their strongest opposition comes from parents and community members. Most parents remember grades from when they were in school as a reflection of each student's relative standing among classmates. A grade of C, for example, meant "average" or "in the middle of the class." Parents are generally unfamiliar with the idea of grades reflecting a student's performance level with regard to specific learning standards. 

Because it's possible in a standards-based system for all students to do well and earn high grades, some parents may fear that their child might not succeed later on in learning environments in which students have to compete against one another. It's one thing to compete with the help of teachers and your classmates against a set of rigorous standards. It's quite another to compete against your classmates for the few scarce high grades that the teachers will eventually award. Succeeding in such an environment does not mean learning excellently; it means outdoing your classmates at whatever the cost.

Some schools schedule evening meetings with parents to explain standards-based grading, discuss its advantages, and address parents' concerns. Other schools begin by sending home two report cards for several marking periods, both the new standards-based form and the traditional form. This enables parents to experience firsthand the advantages of the new form.

What strategies have you used to address parents' concerns about grading reform? Have parents expressed other concerns? In your experience, how are they reacting to reform efforts in grading and reporting, either positively or negatively?

Post submitted by Thomas R. Guskey, author of "Five Obstacles to Grading Reform," in the November 2011 Educational Leadership.

Two Shifts Educators Can Make to Improve Outcomes for LGBTQ Students

New research published by AERA details the psychological and educational outcomes for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning (LGBTQ) students, as compared to their straight peers, in middle and high school.

The study reveals that although it is possible for LGBTQ students to develop as academically and psychologically healthy teenagers—indeed, the majority of LGBTQ-identified students do just that—a disproportionate number of LGBTQ students are at heightened risk for bullying, suicide, lower levels of school "belongingness," truancy, and falling behind academically. Additionally, these high risks were noticed earlier in LGBTQ students—around middle school—than among their peers.

Two shifts educators can make to reduce risks and improve education and psychological outcomes for LGBTQ students are

• Include LGBTQ students in the antibullying language and curriculum at your school.
• Take homophobic remarks seriously—even the seemingly benign "That's so gay"—and let students know that they are not welcome in your school.

These are just a couple of quick takeaways from this research. Establishing a safe and welcoming school climate for all students obviously takes more than a two-point agenda. Dig deeper into this topic at www.wholechildeducation.org, particularly under the "Safe" category on the Whole Child Blog.

How do you make school welcoming and inclusive of LGBTQ students?

A "Common Core" for Teacher Prep?

Education Week's Stephen Sawchuk reports that the University of Michigan today unveiled Teaching Works, a new organization that will support new teacher training by focusing on 19 essential teacher practices.

Led by Deborah Lowenberg Ball, Teaching Works aims to bring clarity and precision to teacher training, tying learning objectives and teacher assessments to the ability to successfully demonstrate the core 19 "high-leverage" teacher practices.

Some examples of these 19 practices, cited here and here, are

• Setting up and managing small-group work.
• Selecting and using specific methods to assess students' learning on an ongoing basis.
• Conducting a meeting with a parent or caregiver.
• Choosing and using representations, models, and examples of core content.
• Eliciting and interpreting each student's thinking.

Teaching Works is hosting a series of online seminars to discuss how to identify fundamental teaching practices and how to make them central to new teacher training. Register for the online seminars.

What teaching practices are most essential for new teachers?

This new program from the University of Michigan draws from its own research and effectiveness criteria identified by Charlotte Danielson, Doug Lemov, the Classroom Assessment Scoring System, Teach for America, and the Teacher Advancement Program to provide an answer.

In Case You Missed It

Here's what has been happening at ASCD:

• Merit pay, accountability, tenure, students first, testing, failing schools, poverty, and unions. Students need to understand the effect of global climate change or all those other issues may be moot. 
• Can't make it to Fall Conference? Check out ASCD's live-streamed sessions on October 28–30.
• The latest Healthy School Communities newsletter examines school lunches, physical education, and mental illness awareness, among other topics.
• The Whole Child Initiative stresses the importance of professional learning communities (PLCs).
• Is there a generational divide in education or simply an education divide when it comes to technology? 
• Could Steve Jobs have saved education?
• When teaching, are you more like a scientist or an engineer?
• Isaac Berrueta talks about the importance of a student-teacher professional development coordinator.
• ASCD author Judie Haynes says parents should speak their native language because it actually helps students better learn English.
• Steven Weber is back with a post about how the five stages of data analysis mirror the five stages of grief—denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance.
• The founder of #edchat talks about a conference put on by Eric Sheninger called Edscape, which focused on social media. 
• Only 23 percent of students whose parents had graduated from high school were proficient in English language arts, whereas 83 percent of students whose parents had graduated from college were proficient. Read about No Parent Left Behind.
• Teacher quality is only half the performance equation. The other half is principal quality.

Add your own highlights in the comments, and check this spot for our regular weekly digest of ASCD activities.

transformED

The role of teachers in school improvement is a much-discussed topic, but the discussion taking place in major media often gives teacher voices short shrift. For instance, a recent New York Times article on Stephen Brill's prominent new book Class Warfare, "Teachers Get Little Say in a Book About Them," notes that only 6 pages out of 437 include teacher contributions.

A good antidote to the often top-heavy discussion is transformED, the new group blog from the Center for Teaching Quality. The blog brings a number of strong teacher voices together to share news, analysis, and opinions on school reform efforts in particular and the teaching profession in general.

"Is 'Racing to the Top' Even Possible, Arne?", a post from Bill Ferriter, a North Carolina teacher, points out that the federal Race to the Top funds his state will receive, $100 million per year for the next four years, amounts to .01 percent of their education budget.

"In return, we've agreed to implement a series of radical and rapid changes to the way that schools do business," Ferrieter says. His take on the rigorous work necessary to improve schools and the effect of "racing" slogans on the public perception of school success is well worth reading.

Other topics covered on the blog range from the controversy over Philadelphia's recently departed superintendent to how teachers and schools should respond to the rash of cheating scandals. What brings them together is the persistent and persistently overlooked teacher voice, speaking from the trenches of classrooms.

Three Reasons for Common Core Optimism

Are standards the silver bullet that will solve education's problems? Although anyone who has been involved in education for more than a few years can be forgiven some skepticism, the new Common Core State Standards actually have the potential to make a difference, said Bob Rothman, senior fellow at the Alliance for Excellent Education, in a panel discussion October 18 (watch here) launching the release of his book Something in Common: The Common Core Standards and the Next Chapter in American Education.

Rothman cited several reasons for optimism:

• Teachers find these standards clear and easy to understand. Unlike previous standards, the Common Core State Standards are based on a rational progression toward a common goal—college and career readiness.
• The two consortia that are developing assessments to measure student progress on the standards include people who helped develop the standards and are intimately familiar with them.
• The fact that so many states have adopted the standards means it's more likely there will be interest and energy about developing curriculum materials to support them. And the consortia's mandates include some funding for development of such materials.

Obstacles remain, though. Others on the panel—including Massachusetts Secretary of Education Paul Reville; Lucille Davy of the James B. Hunt Jr. Institute; and Bob Wise, president of the Alliance—pointed out that many of the 44 governors who originally signed on to the standards have left office and there's no guarantee their replacements will be as eager to implement the standards during state budget shortfalls.

Another challenge is public perception—a recent Pew poll shows only 11 percent of the public knows what the Common Core State Standards are. In addition, there may be confusion and resistance if assessments linked to the new standards initially appear to show decreasing student achievement. Rothman expressed concern that publishers and professional development providers will rush to claim that their products are aligned to the new standards, and it will be difficult for educators to know whether such claims are true.

In general, though, the panelists agreed with Rothman that the Common Core State Standards offer an opportunity to reinvigorate the conversation about education reform. Many educators feel renewed excitement because they believe that this time the whole package will be delivered—including curriculum, instructional materials, and assessments. As Davy commented, "I think it's unprecedented for so many people to be pushing in the same direction."

Post submitted by Educational Leadership Senior Editor Deborah Perkins-Gough.

When Teachers Supervise (1945)

The article "When Teachers Supervise," from the January 1945 issue of Educational Leadership, is a disarming tale of Alice Moore, a new 3rd grade teacher working across the hall from Grace Jones, a veteran educator.

Author Mary A. Henderson, a colleague of Moore and Jones at Brightwood School in Washington, D.C., describes how "just bits of conversation" meant a great deal to Moore as she worked through problems and uncertainties in her new job.

Henderson goes on to describe more formalized programs of mentoring and group study organized throughout the city schools, but the central characters of her story stand out for the way they illustrate the power of peer support and demystify acts of coaching and supervision.

Henderson writes, "Supervision, guidance, leadership—whatever we may call it—it is present whenever two or more people meet who are interested in child growth and development. If we agree that the three words are synonymous, then every teacher is supervising someone at some time during the day."

The article's relatable story and empowering message make it a worthy read all these years later.

For Each to Excel

High standards and personalization—are these two education trends really in opposition? Because of today's expectation that schools bring all students to high levels of achievement, many educators believe that it is more important than ever to get to know students as individuals, identify their needs, and target instruction to each student’s strengths and interests.

ASCD Express is looking for short, 600 to 1,000-word essays on the theme "For Each to Excel." This issue will explore how schools are personalizing learning to help all students reach common curriculum standards. We are looking for articles on new ways teachers are differentiating instruction and providing student choice and challenge at all grade levels. What does neuroscience tell us about the power of personalized learning? What are the benefits of the common core curriculum, and how can standards and personalization mesh? And what new possibilities for customized education are being created by technology, online courses, and virtual schools?

Guidelines for submissions are here. Please send us your submissions by November 2, 2011.

Five Strategies for Supporting Gifted Students

Last week's most-clicked ASCD SmartBrief article echoes a previous most-clicked report from the Fordham Foundation that claims policies focused exclusively on low achievers disserve high achievers, and as a result, top performers steadily lose ground as they transition through school.

"How to Support Gifted Students in Your Classroom" asks teachers to be mindful of how they can identify, recognize, accept, and utilize giftedness in your classroom beyond adding more work for gifted students or asking them to tutor less-proficient students.

An EL article from the archives, "Raising Expectations for the Gifted," suggests five strategies for teaching gifted students in an inclusive classroom:

• Curriculum Compacting: Streamlining what is taught to students by first assessing their prior knowledge and then modifying or eliminating work that has been partially or fully mastered.
• Flexible Grouping: Grouping students according to strength, need, or interest, and groups change frequently, sometimes in the course of a single class session. (See Tomlinson for more on this topic.)
• Product Choices: Allowing students some choice in what sort of culminating product they will produce.
• Tiered Assignments: The entire class studies the same content, but individual students choose assignments at different levels of complexity, with the teacher's assistance.
• Multilevel Learning Stations: Providing meaningful independent work that extends and enriches class discussions.

 How do you support gifted students in mixed classrooms?

In Case You Missed it

 Check out the most recent ASCD highlights:

• ASCD Author Bryan Goodwin says it may not be the program that doesn’t work; it may be that the way it's implemented is all wrong.
• Simply knowing and taking advantage of logistical and emotional support from administrators and colleagues can be a huge and influential factor in your success as a transformational innovator in your school.
• Read the latest news from L2L in this month's newsletter.
• ASCD Express provides additional resources on coaching as the new leadership skill for educators.
• Make sure to check out the live events from ASCD's Fall Conference, being held on October 28–30.
• Diane Ravitch has many supporters but wonders why no other education leaders are coming forward in a national forum. Why do you think education leaders are hesitant to speak up?
• Eric Sheninger shares seven ways that teachers at his school are upgrading their instruction with 21st century tools.
• In referring to the recent death of Steve Jobs, Walter McKenzie says, "If you want to honor the life, public or private, of someone who has passed on from this world, honor their personal legend by pursuing your own."

Add your own highlights in the comments, and check this spot for our regular weekly digest of ASCD activities.

Measuring the Digital Divide

Read more about challenges to meeting the goals of the National Education Technology Plan in the latest issue of Policy Priorities. View a PDF of this infographic.

 
 
 

Sustained Mastery Through Coaching

"With a diploma, a few will achieve sustained mastery; with a good coach, many could," writes Atul Gawande in his recent New Yorker article, "Personal Best."

An experienced surgeon, Gawande notices his success rates are starting to plateau. He asks one of the surgeons he trained under, since retired, to observe and coach him in his practice. The experience leads him to conclude that, "Coaching done well may be the most effective intervention designed for human performance."

Gawande speaks with instructional coaching pioneer Jim Knight, and visits a middle school applying Knight's principles. He points out parallels between doctors and teachers working in isolation, and the barriers to seeking professional support. The article is a must-read for anyone reading the October 2011 Educational Leadership on "Coaching: The New Leadership Skill." It's also a ringing confirmation that good coaching can improve the practice of professionals at any level. Elite athletes have coaches, so why not the best teachers, too? 

"We treat guidance for professionals as a luxury—you can guess what gets cut first when school-district budgets are slashed. But coaching may prove essential to the success of modern society," writes Gawande. "There was a moment in sports when employing a coach was unimaginable—and then came a time when not doing so was unimaginable. We care about results in sports, and if we care half as much about results in schools and in hospitals we may reach the same conclusion."

How Negative Social Proof Can Undermine Classroom Management

Social proof is the tendency of individuals to look to others' behavior to help determine their own behavior. When we see others doing something or taking a course of action, it has tremendous influence in our own decision-making process.

We see examples of social proof around us every day. Most of us want to see the latest movie everyone is talking about and drive with the flow of traffic regardless of the posted speed limit.

As educators, we sometimes resort to the use of negative social proof in an attempt to guide and influence student behavior. We lecture classes about missing homework, coming to class late, uncooperative behavior, or apathetic attitudes. We do this in an attempt to clarify right from wrong and acceptable from unacceptable. However, the practice of highlighting the negative behavior of a few students can actually backfire.

Negative social proof works in a similar way as positive social proof. Because most of us look to others to help us decide our own behavior, the practice of stressing the poor behavior of a few students may actually encourage and increase that behavior. When educators lecture groups about an inappropriate behavior, they may actually make it seem like the behavior is more common than it actually is. Robert Cialdini and his coauthors in the book Yes! 50 Scientifically Proven Ways to Be Persuasive point out that, "by using negative social proof as part of a rallying cry, they might actually be inadvertently focusing the audience on the prevalence, rather than the undesirability, of that behavior."

As educators, we are better served to point out and discuss the positive behaviors of the majority of our students. In any given classroom, most students are respectful, cooperative, and eager to learn. Use class meetings and open forums to stress the fact that the majority of students are following the rules and conducting themselves appropriately. Save the speeches, reprimands, and lectures for private conversations with those few students who are not exhibiting the expected behavior.

Post submitted by Bryan Harris, director of professional development for the Casa Grande Elementary School District in Arizona. He is the author of Battling Boredom, published by Eye On Education. More information can be found at http://www.bryan-harris.com.

Is October the Longest Month for New Teachers?

The initial jolt of back-to-school momentum has worn off, and teachers and students are settling in for the long haul of the school year.

Teacher Cossondra George writes (in last week's most-clicked ASCD SmartBrief story) that new teacher, especially need to find the habits that will sustain them through the exhausting demands of a full year of teaching. George's tips include setting boundaries that leave time for your family, health, and other personal needs, as well as ways to stay positive, keep perspective, and surround yourself with supportive peers.

New teachers and those who love them may also want to bookmark the ASCD Express series on tips for new teachers, which is full of great ideas for staying on top of your game throughout October and beyond.

Once the honeymoon period fades, what strategies help carry you for the full year?

Support Principals, Transform Schools

"For as long as I am a principal, I will always have a coach," says a principal who benefits from the transformational leadership coaching described in "Support Principals, Transform Schools," in the October 2011 issue of Educational Leadership.

A team of seven coaches, all former teachers with experience in coaching or administration and hired from within Oakland Unified School District (Cal.), work with school leaders in Oakland to coconstruct an improvement plan that focuses on instructional leadership, PLCs and shared leadership, quality teaching and learning, and community and family engagement.

Coaches use inquiry and observation to build trust and get a complete picture of the school and the leaders' vision for the school. Rubrics (like this one [PDF]) help coaches and leaders assess progress toward established goals.

In the Oakland schools where these coaches have worked for two or more years, Academic Performance Index scores have risen by an average of 74 points a year (typical Oakland schools grow by about 26 points), and teacher and principal turnover has been reduced. Notably, leaders coached in emotional resilience are particularly tenacious.

Who supports leaders at your school? Would you welcome leadership coaching?