Leading Schools in Tumultuous Times: 7 Lessons
Leading Schools in Tumultuous Times: 7 Lessons From the Nation’s Best District Leaders
1. Be brave. Be tenacious.
Conceptual image for leading in tumultuos times.
No one knows better than district leaders that it’s often an uphill fight to get the job done. Bureaucracy stymies execution of a new idea. Parent opposition, political headwinds, or staff resistance sideline an initiative that leaders considered crucial for equity.
Our Leaders have used strong words to encourage their peers:
“Be persistent,” they say. “Be relentless.” “Be creative.” “Be unafraid to challenge the status quo.” When leaders are called on to reexamine or defend their instruction on racism, and to make decisions about COVID safety that are likely to enrage large swaths of their communities, they must be able to refresh their supplies of bravery and persistence.
2. Give students a voice.
Conceptual image for leading in tumultuos times.
Leaders have long cited this as important, but few districts do it well. If ever there were a time to build this muscle, however, it’s now. Students languish as adults debate what they should learn about racism and sexism in their classrooms. They’ve suffered without face-to-face instruction. They’ve struggled without the social and emotional support of peer friendships. Now more than ever, leaders need to engage students in genuine conversations to find out what they need.
3. Enlighten and engage your community about school finance.
Conceptual image for leading in tumultuos times.
The Leaders we’ve honored for financial savvy cite this skill as key. They urge leaders to educate their communities about the basics of school finance, how decisions get made, and the choices they face. Now that districts have access to billions in COVID-19-related federal relief money, educating communities about how it’s spent—and being accountable for that spending—takes on a new significance.
4. Collaborate.
Conceptual image for leading in tumultuos times.
This is the lesson our Leaders cite most often. It takes various forms. Working as a team. Involving a diverse array of stakeholders in decisionmaking. Empowering and entrusting colleagues to lead. Building strong relationships. Collaboration has become more important than ever, as district leaders work with local health authorities, community groups, parents, and their staff to create and support COVID-19 safety policies and ensure supportive learning environments for students.
5. Communicate.
Conceptual image for leading in tumultuos times.
This skill consistently makes our Leaders’ hit parades. Year after year, they remind us of the importance of engaging in dialogue with their communities—and their staff—to discuss ideas, answer questions, build understanding, and develop buy-in. Communication has taken on more significance recently, too, as district leaders grapple with how they teach about racism and why, make repeated shifts in COVID-19 safety policies, and understand their communities’ needs.
6. Ground decisions in data.
Conceptual image for leading in tumultuos times.
In the past, Leaders have cited data as an important foundation for key decisions on everything from guiding instruction to confronting inequity. After the pandemic, data can serve as a set of directional signals, clarifying how and where to provide support for students whose academic progress and mental health suffered.
Within a two-year span, from 2016 to 2018, Hurricanes Matthew and Florence caused more than $18 billion in damages across North Carolina, forcing our students to miss seven instructional days in 2016 and an unprecedented 30 days of school in 2018. Many of our families lost everything. Less than two years later, the COVID-19 pandemic wreaked a social, emotional, and academic toll on our community.
But we count blessings, not barriers. These tribulations helped reinforce the Duplin Promise, our unified commitment that “All Means All.”
I learned early in my career that effective leadership is not about personal success but rather about the success of those you lead.
Austin Obasohan, superintendent, Duplin County Schools, Kenansville, N.C.
And they brought blessings in the form of much-needed resources to ensure equity for students and staff. We have since reached the goal of a 1-to-1 technology program, including hot spots for those without reliable home internet, and we’ve hired additional staff to support principals, provide small-group instruction, and assist with technology integration at a time when students need it most.
Personalization can inspire innovation
Our values—and our commitment to ensuring each student reaches success after high school—have remained firm, even as our school demographics, needs, and funding have shifted.
In the last decade, our Hispanic enrollment has grown to 45 percent, up from 35 percent in the 2012-13 school year. Twenty-one percent of our students are now English-learners.
Our promise to almost 10,000 pre-K-13 students is to prepare them for success after high school, whether they choose college, technical training, the military, or the workforce.
Personalization continues to inspire innovation. In July 2018, building upon a decade of efforts to expand career-and-college readiness, the Duplin County schools launched a STEAMA (science, technology, engineering, arts, math, and agriculture) initiative to integrate learning across many content areas and allow students to graduate with a pathway to a successful career.
STEAMA contributes to a growing economy and better-prepared workforce by engaging all students in pathways with purpose, increasing their chances of connecting to school and graduating on time, ready for prosperous careers and college experiences. Among its components: physical science integrated into P.E. classes; hands-on career modules in middle school selected with local business and industry input; high school academy options, including diesel tech and agribusiness; and makerspaces and live learning laboratories where students learn how food gets from the farm to table.
Forward progress toward educational equity
Our progress is evidence of our commitment to student growth and success, which we have coupled with a promise to provide every child with the tools to be successful. Our teachers, through innovative lesson designs, are making learning exciting and engaging for students.
We’ve embraced a state framework for research-based academic and behavioral practices. We’ve also established district- and school-level teams whose work is guided by the district’s social-emotional-learning plan and invested in a universal screener to identify student needs. Counselors, social workers, nurses, and resource officers are integral members of every school. Telemedicine, available at each school, connects students with medical professionals.
The data indicate we are succeeding: Many early-college students and a growing number of comprehensive high school students graduate with an industry-recognized credential and/or associate’s degree at no cost. Last year, students were offered nearly $15.1 million in scholarships as an increasing number of graduates earn their associate’s degrees while simultaneously working on their high school diplomas.
