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While virtually every school leader wishes they had more resources to support their school improvement efforts—more time, funding or staff—they also know their most valuable resource isn’t a line in the budget, calendar, or policy manual. It’s their staff’s minds: their knowledge, mindset and motivation. School leaders routinely invest in professional development aligned to improvement goals because of its potential to grow not only new skills but also staff buy-in. Yet often professional development (PD) that educators experience fails on both fronts, because of its transactional, sit-and-get approach. Luckily, there is a better way: To grow your team’s practice and positively influence mindsets, give teachers the kind of learning you want them to design for students. Learn more from 51������'s business partner, sideby.

You are the architect of your building’s culture, its systems, and its commitment to learning. That’s not small work—that’s transformational. So here’s your invitation: Before the first bell rings, take some time to reflect. What do you want to be true about your school by October? What will you design now to make that vision a reality? Let’s start strong. The blueprint is in your hands.

School administrators must strive to be thermostats, not thermometers. While thermometers simply reflect the temperature of the environment, thermostats actively set the tone and influence the atmosphere around us. Here at 51������, I have the privilege of supporting principals across the state in creating positive, inclusive, and empowering climates within their schools. As leaders, it’s imperative that we set the tone by leading with intention, modeling resilience, and fostering collaboration so that our students and staff can thrive, innovate, and grow.

In addition to all the work of running a school building, school administrators must also take on the role of instructional leader, supporting and coaching teachers, and communicating with families about their children’s learning in meaningful, accessible ways. As school and district leaders across the country begin navigating the challenging yet necessary shift to science of reading-based instruction, they have more on their plates than ever. Fortunately, the science of reading can help Washington administrators engage in these conversations with specific knowledge drawn from rigorous research. Lexia® is eager to support school leaders in sharing information in open, clear, and critically reflective ways that help them push their schools and districts toward meaningful change.

Did I get your attention with my last blog, “Let’s Rethink Improving Instruction?” I hope so. It has conjured up a wide array of emotions, but most importantly, it stirred long-overdue discussions about a system that needs to be addressed. What system? The working conditions of our principals and assistant principals. For starters, let me be clear. I believe in the power of improving instruction. I believe our system improved 12 years ago with the statewide implementation of TPEP. I believe teachers and principals have journeyed through powerful conversations to improve student outcomes. I believe that leaders across the state have worked diligently to create systems to support improving instruction and cycles of feedback.