A Quick Start Guide for Principals and New Administrators

By Dr. Jeremy Wagner

I started as a new district administrator straight out of the classroom. I have 9 years of experience as a science teacher and 6 years as a director for math, science, and teacher evaluation in a medium-sized district in West Texas. When I first came on board, I had a little training from my Master’s and administrator coursework, but nothing quite brings you to reality like in-the-moment experience. My first couple of weeks felt a lot like I was waiting to become relevant, and it wasn’t until later that I found that feeling to be an extremely common experience for new administrators.

By digging into longitudinal trends in student performance across the subjects I coordinated and teacher evaluation trends, I found a way to become immediately helpful. Analyzing the programs you’re in charge of gives you a 30,000-foot view of what is happening in your school or your district. It gives you the starting place to ask the right questions and prioritize the needs for your role while allowing you time to onboard with the other tasks that come with the job.

Bonus tip: Start building relationships with the people you work with as quickly as possible. Spend time in classrooms, even if you’re at the district level, and start setting up a pattern of behavior and visibility. No matter what administrative role you play, your presence is the most important piece of standing out as a trusted leader.

Data must come first

The single most important thing you need in order to start making decisions is information. That information can come in several forms including hard data, anecdotal feedback, and observations. For program evaluation, you likely need all three. Consider ways to gather all of these types of information without overwhelming teachers and staff members with more “tasks” than they can handle. Wherever possible, dig into and find the data yourself.

When looking into data trends, here are a few things to keep in mind:

1. Summarize your data by student populations. Underserved populations are a critical piece to overall student success and accountability. Challenge the philosophy that “what’s good for one is good for all.” That is a very valid statement for a lot of things. But sometimes some students need a different level of attention.
2. Find areas where the data doesn’t match.
1. For example, if you compare local assessment data to state-level data, the trends should look similar. If they don’t correlate, what questions can be asked to enhance your assessment program?
2. Compare teacher evaluation results to local and state-level data. There should be a correlation between your higher-rated teachers and student growth (note: not flat achievement, but look at growth). If they aren’t correlated, what questions can be asked to better align your evaluation program?
3. Compare teacher evaluations across schools or departments. If all things are equal, talent should be spread relatively evenly. If the evaluation patterns aren’t aligned, what could be done to calibrate your evaluation program?
3. Identify and share longitudinal trends on performance data. Try to prioritize growth over achievement where possible. Use this data to begin collaborative conversations about what can be learned and what actions can be taken.
4. Create action plans with measurable checkpoints based on desired outcomes. Next, follow through on them. Data is only as good as the actions that come from the analysis. Pulling data is only the first step.

Use your support system

New administrators can find themselves isolated, especially in small schools or highly specialized positions. Coming into a new role, find someone who can mentor you, even in an informal capacity. This doesn’t have to be someone that had your role (though, that’s helpful if possible). Anyone who can help you connect to systems or processes that are relevant to your position is a resource worth connecting with.

Your single best resources will be your seasoned teachers, office staff, and custodial staff. You’d be really surprised how much a custodian can provide in terms of context and information about how things run or have run in the school. Your administrative assistants are absolutely the single best resource you can tap into, especially if they’ve been at the school for any length of time. Entire empires can rise and fall with the knowledge and skills associated with your administrative assistants.

Establish periodic check-ins with these people. This will help create feedback loops that allow you to orient yourself, explore questions with a broader audience, and set the stage for any systemic change that you discover needs implemented.

Talk to your teachers and students

Creating any kind of change, or maintaining excellence, requires coordinated, collaborative efforts across a lot of groups of people. At the end of the day, as an administrator, you’re only holding the north star and setting the stage for climate and culture. The real change happens in the classrooms with the teachers and the students. The teachers are the ones in the trenches every minute of every day.

While it’s your job to have your finger on the pulse of the school or the district, the teachers have their finger on the pulse of their rooms in a way that any administrator couldn’t possibly achieve. Build and establish trust, and listen more than you talk as often as possible. Teachers have an amazing capacity to generate solutions to everyday problems. Use your walkthrough and evaluation data to figure out who your rock stars are and listen closely to them. But also learn to listen to the teachers you find struggling, or coasting. There are reasons for those mentalities or problems, and you can do something about it.

Bonus tip: Listen to your students as well. Set up a version of a “student board” to get regular feedback whenever it makes sense. Walk into classrooms, watch a bit of a lesson, and ask students what they think. Students are unbelievably good at giving you feedback if you ask. And they’ll generally be honest about it. Your students know better than most who the best teachers are as well as the best things happening in the school. They can provide valuable insight into the culture and health of your school.

Conclusion

When coming into an administrative position in a district, it can be easy to get overwhelmed, feel lost, feel isolated, and even struggle with feelings of inadequacy. At the end of the day, remember that you have at your fingertips tools, people, and resources that can help you get started. Begin by digging into data. Getting the “lay of the land” early gives you time as you learn more about what you’re going to be doing on a day-to-day basis. You were chosen for the role for a reason. You have an opportunity to make a difference with the staff and students. The entire task may feel too large or nebulous, but recall how you eat an elephant. Do it one bite at a time, and stay focused and connected to the larger goals.

Jeremy Wagner was previously a teacher with nine years of experience teaching middle school science; six years of experience as district administrator, and earned his doctorate in Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment. He's the former 2013 Texas Teacher of the Year and enjoys using his experiences as an educator to help educators of all levels find ways to help students grow. Jeremy is now the Product Manager for Eduphoria, an educational tech company providing software solutions to K-12 schools nationwide. For more information, please contact Lyndsay Lamica at Lyndsay@eduphoria.net or by phone at 407-505-5962. Website: www.eduphoria.net