Our school district is beginning the search for a new superintendent of schools. To gather input, the school board sent our a survey to all staff in the district. I thought I would include one of my responses (slightly modified for this format):
The world of education has become obsessed with collecting, compiling, analyzing, and meeting about data. Kids have become numbers and data points and we have come to see them as “in” or “out” – above the line or below it. We talk about dealing with the whole child but almost every meeting, every initiative, every discussion and every “new” idea is wrapped in data and student scores. I know data is quite fashionable in education right now, but, as happens too often, our pendulum has swung far in one direction to the near exclusion of treating the student as a person. I believe in high standards. I believe in challenging students. I also believe that another meeting, more PLC time, a different assessment tool, another data point or an additional teaching strategy is not going to change the results of a student whose life is in turmoil. I did not get into teaching because I was passionate about data, assessments and moving students from level 2 to level 3. I became a teacher because I earnestly believed that I could have the opportunity to make a difference in the lives of students. I believe that is why most of us went into education, but we have lost sight of that. Our checklists and agendas distract us from what we first thought was most important about education. We give it lip service and then ignore it at every turn.
In short, I hope for a leader who passionately believes that teaching students means more than increasing test scores - a leader who understands that educators are role models who shape lives, and, as a leader, is compelled to encourage others to live and work that way.
The world of education has become obsessed with collecting, compiling, analyzing, and meeting about data. Kids have become numbers and data points and we have come to see them as “in” or “out” – above the line or below it. We talk about dealing with the whole child but almost every meeting, every initiative, every discussion and every “new” idea is wrapped in data and student scores. I know data is quite fashionable in education right now, but, as happens too often, our pendulum has swung far in one direction to the near exclusion of treating the student as a person. I believe in high standards. I believe in challenging students. I also believe that another meeting, more PLC time, a different assessment tool, another data point or an additional teaching strategy is not going to change the results of a student whose life is in turmoil. I did not get into teaching because I was passionate about data, assessments and moving students from level 2 to level 3. I became a teacher because I earnestly believed that I could have the opportunity to make a difference in the lives of students. I believe that is why most of us went into education, but we have lost sight of that. Our checklists and agendas distract us from what we first thought was most important about education. We give it lip service and then ignore it at every turn.
It would be refreshing to have a leader who is more consumed with understanding students than understanding numbers. Our leader, our superintendent, models, for the rest of us, what is most important. Our superintendent sets agendas and goals and dictates the focus of meetings and collaborative time. Saying that we are all about the whole student is vastly different than demonstrating that we are all about the whole student. It is more than words. I would greatly value a superintendent that understood that, embraced that and encouraged the rest of us to pursue that – above data and above the latest, greatest trend. I desire a courageous leader that will make a stand for the best interest of students and parents, even if that means less stuff to put on a resume, and even if it means bucking what is popular in the world of education and even if it means standing up to teachers or the school board or other staff for the sake of what is right for the community. I would like a superintendent that puts greater weight in common sense than in a PhD. I would like a superintendent that believes staff should have personal integrity beyond the contract language and demonstrates that by the standards of integrity expected amongst staff (including coaches who, for some reason often seem to be excluded from expectations of being role models for honesty, integrity and character).
In short, I hope for a leader who passionately believes that teaching students means more than increasing test scores - a leader who understands that educators are role models who shape lives, and, as a leader, is compelled to encourage others to live and work that way.
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