What you can do. Not what you can’t.
SAM teams focus on what is important: Improving teaching and learning. Effective leaders avoid spending a lot of time stressing about things they can’t control. Instead, they focus on the mission and what they can do next.
The election demonstrated that the country is divided on lots of things. This isn’t new, but the divide is far more pronounced than any time in US history.
The good news: The current president and the president-elect agree that principals are key to improving teaching and learning. Here’s a quote from Donald Trump’s website:
“A 2022 study from the University of North Carolina School of Education found that efforts to “recruit and retain high-performing principals are likely to have large payoffs.” A study by the National Association of Secondary School Principals showed that school leadership is “second only to classroom instruction as an influence on student learning”—or as another study from Stronge & Associates Educational Consulting put it, “There is no high-performing school without an effective principal… Principal leadership matters. And it matters substantially.” Furthermore, according to the University of Chicago Consortium on School Research, “schools with the highest learning gains had principals who promoted a strong school climate.” Great principals empower great teachers—and great teachers empower great students.”
The president-elect’s website also proposes a lot of changes in schools that I see as counter to my values. It is important to look for points of agreement and demonstrate faith in the American representative government process that depends on compromise and careful consideration at every level, federal, state and local.
Like all Americans, principals and district leaders will, and should have, a voice in the legislative process. At the same time, principals know that they must stay true to the first rule of school leadership: You have friends or potential friends. You can’t have enemies. Doing otherwise hurts your ability to improve teacher practice and student performance.
551 SAM team members and guests have registered for the 18th Annual National SAM Conference. The conference is a celebration of your work and an opportunity to learn from authors and national speakers as well as your colleagues.
· The deadline to submit travel information is December 1. Send to Travel@SamsConnect.com
· The deadline to submit a breakout session proposal is this Friday, 11/15. Breakout Session Proposal Form
· You can still register to attend: REGISTER HERE
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