Time to support instruction: when this district decided that student achievement had to become its sole focus, school- and district-level roles were reconstructed to free up time for administrators to be instructional leaders

Leadership, Sept-Oct, 2004 by Silvia Duvall, Donald Wise

With No Child Left Behind and other requirements for accountability within the public education system, school principals at all levels, now more than ever, must step into classrooms and provide the support, guidance and feedback necessary to ensure quality teaching and enhanced student achievement. Members of the administrative team at every school must become instructional leaders and create systems that promote and monitor student progress. How does this happen within a principal's already full school day? How does a principal get into classrooms and fulfill all of the other management responsibilities?

According to Richard DuFour, former principal of an award-winning high school, you must take a "can-do approach" if you want to create a results-oriented system. You must look at your current situation and ask questions such as: How am I managing my time? How can I better delegate responsibilities? Where can time be saved and where does it need to be added? DuFour says, "You must focus on the conditions that lie within your sphere of influence" (2004).

Under the leadership of superintendent Rebecca Presley, the Hartford Elementary School District decided that academics and student achievement had to become the sole priority of the district. Principals and assistant principals became instructional leaders in addition to their day-to-day management duties. Hartford Elementary wanted schools in which the principal was as likely to be found in the classroom working to improve instruction as in the office dealing with traditional administrative tasks. For this type of instructional leadership to evolve, a system was created that freed up blocks of time each day for administrators to be instructional leaders.

As Linda Lambert stated, "Time is essential to achieve anything of importance" (2003). In this spirit of making time for instruction, basic structural changes were made at every one of the eight elementary schools in the district.

First, the traditional school secretary's position was essentially eliminated and replaced by restructured positions. Each school was assigned a school operations officer, an attendance clerk and a student specialist. These members of the office staff were to take on specific decision-making tasks and responsibilities that had been within the realm of the principal and/or the assistant principal. The assistant principal's role was restructured to that of a learning director. With the increased office support, the principal and learning director now had time, and a clear mandate from the central office, to spend time in classrooms each day.

To assist the principal in running the school office and facilities, Hanford Elementary created the position of school operations officer. This position goes well beyond a traditional office manager in that the school operations officer is trained to make decisions regarding office procedures, facilities management, budgets, student transportation, food service and supervision of classified employees that do not require the approval of the principal.

Hanford Elementary knew that students must be in classrooms every school day in order to achieve. The attendance clerk is responsible for everything regarding student attendance, from morning phone calls to compiling data to informing the student specialist when a student has a pattern of not showing up for school so that the student specialist can make arrangements to meet with the parents.

Who takes care of discipline?

One question that often is raised asks, "If the principal and learning director are in the classroom or in meetings with teachers, who takes care of discipline?" The position of the student specialist was created to handle discipline and certain non-attendance issues. The student specialist supervises yard duty personnel and investigates behavior incidents and student discipline infractions.

Much of the time-consuming investigation of incidents, student/parent conferences, consequences and follow-up is handled completely by the student specialist. Only serious incidents, such as suspensions and expellable infractions, are immediately handed over to the principal. Often, a person with a counseling background is contracted as the student specialist.

For the sake of effectiveness and efficiency, the attendance clerk and student specialist report to the school operations officer, who in turn reports to the principal. The kind of responsibility that this system places on office staff requires trusted individuals who are efficient and dedicated, and an office atmosphere that continually demonstrates a commitment to student achievement as its primary focus. Open and frank communication between the administrators and office staff is vital.

Everyone must understand that the school's primary mission is education and that logistical and administrative functions exist to support instruction. Empowering the office staff to take care of the day-to-day operations also benefits them by fostering a sense of belonging and responsibility within the educational process. When the staff knows that what they are doing plays an important role in improving instruction in the classroom, office productivity and efficiency increases.