Sink or Swim? Leadership's Real Deal - need for training new school administrators

School Administrator, June, 2001 by Susan S. Clark

What they don't teach fledgling principals is a crying shame

Sam wasn't a wimp. He told me he had served for four years in the Coast Guard tending a lighthouse and working search and rescue. He had taught a number of years and been very successful. He was in his first year as a building administrator, serving as assistant principal for discipline at a 500-student middle school in the rural Midwest.

When I asked him about his training in supervision of instruction, he told me he had been trained in two divergent models. One was the classic clinical supervision model, complete with the anecdotal record. The other was a more holistic model that included going back after the observation and getting more information from the teacher about where the lesson fit in the total instructional picture. Clearly, the man knew instruction.

"You can really do a lot to help the teachers here," I commented, as we walked toward a classroom. Stopping at the classroom door, he turned his sad brown eyes on me. For the first time, I noticed how tired he looked.

"Maybe," he replied, "if I can get into the classrooms. ..." His voiced trailed off at the end of his words. He provided no explanation.

"What's the matter, Sam?" I asked.

"Discipline," he answered almost matter of factly. "I'm swamped all the time. I don't think I can get into the classrooms. Actually, I don't think I'll ever get to do what I need to be doing."

"What kinds of discipline problems?" I pressed. It was only September.

"Everything," he replied without emotion. "They're just all over the boards."

"Do you require the teachers to do a classroom management plan? Are you making them accountable for taking some action in the classroom before they send kids to you?"

"Well, yes. But if there is a fight or something, they can't wait to call a parent."

"That's true," I agreed. "But they need to be calling parents before things get that far."

"Let's look at some of your referrals. Maybe I can help you so you can get into the classrooms."

Untrained Need

When we entered his office, I literally could not see the top of his desk nor the table next to it. They were both covered with referrals. Looking first at the desk and then at me, Sam said, "See what I mean."

I picked up two of the referrals on the top of the pile. They were bus referrals for the same student-one for the morning and one for the afternoon. She had been throwing things out the window of the bus both times.

"Do you require the drivers to assign the students to a seat?"

"Yes."

"Do you have them give you a copy of the seating chart?"

"No, I hadn't thought about that," he said. "They don't teach you how to do this stuff in graduate school."

"I know," I answered sympathetically, "They really don't. Listen, you have to require these drivers to take some action. You can't do discipline for them on their buses. You need to have them develop some consequences and rewards. I wonder where this kid sits on the bus? Did the driver make her move to the front or make her empty her book bag prior to getting on or do anything before he referred the kid?"

Sam shook his head. "I don't know. But I see what you mean."

I picked up another referral. It was on a special education student. "How many times have you seen this kid this year?" I asked.

"Several. At least eight or nine."

"Sam, you need to call an IEP meeting and put this student on a behavior management plan that involves the teachers, his parents and his special education teacher. Even though we have to handle special education discipline differently, you can still make special ed kids and their parents accountable."

Bewildered, he said, "I didn't know I could do that. You mean I can require these special needs teachers to help me with their kids? I don't even know how to call an IEP meeting or what to do. The district isn't sending me to a school on special ed discipline until next month."

"Sam, talk to this kid's special needs teacher and tell her you want to schedule an IEP meeting to address his behavior. She will know how to do that for you. You have to design a system that makes all these people accountable for handling discipline. You can't do discipline for this whole school and all these bus drivers by yourself. It will wear you out and you are too good. We don't want to lose you before you even get started."

He sat back in his chair and looked at the floor. His bottom lip quivered and the tears started to roll down his cheeks. I moved my chair closer and took his hand.

"It's OK, Sam. I've been here. It is overwhelming."

In 30 seconds, he was sobbing. So I held his hand and cried with him as he sobbed for several minutes. Finally, he took off his glasses and wiped his eyes like a little child. Looking at me, he said through his sobs, "I want to do a good job, but I don't know what to do. They don't teach you what to do in school. I never knew it would be like this."

I squeezed his hand and looked him directly in the eyes. "It's OK, Sam. I'll help you."

Gaining Control

After he composed himself, we talked about some organizational strategies to help him get control of the discipline. These included: