by Stuart Singer, The Teacher Leader
Over the course of my forty-year teaching career, which included twenty-six years as a department chair, and ten as Curriculum Coordinator, I worked with a significant number of school administrators and district leaders. This is the third in a series highlighting those individuals who in my opinion were the most effective in their particular roles. The goal of these analyses is to illuminate those qualities that make professionals in these critical positions successful and maximize their positive influence in a school.
I had the good fortune to work with a number of extremely talented assistant principals. Many moved on in their careers to become successful principals at either middle or high schools. A few rose to the superintendent level in other districts. I also interacted with many individuals who were lacking in either the skills or the experiences required to be productive. Though they made my vocational life more difficult at the time, the shortcomings of these individuals allowed me to better understand and appreciate the strengths of the effective APs.
Due to the large number of excellent administrators I encountered, I have the wonderful dilemma of trying to parse out which one was the best. As an indication of my good fortune, I have found that to be an impossible task. Consequently, with apologies to many other worthy candidates, I believe that two individuals, David Smith and Cordell Gill best embodied the personal talents and skills necessary to be outstanding assistant principals and have a positive impact on both the math department and the school.
What attributes made them the most effective assistant principals?
The role of an Assistant Principal is very different from that of the Director of Guidance or Instructional Coordinator. Both of those positions have a very specific focus, the students and master schedule for the former and a single curriculum for the latter. In contrast Assistant Principals must be multi-taskers. They must provide discipline, supervise multiple curriculums, evaluate teachers, and contribute to school policy, in addition to miscellaneous jobs ranging from hall duty to planning graduation. Consequently their success cannot be explained with a list of specific personal qualities that produced effectiveness as was done for the previous “bests”. For this position excellence is found in the mindset they took to their role.
In both casual and formal situations, Dave and Cordell never envisioned their position as one with an elevated status—neither perceived himself as owning a seat at “the head of the table” in a room full of teachers. Their vision of the job of an Assistant Principal was not to give orders or make unilateral decisions. Rather they saw their basic role as assisting teachers to perform more effectively. They listened. To that end they solicited the needs and concerns of teachers and department chairs then worked in a collaborative manner to find solutions. They realized that teachers were not interchangeable parts. Each one possessed unique strengths and weaknesses that needed to be either nurtured or mitigated.
Unfortunately this approach is not always the norm. One of the most corrosive relationships that can be created in a school is a “we vs. they” mentality between the teaching and administrative staffs. I once heard an AP tell a teacher who questioned one of his decisions concerning a student, “I find it hard to believe that a teacher would not simply follow the directive of an administrator.” Another explained to a department chair, “Your role is to implement the policies of the administration”. Such attitudes, which occur far too often, are one of the primary sources of low teacher morale.
In a perfect educational world every department would be supervised by someone who is qualified to teach in that area. While that situation can make an AP even more effective, in most cases it is not the reality. Both Dave and Cordell had a narrow view of their role in determining curriculum policy. They reserved such decisions for those who were certified in the subject area. They understood that their area of expertise was in creating the best possible educational climate in the building, not in determining what topics were to be taught in each individual room or which teacher should be teaching a specific class. They offered their services in a reactive manner—as someone who was a willing listener who would give suggestions and advice when solicited or necessary.
To attain educational success there must be strong classroom management. Dave and Cordell understood that certain students could “highjack” the education of others. When dealing with such individuals they sent a powerful and consistent message—such conduct will not be tolerated. Both worked in a positive manner with all the involved parties. They were always “pro-teacher” when working with the students. When informing teachers of the outcomes they would become “pro-student” explaining in detail any circumstances that may not have been previously revealed.
Like every great Assistant Principal I worked with I viewed these two men as my allies never as adversaries. They handled every situation in a professional and even-handed manner. They approached all personal interactions whether with students or teachers with an open mind. Most importantly they saw themselves as a person working behind the scenes to make the school better.