Speaking the language

One challenge for a principal is communicating similar messages to different audiences. Each stakeholder has a specific perspective that needs to be taken into account. For instance, when I was asked a question about the portfolio at freshman orientation last week, I described the basic process for the parents. After my explanation, Anne Hathaway, one of our teachers, told the parents to make sure that their children saved everything. While my background information may have been helpful, Anne’s message was more immediate and direct providing an important action step for that audience.

When we meet as a group of faculty on the first day, I try to provide connections and context to the work we will continue to work on as a professional learning community as well as show how we can get there. So when I say to students that we want all of them to succeed, I frame that in more specific terms to our faculty. One of the graphics I showed to the staff examined how we can continue to improve the effectiveness of our instruction to improve student achievement. The graphic I shared with them laid out how the work we do as professionals connects to the work we've done and how we need to move forward. Most departments have achieved consensus on what kids need to know and be able to do. Some of that is dictated by our state grade-span expectations and/or national content-area standards. Most departments have also created common summative assessments, reaching consensus on how we assess if kids are learning what we want them to learn over the course of a unit or entire year. In education this is called assessment of learning. The next step for us as a school is to use that assessment data to determine where kids are excelling and where they need more help. Once we determine that, we can more effectively address the areas where we need to re-emphasize or differentiate our instruction. I believe when we start using assessments not as an end point to a unit but an entry point to understanding what students know, we will be able to systemically support all students. That is to say, assessment for learning is as valuable as assessment of learning.

So while the message to parents and students is to commit to supporting all students, my communication to teachers, much like Anne's suggestion to parents about the portfolio, needs to be prescriptive regarding how we can achieve that goal. Let me know if you'd like a copy of the graphic.