no position to support a struggling team or to learn from a high-performing team.
However, monitoring and micromanaging are different. Monitoring works best when teachers understand the work that teams need to produce, the expected quality of their work products, and the process for submitting work products to school leaders according to a timeline, as previously described. If a team cannot generate a product or it presents inconsistent work that lacks clearly defined quality expectations, the team needs additional support. Conversely, teams that have no difficulty producing high-quality work according to the agreed-on timeline will benefit from greater autonomy. In high-performing PLCs, collaborative teams are remarkably self-directed.
Establishing team leaders ensures the lines of communication among teams and school leaders remain open. Not only does this promote more widely dispersed leadership, it provides another avenue for school leaders to monitor the work of teams. Principals should meet with team leaders regularly; clarify and rehearse how these leaders can lead their colleagues through the different elements of the PLC process; and share problems, concerns, and successes (Eaker & Sells, 2016).
Effective team leaders can play an important role in developing their colleagues’ self-efficacy. When they do, if the principal and other key staff eventually leave the school, it causes no sense of lost purpose or direction because the school has groomed many leaders who can continue to support the work.
Demonstrate a Willingness to Confront Individuals and Groups Who Are Not Contributing to the Collaborative Team Process
Perhaps the most common reason that leaders fail to effectively communicate their organization’s purpose and priorities is that a disconnect appears between what they say and what they do. James A. Autry (2004), author of The Servant Leader, advises leaders that others in the organization:
Can determine who you are only by observing what you do. They can’t see inside your head, they can’t know what you think or how you feel, they can’t subliminally detect your compassion or pain or joy or goodwill. In other words, the only way you can manifest your character, your personhood, and your spirit in the workplace is through your behavior. (p. 1)
The key to effective communication lies not in the leader’s eloquence but in the congruence between his or her words and deeds. Nothing destroys a leader’s credibility faster than an unwillingness to address an obvious problem that stands in contrast to the organization’s stated purpose and priorities. The very essence of a tight culture is the certainty that we confront any behavior inconsistent with what is tight. I have never found a tight school culture with a principal who lacks a willingness to challenge inappropriate behavior on the part of individuals or groups within the school.
Celebrate Small Successes Along the Way
Every organization will face the challenge of sustaining momentum over time while it implements a comprehensive improvement effort. Experts on the organizational change process offer consistent advice regarding that challenge: plan for frequent celebrations of incremental progress (Amabile & Kramer, 2010; Collins, 2001; Elmore & City, 2007; Heath & Heath, 2010; Katzenbach & Smith, 1993; Kotter & Cohen, 2002; Patterson et al., 2008).
When celebrations continually remind people of the purpose and priorities of their organization, team members will more likely embrace the purpose and work toward the agreed-on priorities. Regular public recognition of specific collaborative efforts, accomplished tasks, achieved goals, team learning, continuous improvement, and support for student learning remind staff of the collective commitment to create a PLC. The word recognize comes from the Latin for “to know again.” Recognition provides opportunities to say, “Let us all be reminded of and know again what is important, what we value, and what we are committed to do. Now, let’s all honor a team or individual in our school who is living that commitment.”
There is a difference between planning for celebration and hoping for something to celebrate. Leaders of the PLC process identify specific benchmarks along the journey and prepare to publicly celebrate those benchmarks. In doing so, they should keep the following four guidelines for celebration in mind (DuFour et al., 2016).
1. Explicitly state the purpose of celebration: Continually remind staff members that celebration represents both an important strategy for reinforcing the school or district’s shared mission, vision, collective commitments, and goals and the most powerful tool for sustaining the PLC journey.
2. Make celebration everyone’s responsibility: Everyone in the organization, not just the administration, has responsibility for recognizing extraordinary commitments. Encourage all staff members to publicly report when they appreciate and admire the work of a colleague.
3. Establish a clear link between the recognition and the behavior or commitment you are attempting to encourage and reinforce: Recognition must specifically link to the school’s or district’s mission, vision, collective commitments, and goals for it to help shape the school culture. The question, What behavior or commitment have we attempted to encourage with this recognition? should have a readily apparent answer.
4. Create opportunities to have many people recognized: Celebration can cause disruptions and detriment if people perceive that recognition is reserved for an exclusive few. Developing a PLC requires creating systems specifically designed not only to provide celebrations but also to ensure that the celebrations recognize many winners.
Can we overdo celebration? Absolutely! We should use the sincerity with which we give recognition for a team or individual as the criterion for assessing the appropriateness of the recognition. A commendation should represent genuine and heartfelt appreciation and admiration. If it does meet that criterion, don’t worry about expressing too much gratitude.
In This Book
Leaders hoping to create a high reliability school must recognize that their challenge does not merely involve putting new structures and strategies in place. They must face their larger challenge of reshaping the school culture and the assumptions, beliefs, and expectations that drive the culture. A growing consensus states that leaders can best lead this cultural transformation and create sustainable school improvement by building educators’ capacity to function as members of a PLC. With a strong PLC process in place, principals and teachers put themselves in a great position to implement the other key elements of a high reliability school.
Chapter 1 provides an overview of high reliability organizations and school leadership, including the early days of school leadership and the characteristics of effective school leaders. It also presents a four-step process for creating leading indicators to establish criteria for school success. These criteria are based on the leading indicators in each level of the HRS model. In all, there are twenty-five leading indicators which form the basis for their respective lagging indicators. Chapters 2–6 cover the five levels of the HRS model: a safe, supportive, and collaborative culture; effective teaching in every classroom; a guaranteed and viable curriculum; standards-referenced reporting; and competency-based education.
More specifically, chapter 2 addresses level 1 of the HRS model—a safe, supportive, and collaborative environment. The leading indicators at this level represent critical actions and initiatives the PLC process should support to create a psychological and operational foundation for effective schooling. Chapter 3 addresses level 2—effective instruction in every classroom. The leading
