through the PLC process, the central organizational system for effective educational organizations, from the classroom to the boardroom. We make a compelling case for the PLC process in which we share evidence of the impact that it has on student achievement.
Every leader aims to create personal and organizational change that results in continuous improvement, but successful and sustainable change is often elusive. Change begins not with hierarchical commands, but with effective introspection. Leaders cannot seek to change others until they gain the self-awareness to change themselves. Effective 100-day leaders must focus on a few priorities; our research suggests that focused leaders have dramatically more impact on student results than leaders who are fragmented due to initiative fatigue (Reeves, 2011b; Schmoker, 2011).
We then turn our attention to culture—the daily actions that represent what great organizations are all about. Culture is not about attitudes, words, or beliefs; rather, it is about specifically observable actions. Although leaders must see the big picture, they also understand the details of implementation, team by team, task by task, kid by kid, and skill by skill.
Leaders face myriad decisions and challenges. We suggest a disciplined approach to leadership decision making in which leaders systematically compare the advantages and disadvantages of alternatives they face. Accountability systems have, since the passage of the No Child Left Behind Act in 2001, focused on student test scores (DuFour, Reeves, & DuFour, 2018). This change was prompted, on the one hand, by frustration with lagging student achievement, and, on the other, by the recognition that a focus on “accountability” was a political asset. We suggest a system in which leaders consider not only the effects of effective education but also the causes—the factors over which leaders have the greatest influence. Persistence and resilience are two of the greatest assets of 100-day leaders, and we consider the factors that can encourage—or undermine—resilience and persistence in the face of adversity. Finally, we consider how great leaders collaborate. Although leading can be lonely and isolating, the most successful 100-day leaders engage in remarkably effective collaboration.
Following is a guide to how we’ve organized this two-part book.
Part 1: Exploring 100-Day Leadership
In part 1 of this book, we consider the why and how of 100-day leadership. We begin by exploring the moral imperative of leadership and then we look at the six steps to becoming a 100-day leader.
The Moral Imperative
The moral imperative to improve student learning—why educators do what they do—is essential, as educators will not implement prescriptions based on policy; they must see that they operate in a moral context. Moral imperatives guide our decision making when no one is looking. There are no rewards or sanctions, only a response to the leader’s inner compass that provides the moral foundation for his or her decisions. Everyone in any organization, whether it is a for-profit, nonprofit, educational, military, or any other organization, must not just understand how he or she fits in functionally but also have his or her own sense of purpose within the context of the organization’s mission and values. Custodial staff do not merely sweep floors; they create safe and healthy learning environments in which students can take pride. Teachers do not merely deliver content; they nurture curiosity, kindness, relationships, and lifelong learning habits. Principals do not merely set schedules and handle discipline; they guard the values that guide thousands of daily actions for everyone in the school. The moral imperative should be the focus of the opening and closing of every meeting.
The Six Steps
This book outlines six steps for implementing your 100-day leadership plan. These steps are not one-and-done actions; rather, they require review with every 100-day planning cycle. Leaders use them to create and achieve short-term wins that combine to form long-term success.
Step 1: Identify Your Values
Begin with values—your bone-deep beliefs that will prescribe the goals you will, and will not, pursue as a leader.
Step 2: Take an Initiative Inventory
List the leadership and instructional initiatives that your school already has in place. The list is always longer than you think it will be. Take an initiative inventory of everything on your plate. Ask teachers and staff about their perceptions of the initiatives. Two key questions leaders should ask are, “To what degree is each initiative actually implemented?” and “If the initiative is implemented, what is the impact on student achievement and other organizational goals?” For example, we have observed a school system purchase online curriculum resources with the assumption that teachers would use the program to link standards, curriculum, assessment, and teaching. But when we simply asked, “Is anyone really using this?” we found fewer than 1 percent of teachers had even accessed the program. This is not an isolated example, as schools are inundated with programs for data analysis, formative assessment, and literacy interventions that are delivered but never or rarely used (Reeves, 2006). Leaders should be assessing the degree to which a particular initiative is having the desired impact. Simply asking the question about degree of implementation will reveal the binary fallacy—that is, the assumption that an initiative is either implemented or not implemented. But human performance is almost never binary, but rather takes place on a continuum. On one end of that continuum is delivery—teachers attend a workshop, receive workbooks, and perhaps log instructions for a technology-based tool. The second level of implementation goes beyond delivery, but includes actual evidence that teachers are using the initiative. The third level includes not only the use of the initiative but also evidence that these new professional practices have a positive impact on student results. The fourth level includes not only student results but also evidence that successful implementation is replicated by other educators and leaders in the school. In other words, saying “We have the program” never tells a complete story of an initiative’s implementation.
Step 3: Make a Not-to-Do List
Prior to embarking on new plans, leaders must establish a clear and emphatic not-to-do list. Before you set goals for the next one hundred days, identify in specific terms those tasks, projects, priorities, and initiatives that you will not do. Make the list public. Before you ask your staff to implement the 100-day plan, tell them what they can stop doing.
Step 4: Identify 100-Day Challenges
Identify your top-priority challenges for the next one hundred days. Be specific. They might relate to reducing student failure or improving discipline, parental engagement, attendance, or staff morale—you decide. But you must set specific and measurable goals with which you can make an impact in one hundred days.
Step 5: Monitor High-Leverage Practices
Identify specific professional practices that you will implement immediately. These need not be major changes, such as adopting a new curriculum or assessment system, but practices that you and the staff can apply immediately, such as the following.
• Effectively monitoring collaborative team meetings within the PLC
• Changing a schedule to allocate more instructional time to areas where data suggest students need more help
• Shifting staff meeting time to allow for collaborative scoring of student work
• Scheduling three common formative assessments in the next one hundred days
In other words, select short-term, achievable goals whose implementation you can clearly observe.
Step 6: Specify Results
Finally,
