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Explore by Role: Principal

• What does it mean to be a literacy instructional leader in my building?

  Many principals report that it’s difficult to be a literacy leader if earlier in your career you didn’t teach grades 1-3 or serve as a literacy coach. One of our favorite resources is the 2014 report released by the Wallace Foundation called The School Principal as Leader. In it the authors discuss 5 key responsibilities: shape a vision of academic success for all students, create a hospitable climate, cultivate leadership, improve instruction, and manage for school improvement.
  
  Download 95 Percent Group’s summary of the Wallace Foundation article. 
  
  
  
  

• What are some principles of good literacy instruction that I can use?

  One of our favorite resources on the principles of good instruction is an article from the journal published by the American Federation of Teachers titled Principles of Instruction:  Research-based Strategies that All Teachers Should Know. The author provides a list of 10 principles that are important. While most teachers will recognize these characteristics, this article pulls them all together with very concrete examples.
  
  Click here to download a summary we’ve prepared of the 10 principles including a list of sample question stems teachers can use during instruction.
  
  
  
  

• How can I make sure my classroom observations are informed by best literacy practices?

  Providing helpful feedback after classroom observations is one of the most important things principals can do to improve literacy skills of the students in their building. We have provided training to thousands of administrators on how to conduct a walkthrough. Are you put off by long observation forms that cover so many things that there is no focus? As part of that training, we have provided them with a half-page observation form.
  
  
  
  

• Where do I start in improving my building’s literacy scores?

  Building buy-in among your staff that improvement is needed is the first step. That’s where the data comes in. Start with a solid analysis of your building’s data and look for where improvements are needed for groups of students.  Articulate clear goals that are things everyone can agree upon, such as “We have too many second graders that slip after finishing first grade above benchmark”. Create common expectations.
  
  Download this resource to learn more.