Leadership | School of Thought

School Safety Advocacy From a Student’s Perspective

Posted by NASSP on April 20, 2018

Following the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, FL, which claimed the lives of 17 students and educators, advocates around the country organized a national movement demanding change to better protect our schools and communities from gun violence. Leading that movement are student survivors of the shooting joined by thousands of young people across the country.

The NASSP Student Leadership Advisory Committee joined those efforts, organizing advocacy events and actions to honor the lives of the Stoneman Douglas victims and to call for policy change. Here are testimonials about that advocacy from one of the students on the committee and one of the committee’s adult advisers: (more…)

Are Your Students Life Ready?

Posted by NASSP on April 19, 2018

Guest post by Akil E. Ross

As principal of Chapin High School (CHS) in South Carolina, I’m always trying to promote ways to make our students college and career ready. After all, the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) calls for our students to meet higher academic standards and for us to help them find success beyond high school. But I often find myself wondering: Does college and career ready mean life ready? Regardless of which path our students take, just possessing the knowledge and skills to succeed in college and a career is only one part of the equation to becoming a productive and happy human being. In addition to making our students college and career ready, my goal is to make 100 percent of our students ready for life.

What does it mean to be life ready, and how can schools prepare students? (more…)

Leveraging Title IV, Part A to Create Safe and Supportive Schools

Posted by NASSP on April 18, 2018

Guest post by Kelly Vaillancourt Strobach

Principals have a responsibility to ensure student safety while also providing a supportive environment that is conducive to learning. This requires a careful balance of addressing physical safety while also addressing the psychological safety of students. Despite the current focus on arming teachers and other school personnel, this tactic does not improve school safety, carries significant risk, and can actually undermine the learning environment. Rather, reasonable physical security measures include: (more…)

Change Starts With Us

Posted by NASSP on April 18, 2018

Guest post by Jamie Richardson

A few years ago, I found myself trying to convince my son that he needed to “play the game” of school and figure out how to rack up as many “points” as possible in order to succeed. As these “encouraging” words came from my mouth, I stopped and asked myself, how was it that any of my students—let alone my very own son—needed artificial motivation to feel inspired about school? At that moment, I came to an important realization: (more…)

Solutions for Singletons: Building a Professional Learning Network

Posted by NASSP on April 13, 2018

Guest post by Abbey Duggins and Amber Schroering

If you’ve spent any amount of time building a high school master schedule, you are familiar with the dreaded “singleton.” A singleton happens when just enough students sign up to create one section of a course—usually an AP or obscure world language—and it throws a major wrench into scheduling every other aspect of the student’s day. A singleton is a scheduling nightmare, but it is also a necessary part of education.

Many positions in instructional leadership can feel like a singleton: there is one superintendent, one principal, one coach. These positions are often lonely, lacking the camaraderie that classroom teachers develop among their peers through the common bonds of students, lesson planning, grading, shared hallways moments, and outside-of-school fun.

So what is a singleton to do? (more…)

Raising Test Scores: One School’s Story

Posted by NASSP on April 12, 2018

Guest post by Amy Mims

When I became an assistant principal of Independence High School in Charlotte, NC, our school’s test scores were low. As I started observing classrooms, I saw talented teachers hard at work designing and delivering interesting lessons that utilized a number of instructional best practices. I also saw motivated students who were engaged in lessons, completed assignments, and did well on assessments. I wondered: What was causing our school’s low test scores? (more…)

Erica Page Named 2018 NASSP National Assistant Principal of the Year

Posted by NASSP on April 11, 2018

Compassionate, learner-centered, student achievement-oriented, and data-driven—these are some of the words used to describe the 2018 NASSP National Assistant Principal of the Year. Erica Page, in her sixth year as an assistant principal at Pelion High School, in Pelion, SC, has been selected for this year’s honor.

There are four keys that drive Page’s work toward results: communication, trust, commitment, and teamwork. (more…)

It’s AP Week—Hats Off to Assistant Principals!

Posted by NASSP on April 10, 2018

Guest post by Emily Sturchio

In working with a number of assistant principals both as a high school teacher and as an associate for the NASSP professional learning team, I can tell you that APs are often the unsung heroes of a school. It is our nation’s APs who often do the lion’s share of the work to support students and keep our schools running each and every day. The work of APs often goes unnoticed (more…)

Finding Your Path Toward Competency-Based Learning

Posted by NASSP on April 5, 2018

Guest post by Brian M. Stack

Imagine trying to go somewhere for the first time without having access to a map. Worse yet, imagine being the great explorers Lewis and Clark who crossed the western part of our country for the first time in 1804 with no map, no roads, and little knowledge of what it was going to take to get to their destination. In education, early adopters often feel like trailblazers too, using research, trends, and sometimes their guts to forge new ways of thinking and doing. If you are a school leader looking to move your school to competency-based learning today, you may feel a daunting sense of helplessness as you embark on your journey. The good news is (more…)

Tips for Building Meaningful Connections With Students

Posted by NASSP on April 3, 2018

Guest post by Kelly Parker

South Meadow School (SMS) in Peterborough, NH is guided by our vision: “A caring, cooperative, and respectful community of learners.” We are a family and work hard to instill values that will help students realize this vision by providing the support they need to be successful. One of the most important ways we guide students is by helping them connect to our school and one another in a positive way. We use the following guiding principles to nurture relationships and develop connections for all members of the SMS community: (more…)