Table of Contents

About the Author xi

Introduction 1

The Importance of Effective Instructional Leadership 2

About This Book 4

Week 1 High-Performance Instructional Leadership Fundamentals 7

1 Understanding Why Instructional Leaders Belong in Classrooms 9

Gain Decisional Information 10

Build Strong Professional Relationships 11

Enhance Professional Development 11

Day I Action Challenge: Determine Your Baseline for Classroom Visits 12

2 Following the High-Performance Instructional Leadership Model 15

Make Frequent Visits 16

Make Brief Visits 17

Make Substantive Visits 18

Make Open-Ended Visits 19

Make Evidence-Based Visits 19

Make Criterion-Referenced Visits 20

Make Conversation-Oriented Visits 21

Day 2 Action Challenge: Find Your Framework 22

3 Acknowledging Related Instructional Leadership, Supervision, and Walkthrough Models 23

Formal Teacher Observations 23

Annual Formal Evaluations 25

Mini-Observations 26

Data-Collection Walkthroughs 26

Feedback-Focused Walkthroughs 28

Instructional Coaching 30

The Downey Walkthrough 31

Learning Walks and Instructional Rounds 32

Hybrid Models 34

Day 3 Action Challenge: Review Your Instructional Leadership Models 34

4 Conducting Your First Two Cycles of Visits 35

Consider Planning Issues 35

Conduct Your First Cycle of Visits 39

Look Ahead to Your Second Cycle of Visits 40

Day 4 Action Challenge: Visit Your First Three Classrooms 41

5 Thinking Ahead to Your Third Cycle of Visits 43

Keep an Open Mind 43

Prepare Staff for Your Third Round of Visits 44

Take Notes and Share Them With Teachers 45

Forge Stronger Links to Your Instructional Framework 46

Experience the Rewards of the Classroom Habit 48

Day 5 Action Challenge: Visit a Team 49

Week 2 High-Performance Habits 51

6 Making Time to Visit Classrooms 53

Reduce Interruptions From Emergencies 53

Create Time Through Self-Discipline 55

Schedule Short Time Blocks for Visiting Classrooms 55

Coordinate and Track Your Visits 58

Day 6 Action Challenge: Schedule Your Classroom Visit Blocks 59

7 Keeping Your Communication Channels Under Control 61

Stay Current 62

Streamline Your Information Sources 62

Reduce Interruptions From Non-Emergency Communication 63

Avoid "Fuzzy" Channels for Important Requests 64

Process Your Inboxes 64

Day 7 Action Challenge: Streamline Your Inboxes and Communication 67

8 Managing the Work You're Not Doing Yet 69

Separate Planning From Doing 70

Use a Task-Management App 70

Keep Your Task Lists Short 74

Prioritize Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats 74

Day 8 Action Challenge: Link Everything to Your Task-Management App's Inbox 76

9 Organizing Your To-Do List 77

Organize by Action With the PEEP Approach 77

Organize by Due Date, Time Required, and Energy Level 79

Out of Sight, Out of Mind, but Not Out of Control 82

Dauy 9 Action Challenge: Set Up Your PEEPs 82

10 Maximizing Your Mental Energy With Habits 85

Learn How Patterns Become Habits 85

Understand How Habits Work 86

See Why Habits Matter 87

Conserve Mental Energy With Habits 90

Learn Five Ways to Change Your Habits 91

Day 10 Action Challenge: Inventory Your Habits 93

Week 3 High-Impact Instructional Conversations 95

11 Going Beyond Data Collection and the Feedback Sandwich 97

Learn Why Data Collection Undermines Professional Conversations 98

Understand Why the Feedback Sandwich Undermines Professional Conversations 100

Avoid Feedback Unrelated to Teachers' Goals 102

Day 11 Action Challenge: Break the Suggestion Habit 103

12 Facilitating Evidence-Based Conversations 105

Ask Evidence-Based Questions 105

Ask Genuine Questions 106

Ground Conversation in Specific Evidence 107

Understand the Teacher's Goals 110

Seek Context and Withhold Judgment 111

Evaluate Practice, Not Lessons 111

Day 12 Action Challenge: Refer to Evidence 113

13 Bringing a Shared Instructional Framework Into the Conversation 115

Understand Problems With Opinion-Based Conversations 116

Use the Instructional Framework as an Arbiter 116

Understand the Components of Your Instructional Framework 117

Make Sense of the Instructional Framework and Grain Size 120

Learn Strategies for Handling Disagreements About Performance 122

Day 13 Action Challenge: Use Instructional Framework Language 124

14 Developoing Skills for High-Impact Conversations 125

Have Professionally Rewarding Conversations 125

Listen When Teachers Ask for Feedback 126

Understand How to Handle Teachers Who Become Defensive 127

Have Impactful Conversations 128

Accept a Lack of Closure 129

Day 14 Action Challenge: Engage Without Defensiveness 130

15 Handling the Toughest Conversations 131

React Thoughtfully When You're Not Welcome 131

Discourage the Impromptu Dog-and-Pony Show 133

Keep Conversations on Track 134

Maintain Rigor and Accuracy in Discussing Levels of Practice 135

Day 15 Action Challenge: Prepare for Challenging Conversations 136

Week 4 High-Performance Instructional Leadership Enhancement 137

16 Building Your Feedback Repertoire 139

Wtrite High-Quality Feedback 140

Learn the Vocabulary of Your Curriculum 141

Keep Your Feedback Repertoire Accessible With a Phrase Database 142

Structure Your Thinking With Templates 143

Build Trust With Consistency, Not Canned Feedback 144

Notice and Document What Matters Most 145

Use Your Feedback Repertoire in Conversation 146

Day 16 Action Challenge: Find Reusable Language 146

17 Balancing Your Formal Evaluation Responsibilities 149

Consider Everything Fair Game 150

Remember Contractual Restrictions on Informal Observations 151

Differentiate High Stakes and Low Stakes 152

Allocate Formal Evaluation Time With the 80:20 Rule 154

Close the High-Stakes Evidence Gap 156

Learn the Claim, Evidence, Interpretation, and Judgment Format for Writing Rock-Solid Evaluations 158

Day 17 Action Challenge: Identify High-Stakes Teachers 162

18 Identifying Improvements From Classroom Visits 163

Build Relational Trust 163

Use Classroom Visits to Enable Better Decision Making 165

Build a Common Vision 166

Day 18 Action Challenge: Identify Your Biggest Insights From Classroom Visits 166

19 Opening the Door to New Models of Professional Learning 167

Celebrate Exemplary Practice in Meetings and in Writing 168

Share Practice-Focused Video Clips 170

Facilitate Instructional Rounds 172

Engage in Student Shadowing 173

Day 19 Action Challenge: Share the Highlights 174

20 Choosing an Instructional Focus for an Observation Cycle 175

Ensure Broad Relevance 175

Establish Observability 176

Confirm Strategic Impact 177

A Word of Caution About Instructional Strategies 177

Day 20 Action Challenge: Choose a Focus for Cycle Three 178

21 Scaling Classroom Visits Across Your School and District 179

Scale Within Your School 179

Scale Across Your Network 181

Day 21 Action Challenge: Scale Up Your Success 182

Epilogue: Guilding Capacity for Instructional Leadership 183

References and Resources 185

Index 189