How to avoid false starts during a school turnaround

Establishing Quick Wins is an essential part of the school turnaround process. A principal should find the low hanging fruit of potential success, pick them, and turn them into momentum builders for the entire school community. These first small victories are what begins to build the motivation of the staff and students as a leader works to shape the belief that the school can and will achieve greatness. Jim Ryun once said, “Motivation is what gets you started. Habit is what keeps you going.” As the name implies, Quick Wins will rapidly foster motivation. If implemented thoughtfully, Quick Wins can also lead to positive habits that will create sustainable improved practice across a school.

Know where the fruit is and start picking!

Principals are best served by a diligent initial analysis of what the greatest needs of the school are. If possible, take the time to analyze any data you can get your hands on before ever stepping foot inside the school you are going to lead. Staff and student surveys, focus group data, or even having several conversations with people who have interacted with the school in the past can begin to help you frame where to begin your turnaround journey. Just be careful to consider your sources when getting information from people directly. Be on the look out for any bias the person may have when providing you with information.

The point here is that you are looking for trends and patterns from multiple sources not just what one or two people think they know what is wrong with the school. These initial pieces of data can help a principal determine what the low hanging fruit are and how to turn some of it into Quick Win opportunities.

Listen while you work.

The quote, “People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care” has always stuck with me as a leader. It is easy to arrive at a school and project yourself as the leader who will save the school. No one really wants that. People want to be part of the solution and contribute to overcoming obstacles that are greater than any one person. It is critical for a principal to share their vision of what success will look like and then listen early and often to students, parents, and staff about what they think are possible solutions for helping move the school closer to its goals.

A Quick Win might involve a reflection on the ideas you heard from a parent or student and then taking action on them immediately. I once had a group of parents tell me that they wanted to eat breakfast with their kids before school started. However, the school had a policy in place that parents had to drop off their kids at the front gate and could not enter the cafeteria. I changed the policy the very next week and explained to the staff the importance of allowing parents to feel more of a part of the school by allowing them to share experiences with their kids within the school. That little move resulted in a huge Quick Win with parents and students.

You may be surprised to hear that many people already know what to do when you take the time to listen. Change has a lot more meaning when it comes from the stakeholders at the school. It makes them feel like they are part of the change and not having change “happen to them”.  Listening also provides a great head start for a principal to build relationships and get buy in for the beginning stages of the change process. That builds trust and provides the initial momentum that eventually leads to the habits that are needed during a school turnaround.

Scott is a proven school and district leader with 23 years of experience. He has led the turnaround of five different urban schools in Florida transforming their cultures into high functioning systems that produced record breaking results in student achievement and teacher performance. Scott is available to consult with schools, districts, and organizations to create a focused strategy that will lead to improved results, increased engagement, and overall results. He can be contacted at sneil@schoolleadershipsolutions.com