Determining Priorities

Do you ever feel like everything is a priority? I know when I make a to-do list, it seems like everything has the same level of panic attached to it. In our first year as a turnaround school, it felt like everything needed to be fixed, so our plate was really full. Our "official" focus areas were climate and culture and writing, but as we began the school year, we realized that there was no culture of learning - students did not know what the habits of good readers were, what their reading levels were, or how to set goals for improvement. We also had to focus on using data to drive our instruction, which took a considerable amount of time and attention. There was other work that needed to be done to support collaboration, writing, effective strategies to align to the teaching and learning rubric, analyzing student work, and unpacking standards. Despite our best efforts, everything felt like a priority.

So, it's June and my staff has done everything that has been asked of them, but they are tired. Lesson learned. Reign it in! Yes, it all needs to be done, but no, it doesn't all need to be done in a matter of months. So for year two, our focus areas are, well, more focused. We will continue with an instructional focus area on writing - with a more refined and defined goal of short response (first half of the year) and extended responses (second half of the year) - which will better align with the growth areas necessary for us to hit our targets. Our climate and culture goal will continue with a refined focus on individual behavior plans and protocols for individual student supports. Our school-wide priority, which will impact everyone in the building, is on English as a New Language. We have a high percentage of ENL (English as a New Language) students (22%) and we will not come anywhere near our target of 85% proficiency if we do not change the way we teach. We all have to become ENL teachers in order for us make the growth that we need to reach our targets. That one priority will require shifting our practice, our service delivery model, our beliefs, and our instructional delivery. It will require us asking questions of everything that we plan and honestly reflecting on whether or not what we are teaching is getting us the results we are looking for.

Backing off from feeling like everything is equally important is difficult because the pressure to achieve the goals is very real and the time is short in which to change our trajectory. It can also be difficult because there are district expectations in addition to our own building goals and targets. Here are some of the ways that we are going to hone in our focus for year two:

• Map out what we did during each month of year one and identify what aligns with our priority areas (Climate and Culture, Writing, and ENL) for year two. Those are the activities and things that will continue to have time, attention, and resources for year two.
• Just say no - when initiatives, ideas, pilots, or proposals do not align to our priorities, we have to say no. My instructional coaches know that if something doesn't align to our priorities, we will not spend our time, attention, or resources on it.
• Ask ourselves how everything aligns. If it doesn't support the priority areas, we won't invest our time, attention, or resources. 
• Continually reflect - always ask ourselves "so what?" in terms of how the work we are doing is moving us forward in our priority areas. 
• Assess. We have to assess student progress, parent understanding and engagement with our priority areas, staff, and achievement based on the work we are doing in our priority areas. We must have regular assessment in order to make mid-course corrections and ensure progress in our priority areas.