Gotta Love Drama - 4 Steps to Deal

Don’t you just love drama?  

Recently, I received a question from a principal dealing with two teachers who are supposed to be collaborating with each other (they’re both reading specialist) but drama that started outside of school has been interfering with their ability to perform their jobs.  The school is suffering.  The students are suffering.  The principal is stumped.  

I know because he added the hashtag #stumped to his message.  

(Aside to principals - don’t ya just want to slap your teachers sometimes?)

Just guessing here but I’d bet these teacher view themselves as good teachers.  If you ask they’d probably tell you, “I’m here for the kids.”  “I love my job, it’s a calling.”  Blah blah ad nauseum cliches that teachers say when they know they’re in the wrong.  

My second guess is that these teachers know they’re wrong.  They know they’ve let a (presuablty) petty drama get in the way of their students and their school.  Not functional.  That was the term the principal used in describing their current performance.  

Not functional. But, individually fantastic.

They can’t play together and now the principal is thinking about re-assigning them.   Drama.  These reading specialist are ready to lose their jobs in order to keep the drama going.  Sometimes I find our jobs as administrators unbelievable.  

“Can’t we all just get along?” Rodney King

The principal wants to know how to fix this - not an easy thing to do but I’ll give it a try in 4 steps.

1) Ignore the why -click here for more on that - and I mean admintaley ignore the why.  Don’t get involved in the drama.  Don’t entertain conversations about the drama.  Don’t offer to mediate the drama.  IGNORE THE DRAMA.

2) Focus on the observable and the effects of the drama.  “When you argue with your partner in earshot of the students it confuses them and makes it difficult for them to concentrate and learning suffers.”  or the opposite extreme, “When you ignore your partner, important collaboration doesn’t take place and teachers get inconsistent support.”  “When data is not disaggregated and submitted on time we are unable to update our school improvement plan.”  The goal here is to paint a bigger picture of the drama - the effect the drama has on the entire school and the students as a whole.  

3) Document the observable.  Have conversations and follow-up with a summary email.  Dear Teacher, On Tuesday you and I met to discuss the effectiveness of the reading program.  Specifically, we discussed the lack of collaboration and cooperation of the specialist.  Be detailed and direct.  If the email doesn't work send letters.  Complete observations and interim evaluations.  If your division has an employee assistance program make mandatory referrals for both teachers.  

4) Follow through - if one or both of the teachers are unwilling or unable to correct the behavior do what you said you would do - in this case move the teachers back into the classroom.  

Four steps is probably not enough but hopefully it’s a start - the most important thing to do is have the difficult, candid conversation.  “Look, you’re screwing up here - and it’s about to have an adverse effect on your employment.  Cut the crap and get back to work.  Your behavior will not be tolerated. Take steps to fix it or I will.”  

Let me know how it goes.

 

Picture credit Credit 1.00FTE used with permission.

Transfer Has a Bad Rep: 5 Steps to a Smoother Transition

Over the weekend I received a question to my direct inbox on Twitter. Because it was sent to me privately, I’m keeping the identity of the sender private. And because it was sent to me on the weekend, obviously weighing heavily on the sender, I’m giving it the top spot on this week’s blog post.

How should I approach a transfer teacher who has known performance issues? How can I find a balance between offering a fresh start and monitoring deficiencies?

For administrators in larger districts this question comes up often. The HR department starts tackling staffing allocations for the upcoming year - your phone starts to ring.

“Good afternoon Dr. Principal, this is Mr. Jones in HR. How’s things, good? Listen, I’ve got this teacher that I need to place with you next year. Issues? No not really, well maybe a few - I don’t know … just call their current principal. I’ve directed the teacher to report to you in August. Thanks for being a team player - Bye!”

You call your colleague who laughs out loud when you tell her the teacher is coming your way. Before she hangs up, just so you’ll be prepared, she runs down the list of complaints and deficiencies adding that she’d been praying for this day for years. And, oh by the way - good luck!

You’re inclined to give the teacher the benefit of the doubt -or a fresh start- come August but are concerned about ignoring the reports you’ve received regarding performance. What do you do?

Well how about 5 easy steps? (We all like steps don’t we?)

1) Within the first week of the teacher reporting to your school call him in to have a one to one conversation about the information you received. Be open, honest, and lay it all out on the table. The conversation could go something like this … “Mr. Transfer welcome to Suburban High School - I’m glad that you’re here. Listen, we need to talk about your past performance. I’ve heard some things and this is not going to be an easy conversation but we need to talk about it.”

Then lay everything out - use quotes and supporting documents if possible - give the teacher a chance to respond and offer his perspective. Take note of whether the teacher accepts or rejects the reports. Does he accept responsibility and admit the need to improve? Does he deflect and assign blame (to students, staff or administrators)? Does he say the other principal never liked him? His responses will give you a great deal of insight into how you’ll have to proceed moving forward.

Offer a fresh start but also let him know that you have a responsibility to check out the reports of his performance. Follow-up the conversation with an email that summarizes the discussion, send it with “read-receipt requested,” print out the email, the read-receipt, and any response and add it to the teacher’s school based file.

2) Schedule at least two observations (one announced and one unannounced) within the first month of school. Follow up with post observation conferences to discuss your findings. Good or bad, compete an interim evaluation and begin painting a picture of current performance.

If both observations are good and you have not noted any problems then continue to monitor but with greater distance until you are convinced that the teacher has corrected the pre-transfer problems. If the problems persist then go on to step 3.

3) Develop an Action Plan for Performance Improvement for areas of noted deficiency (the ones you observed directly). Schedule regular observations and follow-up conferences. Begin to provide weekly or monthly coaching sessions and resources to the teacher. Assign a department chair or curriculum specialist to work with the teacher. Provide opportunities for the teacher to observe model teachers.

4) Document, in writing, the teacher’s progress on the Action Plan. Determine follow-up needs and revise and extend the plan as necessary. Look for ways to mitigate the effects on students - i.e. pair with a strong inclusion teacher.

5) If improvement is not seen then begin to build your case for dismissal.

There is a balance you must strike between a complete fresh start and smacking the teacher in the head as soon as he walks into the building. Your initial conference and observations will set the tone for your relationship with the transfer teacher for as long as he or she is in your building. After all, this could be that rare case when personality issues and conflicts came into play. The teacher may appreciate the clean(er) slate and increase performance. If not, then I’m not a believer in the “pass the trash” philosophy. If you can’t get the teacher straight then you move for dismissal. Remember it takes at least two years for students to make up ground and learning lost from just one year with a bad teacher. If you can’t fix it - stop the cycle.

Good luck.

HR for Principals: Take Out Your Own Trash

For the past month or so I’ve been helping administrators take out a great deal of trash.  Admittedly, as an Employee Relations Specialist, that’s kind of my job but still.  

You know the kind of trash I’m talking about.  The teacher whose attendance for the past 10 years has been spotty at best.  The teacher whose students are floundering with new material, have no chance of passing the state test, and spend their entire day completing ‘review’ worksheets while he surfs the net.

Just in case I’m still not being clear - the trash I’m talking about is poor teachers.  Teachers who should have been counseled out of the profession during their first year but who have by some miracle stayed in in the classroom.  

Every school has at least one.  

And as #edleaders it’s our job to get rid of them.  In fact, it should be one be one of our highest priorities.  Listen, I know it’s a pain-in-the-ass drawn out process to get rid of a teacher.  I know the union or association or whatever is going to fight you every step of the way.  I know you’re going to have to spend at least a year (more likely two or three) documenting,  observing, coaching, and evaluating.  I know the process is going to pull you away from other things that are equally important.

And yet I say again, take out your trash.

Don’t leave it to the next administration.  Don’t blame the previous administration.  Roll up your shirt sleeves and get-r-done.

The negative impact just one bad teacher can have on students is just too much to ignore.  The widely held rule is that it takes a student two to four years to recover from a bad teacher - two to four years!