All district and site administrators are being required to attend meetings about technology integration in our schools. I understand why the principals and assistant principals need to go, but why should district administration be required to participate?
Baseball great Yogi Berra once said, "You've got to be very careful if you don't know where you are going because you might not get there." The foundation of any successful instructional initiative is shared vision coupled with an inclusive and cohesive process for development, implementation, and monitoring of a plan to implement that vision. The entire leadership team needs to have a clear understanding of where the district is going with technology integration and how this plan impacts departments and schools. This cannot be accomplished if some major players don’t participate.
For example, extending lab hours is a strategy used in many successful reform efforts. But what are the ramifications of keeping campus open longer? When all administrators understand and have a stake in the big picture, site and district leaders are more likely to work together proactively to find solutions to questions such as:
- How does this impact scheduling for custodian and security?
- Does the office need to be open and staffed?
- How will additional costs be covered?
Next Tip: TBA
