Jan Smith, an English department leader at a local high school, is leaving her weekly academic chair meeting with a mandate from the school’s principal: become more engaged in the school’s teacher feedback and evaluation program. Jan feels caught in the middle of the principal’s desires for this program’s success (a good desire, indeed) and potential anger that her colleagues will feel by being subjected to yet another mandate from on high. At the same time, Jan is eager to offer her colleagues in the English department feedback on students and classroom instruction, though fearful because she has been given few tools, little time to experiment and practice, and no clear path forward with this feedback and evaluation program in her department. How does she fit into the bigger picture? Conflicted about the increasing number or responsibilities she faces as a middle leader, Jan arrives at a regional Leaders in the Middle conference (LIM). Though she is a bit frustrated, she remains hopeful to be getting some information that could prove useful to her, as she navigates her responsibilities. What does Jan need to be successful as a middle leader in a high school these days? After four years in development, our Leaders in the Middle conference, based upon research and best practices, has been helpful to nearly 70 academic department leaders and program directors of college preparatory high schools in the central and southern USA. The program, supported by principals in our network of schools, is framed by school mission and vision, along with participant reflection. And the experience requires participants to not only arrive having done substantial pre-conference work exploring themselves and how others perceive them (through self-assessments and stakeholder interviews), but also participate and fulfill content, facilitation, and reflection responsibilities on-site. Limited to a small cohort of middle leaders, the conference lasts four days and its design helps participants build community and network opportunities, as well as offers support after the conference, back home. We tackle big questions and issues, as well as provide practical tools:
It’s what middle leaders have always needed to do their jobs. And Leaders in the Middle provides tools, support, experiment-time-away, and thus middle leader confidence - things middle leaders perhaps don’t necessarily get but need to do their jobs successfully. One recent conference graduate writes, Leaders in the Middle “was valuable, practical, and useful. I fully plan to practice applying the skills taught. My goal is to internalize the Cognitive Coaching and walk through guides so that I don't have to have cue cards! The conference content was exactly what instructional coaches and middle leaders need.”
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Pete MussoAssistant Principal, Curriculum & Instruction Archives
May 2022
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