You’re a district level administrator. There’s a great principal in one of your schools.
Is the principal great because of or in spite of you and the district’s culture?
You’re a district level administrator. There’s a great teacher in one of your schools.
Is the teacher great because of or in spite of you and the district’s culture?
You’re a building level administrator. There’s a great teacher in your school.
Is the teacher great because of or in spite of you and the school’s culture?
You’re a teacher, building level administrator, or district level administrator. You work with great students.
Are the students great because of or in spite of you and your classroom, school, or district's culture?
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Ross Cooper
I'm the Elementary Principal of T. Baldwin Demarest Elementary School in the Old Tappan School District in New Jersey, and the coauthor of Hacking Project Based Learning.
Latest posts by Ross Cooper (see all)
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“By chance, not by design.” This is one of my favorite quotes from Ray McNulty, who wrote “It’s Not Us Against Them” and is one of my favorite educational leaders. He often focuses on success that are by design, rather than chance. Nate Silver, author of “The Signal and the Noise” stresses the fact that correlation does not imply causation, and goes into great depth explaining. Both of these quotes immediately came to mind when reading your post. Sometimes it is difficult to identify the variables that lead to success.
Thanks for the resources, as I haven’t heard of either of them. I agree that it can definitely be difficult to identify the variables that lead to success. I don’t think there are clear cut answers to any of the questions. In general, they are meant to promote conversation and inquiry, much like essential questions.