Teaching to reach every single student

Scott McLeod of Dangerously Irrelevant has a very powerful post about the role of and necessity for leadership in effecting change in technology in our schools. Here is the overview:

When we talk about technology in K-12 schools, why must we focus on school leaders? Well, as the Wallace Foundation Learning from Leadership Project reminds us, principals and superintendents are the ones charged with setting direction and developing people. They’re the only individuals with the power to redesign the organization. Research has shown that school leadership, through both direct and indirect effects, is ‘second only to classroom instruction among all school-related factors that contribute to what students learn at school’ and that ‘leadership effects are usually largest where and when they are needed most.’ In other words, ‘the greater the challenge the greater the impact of [leaders’] actions on learning. . . . Indeed, there are virtually no documented instances of troubled schools being turned around without intervention by a powerful leader.’Dangerously Irrelevant: Professional development for the leaders

I have been encouraged and supported in my use of all kinds of technology by my principal and superintendent, for which I am very grateful. But I also believe that the possbilities that come with these technologies require buy in at all levels.

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Technorati Tags: education, edtech, k-12, edublogs, blogging, teaching

Scott McLeod, of Dangerously Irrelevant, issued a challenge to edubloggers to address the topic of educational technology leadership.

Administrators’ lack of knowledge is not entirely their fault. Most of them
didn’t grow up with these technologies. Many are not using digital tools on a
regular basis. Few have received training from their employers or their
university preparation programs on how to use, think about, or be a
leader regarding digital technologies.

So… let’s help them out. Wednesday, July 4, 2007 is American Independence Day
and is as good a day as any to celebrate independent (and hopefully innovative)
thinking and leadership. I hereby invite all edubloggers to blog
about effective school technology leadership next Wednesday.

I wanted to highlight something that happened to me that I thought was an example of excellent leadership.

Before the end of the last school year (June 2006), I mentioned to my principal that I was planning on reading Will Richardson’s book, Blogs, Wikis, and Podcasts, about which I was excited. I had no idea what I was going to do come that fall, but I knew that this stuff mattered. When I returned in September, I learned that this principal had read the book and insisted (yes, insisted) that all the administrators in our district read the book and think about how to apply the technologies. I was greeted by our Superintendent telling me about how excited she was to see what would happen.

As the year went on, I used blogs, wikis, and podcasts in my 7th and 8th grade science classroom. The students loved using them and I saw incredible results, particularly in their science literacy. At every step of the way this principal and superintendent provided support, encouragement, and interest.

While I would (and have often) recommended that people read Will’s book to get a sense of the possibilities at stake here, I believe that perhaps educational leadership in technology is not all that different from leadership in other areas. Both of these effective leaders were open and aware enough to see what would make a difference to our students and then to support implementation of their use.

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