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Volume 1, No. 1
Winter, 2006 Exclusively online at
www.EducationHall.com
Outstanding: An interview with
Charlie Coleman Recently, the Launching Pad caught up with Charlie Coleman, the honoree of Association of Supervision and Curriculum Development’s Outstanding Young Educator Award for 2005. Mr. Coleman, principal of Khowhemun Elementary School in Duncan, British Columbia, is the fourth recipient of this award and the first from outside the United States. His work was instrumental in Khowhemun students achieving a startling improvement – in not only academic achievement, but also in community involvement. What follows is the transcript of our conversation with this outstanding leader. LP: You have made tremendous gains in student achievement at Khowhemun Elementary School up in Duncan, British Columbia. Obviously, a lot of variables come into play to account for the growth. If you could raise one banner at your school, indicating the single most vital ingredient to the turnaround, what would it be? CC: A collaborative focus on results. That sounds almost a little cliché now, especially if you've been reading the work of DuFour, Schmoker and others. But for us, five years ago it was not cliché. It was new. The school had been stuck at a point where about 30 percent of students were below grade-level expectations year-after-year. In both math and reading, results were stagnant. The first thing we did was look at these results, acknowledge them and ask, “Is that okay?” The answer was obviously “No,” so we began a journey together to find solutions as a staff. It was the beginning of a collaborative learning community. It was a new focus on results, rather than intentions. Prior to that, the staff had worked hard, and with the best of intentions, but without a focus on results. Once we had this focus, we found new questions and new answers. Over the past five years, we have worked as a learning community to try new initiatives and make a measurable difference for kids. LP: You mentioned "learning community" twice. How did you establish the learning community in your building, and how did you manage to switch the focus from cardiac-based decision-making ("I know in my heart this is the right thing to do") to results-based decision-making ("This will make a difference in student achievement")? CC: As I said earlier, we started by confronting the fact that at least 30% of our students were not meeting expectations. Once we had faced that truth and agreed as a group that it was not acceptable, we started to ask questions. We asked lots of questions. The individual answers were not as important as the fact that we worked on answering them together. The "learning community" piece for me was in building a culture and climate where it was safe to admit mistakes, to ask tough questions and to try new things. It was also safe to fail, and say to each other, "That strategy didn't work, what can we try next?" It was also safe to say, "Hey this strategy works really well, maybe more of us should try it." Previously, many teachers were uncomfortable with sharing both failures and successes. We were very deliberate in the building of a collaborative culture based on measurable results. Rick DuFour says that you don't get collaboration by invitation. We created structured opportunities and focused time where staff could collaborate on results-based questions. For example: How many kids are reading at grade level? How do you know? Who's not there yet? What else can we try to make a difference for those kids? Teachers were given release time to work on this in grade-group teams. The staff as a whole had large chunks of collaborative staff development time built into staff meetings. Administrivia was reduced in favor of conversations focused on teaching and learning. It was hard work, but it was also energizing. The staff really came together as a team. I took on the role of coach and keeper of the data. I told the teachers, "You worry about individual results of the individual kids and I'll track the whole-school results". That way they could concentrate on teaching and learning in the classroom and I could help them reflect on the big picture. It's been a great combination. LP: The turnaround at your school is impressive, and your team deserves the compliments it receives. However, now that you have made those gains, how do you maintain the sense of urgency to push your teachers to continue looking forward? How hard is it to sustain the intensity with which you first tackled the challenges? CC: It’s not so much a sense of urgency as it is a continual journey of trying to dig deeper. We are very happy with our turnaround. However, we also know that there is more to do. Below the surface of improved “global” results are a number of questions and problems with which we are now grappling. For example, we know we’ve seen an increase in the percentage of students meeting grade-level expectations for reading. Beneath that success story, we have data and anecdotal evidence that tell us a significant number of those “meeting” are actually “minimally meeting” with lots of adaptations and support. What maintains our momentum is the collective inquiry we do. These are carefully crafted conversations at structured collaboration sessions. We are not satisfied with the surface successes. Collaboratively we ask ourselves, “What other strategies can we try that will really connect with those kids who are improving but still struggling?” At the other end of the scale we also ask in collaboration meetings, “What can we do to enhance and enrich the learning of those students already meeting expectations?” As a result of that kind of collective inquiry, we were able to secure an action research grant to help us further develop our strategies. Through that grant we are looking more closely at differentiating instruction based on multiple intelligences. Our Ministry of Education requires similar action research and collective inquiry. There is a mandatory school improvement cycle with report-out deadlines and targets. There is also a voluntary network of performance-based schools to share what’s going on around our province. At the school district level we also have support in the form of school-based in-service budgets and district-wide collaboration afternoons. All of these things help to support and sustain our efforts. The intensity remains for three reasons. One: We see our efforts making a measurable difference for kids. Two: We have structures built in that force us to continuously re-examine our progress and results. Three: Collaboration is preferable to isolation. We like working together! LP: It’s hard to argue with results…but is it easy to argue with a young principal? You’re the 2005 Outstanding Young Educator Award honoree for ASCD – what has been the most difficult aspect of leading a teaching staff at such a tender age? How have you overcome those obstacles that ride shotgun with your youth? CC: Actually, I just turned 40 so I made it in just under the wire for the ASCD criteria! Five years ago, when I first hired as principal, I was the youngest person on staff. There was definitely potential for respect and credibility issues going into the new position. On the surface, I tried to establish a professional tone by being visible, always wearing slacks and a tie, and by being very organized. First impressions matter. While that first impression was important, I knew I had to follow that up with credible, caring leadership. I believe that leaders, at any age or stage, must earn credibility. You earn credibility by matching your words with consistent action. You earn it by building professional relationships, one genuine conversation at a time. You earn it by following through with commitments, timelines and deadlines. Most importantly, you do NOT try to do everything on your own or to act like you have all the answers. You ask questions. You build consensus through shared leadership. You value and honor the skills and expertise of others through authentic collaboration. There were a lot of things that I did to earn this credibility and respect. Too many to list here. Probably one of the things that I did right at the start that had real impact was to put my personal mission and vision in writing. I shared that with staff and parents, and it was very specific. I said, "This is my commitment to you. If I do not live up to this, call me on it.” I've also been lucky to have a very supportive staff and parent group. Ultimately, it's those relationships that help you overcome the inevitable obstacles along the way. LP: The explanation of your leadership artistry exposes that penultimate sentence as a mistruth: staff and parents support you not as a result of luck, but rather of the very respect, credibility, and commitment that you describe and live. What’s next for Charlie Coleman? Now that you’re “over the hill,” what challenges lie ahead for you? In what capacity will your leadership and drive direct you professionally? CC: That has been a common question, especially since last year’s awards. The truth is that I absolutely love my job and would happily remain a school-based principal for the rest of my career. I do some presenting and consulting on the side, which keeps me current and challenged. Having said that, I will keep the door open to new challenges and opportunities. I don’t know what’s next for me, but I’ll only look at changes for which I can have the same level of passion and effectiveness. It will definitely be something that involves making a difference for kids and public schools. We’ll wait and see.
Charlie Coleman is the
principal of Khowhemun Elementary School in Duncan, British Columbia. You can reach him via e-mail at
ccoleman@sd79.bc.ca.
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