National Summit for Principal Supervisors
Building the Capacity of Principals to Lead
the Improvement of Instruction
A Presentation by the Charlotte – Mecklenburg Schools and the
Center for Educational Leadership
May 19, 2017
Goals for Today’s Session
Participants will:
1. Learn from a team of Charlotte Mecklenburg principal
supervisors some of the strategies and approaches they
have used to support principals in the work of improving
instruction.
2. Engage with the panel and other participants in a
discussion of best practices, lessons learned, and topics
for further exploration on the work of improving
instruction.
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Our Mission
The Center for Educational Leadership (CEL) is a nonprofit service
arm of the University of Washington College of Education dedicated to
eliminating the achievement gap that continues to divide our nation’s
children along the lines of race, class, language and disability.
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Equity Is a Key Principle of Our Work
Equal Outcomes
Fairness
Access and Support
Respect for Differences
Achievement of
Every Student
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Two-Part Equation
Common language for
high-quality instruction
Knowing how to lead
for that
Instructional
Anatomy
Instructional
Leadership
Instructional
Effectiveness
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Practices of Effective Principal Supervisors
• Work one-on-one with principals to grow their instructional
leadership capacity.
• Develop principal professional learning networks that
support principals’ growth as instructional leaders.
• Provide and broker professional development for
principals based on individual and group learning needs.
• Collaborate with others in the central office to support
principals as instructional leaders.
• Utilize a principal evaluation process to support
principals’ growth as instructional leaders.
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What strategies have we found to be particularly
effective in this work?
1. The use of inquiry as an approach to problem-solving
when it comes to student problems of learning and both
instructional and leadership problems of practice.
2. The use of data and evidence to support performance
assessment and decision-making
3. Intentional planning for 1:1 visits with principals using
pre-planned agendas and the development of learning
plans for principals.
4. A focus on the need to balance the work of principal
supervision with the work of coaching and support.
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What Principal Supervisors Need to Know and be
Able to do in the One-on-one Work with Principals
Know quality
instruction
Use effective coaching
strategies
Pre-plan school visits;
develop agenda
Identify learning goals
and develop learning
plans
Observe classrooms,
collecting and analyze
data and evidence;
identify trends; make
recommendations
Know when to “teach”
and when to “tell”
Use inquiry as a
problem solving
strategy
Give principals
feedback
Use reflective
questioning
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Today’s Presenters
Mr. John Wall
Dr. Ann Stalnaker
Mrs. Acquanetta Edmond
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The Structure of Principal
Supervision in CMS
Learning Communities Organization
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CMS at a Glance
• 147,157 students and 170 schools
• Student demographics: 39% African-American,
29% White, 23% Hispanic, 6% Asian, and 3%
other
• Employee demographics: 19,098 total of which
13,146 are teachers and support staff
• The CMS graduation rate rose to 89.6% for 2016
• $1.4 billion operating budget; $9,396 per pupil
• 10 Learning Communities* with 8 - 33 schools
each
 Mostly organized by feeder pattern
 Mostly staffed with Learning Community
Superintendent, Executive Director and
Curriculum Coordinator
*
Excludes learning community with 2 school for exceptional children.
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North Carolina Principal
Evaluation/Standards
Time
Professional Learning Strategies
Evidence of Principal Effectiveness
Development & Continuous
Improvement of Principals
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The CMS Approach to Building
the Capacity of Principals
Sharing the success in our one-on one
work with principals
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The Through Line
Principal Supervisor
Supervision
Coaching
Principal
High Leverage
Leadership Practices
Teaching
High Quality Teaching
Every Classroom
Build on Student Strengths and Solve Student Problems
of Learning
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A Few Examples of Best Practice
School data
Evidence
Student
problem of
learning
Principal
Learning
Plan
Teaching
problem of
practice
Leadership
problem of
practice
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Four Essential Elements of Principal Practice:
Lessons Learned
Know good Instruction
Identify instructional Problem of practice
Laser-like focus on instruction
Good use of accountability tools
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The School Visit Agenda
Pre-planning
Learning goal/Area of focus
Reflection on previous visit
Activities
Praise
Questioning
Next steps/Task assignment/Timeline
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The Learning Plan
• Area of Focus
• Success Measures
• Area of Change
• Supporting Evidence
• Aligned Actions
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Example of the Learning Plan
Area of Change
Student Learning
Which indicators of student learning will you
see change as a result of this learning plan?
2nd grade students will have more rigorous
learning standards, which will impact student
achievement with MAP scores and common
assessments.
Evidence
What will be the specific evidence of the changes in
student learning?
PD on rigor and review of the CCS
MAP assessments and common assessments targets
will increase
SLC Walkthrough Visits will show more rigorous
learning environment
2nd grade re-loop groups will demonstrate progress
Monitoring student progress at the EOY
Coaching Conversations
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Best Practices
• Insert yourself into the work
• Build Trust first
• Narrow the focus of the work
• Follow up on next steps
• Record a coaching session
• Be reflective on your practice
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Lessons we are learning and
questions we still grapple with!
A Panel Discussion
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Questions I am Still Grappling With!
1. How do I make strategic use of tools such as video and
tracking tools?
2. How do we build those principal competencies that
surround and support instructional improvement?
3. Is there really a developmental continuum for principals
that we must address? If so, how?
4. How do we ensure that the work and progress are
sustained over time?
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Let’s Hear from the Audience!
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“The chance to be
coached as an
instructional leader
is one of the best
things that ever
happened to me
professionally.”
Charles Ransom
Superintendent and Former Principal
Woodburn School District, Oregon
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