Episode Details

Bill Daggett, founder and chairman of the International Center for Leadership in Education, explains rigor and relevance for all students. He says schools are built around subject silos and the top third of students, and tells principals to start interdisciplinary teaming with two teachers who want to work together.

Daggett splits staff into thirds: the excited, the cautious, and the over-my-dead-body group. He advises spending your limited time on the top third and running interference for them. He also explains the WE surveys, which compare what students and teachers think about relevance, twice a year.

What you'll learn

• Find two teachers from different subjects who will work together, then build your master schedule so they share the same students.
• Skip the fight with the resistant bottom third for now and spend your time and professional development money on the top third.
• Run interference for early adopters by looking for variances around state, federal and contract rules.
• Survey students and teachers on the same questions mid-fall and late spring, and keep results out of teacher evaluations.
• Start with student engagement before content, because Daggett says high-performing schools do that first.

Chapters

• 0:00 Principals Academy and the Transformative Slack team
• 1:54 How Daggett started the International Center
• 8:17 Why subject silos hurt relevance for students
• 11:36 Starting interdisciplinary teams with willing teachers
• 14:49 Leave the resistant bottom third alone
• 18:25 Running interference and finding parent advocates
• 21:24 Measure what matters with WE surveys
• 25:13 Why engagement comes before content

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Questions this episode answers

How do you start interdisciplinary teaming in a school?
Daggett says to find two teachers from two subjects who are willing to work together and build the master schedule around them. Add a third teacher the next year. He says the whole team can take three to five years.

How should a principal deal with resistant teachers?
Daggett says to pick your battles. He splits staff into excited, cautious and over-my-dead-body thirds, and advises leaving the bottom third alone for a while and putting limited time and resources into the top third, helping them succeed.

How often should schools survey students about relevance?
Daggett recommends the WE surveys twice a year, mid-fall and late spring. They take 15 to 20 minutes. He says to ask teachers the same questions, then use the gap to start a conversation, not to evaluate anyone.

About Bill Daggett

Founder and chairman of the International Center for Leadership in Education, which hosts the Model Schools Conference and works with schools around the country.

Links and resources

• International Center for Leadership in Education
• 2015 Model Schools Conference
• Join the Transformative Slack team
• Rate on Apple Podcasts
• Rate on Stitcher
• Jethro Jones on Twitter
• Transformative Principal on Twitter

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