Episode Details

Sam LeDeaux, principal of a school with 515 students, explains how to approach teacher evaluation as a conversation about service to kids instead of a test of your performance. His blog post on the topic has two steps: care, then see step one.

LeDeaux encourages teachers to schedule a formal observation of something brand new, a lesson that could go anywhere, because he already knows what a perfect lesson looks like. He also describes his goal of spending a full day a week in classrooms, bell to bell.

What you'll learn

• Frame evaluation as a joint effort to improve service to kids, not as a rating of the teacher's performance.
• Invite teachers to schedule a formal observation of a lesson they have never taught, since a polished lesson leaves you nothing to support.
• Hire learners, not finished teachers, and aim to be the weak link on a staff that is pushing each other.
• Open your classroom doors and share your mistakes in real time on social media to build trust with parents.
• Block one full day a week to be in classrooms, and build toward more as your office pulls on you less.

Chapters

• 0:00 Evaluation in two steps: care, then see step one
• 1:26 Why evaluation should be about service to kids
• 4:13 Why leaders should strive to be the weak link
• 7:29 How social media builds transparency and trust
• 11:24 Spending full days in classrooms
• 13:39 Who to follow on Twitter
• 15:37 Be patiently perseverant, and why the photo of his son

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Questions this episode answers

How do you balance caring about teachers with state evaluation demands?
LeDeaux says evaluation feels stressful only when it is about your own performance. When the focus is service to kids, you can use any rubric, have candid dialogue, and teachers work toward the highest rating in a way the state cannot argue with.

Why should a principal want to be the weak link?
LeDeaux says he never hires a teacher, he hires learners. He wants a staff that, with his support, will do things in eight to 12 years that he never will, until they say the only thing holding them back is him.

How can a principal spend more time in classrooms?
LeDeaux commits one full day a week, bell to bell, and says the more he is out, the fewer things pin him to his office. He has reached two to four days a month and wants five to eight, then 20.

About Sam LeDeaux

Principal of a school with 515 students who blogs about evaluation and leadership.

Links and resources

• Sam LeDeaux on Twitter
• Sam LeDeaux's blog
• Evaluation in Two Simple Steps
• Leaders, Strive to Be the Weak Link
• @gcouros on Twitter
• @justintarte on Twitter
• @8amber8 on Twitter
• Sanebox email tool
• Sanebox sponsor page
• Transformative Principal website
• Transformative Principal on Stitcher
• Refer a principal form
• Best T