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As an Assistant Principal, I had the opportunity to participate in a state-sponsored school improvement program. I remember sitting in a principal’s office, watching her pull a thick binder from her shelf. “Here’s our school improvement plan,” she said, blowing dust off the cover. “Required it for our accreditation visit last year.” She opened it to reveal pages of detailed goals, action steps, and timelines; none of which her teachers could recall.
During my first year as a principal, I attended a conference where a teacher from one of our district’s elementary schools shared an innovative literacy intervention that had dramatically improved student outcomes. I was thrilled, until I realized that despite being in the same district, none of our middle school teachers had ever heard about it.
Several years ago, I had an opportunity to attend a leadership retreat for women in education. I’ll never forget the moment a superintendent confessed to me during the retreat: “Kim, we have a beautiful strategic plan sitting in a binder on my shelf. But if I asked ten principals what our district’s top priority is, I’d get ten different answers.”
While serving in my previous district, I visited a high school where AP enrollment had skyrocketed among historically underrepresented students. When I asked the principal what changed, she smiled and said, “We stopped waiting for students to find opportunities and started actively removing barriers.”
As educational leaders, few responsibilities carry more weight than ensuring opportunities for all students, particularly those from historically marginalized communities.
As educational leaders, we often ask ourselves this crucial question, yet many of our well-intentioned efforts fall short. In my years working with school districts across the country, I’ve witnessed both tremendous successes and heartbreaking missed opportunities in family engagement efforts.
Why do some schools maintain thriving, stable teams while others face constant turnover? The answer lies in shifting from reactive staffing measures to proactive, systemic approaches that value educators as professionals, deserving ongoing investment and a voice in their own growth.
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