EPISODE #304

You're listening to School Leadership Reimagined, episode number 304

You're listening to the School Leadership Reimagined podcast, episode 304. How do builders like us make a dramatic difference in the lives of our students in spite of all the obstacles we face? How do you keep your vision for your school from being held hostage by resistant teachers, uncooperative parents, ridiculous district policies, or lack of time, money, or resources? If you're facing those challenges right now, here is where you'll find the answers, strategies, and actionable tips you need to overcome any obstacle you face. You don't have to wait to make a difference in the lives of the people you serve. You can turn your school into a success story right now with the people and resources you already have. Let's get started. Hey, builders.

Welcome to another episode of the School Leadership Reimagined Podcast. 

I'm your host, Robyn Jackson. And before we begin today's episode, I just gotta let you know there's some really cool things happening inside of MindSTEPPS and Buildership University over the next couple of months. And I can't tell you everything today, but I can tell you that we are opening up the brand new Buildership community. We're unveiling it on March 24th. Now, early bird, it's over. We've got the Early Bird folks inside the community. They're doing, you know, they're, they're, they're going inside.

It's already showing to be such a really cool community. But on March 24, you'll be able to join this community and see what it's all about. And I'll tell you more about it later. You know, I just want to just let you know, I'm so excited that that's going to be opening up next week. The other thing, and I, I, I probably shouldn't even mention it, but I just want to warn you, there are going to be some changes happening with the podcast starting next month. Next month is our podcast Diversary, and we are going to be doing some really cool upgrades to the podcast. So I am so excited about that. I can't tell you.

And I'm bursting. You know, I can't keep a secret, but I can't tell you yet. But just stay tuned. Watch out. Starting in April, I'll start telling you a little bit more about what's going on with the podcast. But for today, I want to talk about something that I think a lot of you are experiencing right now, and that's test pressure. I still remember being in the building, whether I was a teacher or an administrator. And this is the Time of the year where we start to feel the pressure, right?

And so today I want to talk about how to handle that pressure for testing without letting it derail you from your focus on your vision and your mission and your core values. In other words, we're going to talk about how to handle this test pressure like a builder. So the first thing that I have to tell you right now is I'm not going to patronize you by telling you that you just have to ignore the pressure and focus on your vision. I mean, that sounds great, but the reality is that a lot of us are under a lot of pressure to achieve. Some of us are facing takeover or pressure from our district to get our scores up. Our teachers are feeling the pressure. In some cases, their pay is tied to how they do and how their students do on test.

So let's not pretend that test pressure isn't real.

And I can't make it go away for you. But builders recognize and acknowledge the fact that there's pressure out there, but they don't let that pressure deter them from the work that's really important. And so today I want to talk about how you do that. So we're not going to talk about the fact that testing doesn't matter. It matters in ways that are very real and tangible to us. But it's about making sure that the pressure that we feel doesn't force us into decisions that actually hurt our students and actually hurt us and our teachers and hurt and harm our vision. So that's where we're going to focus today. So let's first talk about how leaders do it right?

And the way that we are trained to do it. And the reason I'm talking about this is because the temptation exists and if you haven't felt it yet, you will to fall back into that leadership way of doing things the closer you get to testing. And so I want to warn you so that when you see yourself falling back into leadership, you can recognize it and you can self correct. Right? So the first thing that happens is that the closer we get to testing, the more we start seeing test prep replace real instruction. And we actually may be encouraging it because we're worried about how students are going to do. Maybe we're looking at some data and we're seeing that the kids aren't ready. And so we may be even pushing teachers towards more test prep type of activities and cramming rather than continuing on with real high quality instruction.

The second thing that often happens when you fall into leadership mode is that you start to Feel some anxiety, and then you begin to pass that anxiety onto your teachers and then they begin to pass that anxiety on the kids. And so now you're doing things like, we only have three weeks until the test. Are you ready? You start showing up in classrooms more and giving teachers more feedback. And even if you don't directly focus on testing, your anxiety about testing is starting to kind of transfer the teachers and they know it, so they start to feel the pressure. You start pulling out data and looking at data and fretting over data. And if you pass your anxiety onto the teachers and then they pass that anxiety onto the kids, you start to go into survival mode and you put everybody else in survival mode and you are not going to see the results that you want to see as long as you are functioning in survival mode. Now, the third thing that happens is that a lot of times leaders will treat testing like the big event rather than just part of the rhythm of the school.

And so it seems like instead we stop doing all of the work that we've been doing all year long. The closer and closer we get to testing, because it's testing.

And so everybody starts to feel this tangible shift. 

Your kids feel it, your teachers feel it. And really, testing should be the culmination of instruction that's been happening all year long. Testing should be a way for you to check in on your vision rather than some event that's going to make or break you and your teachers. And so if you're treating it like an isolated event instead of incorporating it into the rhythm of your school, then you are going to, you're, you're, you're going to feel a lot of stress and you're not going to see the results that you want. So a little later, I'll talk about how you can make testing more the rhythm of your school so that you can, I'll give you a tangible example about what it looks like.

But if you are right now looking at testing as the big event doomsday, then you're creating anxiety and pressure and stress. That's really unnecessary. And so because of that, because we make these mistakes, then we, and we start reacting in this leadership way. Then we, then we make things worse. And the way we make things worse or we do things like we start overloading teachers with last minute test prep mandates or strategies. You know, sometimes, sometimes we think we're helping and we think, oh, I found this, and this may help kids get ready, but your suggestion feels like a mandate and it creates more pressure. Or we start letting testing take over the school schedule. So learning stops happening, and we're just prepping and cramming, and we start focusing so much on these scores and that we start doing all the funny things that they taught us how to do.

You know, like, let's find some bubble kids and let's teach this real quick strategy, and let's do all these things instead of focusing on learning and deepening students learning. You see, the test is supposed to be a reflection of what students know. But if you start doing all these tricks and gaming the system, the test isn't a reflection of what students know. The test is a reflection of how effective your tricks are. And so remember, the focus is on our students. If you have a vision that you want 100% of your students to be at or above grade level, for instance, then you need to really know. And the test is one way to find that out. But if you give them all these tricks and strategies and start playing around and massaging numbers, and let's teach just one thing. Are they really at grade level, or did you just. Or did you just game the system? 

So the builder's approach is different. 

You see, testing season doesn't have to be some frantic race to the finish line. It doesn't have to be fraught with pressure. The testing season can be a natural part of the rhythm of your school. It can serve your vision, mission, and core values if you handle it differently. So let's talk about how you handle it differently.

So the first thing is that builders shift the mindset from testing being a performance to testing being a reflection of learning. Now, I know we all say it. I know we all say all the time, well, you know, testing is just a reflection of learning, but are we behaving that way and are we helping our teachers behave that way? So the first thing we need to do is we gotta reframe the purpose, right? And the way that you do that is that you start from the very beginning. Now, I know this is not helping you now, but I want you to think about this for next year, right? So instead of being about just like, oh, we got to get ready for the test, we got to get ready for the test, you give teachers the long view that the test is the place where we're going to do the big check to see how we are progressing towards our vision, our mission, and our core values, and you incorporate that as a part of the whole school year. So one of the strategies I used to teach when I with trained teachers that I still love, and I used myself as a teacher and begun to use it myself as a teacher before I left the classroom.

And I've shown at this point thousands of teachers how to do this and it makes such a difference is that I love making review of just the natural rhythm of the work we're doing in schools. And you can do that a couple of different ways. One of the ways that I love the most is to have students create review manuals. And so the way review manuals work is that every time you go over something or students learn something, then that you know is going to show up again and again will show up on the big test. It's a concept that's going to have endurance, something that students are really going to need to know and be able to show that they know at testing time. Anytime you do that, they save that material and they put it in a review manual. So if it's a handout or if it's an assignment that they've done, they save it, they put it in the review manual. And so that can be.

I've had teachers do it as a three ring binder. I've had them transfer the information on index cards and keep it in shoeboxes. You decide what works for you and your students, but they create a review manual. Some students will keep it in a digital folder and so they keep a review manual. And then every two weeks or so, you spend a class period or 40 minute time period if you're in elementary school and you have students take out the review manual and they're doing two things. The first thing they're doing is they're organizing the information. So let's say that you talked about the battle of Gettysburg and you were teaching students how to consider both sides and you gave them a framework to help them look at both sides. They're going to take that information from that framework and turn it into a cheat sheet that they can remember, remember that framework in.

And they're going to put it on the index card or in their notebook binder or in their electronic binder. So they're going to organize it and then they're going to try to figure out what kind of information that is. Is that information.

That's a skill that can be applied to a lot of different things. 

Is it discrete information? Let's say in science students are going to have to, they have to learn some formulas or in geometry they have to learn some, some formulas. They're going to put the formula down, they're going to put it in the, organize it in the right place and you and Your students can decide how they're going to organize. So the of that review session is they just organize the information.

The second part of that review session is then they interact with the information in some way. So they create sample multiple choice questions and quiz each other on it. Or they use that information and put it in a frayer model so that they can organize it in some way. So they're using and interacting with that information, which reinforces that information. You put the review manual up and then you wait in the next couple of weeks, then you pull some material. Okay, the last two weeks we've covered this stuff. This is stuff that's going to have endurance. We're going to come over it again and again.

It's going to be on the big test. Let's stick it in the review manual and let's organize it and then let's interact with it. And you have that rhythm throughout the year when you do that. Then when it comes to the big test, whether that big test is a final exam or a state test, whenever you're getting ready for that big test and it's time to review, instead of creating review packets and cramming students with all this review information, you have them take out the review manual that they created, that they own, that they know they've been navigating all year long. And you bring that review manual, you say, okay, you all have this, you've already done this work. So we're not going to cram, we're just going to use the review manual. Do you see how that shifts the whole testing environment and makes testing a part of the rhythm of the whole year rather than the singular event? So the idea here, you don't have to do review manuals.

That's an example. But what you should be looking at now, right, is instead of dealing with the testing pressure, look at what's happening now and start thinking about next year. What can we do next year so that testing becomes a part of the rhythm of our school rather than this event, rather than this cramming event. What can we do so that all throughout the year students are gathering things and they take ownership of their review so that when we get to testing time, it just becomes a culmination of what we're doing, rather than this panic event where we have to stop everything and start testing. Hey, Robin here. And I just want to break in real quick to ask you a huge favor. You see, I want to get the word out to everybody about buildership and I could use your help if you're really Enjoying this episode. Would you mind just going to your podcast platform and leaving a quick review?

You see the reviews, get the word out. They tell other people this is a great show. Other people who have never heard of school leadership reimagined before can hear about it. And you'd be sharing the word about buildership. So would you mind just leaving a quick review? It would mean the world to me. Okay, now back to the show. All right, so strategy number two for builders to navigate this testing season without creating a lot of pressure is that we want to get teachers focusing on high leverage content and skills.

Okay, so if you were a part of our five and five out training, we gave you this really cool framework to look at.

What are the skills that are most important? 

But that 80, 20 rule, it really matters here, right? So what most people do, especially as they get closer to the test, they look at all the stuff they haven't covered and they say, we need to cram this in. And the kids can't learn it in a way that's meaningful if instead you spent time focusing on the things that have the highest, highest leverage. Usually that's things that have endurance, that are transferable. You know that framework that we talked about in the five and five out training, when you go through all of that and you choose high leverage skills, then instead of trying to overload kids and cram them, you're looking at those skills and the content that's going to make the biggest difference. It's going to show up the most on your test, and you are focusing on learning over memorization and that it helps to make test prep.

Not something that's exhausting, but something that really gives kids the most shot at actually doing well on the test. All right, the third thing that you want to do is you really want to. You want to focus on a piece that most people don't focus on. Most people are focused on the content, and they're just trying to cram as much content into kids as possible. Kids are overwhelmed. And then the kids get to the test and they shut down. And a lot of it is because they don't have any confidence around the test. One of the best ways that you can build your students confidence is that you need to make sure that students know how to navigate the test.

Because in a lot of situations, kids know the information or can figure it out, but when they get in the testing situation, they don't understand the context of the test, they don't understand how tests work, and so they get stuck. I can tell you for Me personally, when I was in seventh grade, I think it was my teachers taught me and my classmates how tests work. And from that moment on, I became a master test taker. I don't even have to know the content all that well to do well on a test because I understand how tests work. And so when I was a teacher and my students were facing the AP test, and in my class, they all had to take it. So if you were an ap, you had to take it. And so they were facing that AP test. And the AP test is so intimidating, most people don't pass it.

Pass rate's very low. And what was even harder is that I didn't see the test. I had no copy of the test, I didn't know it was going to be on the test. So I had to teach my kids how to know their material, know it well, focus on those high leverage skills. And then I taught them how to navigate the test. I taught them things like, this is how multiple choice tests work. And sometimes as we were reviewing, I was reviewing how to take multiple choice tests, not necessarily multiple choice tests on their material to help them understand how the multiple choice format worked. When they had to write an essay, instead of teaching them a formulaic essay writing style, I gave them a simple framework.

But then I also gave them what I call break glass strategies. 

Now I'm dating myself here. When I was a kid, in the buildings all over the place, especially schools, there'd be like a glass box with a fire extinguisher inside and it would say, in case of emergency, break glass. And so I would teach them break glass strategies. What happens when you panic? What happens when you see a question and you aren't sure how to answer the question? What happens when you're in the middle of writing and, and you run out of things to say? And we would practice those scenarios.

So rather than cramming for the test, I'm showing students how to survive the test, how to thrive in the testing conditions. We would practice working under testing conditions and then debrief afterwards and talk about how did you feel? What did you do? When did you decided to skip this question? Why did you skip this question? And then we would show them how to navigate the test. Now this wasn't long. This could be the warmup that we did the beginning of the period every single day.

But we just did that so that when my students went into the test, they weren't intimidated, they were confident. And after the test, even if a test in the classroom or if we were doing practice Tests we would debrief. I would say, okay, so what did you do? And they would talk it through so that the test didn't become this make or break thing. It became an opportunity for them to practice their skills, to figure it out, to solve problems in a way that empowered our students. So even if their scores look the way they wanted them to look, our students felt empowered by the experience. And then we talked about, what can we do next time? And so they went into the test as problem solvers.

You see, when you're a leader, you're only thinking about the test. And to be honest, we're trained to think about the test and the test scores, but we forget that the test is not about the score. It's about the kids. The test is revealing something to us about how well we are supporting our students, how well they know information, how prepared they are for the next level. And if we keep the focus on our students instead of our scores, then the test, it's not that it goes away or that it stops, it loses its importance, but it's put in its right place, in its right perspective. You see the leaders around you are looking at those scores as reflections upon themselves. They're looking at those scores as unlocking funding or locking up funding.

They're looking at those scores as keeping their jobs.

It's the wrong focus. Those scores are important because those scores tell us about our kids and how they're doing. And if we just took our eyes off the test long enough to put them on our kids, then we can find ways to help our kids be more successful, to set them up for success. Oh, and by the way, to see increase in test scores. One of the things I love about testing season inside of Buildership University is, first of all, the builders in Buildership University aren't worried about it. I mean, yeah, they see the pressure. They see it like everybody else, but they have the right perspective. So instead of being crushed by the weight of the pressure, they're excited about taking tests.

I remember one builder, her system canceled testing for the year because of, you know, they were shifting, and it was right after the pandemic. And instead of being relieved, her staff was so disappointed. They were. They were devastated because they were excited about the test. They wanted to take the test. The kids were ready to take the test because she had put testing in the right perspective. They were excited to show what they know. They wanted that test.

When's the last time your teachers were upset that there wasn't a standardized test? So that's what happens. When you're a builder and you put the test in its proper place, it stops becoming this looming cloud hanging over you and your staff. And it starts becoming this really wonderful opportunity to show off, to show what you know. And then what I love, one of the parts about the working with builders that I love the most is that there's that moment when everybody's test scores come back and then people are blown away. I'm blown away. I shouldn't be at this point because I know this works. We've now helped hundreds of builders through Buildership University.

And it's consistent when people do follow the framework and do that work, they see gains. But I'm still blown away because people get their test scores back and we're seeing double digit gains. Sometimes people are jumping 25%. So the year before 25, they were at one place and now 25% more. That's one quarter of their kids have more of their kids now are succeeding in the space of a year. That's the kind of stuff that I get excited about because what it means, it's not, yay, I'm at the top of my dish. I mean, yes, I think you should, you know, if you do that, you should be honored and I'm excited for you. But what it means is that every single time you show those gains, those are more kids who now have a shot.

Those are more kids whose future just change because of the work that you're doing. 

And so we gotta stop succumbing to the pressure of testing. I know that there are people around you and above you who are stuck in leadership and, you know, think that the only thing to do during this time is to feel the pressure and apply the pressure. You can feel sorry for them, but you don't have to succumb to them. Instead, you can be different. You can show your teachers and your students that testing doesn't have to be this awful thing, that it could be a natural part of the school year, that it could be something to which we look forward, that they don't have to worry because we believe in our teachers and our students and we have confidence that they're going to be fine. And instead of finding ways to game the system or cram or find some last resort, that's Band aid. What we need to be doing instead is investing in those long term solutions.

What we need to be doing instead is using this time to think about how we need to do things differently next year. What we need to be doing instead is reinforcing what students already know and teaching them how to navigate the context so that they go into the testing situation confidently. What we need to be doing instead is helping teachers focus on the right work so that they can feel confident about what they're doing. What we need to be doing instead is making sure that we are not inadvertently pressuring our teachers and our students and instead looking for ways to set them both up for success. Like builders. I'll talk to you next time. Hey, if you're ready to get started being a builder right away, then I want to invite you to join us at Buildership University, our exclusive online community for builders just like you, where you'll be able to get the exact training that you need to turn your school into a success story. Right now, with the people and resources you already have inside, you'll find our best online courses, live trainings with me, tons of resources, templates and exemplars, and monthly live office hours with me where you can ask me anything and get my help on whatever challenge you're facing right now.

Now, if you're tired of hitting obstacle after obstacle and you're sick of tiny little incremental gains each year, if you're ready to make a dramatic difference in your school right now, then you need to join Buildership University. Just go to buildershipuniversity.com and get started writing your school success story today. Hey, it's Robin here and I want to thank you for listening to today's episode. Now, if you have a question about today's episode or you just want to keep the conversation going, did you know that we had a school School Leadership Reimagined Facebook group? All you need to do is go to Facebook, join the School Leadership Reimagined Facebook group. Now, there are going to be a couple of questions that we ask at the beginning because we want to protect this group and make sure that we don't have any trolls come in and that it really is for people who are principals, assistant principals, district administrators. So make sure you answer those questions or you won't get in. But then we can keep the conversation going.

Plus, we do a lot of great bonus content. I'm in there every single weekday. So if you have a question or comment about the episode, let's continue the conversation. Joel, join us at the School Leadership Reimagined Facebook group and I'll talk to you next time.