Day 12 Action Challenge: Refer to Evidence
13 Bringing a Shared Instructional Framework Into the Conversation
Understand Problems With Opinion-Based Conversations
Use the Instructional Framework as an Arbiter
Understand the Components of Your Instructional Framework
Make Sense of the Instructional Framework and Grain Size
Learn Strategies for Handling Disagreements About Performance
Day 13 Action Challenge: Use Instructional Framework Language
14 Developing Skills for High-Impact Conversations
Have Professionally Rewarding Conversations
Listen When Teachers Ask for Feedback
Understand How to Handle Teachers Who Become Defensive
Have Impactful Conversations
Accept a Lack of Closure
Day 14 Action Challenge: Engage Without Defensiveness
15 Handling the Toughest Conversations
React Thoughtfully When You’re Not Welcome
Discourage the Impromptu Dog-and-Pony Show
Keep Conversations on Track
Maintain Rigor and Accuracy in Discussing Levels of Practice
Day 15 Action Challenge: Prepare for Challenging Conversations
Week 4: High-Performance Instructional Leadership Enhancement
16 Building Your Feedback Repertoire
Write High-Quality Feedback
Learn the Vocabulary of Your Curriculum
Keep Your Feedback Repertoire Accessible With a Phrase Database
Structure Your Thinking With Templates
Build Trust With Consistency, Not Canned Feedback
Notice and Document What Matters Most
Use Your Feedback Repertoire in Conversation
Day 16 Action Challenge: Find Reusable Language
17 Balancing Your Formal Evaluation Responsibilities
Consider Everything Fair Game
Remember Contractual Restrictions on Informal Observations
Differentiate High Stakes and Low Stakes
Allocate Formal Evaluation Time With the 80:20 Rule
Close the High-Stakes Evidence Gap
Learn the Claim, Evidence, Interpretation, and Judgment Format for Writing Rock-Solid Evaluations
Day 17 Action Challenge: Identify High-Stakes Teachers
18 Identifying Improvements From Classroom Visits
Build Relational Trust
Use Classroom Visits to Enable Better Decision Making
Build a Common Vision
Day 18 Action Challenge: Identify Your Biggest Insights From Classroom Visits
19 Opening the Door to New Models of Professional Learning
Celebrate Exemplary Practice in Meetings and in Writing
Share Practice-Focused Video Clips
Facilitate Instructional Rounds
Engage in Student Shadowing
Day 19 Action Challenge: Share the Highlights
20 Choosing an Instructional Focus for an Observation Cycle
Ensure Broad Relevance
Establish Observability
Confirm Strategic Impact
A Word of Caution About Instructional Strategies
Day 20 Action Challenge: Choose a Focus for Cycle Three
21 Scaling Classroom Visits Across Your School and District
Scale Within Your School
Scale Across Your Network
Day 21 Action Challenge: Scale Up Your Success
Epilogue: Building Capacity for Instructional Leadership
About the Author
Justin Baeder is director of The Principal Center, where he helps school and district administrators build capacity for instructional leadership. Prior to starting The Principal Center, Baeder served as a teacher, head teacher, and principal in Seattle Public Schools, finishing his ten-year career in Seattle as principal of Olympic View Elementary. His professional interests focus on strategic planning, goal setting, organizational learning, and productivity. Driven by the belief that leaders belong in classrooms—where the most important work is being done—he created the 21-Day Instructional Leadership Challenge (www.instructionalleadershipchallenge.com), which has helped more than ten thousand leaders from fifty countries develop the habit of getting into classrooms and having evidence-based conversations with teachers.
He has contributed to School Administrator, Principal News Magazine, Principal Magazine, Principal Navigator Magazine, and Education Week. Baeder presents regularly at state and national conferences, including the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, Learning Forward, and the National Association of Elementary School Principals, and