Less is More

After spending a planning day at our School Administrators Institute for Transformational Leadership (SAIL) and on the cusp of our quarterly reviews with all SDW Principal teams, is it ever more affirming to me that less is more. Significant improvement in student achievement can occur in a short time when a system focuses on a manageable combination of priorities.

Our high leverage strategies around literacy, focusing on collective capacity as well as our leadership framework, has positively launched our system toward a continuous improvement cycle. As we report out on the data from our progress monitoring efforts, we should be seeing sustainable school improvement efforts that positively affect the lives of teachers and students.

Everyone in our system has something to contribute to this process. Each individual in our district must believe he or she is valued as someone who can contribute amazing things for the benefit of students. Every day, we strive to improve students' lives through the literacy-learning opportunities that exist within our classrooms and in each of our educational environments.

I believe Vince Lombardi spoke from successful experience when he said, "The challenge for every organization is to build a feeling of oneness, of dependence on one another...because the question is usually not how well each person works, but how well they work together."

Focus on this oneness as you create an environment where less is more.