5 Simple Tips for Effective School Leadership

Another school year is upon us, and with another year of school comes another opportunity to reestablish goals and realign priorities. To streamline decision-making and increase teacher and staff engagement, it is important to follow these 5 simple tips for effective school leadership: 

1. Establish Goals 

Goals are necessary to set your school, students, and staff up for success. A great tool to use to set these is SMART goals – Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-based. After you use these guidelines to create your school’s goals, it is important to communicate them to the entire school; so everyone understands them and knows their roles in accomplishing them. 

2. Create Community 

Creating community networks between parents, students, and staff is critical to creating a sense of trust and community in your school. According to the book Trust Matters: Leadership for Successful Schools by Tschannen-Moran – if there is high trust in a school:

• Teachers feel like they can try new strategies because they trust that their leaders will support them. 
• Students are motivated and connected to their school work and classmates because they trust their leaders. 
• Families are supportive because the principal, special education director, teachers, SLPs, etc., have built trusting relationships with them. 

3. Encourage Your Staff 

Appreciation and encouragement can go a long way, especially in schools. Do your faculty and staff currently feel valued by you? Here are a few practical ways that you can encourage your team: 

• Don’t discount verbal affirmations – telling your staff why you appreciate them and what you’ve seen them do well will make a huge difference! 
• Write cards to each of your staff members to tell them how much you appreciate them. 
• Send follow-up emails after classroom visits and call out specific
• Ask your teachers and staff how you encourage them, listen to their feedback, and do it! 

4. Make Time to be Seen Around Your School 

As a school leader, you must be visible around your school. You set the tone of your school’s culture, so you need to make sure that you are making an effort to be in classrooms, libraries, hallways, etc. A few tangible ways to create time to do this are: 

• Greet students, staff, and parents at the start of the day and say goodbye at the end of the day. 
• Stop in the teachers’ lounge or sit with them at lunch to make your presence known. 
• Block off time on your calendar every day to visit classrooms, even if it’s just for 30 minutes. 

5. Utilize Resources and Innovative Solutions

Last but certainly not least, thinking outside of the box is a huge part of being a successful school leader. Today, school staffing shortages are worse than ever before. Teleservices are a great resource and innovative solution to explore to solve these issues. With VocoVision, you can have access to hundreds of qualified education professionals, from School Psychologists to Special Education Teachers, to help your students reach their fullest potential. You can learn more here about our staffing solutions.