Turning Principals into Thoughtful Leaders:
Inventing the ATLAS Principals’ Institute
by Ron Walker
Associate Director, ATLAS Communities, Inc.


“There are virtually no documented examples of troubled schools being turned around without a powerful leader.”
Learning from Leadership Project
The Wallace Foundation, 2004



Introduction

In today’s frenetic education environment, there’s virtually unanimous agreement that Leadership Matters. Jonathan Kozol said that the principal is the heart and soul of every public school in America. I firmly believe that school improvement and student success begins and ends with principals. Every school needs and deserves a highly qualified leader. Unfortunately, the current state of school leadership is worrisome.
Too many principals are retiring early. Teachers certified to move into school leadership are not applying for openings. On-the-job stress, coupled with the pressures of No Child Left Behind legislation, are drying up the pipeline of aspiring principals. In some areas of the country, it’s estimated that as many as 40% of U.S. principals will retire within the next five years.
I maintain that this “near crisis” in school leadership can effectively be turned around by supporting every principal – aspiring, novice, mid-career and veteran – with superior leadership development training that is relevant, actionable and sustainable.






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Inventing the Principals’ Institute

Flashback to 1992. The year would prove to be pivotal in my life. After more than 10 years as a classroom teacher and 14 years as an assistant principal and principal, I was offered the position of Associate Director at Cambridge MA-based ATLAS Communities, a national non-profit consulting organization that improves schools pre-kindergarten through grade 12.
By joining ATLAS, I could continue to dedicate myself to my unrelenting passion for school transformation, but now on a much broader canvas – multiple schools and districts nationwide. And, even more inviting, I was given the opportunity to “live my dream:” To create a national model of superior professional development for school leaders.
With the full support and resources of ATLAS behind me, I began the journey to “invent” a unique leadership development model that culminated in the first Annual Principals’ Institute in 1996. The upcoming 11th Annual Principals’ Institute will be held March 15-17, 2006 in Fort Lauderdale. I’m proud to say that the Principals’ Institute has served more than 500 principals across the country and become the centerpiece, the “marquee event” of the ATLAS school improvement model.



Thoughtful Planning is Everything
I set the bar very high – nothing short of a transforming, life changing learning experience for school leaders would suffice. I was determined to create a model that was distinctive in the school leadership development arena. From the beginning, research and thoughtful planning became the standard bearers of every Principals’ Institute. (Just two months after adjourning each Institute, planning begins for the next Institute.)



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I delved deeply into leadership and the latest trends in educational research and theory. I read voraciously and attended countless professional development seminars,
workshops, conferences and symposiums. My experiences with leadership development training were, for the most part, disappointing because I found the training to be too disconnected from the daily tribulations of leading a complex educational organization.




Deciding on the Best Learning Environment
In ATLAS schools, professional development is the cornerstone of school change; teachers are considered learners and leaders. Therefore, it followed that principals, too, should be both leaders and learners. However, for the leadership development model I was creating, principals and administrators would temporarily relinquish their leadership role and be solely in the learner’s seat.

Institute.

Since learning and leadership are both social activities, I felt strongly that the structure of the Principals’ Institute should be a highly interactive and engaging


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professional learning environment where participants share ideas, support each other’s learning and further their own learning.

The Principals’ Institute: Becoming a Thoughtful Leader
During my years as a teacher and principal, by studying education visionaries like the renowned founders of ATLAS (James Comer, Howard Gardner, Theodore Sizer and Janet Whitla), along with Parker Palmer, author of The Courage to Teach and The Hidden Wholeness, I had developed a set of core beliefs and values – a personal vision – on what it takes to be, not just an effective leader, but an exemplary leader who makes a difference – what I have come to call a Thoughtful Leader. (NOTE: One important caveat: thoughtful leaders don’t just sit around thinking all day; they’re also relentless leaders, leaders with the uncompromising goal of turning thought into purposeful action.)
My evolution into a thoughtful leader had its origins in a farsighted article by Hayes Mizell, Distinguished Senior Fellow of The National Staff Development Council. In the “The New Middle School Principal”, Mizell portrays “the new principal” as a risk taker who asks the difficult, probing questions while simultaneously creating a safe, non-threatening environment for teachers to take initiative and honestly express their opinions. A thoughtful school leader is one who:
rejects “knee jerk” decision-making in favor of proactive strategic thinking
sets aside time each day for reflection about the art and craft of school leadership
adapts to the rapidly changing school environment
has the courage to take risks, because without risk there is no innovation
is culturally proficient to better confront the realities of today’s increasingly
diverse student population

My personal vision of leadership would become deeply embedded in the theme and agenda of each Principals’ Institute.

“Leadership involves taking a risk and being courageous. The task of changing a school’s culture – it’s easier to scale Mt. Everest. It takes a belief in yourself that you don’t know all the answers. You have to encourage others to become leaders. It’s foolhardy to do it on your own.” Ron Walker, Associate Director, ATLAS Communities, 2002.




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Taking Stock
I was pleased with my progress so far. The Principals’ Institute would be dedicated to developing thoughtful school leaders in a sharing, caring, relevant and highly interactive professional learning environment.
But, I had a nagging and persistent feeling that something was still missing -- the “secret sauce” that would make the Principals’ Institute truly unique and innovative in the world of professional leadership development.

Discovering “The Secret Sauce”
I looked to Parker Palmer for inspiration. Palmer talks about the importance of the inner work of a leader – asking oneself and reflecting on thoughtful and probing questions like – “What do I stand for as a person and as a leader?” “What are my strengths and challenges?” Am I a good role model to students, teachers, parents and the other stakeholders in my school community?”
Adapting this philosophy for the Institute, I determined that participants would focus on their inner selves by facing highly provocative issues openly and honestly in authentic conversations. They would be required to display personal courage and risk vulnerability by putting themselves under a microscope, confronting themselves and their peers
head on.



The Institute would not avoid, but rather embrace, the difficult issues that defined these turbulent times in education – issues like working with vulnerable students; resolving the inequities of race, class, gender and power; creating a level playing field in the face of

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an increasingly diverse student population; or leaving a lasting legacy of leadership before leaving a school or district.
As the chief architect of the Institute, I needed to ensure that a safe, non-threatening and trusting environment was created, where participants would be willing to take risks and be open to changing their thinking, accept feedback from critics as well as supporters, and have the courage to participate in authentic conversations around difficult issues.

Finally, this highly charged, provocative atmosphere of learning and reflection would be seasoned with many hours of quality social time for relaxation and rejuvenation. The “secret sauce” was complete.


The Recipe for Success

Each Principals’ Institute has been a thoughtful learning experience for me and ATLAS’ staff. Over the years, we have listened and learned from the wisdom of our colleagues in “the trenches” of education.
At the ATLAS Principals’ Institute, we’ve introduced new ideas and practices years before they became de rigeur in school leadership development, including Principals’ Study
Groups, Looking at Student Work, The World Café and a mock trial at the 2002 Principals’ Institute that put U.S. public education on trial by asking the provocative question: Is public education systematically miseducating all disadvantaged and culturally diverse students?

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To summarize, there are four “courses” on the menu at every Principals’ Institute. They are:
Addressing provocative, timely issues and leadership dilemmas in small
“home groups.”

The process of principals working together in small “home groups” of four to six participants is a central feature of the Principals’ Institute. This format is designed to reinforce the notion that the principal’s job is very isolating and that leading in isolation is neither productive nor healthy. At the Institute, principals are encouraged to continually seek out opportunities to engage, collaborate and interact with their peers and the multiple constituencies that make up their school communities, e.g., teachers, parents, students, community leaders, district office staff and union representatives.



High quality, text-based readings from noted authors.

Past readings have included Closing the Achievement Gap by Belinda Williams, Leadership and Sustainability by Michael Fullan, and Leadership on the Line: Staying Alive Through the Dangers of Leading by Ron Heifetz. We’ve also included non-educational readings that have provided some of the richest and most meaningful, authentic conversations, such as Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom and The Skin I’m In by Sharon Flake.

Opportunities to engage with noted presenters.
Presenters are not just “talking heads.” At the earliest stages of planning for each Institute, keynote speakers and presenters are invited to establish a strong working relationship with the ATLAS Planning Committee; they understand and contribute to the Institute theme and they’re briefed on the audience demographics so they are prepared to engage with participants in a consultative manner. Past presenters have included noted researchers
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and practitioners; for example, Gloria Ladson-Billings, author of Crossing Over to Canaan: the Journey of New Teachers in Diverse Classrooms and Dr. Pedro Noguera, Professor, Steinhardt School of Education, New York University.



Principals bring real work to engage and interact with peers using protocols.
Bringing principals together to support each other’s learning is unique as a professional development strategy. Institute participants are required to bring pieces of student work and case studies from their schools or districts. By Looking at Student Work with peers, using protocols (protocols are carefully structured tools to guide discussions and provide an opportunity for all participants to listen and be heard), principals learn what it means to be a thoughtful instructional leader.

The theme of the March 2006 Principals’ Institute is “Leading Today for an Unknown Tomorrow: Exploring the Vulnerabilities of All Our Students.” Principals will be required to bring the work of vulnerable students and be prepared to dissect it with their colleagues.
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A Loving Tribute
Earlier I said that ATLAS and the development of The Principals’ Institute allowed me to “live my dream.” Truth be told, I’m actually living my mother’s dream. My mother was an exemplary student and winner of several oratorical contests in high school. She wanted to be an educator and won a scholarship to college, but her father felt that she shouldn’t have more advantages than her other four brothers and four sisters and, therefore, wouldn’t let her go

The Next 10 Years: Continued Innovation

To continue strengthening ATLAS’ commitment to leadership development, we plan to establish a National Center for Thoughtful Leadership. We realize that a major challenge of the Principals’ Institute is to provide quality follow-up support to principals after each Institute is concluded. We plan to address this issue by launching an online learning community called “The Leading Edge.” Members of The Leading Edge will be part of an online network of principals devoted to regular communication around leadership cases and other matters relating to their work.



The Leading Edge will also feature a customized coaching component. Coaching will take place primarily online and on the phone, with face-to-face coaching whenever feasible. The Leading Edge will be introduced at the 2006 Principals’ Institute.

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An equally important follow up element centers around results. We know that principals return to their schools after the Institute anxious to implement an action or activity that they have learned. ATLAS believes it is necessary to track more of the outcomes of what happens once a principal introduces a new approach linked to teaching and learning to their faculty.
Toward that end, ATLAS will set out to prove that there is a definite link between the attendance at the Principals’ Institute and the transformation of the principal as an instructional leader and change agent.

About Ron Walker
Ron Walker has spent 10 years as a classroom teacher, 10 years as a principal and 4 years as an assistant principal. He joined ATLAS Communities as Associate Director in 1992. Ron’s many distinctions and awards include:
Faculty member, Gates-Funded Change Leadership Program, Harvard University
Selected by Massachusetts Department of Education to participate in the National Institute for School Leaders (NISL)
Selected to participate in the National Association of Elementary School Principals Mentor Program
Serves as Principal Coach for Teacher 21, an organization dedicated to Teacher
& Principal Coaching

About ATLAS Communities, Inc.
ATLAS Communities is a national, non-profit consulting organization that improves schools pre-kindergarten through high school. ATLAS improves student performance, enhances teacher effectiveness, develops thoughtful and reflective principals, and builds community among all stakeholders in the school/district.
ATLAS was founded in 1992 by four of the country’s leading educators:
James Comer at the School Development Program at Yale University, Howard Gardner at Harvard University’s Project Zero, Theodore Sizer at the Coalition of Essential Schools and Janet Whitla at Education Development Center, Inc. Over 100 years of best practices and research by these four organizations led to the development of the ATLAS design.
Linda Gerstle has been the Executive Director of ATLAS Communities, Inc. since 1992.