Education Week - February 25, 2015 - S33

EDUCATION WEEK LEADERS TO LEARN FROM
February 25, 2015 n
S33
edweek.org/leaders
" There's a huge emphasis on developing the
capacity of the individual first. I want [participants]
to know their areas of improvements, their strengths."
ship largely turns the popular "career ladders"
idea on its head. To Mr. Lin, traditional
leadership paths for teachers can, in effect,
force teachers into roles that may not be a
fit for them. Corona-Norco's approach is to
learn each participant's strengths and areas
for improvement first, and then tailor experiences
and advancement opportunities from
there-whether inside the classroom or out
of it.
"Ours is organically evolved. There's a
huge emphasis on developing the capacity
of the individual first," Mr. Lin said. "I want
[participants] to know about their areas of
improvements, their strengths. And then
provide them options to take a look for what
suits them best, so they will have a more authentic
alignment of where they want to go."
Creating a Culture
Mr. Lin's early career was as an aerospace
engineer, before he turned, in his mid-20s, to
coaching, teaching, and serving as a humanresources
director. But the engineer's focus
on developing and improving systems lives
on in his drive to support leadership, and to
make it part and parcel of the district's strategic
plan.
He is also characteristically modest
about his role in the district, attributing
the groundwork to its focus on leadership
to Kent Bechler, his mentor and immediate
predecessor in the superintendent's office.
And he credits the district's focus on building
its talent to its stable, productive relationship
with the Corona-Norco Teachers
Association, its teachers' union, an affiliate
of the National Education Association.
As other districts were laying off teachers,
Corona-Norco's union agreed to a pay cut
and a five-year salary freeze in 2010. Recently,
union and district leaders agreed that
the additional supplementary cash provided
through the state funding overhaul will be
put into student services rather than salaries
or benefits.
But it's Mr. Lin who sets the tone, his colleagues
say.
"What's really different about Michael is
that not only is he supertalented with his
technical skills, he has relationship skills
that are also really impressive," said Samuel
Buenrostro, the district's assistant superintendent
of human resources. "We like to
think that, number one, we work collaboratively,
and we feed our teachers and provide
an environment for them to succeed."
Building that culture of leadership took
some time, said a veteran teacher.
"When you talk about teacher leadership,
some people don't really get it-they think,
these are people who just want to be administrators,"
Renae Bryant, who recently
moved to take a position as a coordinator
for English-language-learner services in a
nearby district. "Definitely, it was the principals,
at first, that did not understand it. The
[school] board members did better, because
they got their feet wet with the national
board first-we showed them our crazy binders.
It's a collaborative board, and the members
really educated themselves."
Now, the district is starting to see dividends,
making use of its leaders in creative
ways.
Suzanne E. Adame, a teacher on special assignment
at Garretson Elementary, heads up
the school's instructional efforts for Englishlanguage
learners and its parent-outreach
initiatives. She also sits on her school's leadership
team, helping to act as the teachers'
representative at those meetings. And she
provides coaching for teachers, modeling new
teaching techniques aligned to the Common
Core State Standards.
"The district did a great job of providing
staff development, workshops, teachers
working to develop modules. It was just that
a lot of great teachers, experienced teachers
were shaken by the changes, so it was appropriate
that we included some modeling,"
she said.
At times, Ms. Adame still senses some
nervousness from other teachers who aren't
quite sure what to make of her varied roles,
but that has lessened over time.
"For some of my colleagues, it was like,
'Don't go there, don't go to the dark side;
you'll lose sight of who you are, your profession,'
" she said. "But I have been able to stay
a teacher."
Next Steps
There's still work to be done in CoronaNorco,
Mr. Lin acknowledges. He'd like
to focus on improving the curricula for
the leadership seminars and possibly provide
stipends for personnel who advance
their skills through the district's initiatives.
Most of all, he wants to avoid complacency,
despite the progress the district has made at
retaining teachers and closing achievement
gaps.
"It's the time you have to be careful. It's
something my dad used to say: 'You're too
happy!' ... It means you need to be cautious
and not overplay or take for granted what's
going on," he said.
In some ways, the true test of his leadership
will be only after he leaves his position.
That's because Mr. Lin is focused on ensuring
that the culture he creates in CoronaNorco
outlasts him.
"When I leave here, I want to be sure that
whatever good work has taken place is not
personality-driven. I don't want people to
say, 'He did this and this and that.' I want
people to say that Michael and his staff have
put systems in place so that the work can
continue." n
LESSONS FROM A LEADER
>> Walk the Walk
Saying you're interested in
leadership is one thing; showing
it is another. If you're focused on
developing capacity, have an action
plan, objectives, resources,
and timeline for doing it.
>> Find-and
Protect-Resources
In tight budget times, leadership
development is the first vulnerability.
When a budget reduction happens,
it will be the first thing that gets
dropped, especially when you have
a noncollaborative union.
>> Follow Through
Don't give up. Set the example of
working hard to continue putting
investments into these programs and
make sure the people you hire help
to sustain them. Know going in that
there will be challenges.
John Francis Peters for Education Week
http://www.edweek.org/leaders
Education Week - February 25, 2015

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