A BRIEF REFLECTION ON THE ASSISTANT PRINCIPALSHIP

What a peculiar position the assistant principal position is. It is that one position within a school district where the individual who assumes this role cannot necessarily walk into a school and "hit the ground running." The assistant principal is there to "assist the principal." That translates into the role of the assistant principal (AP) being so dramatically different from school to school to school. No two principals necessarily use their APs alike. It all depends on the vision, experience and wherewithal of the principal. The one commonality that is a non-negotiable however is the AP as an INSTRUCTIONAL LEADER. This can't vary from school to school....particularly in high need schools. The AP MUST be utilized as an instructional leader along with the principal. If this person evaluates teachers but does not operate within the capacity of instructional leader, the teachers suffer and ultimately the children suffer. The basis of an administrator's supervision of teachers is the continued improvement of instruction. If the APs leadership is devoid of instructional leadership, one would have to question the authenticity of the evaluation process. So as I close, I am saying to all APs that you must lead instructionally. As you engage in your daily self reflection and assessment and you find that instructional leadership is not a part of your reality, you must engage in a self adjustment in conjunction with your principal. A huge portion of your day must be devoted to leading the teachers that you evaluate instructionally which begins with "living in those classrooms" consistently.