Discover the transformational power of data-driven decisions in education as we sit down with Monique Smalls, a visionary principal who turns struggling schools into bastions of excellence. Journey with us through Monique's candid recount of how practical approaches like the gradual release model and professional learning communities can ignite a cultural revolution within the school walls. Her story is not just about numbers and statistics; it's a profound testament to the synergy of community, culture, and an unwavering commitment that uplifts students and educators alike. When simplicity meets consistency, the path to academic success is not just clear—it's inspiring.
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Have feedback, questions, or want to be a guest? Email ExtraordinaryEducators@cainc.com to connect with us!
Discover the transformational power of data-driven decisions in education as we sit down with Monique Smalls, a visionary principal who turns struggling schools into bastions of excellence. Journey with us through Monique's candid recount of how practical approaches like the gradual release model and professional learning communities can ignite a cultural revolution within the school walls. Her story is not just about numbers and statistics; it's a profound testament to the synergy of community, culture, and an unwavering commitment that uplifts students and educators alike. When simplicity meets consistency, the path to academic success is not just clear—it's inspiring.
Read Curriculum Associates' blog: CurriculumAssociates.com/blog
Follow us on Twitter: @CurriculumAssoc
Follow us on Instagram: @MyiReady
Have feedback, questions, or want to be a guest? Email ExtraordinaryEducators@cainc.com to connect with us!
Hi everyone. Welcome to the Extraordinary Educator Podcast. I'm Danielle.
Speaker 3:And I'm Sari. This week, we are joined by an incredible principal in South Carolina, Monique Smalls.
Speaker 2:Monique has experienced some really great success in her building. When she started, the building was one point away from not being as amazing as they could be, and she turned the school around using some very specific practices which are not that complicated.
Speaker 3:Exactly, less is more, and we hope that you enjoy our conversation with her as much as we did. We really learned a lot, especially if you're thinking about change management or how to make vague terms like data-driven really come true and alive for your school community. So here's our conversation with Monique. Hey, monique, welcome to the podcast. We are so excited to have you here. Thank you for having me.
Speaker 2:So, monique, you are a building-level leader. What's going well in your world?
Speaker 4:Yeah, so I'm the principal here at Kelly Edwards in Williston, south Carolina, and starting here as a principal, when I got here, we were one step before being an unsatisfactory school with the state of South Carolina. So, really and truthfully, what we had to do was put some systems and structures in place in our building because obviously what we had currently, you know, wasn't working well, and I am a instructional leader but I also consider myself always a teacher. I'm a teacher at heart, so the structures in place had to really value everything that my teachers were doing already, but to also make their lives a little simpler. We wanted predictability in our schedules, we wanted our students needed predictability, and then we wanted to maximize that instructional time. So when I'm teaching, I want to make sure that I'm teaching the standard to the full extent of it and I want students to have that time to practice. So I made sure that the gradual release model was implemented in our building and we became very data driven. We instituted PLCs once a week and then I was able to show them through PDs and PLCs what it looked like in a classroom for a teacher to instruct, to guided practice with them and then release.
Speaker 4:And you know, when we go home we're exhausted and the kids are like, yeah, because the teachers have worked so hard all day. And the kids are like, yeah, you just asked me to do two problems. I'm good, you know. So we needed to shift, we needed to flip that balance. Kids need to go home exhausted, you know, and we needed to utilize the time that we had for instruction and be very targeted in what we do, and so those are some of the structures that we put in place that have helped us move from that unsatisfactory to an excellent rating, and we've been excellent with South Carolina for two years. So, just because of the structures that we've put in place, and we believe now, with the structures in place, that all we have to do is fine tune it from year to year based on our data- Congrats to you, to your staff, your students, their families.
Speaker 3:That is incredible and no small feat. We'd love to learn a bit. I mean, you say all these things like then we became data driven. Obviously, I think most leaders would like to make the, you know, wave a magic wand and make that happen as well. But how did you kind of like make that shift with your entire school community and get buy-in and and all of that? Where do you kind of start and how do you make that change?
Speaker 4:Yeah, so we started with PLCs and I will say, initially, you know everybody wants to happen You're going to meet with the principal once a week, you know. But we started doing grade level team meetings and everyone became responsible for the data. Rather, it became school wide data. Everyone had ownership of it because we talked about it so regularly. One week we talk about summative assessments, next week we might talk about formative. We talk about summative assessments, next week we might talk about formative. Then we talk about benchmarking.
Speaker 4:But we had a system and a protocol in place where we talked about the data the same every single time and no one would get upset because we all own the data. So even if it was Ms Smith's class, ms Smith could talk about her data, but Ms Smalls could then give her suggestions to increase it. It was not a way to ridicule you, it was a way to help us all grow, and that was just developing that community and that culture of our building. You know, you have to start out by saying we're not pointing a finger, we're not saying you're a horrible teacher, we're here to assist and grow us all. You're a horrible teacher, we're here to assist and grow us all. And that really that shift in just the way we approach the data put everybody on board.
Speaker 2:That's so huge. So just the listeners, just let's just pause real quick. The data belonged to everybody. Did you post data in the hallways, like, how did you get the data to belong to everybody? Not just a consistent meeting time, consistent protocols of looking at the data, because that is a we've heard, that's a really effective shift and you're clearly evidence of that as well.
Speaker 4:So we don't post it necessarily in a building but we do have a Google Drive that everyone has access to and the data is always updated in that Google Drive. But the meetings aren't just for homeroom teachers of students. We have meetings with related arts, we have meetings with our SPED. You'd be shocked to know that my bookkeeper and my secretary up front know the data as well, because some days kids are sent up and they're like well, I know that you scored and we use a system of red, yellow, green, okay, let's.
Speaker 4:Iready makes it so simple that students understand where they are. Like they know oh, my color was red. You know, I'm does, not me. And they, they are able to talk specifically to the things they need to do to grow. So the colors help us. And if someone was to come up into my office and they have to sit with the bookkeeper, the bookkeeper says you're in the red, you really should be in class. Come on, let's go read a book. You know, it's just those simple. We didn't make it difficult. We're able to talk to parents in the same manner about those colors and so now it becomes a community effort versus just, hey, it's Kelly Edwards' responsibility to grow these. You know the students.
Speaker 2:But how did you think of this, like, what prompted you to make some of these changes when you became a principal at the school? Did you have a mentor? Did someone tell you to do it? Were you just like, let's try this?
Speaker 4:Well, I never was on the path to become a principal, to be honest with you. Ok, I enjoy being a teacher because that was my first love. And then I became a literacy coach for a very long time and I had to work with adults. Let's just be honest. Sometimes working with adults are hard. It is, and my philosophy was I never want to forget what it feels like to be in the classroom.
Speaker 4:I raised two small children and I realized sometimes I'm exhausted. I realize sometimes I'm exhausted, and so I always put myself in my teacher's shoes in order to make these shifts and changes within the building. So when I approach this shift of making a data-driven culture or having these conversations, I think to myself what would make it easier to understand? What's going to give me the more bang for my buck? What's going to produce results? Proven results and I know that have worked for me as an educator, and those are the things that I institute in the building in order to get buy in Initially. You know I go in and do it first, so I'm not above going in the classroom and trying it out with a couple of folks first, then coming back and showing them. Hey, I did this for a couple of weeks and look at the results. You know, and so that generally helps because I'm a part of the team, I'm in the trenches with them.
Speaker 3:That is awesome. I'm sure your staff really appreciates you walking the walk. You're not just telling them what to do, you're showing them how to do it correctly and modeling it Before we close out. We could talk to you all day about this because your insights and expertise are so valuable. Do you have any sort of parting advice for leaders or teachers who are leaders at their buildings trying to implement change, either not knowing where to start, or have these big ideas, like you did, but then just kind of making it actually happen? Any any last words for them?
Speaker 4:I think simplicity, because educating our youth is is our ultimate goal. We have all these new initiatives that come out and everybody's grasping at all of them, putting them all in place, and then nothing works. So our philosophy here at Kelly Edwards is we're going to keep it very simple. We have one program of use in our building. If you walk in, everybody says what is your curriculum? All righty, that's what we use, it's our tier one, it's our intervention. You know, we purchased the phonics piece. We use that one comprehensive curriculum with our students and we're able to see the growth in them and it's just simple. It's good quality instruction, but we're not pulling from five different curriculums. It's really.
Speaker 2:It's about having simplicity well, we appreciate you taking the time to be on this podcast. Educators, I'm sure, are going to be very excited to listen to a lot. Just I mean amazing advice and congratulations on your success, I know that your students are going to continue to grow and teachers thrive under your leadership. Thank you so much, thank.
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