Principals’ summit is energizing and inspiring
Principals and other campus team members jumped into action for the new school year during the Principal Summit that took place this week at Thomas Jefferson High School. With the theme “Elevate: Reaching Heights of Excellence,” the event was marked by conviviality, sing-offs, and dancing, and the auditorium buzzed with animated conversation.
When Superintendent Stephanie Elizalde took to the stage, the excitement became palpable.
Elizalde began by acknowledging new principals, saying, “You didn’t sign up for easy. You wouldn’t have wanted the job if it was easy. You’re special.”
Principals are the foundation of everything that happens at a school, Elizalde said, pointing to district successes such the increased student enrollment and closed achievement gaps.
“Let’s collaborate with each other, and let’s compete the hell out of all the other school districts,” she said.
Reworking a favorite maxim from former Superintendent Michael Hinojosa—effort is good, but results are better—Elizalde said: “Effort is good, but results are required because we don’t get to tell students and their families, ‘We tried hard. Sorry, we’re a failing school, but we tried really hard for you.’ Does that change anything for that student? No. Yes, we absolutely must make an effort, but if we also truly believe in that effort, we also know that it’s the right effort.”
Elizalde noted that the district is projected to have more compressive A-rated campuses than ever before, spread across different locations in the district. She recognized the collective effort of principals and their staff to rapidly turn struggling schools around. Schools that are projected to receive a high rating include John Q. Adams Elementary School, South Oak Cliff High School, Larry G. Smith Elementary High School, and W. H. Adamson High School.
“We are not going to give up on our kids,” she said.
Then touching on economic disadvantage, Elizalde said we do not resemble the state demographically. The district is 90 percent economically disadvantaged compared to 62 percent statewide.
“No one knows that better than principals in Dallas ISD that the biggest correlating factor to academic achievement is economics,” she said.
Yet, despite the economic disadvantages, Dallas ISD has surpassed the state in academic metrics. For instance, in 80 percent of the tested categories, Dallas ISD showed larger increases than the state. Similarly, Black, emergent bilingual, and economically disadvantaged students outperformed their state peers in the “all subject and grades” category.
“Dallas ISD at the Approaches Grade Level was at a 66, and the state was at a 72. We had a two-point increase at approaches,” Elizalde explained. “In terms of the Meets Grade Level, we used to have a seven-point gap with the state, and now we have a five-point gap. At the Masters Grade Level, the highest level, we used to have a five-point gap, but now we have a three-point gap. If we continue that trajectory, in three years we will be at or above the state.”
Though Elizalde assured principals that the district will not “become a test prep mill,” her team is developing a five-year strategic plan to monitor academic growth and improve test scores, especially at the seventh-grade level.
Regarding the STAAR, Elizalde said Gov. Greg Abbot called a special legislative session to discuss, among other things, House Bill 4. While Elizalde is hopeful about potential changes, she said that if “all [the state] is going to do is replace STAAR with something that’s still like STAAR, I am not going to support it.”
“I’d rather leave it where it is, because we know what we’re dealing with,” she continued.
Elizalde concluded with the three Cs of leadership: confidence, compassion, and courage. Confidence, she said, is not arrogance; compassion is expecting no more of others than one would of oneself; and, finally, courage, she remarked, requires us to be bold but never to be bullies.
“Conflict is inevitable, but combat is optional,” she said. “There’s no shortcut to student academic achievement: it’s great instruction, great relationships, and high expectations. It’s that simple—and yet it is that hard.”
