My View
The Kaya Principles on Leading Leaders
BY DAVID PINDER/School Administrator, December 2020

“WHERE ARE MY PEOPLE?” That’s what Kaya Henderson would exclaim when she opened the school leadership academies in our district. Principals would roar in delight because we knew she had our backs — always. She understood it’s through principals, not the superintendent, that real change happens.

Henderson was the chancellor of D.C. Public Schools from 2012 to 2016. During the years since, in my work as a cluster superintendent overseeing six turnaround schools, I’ve learned to embrace the Kaya Principles for leadership.

Disrupting the status quo in education requires innovation, change and loss. Too often, fear of failure impedes principals from leading bold change. As one with experience disrupting the status quo, I understand this fear.

Just 17 months before I was awarded 2012 principal of the year in the district, I was placed on leave after attacks by former staff members who resisted change. In most districts, the story would have ended there. In DCPS, it didn’t. Henderson returned me to high school leadership, initiatives moved forward, and we reached the coveted 90/90 proficiency in math and reading and earned National Blue Ribbon recognition.

Three Principles

These achievements were made possible because of her leadership principles: (1) empower educators, (2) unleash innovation and (3) protect your people.

»Empowering educators. Empowerment meant the superintendent authentically engaged educators in developing the strategic plan and the evaluation tools to measure it. It also meant the superintendent championed successes and held us accountable.

The superintendent encourages principal input. Our strategic plan wasn’t written by expensive consultants. It was ours. We wrote it. We believed in it. Henderson trusted us to design it. I was amazed at how much of my own language lived in the evaluation tool. The buy-in was there.

Training was critical too. Henderson launched the Emerging Leaders program for aspiring teacher leaders and the Mary Jane Patterson Fellowship for aspiring principals to build sustainability. Understanding that principals were CEOs, she partnered with Georgetown University to provide the Executive Master’s in Leadership to teach tools in adaptive leadership and negotiations to lead change.

Successes were acknowledged regularly. Our LIFT ladder rewarded achievements with career compensation. The annual Standing Ovation Awards celebrated teachers, principals and support staff for realizing the capital commitment. And we were held accountable when we missed the mark.

»Unleashing innovation. To accelerate achievement, you must remove bureaucratic barriers, experiment without negative consequences and replicate successes.

Principals need to be free to innovate. Efficacious learning environments can equalize the disparities brought on by poverty, trauma and academic deficiencies. Traditional grading, antiquated pedagogy and outdated curricula must be scrapped to accelerate learning. Henderson removed barriers and cultivated a service mindset in the central office.

Principals were encouraged to compete for district grants to innovate around student attendance, new technology, advanced course strands and student supports. Principals jumped at the opportunity to experiment without consequence. When initiatives worked, they were replicated and the school received the credit. DCPS enrollment rose to its highest in decades and achievement soared on NAEP assessments. Teacher retention skyrocketed.

»Protecting your people. Two components are required: Celebrate the risk-takers when they are most vulnerable and be willing to put your job on the line for your people.

Shortly after I received the principal of the year award, a reporter asked, “How can you explain winning this prestigious award — given the challenges you faced just a year before?” I answered, “You will have to ask Kaya. I don’t think it would have happened with any other superintendent in the country.”

She firmly believed if principals were to take risks and make hard calls, she needed to recognize their work — especially during a crisis. My award was a message to all leaders: You will not be abandoned when you make bold decisions.

Superintendents can achieve ambitious goals for their students, but they have to earn their principals’ trust to do it. The Kaya Principles will ensure it.

DAVID PINDER is the instructional superintendent for Cluster IX in the District of Columbia Public Schools in Washington, D.C. Twitter: @pinderDCPS