Foundation #2: Improve Every Day

This article is a selection from the introduction of the new book, Five Foundations for Great School Leadership, available on June 30. Click here to preorder your digital copy on Amazon Kindle!

The second foundation, Improve Every Day, means that no one should ever settle for the status quo.

Complacency is the enemy of success. Educational leaders must combat complacency in order to reach their goals.

There is always room for growth. The best leaders find ways to nurture growth in themselves and others. 

While growth naturally leads to increased complexity, and complexity can be uncomfortable, constant improvement is required for schools to fulfill their purpose.

Students who don’t grow don’t graduate, and teachers who are unwilling to grow themselves are not in tune with the changing needs of their students. 

In Mindset: The New Psychology of Success, Carol Dweck discusses the difference between a fixed mindset and a growth mindset.

Dweck argues that beliefs about whether improvement is even possible has a major impact on the choices people make and the effort they expend.

Believing that growth is possible through effort, good teaching, practice, and persistence can lead to stronger decisions and better outcomes. 

The prevailing shift toward growth is apparent throughout the nation’s schools, as many states’ accountability systems have changed to add more weight to students’ improved performance on standardized tests year over year.

Growth is not only possible; it is a requirement for school success. 

There are a few considerations to take into account regarding consistent improvement. First, understand that there will always be growing pains.

Change is uncomfortable; it seems much easier to remain stationary than it does to move uphill.

Yet the cost of maintaining the status quo is high, and without fresh ideas to energize yourself and your school, maintaining the status quo actually leads to decline. 

Next, understand that all goals are intermediate goals. On the path to improvement, you never arrive at a final destination–once you achieve one goal, it’s time to set the next one.

Improving every day is a process. In order for you and your school to grow daily, you must identify the areas of improvement that will make the biggest impact.

There is no one-size-fits-all approach to improvement. Instead, you should analyze your context and determine the right place to focus your attention.

If your goal is to become a better leader, what should you work on? If there is a schoolwide issue with student discipline, then working on this one aspect of school leadership will improve your leadership overall.

You may look for better ways to increase student supervision, improve classroom management, foster more parent communication and involvement, or form better relationships with troubled students.

But if you try to do everything all at once, you will likely fail. It is essential to determine a strategy for improvement and to follow that plan.

Unfortunately, “improvement” is a loaded word in the world of education. The term “plan of improvement” strikes fear into the hearts of educators.

Often, teachers and administrators are placed on an official plan of improvement as a prerequisite for termination. That makes it difficult for principals to communicate a vision of personal and professional improvement alongside the typical rhetoric of whole-school improvement. 

I like official improvement plans for what they are–written, collaborative agreements between administrators and educators about increasing overall effectiveness–but I hate the implications associated with them.

People must be held accountable, but I believe improvement plans should be standard practice instead of punishment. 

Some principals begin the school year by placing every single teacher on a plan of improvement. As you might expect, that action could lead to a huge drop in teacher morale because it may be perceived as a way to speed up the process of termination.

Leaders must combat this resistance to personal and professional improvement by working to create a vibrant feedback culture in the school.

Improving every day requires a level of self-awareness that is not always intuitive.

We constantly receive feedback from the world around us, not only from grades and performance assessments but also from people’s posture and facial expressions.

What’s essential is that we recognize different forms of feedback, seek good feedback, and take appropriate action based on what we learn. 

School and district leaders should provide lots of praise for behaviors they would like to see more of, and should give clear instructions about expectations for behaviors they would like to see less of.

Many schools could improve immediately by incorporating more opportunities for feedback.

The best schools have a strong feedback culture, and they use that culture to propel them to excellence.

Want to read more about the Five Foundations? Learn more in Five Foundations for Great School Leadership, available on June 30, 2025.

Click here to preorder on Amazon Kindle!