Can You Work More For Me?

Well we all survived the first day of school. I have a new position in school leadership, but I am worried about one thing in particular: Can I Ask Teachers to Do More Work?

September workload can be overwhelming.

The nature of leadership requires me to ask staff to do things. I don't have a problem asking them to do reasonable tasks, but asking them to do extra work is difficult. Teachers have the most tasking and time consuming job in the school. I can't, in good conscience, ask them to do extra work on top of their already immense workload.

So what can I do when I need the teachers to do something for me?

The answer, as I realized while running last night, is not as complex as it appears. If the time needed from a teacher to complete a task is greater than the combination of the time gained by a teacher plus student achievement and growth then I can justifiably ask a teacher for help. This can actually be expressed in a formula.

If T (needed) < T (gained) + Student Achievement then ✓

If T (needed) > T (gained) + Student Achievement then X

This is not some floofy fake formula (alliteration not intended). This will actually guide my formal interaction with staff throughout the year. Admittedly the student achievement is difficult, but not impossible, to measure.  For this to work I need to test the formula for validity. So here is my first test:

I asked and expected all of the teachers to administer an exam to students in their homeroom. This was part of the first day package and the office was able to have all of the exams printed and handed out to the teachers, so there was no work required there, but I also asked the teachers to grade and record the exams, so here I am asking them to do more work. I need to ask myself, is it justified? 

Time Needed from Teachers = 30 minutes to grade on scantron and record the marks.

Time Gained from Teachers = 10 minutes of planning time for the one hour of class to write exam

Student Achievement = Use results of exam to track student growth over the year, identify outlying high performing and struggling students on the first day of school, use this data to help teachers plan intervention strategies.

30 min. < or > 10 min. + Early Identification\Intervention Planning?

The third variable in the equation is not yet measurable, so the formula is still of the typical floofy education variety. How much time would it take for a teacher to identify and begin planning intervention strategies for the outlying high and low performing students in their classes? An experienced teacher could have this accomplished in one class period 40 - 50 minutes. They would not, however, have comparable school wide data that could be used across their teacher teams. They would, most likely, have a sample of student work and their own professional anecdotal evidence about the students. Even if I ignore the last point and use the smaller number the answer is clear. I am justified in asking teachers to grade and record the student exams.

30 min. < 10 min. + 40 min.

I am justified in asking teachers to grade and record the student exams because it will actually save the teachers some time in the long run.

It is my promise to teachers that I will not ask them to do anything that will only create more work for them. If I ask anything of teachers this year it will be under the auspices of this formula.

You can hold me to this.