It’s been about two months since I stepped into the role of Interim Acting Assistant Principal. Thank you for your dedicated time to the Educational Leadership series each week!

Week 1: I checked myself in my new role [LINK]
Week 2: I radiated through actions and reactions [LINK]
Week 3: I asserted myself as a leader [LINK]
Week 4: I sounded the alarm [LINK]
Week 5: I took ownership of my time [LINK]
Week 6: I stayed low on the inference ladder [LINK]
Week 7: I practiced balancing advocacy and inquiry [LINK]

You came along with me for this journey, and now we find ourselves in Week 8, where I took the opportunity to reflect on my progress so far in my new role as Assistant Principal. As we continue into Week 8, this week’s challenge centers around the important theme of monitoring your progress.

Monitoring progress might initially seem obvious, yet as a reflective leader, understanding where you stand—and being open and transparent about your growth—is absolutely vital. The expected outcome: by thoughtfully reflecting on your journey, you’ll be able to accurately pinpoint both the challenges you are currently facing and the progress you are successfully making.

How did I fare without relying on my supervisor's guidance?

To stay on track, I developed a comprehensive digital chart that served as my roadmap throughout my first year as an Assistant Principal. I updated it regularly to document my progress and reflect on my goals. This process was transformative, which is why I’ve dedicated an entire blog post to the importance of monitoring progress.

As leaders, we often get caught up in the day-to-day whirlwind of tasks, weeks packed with deadlines, and months filled with events. Without a system for reflection, we risk losing control of our priorities and simply reacting to circumstances. Progress monitoring isn’t just a helpful tool—it’s a proactive way to ensure that we stay aligned with our vision and goals, rather than waiting for directives from supervisors to course-correct.

Here’s a quick snapshot of my focus areas. I organized these into a chart, which I’ve included below for you to customize and use as your own.

1. Type out your school’s mission statement.
   Every action you take should align with your school’s mission. Keeping it front and center helps keep your focus sharp and intentional.

2. Write down your core responsibilities.
   These should have been communicated clearly by the start of the school year. One of my core responsibilities, for example, is the effective management of curriculum systems.

3. Read your school’s mission statement and highlight the high-priority actions that will bring all students to success.
   These are the “Big Rocks”—the game-changer actions that drive achievement (Marshall, 2018). For me, one of my Big Rocks is creating a community of learners, where both educators and students thrive together.

4. Connect your Big Rocks to your school’s Comprehensive Educational Plan (CEP) goals.
   If you’re a school leader in NYC public schools, this is publicly available and should be your guiding document. It’s critical that you’re familiar with it, as it aligns with the district’s expectations. For example, improving college and career readiness is a key CEP goal at my school, and it connects directly to my Big Rock of managing curricular systems effectively.

5. List the specific actions you’ll take to fulfill your core responsibilities.
   These are actionable steps that will move you toward your goals. For me, one action is to collect and monitor the quality of course syllabi. This list doesn’t need to be exhaustive—just enough to sketch out your approach.

6. Conduct your first progress check.
   This is where you reflect on your journey so far. For me, I’ve set up five check-ins for the school year (one every two months). During each check-in, I’ll gather both qualitative and quantitative data to assess my impact.

Lesson #8

Monitor Your Progress. #BeInspired to track your growth as a leader in a way that’s sustainable and transparent to all stakeholders. By regularly checking in on your progress, you’ll be able to reflect on how effectively you’re improving teaching and learning in your school—and where you can keep pushing forward.

More about “Big Rocks”:
To dive deeper, check out The Big Rocks: Priority Management for Principals by Kim Marshall.

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Do you have any questions or would like to join the conversation? Reach out anytime! And while you're here, don’t miss out on Antiguan in America: A Racial Autobiography. Dive deeper into the journey of building your racial awareness and disrupting systemic inequities—purchase your copy now. See you in the next post!