Robyn Bagley is a former principal of Career Path High. She is now consulting now and working with Heather Staker on a project for Acton Academy. She is also chair of Parents for Choice in Education, located in Utah. You can email her here
Acton Academy is an amazing model. Over 8,000 applications to start their own. How do we replicate that? How to approve partners and facilitate the success of their schools. How do you help kids not blow everything off? In a traditional model, we’ve removed all the opportunities to have kids lead. The first thing to think about is how to empower students. It kills their love for learning. You need to empower students. The second thing is to set up processes for accountability. It’s ok to fail as long as you are failing forward. Every student had a success coach with whom they met every week. Accountability: consequences like losing freedom and stopping college courses. Support: You must have good support systems in place. Lots of processes in place to help them stay on pace and set their goals. Three legs of a stool: Parents, students, school (teachers and administrators) We never apologize for bothering you with communication Four: give them something to be excited about in their pathway: i.e., have your certification when you finished school. The light came back on. The success coach was the real piece of accountability each week. Success coach had constant communication with parents, too. Give recognition with accountability. How to be a transformative principal? Collaborate with your team! Changing the culture from top-down directives to a collaborative culture.
