What they have to say
"The work of principal SAM teams is to make a difference in the educational lives of all students by making sure the principal manages management items via the SAM, and does the instructional leadership items as the instructional leader; the principal is to manage management and do instructional leadership!"
Dr. Joe Pacha, Time Change Coach
How Does it Work?
The SAM Initiative helps principals assess how they are using their time so they can make continual improvements.
Principals first receive baseline data from Time/Task Analysis Data Collection. Data collectors shadow principals for five days and record in five-minute increments how much time they spend on management, instructional or personal tasks. Principals use this data to create goals for the time they spend on instructional leadership. One year later, Time/Task Analysis Data Collection is completed again to assess improvement.
Principals meet daily with a School Administration Manager (SAM). The SAM may be a new staff position or an existing staff member who takes on new duties. The SAM works with the principal to analyze how time is being use, shift managerial duties to others and establish the next day’s calendar. During meetings, they use a software calendar program, TimeTrack™, which was developed for this purpose. The primary goal is to increase the principal’s time on leading instructional improvement.
Principals and SAMs meet monthly with a Time Change Coach. Coaches are retired school administrators who are selected and trained. In these meetings, the Time Change Coach helps the principal/SAM team reflect on progress and challenges, identify professional development needs, and connect with other SAMs and principals in the SAM network.
The SAM Initiative helps principals use a range of data to further reflect on their practice and develop a plan to increase time spent as instructional leaders. In addition to providing principals with data on how their time is spent, the initiative also helps them analyze results from school and community surveys.
