He should ask to be sent copies of all such communications. There are two
exceptions to this advice.
First, a school leader should make it a policy to review any negative
communication by a department supervisor, such as an unsatisfactory les-
son observation or letter of reprimand, before it is sent to a staff member.
In most school districts, such communications are likely to be grieved
under contractual provisions so that the supervisor and principal will have
to defend their content.
In the heat of the moment, supervisors may put something into writing
that more appropriately could be handled as a professional conversation.
Sometimes, supervisors are too quick to negatively rate a lesson. (Remem-
bering What’s Important: Priorities of School Leadership, the companion
to this book, suggests that school leaders should never rate a lesson un-
satisfactory unless they plan to rate the teacher as unsatisfactory and seek
his or her dismissal.)
If, on the other hand, the negative document is necessary, the school
leader needs to review it to ensure it is correctly written so that it survives
the scrutiny of the grievance process.
Sometimes, the review of such a document will lead to a conversation
with the supervisor that will result in a program of intense training for
the teacher rather than the process of an unsatisfactory rating. It may also
lead to a personalized workshop for the supervisor on correctly writing an
observation report or letter of reprimand.
Second, if a school leaders finds that past communications written by
any staff member were faulty—that is, they were unclear or contained too
many violations of standard written English—he should have the staff
member send him copies of future communications for review prior to
distribution. Such a request will usually result in improved proofreading
on the part of the staff member.
A school leader must also exert self-control when reviewing the work
others do for him. There is a reason he is the principal or the assistant
principal or the chairperson and others are not. He has a higher level of
expertise and tact. He knows the importance of a polished product. His job
includes writing multiple documents every day.
In almost every case, the school leader will look at what someone else
has written and know he could write it better. He needs to restrain him-
self. What message does he send to others if every document they create
138 Chapter 10