JEIC’s mission is to catalyze radical improvement in Jewish day schools. As part of this, we realize that all components of the Jewish day school ecosystem—administrators, educators, parents, students, and influencers—must work together in sync in order for positive culture change to occur and become deeply ingrained in the schools.

In light of that, some interesting statistics surfaced in Education Week, two of which I would like to address. Both of these indicate a disconnect between the perceptions of the principals (which includes heads of school and division heads) and the perceptions of the teachers—a phenomenon that can only impede student growth and progress. Clearly, the article is addressing secular schools, both private and public. But Jewish day schools are not immune to these disconnects, and it is worth surfacing and discussing these specific issues.

Teacher Empowerment

While 69% of principals indicated they completely agree with the statement that teachers at their school feel empowered to bring problems to them, teachers did not seem to share that same belief. In fact, only 25% of teachers indicated they completely agree with the statement that they feel empowered to bring problems to their principals.

How this may impact Jewish day schools: In addition to the usual run-of-the-mill grade school issues, Jewish day school teachers often need their principals’ ears for distinctly Jewish issues. These may include a spiritual crisis that a child is experiencing; an inability to address questions that have arisen in response to a particular Jewish text; a burden placed on teachers by special Yom Tov programming; a case in which a family may need some extra chessed/kindness in light of illness or other family issue; or a teacher requiring time off for a dying relative or, God forbid, a funeral and shiva, either here or abroad. If a teacher feels that he or she cannot approach their supervisor with an issue, it will create obstacles to helping the children and their families, or lead to teacher unhappiness to the point we are all familiar with: of teachers leaving their school or the profession altogether. And if the world in general thinks it is difficult to find motivated, trained educators, how much more so is this true of Judaic Studies teachers?

One way that we may be able to bridge the gap: Principals are aware of more back stories than teachers. The demands on their time are also greater than those on teachers, and the scope of their responsibilities to the school is significantly broader than that of teachers. So, perhaps taking a lesson from the Torah portion of Yitro, they should delegate to second- or third-tier administrators the care and “feeding” of teachers. The principals’ delegates could be the sounding board, meeting with groups of individual teachers on a regular basis and reporting back to the principal as needed. This way, the teachers not only feel heard, but actually are heard. This does not always mean that the teachers get their way, but that they will be empowered to share their concerns with the administration through the designated management person.

Teachers as Innovators

While 86% of principals indicated they completely agree with the statement that they support teachers who start innovative work or new initiatives, interestingly, only 45% of teachers indicated they completely agree with the statement that their principal supports teachers who start innovative work or new initiatives.

How this may impact Jewish day schools: We firmly believe that we have a long way to go to enfranchise our Jewish day schools into 21st –Century progressive education. For the most part, we are not yet meeting our students where they are in terms of growing up with technology, being immersed in the world of social media, and living in a post-9/11 world where moral challenges are significantly more complex than they once were. Jewish values are often under attack in Western society, and Jewish choices have become increasingly complicated. Creative teachers need to feel and receive the utmost support from their administrators in trying out new ways to engage and relate to their students. This cannot be constructively accomplished if the teachers are feeling or receiving opposition from their supervisors.

One way that we may be able to bridge the gap: Principals are answerable to their boards and their funders. They need to ensure a robust budget and a steady stream of new students. Due to these imperatives, they are often reluctant to upset the apple cart. Teachers, having no such constraints, are more often eager to try out something new. Perhaps a compromise can be reached, such as the Beit Din/Rabbinic Court always strives to do. When a teacher wants to try out a new methodology, it does not necessarily need to be wide-sweeping. The teacher can see if a new curriculum or pedagogical approach will work by giving it a whirl and trying it out in a class or two, after which the initiative can be evaluated to see whether it is worth broadening or not. This “baby-step” approach may give principals the cover they need while trying out new ways of doing things.

I found the above statistics compelling in that we need to figure out how to address these disconnects between teachers and administrators. We have offered only one suggestion for each set of statistics. We would love to have you weigh in with more methods to improve this situation for our schools and our students.