For school leaders, building culture within a school is challenging and yet it is essential to the success of the staff and students. The fact is that every school has countless worthwhile priorities that compete for attention. But, time and resources are, of course, limited. Teachers, school leaders, and support staff can only handle so many initiatives before fatigue sets in. There are only so many projects that can be launched, sustained, and monitored for success. This is why school leaders must stay true to their core strategies amidst all of the turmoil, noise, and distractions. School leaders who can keep their focus on the “main thing” are the truly outstanding leaders who achieve game-changing results over time. That said, developing a culture of excellence can be elusive and out-of-reach unless school leaders have a strong understanding of the goals and outcomes that they want to achieve.
A Culture of Success in Schools
A successful school culture starts with a vision, followed by just enough pressure and support to make that vision a reality. School leaders must choose a limited number of goals and revolve everything that the school does around them. This is a type of relentlessness that the best school leaders are able to maintain because the goals of the school and the work that everyone does to contribute to those goals are crystal clear. The leader's job is three fold: 1. Communicate the vision as often and in as many spaces as humanly possible, 2. Apply pressure in the system for people to reach their full potential, and 3. Support the people and the work with resources, materials, and professional learning.
When the goals of the organization are not clear, the people will resort to chaotic behavior that includes adopting any and every initiative that sounds like a good idea. It is the leader’s job to filter these ideas to narrow the focus based on the predetermined goals. Clarity is the key, and although it might sound like a strange tactic, management expert Curtiss Murphy actually teaches leaders to assume chaos. It is only when the goals are clear that we can require people to do their best work toward reaching the goals. Great school leaders know how to apply just enough pressure for people to reach their potential, but they do not do so without providing support in the form of resources, materials, and professional development so that everyone is equipped to make great strides toward the goals.
This begs the question: what are the right goals to set to create a culture of success in schools? With only a limited number of goals required to be absolutely focused, school leaders will narrow their communities to between 3 and 5 goals, and at least one of those goals should be academically focused on student outcomes. For high schools, the biggest indicator, regardless of the recent move to “test optional,” is still students’ ACT and/or SAT scores.
Many high schools have a mantra that all students graduate college and career ready. This is not a binary approach. It means that all students are prepared for their choices regarding college and career after high school, not one or the other. And, that also means that a point of academic success and readiness for college is growth on ACT and/or SAT. The problem is that even though these tests are indicators of academic achievement, they are often thought about later in a student’s academic planning—junior and senior year—and looked at more as entrance exams than as indicators of school-wide academic achievement.
The truth is that when students can perform well and make growth on the SAT or ACT, they gain skills that are necessary for both college and career. Obviously, reading and math are major aspects of being job-ready, but the other skills associated with learning to learn as students bring their scores up are invaluable. For counselors, school leaders, and other educators to help students make big gains regarding SAT/ACT, the whole school must rally behind this ambitious vision. The following 10 strategies are meant to help school leaders develop a culture of growth and excellence when it comes to ACT and SAT.
#1. Using a Multi-Year Approach to Goal-Setting
Too often, educators, students, and families voice how they wish that they had focused on the ACT or SAT earlier in the academic journey. It’s common for students and schools to put off preparing for these critical exams until it’s too late. The most successful schools, where the culture of SAT/ACT are strong, start in 9th grade or before by either communicating the importance of preparation or actually giving the exams to students and using the data to drive instruction.
In fact, some versions of these tests can be used in the 8th grade. Starting early and using the information as measures for goal-setting is the first step to developing a culture where exam preparation is important to everyone. The end-game for test preparation should not just be the test itself but rather using the test as one indicator of college and career readiness, which communicates a greater purpose within the culture of the school.
#2. Counseling with Data
Transforming schools into centers of academic excellence begins with a data-driven approach to counseling. By analyzing student performance against benchmarks, implementing personalized learning objectives and goals, and administering regular practice exams, schools can effectively prepare students for the ACT and SAT without having to rely on a big push in the junior year. Ultimately, for schools that focus on the ACT and SAT, this means that counselors and other key stakeholders are using the data to set growth targets for every student.
Of course, data-driven counseling uses a multi-indicator strategy, but early intervention using a student’s score can drive the conversation about the kinds of courses and the level of preparation they need to be successful in the long-run. Counselors who have easy access to SAT/ACT scores and who know how to interrupt the data are equipped to drive the conversation. One of the first steps for a school who wants to develop a successful school culture around SAT/ACT is to develop the counseling staff.
#3. Cultivating Key Leaders
Discovering passionate and committed leaders to partner in spearheading an ACT/SAT initiative is paramount for lasting success. These champions, often already driving test preparation efforts, serve as the backbone of change and implementation; they also work on the front lines to foster student investment and motivation. By nurturing and coaching these key leaders, schools can ensure a robust foundation for impactful change, maintaining momentum, and creating a strong culture of academic achievement.
Teacher leaders are always at the center of any positive initiative. After training and developing the counselors as data-driven decision-makers, other key leaders must be brought into the fold. School leaders should consider department chairs, grade level leaders, and other educators who have influence in the school and who want to see every student succeed in their post-secondary plans.
#4. Empowering All Teachers to be ACT/SAT Teachers
School leaders must ensure that all teachers are invested in improving student outcomes and that they are all prepared to do so. There are three key ways that school leaders can proactively build capacity within their faculty—simulate the exam for them, ensure alignment of materials and instructional practices, and consistently lead from the front on all things related to ACT/SAT exams. By familiarizing teachers with the exams, aligning instruction with assessments, and prioritizing academic culture, schools can empower teachers to effectively support student success on these critical tests.
It’s never good to assume that teachers know how the exams work, which curriculum materials are most aligned to the content of the test, or how their instructional practices can help students to be more prepared. When teachers are empowered, they can all become ACT/SAT teachers rather than just relying on a prep period or outside resources.
#5. Creating a Strategic Plan and a Playbook
The school leader’s role is to anticipate challenges and guide the team toward success, much like a coach or conductor. Creating a written strategic plan that includes goals, teacher and leader actions, and key milestones helps bring the vision to life and elevates the sense of community ownership over the initiative. Additionally, a detailed playbook ensures that the systems, tasks, and actions needed to achieve those goals are clearly outlined, allowing every team member to understand their role in preparing students for ACT/SAT success.
The strategic plan and playbook allow for multi-year success because they live and evolve over time. The point is not to reinvent the system each year but rather build upon it, capitalizing on bright spots and making changes where opportunities arise. The plan should not only include the details but also communicate the intentions of its use–that we work in a culture where SAT/ACT are paramount to college and career readiness for all students.
#6. Ensuring that Every Student Knows Their Numbers
Educators must strike a balance between encouraging students to dream big and ensuring that they understand the academic realities needed to achieve those dreams. At the core of this is the concept of “knowing your numbers.” Schools should build systems that allow students to track their GPA, test scores, and college requirements early on, positioning students as informed decision-makers about their future. This proactive approach helps set realistic expectations and guides students toward achievable goals.
Knowing the numbers is also about helping students realize that career and college readiness are the same thing. Having strong communication skills and mathematical reasoning are life skills that all students should be focused on attaining in their K-12 environments. A culture of SAT/ACT demonstrates to students that we care about their personal and professional well-being after they graduate.
#7. Teaching Content and Coaching on Strategy
High-quality, rigorous instruction from content experts is the foundation for students achieving strong ACT and SAT scores, but not all classroom instruction is equal. Leaders can help by ensuring that teachers focus on prioritizing standards, fostering a culture of reading, and coaching students on effective test-taking strategies. Schools should also promote reading and provide guidance on strategies to help students maximize their performance on exam day and beyond.
Good teaching strategies that are based on the science of teaching and learning are natural preparation tactics and also help students to learn how to learn while they’re learning what they’re learning. These strategies, when employed effectively, will promote lifelong learning for students as they encounter other tests and examinations–in college, on the job, and in life–beyond the preparation for one entrance exam.
#8. Communicating with Families
Supporting families as they navigate their student's path to college is essential, especially with the complexities of the ACT and SAT exams. School leaders can bridge knowledge gaps by hosting informational sessions, maintaining ongoing communication, and providing tools to empower families in the college preparation process.
By offering a clear vision and empowering families with knowledge, they become partners in the journey towards academic success. Celebratory events and consistent updates further reinforce this partnership, ensuring families remain actively engaged throughout the academic year. Documents and communication should be in the preferred language of the families so that everyone has access, which further demonstrates the commitment on the part of the school.
#9. Incentivizing and Encouraging Good Habits
Creating an incentive program to encourage positive academic habits requires a thoughtful and strategic approach. Providing rewards that enforce effective study and learning habits across the school in a way that celebrates outcomes and adds excitement is powerful. Again, a culture with SAT/ACT at its core is not just about doing well on the exams but also building the habits that are transferable to other aspects of school and life.
Incentivizing and encouraging habits rather than just rewarding score attainment is a critical nuance between schools that just want scores to go up and schools that have a vision for SAT/ACT as a key indicator of success for each graduate. Schools should identify and name the habits associated with success and then create incentives and encouragement tactics around them, which leads to the final strategy.
#10. Celebrating Like They Won the World Series
Building and maintaining a culture around the ACT and SAT exams is challenging, especially when the exams feel distant and other priorities compete for attention. To keep students engaged, it’s important to align content and instruction with the exams and celebrate progress along the way. Celebrations should not just be about the test as one academic indicator but the other academic successes that are known to lead to success on the test.
Celebrating improvement and progress for individuals and cohorts of students builds momentum and shows students that hard work and effort lead to results. Leaders can further amplify success by ritualizing recognition across the school. Celebrating course grades, participation in extracurricular activities, and other achievements that are known to lead to academic progress puts emphasis on what matters most.
Conclusion
Doing well on the SAT or ACT exam should not be the result of a short burst of pressure and should not be left to chance by school leaders. It should be the result of a school-wide effort to help all students become college and career ready. This type of cultural shift requires leaders to be strategic in the development of a plan that includes key individuals at the forefront and communication efforts to all stakeholders. The 10 strategies above are meant to help school leaders as they think about what it means to have a culture of SAT/ACT success and set a new bar for what it means to set students up for success beyond high school. To see how MaiaLearning can help your school create a culture of clarity, focus, and growth, driving measurable success in SAT/ACT book a demo today.
Written in collaboration with Winward Academy.
