The 80/20 Rule

When I was just starting out as an administrator, I had to go through the same rite of passage as nearly all admins — the assistant principalship. As a new administrator, I was ambitious about the good I was going to do and then I was quickly dismayed by how difficult it was to get anything done.

As an assistant principal, my main duties involved the management of students; processing disciplinary referrals and following up on student conduct, attendance, and poor achievement. I was constantly putting out fires. I quickly fell into the same trap that many fell into. I found that it was mostly a small number of students that caused most of my headaches and if I could send them elsewhere, then I could actually have time to make some improvements for the rest of the school.

I was lucky to have a supervisor who taught me about the 80/20 rule. She explained that 20% of kids will always take 80% of my time. If I send these kids to an alternative school, I will spend my time on the next batch of kids who are not doing as well as we would like. Instead, she suggested I work on systems that support students. She built on my analogy of being a firefighter and told me about smokejumpers. Instead of just running from fire to fire, I need to identify what is fueling the fire and take the fuel away.

This change in mindset led me to look for early warning markers for which students might be experiencing difficulty before they started acting out. It led me to look at student behavior as data regarding what their needs were and not just who needs punishment. I began to look at which teachers were having more difficulty with students and which seemed to never have a student behavior issue.

Eventually, this systems approach to my job created dramatically reduced rates of behavioral issues with my students. I had another assistant principal, who had previously been the AP for my grade, how I could possibly have time to focus on curricular and instructional issues. They assumed I must be overwhelmed with the processing of referrals.

I will always remember the 80/20 rule and how it can sabotage your efforts or empower you.

The important thing about a problem is not its solution, but the strength we gain in finding the solution.

― Seneca