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The concept of reduce, not eliminate relates to the reality of educational leadership, classroom management, student data, and a plethora of other important areas within education. The purpose of understanding reduce, not eliminate is to help educators operate within reality instead of operating with the false understanding of how things should be.

Reduce, not eliminate, is about the true expected outcomes that you want to take place. In almost all cases we look to eliminate the issue, problem, or behavior. We have meetings and dialog about how we can make it go away. We develop plans and action steps to eliminate the problems and have the positive productive outcomes that we want. The problem is that you may never eliminate anything. Complete eradication is impossible. No matter how many meetings you have, plans you develop, or strategies you implement, the concern will not be eliminated. You are setting yourself and others up for disappointment. Now that it has not been eliminated, we start to complain about how the idea or program “didn't work.” This is why you don't get the buy-in that you wanted for the new strategy. Over time, educators have been exposed to program after program after program that does not eliminate the bad grades, behavior, or low-test scores. This is when you have educators saying, “…Here we go again.” Stop saying you are going to eliminate and start saying reduce.

Instead of expecting the elimination of the problem, start expecting the reduction of the problem. By focusing on reducing instead of eliminating, you will have a more realistic understanding of how things could be instead of how things should be. People are people. No matter how much influence you have over them you cannot control everything to ensure the elimination of issues and problems. What you can do is use your level of influence to reduce the probability of issues and problems. I can live with a reduced probability. If the probability of problems and issues is reduced, then the probability of me doing what I want to do increases. Now I can make progress!

Reduce, not eliminate is not about being a cynic. You are not a downer who thinks that a solution will never take place. It's about being realistic about what can be accomplished and then celebrating that accomplishment. Embracing reduce, not eliminate is a relief. A huge burden should be released from your shoulders, knowing that you are working toward a goal that IS obtainable instead of a false reality that give you stress. Reduce, not eliminate, reduces administrator guilt, teacher guilt, and leadership guilt.

Examples of Reduce, Not Eliminate

 Poor student behavior

 Time off task

 Poor teacher behavior

 Poor instructional strategies

 Low parent involvement

 Opting out of testing

 Poor attendance

 Frequent lateness

 Teacher absenteeism

 Poor test scores

By focusing on reducing instead of eliminating, you will have a more realistic understanding of how things could be instead of how things should be.

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