Simulations are a powerful tool for leadership pipeline development and teacher development that are Engaging, Authentic, Realistic, Interactive, and can be used in a Synchronous or Asynchronous manner (both in-person or virtual).
Simulations are a series of linked scenarios, in a choose-your-own-adventure format, that capture the challenges of school-based leadership problems of practice that sitting and aspiring leaders can experience in a safe manner so they can fail forward.
The video you see is an example of a live demonstration of our Disruptive Teacher Simulation. In this simulation, you are a school leader, and you are receiving complaints regarding a teacher’s behavior. You decide to attend a meeting with the subject’s collaborative teaching team. You discover there is one teacher on the team who is “not a team player.” Simulations such as this one offer a collaborative opportunity for leaders to exercise judgment and improve decision-making, experience consequences and build resilience, get feedback for reflection and learning, and engage in peer-to-peer discussion.
The SchoolSims Simulation Overviews PDF is the best way to learn more about our library of simulations. You will get the chance to take a look at the breakdown of each simulation, including categories such as:
Learn more about our entire simulation library, including newly released simulations.
| Simulation Title | Context |
|---|---|
| Special Education: Annual Case Review | In this simulation, you are confronted with a volatile parent situation brought on by past parent and teacher relations. The angry parent of a 5th grader presents you with a challenge to meet the needs of their special education student. Your understanding of the issues, federal requirements, and way of communicating with staff and parents will impact the success of your initiatives. This simulation is made for current school leaders, aspiring school leaders, current teachers, and teacher candidates. |
| Synergistic Leadership | In this simulation, the Superintendent shares concerns relative to the declining performance of EL students at your school. He tells you he favors finding ways to improve the existing English Immersion Program, but that he would like to hear your perspective and recommendations in two weeks. This simulation is made for current school leaders and aspiring school leaders. |
| Disruptive Teacher | This simulation is based around a collaborative teaching team. There is one teacher on the team, newer to the school but a mid-career teacher, who is “not a team player.” The simulation begins with another teacher on the team coming to the school leader and expressing concern over the way the disruptive teacher is behaving. The school leader ultimately ends up at a team meeting and witnesses behavior that is inappropriate and over-the-top. The simulation goals relate to school culture and climate, conflict management, and responding to teacher concerns. This simulation is made for current school leaders, aspiring school leaders, current teachers, and teacher candidates. |
| Middle School Turnaround (Implementing Change) | This simulation involves a new school leader taking over a failing middle school with an entrenched staff and little community support. As you seek to get a handle on the school’s finances, finger-pointing abounds. You will have to determine the best path to building accountability, commitment, and trust in turning this school around. This simulation is made for current school leaders and aspiring school leaders. |
| Building Inclusive Classrooms: Positive Learning Environment | Are you ready to face the challenge of continuing to build a positive classroom culture while working with an unengaged learner, and while addressing student behaviors outside of classroom norms? In this simulation, you are a 6th-grade teacher and notice one of your students arrive who is usually energetic and cheerful, but who seems down and disengaged today, and then disruptive. How will you engage him? After working through scenarios with him, on the next day, one of your students makes fun of another in a very public way. How will your address it? This simulation is made for current teachers and teacher candidates. |
| Building Inclusive Classrooms: Affirming Diverse Families | In this simulation, you have a reading project where your 3rd graders make 30-second commercials to encourage pairs to read their book. This week one of the posted commercials on the class website included the book And Tango Makes Three which focuses on 2 same-sex penguins and a baby given to them by a zookeeper. One parent was not happy about the topic. This simulation is made for current teachers and teacher candidates. |
| Facilitating Alignment (IEP) | You are the Team Chair for Special Education at Westley, a relatively new school in a growing district near a large metropolitan area. You have been a teacher, a school counselor and are now working with teachers who have tier 3 students. The recent shift to a virtual environment necessitated by the pandemic has had a significant impact on most students, but more especially on several of your special education students. A parent of one of your students wants hour-for-hour compensation for the time when her son was not receiving in-person services. This simulation is made for current teachers and teacher candidates. |
| Value-Based Leadership | This simulation is a decision-making experience designed for the conscious application of the virtues guiding your vision and actions as a leader. It is not a test – you are not being evaluated. It is not a tutorial – this is not designed to teach specific applications, but rather provide an opportunity to make decisions and reflect on choices in light of how virtue may have been applied. This simulation is made for current school leaders and aspiring school leaders. |
| Building Inclusive Classrooms: Defending Challenged Books | In this simulation for aspiring and current teachers, a parent contacts you regarding a book report on ‘George’ by Alex Gino. One of the students in the class chose this book for their book report. You have been conducting a year-long focus on reading by having students put up book commercials. This simulation is made for current teachers and teacher candidates. |
| Small District Budget Crisis | This simulation involves a new superintendent taking over a small school district that happens to be the primary employer in the community. When a budget shortfall is discovered, the superintendent must decide which resources to involve in the resolution while balancing transparency and strategy among key constituencies. Decide which conditions warrant more persistence versus flexibility while keeping the focus on students. This simulation is made for current school leaders and aspiring school leaders. |
| New Teacher Evaluation | This simulation involves an early-career elementary school teacher. The simulation begins following the school leader’s observation of the teacher teaching a literacy lesson. The teacher teaches directly from the teachers’ manual and the lesson has no higher-level skills or thinking embedded within it. At the same time, there has just been a new teacher evaluation rubric implemented in the district that is based on four performance levels. The school leader must meet with the teacher and coach improvement to instructional practice while also helping the teacher understand that the new rubric, though no longer saying her performance is “satisfactory,” the new rubric does not mean she is “unsatisfactory.” This simulation is made for current school leaders, aspiring school leaders, current teachers, and teacher candidates. |
| Academic Goal Setting | This simulation is based around a veteran social studies teacher in a middle school. The teacher has set goals that are not aligned with the new school goals or the Common Core standards. As the school leader, you must decide what steps you will take to try and move this teacher toward alignment with the school goals, and outside his comfort zone. This simulation is made for current school leaders, aspiring school leaders, current teachers, and teacher candidates. |
| Emerging Challenges of Distributed Leadership | As a school leader in this simulation, you will face a variety of issues related to working in an environment requiring social distancing and coordination challenges while considering how your intentions, execution, and consistency are viewed by the school community. This simulation is made for current school leaders and aspiring school leaders. |
| Managing Diversity in a Growing Community | In this simulation, you are the administrator for a growing school district that is considering adding another elementary school. You will need to anticipate and address the impact this may have on financial and geographical segregation. How will you manage the dialogue with stakeholders across the district to elicit perspectives and optimize a solution? This simulation is made for current school leaders and aspiring school leaders. |
| Virtually Leading a School Counseling Program | The Pandemic has had a major impact on our schools and created an environment filled with challenges. In this simulation, you will face, prioritize, and deal with a variety of issues and challenges associated with transitioning to and working in a virtual environment. You will deal with trade-offs between academic rigor and engagement, as well as maintaining structures and systems while building and sustaining relationships, all while managing the satisfaction of a large number of stakeholders with very diverse needs. This simulation is made for current school counselors and aspiring school counselors. |
| Middle School Budget Challenge | This simulation involves a middle school principal responding to a request from the superintendent for a 15% budget cut in two weeks. The principal must determine the process for arriving at the cuts, who to involve in the process, and how to drive alignment around priorities. Of course, there are many conflicting perspectives to be managed, as well as a rumor mill working overtime. How will various stakeholder groups be managed to arrive at an optimal result? This simulation is made for current school leaders and aspiring school leaders. |
| Special Education | As the new principal of an elementary school, just before the school year begins, anxious parents of a kindergartner present you with a challenge: to meet the needs of their chronically ill child. In this simulation, you will seek to ensure student safety and security while promoting independence and appropriately utilizing school district resources. Your understanding of the issues and way of communicating with staff and parents will impact the success of your initiatives. This simulation is made for current school leaders, aspiring school leaders, current teachers, and teacher candidates. |
| Administrator: First Week On The Job | In this simulation, your role is an administrator in the first week on the job. You will be faced with the need to manage various stakeholder groups, working to gain the trust and confidence of community members and district employees. You’ll have to balance strategic direction with the shifting demands of daily issues. And you’ll need to determine when to delegate and when to take ownership, and anticipating the broader impact of your actions. This simulation is made for current school leaders and aspiring school leaders. |
| Girls Basketball Coach | A parent at the high school where you are the school leader goes to a school board meeting to complain about the way the girls’ basketball coach is treating the players on the team. You must decide how you address the parent’s concern and the alleged behavior of the winningest coach in school history. This simulation is made for current school leaders and aspiring school leaders. |
| Student in Crisis | Suicide is a tough reality among our teens and, as such, an inevitable tragedy for our schools. This simulation focuses on supporting the school leader as he/she navigates a loss due to suicide. From the first moment of notification, through the nuances of sharing the news with your students, staff, and community, and into the days and weeks after the tragedy, this simulation helps define what considerations to make when crafting decisions that will impact your community on every level. This simulation is made for current school counselors and aspiring school counselors. |
| End of School Year | As a first-year principal of an elementary school wrapping up the school year, you are responsible for building and staffing a plan to improve academic achievement in the coming year. In this simulation, you will encounter stakeholders in the plan whose needs vary and must be considered fairly. As a tool for practicing school leadership and decision-making, you will first reflect on your own core values. Through the simulation, you will receive feedback on how your choices influence degrees of stress and buy-in at your school. This simulation is made for current school leaders and aspiring school leaders. |
| Board Relations | This simulation takes place in a suburban school district at the end of the school year. After the prom, two students trespass on the high school principal’s property. It turns out that one of the students is a board member’s child. The superintendent must navigate the relationship with the board member and board chair and also decide how to support or manage the principal’s reaction to the incident. This simulation is made for current school leaders and aspiring school leaders. |
| Stakeholder Management | This simulation involves a school leader at a struggling high school, seeking to build relationships and improve academic achievement while working with multiple stakeholder groups. Engaging with teachers and administrators, you’ll have the opportunity to confront behaviors that get in the way of academic achievement. This simulation is made for current school leaders and aspiring school leaders. |
| Difficult Conversation: Race | This simulation considers just how complex the issue of race is–in the classroom, in the community, and in the broader societal landscape. Playing the role of principal at a suburban, racially and socioeconomically diverse high school, you will address sensitive issues such as conversations about race with students, and how teaching professionals and district staff can support those conversations. This simulation is made for current school leaders, aspiring school leaders, current teachers, and teacher candidates. |
| Teacher Blog | You are a principal in a school district committed to expanding the use of technology. You must deal with issues that arise between increasing communication and protecting privacy. You have received a district mandate, and your staff has received training. Now, is time to promote use of technology among many reticent teachers, while reigning in one renegade without squashing enthusiasm. This simulation is made for current school leaders, aspiring school leaders, current teachers, and teacher candidates |
| School Safety | In the face of a potential threat to students, you will work with others to respond decisively, while balancing conflicting considerations. How you measure the situation and choose to act will bear different consequences. In the process of this simulation, aspects of your leadership style may be revealed. This simulation is made for current school leaders, aspiring school leaders, current teachers, and teacher candidates. |
| Cyberbullying | In this simulation, you are a middle school principal responding to challenges associated with advancing technology. You must identify and successfully deal with challenges associated with cyberbullying and its impact on school learning environment, students, faculty/staff, parents, and the community in general. You will become acquainted with and comfortable applying the growing body of law and court cases addressing cyberbullying and first amendment rights. This simulation is made for current school leaders and aspiring school leaders. |
| Student Support (Transgender) | As the principal of Fairlawn High School, you must address the needs of a family whose 16-year-old student is transitioning gender. You will have the opportunity to become acquainted with current laws and accommodation requirements associated with transgender students. You will also be provided a tool to assist in identifying/prioritize risks and developing mitigation strategies to ensure all student needs are met. This simulation is made for current school leaders, aspiring school leaders, current teachers, and teacher candidates. |
| Difficult Conversations With a Novice Teacher | As the principal of an elementary school, concerns from staff have been raised regarding the clothing being worn by one of your novice teachers. Before you are able to address this issue, additional concerns surface about this novice teacher’s instruction. In this simulation, you will need to facilitate difficult conversations with this novice teacher to address these concerns. This simulation is made for current school leaders and aspiring school leaders. |
| Comprehensive Role of School Counselors | As a new assistant principal at Thornbush Middle School, you are tasked with improving the student’s experience by enabling a stronger, more meaningful relationship between them and the school counselors. Your understaffed counselors at Thornbush spend a majority of their time completing administrative tasks and are justifiably defensive. Further, you’re faced with apathy and resistance from seasoned teachers and staff. To successfully engage counselors in activities aimed at preventing rather than responding to problems, you’ll need to identify root causes, redistribute administrative tasks and lead change efforts despite growing resistance. This simulation is made for current school counselors and aspiring school counselors. |
| Playground Mishaps | Dealing with difficult parents can be one of the most challenging responsibilities for a school administrator, especially when it involves making difficult decisions. Teachers can complicate these difficult situations when the decisions he or she makes jeopardizes a student’s safety. Administrators must be diplomatic in the decision-making process, thinking every decision through without being rash, to find a solution that is in the best interest of the student. This simulation is made for current school leaders, aspiring school leaders, current teachers, and teacher candidates. |
| Navigating the Politics of Equity-Based Budgeting | In this simulation, you will play the role of superintendent in a traditionally well-regarded district that is experiencing significant population shifts with a host of changing needs. Your challenge is to work with a variety of stakeholders to develop and pass a budget that will provide funding in an equitable manner. This will call for a different process than that which has been used in the past – it is a significant change that must be managed. This simulation is made for current school leaders and aspiring school leaders. |
| Equity: Exploring Beneath the Surface | As a principal supervisor, your goal is ensuring equitable learning opportunities for students of color, while also attending to your own and others’ biases while framing your message about equity. In essence: building policies and structures to serve equity, while acknowledging both material differences and political interests. This simulation is made for current school leaders and aspiring school leaders. |
| Community Partnerships – Digital Readiness | In this simulation, co-authored with the National Parent-Teacher Association, you will be addressing communication strategies as they relate to Community Partnerships, one of the seven gears within the Future Ready Framework. In the role of superintendent, you will work with your leadership team and community members to optimize the roll-out of technology to your district. In an era of connectivity and connectivity gaps, being strategic about how you meet families and the community where they become critical to the inclusive learning community you strive to create. This simulation is made for current school leaders and aspiring school leaders. |
| Social Media: Integrity in Community | This simulation involves a school leader finding a phone with messages describing an underage drinking party going on. As events unfold, you will need to collaborate with school and community constituents, responding to a diversity of interests. You will be challenged to act with integrity and fairness while promoting the success of all students in an ethical manner. This simulation is made for current school leaders and aspiring school leaders. |
| Recognizing and Reporting Abuse and Neglect | As a school leader, you must know the signs of child abuse and neglect, and know how to act sensitively, accurately, and legally toward all parties involved. When accusations are made, you need to act promptly and appropriately, as well. This simulation gives you practice recognizing and responding in a variety of situations and also provides you with an application tool for assessing and mitigating risk. This simulation is made for current school leaders, aspiring school leaders, current teachers, and teacher candidates. |
| Cultural Competency | This simulation places you, a month into your new position as principal of Waterside School, in a district experiencing significant shifts in demographics, which in turn leads to challenges balancing needs and perspectives of long-time residents with those of newcomers. The district has a stated commitment to “Create High-Quality Learning Experiences that Meet the Needs of Each Child.” Your job is to uncover specific needs, and resolve discrepancies in the treatment of students, wherever they may exist. This simulation is made for current school leaders, aspiring school leaders, current teachers, and teacher candidates. |
| Finding and Leveraging Voice (ELL) | In this simulation, you’ll take on the role of a school principal to find your voice in determining the best strategy for your ELL program. You’ll be able to leverage that voice in contributing to an ESSA plan in collaboration with local and state resources. How well can you actualize your strategy in the face of shifting demands. This simulation is made for current school leaders and aspiring school leaders. |
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