Abstract
Struggling schools are nothing new, nor are the efforts of the many local and state efforts to improve them. However, the 2001 No Child Left Behind Act demanded dramatic and sustainable change with the implementation date of this change to take impact date in 2009. President Obama knew that most underperforming schools could not meet this deadline, so his administration extended the date. This chapter explores how the three R's model addresses school dropout issues.
TopIntroduction
The framework that we have recreated around the country’s “priority” and “focus” schools on a daily basis has reached a new low point of mediocrity. A “priority” school list consists of the lowest 5 percent of high poverty schools in terms of academic achievement, as measured in multiple-year averages on state test and high school graduation rates. A “focus” school are the lowest 10 percent of high-poverty schools based on progress closing the gap between the schools highest-and lowest-scoring students on state tests. Nearly half of most urban schools are on this list. Being mediocre means the best of the worst and worst of the best! If you have spent any amount of time in these schools you have witness such an interaction. The idea of schools using measures of success based on the status quo for this subset or that group is scary. We must take note of what a mediocre culture conveys to our children, teachers, schools, parents, and our communities. In order to redirect the American p-12 system of education, we must focus on the issues of leadership, climate, equity, assessment, high quality teachers and their pay, and excellence with the intent of removing barriers to access and achievement. It must be led by someone with a disposition about them that others immediately recognize and sometimes want to emulate. When a principal/leader draw people in and make them want to be around you, they are leaders. School climate/structure/culture is a group of activities that are a reflection of the norms, rules, procedures that guide the day-to-day functions of the schools teaching and learning environment (Arletig, 2019). School climate, or the interpersonal relationships between administrators, teachers, and students, is of utmost importance to the educational process. Not only is climate crucial to how students feel about themselves and learning, it helps determine whether a school is “healthy” or “sick” (Loukas, Suzuki, & Horton, 2006). A healthy school is one where nearly everyone is committed to promoting student achievement, and this commitment is evident. A “sick” school, in contrast, has succumb to destructive forces (Lunenburg & Ornstein, 2004). In order to create these effective healthy schools and districts, the author stressed an
According to Lunenburg & Ornstein (1996), the “emphasis on intangibles… (strong leaders) must be conscious of vision, values, and motivation and understand intuitively the factors involved in the leader-constituent interaction. An essential factor is the capacity to inspire others, to organize members of the organization into a team and to make them feel like winners (Green 2010, p. 38).
This chapter examines the interplay between organizational structure and culture and principals abilities to communicate with their stakeholders, in the use of this 3R Model. Though teamwork is important for success, the school administration, chiefly the principal, is responsible for leadership (Walberg, 2010). In the Turnaround Leadership domain of the Four Domains (CST, 2017), the principal/IL is advised to, Develop leadership teams and, within the school staff, build leadership capacity for turnaround. Increasingly distribute leadership responsibility among faculty and staff with new challenges to keep them meaningfully engaged in the turnaround effort” (CST, 2017, p.5). The A-Team is not only a necessary ally to the transformational leader, it and other teams provide opportunities for leadership among the faculty.
Key Terms in this Chapter
Energy Bus: New research shows positive people, positive communication, positive interactions, positive work and team cultures produce results that support the metaphorical phrase “getting the right people on the bus, and in the right seat.”
Instructional Leader: The duties include and are not limited to management of task. A relentless focus on instruction takes time from the transformational principal and finding that time takes the discipline to scrutinize the personal schedule and reshuffle priorities and duties, designating a minimum of fifty percent of their to classroom observations, the intentional act of tracking time in this pursuit, preserve time for instruction, including meetings with teachers and teams of teachers focused on instruction, and review of curriculum and lesson planning documents.
Principal: Having or exercising authority: chief, head; the lead learner in the school with responsibility for managing resources, leading the instructional program, and providing educational services for students and staff, consistent with established standards.
90-Day Jumpstart: Myers’ idea of a short-cycle plan covering 90 days is to jumpstart the instructional process of a school.
Schoolwide Indicators of Quality: Provide a research-based self-assessment tool that focuses on the quality of the work of students and the quality of the work of the school on behalf of student learning.
Queen Bee of Change: Instructional transformation is the “queen bee” of the four domains.
Culturize: To cultivate a community of learners by behaving in a kind, caring, and compassionate manner in order to challenge and inspire each member of the school community to become more than they ever thought possible.
Four Dimensions: The four domains are Instructional Transformation, Turnaround Leadership, Talent Development, and Culture Shift.
Transformation Academy: The center on School Turnaround at WestEd (CST) is one of seven national content centers in a federal network of 22 comprehensive centers, The goal of the CST is to provide technical assistance and to identify, synthesize, and disseminate research-based practices and emerging promising practices that will lead to the increased capacity of SEAs to support districts in turning around their lowest performing schools.