Apply Best Practice to Student Learning
by Laura Warner
Setting:Redstone Independent School District (RISD) is a small school district that has experienced steady growth over the past 10 years. There are five elementary schools in RISD, and Johnson Elementary School (JES) has been open for eight years, with only one principal during that time. The ethnic breakdown of the school is 13% African American, 16% Hispanic, 68%White, and less than 1% Native American and 2% Asian/Pacific Islander. A total of 32% of the students are economically disadvantaged, while 12% are Limited English Proficient. JES has a large percentage of teachers with more than 10 years of teaching experience. The experience levels at the school are 4% beginning teachers, 12% with 1 to 5 years, 6% with 6 to 10 years, 48% with 11 to 20 years, and 30% with more than 20 years of experience.
Scenario:Lindsay Lawrence was appointed principal of JES in early May. The school has had one principal prior to Lindsay in its short history, and the staff turnover rate is very low. Lindsay looks forward to a smooth transition into the principalship, as the staff has been aware for at least a year of the former principal's plans for retirement.
When Lindsay meets with the superintendent, Dr. Annette Sparks, and the current assistant principal, Andrew Carlson, it quickly becomes apparent that she was hired as a "change agent."
Annette begins the meeting by reviewing AEIS reports with Lindsay and Andrew. She is concerned, because JES has fallen from the "Recognized" to the "Acceptable" rating.
"Honestly, Lindsay, things have just gotten a little lax at JES over the past few years,” says Annette. “The teachers are very comfortable and the teaching is suffering. In this community, 'Acceptable' just is not acceptable. I know I have the very best of the best leading this group of teachers in the two of you. You will make a great team and JES will experience its most successful school year ever!"
As they leave Annette’s office, Lindsay sighs and says, "OK, Andrew. What's the story here? What are we up against?"
Andrew is very honest, and tells her that the former principal has basically been planning his retirement in his office for the past two years. As a result, Andrew has been solely responsible for discipline (among many other things), which has kept him tied to his office or elsewhere. He is very concerned about the lack of administrator interaction in the classrooms.
"As much as I hate to tell you this, you need to know the truth,” admits Andrew. “When I have had a free minute, I go into the classrooms just to observe and see the learning that is taking place. The teachers are shocked. They don't know how to handle it. I can count on one hand the number of teachers who have told me they've already been observed for the year, or they tell me that if I want to observe, I can see a full lesson at 9:45 on Tuesday. It's crazy. We really don't know what's going on in those rooms. On the other hand, I see teachers who seem to be very ‘kid-friendly.’
“I do not want to give you the negative impression that this staff is all bad. That is not the case. We are all working toward a colossal goal to educate children well. We are just not working cohesively,” says Andrew.
"This is something that we will have to address immediately, but very carefully,” says Lindsay. “In my experience, I have found that, first, teachers want to know that you care about the students and that you care about them. I have heard that you are trusted on this campus and that you have an excellent reputation among the teachers as a hard worker and as an administrator who puts children first. I will need to gain that same level of trust that you have earned. I will begin working on building these relationships, immediately … this summer.”
“Next, I think it is crucial that from the first day, we are both very visible in the school,” continues Lindsay. “Each student should be greeted at the door in the morning, and we should see students in the hallways, classrooms, library, cafeteria ... all over campus. If we begin this way, very soon we shouldn’t see a look of shock when one of us enters a teacher's room.
“I believe you’re right, Andrew. Most teachers want to do what is best for kids. But as instructional leaders, we must be in those classrooms and be certain that teachers are using best practices. If they aren't, we have to see that and get them the resources they need so that our students are getting the very best."
"That would be great,” says Andrew. “I think that it’s important for us to remember before school begins, and especially within that first week, to ask each teacher we see if they need anything. We want them to know that we want to be available to them to get these students whatever they need."
"Great point. OK. Our week-one goals are clear. After that, I think it is crucial that we begin the 'Steps in Facilitating Systems Instructional Planning'; a model I have used in curriculum planning in other schools [Lunenburg and Irby, 2005]. It sounds like the teachers just need a little guidance and encouragement. The first step is to identify instructional goals. Andrew, how do you think we could do this best at JES in this situation?"
"What if we asked teams to meet for a few minutes -- say 20 -- and review the AEIS data and identify a few needs?” asks Andrew. “We could follow up by having each team present their findings in an instructional meeting. These teams will definitely have some commonalities in their findings."
"Yes! Then we will emphasize that we know we all want to improve, but in this year of transition, we want to make a few top priorities and do those very well. Andrew, you and I could meet with the grade-level teams and discuss ways they can implement the instruction to address the campus goals. Of course, we will regularly assess the students' progress with walk-throughs and a variety of formal and informal assessments."
"Lindsay, I am so excited about the opportunity to have some influence on the students' learning. This is going to be such a good change for us."
"I'm really excited about it, too. One thing I just thought of, though. I think open and honest communication is crucial. I am going to put this on the agenda for our second day of in-service. I just want to talk for a few minutes about how important it is to us to be in the classrooms with the students. I am going to explain the way we will do walk-throughs: The informal visit will only last 5 to 10 minutes, we'll be interacting with the students and trying to observe the classroom from a student's perspective. We'll be looking to see how well they can articulate what and why they are learning. I'll let the teachers know that they will receive feedback from the visit. Hopefully, this will alleviate some of the apprehension that comes along with an administrator entering the room!"
"With everyone working together, we are really going to be able to improve the quality of learning on this campus,” says Andrew. “Kids and teachers alike will be excited about coming to school and learning together. I think at the end of this year, Annette will be pleased with the results of our efforts in the testing arena, but that's not the point. This will be a much more exciting place to learn!"
Questions:
1. As a brand-new administrator to a school, which should be the first priority: establishing a clear vision for the campus or building some level of trust between the new administrator and the faculty?
2. How would you gather facts for establishing a school mission and vision?
3. Other than the initial steps Lindsay and Andrew devised for increasing best practices in the classrooms at JES, how else would you improve the curriculum and quality of teaching and learning experiences within this school?
4. What is your opinion of Andrew as an assistant principal? How would you have chosen to lead in a situation where the principal was coasting into retirement a few years too soon?
5. What evidence, if any, do you see for each of the ELCC (Educational Leadership Constituent Council) Standards (#1-6) in this case study?