| 4. Leadership - The Backbone of Our School. Before we even look at the organization of a school, that is expected to meet the needs of a very diverse population of students, we must first understand the requirements of a school when it comes to Leadership. Principals and assistant principals must have the skills needed to solve problems in all school situations. Public schools face a shortage of school leaders. As of the 2015-20016 school years, approximately 35 percent of the school system's school principals and vice principals have five or fewer years of experience. With this crisis in leadership comes an intricate set of challenges. Not only has finding qualified candidates to succeed the outgoing school administrators are becoming increasingly difficult, but current superintendents, who are themselves inexperienced, are finding it increasingly difficult to provide a comprehensive professional development program for newly hired principals. To meet these challenges, states must establish local centers which will oversee and facilitate a range of efforts to recruit, develop, and retain school leaders. These initiatives include coaching new leaders and providing qualified mentors and technical training for them. How can we expect teachers to effectively improve instruction when our educational leaders, the professional mentors of our teachers in many cases have served less than ten years in a classroom? Federal and state-designed standards for school leaders should ensure that professional development and implementation of research-based programs will set the standards for evaluating the effectiveness of all administrators. These standards are associated with the following areas of Leadership: • Strong Instructional Leadership • Organizational Leadership • Staff Development • Student Support Services • Community Relations and Communication • Observing teachers to improve instruction. • Balanced Literacy to improve student achievement. • Meaningful Academic Intervention Services. • Using technology to improve instruction. • Developing a realistic Professional Development Plan. • Conducting meaningful faculty conferences. • Building an effective PA/PTA, with successful parent outreach. • Looking at assessments and how to use them to improve instruction. Today, when we look at administrators, we understand that their main role is to be instructional leaders of the school. Their role as instructional leaders is to foster a vision and mission that advocates, supports, and sustains a standards-based culture focused on improved student achievement. It is the administrator’s values and beliefs that will identify student learning as the fundamental mission of schooling, ensuring the right of every student to an education of the highest quality in the least restrictive environment. It is these values and beliefs that will create a standards-based educational program in which all students can learn and teachers will recognize the specific knowledge, skills, and values that students need to become successful and productive adult members of society. By providing mini-schools within the school, principals will not only ensure success for their students, but they will also create the opportunity for the students to show improved attendance, behavior, satisfaction, and greater self-esteem, which many educators feel is the backbone for student success. These small school models also let teachers create their own learning environment in which their visions of successful schools can be realized. By allowing teachers to generate distinctive environments where there can be greater student success, we will also allow all students to feel greater self-esteem, which is the number one factor for improving instruction, and enhancing morale. A child’s emotional life strongly influences their behavior and learning. A child with a healthy sense of self-esteem feels that the important adults in his life accept him and would go out of their way to ensure their safety and well-being. A child with a low self- esteem or a child who feels unwanted, unloved, and unaccepted will often develop learning disabilities, disciplinary problems, and depression later in life. Schools can foster positive self-esteem in their students by having at least one reliable, responsive adult connected to each and every student and be available to them for the long term. Many consider this fostering of self-esteem in students to be the first step in creating a school culture. A warm and caring adult can sometimes tip the balance between a child who learns and a child who fails. Communication is the vehicle for intellectual development, exchanging information, sharing feelings, and developing strong emotional bonds. A teacher who chats encouragingly with a child about many of the things he is doing, thinking, and feeling helps him build confidence in his pursuit of independence. When teachers are humanized by effective administrators, who do not criticize and condemn, but give honest and sincere appreciation will produce a culture where the teachers will see the school as a family. Since brain power is not a function of economics, an emphasis on developing self-esteem and character can create a school that fosters both intellectual and emotional growth. First, we must understand that all students, no matter what grade they are in are going through an intense biological and psychological period that taxes their ability to work at their full capacity. And too often, the schools fall far short of meeting the educational and social needs of millions of these students. But, when the most important factor a teacher must strive for is looking at the emotional needs of children, the school will create a community of adults and young people linked together with a network of support that will enhance the commitment of students to learning. This partnership of adults with children will foster a shared community of adults with a common interest in the student’s success, especially if he is at risk of being left behind. When children are in school, we see a time when rapid physical, intellectual and emotional change takes place. Children of all ages go through emotional peaks and valleys, students are vulnerable to emotional hurt and humiliation, and they are exploring their new identity and social roles, and trying to develop a code of ethics to guide their behavior. Even confident children may experience a severe drop in self- esteem. Children will compare themselves to their peers, and may decide that they just don’t measure up to others they believe to be smarter or more popular. But, with a responsible caring adult to help these students through a difficult time, self-esteem will resurface once they feel like they have a safe classroom environment. By understanding the concepts presented on this website, principals will have the ability to reach their teachers by transforming their teaching environment. By understanding how different students learn and applying this knowledge to classroom instruction, teachers will be able to teach to the different learning variations of their students. And, principals will ensure success for all students in their school. |
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3. The School's Professional Plan and its Ten based decision making and created flexible scheduling where |
| Educational Issues Facing Our Schools…………………… Anyone who looks at our schools can see many issues that need to be clarified as to their importance in improving our schools. By focusing on these issues or the deeper things that make a successful school we will have a greater understanding of how these elements work together to create a school culture that provides positive outcomes for all children. |
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