When a Vision Becomes Reality - effective school management techniques - Brief Article

School Administrator, Feb, 2001 by Carolyn S. Carr

Several years ago, as a member of a group of researchers studying effective schools, I conducted visits to U.S. public schools along the Texas-Mexico border. All were similar in their demographics and located within a few miles of the border. Most students were recent immigrants of low socioeconomic status and were Spanish speakers.

Usually, a school official accompanied our group to the principal's office where we met the administrator and received an overview of the school. Our escort then would take us on a campus tour and direct us to the various teachers we had come to interview. We asked predetermined research questions about instructional and assessment practices and the challenges they faced as teachers.

During a stop in the La Joya Independent School District, we had a far different experience. The counselor met us in the foyer with a diminutive 5th, grade Mexican-American girl. The counselor introduced herself and Maria and then informed us that Maria was to be our hostess for a school tour. We could ask her questions about the school program as we went along. This was an unexpected turnabout--university researchers being turned over to a child!

Cool and Composed

Maria was thin and small. Her clothing was faded and well worn, but clean. She spoke to us with a clear Spanish accent, marked by confidence and gracious poise.

"Good morning. We are pleased to have you at our school. Won't you come this way to begin our tour?"

Surprised by her manner, we followed. Our interest was piqued, though we were skeptical.

Maria proceeded to point out student essays on the walls along the hallway, some in English, some in Spanish. Tables outside every classroom attractively displayed current class projects. Mobiles reflecting current subjects of study hung from the ceiling. Mailboxes outside classroom doors created a postal service through which anyone could send letters within the building, thereby learning about communication services and postal careers.

Maria pointed out numerous posters that outlined the school's discipline management system. Words and phrases such as "self-esteem" and "pride" and "success for all" were prominent on the walls. In the cafeteria we observed order and low noise in a room full of students having lunch. Along the way we observed a building that was clean, attractive and bustling with active elementary Mexican-American children.

Eventually we returned to the office where Maria parted with a charming, "Thank you for visiting our school. Have a nice day."

Typical Treatment

The counselor explained that Maria was only one of many students who filled the role of host or hostess as needed. She had not been picked as the most outstanding student to impress us.

Later, I interviewed a primary teacher. I asked her, "What makes this such an outstanding school?"

"The kids," she responded. "They are just incredible!"

"Well, what else?"

"The principal," she added. "She gets us everything we need to do our work and lets us do it our way. She sends us to conferences and programs that are promising for our school and then buys the materials we think would help us. She works as hard as the teachers to help the kids."

I learned that every child in every grade had a thick folder of work samples where progress toward benchmarks of achievement expected at each grade was regularly recorded. Teacher comments on effective teaching strategies with that child also were included. The thick student files were passed from one grade level to the next each spring so that progress in the next grade began precisely where the student had left off the previous spring.

Through flexible scheduling, grade-level teams had a common planning time. The teams used this time to discuss the students, their own practices and special challenges with individual students. The team consisted not just of the grade-level teachers, but also the resource staff: counselor, bilingual education teacher, gifted and talented teacher and special education teacher. Teachers at every grade level exchanged student-writing assignments and graded each other's papers.

The gifted and talented program was scheduled as part of instruction in every classroom on a regular basis. Even the principal participated, grading each class's work periodically. She read outstanding essays on the public address system, celebrating student success with the entire school.

Worth Emulating

Within a five-year period prior to our visit, achievement scores on the Texas Assessment of Academic Skills at this school had moved from the lowest quartile to the highest--and all with an entire student body that could be described as at-risk.

What made the difference here when many other schools with the same challenges failed to see such outcomes? In my mind Maria held the answer in her very person. She was not just a charming little girl. She exemplified three key elements of the school's vision that educators at all levels could emulate.

* School governance empowered everyone to foster student success.