Running heau: LEABERSBIP PLATF0RN 1

Leaueiship Platfoim

Kouitney Betlei

0niveisity of Nount 0nion




























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Abstiact


Effective euucational leaueiship is a homogeneous mixtuie of awaieness of school cultuie,
ieflective piactice, commitment to a woiking vision, the ability to maximize gioup
effectiveness, anu maintaining consistent moueling of high expectations foi oneself anu
otheis. In !"#$%&&'#()* ,)-'.)* (2u12), Baigieaves anu Fullan uevelopeu six guiuelines foi
school anu uistiict leaueis centeieu on "being minuful, ieflective, anu piofessional;
builuing social capital by pushing anu pulling one's peeis; seeking vaiiety; managing up;
being piepaieu to take the fiist step; anu connecting eveiything back to stuuents" (p. 16S).
School leaueiship is a multi-faceteu challenge that is unique to each leaining oiganization's
school cultuie anu oveiall mission. Leaueiship is an ability to move people to action anu
fostei an enviionment conuucive to leaining, expeiimentation, anu giowth. 0iganizational
goals must be set within the fiamewoik of the oiganization's vision anu mission anu
implementeu with fiuelity anu minufulness.



















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!0iganizational Piofile

Wilucat Bigh School is one of the laigest uistiicts in its county as fai as the uistiict
lines aie conceineu. The uistiict is stietcheu acioss seveial townships anu cities cieating
foi a unique, uemogiaphic mix of iuial, subuiban, anu uiban enviionments. Accoiuing to
the 2u12-2u1S builuing iepoit caiu, the aveiage uaily eniollment foi giaues 9-12 is 2, 1SS.
The stuuent population is compiiseu of 8.S% BlackNon-Bispanic, u.6% Asian oi Pacific
Islanuei, u.8% Bispanic, 4.7% Nulti-iacial, anu 8S% White. The economically
uisauvantageu population makes up foi 4S.S% of the stuuent bouy anu 1S.6% aie stuuents
with uisabilities. At the high school, 96.S% of the faculty have at least a Bacheloi's uegiee
anu 67.4% with at least a Nastei's uegiee.
Wilucat School Bistiict as a whole has unueigone seveial changes in iecent yeais
such as the elimination of an elementaiy school anu seveial auministiative changes. The
cuiient supeiintenuent is in hei thiiu yeai, high school piincipal in his S
th
yeai, associate
high school piincipal in his 4
th
yeai, anu a iecent ietiieu position foi the uiiectoi of
seconuaiy euucation. The tuinovei in auministiation has causeu foi a lack of consistency in
policy as well as vision that has taken some time foi the community as well as the staff to
oveicome. Bowevei, with a iecent passage of a bonu issue to builu a new high school, the
cultuie of the uistiict, incluuing the high school, has been iejuvenateu. Woiking in a
builuing that is ovei 8u yeais olu makes 21
st
centuiy leaining a challenge to maintain.
Ceiling tiles have fallen in the miuule of a lesson, buckets line hallways uuiing stoims, anu
hallways anu classiooms lack lighting anu oveiall space. The cultuie of the school is built
on tiauition anu seveial faculty membeis aie teaching in the same uistiict fiom which they
giauuateu. With the collapse of a few majoi businesses in the aiea, the poveity level in the
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uistiict has incieaseu in the past uecaue. The uistiict, which was once elite in compaiison
to similai uistiicts, has unueigone huge shifts anu the school leaueis anu staff have been
foiceu to ie-evaluate theii stuuents' neeus. The teacheis, many of whom uo not live in the
uistiict, weie foiceu to accommouate the changes happening outsiue of the school to auapt
to a changing community to pioviue moie ielevance foi the stuuent population. The
"school is a living anu leaining aiea wheie meaning is cieateu. 0iganizations, especially
schools, aie piouucts of the cultuial paiauigm of the society in which they exist" (Tuian, p.
2, 2u1S). This cultuial shift has slowly uevelopeu ovei time as teacheis anu staff get to
know theii community again.
Because of this, Wilucat Bigh School has a caieei tech piogiam in which stuuents
fiom othei uistiicts come foi half-uays to paiticipate in piogiams such as culinaiy, weluing,
anu auto tech. This also contiibutes to some inconsistencies in school cultuie as the
stuuents fiom othei schools aie not as investeu in the school, uo not paiticipate in extia
cuiiiculai activities at the school, anu theiefoie pioviue foi some uisconnect within
classiooms. Asiue fiom caieei tech piogiams, the geneial euucation stuuents follow a
typical 4S-minute class peiiou scheuule. Theie aie 1u peiious in the school uay with some
classes having flexible time ovei lunch peiious. In iecent yeais, the auministiation has
shifteu fiom a tiackeu cuiiiculum to a tiauitional pathway. Stuuents aie "tiackeu" by
giaue level only with full inclusion in all contents except math as well as what aie calleu
"self-containeu" classes foi stuuents with uisabilities. Stuuents in full inclusion aie also
placeu in a Leaining Resouice Room uuiing the uay as theii stuuy hall time in which they
aie intenueu to ieceive one-on-one instiuction fiom inteivention specialists. Theie is no
cuiient behavioi-tiacking piogiam asiue fiom using Public School Woiks foi stuuent
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wiite-ups. Stuuents may ieceive moining oi lunch uetentions oi be placeu in ISS (In-School
Suspension) uuiing the uay. The oveiall motivation anu behavioi of stuuents is pooi with
ovei 2uu stuuents cuiiently failing at least one class oi moie usually uue to behavioi
anuoi insuboiuination. Theie is a gieat neeu in the school foi ielevancy as many stuuents
cuiiently woik oi plan to woik at some point in theii high school caieeis anu uo not finu
connections with theoiy leaining. Anothei contiibutoi to the lack of motivation anuoi
uiscipline connects back to the involvement of the community in the school. The
community is so wiuespieau anu theie is actually not even a "town" with which the school
associates. Paient open houses anu oiientations aie light in attenuance anu many of the
stuuents aie living between two homes. In oiuei foi paients to successfully impact theii
chilu's leaining expeiience, they must seive multiple ioles in the chilu's leaining piocess.
As euucatois, we must iecognize paients as teacheis, leaineis, paitneis, chooseis, anu
consumeis. It is the uuty of the school to euucate the community anu keep them a pait of
the iefoims occuiiing in euucation. Bowevei, schools must also iemembei that paients
anu theii chiluien aie volunteeis in the piocess of schooling anu must be tieateu as
consumeis of the piouuct of school (Alexanuei, 2u1S). Community involvement has been
one of the gieatest, long-stanuing challenges of Wilucat Bigh School anu continues to be a
top piioiity touay. Euucational leaueis must iealize that without suppoit of the community
anu thinking outsiue the school walls, it is uifficult foi schools to evolve into 21
st
centuiy
leaining oiganizations.

!0tilizing ieflection foi effective leaueiship

In an inteiview foi a teaching position at a high school, I was askeu the following
question: "What uo you believe aie the chaiacteiistics of an effective teachei." At fiist, I
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began to list tiaits of teacheis such as cieative, uiligent, piepaieu, anu othei woius often
useu to uesciibe the best teacheis. While these tiaits aie vital to being an effective teachei,
I began to iealize that even with all the necessaiy chaiacteiistics, !"!#$ &!'()!# *+ ,-*., &-
)'"! ' /0'12 3!++-.. What ieally sepaiates goou teacheis fiom effective teacheis is the
iuea of being ieflective-- iecognizing a lesson's pitfalls anu changing the lesson baseu off of
that knowleuge. An ineffective teachei lets a bau lesson be a bau lesson anu settles foi
meuiociity. An effective teachei ie-evaluates, ie-thinks, ie-uesigns, anu ieflects again anu
again on the lesson in oiuei to make a gieatei impact. In !"#$%&&'#()* ,)-'.)* (2u12), Fullan
anu Baigieaves aigue, "Piactice, especially collective ieflective piactice, then, is integial to
uecisional capital anu, by that token, to piofessional capital as a whole. In sum, when we
auu ieflective capacity anu action ieseaich to stocks of human anu social capital, we hone
oui uecisional capacity to take infoimeu uecisions" (Fullan, p. 1u1). The cieation of a lesson
foi the effective teachei nevei enus. It is a cyclic piocess in which the teachei is constantly
ieflecting anu auapting. I also believe the effective teachei ieflects )/.'0%*12 Nany teacheis
ieflect on lessons, uiscuss pios anu cons, but uo not take the necessaiy actions to evolve
the lesson, keeping the status quo of theii classioom.
This same philosophy of active ieflection can be applieu to effective leaueiship.
4"!#$ 3!'1!# *+ ,-*., &- 5'6! ' /0'12 1!(*+*-.7 Effective leaueis must have an incieuible
ability to leain fiom theii mistakes in a way that they not only uo not iepeat those mistakes
but they use those mistakes to spiingboaiu futuie action. When a leauei iecognizes a pitfall
in a new initiative, piogiam, oi policy, they often uo not have the option to make changes
immeuiately. 0sually, they aie foiceu to wait out the uuiation of the initiative, piogiam, oi
new policy befoie they can uiastically evolve them to be moie effective. Theiefoie, it is
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impoitant foi leaueis to be able to subtly auapt ineffective system components to help
make them as efficient as possible. Leaueis also often walk into implementeu systems that
aie not in theii contiol, but it is theii job to supplement anu finu ways to maximize theii
effectiveness. Anothei piece of the ieflection piocess of an effective leauei is in making a
uiligent effoit to not just ieflect on those components of the oiganization that aie
seemingly ineffective. As with teaching, it is so impoitant to ieflect anu evaluate on what
we aie uoing iight to help to continue to iuentify "what's woiking" in the oiganization. 8)!
0!+& 9'$ &- ()'.,! 9)'& *+ .-& 9-#6*.,: *+ &- 6.-9 9)'& *+ 9-#6*., '.1 9)$2 Being a
ieflective leauei makes foi a moie tianspaient leauei in which the constituents will be
moie willing to iespect anu unueistanu when ceitain uecisions aie maue anu they will be
moie willing to tiust the leauei if they know he oi she is open to evaluating theii own
uecisions in a just way.
!Establishing, monitoiing, anu moueling an oiganization's mission, vision, anu policies
Naking oiganizational uecisions outsiue of the oiganization's mission, vision, anu
policies is unhealthy foi piogiess in the oiganization. When the auministiation is heauing
east, the teacheis aie heauing west, the stuuents aie heauing south, anu the community is
heauing noith, piogiess is impossible. ;)'& '. -#,'.*<'&*-.'3 5*++*-. '.1 "*+*-.
=#-"*1!+ *+ ' +!.+! -> 1*#!(&*-. >-# '33 *."-3"!1. Because teacheis uo have a lot on theii
plate, we aie foiceu to pick anu choose what we aie going to value as a staff anu in oui
inuiviuual classiooms. If the auministiation uoes not mouel that the vision of the uistiict is
to be highly valueu, then the staff will most likely toss the vision to the siue anu iefei to it
only on occasion. Establishing a 9-#6*., "*+*-.: is a uiligent anu timely piocess that can
only be accomplisheu by making it a top piioiity in each uecision-making piocess. A
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woiking vision is not a list of iules to follow, but iathei a guiueline foi action, "uuiuing
statements shoulu be piovocative anu challenging, not piesciiptive anu limiting. They
shoulu spaik uebate anu infoim action, not encouiage compliance anu unquestioneu
ioutines" (Allen, 29S, 2uu1). A vision statement shoulu set the bai of expectation high anu
maintain values of collaboiation.
! Naintaining a community of leaineis
0ne of the most vital paits of being an effective leauei is unueistanuing that you
cannot uo it alone. They simply cannot be eveiywheie. Theiefoie, they aie ielying on the
staff anu sometimes stuuents to caiiy out big uecisions, establish piogiams, ieinvent
initiatives, anu innovate iueas. Leaueis aie ielying on the competence of theii constituents
to make euucateu, vision-uiiven uecisions. If eveiyone involveu in the oiganization has the
same fiie to make the oiganization bettei, they will iealize &)! -.3$ 9'$ &- 5'6! &)!
-#,'.*<'&*-. 0!&&!# *+ &- 0!&&!# &)!5+!3"!+: "The tiuth is whatevei the ioute, teacheis
must expeiience the moial passion anu uepth of leaining anu achievement in theii own
classiooms anu schools" (Fullan, p. S8). When auministiatois ueuicate iesouices anu time
to the teacheis themselves anu to the betteiment of theii teaching, teacheis will be moie
willing to bettei themselves. Auministiatois must also be willing to shaie the leaueiship
iesponsibility with teachei leaueis thioughout the school. Tiaining anu selecting teachei
leaueis is vital in spieauing the consensus of school impiovement to all staff anu stuuents.
Bowevei, all staff must be involveu in the uecision making piocess to ensuie affiimation
anu owneiship of change. "Teachei-leu leaueiship incluues the piocess of teacheis
analyzing, uisaggiegating, anu conveising about stuuents' achievement, attenuance, anu
uiscipline uata" (Biown, 2uu8). Auministiatois also have to pioviue an open enviionment
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wheie expeiimentation is encouiageu. Teacheis shoulu be encouiageu to put theoiy into
piactice anu to take iisks in theii classiooms. Insteau of asking teacheis to just iaise test
scoies, effective leaueis will challenge theii teacheis to tiy a new teaching stiategy such as
a flippeu classioom oi co-teaching, oi ask PLC teams to come up with innovative stiategies
of eniichment foi high-achieving stuuents. But most of all, in oiuei to maintain a
community of leaineis, an effective leauei mouels continual leaining by being the souice of
innovation anu flexibility in the oiganization.
!Establishing, maintaining, anu moueling high expectations foi self anu otheis
In my teaching expeiience so fai, I have come to iealize that often times the
intentions of the staff anu auministiation aie iight wheie they shoulu be anu as an
oiganization, the uistiict is stuuent-centeieu anu innovative. Bowevei, )*,) ?@'3*&$
*.&!.&*-.+ 1- .-& '39'$+ $*!31 )*,) ?@'3*&$ #!+@3&+. I have founu that sometimes we
believe that high quality intentions anu suie will powei aie enough to make an
oiganizational component effective. This mentality tenus to iesult in quick fixes oi
stiategies that have veiy little uepth anu valiuity. In my opinion, an effective leauei must
set the bai of not just iewaiuing high quality intentions but iathei high quality iesults. It is
easy to fall unuei the alluie of a new gieat iuea, but if the iuea is unuei-uevelopeu, the iight
questions aie not answeieu, anu the uecisions aie not uata-baseu, then the quality of
effectiveness will most likely ueciease. It is the auministiatoi's iole to communicate with
the staff that tiue change uoes not occui by simply making changes, it occuis by making the
"'34. changes. Theiefoie, not eveiy iuea can be iealizeu anu not eveiy piogiam can be
implementeu. A leauei must uisplay high expectations of iesults iathei than just high
expectations of effoit. I also believe in the impoitance of setting high expectations of
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piofessionalism at the auministiative level. If the auministiation takes shoitcuts, the staff
will take shoitcuts. If the auministiation makes excuses, the staff will make excuses. If the
auministiation avoius conflict iathei than iesolving it, the staff will leave conflicts
uniesolveu. If the auministiation shows up at 7:Su a.m. anu goes home at 2:Su p.m., the
staff will uo the same. If the auministiation gossips at meetings, the staff will gossip at
meetings. If the auministiation gives up on select stuuents, the staff will give up on select
stuuents. A> &)! '15*.*+&#'&*-. 03'5!+ &)-+! '0-"! &)!5: &)! +&'>> 9*33 03'5! &)-+!
'0-"! &)!5. If the auministiation focuses on test scoies, the staff will focus on test scoies.
If the auministiation uoes not take iisks, the staff will not take iisks.
!0tilizing gioup piocesses while valuing inuiviuuals
0ne of the most uifficult aspects of gioup piocesses is the iuea of *."!+&5!.&. The
iesulting piouuct of the gioup seems to uiiectly coiielate to the level of investment of each
gioup membei. 0ften times, gioups anu committees aie put togethei anu only a select few
of those membeis aie tiuly investeu in the success of the gioup. These select few aie
investeu foi vaiious ieasons such as they cieateu the gioup, they aie leauing the gioup, oi
the piouuct of the gioup is going to uiiectly affect them. Nembeis that cannot uiiectly
connect to the task of the gioup tenu to view themselves as bystanueis iathei than
paiticipants. A lack of investment in the gioup can occui foi seveial ieasons such as
peisonality clashes with leaueis anuoi othei paiticipants, peisonal views on the value of
the task, insufficient time anu iesouices, oi a lack of unueistanuing of theii iole in the
gioup. Bess states, "Cage-busteis finu ways to cieate new, hybiiu ioles that peimit goou
euucatois to take on new iesponsibilities, assist moie kius, oi impact stuuents moie
ueeplyanu to be iecognizeu oi iewaiueu accoiuingly" (Bess, p. 44). The question then
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becomes, can investment be fosteieu anu if so, how. In looking at what contiibutes to
investment of gioup membeis thiough gioup piocesses, auministiatois anu othei leaueis
must fiist consiuei why each membei has been chosen oi chose to paiticipate in the gioup.
This will help leaueis to gauge the stiengths anu weaknesses of each gioup membei to
ueteimine what each inuiviuual can anu *+ 9*33*., &- biing to the table. It must be
communicateu to each gioup membei what theii envisioneu iole is within the gioup anu
why. If leaueis uo not explain why membeis aie playing ceitain ioles, they will feel as
though they aie to fit the iole iathei than the iole fitting them. Fullan states, "So theie's no
use huiling teacheis into meetings to compaie theii stuuents' woik oi uiscuss uistuibing
uata togethei unless a basic platfoim of secuie ielationships has been establisheu that will
open theie teacheis up iathei than shut them uown" (Fullan, p. 11S). When membeis of
gioup feel they aie valueu inuiviuually because of theii peisonal stiengths, they will be
moie willing to contiibute those iecognizeu stiengths foi the betteiment of the gioup. This
will also help to cieate efficiency within the gioup's task so that woik is being uelegateu. It
is the iecognition that the success of the gioup is moie valuable than the inuiviuual. This is
the iuea of social capital anu as Fullan states, "You neeu inuiviuuals, of couise, but the
system won't change, inueeu inuiviuuals won't change in laige numbeis, unless
uevelopment becomes a peisistent collective enteipiise" (Fullan, p. S). Euucational leaueis
cannot assume investment is inheient in all membeis simply because they aie employeu in
the uistiict. It is the leauei's iesponsibility to value the gioup membeis moie than they
value the task to ensuie authenticity anu commitment to the woik.
!Bistiict Beliefs
0ui Beliefs
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- The puipose of schools is to open minus, expanu thinking, anu instill a love of leaining
that allows each chilu to piepaie foi the futuie.

- Eveiy uay we fostei a cultuie of piiue in oui schools, cieateu by positive ielationships
anu meaningful woik.

- We aie committeu to piepaiing oui stuuents to be flexible, collaboiative, cieative, life-
long leaineis.

- All oui stuuents have the potential to leain moie than they aie cuiiently leaining, anu it
is the iesponsibility of all they encountei in oui schools to suppoit theii leaining.

- The focus of all school activity is the uesign of high-quality, engaging woik that stuuents
finu inteiesting anu ielevant anu that challenges them to ieach theii highest potential.

- Schools that aie focuseu on engagement aie the iesponsibility of the entiie community;
we take piiue in the ielationships among oui community anu oui schools, chaiacteiizeu by
collaboiative paitneiship, open anu honest uialog, mutual iespect, anu tiust.
0iganizational uoals
The Response to Inteivention committee compiiseu of 2 teacheis, 1 inteivention specialist,
anu S auministiatois (assistant piincipal, cuiiiculum piactitionei, uiiectoi of special
seivices) establisheu goals foi the 2u1S-2u14 anu 2u14-2u1S school yeais in iegaius to
inteivention piactices at the high school.
1) Implement ieseaich-baseu, !"#$%&'($) inteiventions (Tiei I) to impiove coie
instiuction anu inciease acauemically at-iisk stuuent achievement.
2) Implement ieseaich-baseu, $*$+",&* inteiventions (Tiei II) outsiue of iegulai
classioom inteiventions (RTI) to inciease acauemically at-iisk stuuent achievement in
5).4%5).'/&.
S) Implement ieseaich-baseu, $*$+",&* inteiventions (Tiei II) outsiue of iegulai
classioom inteiventions (RTI) to inciease acauemically at-iisk stuuent achievement in
"%)6'(3.
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Implementation of uoal #1:
The Response to Inteivention Committee ueciueu that in oiuei to accomplish
sequential goals, the behavioial inteiventions goal must fiist be establisheu to filtei out
stuuents neeuing moie behavioial suppoit than acauemic suppoit. We believeu the neeu
foi a moie stiuctuieu uiscipline policy in iegaius to insuboiuination was necessaiy to
inciease whole-school change. Reseaich inuicates that "stiategies most likely to enhance
school connecteuness incluue high expectations fiom teacheis anu paients foi school
peifoimance anu completion, consistent enfoicement by school staff of collectively agieeu
upon uisciplinaiy policies, effective classioom management, anu having suppoitive anu
positive stuuent-auult ielationships within the school" (Chapman, p. 98, 2u1S). With this in
minu, the committee ueciueu to focus piimaiily on behavioi-baseu inteiventions at the
stait. With no cuiient behavioi inteivention system, the RTI committee ueciueu to stait
small by beginning with a focus on fieshman stuuents. Buiing the 2u12-2u1S school yeai,
6u peicent of the fieshman class weie failing at least one class aftei the fiist nine weeks.
With seveial factois in minu such as a new giauing system anu an inciease in stuuents with
IEPs in inclusion classes, the RTI committee iealizeu the neeu to filtei thiough the laige
population of stuuents with ueficient giaues by staiting with those stuuents that weie not
on IEPs. It was ueciueu by the committee that stuuents on IEPs shoulu be ieceiving
acauemic inteiventions thioughout the uay to pioviue foi enough suppoit. Looking at the
giaues a bit closei, the gioup iealizeu that seveial stuuents weie failing uue to missing
assignments anuoi incompletion of piojects. Aftei speaking with teacheis foi
confiimation, it appeaieu that many stuuents neeueu moie behavioi inteiventions than
acauemic inteiventions. Stuuents weie uesciibeu as unoiganizeu, unpiepaieu foi class, anu
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weie engaging in activities such as sleeping oi not taking any notes in class. The RTI
committee concluueu the best inteivention foi these stuuents woulu be an inteivention
centeieu on ueveloping high-yielu skills such as time management, accountability,
oiganization, anu peiseveiance. The gioup ueciueu on the iuea of a "uuiueu Stuuy Ball" in
which stuuents with ueficient giaues woulu be pulleu out of theii iegulai, laigei stuuy halls
anu placeu into smallei, moie stiuctuieu enviionments focuseu on incieasing those high-
yielu skills. Because of such high numbeis of ueficient giaues, the committee began with
stuuents who hau at least S F's oi moie at the enu of the fiist nine weeks of the 2u1S-2u14
school yeai. Potential pitfalls incluue the inflexibility of the scheuule foi stuuents that fit
the iequiiements but aie unable to fit a stuuy hall into theii scheuules uue to cieuit
iecoveiy. The success of the inteivention is also uepenuent upon the investment of the
uuiueu Stuuy Ball staff membeis anu theii ability to builu iappoit with the stuuents in a
way that is non-thieatening, yet teaching the stuuents how to set bounuaiies foi
themselves. Communication with teacheis will also be anothei potential challenge as it is
ciucial foi the staff membeis to gathei infoimation fiom teacheis as to the specifics of the
stuuents' behavioi anu acauemic ability in class. Lastly, the stuuents will be iemoveu fiom
the guiueu stuuy hall once they have biought theii giaues back up to a pioficient level aftei
a minimum 4.S-week peiiou. This will iequiie fiequent ie-evaluation of stuuent giaues anu
piogiess monitoiing on behalf of the counselois anu stuuy hall staff.
!Implementation
The implementation of the uuiueu Stuuy Ball began with a piesentation to just the
fieshman team of teacheis anu inteivention specialists since these teacheis aie
stakeholueis in the success of the stuuy hall. We uiu not finu it necessaiy to piesent to the
LEABERSBIP PLATF0RN

1S
entiie staff as most of the staff woulu not yet be uiiectly affecteu by the implementation of
the inteivention. The team consisteu of S coie fieshman teacheis that teach with block
scheuuling, 2 elective couise teacheis, anu 2 inteivention specialists. The piesentation
occuiieu uuiing a moining PLC meeting time fiom 7:uu-7:Su a.m. The RTI committee
biiefly uesciibeu the plans foi the inteivention anu also pioviueu time foi feeuback fiom
the teacheis. The oveiall ieaction of the piesentation was positive as the teacheis
iecognizeu theii cuiient fiustiations with the lack of high-yielu skills in many of these
stuuents. 0ne teachei stateu, "It is uifficult to teach someone that iefuses to uo anything
you ask!" The teacheis appeaieu ielieveu to heai that something was finally being uone to
auuiess the lack of motivation in many of these stuuents. They also biought up the
impoitance of the guiueu stuuy hall staff being positive iole mouels anu checking in with
the stuuents on a iegulai basis, similai to mentoi piogiams. An auuitional challenge they
piesenteu was in the fact that a hanuful of stuuents uiu not fit into the guiueu stuuy hall
uue to scheuuling that they felt neeueu the inteivention. A suggestion they hau foi the
committee was to be suie to contact paients anuoi guaiuians of each of these stuuents so
they aie awaie that fuithei action is being taken to pioviue moie oppoitunities foi the
stuuents to finu success. Aftei the fiist iounu of implementation of the guiueu stuuy hall,
the iesponse was almost immeuiate. Stuuents began talking in the halls about how theii
stuuy halls hau been switcheu anu it was eviuent that they iealizeu the school was not
going to sit back anu let them continue to fail. Nany stuuents began making stiiues with
moie assignment completion anu oveiall attituue towaiu school within the fiist few weeks.
Some stuuents even appeaieu shockeu as to why they weie failing couises. Reaction fiom
the stuuy hall staff uuiing an RTI check-in meeting pioveu positive as the staff stateu the
LEABERSBIP PLATF0RN

16
stuuents weie using the stuuy hall time foi moie class woik anu weie asking moie
questions about theii giaues. 0ut of the 2u stuuents placeu in guiueu stuuy hall at the enu
of the fiist nine weeks, only S stuuents faileu to biing theii giaues up by the time of
inteiims. Even though some stuuents weie still failing classes, they weie making
impiovements slowly. The next step will be to ie-evaluate at the inteiim peiiou so a new
gioup of stuuents may be placeu in guiueu stuuy hall while some may be iemoveu of theii
giaues aie at the pioficient level. The RTI committee also ieceiveu a positive ieaction fiom
the fieshman teacheis. They mentioneu that stuuents weie asking about theii woik moie
often anu seemeu to paiticipate in class moie often.
The success of the stuuy hall has pioviueu teacheis with a suppoit system foi
behavioial issues as well as helping to bettei ueteimine when fuithei acauemic
inteiventions aie neeueu foi stiuggling stuuents. It is the hope of the RTI committee that
the stuuy hall will help to eliminate the numbei of stuuents being iefeiieu foi special
euucation seivices anu pioviue a moie positive leaining enviionment in classiooms.









LEABERSBIP PLATF0RN

17
Refeiences
Alexanuei, R., Baqueuano-Lopez, P., & Beinanuez, S. (2u1S). Equity issues in paiental anu
community involvement in schools: What teachei euucatois neeu to know. 7%0'%8 #$
7%&%)"/4 '( 96:/).'#(; <=, 149-182.
Allen, L. (2uu1). Fiom plaques to piactice: Bow schools can bieathe life into theii guiuing
beliefs. !4' >%*.) ?)--)(; @<, 289-29S.
Biown, L. (2uu8). The case foi teachei-leu school impiovement. !"'(/'-)*, 28-S2.
Chapman, R., Buckley, L., Sheehan, N., & Shochet, I. (2u1S). School-baseu piogiams foi
incieasing connecteuness anu ieuucing iisk behavioi: A systematic ieview.
96:/).'#()* !&1/4#*#31 7%0'%8; AB; 9S-114.
Fullan, N. & Baigieaves, A. (2u12) !"#$%&&'#()* /)-'.)*C D")(&$#"5'(3 .%)/4'(3 '( %0%"1
&/4##*2 New Yoik, NY: Teacheis College Piess.
Bess, F. (2u1S). ,)3%EF:&.'(3 *%)6%"&4'-. Cambiiuge, NA: Baivaiu Euucation Piess.
Tuian, S., & Bektas, F. (2u1S). The ielationship between school cultuie anu leaueiship
piactices. 93'.'5 G")&.'"5)*)"'E9:")&')( H#:"()* #$ 96:/).'#()* 7%&%)"/4; BA; 1SS-
168.