BillRichards

EDL 647--Diversity Issues and School Administration

Seven Short Readings
January 21, 2017

1.Continuous Improvement in Instruction: Essentials for Principals by Dennis Fox

Dennis Fox focuses on the idea that principals should create and build a culture of

continuous instructional improvement at their schools in order to generate improved student

outcomes. To establish this culture, the author states that a principal must instill a standard of

practice in which your teachers are motivated to regularly question the impact of their

instructional practices, and provide your teachers with user-friendly tools and strategies to help

them systematically reflect on their practices and make effective adjustments in instruction.

The author leaves the details of this position without suggestions or examples--I will return to

this topic later in this response--and instead provides an abstract questioning framework that he

illustrates with imaginary scenarios.

The authors questions could be helpful tools for principals and teachers to consider when

addressing the issue of working to achieve continuous improvement in instruction. The authors

fundamental or overarching question is, Based on the evidence, is there any reason to think

that I should continue to do what I am doing? Importantly, the approach here is to be

data-driven. This could be at the micro level of a single class assignment or at the macro level of

aggregated standardized test scores. The author restates the question in a way that is closer to the

teachers task: Do the results Im getting indicated that the instructional practices I am using are

working as I intended? The author points out that principals, if they are to establish cultures in

which teachers are inspired to continuously improve their effectiveness, must be willing to
challenge teachers to evaluate the efficacy of their instructional methods toward achieving

improved student outcomes.

In addition to the overarching question, the author suggests four essential questions that

teachers can be asked--and should ask themselves--in creating a continuously-improving

pedagogy. Responses to these question must always be based on the evidence. These four

questions are:

-What will I continue to do?

-What will I continue to do, but do more consistently and/or more effectively?

-What will I begin to do (that I havent done before)?

-What will I stop doing?

In the scenarios that the author uses to illustrate the use of these questions, he focuses on two

important, evidenced-based instructional practices that help support students in retaining,

recalling, and applying what they learn: providing clear learning goals for lessons and activating

students prior knowledge about the lesson.

The article does not provide any details in regard to strategies to instill a standard of

practice, to motivate teachers to regularly question their practices, or to provide them with

user-friendly tools and strategies to make adjustments in instruction. Some ideas and

examples of how a principal can facilitate these actions would be helpful.

2.Diversity Matters, Leadership Counts by Mark Anderson

Mark Anderson describes a variety of ways that educational leaders can work to

toward achieving equity in their schools. He discusses the important place that diversity has in
the goals and plans of ACSA, including the Equity, Achievement and Diversity for Success

Committee, which focuses on building and sustaining equity, achievement, and diversity for

students and administrators. The committee has also developed goals, an action plan, and an

equity framework that are tied to ACSAs overall strategic plan.

Importantly, Anderson defines the term equity as the idea that you provide the support

that each person needs, and distinguishes it from fairness, in which each person gets exactly the

same. He also argues that equity and diversity need to be integrated into school institutions in

deeper ways, including staff, pedagogical practices, communication, leadership, assessment,

curriculum, and community engagement. Merely having a mission statement that says that all

students can learn or disaggregating test scores by subgroup will not be sufficient ways to

address the issues of diversity and equity.

Much of Andersons essay describes and analyzes specific intercultural experiences that

the author had while working in Brazil as an American missionary. The stories illustrate how his

lack of knowledge of the norms of how to walk or how to speak in the cultures of Brazil created

conflicts and misunderstandings that led to frustration, fear, anger and disappointment. The

author states that these kinds of differences in culture appear every day in our schools, and that

we must embrace diversity and work to understand it and support it through equity if we are to

avoid having these cultural differences become barriers and not learning experiences.

Anderson states that effective administrators are able to identify potential cultural

conflicts, reflect on their own personal biases, and reach out to others to provide support and

evoke change. These cultural conflicts are experienced by students, parents, and staff in public

schools in ways including manner of dress, patterns of speech, and posture and movement.
Students learn one way of acting and speaking in the community, and then come to school to find

that the ways they have learned are looked down upon or are inappropriate in the school setting.

A complex assessment for the school administrator is to determine when communication with

the student is to involve a life lesson and cultural coaching and when it is a disciplinary matter.

As an administrator, Anderson points out, it is our role to understand and celebrate the

diversity in our schools. He provides a few ideas for addressing diversity and equity.

-advocate and celebrate diversity on campus

-realize that multiple perspectives and viewpoints should be argued and respected on

issues in science, social studies, art, music, math, etc.

-ensure that the population in the most advanced classes on campus is reflective of the

general population of the school

-value interest and desire over traditionally perceived ability

-educators must work together to start preparing diverse groups of students for the most

adademically rigorous courses

-value growth as well as achievement

-be aware of the limits of personal anecdotes as we assess our own experiences and

biases

In addition, Anderson discusses a handful of other issues surrounding building diverse

and equitable schools. He points out the need to identify and mentor potential administators

from culturally diverse backgrounds and include diversity and equity as part of organizational

meetings if we are to mirror the rich diversity of California.

3.Essential Practices for Equity by Brian Edwards

Brian Edwards--a research writer for Partners in School Innovation, a non-profit

provider of external support for underperforming schools founded in 2005--describes the

concepts and processes that Partners uses in its work aimed at transforming the schools it works

with.

Partners uses a continuous-improvement, equity-focused approach to help schools

become places where students and staff excel. The 65 schools the group has worked with have

primarily populations of low-income students of color. Aiming for a true partnership, Partners

in School Innovation works with a schools staff and aims to align leadership, professional

learning systems and instruction around the urgent goal of accelerating learning. Partners work

with a school generally takes place over three to five years.

The first step in Partners relationship with a school is the School Transformation

Review, which consists of one intensive day of interviews and classroom observations. This

information is guided by a School Transformation Rubric, a six-point scale applied to 76

practices deemed essential for transforming schools. The practices break down into three

domains: results-oriented leadership, systems for professional learning, and the core instruction

program; 20 of the 76 practices relate directly to equity. These equity items relate to school

culture, equity-conscious instruction, and explicit examinations of race, class, culture and power.

The essay lists the 20 equity-related rubric topics and provides a detailed breakdown of the six

performance levels used on the rubric.

Partners supplies on-site consultants called School Innovation Partners to work for

portions of each week at the school site. In a specific site example described by Edwards,
Partners worked with a principal to foster trust, teamwork, and support among staff while

helping the principal define clear priorities and outcomes. The specific school example focuses

on three areas: monitoring student achievement data, parental involvement, and English language

development. The example shows a variety of ways that were used to support teachers including

language support for parent meetings, training in ELD methods, and providing time for teachers

to collaborate. The school exemplar discusses specific ways that equity was specifically

addressed, and Edwards reveals that the staff did not always feel comfortable looking at their

work through an equity lens. The school principal also regularly monitored formative analysis

results and moved the school culture toward being data-driven.

The essay closes citing the conflict and controversy that exists about discussing equity

issues, but states that Partners believes that for educators to maximize their efficiency, they will

need to become proficient at equity work.

4.Achieving Equity in Education by Nicole Anderson and Kim Hendricks

In this article, the authors present some reflective questions in regard to equity for

leaders to consider, and they discuss the past and future of the place of equity within ACSA.

The article defines educational equity as the study and achievement of fairness in

education, and presents the idea that equity is the process, equality is the outcome. The

reflective questions presented deal with the importance of addressing equity, the importance of

meeting students basic needs, the importance of having leaders and literature that reflect

diversity, the importance of courageous conversations, and how we ourselves reflect on the

nature and effects of our own school experiences.

 After presenting these questions for reflection, the authors provide a brief history of the

development of committees within ACSA that focused on diversity and equity issues between

the intial committee in 1996 and the creation of SMART Goals and an action plan in 2012.

Major concerns of the ACSA EADS committee include the need to increase the number of

administrators coming from underrepresented groups, increase the effectiveness of

administrators working with students of color, help disseminate best practices in regard to issues

of equity and diversity, and making sure that equity issues are always at the forefront of

conversations as we make decisions that impact students. The EADS committee will provide

assistance to sustain mentoring and other support structures, provide an equity toolkit and

resources for leaders, and work to strengthen and systematize structures within ACSA that

support equity and diversity work.

In closing, the article cites some of the reasons why this equity work is so urgent. The

authors remind us that the academic, discipline, and penal system data overwhelmingly show

that minority...students are negatively impacted in schools and society, and that racial

inequities remain in all parts of our educational system in subtle and complex ways. Even

those who believe in equality may unintentionally act in ways that perpetuate bias and

inequality.

5.Mindsets for 21st Century Leaders by Kathrine Morillo-Shone

In this article, Morillo-Shone focuses on the qualities and mindsets that a leader should

recognize and cultivate in themselves while also emphasizing the need to identify, mentor and
support other leaders within the organization. To motivate herself and stay on track, the author

finds it necessary to continually create conditions that make a profound difference.

The author perceives schools to be places that foster learning for all, and she states that

transforming schools requires investing in the professional growth of other potential leaders in

schools. In order to focus on molding leaders from within the organization, the author asked

herself four questions:

-what evidence do we have that the organization promotes learning for all

-do we capitalize on the exponential effect created by empowering leaders from

within?

-how does our environment encourage the creation of leaders?

-how does the organization engage leaders in their daily practice of thought and action?

In order to create this culture of leadership, the author suggests that the organization must

encourage five major mindsets:

(1)Principle-centered Mindset--leadership must be centered on principles that point to

true north and that reflect character;

(2)Adding Value Mindset--leadership must focus on creating value and making people

better every day. Leadership subordinates itself to a higher purpose as a way of valuing itself.

(3)Personal and Professional Growth Mindset--this emphasizes that learning is a lifelong

process, and that it is necessary for leaders to commit to a wide variety of personal growth

practices despite the daily exigencies and endless to-do lists.

 (4)Culture-Building Mindset--leaders must model and encourage others in the

organization to create a culture of continuous learning, high expectations, inquiry, personal

responsibility, collective accountability, and excellence.

(5)Transformative Mindset--a transformational leader is dedicated to profoundly

influencing all stakeholders to reflect and grow so that the organization can meet its goals.

The authors transformational leadership mindset focuses on the four values of individual

consideration, intellectual stimulation, inspirational motivation and idealized influence. Finally,

in order to convert ideas into action, the leaders within an organization must find the will.

discipline, and courage to take the actions necessary to improve the organization.

6.Exiting P.I.--How 10 Principals Turned Around Their Schools by Aaron Haughton and

Sandra J. Balli

This article describes the results of a qualitative survey of ten principals in California

who led the turnaround of their schools from program improvement under the system created by

the No Child Left Behind law. The article identifies that a large percentage of schools were

designated for program improvoement, and a small percentage of these schools met the required

improvement scores on standardized tests in order to exit P.I. An analysis of the interviews with

the principals of ten schools who achieved this goal revealed three important achievements of

successful principals: changing school culture so that stakeholders believed that all children

could succeed, providing frequent and consistent instructional leadership, and a focus on the

state standards that were being tested.

 The principals who achieved successful growth found that changing the school culture

first was essential before other aspects of the school could grow. One principal reported that a

large number of teachers requested to be transferred rather than adapt to culture changes.

All of the interviewed principals emphasized the importance of providing instructional

leadership if the schools were to change. This leadership included strategies such as frequent

classroom visitations followed by immediate feedback, clear expectations of what the principal

was looking for (one principal posted expectations in the daily bulletin), and using assessment

data to drive instructional changes. All of these strategies required courageous conversations

with teachers with the focus being on what was best for kids. The kids were the moral

imperatives that drove getting these schools out of P.I.

7.Sustained Courage Under Pressure by Brett W. McFadden

In this article, McFadden identifies courage as the core value of leadership which is

necessary for all other leadership values to be effective. The author distinguishes courage from

mere heroism by suggesting that heroism can be shotr-lived, but genuine courage can be constant

during a long and protracted challenge, and it requires a depth and constant commitment. The

author states that leadership will wither without courage, and that desired leadership values such

integrity, honesty and compassion rely upon the bedrock of courage.

The author identifies a variety of ways that school leadership is a great challenge that

requires courage. He discusses how school change can take a very long time--often longer than

one or two leaders can achieve on their watch before the school is where it needs to be. He states

that leadership comes with a price, and that this price can be multi-faceted. In addition to time,
energy, and stress, the nature of leading a school to change can damage relationships, impair

health, and lead to weight change or depression. The author especially points out loneliness as

an occupational hazard of school leadership. Indeed, the author suggests that school leaders who

dont experience these challenges may not be doing the necessary work that will lead their

schools to evolve.

To deal with these difficult--and often chronic--personal effects of leading schools, the

educational leader can understand that recognizing problems in an organization is itself a

positive step, in fact it is the first step to positive transformation. Recognizing that the job will

generate a complete array of emotions can help one to deal with them as they arise and not let

these ups and downs define the entire experience or redefine the leaders ethical compass.

Finally, the author suggests some strategies for maintaining courage as things get tough.

He suggests that the leader acknowledge that:

-Fear is natural and okay

-Everyone makes mistakes, and these are opportunities to learn

-Pick your battles carefully; the problems werent created in a day

-seeking help in the form of expertise, support, mentorship, and friendship is helpful

-its okay--even necessary--to take a break

-leaders should model the change they want to be

-leaders should accept when it is time to move on

In all, the author presents some important insights and helpful suggestions for successfully

dealing with the emotional aspects of being a leader.