What Makes a School Effective?
Updated on Jul 19, 2010
Excerpt from: Teachers, Schools, and Society
Consider the following situation: Two schools are located in the
same neighborhood and are considered "sister schools." They are
approximately the same size, serve the same community, and the student
populations are identical. However, in one school, state test scores are low
and half the students drop out. In the other school, student test scores exceed
the state average and almost all students graduate. Why the difference?
Puzzled by such situations, researchers
attempted to determine what factors create successful schools. Several studies
have revealed a common set of characteristics, a five-factor theory of effective schools. Researchers
say that effective schools are able, through these five factors, to promote
student achievement. Let's take a look at these classic five factors, and then
move on to some more recent studies.
Factor 1: Strong
Leadership
In her hook The Good High School.
Sara Lawrence Lightfoot drew portraits of six effective schools. Two, George
Washington Carver High School in Atlanta and John F. Kennedy High School in the
Bronx, were inner-city schools. High-land Park High School near Chicago and
Brookline High School in Brookline, Massachusetts, were upper middle-class and
suburban. St. Paul's High School in Concord, New Hampshire, and Milton Academy
near Boston were elite preparatory schools. Despite the tremendous difference
in the styles and textures of these six schools, ranging from the pastoral
setting of St. Paul's to inner-city Atlanta, they all were characterized by
strong, inspired leaders, such as Robert Mastruzzi, principal of John F.
Kennedy High School.
When Robert Mastruzzi started working at Kennedy, the building
was not yet completed. Walls were being built around him as he sat in his
unfinished office and contemplated the challenge of not only his first
principalship but also the opening of a new school. During his years as
principal of John F. Kennedy, his leadership style has been collaborative,
actively seeking faculty participation. Not only does he want his staff to
participate in decision making, but he gives them the opportunity to try new
things—and even the right to fail. For example, one teacher made an error about
the precautions necessary for holding a rock concert (800 adolescents had shown
up, many high or inebriated). Mastruzzi realized that the teacher had learned a
great deal from the experience, and he let her try again. The second concert
was a great success. "He sees failure as an opportunity for change,"
the teacher said. Still other teachers describe him with superlatives, such as
"he is the lifeblood of this organism" and "the greatest human
being I have ever known."
Mastruzzi seems to embody the characteristics of effective
leaders in good schools. Researchers say that students make significant
achievement gains in schools in which principals
·
Articulate a clear school mission
·
Are a visible presence in classrooms and hallways
·
Hold high expectations for teachers and students
·
Spend a major portion of the day working with teachers to
improve instruction
·
Are actively involved in diagnosing instructional problems
·
Create a positive school climate
REACTIONS:
For
schools to be effective, a school leader must possess an exemplary character,
confident and committed to excellence. School leader leads a conducive learning environment where teachers
truly teach and students truly learn. A leader who willingly seeks resources
such as money, human resource, materials and time. It is the responsibility of
the leader to ensure curriculum matches with students’ needs, potentials,
skills, values and attitudes and desired habits. Students should be active in
the learning process. They should learn by doing not by dictation and
memorization. Students will relate learning to real life experiences, for them
to understand the relevance of learning, thus making them more motivated to
learn.
A
school leader is lavish in giving praises to all his teaching and non-teaching
personnel. Teachers and staff are like
students, they need to be recognized. Their enthusiasm will flows down to the
students.
A
school leader will use techniques and strategies to assess classroom instruction,
students’ performance, curriculum goals and effectiveness. He must be visible
to the students and staff members.
A
school leader can identify who are his partners in giving quality education and
relevant activities in the community. He must realize that without them his
vision and mission are impossible to achieve.
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