District Administration - May 2011 - (Page 42)

Turnaround P r i N c i Pa L S years, focus on skills that principals need to address the particular challenges of struggling schools. Here are a few examples. New Leaders for New Schools Founded in 2000, the nonprofit New Leaders for New Schools principal turnaround program purposefully recruits candidates who reflect a diversity of backgrounds, perspectives and experiences. The 15-month program includes best practices from both the education and business worlds, with summer coursework and a yearlong residency in which candidates serve as assistant principals in high-need, urban public schools, helping teachers improve instructional practices and receive ongoing coaching from both the host principal and a coach that the program provides. Like other turnaround programs, the New Leaders for New Schools program has a laser focus on using data to help students improve rapidly. “[In] making progress, being better is not good enough,” says CEO Jean Desravines. “It’s about all students achieving at a high level.” Jennifer Henry, the program’s regional director and a participant in the first cohort of turnaround principals, says crucial skills include the ability to create very quick cycles of improvement. “If data shows an approach is not working, stop that immediately and accelerate things that are working,” she says. Also key are flexibility, agility, a strong vision for the school, frequent observations and the ability to have “courageous conversations—in other words, straight talk with staff about data showing that their instruction might need changing or improvement. The New Leaders for New Schools program, which started with 13 candidates in three cities, has expanded to more than 700 leaders in 12 urban centers across the country. Recognizing “the significant gap between supply and demand” in the number of principals equipped to lead turnaround schools, Desravines says his organization aims to scale up from training 400 leaders over the last four years to 4,000 leaders in the next four years. The training expansion plan, due to launch in 42 May 2011 Above, New Leaders for New Schools principals in training collaborate in small groups during Summer Foundations, a month-long training session. Left, New Leader Principal Robert Spencer observes a class at Aspire Capitol Heights Academy, a pre-K8 turnaround school in Sacramento, Calif. fall 2011, will identify 40 or 50 potential leaders from among public school teachers and assistant principals and grow their abilities to become effective principals. Urban Education Leadership At the University of Illinois, the Urban Education Leadership (UEL) program began offering a three-year doctoral program in 2001, combining coursework and supervised practical experience with a heavy reliance on site-based coaching by principals with proven track records in transforming urban schools. With a dual purpose to transform both K12 schools and higher-education school-leadership programs, the UEL program draws candidates from new principals, assistant principals and educators who have demonstrated success in classroom instruction and in areas of adult leadership, such as becoming the chairperson of the school site council or mentoring colleagues. Experienced princi- pals may also apply, but few do, says Steve Tozer, coordinator of the doctor of education degree program in Urban Education Leadership and professor in the Department of Educational Policy Studies. The program’s core emphasizes data-based strategic planning, literacy instruction, technology for instructional and information management use, business management, assessment, the role of race and ethnicity in a school’s culture, bilingual education and other leadership skills. In speaking of turnaround principals, Tozer notes the term “turnaround” no longer simply indicates a goal but has come to be synonymous with the federal government’s turnaround model, which requires firing a school’s teaching staff, as well as principals. “We do not advocate firing school faculty,” says Tozer. “The program focuses on replacing principals only.” Of 22 elementary schools in the Chicago area where UEL has placed turnaround principals, 17 of those have achieved improved test scores using existing staff, he says. Tozer says a primary key to success in urban, high-poverty schools is principalempowered staff collaboration, or what he calls the “deprivatization” of teaching. Instead of working alone behind closed doors, teachers need to meet regularly to agree upon goals, instruction and assessment. “You can’t have five different algebra teachers giving five different exams. Then it becomes the luck of the draw,” he District Administration

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of District Administration - May 2011

District Administration - May 2011
Contents
From the Editor
News Update
Conversations
Administrator Profile
District Profile
The Cradle-to-Career Solution
Turnaround Principals
Starving for Recess
Army Strong, Superintendent Savvy
Budgeting Based on Student Needs
Research Center
Books
Product Focus
Products
Superintendent's Insights
Crisis Response
Going Mobile
Professional Opinion

District Administration - May 2011