4 Core Factors for School Success

Citation

Russell, T. (2009), "4 Core Factors for School Success", Journal of Educational Administration, Vol. 47 No. 5, pp. 675-678. https://doi.org/10.1108/09578230910981170

The push for educational reform and the many programs developed from the Governmental policy of No Child Left Behind has left many people asking the question, what would it take for school administrators and teachers to enhance the ability to teach effectively and for students to raise their own expectations for themselves academically? Many books and training guides today focus on the prevention and intervention of school failure; however, few focus on the prerequisites before the invention and never address the true essence of what it really takes for academic change in our schools. Change to some may look different than change to others; some schools throughout the USA just overhaul programs that already exist then develop around the desired requirements and expectations for students to adapt to a school environment that they never survived in initially.

With many years of experience the authors of 4 Core Factors for School Success – Todd Whitaker and Jeffrey Zoul – began as educators in the public school system. Both were principals and understood the role as leaders and the demand that today's teachers are up against. What is also significant about the authors is the fact that they have written books that emphasize student learning and strategic understanding with school leadership. In 4 Core Factors for School Success, Whitaker and Zoul (2008) take the challenge of identifying four major factors that school administrators and teachers need to consider while preparing students for real life situations after high school. Connected to the four communication, observation, relationships, and expectations (CORE) factors are specific strategies and actions for school success. The authors concentrate on learning the basic needs that all students need to obtain and all educators need to demonstrate CORE.

The book is organized around six chapters. The authors passion about their work is evident as they began elaborating on how schools should clarify their CORE principles and establish how its foundation will affect the entire system of schools academically and economically. As Todd stated from the beginning chapter, (p. 9) “people make differences, not programs”. This statement was profound since many programs are evaluated by their state academic performance index scores and what the school's principal is implementing correctly or incorrectly. People make differences and change is the result of the CORE values in which people decide to adopt. The American Heritage (2000, p. 5) defines the word CORE as “the central, innermost or most essential part of anything.” If this statement is factual then the first element we might need to establish is that communication is one of the most validated assets that all people have in common and an essential ingredient for success in schools or in business.

The authors reiterate that strong communicators are careful observers (p. 6); we must master our skills of communication, observing, monitoring carefully, building personal, and professional relationships while establishing clear expectations for ourselves, students, and each other. If we ask educators who teach in our schools' educational system, many of them will share that they believe in core values and think that a need to get back to the basics is critical. The authors emphasize that we must move from beliefs to behavior that produce results. These results should manifest an increase in teacher morale, student attitude and school aptitude. As an educator myself, I must understand that there are many variables of communication that support us or impair our way of thinking critically. Effective thinking and effective communication between parents and schools are mandatory and should be consistent to establish maintaining meaningful relationships if we are to conquer the myths of some that believe that education will always be a failure.

The next line of defense the author examines is observation. Reeves put it best (p. 48) – “we must observe the results we receive from data so that we adjust accordingly” (Reeves, 2006, p. 53). As I re‐read the quote, it digested many insights that people have about visibility and how they interpret what they observe. The more visible educators are, the more aware they are about how the school is performing. This statement by the authors is only true if the educators are actively visible (specifically observing) and observant through their discerned eye by understanding their own CORE values. The author pushes the statement that we must be masters of observed learning focused on improving performance (p. 75). As educators we must fully understand our role as watchmen, as we carefully observe children that are not our own but are in fact our responsibility. We must not only observe teachers, students and parents but also notice how the school culture changes as schools engage in positive interactions through understanding that CORE values are needed for effective change as the next generations takes its place.

In the next section, the authors elaborate on relationships and assert that relationships are vital for establishing and activating any vision that educators implement. The authors reiterate (p. 77) “it is the relationship we cultivate and maintain among the people in our schools that make a significant impact on student/teacher performance.” We must be grounded in trust and mental respect. As I have visited many schools throughout the USA and have been employed by school districts and mental health facilities, I asked the question, what is a relationship? It is trust. The book reveals four vital signs of trust: respect, personal regard, and competence in core role responsibilities and personal integrity (Bryk and Schneider, 2002). Consequently, it begs the question, how do teachers transfer that trust towards their students? The authors provide points to think about when examining that specific question. The first antidote would be a suggestion from the authors' book which implies that teacher attendance reflects student performance. As I pondered on that simple statement many things came to mind. As educators we forget that the CORE values that we ask our students to emulate are the values we need to reflect on and model ourselves. As we go deeper and dissect one more CORE factor for school success; we examine carefully our fourth value – expectations. Expectation is a word that is loosely used and meaning taking for granted. As educators explore how expectations greatly affect students it becomes apparent that teacher influences greatly affect student performance through expectations (Marzano, 2007). In recalling my own experiences as a student, there were often times I would comment about a teacher – that she or he was the best teacher I ever had. I have wondered since then, what makes an effective teacher and how those effective teachers come to understand difficult students.

Whitaker and Zoul present various facets of expectations including anticipate, envision, believe, trust, foresee, and insist on. They describe two categories of teacher behaviors that communicate expectations to students; affective tone and quality of interactions (Marzano, 2007). These two variables seem imperative to survival to students who struggle academically and behaviorally. When students know that limitations are put on them they can only strive to the limit that is set; which then becomes a standard. As we develop as educators, we have higher expectations towards our students. In turn we then help to develop student self‐esteem and self‐efficacy (Rutter et al., 1979).

Overall, 4 Core Factors for School Success is an engaging book that revisits the essence of practical teaching and what is foundational to administrators. This book clarifies the core values which all great educators have in common and contribute to school success. For all those who want to create better schools, these factors are at the center of behaviors which lead to results. The book is easy to read and written in a teacher‐school administrator friendly manner. While this book gives educators the base line on how to observe students and how to implement core strategies; this book is equally fundamentally sound on many other levels. This book will engage new teachers on how not to destroy the self‐esteem of students but build their self‐efficacy. It also reinforces administrators and master teachers to re‐think and ask specific questions: How are the interventions established and do they support all aspects of CORE.