From At‐Risk to Academic Excellence: What Successful Leaders Do

Citation

Scollo, J. (2008), "From At‐Risk to Academic Excellence: What Successful Leaders Do", Journal of Educational Administration, Vol. 46 No. 5, pp. 650-653. https://doi.org/10.1108/09578230810895546

Today's society is dynamic and ever‐changing filled with challenges and temptations for youth that many educators in today's schools have never had to face. This fact, along with the cry for accountability and higher standards, has changed almost every aspect of education. The era of higher standards and greater accountability requires a new kind of school and a site and/or district leader who can inspire teachers, staff, parents and community to come together and provide better opportunities for all students to achieve at high levels. From At‐Risk to Academic Excellence: What Successful Leaders Do discusses the problems and obstacles that at‐risk students face in today's schools and the important role educational leadership can play in helping to mitigate these circumstances. The authors, Schargel, Thacker and Bell, make the case that new leadership skills are needed for school leaders in the future (Schargel et al., 2007).

Public schools in the twenty‐first century will face increased challenges of global competition for jobs and qualified graduates. The world's economic, social and political landscape has changed dramatically. With the advent of the North American Free Trade Agreement and other international trade agreements, the world has merged into one competitive global marketplace. Our schools face pressure to produce globally competitive, first‐rate graduates. Tomorrow's workforce needs the ability to problem‐solve, work on teams, keep up with fast‐changing technology, and efficiently use resources.

The authors use a nationwide survey and data gathered from a survey of Alabama's Torchbearer Schools as the foundation for this book. The Alabama Leadership Academy in the Alabama State Department of Education has identified 22 Torchbearer Schools for 2005‐2006. These schools are high‐poverty public schools in Alabama that consistently stand out as high‐achievement schools. Quotes from national school leaders emphasizing the concepts discussed in this book are sprinkled throughout the book linking theory with practice. Together, the authors have over 64 years of classroom teaching, counseling and administrative experience. This combined experience ranges from being a public school teacher, counselor, administrator, consulting and training experience throughout Canada, USA and Latin America, prolific researchers, book authors, and recipients of national awards.

The book, From At‐Risk to Academic Excellence: What Successful Leaders Do, is organized into three parts comprised of 12 chapters. Part I goes into great detail about “Who is at risk and why?” The authors identify an at‐risk student as a student who is in danger of not completing high school. There are broad categories of risk factors that influence a student dropping out: family background and cohesion; school experience; peer and psychological characteristics. Although, there are many factors that can put a student at‐risk, there is no one single factor that triggers a student to drop out. Further, the authors argue that leaders cannot rely solely on individual risk factors to set priorities for meeting students' needs. They must explore other avenues of approach. Principals must focus their schools on aspects they can influence directly: climate and culture, school connectedness, school safety, attendance, and academic achievement.

The authors identify six commonalities among the successful schools in this study:

1. 1.

   successful schools place student learning first, setting high expectations for all students;

2. 2.

   these schools set goals that are both tangible and measurable, and goals of the school are discussed freely within the faculty and with the students;

3. 3.

   school improvement is also stressed in successful schools;

4. 4.

   school improvement initiatives rest on increasing student achievement;

5. 5.

   successful schools use data to drive school and classroom practices to increase student improvement; and

6. 6.

   these schools spend a great deal of time analyzing their assessment data, and discussing it with their students.

There is a sense of community and shared responsibility in these successful schools – all of which is achieved through staff empowerment, family involvement, and school‐community collaboration.

In Part II, the authors provide a list of essential elements that go into making a successful school, many of which can be found in the Interstate School Leaders Licensure Consortium standards. They suggest that school leaders begin with the physical setting where learning takes place. The easiest way to create a better school is to change the environment. We often overlook the physical environment of a school, but it can be crucial to student attitudes and pivotal to their achievements. A clean, attractive setting contributes to students feeling connected to the school. Larry Sholes, one of the participants in the Nationwide Survey, summed up the foundation for the successful schools in this study with three words (p. 39): “rigor, relevance and relationships.” Successful schools have a strong commitment to high expectations for all students and teachers. These schools use data analysis to guide instruction and align school practice to state and national standards. Students have to see how the manner in which they learn relates to the real world, and how this learning is done in a personalized, risk‐free environment.

The authors assert that we are living in a culture of change. They further state that (p. 53) “Traditional teaching and learning techniques do not work with nontraditional learners. Therefore, if we wish to succeed with nontraditional students, we must change the teaching and learning process.” Business people, politicians, and citizens want instant improvement. They measure results in short time cycles. Even if a program works, it always takes a while to show student growth. The public is often impatient, and want to see positive growth quickly. Although a school's culture is always evolving it can be one of the most difficult things to change. Educators often encounter the frustration of having changes suggested by people without experience in the field. Some would say that this explains why educators are frequently resistant to change. Consequently, any principal attempting to improve a school must be prepared to encounter resistance. Key to reducing this resistance is a quality professional development program at a school, and staff empowerment.

In Part III of the book, the authors conclude with the title (p. 115) “If we had our way.” They point out that truly effective schools have a single trait in common: they keep working to improve; they keep striving to meet the needs of all their students. Their efforts rest on honest self‐assessment, critical research regarding new teaching theory, and dedication to doing what is best for children. This requires sound leadership. Educational leaders today need to arm themselves with more than knowledge. They must learn how to apply that knowledge in a real‐world setting. Leadership programs in our colleges and universities must change in order to prepare our future school leaders. Many of these programs today have very little connection with reality of today's educational environment. In effect, they train people to lead schools that no longer exist. The authors suggest that a new curriculum needs to be developed to train our leaders of tomorrow. The curriculum should include courses to plan continuous improvement, recognize quality teaching and learning, and attract and maintain the finest teaching staff. Internship programs would be an important component of this new curriculum because it would provide opportunities to apply the knowledge, skills, attitudes, and practices of school leadership.

Overall, From At Risk to Academic Excellence: What Successful Leaders Do is an easy‐to‐read book that provides sound advice to current and future school leaders on how to create a successful school. As we look toward the twenty‐first century, we must deal with a new reality as to the position that the USA will hold in the world's economy. Key to the success of this country is the education of its young. Educators, politicians and businesspeople all agree that leadership in education has never been more critical for public school systems. They also share a grave concern about the looming shortage of qualified educators. This crisis is not limited to teachers, but also to school principals and superintendents. The job of a school principal is not an easy one. According to the authors (p. 6), “Modest pay, long hours, uneven resources, problematic authority, and increased expectations of the public make this job, in a competitive market,” not very attractive. In the past, the job of a principal was basically to manage the building and head the school. We expect much more of our school leaders today. School leaders must have skills and competencies required for business as well as the schoolhouse. The principal must be a leader, a lead teacher and learner, and the face of the school to the public. The job has become almost too big for one person to handle which stands to reason why collaboration and teamwork are essential to getting the job done.

Although much of the book is based upon Alabama's Torchbearer Schools, it is applicable to any school that is faced with high poverty, at‐risk students. The Torchbearer Schools Principal Survey is an excellent tool that is provided in the Appendix, and can be used by any school leader to assess their school. The highlighted quotes throughout the book from practitioners make the book easy to relate to, and enjoyable. The book re‐affirms many commonly held beliefs about what it takes to be an effective school, and should be read as a primer for school leaders.