A r c h i v e d  I n f o r m a t i o n

The Role of Leadership in Sustaining School Reform: Voices From the Field - July 1996

Savvy and Persistence

Participants say that sustaining reform requires exceptional facility in working with and around the important systems. Successful leaders know how to take advantage of resources, how to respond to reasonable demands, how to create organizational arrangements that nurture competence and support new activities. They are not easily diverted by opposition or foot-dragging. Without being preoccupied with detail, they understand the nuts and bolts dimensions of the institution. They refer to organizational structures and their relation to behavior or program health, as well as to fortitude--the ability to persevere through resistance, respond to crises, take flak.

Analysis of forum participants' comments shows four overlapping arenas of leadership in which their knowledge and understanding of organizational arrangements makes it possible for change to take root and thrive. These arenas of expertise include:

As one principal from Virginia observed:

Principals have to be able to survive the politics of the building, school board, and other community members in order to be successful leaders. They need to build a base with businesses, teachers, students, parents, and other community members in order to weather the winds of politics.

Daily school management. "You do what you have to do to run that school," said one Georgian, with the goal of maintaining the conditions necessary for teachers to be able to teach. Savvy in this domain is multidimensional. Among the required skills that participants listed are those in planning, reporting, staffing, budgeting, delegating, prioritizing, managing conflict, and celebrating success. Firmness and fairness are highly prized, as are poise and civility. The daily work of leading makes many demands. "You have to juggle a lot of balls at the same time: custodial issues, major discipline. . . You don't have only to do curriculum or whatever. You need a good background of general knowledge of administration and the things that go into it," explained a Kentucky educator.

One seasoned professional elaborated on the unexpected challenges to order: "I have a good example. There was a bomb threat during my observation of French class. I had to redefine my priorities that day!" Making it through each day, flexing to accommodate reality but holding on tight to the collective vision, demands in-depth knowledge of the resources available to solve problems and quick, perceptive decisiveness in applying that knowledge.

Keeping one's eyes on the prize is crucial, according to a California veteran: "Every day I remind myself what it is I want. Instead of reacting, I communicate in a way that promotes my agenda. I think, What is my goal? How do I want this to go?" A listener asked, "Do staff know you do that? " "Yes," she said, "I tell them."

Long-term school management. Staying the course of reform requires much more than simple agility, according to participants. It requires setting up and working within a system of structures that capitalize on the energy and interests of faculty and parents, provide for thoughtful and professional conduct, and hold people accountable for their actions. Knowing staff, students, and families well and taking their concerns and strengths seriously is one important dimension of sound, foresightful management. As one Kentucky reformer said, "A great principal has to really know her staff, to be in tune, to be in touch." Using institutional structures to support reform activities is a second dimension. "It's not only team building," said a Virginian. "You have to get the housekeeping things in order."

Savvy about human relations seems to be a top priority. Validating people for what they do well, building on people's present skills, and accepting that change is difficult are valued strategies for engaging and motivating others in long-term reforms. Balancing the relevant interests of stakeholders supports their commitment to partnership.

However, as a bilingual special educator from Colorado commented, "There needs to be a balance between trusting that everyone is going to do the job and needing to stand on the line." A great deal of the leadership exercised by these veterans involved winning cooperation and serving as a cheerleader for staff initiatives, but the bottom line is about responsibility. In the words of one Kentucky principal, "A good principal will get rid of bad teachers." Said another, "I do all the evaluating and supervising; the teachers share the rest." Order and civility in schools are sustained by agreements about structure and mutual accountability. The forum participants described two aspects of the proper exercise of the right to exclude anyone from the school staff. First, the majority held that willingness to fire an incompetent teacher (following appropriate action to remediate deficient performance) was clear evidence of having professional standards and commitment. Second, a solid minority advocated sharing that chore with faculty. Demonstrating that some paradoxes of shared decision making are suffered from coast to coast, a New Yorker from a school famous for its collaborative approach echoed the sentiments of a Californian, who said:

If we shared responsibility for creating a community of high expectations and defining levels of professional performance, why then is it my solo responsibility to issue marching orders? Even if I retain formal authority as a matter of contract, the community shares the moral responsibility to communicate its finding that one of its members was inadequate [in performance].

Effective Use of Prescribed Personnel Practices: Making the System Work for Children

Dr. T. was a music teacher in our district. He had more than 30 years of experience and taught music in our school once a week. Children and parents raised concern that he used instructional time to complain about parking and to discuss movies and restaurants he had visited. He also called children "dumb" and used phrases such as "who died and made you the music teacher?"

I met with Dr. T. and informed him of these concerns. I asked him to devote all instructional time to music and to use appropriate language with children. I said I would visit his class to insure that these conditions were met. And, in the next several weeks, whenever I visited, lessons were appropriately taught. At Dr. T.'s request, we then met with his supervisor. I reiterated my conditions. Then he brought in his union representative. Dr. T. said that, since he had taught music for more than 30 years, if students did not like the way instruction was delivered, they could quit music. I stated that he had a responsibility to effectively teach music to all children.

Many parents brought concerns to me and put them in writing, as did two teachers who had witnessed Dr. T. speaking inappropriately to children. Once, when practicing for a citywide program, the children became restless, and D. T. told them that important people like the Superintendent and the Mayor would make their families move if they didn't do a good job.

When I asked Dr. T. to meet with me again, he gave me a slip of paper with his lawyer's name on it. I informed my supervisor and wrote a memo asking Dr. T. To meet with me and my supervisor--he would have a right to representation as well. Dr. T. ultimately met with me in the Assistant Superintendent's Office. Although Dr. T refused to address the issue directly, there was enough documentation for the Assistant Superintendent to instruct him to correct the problem. Through his union representative, Dr. T. volunteered to transfer to another school. I consented to this decision. Dr. T. helped us with our graduation program, and I wrote him a complimentary memo, copied to the Assistant Superintendent.

When Dr. T. chose early retirement at the end of the school year, I realized that I could be an effective administrator and do what is necessary to ensure that children's educational needs are served.

Many participants agreed that long-term school management was ultimately a matter of maintaining focus. Said one seasoned Kentucky leader:

You look at your list. Whatever the issue is, you deal with that, maybe you delegate. The next day you pick up the list again and reorganize it around your primary focus. You constantly remind yourself: I'm here for curriculum and instruction. You talk about it to your staff, central office, everyone. . . . you have to be careful not to get distracted.

Part of the nitty-gritty in management is creating well-defined communication systems and roles. Informal communications and role flexibility retain their everyday usefulness, but formal communication guidelines protect against development of too many inside channels, on one hand, and role conflict or overload, on the other. Leaders who succeed in the long haul are able to keep access to information and decision making as open and equitable as it needs to be. People know whom and when to ask for the straight scoop. Leaders who sustain the energy and initiative that reform demands make their stance with respect to creating new roles or deleting old ones to support the collective vision, rather than the status quo. According to a principal in New Hampshire, "School reform has to take place over a long period of time. You have to survive political pressures and your own personal pressures. "Adjusting the organization to sustain new approaches--keeping in mind the strengths and weaknesses of human nature in general and the relevant staff members in particular--is one essential ingredient of reform.

Good relations with district office. "There are survival skills that we learn after being in the trenches," explained one California principal, and these survival skills include knowing how to get and keep the support of the district's central office. As another Californian explained:

Sustaining change requires quite a bit of political savvy. When you first come in, all the momentum is for the status quo. You have to find toeholds to get started. You have to search out ammunition. You have to ask, "How can I put a political spin on it?"

Maintaining the good graces of the superintendent's office and the school board requires a two-pronged approach, according to participants. First, the best defense is a good offense: timely response to predictable requests, regular announcements of progress and accomplishments, and demonstration of familiarity with the district's big picture and the school's role in it show appropriate regard for the "front office." Sustaining leaders take care of this aspect of business, because it ought to be done and because doing it buys time and space for the school's individual agenda. Second, maintaining the integrity of the school program requires protecting it from interference. Terms such as "buffering from central office interference" arose often in discussion of district relations, for example, from a Coloradan: "We need measures to insulate us, so there can be sustained efforts, not a response to every new fad. We need time to focus." Protecting the vision in the face of outside meddling was a prime concern of reformers. Among the most intrusive meddlers are those from the central office, in the view of some school-based leaders. Fierce loyalty to the school as the site of reform seems to lead many principals (even those who will ultimately themselves choose the superintendency) to construe the demands of district administrators as a source of distraction.

Good relations with the community. Finally, long-term reformers know how to connect with the community, using insightful strategies to ensure that all stakeholders feel positively engaged. A Kentucky principal advised, "Pay very close attention to the community. Make sure the community understands the change." Celebrating success, taking time to inform parents and others about good things happening at school, making the school a visible participant in communitywide events--these are ways that notable leaders win community support. A fan of leadership in one school gave an example of a creative approach to selling reform activities:

The principal takes an active role in teaching. She holds evening children's musical performances--but then uses a few minutes before the performance to teach one small part of educational reform. For example, she might show the writing or math portfolio or demonstrate a science experiment.

Making effective use of conventional avenues of communication with the public--issuing periodic press releases, for instance, or exhibiting children's art work or portfolios in the library--and piggybacking on events that draw the community to the school can win support and engender community pride in students' achievements. As one participant said simply, "Good press and good publicity have been good protection."
-###-

[Knowledge and Daring] [Table of Contents] [Personal Qualities]