How Leadership Can Transform a School

In education, we are constantly trying to figure out how to change our underperforming schools. We’ve even created a term for people who change schools: change specialists. We have developed committees to investigate how we can make change and have sent leaders to schools in hopes of finding a way to change a school. Sometimes we have been successful and sometimes we have not, and sometimes we just overthink the problem. This article shows how a simple approach from a freshman principal ended up increasing test scores by more than 50 percent in one school year.

The school district did nothing different when they hired the new principal, other than informing him that his school was one of two schools within the district scheduled to close if test scores did not increase to 50 percent by the end of the term. school year. The school’s test scores were at 28 percent at the time. Unfortunately, test scores were the only factor the state was using to determine the success of the school, although there are many factors that determine a successful school.

The new principal was very positive and was confident that the school could improve its test scores. He was a former athlete who believed that teamwork is the best way to improve a school. He had a plan and now he needed to gain acceptance from his new staff.

So, he went to work on the first day of school and gathered all the staff, including the secretaries, custodians, etc. He was very frank with them and explained what was at stake if students did not score 50 percent on the standard test in February. He explained how it was possible to improve test scores, but needed everyone’s support, including custodians, secretaries, and teachers. The staff appeared to be encouraged that their previous administration adopted dictatorial policies and never asked for their help. However, the new principal immediately gave all the staff a task: he asked each one to start thinking of ways he could help students improve their test scores and bring those strategies to the next school meeting. personal.

Immediately after the meeting, some staff members were so encouraged that they began to form their own groups to come up with strategies to improve student achievement. What seemed to be happening was a total change in staff attitudes. Staff members were meeting to discuss the academic needs of the students and how they might meet the needs of those students. Even the secretaries and janitors were talking about how they could help. This staff collaboration was exactly what the new principal needed if student achievement was to improve.

The next staff meeting was very rewarding for the principal because everyone had ideas to help improve student achievement. Some of the ideas included the custodian making sure the building is clean and encouraging students to get to class on time, the art teachers decided they would help students with vocabulary words that could be on the standardized test, while the gym teacher developed assignments to be turned in each week. The principal could begin to see the transformation of the school in just a few weeks.

Academic teachers worked together to come up with different strategies that would benefit students, such as having students write more and teaching them to analyze what they wrote. Some teachers decided to work on vocabulary and some were working on test-taking strategies. Additionally, some teachers took their students to a computer lab once a week, where they worked on a software program that was aligned with the state test. The administration even had academic contests that were aligned with the material that students would be able to see on the test. Additionally, the teachers volunteered to work with any students who needed extra help. The collaboration that was taking place was outstanding and very beneficial to the students.

Once that phase of the course change moved in a successful direction, the principal turned his attention to the students. He met with the students and explained the same problem to them, telling them that they did not want to be the class causing the school to close. Once again, the principal gave the students an assignment and asked them to work to improve their test scores by listening in class, doing their homework, reading more, and preparing every day. It also provided many incentives for students, such as: t-shirts after passing the exam and the opportunity for students who had passed to have the school activity of their choice.

Parents were also notified about what they were doing and how they could help. Homework packets containing test-taking strategies and recommended reading material were sent home. The idea was to include the entire school community. Nobody can change a school.

The school worked hard over the next several months with the strategies listed above and the additional strategies that they decided were important. Some of these included having a motivational meeting the day before the test, with the assistant principal singing a rap song, which was very motivating for the students. Others included having a good testing environment by organizing students into small groups on test day and reviewing test-taking strategies whenever possible prior to the test date.

After all the preparation and hard work, the school received the test scores a couple of months after the test. When the principal announced at a staff meeting that the score was 55 percent, there was not a dry eye in the room. The director told all staff to bow for a job well done.

This approach to improving test scores can be developed by any principal who is willing to work collaboratively with his or her staff. Schools that work as a team tend to be more successful. Also, staff like to work in those environments. Due to the principal’s shift focus, test scores at that school rose to 72 percent in two years; and this was a school with 90 percent of its students receiving free or reduced lunch. This confirms that success occurs in schools that work as a team.