IELeadership Connections, Vol. 1, No. 2, November /December
2002
This edition's topic: Balance
Contents:
BALANCE (Commentary)
The thoughtful responses to the first IELeadership Connections
(IELC) survey (what’s your biggest leadership challenge) indicate
that balance is a big issue for many respondents. It was most
explicitly stated by a superintendent who said, "the biggest challenge
that I face is that in many ways we pretend that child learning
comes first…But, like all things, this is about balance—and the
balance seems to fall on the side of adult convenience rather
than student need." Couple this perspective with that of a principal
whose greatest challenge is "to continue to be creative and innovative…
when the amount of paperwork and number of responsibilities continue
to multiply and I want to also be a husband and father," and the
playing field expands.
At a conference session last year, researchers were presenting
opposing definitions of learning disability. The exasperation
level was rising rapidly when one of the researchers said, "Well,
it doesn’t really matter what the definition is because teachers
are just going to ignore it and do what they think is best for
the child anyway." Of course, the issue is far more complex than
that statement implies, but it jolted a few people in the audience.
Is the system so far out of balance that a definition can stand
in the way of getting a child much needed help?
It appears that in trying to provide balance in one dimension,
we often overcompensate in another. In too many school systems,
the result is a lack of coherence or alignment—and as one of IEL’s
task force members (from the School Leadership for the 21st
Century Initiative) said, "An incoherent system causes people
to act dysfunctionally." The drop in qualified applicants seeking
leadership positions at all levels is a major indicator that this
phenomenon is not going unnoticed.
So what are leaders doing about the lack of balance? Here the
good news is growing and is documented here in IELC. Awareness
is increasing as a growing number of foundations, professional
organizations, schools of education, state agencies, school districts,
schools and others examine what it takes to be an effective leader
in the complex system that is education. Research is underway,
preparation and professional development are being revamped, and
support networks are being created. Policymakers who want effective,
responsive schools will make sure that their strategic plans include
time for organizational reflection and renewal. At the same time,
as individual leaders we must continue to seek a healthy balance
by keeping our perspective, creating our own cycle of reflection
and renewal, building a personal support network, and maintaining
our focus on student needs.
NEWS FROM THE FIELD
For those looking for information to help and encourage principals
into the superintendency, the Education Policy Analysis Archives
recently published Attracting Principals to the Superintendency:
Conditions that Make a Difference to Principals. The study,
based on a random sample of 508 Ohio principals, identifies principal
motivators and difficulties associated with the job of superintendent,
and offers suggestions for policy makers. To read the study, go
to http://epaa.asu.edu/epaa/v10n43.html.
"Can't we all just get along? We have to see community-based
youth groups and school-based groups as not standing on two sides
of the Grand Canyon…Each of us has solutions that other groups
need, if we can just find a way to reach out and join hands."
Paul Houston, Executive Director of the American Association of
School Administrators spoke these words at the first ever meeting
of leaders of national education and youth development sponsored
by IEL, the National Collaboration for Youth and the Coalition
for Community Schools. Go to http://www.communityschools.org/helpingyoungpeople.pdf
to read the report resulting from this joint meeting, Helping
Young People Succeed: Strengthening and Sustaining Relationships
Between Schools and Youth Development Organizations. It identifies
why and how individuals and institutions can cross the unnecessary
boundary between youth development and education.
Three national organizations, The National League of Cities,
the Learning First Alliance, and the National Collaboration for
Youth, have issued a joint statement encouraging schools, youth
development groups, social service agencies, and local governments
to collaborate with families, faith-based organizations, and other
community members. Go to http://www.communityschools.org/jointposition.pdf
to read "Ensuring the Success of Children & Youth in American
Communities," their joint position statement.
The Institute for Youth, Education and Families at the National
League of Cities has scheduled two free audio-conferences on the
topics of "Pathways to Success: Cities Paving the Way for Vulnerable
and Out-of-School Youth" (November 20) and "Youth Leadership:
Transforming Youth Voice into Community Action" (December 18).
You may call from anywhere to participate, but the number of participants
is limited. For more information, or to download copies of the
Institute’s Action Kits, go to http://www.nlc.org/nlc_org/site/programs/institute_for_youth_education_and_families/index.cfm.
Attendees report that the 2002 Convention of the University Council
on Educational Administration featured thought-provoking sessions
on a variety of issues, and included examples of efforts to close
the gap between theory and practice and to focus administrator
preparation on the exigencies of student learning. It was evident
the criticism currently being leveled at schools of education
for providing inadequate preparation for school administrators
is being taken seriously by the UCEA leadership and its members.
For information on the issues discussed at the conference, visit
the UCEA Web at http://www.ucea.org/
The third annual Wallace-Reader's Digest Funds "LEADERS Count
Conference" was held in Fairfax County (Virginia) in August and
featured keynoter speakers James B. Hunt Jr., former governor
of North Carolina, James C. Collins, author of Good to Great:
Why Some Companies Make the Leap…and Others Don’t, and Eugene
W. Hickok, Under Secretary of the U.S. Department of Education.
LEADERS Count is the Funds’ national initiative to strengthen
the ability of principals and superintendents to improve student
learning and to build a new field of knowledge that helps improvements
spread on a broad scale. This year the LEADERS Count Conference
was open to the public, and it was a great place to learn and
make connections. Another public conference is planned, but the
date has not been confirmed. We’ll let you know when it is. In
the meantime, a report on this year’s meeting is at http://www.wallacefunds.org/frames/frameseteducation.htm.
For a candid and straightforward description of U.S. Secretary
of Education Rod Paige’s view of the role and importance of the
school board in today’s education reforms, read the text of his
lecture delivered at the National School Boards Association’s
annual conference (../../pubs/jdbooklet.pdf).
"School Boards: Holding the Power & Bearing the Responsibility
for Educational Leadership," was the subject of the second annual
Jacqueline P. Danzberger Memorial Lecture, a collaboration of
NSBA and IEL that is supported in part by Jackie’s many colleagues,
friends, and family members.
The Teachers Network Policy Institute is "a national project
that identifies and connects accomplished teachers who have an
urge to innovate and a potential for leadership." A program of
The Teachers Network supported by the MetLife Foundation, TNPI
combines "teacher-directed inquiry" and "a successful strategy
for building expertise and leadership among teachers." For more
information about teacher innovation and leadership, go to http://www.teachnet.org/TNPI/
or read the article in the Southeast Center for Teaching Quality’s
October issue of Best Practices and Policies at http://www.teachingquality.org/newsletter/issues/v02/v02n05_page2.htm
.
THINGS TO WATCH
While pundits are working to analyze the mid-term election results
and determine the implications for education, here are a few thoughts
on the national scene, courtesy of Education Daily: school
choice options are now back in play; big budget increases for
education are unlikely; and the reorganization of the Health,
Education, Labor and Pensions Committee will probably slow down
action in the Senate on items such as the reauthorization of the
Higher Education Act. If you’re interested in subscribing to Education
Daily, go to http://www.educationdaily.com/.
For a summary of state electoral results and ballot issues as
well as links to gubernatorial and chief state school officer
election results, go to the Education Commission of the States
at http://www.ecs.org/ecsmain.asp?page=/clearinghouse/40/93/4093.doc.
The What Works Clearinghouse will provide decision makers with
the information they need to make choices based on high-quality
scientific research. The WWC web site is now up, and the content
will follow incrementally. The Standards for Scientific Evidence
on Educational Effectiveness, when developed, may be especially
worthy of note. FAQs, links, tutorials, resources, surveys and
other features will follow. User-friendly, searchable online databases
will be organized into four registries: educational interventions,
approaches and policies, test instruments, and evaluators. View
this Web-based resource at http://w-w-c.org.
The Department of Education announced the first 20 grant awards
in its School Leadership Program. SLP is designed to assist high-need
local educational agencies in the development, enhancement, or
expansion of innovative programs to recruit, train and mentor
principals (including assistant principals) to serve in high-need
schools. Winners are ● Community School District Ten, Bronx,
NY ● School Board of Broward County, Fort Lauderdale,
FL ● Umatilla-Morrow Educational Service District, Pendleton,
OR ● University of Colorado at Colorado Springs
● The University of New Mexico, Albuquerque ●
Washington School Principals Education Foundation, Olympia,
WA ● University of Kentucky Research Foundation,
Lexington, KY ● Arizona State University, Tempe,
AZ ● California State University, Dominguez Hills Foundation,
Carson, CA ● Trenton (NJ) Public Schools ●
Austin (TX) Independent School District ● Tuscaloosa
(AL) City Board of Education ● University of Massachusetts,
Amherst ● The Regents of New Mexico State University,
Las Cruces ● New York City Board of Education
● Kalamazoo (MI) Regional Education Service ●
Alaska Center for Excellence in Schools, Eagle River ●
Boston (MA) Public Schools ● Sunnyside Unified School
District, Tucson, AZ ● National Center for Community
Education, Flint, MI. For more information on the sites,
go to http://www.ed.gov/programs/leadership/index.html.
Powerful Reforms with Shallow Roots: Improving America’s
Urban Schools will be published by Teachers College Press
in December. Edited by IEL's Mike Usdan and Larry Cuban, professor
emeritus at Stanford University, the volume takes a look at school
governance, including the role of mayors, in Boston, Philadelphia,
Baltimore, Chicago, Seattle, and San Diego. Usdan says the title
is a metaphor for the opportunities and problems inherent in the
school reform movement across the country, not just in the six
cities cited. The reforms are very potent, but the concern is
that they will not be sustainable given the political environments
and the difficulty in obtaining buy-in from teachers and principals.
To order your copy, go to http://www.tcpress.com/.
READER SURVEY QUESTION: IS TRUST THE MISSING INGREDIENT?
A provocative article by David T. Gordon in the current issue
of the Harvard Education Letter (http://www.edletter.org/current/reform.shtml)
poses the question, "Can excellent work be coerced from principals,
teachers and students simply by withholding diplomas, slashing
funds and publishing embarrassing statistics in the newspaper?"
The author cites a new work by Anthony S. Bryk and Barbara Schneider,
Trust in Schools: A Core Resource for Improvement, published
by the University of Chicago Press in considering this and other
questions. Bryk and Schneider’s research in Chicago Public Schools
indicates a correlation between schools with strong "relational
trust" (between principals, teachers and parents) and higher student
achievement. IELC wants to know if Bryk and Schneider’s findings
correspond to our readers’ experience.
The reader survey question is: Is trust the missing ingredient
in effective school reform? … in leadership? Why or why not? Be
brief, but specific.
Send your response to survey@iel.org with "survey"
in the subject line. You can be cryptic as long as we understand
your point. Please remember that IELC surveys are informal exchanges
and are not intended to be "scientifically-based research." We
will collect your responses and use them to inform future issues
of IELC. We will not be able to provide a personal response to
each submission.
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Submission Deadline for the next issue: December 31, 2002
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ABOUT IELEADERSHIP CONNECTIONS
IELeadership Connections is a free bi-monthly e-newsletter focusing
on leadership for education. The editors are Mary Podmostko and
Denise Slaughter. Gerardo Medrano is the assistant editor. Please
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ABOUT IEL
For more than thirty-five years, the Institute for Educational
Leadership (IEL)-a non-profit, nonpartisan organization based
in Washington, DC-has worked to achieve better results for children
and youth. At the heart of IEL's effectiveness is a unique ability
to bring people together to identify and resolve issues across
policy, program, and sector boundaries. As a natural outgrowth
of IEL's work, diverse networks have been created and nurtured.
Today, IEL is working to help individuals and institutions increase
their capacity to work together to improve outcomes for children
and young people. We are building and supporting a cadre of
diverse leaders, strengthening the capacity of education and related
systems, and informing the development and implementation of policies.
IEL supports a national network of over 15,000 policymakers and
practitioners, publishes books and reports, facilitates meetings,
produces seminars and conferences, and disseminates ideas that
have an impact on policy at all governance levels. Please visit
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