The Roles of Leadership in High Performing-High Poverty Schools: A Case Study of Four Torchbearer Principals and Their Schools by Craig Alan Ross A disertation submited to the Graduate Faculty of Auburn University in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Auburn, Alabama May 4, 2013 ?Keywords:? High Performing-High Poverty Schools, Leadership, Alabama Torchbearer Schools, Leadership Context, Authentic Leadership Copyright 2013 by Craig Alan Ross Approved by Cynthia J. Reed, Ed.D Chair, Gerald and Emily Leischuck Endowed Profesor of Educational Leadership Lisa Kensler, Asistant Profesor of Educational Foundations, Leadership, and Technology Maria Wite, Asociate Profesor of Educational Foundations, Leadership, and Technology ii Abstract This study presents a comparative case study of four Torchbearer high performing-high poverty schools located in south Alabama. Using the underlying asumption that al children can learn and that principals are integral to student academic succes, this study examined the behaviors of high performing-high poverty school principals and the belief systems that they operate from to develop a deeper understanding of the types of leadership, structures, and support systems that promote improved learning for al students. Individual case studies were done for each school site. After considering each case separately, a cross-case analysis was conducted. Multiple data sources including the use of an in-depth semi-structured interview protocol with the principals, a principal self-asesment survey (Principal Instructional Management Rating Scale, PIMRS; Halinger, 1982) a whole staf survey (PIMRS; Halinger 1982), document analysis and field notes were collected while shadowing each principal provided aces to multiple perspectives and data sources, alowing for triangulation of data. iii Acknowledgements There have ben many who have suported me during this journey; however there is truly only one person whom made al of this possible. One person who always had a hand on my back pushing me to achieve what she knew I was capable of. One person who believed in me more than I believed in myself. With al my heart and soul I want to thank my wife Angel. Thank you for al the sacrifices you have made. Thank you for believing in me! I dedicate this dissertation to my son Sam and daughter Lily. May you always pursue your dreams and never settle for anything less than your best! I love you both and am very proud to be your Dad. I would also like to acknowledge and thank Dr. Cynthia Red for her countles hours of suport and help over the last six years. I wil always be grateful to you for your guidance, mentorship, suport, and most of all your friendship. I also want to thank Dr. Lisa Kensler for her comitment and dedication to me. Your guidance and dedication wil always be appreciated; I would love the oportunity to work with you in the future. Acknowledgement and thanks also goes to Dr. Maria Wite. Thank you for your wilingnes to serve on this comite at the last minute. I have realy enjoyed working with you and greatly apreciate al that you have done. I would also like to thank Dr. John Dagley. Thank you for once again touching my life in a positive way. I greatly appreciate you being a part of this journey for me. I am honored to acknowledge those who have touched my life, making the completion of this disertation possible: family: Dan Chester Ross, Susan Marie Ross, Mark Daniel Ros, and Lucile Ros. Friends: Dan and Ane Shets, Greg and Angie Piat, Rachael McDaniel, Dana Einfeld, and Ken Robinson. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract ........................................................................................................................................... ii Acknowledgements ........................................................................................................................ iii List of Tables .................................................................................................................................. x CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................... 1 Problem Statement .............................................................................................................. 2 Purpose of the Study ........................................................................................................... 3 Significance of the Study .................................................................................................... 4 Research Design .................................................................................................................. 4 Research Questions ............................................................................................................. 5 Site Selection ...................................................................................................................... 6 Situating Self as Researcher ................................................................................................ 7 Summary ............................................................................................................................. 7 CHAPTER II: REVIEW OF LITERATURE ................................................................................. 9 Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 9 High-Performing, High-Poverty Schools .......................................................................... 10 Leadership Structure School and District Level ............................................................... 12 High Quality Teachers and Instructional Leaders ................................................ 13 Smal Learning Communities ............................................................................... 13 Parent and Community Involvement .................................................................... 13 v Profesional Development .................................................................................... 16 Data Driven Decision Making .............................................................................. 17 Teacher Collaboration .......................................................................................... 18 Shared Vision and Goal Seting ............................................................................ 20 School Culture and Climate .............................................................................................. 22 High Expectations?Staf, Students, and Colleagues ........................................... 23 Safe, Orderly and Disciplined Environment ......................................................... 24 School Leadership Models ................................................................................................ 26 Transformational Leadership ................................................................................ 27 Instructional Leadership ........................................................................................ 29 Transactional Leadership ...................................................................................... 31 Authoritative Leadership ...................................................................................... 32 Situational Leadership ......................................................................................... 32 Leadership Behaviors ........................................................................................................ 34 Acountability and Asesment ........................................................................................ 37 Frequent Monitoring of Student Progres ......................................................................... 38 Alignment of Instruction to State and National Standards ............................................... 40 Using Asesment Data for Teacher Planning .................................................................. 41 Importance of High Quality Teachers and Teacher Leaders ............................................ 42 Developing Teacher Leaders ............................................................................................ 43 Recruitment Strategies for Teachers ................................................................................. 44 Retaining High Quality Teachers in High Poverty Schools ............................................. 46 Succesful Curriculums in High-Performing, High-Poverty Schools .............................. 47 vi Standards-Based Curriculum ................................................................................ 47 Remediation Programs .......................................................................................... 48 Enrichment versus Remediation ........................................................................... 49 Summary ........................................................................................................................... 50 CHAPTER III. METHODOLOGY ............................................................................................. 52 Ned for Study .................................................................................................................. 53 Problem Statement ............................................................................................................ 54 Statement of Purpose ........................................................................................................ 55 Theoretical Framework ..................................................................................................... 56 Research Questions ........................................................................................................... 57 Research Design ................................................................................................................ 58 Site Selection .................................................................................................................... 59 Black Hils Elementary School ............................................................................. 61 Central Elementary School ................................................................................... 61 Pine Hil Elementary School ................................................................................. 62 Northview Elementary School .............................................................................. 62 Data Collection and Instrumentation ................................................................................ 63 Open-Ended Interviews ........................................................................................ 63 Principal Survey .................................................................................................... 63 Review of Documents ........................................................................................... 64 Summary ........................................................................................................................... 64 CHAPTER IV. RESULTS ........................................................................................................... 66 Introduction ....................................................................................................................... 66 vii Description of Schools and Leaders ................................................................................. 69 Case Studies ...................................................................................................................... 70 Black Hils Elementary School ............................................................................. 70 Leadership at Black Hils Elementary School .......................................... 71 Leadership Role and Behaviors ................................................................ 72 Organizational Structures .......................................................................... 73 Leadership Belief System ......................................................................... 74 Black Hils Elementary School Summary ............................................................ 76 Central Elementary School ................................................................................... 76 Leadership Role and Behaviors ................................................................ 78 Organizational Structures .......................................................................... 79 Leadership Belief System ......................................................................... 80 Support Systems ........................................................................................ 81 Central Elementary School Summary ................................................................... 82 Pine Hil Elementary School ................................................................................. 82 Leadership Role and Behaviors ................................................................ 84 Organizational Structures .......................................................................... 85 Leadership Belief System ......................................................................... 86 Support Systems ........................................................................................ 87 Pine Hil Elementary School Summary ................................................................ 88 Northview Elementary School .............................................................................. 88 Leadership at Northview Elementary ....................................................... 89 Leadership Role and Behaviors ................................................................ 90 vii Leadership Belief System ......................................................................... 92 Support Systems ........................................................................................ 93 Northview Elementary School Summary ............................................................. 94 Cross Case Analysis .......................................................................................................... 95 Schools and Communities ..................................................................................... 95 Leadership and Teachers ....................................................................................... 95 Leadership Roles and Behaviors ........................................................................... 98 Organizational Structures ...................................................................................... 98 Leadership Belief Systems .................................................................................. 110 Support Systems .................................................................................................. 112 Profesional Development .................................................................................. 112 Summary ......................................................................................................................... 113 CHAPTER V. SUMARY OF FINDINGS ............................................................................. 115 Introduction ..................................................................................................................... 115 Discussion of Findings .................................................................................................... 115 Leadership and Teachers ..................................................................................... 116 Leadership Behaviors and Roles ......................................................................... 117 Organizational Structures .................................................................................... 119 Support Systems .................................................................................................. 121 Significance of the Study ................................................................................................ 122 Highly Qualified Teachers .................................................................................. 123 Highly Qualified Instructional Leader ................................................................ 124 Distributive/Shared Leadership .......................................................................... 125 ix Teacher Collaboration ......................................................................................... 126 Parent/Community Relationships and Involvement ........................................... 126 Data Driven Decision Making ............................................................................ 127 Recommendations ........................................................................................................... 129 Further Research ................................................................................................. 129 Practitioners ........................................................................................................ 130 Leadership Preparation ....................................................................................... 131 Summary ......................................................................................................................... 132 References ................................................................................................................................... 134 x LIST OF TABLES Table 1 Demographics of Teachers ........................................................................................... 97 Table 2 Demographics of Principals ......................................................................................... 97 Table 3 Framing the School Goals ............................................................................................ 99 Table 4 Communicate School Goals ....................................................................................... 100 Table 5 Supervise and Evaluate Instruction ............................................................................ 101 Table 6 Coordinate the Curriculum ......................................................................................... 102 Table 7 Monitor Student Progres ........................................................................................... 103 Table 8 Protect Instructional Time .......................................................................................... 104 Table 9 Maintain High Visibility ............................................................................................ 105 Table 10 Provide Incentives for Teachers ................................................................................. 106 Table 11 Promote Profesional Development ........................................................................... 107 Table 12 Provide Incentives for Learning ................................................................................ 108 1 CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION Across the United States, federal and state acountability standards have heightened the general public?s awarenes of the academic strengths and weakneses of public schools. For example, No Child Left Behind (NCLB; 2001) highlighted statistics ilustrating the failure of some public schools. An example of this failure is 70% of inner-city fourth grade students struggle to met state and national grade level acountability measures in the area of reading (Chenoweth, 2007). No Child Left Behind also put a spotlight on the qualifications of teachers and administrators (WestEd, 2007). School districts must now ensure that each teacher has the proper certifications before hiring them. The term ?high qualified? is starting to become common language within the general public when discussing schools and educators. NCLB gave parents with children atending failing schools, defined as schools not meting Annual Yearly Progres (AYP) three years in a row (U.S Department of Education, 2001), the choice to send their child out of district to a succesful school. Failing schools face sanctions such as loss of funding and requirements for the restructuring of staf. There have even some schools that have been closed due to their unsuccesful atempts at bringing the level of student achievement to an appropriate level (Chenoweth, 2007). Under NCLB states are now required to publish a report card for each public school within the state. These report cards give the general public a snapshot of progres being made and succes rates at the school. Some researchers suggest that this increase in public awarenes may encourage school leaders to focus more on student achievement (Denbo & Beaulieu, 2002; Marano 2003). Although the presures and chalenges 2 that NCLB place on school leaders across this nation were easily met in some schools and school districts where student achievement has always been high, for high poverty-high minority schools the chalenges of NCLB may sem hopelesly impossible (Carter, 2000). Many students living in low socio-economic areas face serious chalenges within their educational system (Carter, 2000). Historicaly high-poverty urban schools with large concentrations of students of color have been asociated with low student achievement (Darling-Hamond, 2000; Kozol, 1991). No Child Left Behind requires schools to have every student on grade level by 2014. Many school districts wil have dificulties meting this requirement, but this mandate is perhaps even more of a chalenge when 90% of a school?s students come from poverty stricken families. Finding any teacher to work in high poverty schools is sometimes a chalenge, let alone a ?highly qualified? teacher as deemed by NCLB (Clotfelter, Ladd, Vigdor, & Wheeler, 2007). The students who make up the population of high-poverty schools many times come from broken homes where putting food on the table is the priority, not homework (Payne, 2005). Principals in these schools tend to focus more atention on discipline and keeping order than raising the academic succes of each and every student (Ingersoll, 2004). Problem Statement Our educational system faces serious chalenges for many students living in low socio- economic areas. For decades education research has shown evidence of low student achievement in high-poverty urban schools with large concentrations of students of color (Darling-Hamond, 2000; Kozol, 1991). Yet, high-performing, high-poverty schools (HPHP) can be found in many areas throughout our nation (Chenoweth, 2007). There are many names for HPHP schools, such as turnaround schools (Murphy & Meyers, 2008) or 90/90/90 schools (Carter, 2000). The term 3 ?90/90/90? refers to schools that have 90% or more of their student population eligible for free or reduced lunch, 90% are considered to be of minority status, and 90% or more of these students have met or exceded state academic standards (Reeves, 2003). The Alabama Leadership Academy in 2004 created the Torchbearer School Program to recognize high-performing, high- poverty schools within the state of Alabama. Acording to some researchers, the organizational structures, belief systems, and leadership behaviors supporting achievement in high performing, high poverty schools are remarkably similar throughout the nation (Darling-Hamond, 2000; Denbo & Beaulieu, 2002; Kozol, 1991; Marano, 2003; Washington Learns, 2006). Research has also shown that there are some very clear paterns regarding succesful forms of intervention and common HPHP characteristics across the nation (Carter, 2000; Jerald, 2001). These succesful interventions need to be shared with al school leaders so that al children of poverty are given the opportunity to succed, regardles of their socioeconomic level or minority status (Carter, 2000; Chenoweth 2007). Purpose of the Study The purpose of this research is to identify the behaviors and atributes of HPHP principals along with the strategies and methods they use that result in the high succes rates at their schools. By researching and identifying the organizational systems, principal behaviors, and principal beliefs it may serve as a guide to help other principals who are struggling to met the chalenges of NCLB. By examining these leadership qualities and strategies a deeper understanding of the types of leadership, structures, and policies that promote improved learning for al students may be developed. 4 Significance of the Study Casey (2000) states that high-performing, high-poverty schools are doing what many educators have considered impossible. HPHP schools take children who are considered hard to teach and teach them in ways that ensure they achieve academic succes. It is imperative that further research be done to show how the leader within these HPHP schools is promoting high student achievement (Masumoto & Brown-Welty, 2009). It is crucial that additional research be done to learn more about the significant role educational leaders play in the development of strong teachers, implementation of high instructional standards, resulting in improved outcomes of student learning and achievement. The ways that principals met the demands and addres dynamics of leadership within a HPHP may be a model of succes for any school leader to follow (Masumoto & Brown-Welty, 2009). Research Design Using the underlying asumptions that al children can learn and principals are integral to student academic succes, this study examined the behaviors of high-performing, high-poverty school principals and the belief systems that they operate from to develop a deeper understanding of the types of leadership, structures, and policies that promote improved learning for al students. A qualitative case study research design was used to conduct this research (Anderson & Davenport, 2002; Chenoweth, 2007). The researcher conducted this research at four Torchbearer Schools in Alabama. Individual case studies were created for each school site. After considering each case separately, a cross-case analysis was conducted. In qualitative research it is crucial that the researcher not rely on only one method of data collection. Data should be triangulated to ensure greater rigor (Maxwel, 1996). Multiple data sources including the use of an in-depth semi- 5 structured interview protocol with the principals, a principal self-asesment survey (Principal Instructional Management Rating Scale, PIMRS; Halinger, 1982), a whole staf survey (PIMRS; Halinger, 1982), document analysis, and field notes were collected while shadowing each principal provided aces to multiple perspectives and data sources, alowing for triangulation of data. The researcher interviewed the principal of each Torchbearer School. The interview questions were designed to ascertain information on the demographics of the school and the background of the principal. The principal of each school site also completed the principal self- asesment survey. This research included the use of a teacher survey administered to al of the teachers in each of the purposefully selected Torchbearer schools. The Principal Instructional Management Rating Scale (PIMRS) was diseminated to the teaching faculty of each purposefully selected school. A review of documents was used to obtain additional insight regarding the focus of the teachers, the school improvement team and any other programs aimed at helping student achievement. Each school principal was shadowed for the period of one school day. The researcher met with the principal at the normal arrival time of each principal. The researcher took field notes throughout the entire workday of each principal. Research Questions The purpose of this research was to help identify what belief systems, organizational structures, and principal behaviors the principals in four Torchbearer Schools in Alabama are using to drive student achievement. Three research questions were used to guide the study: 1) What organizational structures, belief systems, and leadership behaviors support achievement in torch bearer schools? 6 2) What support systems are in place to facilitate the use of these structures, systems, and approaches? 3) What role(s) does the principal play when developing and implementing these structures, systems, beliefs, and leadership behaviors? Site Selection The Alabama Leadership Academy at the Alabama State Department of Education created the Torchbearer School Program in 2004. This program recognizes schools across the state of Alabama for being a high-poverty high-performing public school. The idea for this program came from a book study that the Leadership Academy did in 2004. This group read and studied Samuel Casey-Carter?s (2000) book, No Excuses: 21 Lesons From High-Performing, High-Poverty Schools. During the 2010?2011 school year, 11 schools were awarded the honor of being identified as a Torchbearer School. This research utilized a purposeful sampling approach and focused on four of these schools. The 2010?2011 Torchbearer Schools selected for this research were [pseudonyms were used to blind the actual identity of the four schools in this study]: Black Hils Elementary School, Central Elementary School, Pine Hil Elementary School, and Northview Elementary School. Each of these four schools was chosen for their exceptional student achievement as wel as for the principal tenure. Another criterion for selection in this research sample is that the principals of each of these schools were present before, during, and after the Torchbearer status was achieved. Since 2007 the criteria to be eligible to win this prestigious award includes the following: ? Identified as Meting the Chalenge School, Advancing the Chalenge School, and Exceding the Chalenge School acording to the state rewards plan; 7 ? Have at least an 80 percent poverty rate (percent free/reduced-price meals); ? Have at least 80 percent of students to score at Levels III or IV on the Reading section of the Alabama Reading and Mathematics Test (ARMT); ? Have at least 80 percent of students to score at Levels III or IV on the Math section of the Alabama Reading and Mathematics Test (ARMT); ? Have at least 95 percent of twelfth-grade students pas al required subjects of the Alabama High School Graduation Exam (AHSGE); and ? Have a graduation rate above the state average (high schools). Retrieved from http:/alex.state.al.us/showleaderpg.php?lnk=torch Situating Self as Researcher As a current high poverty high school principal, this research may be directly used to inform my own leadership practices. By disecting the beliefs, organizational systems, and principal behaviors of these highly succesful school leaders, I expect to learn more about what I need to do to lead my school towards excelence. Spending time in these schools and developing a working relationship with the principals may provide me with a powerful mentoring opportunity. It is my responsibility as the school?s instructional leader to sek out best practices for my school. This research may provide me that opportunity. Another goal of this research is the hope that this research wil alow me the opportunity to mentor other school leaders on the best practices that I uncover within these torchbearer schools. Summary The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB) has brought the general public?s atention to clasroom acountability (Bilman, 2004). The public acountability that comes with NCLB has left many public schools fighting to stay off the state?s failing schools list. Yet, research has 8 shown that high-performing, high-poverty schools can be found in many areas throughout our nation (Chenoweth, 2007). It is imperative that further research be done to show how the leadership within these HPHP schools is promoting high student achievement (Masumoto & Brown-Welty, 2009). The purpose of this research is to help identify the beliefs, organizational systems and behaviors of HPHP principals in Torchbearer schools in Alabama. Identifying these principal beliefs, behaviors, systems may serve as a guide to help other principals that are working to improve the quality of learning for al students. 9 CHAPTER II. REVIEW OF LITERATURE Introduction Many students living in low socio-economic areas face serious chalenges within the educational system. Some education researchers have said for years that high-poverty urban schools with large concentrations of students of color have been asociated with low student achievement (Darling Hamond, 2000; Kozol, 1991). Despite the educational trend, research- based structures and systemic practices can contribute to high student performance in high poverty schools in some areas (Denbo & Beaulieu, 2002; Marano, 2003; Washington Learns, 2006). School characteristics such as school cultures that promote high expectations for al, high levels of trust, active student engagement, and an atmosphere of collaboration have al been shown to have a positive influence on student learning in high poverty schools (Chenoweth, 2007). This chapter provides an overview of research related to having a positive impact on the clasroom instruction in high-performance, high-poverty schools (HPHP). These factors include organizational structures, policies, and systemic practices supporting high achievement; the importance of school culture and climate; and efective leadership models. Principal beliefs and behaviors are also reviewed. Further, this chapter highlights the importance of high quality teachers and how to recruit and retain strong teachers for HPHP schools. The succesful curriculums and asesments that HPHP schools use to achieve the high level of acountability for their students are disected and discussed. This chapter looks at remediation programs that 10 have been succesful in these schools and how these schools chalenge their students with enrichment programs. The following sections of this chapter explore research related to HPHP schools and their reasons for their succes. High-Performing, High Poverty Schools High-performing, high-poverty schools can be found nationwide. These HPHP schools are sometimes referred to as turnaround schools (Fullan, 2010) or 90/90/90 schools (Carter, 2000). In 1995, the term 90/90/90 was coined by an author of a research study on the high- performing, high-poverty schools in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The term refers to schools that have 90% or more of their student population eligible for free or reduced lunch, 90% are considered of minority status, and 90% or more of these students have met or exceded state academic standards (Reeves, 2003). In December of 2004, the Alabama Leadership Academy created the Torchbearer School Program to recognize high-performing, high-poverty schools within the state of Alabama. To be eligible for this prestigious award schools must met or exced the following criteria: ? Have at least 80% of students on free or reduced lunch ? Have at least 80% of students score Level III or Level IV on the reading section of the Alabama Reading and Mathematics Test. ? Have at least 80% of students score Level III or Level IV on the math section of the Alabama Reading and Mathematics Test. ? Have at least 65% of students score in stanines 5-9 on Stanford 10 reading. ? Have at least 65% of students score in stanines 5-9 on Stanford 10 mathematics. ? Have at least 95% of Grade 12 students pas al required subjects of the Alabama High School Graduation Exam. 11 ? Have a graduation rate above state average. (Alabama State Department of Education, 2005) The organizational structures, belief systems, and leadership behaviors supporting achievement in high performing high poverty schools are remarkably similar throughout the nation acording to some research (Darling-Hamond, 2000; Denbo & Beaulieu, 2002; Kozol, 1991; Marano, 2003; Washington Learns, 2006). There are some very clear paterns regarding succesful forms of intervention and common HPHP characteristics across the nation (Carter, 2000; Jerald, 2001). One key finding in the literature is that HPHP schools commonly have a strong leadership structure at the local school and district level (Anderson, 2005). High levels of parental and community comitment to the school are present in most HPHP schools (Carter, 2000). The importance of being life-long learners and having relevant, high quality profesional development for teachers is another common thread that link HPHP schools (Chenoweth, 2007). The importance of driving instruction by using student data on several asesments that are directly tied to the state standards is perhaps one of the leading connections that HPHP schools share (Chenoweth, 2007; Kannapel & Clements 2005). Another driving force behind HPHP schools is a master schedule that alows for teacher collaboration. This time for teachers and administration to collaborate leads towards a school that is focused on the same vision and set of goals. This model also alows for more shared leadership within the school, another common atribute among HPHP schools (Chenoweth, 2007; Kannapel & Clements 2005). Research suggests that a school leader must embrace a shared leadership model if they are going to succesfully acomplish the demands that come from leading a HPHP school (Izumi, 2002). Each of these areas is discussed further in the following pages. 12 Leadership Structure at the School and District Level There has been litle research conducted on the contributions of district level leadership in high poverty/high performing schools (Anderson, 2005). One of the leading research studies that considers district level leadership looked at eight Colorado schools that are succesfully closing the achievement gap (Anderson, 2005). This research was conducted after a 2005 study by the Colorado Children?s Campaign (CCC) reported that nearly 400,000 students, on average, were below proficient on the Colorado Student Asesment Program (CSAP). Despite these findings the CCC also reported on several schools in Colorado that were making significant gains on the achievement gap. The CCC report recognized these schools, but did not discuss how these schools were obtaining these positive results. The research team in this Colorado study analyzed al schools in the state, identifying the schools that were closing the achievement gap. The team then worked to provide insight and information regarding the types of programs, services, and resources which these schools employ. Several ideas about how district leadership could improve student achievement emerged from this research. Each of these is discussed in the following paragraphs. Schools and students benefit when district leaders clearly articulate what expectations are, how these expectations wil be measured, and how schools wil be held acountable for succesfully achieving these expectations (Anderson, 2005). Another way that districts can make strides toward improving student achievement is by exploring school hours and transportation (WestEd, 2007). Districts should explore how they can extend the school day and provide transportation to alow students to benefit from afterschool activities (WestEd, 2007). Many HPHP school students are going home to an empty house (Kozal, 1991). Districts can 13 help by giving principals greater autonomy to use discretionary dollars and hire staf to support the school level needs (WestEd, 2007). High Quality Teachers and Administrators The retention and recruitment of teachers is another way that district leaders can help at the local school level (Anderson, 2005). By providing incentives to veteran teachers and helping with the recruitment of high-quality teachers, districts can help support the long-term succes of schools (WestEd, 2007). Stable teaching and instructional leadership are a common thread in the schools that are succesfully closing the gap. In the high performing schools studied, either the administrator, much of the teaching staf or both had been part of the school for many years. Additionaly veteran teachers were commited to mentoring and providing profesional development to new staf members (WestEd, 2007). Small Learning Communities Districts can also help support improved student achievement by creating smaler schools and breaking larger schools into smaler communities (Knous-Dolan, Donnel-Kay Foundation, 2005). Districts can help create enrollment policies that wil create more economic integration though school choice (Anderson, 2005). In districts where school choice exists, schools can weight the admision lottery proces to ensure that various socio-economic backgrounds can atend. Districts can also create programs that are targeted at drawing a mix of students from diferent backgrounds. The data from Anderson, (2005) suggests that students of poverty perform wel in a more economicaly integrated environment. Parent Community Involvement Some educators use the lack of parental involvement as an excuse in low performing schools (Carter, 2000). Positive relationships in some urban schools are infrequent because 14 some parents do not trust the schools and in turn the profesionals do not trust the minority and low-income families (Noguera, 2003). Some of the barriers to trust for minority and low-income parents are past negative experiences with schools, unsatisfactory school-home communication, incongruent teacher and parent expectations, and parent experiences with discrimination (Brewster & Railsback, 2003). Some minority and low-income families fel alienated from schools because of the rigid and defensive atitudes of teachers and administrators that perceive them as ?problems? (Noguera, 2003). The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) mandates the establishment of family-community partnerships in Title 1 schools (U.S. Department of Education, 2001). Fergusion (2003) states that the school-family-community partnership provision is being overlooked; yet, such partnerships may hold a key to reducing the achievement gap betwen White, poor, and minority students in public schools. Research indicates that school-family-community partnerships improve school programs and school climate, connect families with others in the school, increase parents? skils and leadership, and improve a student?s chances of succes in school and life (Henderson & Mapp, 2002). Succesful principals of HPHP schools know and understand that an outstanding school is a source of pride and a sign of stability for any community, but this is especialy true in a poor community (Noguera, 2003). Highly efective principals work with parents and the community in several ways outside of school to help increase parent involvement within the school (Kannapel & Clements, 2005). Bilman (2004) states that the majority of high-performing, high-poverty school principals atempt to establish strong relationships with parents and the community and are constantly pursuing ways to involve parents in the school. To maximize parent and community 15 involvement, some leaders wil include parents in the management plan of the school (Bilman, 2004). Efective HPHP leaders not only strive to ensure that parents and the community are involved in goal seting for the school (Foster & Hilaire, 2004; Lambert, 2006), they also diligently work to ?consciously match their cultural experiences and behaviors and lead community members in solving the deep problems that besieged the school? (Lambert, 2006, p. 238). They place particular emphasis upon trying to show the interconnectednes of school, home, and community (Lambert, 2006). A vital step in creating and building partnerships with parents is making them fel welcome as equals within the school (Foster & Hilaire, 2004). Many HPHP principals encourage parents to visit the school and visit their child?s clasroom. Some HPHP schools have created programs where parents can come by and chat with teachers about their child?s progres over coffe and doughnuts, or during a teacher?s lunch. It is crucial that the staf of a school be trained on how to greet and work with parents in a way that makes them fel comfortable. Principals of HPHP schools wil frequently atend parent teacher conferences, use an automated phone system to remind parents of special events, and sometimes even cal parents personaly to invite them to certain events (Johnson & Asera, 1999). Succesful principals create ways to help build partnerships with parents by giving them important ways that they can contribute and by showcasing al the valuable contributions that parents have made to make the school beter already (Carter, 2000). In some HPHP schools parents have also been taught important ways that they can make a diference in their child?s academic suces. Some schools have Saturday programs that help the parents learn strategies they can use with their children at home. Other HPHP schools have math and science nights, so that parents can participate and discover ideas that can be done at home to help their child excel 16 in math and science (Foster & Hilaire, 2004). There are some parents who are wiling to help at school; however, they are unsure what is needed and how to best acomplish the task. Some HPHP schools have put together a volunter job description list that is compiled from neds identified by staf. Parents are provided the opportunity to volunter for the jobs that best match the time they are available and their talents (Carter, 2000). Succesful HPHP principals understand that by helping at home, in the community, and in the school parents can help improve the academic succes of a school (Kannapel & Clements 2005). Profesional Development Having opportunities for constant, continual training and self-improvement is another attribute of HPHP schools (Chenoweth, 2007). The Education Trust found that one-third of HPHP schools spent 10 percent of their Title I budgets on profesional development (Barth, 1999). Profesional development in these HPHP schools looks diferent than most educators are acustomed to seing. There is a sense and purpose to al in-services. They are not simply a way of geting the necesary Continuing Education Units (CEU?s) for license renewal. Experts are brought in to share their knowledge in an area of need for the school. The profesional development is also linked directly to the instructional practices and changes necesary to make the greatest improvement to student achievement (Barth et al., 1999; Kannapel & Clements, 2005; McGe, 1999). Profesional development in HPHP schools is often team or grade level based and school-wide. It also usualy reflects a continual proces of improvement (Lauer, 2001). Some high-performing, high-poverty schools are parting from the traditional practice of profesional development and one-time workshops in favor of a more in-depth and ongoing profesional development (Picucci, Brownson, Rahel & Sobel, 2002). Another practice within 17 HPHP schools is to have staf members who function in the role of in-house curriculum experts. These staf members have reduced teaching loads, or none at al. Their primary responsibility is to support other teachers. These curriculum experts atend workshops and research conferences to support the staf by bringing back the new information and presenting it to their colleagues (Carter, 2000). This practice alows most teachers to stay where they are needed most, in their clasroom. The curriculum experts also spend a considerable amount of time doing clasroom observations and modeling lesons for the teachers to further develop their understanding of the new information. One-on-one and team discussions about how the new strategies or resources are working are also conducted by the curriculum expert (Carter, 2000). Another approach used by some HPHP schools is to treat the teachers as the profesionals they are and alow them the time to design and deliver profesional development for the other teachers. This encourages a greater sense of ownership over the type of training the teachers receive, as wel as greatly increasing the impact that such training provides (Anderson, 2005). Data Driven Decision-Making The key ingredient to al the HPHP schools nationwide may be the use of student asesment data to drive instruction (Chenoweth, 2007). Students in these high-performing schools take several benchmark asesments throughout the year to help teachers understand how to beter design their clasroom instruction. Students who emerge as borderline or below grade level receive more individualized and intense instruction, focused interventions, and more frequent informal asesments to ensure they are grasping the concepts being taught (Kannapel & Clements, 2005). Principals in HPHP schools work hard to ensure that the staf receives extensive training on how to make data analysis meaningful. Data usage must become part of the culture of a 18 school to efectively reach al students (Chenoweth, 2007). Teachers must be instructed on how to disaggregate data into components that help define specific areas of student need (Picucci, Brownson, Rahel & Sobel, 2002). Both administrators and teachers use data in decision making to focus and best reach the curriculum and instructional needs of the students. Many of these schools not only examine current data, but also take advantage of data from other schools if available (Kannapel & Clements, 2005). Some HPHP middle schools found it beneficial to analyze the skil level of each incoming student by using existing data from their elementary school (Carter, 2000). Most HPHP schools use data to build capacity that wil support improved academic achievement. ?Data use contributes to the institutional knowledge of schools and it helps guide schools through informed decision making? (Picucci, Brownson, Rahel & Sobel, 2002, pg. 24). Teacher Collaboration Several researchers have identified collaboration and teamwork among school staf as a typical feature in HPHP schools (Carter, 2000; Kannapel & Clements, 2005; Picucci, Brownson, Rahel & Sobel, 2002). Communication takes places across grade levels and teaching areas. In these situations, teachers are eager to learn from one another (Kannapel & Clements, 2005; Ragland et al., 2002). Collaboration and teamwork provide venues for educators to asist one another while looking to improve teaching strategies and met specific academic standards. During collaborative time, teachers can addres barriers to learning, collaborate, and identify solutions, as wel as take part in school-wide interventions (Chenoweth, 2007). Feldman (2003) found that HPHP schools set aside significantly greater amounts of time for collaborative planning time. 19 In HPHP schools teachers help, support, chalenge, and create a system of best practices for students (Chenoweth, 2007). They work tirelesly to find ways to reach students and to chalenge al students to reach beyond their potential. There is no ?my students? or ?your students? in these schools. Rather, teachers work to ensure the succes of al students (Kannapel & Clements, 2005). In HPHP schools you may find teachers working with other teachers and geting rid of the dividing lines that normaly separate a school. It is not uncommon to se a fifth grade teacher working with a third grade teacher to find a beter way to reach a particular student (Feldman, 2003). Teachers work to create common asesments and other activities to capitalize on the learning of their students. Smal groups are used for remediation and chalenge groups to help other students excel at a higher level (Kannapel & Clements, 2005). Creating leson plans that alow teachers to be teaching the same skils and concepts is another way to help ensure each student is being reached. It is also common to have grade level metings wekly to discuss asesment data and leson plans for the next wek (Ragland, 2002) In some cases, especialy in the elementary seting, teachers use curriculum programs to further ensure collaboration (Carter, 2000). This type of practice among teachers not only promotes teachers taking responsibility for their own students, but also for al the other students on campus using this program (Ragland, 2002). A shared curriculum establishes a road map for the teachers to follow, and ensures that everyone is moving in the same direction. This can establish a feling that teachers are not alone, but rather they are a member of a team dedicated to the overal succes of the school (Murphy & Meyers, 2008). Many HPHP schools have reading programs that al teachers and staf, including administration and support staf, are involved in teaching. The whole school may come to a stand-stil and reading instruction is taking place in every nook and cranny within the school building (Ragland, 2002). 20 To provide teachers with a common planning time is not always easy. Administrators have to be wiling to use whatever creative means they can (Chenoweth, 2007). Some principals use early release Fridays, or duty free lunch periods to help make collaboration possible. Some principals rearrange the master schedule to provide common planning time for staf to met in vertical (diferent grade levels) and horizontal (same grade level) teams for planning. It is vital that the whole staf comes together to share experiences and strategies that have demonstrated positive results (Johnson & Asera, 1999). Principals in HPHP schools find that an added benefit to having common planning time for a grade level is that it provides an opportunity for al of a student?s teachers to met with a student?s parents (Picucci, Brownson, Rahel & Sobel, 2002). This alows the parent a chance to hear from multiple teachers about their child?s performance and behavior. It also provides the teachers the ability to compare how one student is doing in each of his or her clases. This approach may not only show strengths and weakneses across the curriculum, but also may help teachers work together to reach the student (Picucci, Brownson, Rahel & Sobel, 2002). Shared Vision and Goal Setting A vital element within al HPHP schools is an environment in which there is a shared sense of responsibility among al educators for the atainment of the school?s goals (Chenoweth, 2007; Kannapel & Clements, 2005). In many HPHP schools the principal creates this joint sense of responsibility (Chenoweth, 2007). This sense of responsibility must be developed by a commitment to alowing teachers to be involved in key components of the school decision- making (Johnson & Asera, 1999). Planning sesions for improvements need everyone at the table for their input. These structured opportunities for shared decision making help emphasize to the teachers a sense of responsibility for the school?s improvement (Chenoweth, 2007; 21 Kannapel & Clements, 2005). Leaders in these schools showcase or highlight the importance of each individual?s contribution to the direction and improvement of the school. Much research on school change has argued that there must be a shared purpose for changes to be succesful (McDonald, 1996; Schletchy, 1997; Senge, 2000; Whitaker, 2010). Many HPHP principals refuse to alow teachers to believe that they wil fix al the school?s problems. Geting al children to achieve on or above grade level is the shared responsibility of everyone in the school (Chenoweth, 2007). Many principals in HPHP schools build this sense of responsibility by encouraging teachers to make decisions about certain elements of the school on their own, without the input of the principal. In other situations, principals make it very clear that each teacher had a voice in the decisions that they made by listening to their thoughts and ideas before making the decision (Whitaker, 2010). By involving al staf members in a variety of roles that are central to the driving succes of the school, a leader wil create a deeper sense of profesional responsibility (Johnson & Asera, 1999). The ability to build consensus is crucial for a principal in a HPHP school (Chenoweth, 2007; Kannapel & Clements, 2005). Their eforts towards improvement would not have been fruitful if they were not able to convince enough staf to share the school?s vision and goals. A good leader knows that they must take time to learn about their specific school contexts before any changes can even be brought to the planning table (Ragland, 2002). Strong leaders know they must first identify advocates who are ready to help support change and slowly engage these advocates to encourage other teachers to join the cause. These leaders also must take responsibility for maintaining vigilance and commitment to the purpose so that there is not a loss of focus that derails the staf?s eforts (Whitaker, 2010). 22 School Culture and Climate The culture or climate of high performing, high poverty schools sems to share four areas that can be considered the foundation of these schools. These areas include: 1) an environment of high expectations for al students, staf, and colleagues; 2) a strong sense of collaboration among teachers; 3) safe and orderly learning environment; and 4) a well-disciplined environment that includes a positive behavior support program (Chenoweth, 2007; Kannapel & Clements 2005). Research has shown the importance of schools having a climate or culture with high expectations for al (Chenoweth, 2007). This culture of high expectations should be prevalent throughout the school and include everyone within the school. A culture of high expectations embraces the idea that al children can learn and that they deserve to learn. The staf in many HPHP schools expres their commitment to this by not acepting failure from their students or their colleagues (Picucci, 2002). The culture and climate of HPHP schools also includes a strong sense of collaboration (Chenoweth, 2007). In HPHP schools teachers help, support, chalenge, and create a system of best practices for students. They work tirelesly to find ways to reach and chalenge al students to stretch beyond their potential. There is no ?my students? or ?your students? in these schools; teachers work to ensure the suces of al students (Kannapel & Clements, 2005). Another key fundamental area among HPHP schools is an orderly and safe environment for learning (Chenoweth, 2007). A wel-disciplined environment includes a positive behavioral approach that focuses on students taking responsibility for their own behavior (Kannapel & Clements, 2005). HPHP schools also focus on the importance of learning together as a staf to improve pedagogy. Working together as a profesional learning community is vital to the future growth and development of the school (DuFore, 2005). 23 High Expectations?Staff, Students, and Colleagues If there were one common thread that runs through every research study ever done on high performing-high poverty schools, it would be a climate of high expectations (Anderson, 2005; Chenoweth, 2007; Haycock, 2001; Izumi, 2002; Johnson, & Asera, 1999; Kannapel & Clements, 2005; Picucci, Brownson, Rahel & Sobel, 2002; Ragland, 2002). Much of this research has concluded that a culture of high expectations is absolutely necesary and often is the dominant theme in these HPHP schools (Carter, 2000; Chenoweth, 2007; Kannapel & Clements, 2005). Many have even stated that it is what makes high performance possible in a high poverty comunity (Anderson, 2005; Chenoweth, 2007; Kannapel & Clements, 2005; Ragland, 2002). High expectations are a regular part of these schools and these expectations are displayed in concrete ways. High expectations are not just a rhetorical device; they provide the foundation that these schools are built on. Students, staf, and colleagues are al subjected to high expectations. Principals of HPHP schools expect their staf and students to perform to the best of their abilities. In return, the staf begins to develop high expectations for themselves and their colleagues and everyone begins to model the proces of continual self-asesment and learning that is expected of the students (Chenoweth, 2007). It is crucial that everyone within the school believes that al children can learn. When a student fails in these HPHP schools the teachers do not blame the student, but rather acknowledge their own role in that student?s failure. The flow of high expectations and the belief that al children can learn wil eventualy penetrate the student body and that is when school improvement begins to happen (Chenoweth, 2007; Kannapel & Clements, 2005). The overriding goal in HPHP schools is to ensure that al students are at or above grade level (Carter, 2000; Chenoweth, 2007). School leaders many times minimize the use of labels 24 such as special education or ESL; instead they set measureable and high goals for every student (Ragland, 2002). They also create opportunities for students of al ability levels to utilize asesment data to help them through a self-discovery progres and identification of their own areas for improvement. Through this practice, teachers and staf encourage intelectual exploration and achievement. Teachers and staf emphasize intelectual interests and refinement of critical thinking skils (Ragland, 2002). The belief within HPHP schools is that al students are capable of reaching high expectations and when they begin to fal short, resources and support are leveraged to help them reach their goals and build their confidence (Haycock, 2001). Students in HPHP schools are held responsible for their learning. Many HPHP schools implement programs that reward students for acomplishing their work and behaving wel. Those students who fail to demonstrate these traits are often required to work over their lunch period, report to mandatory after school tutoring, or even give up an elective clas to finish core academic work (Chenoweth, 2007). Some HPHP schools even have Saturday programs in place for students and their parents to utilize (Anderson, 2005). Safe, Orderly and Disciplined Environment The importance of a safe, orderly and disciplined environment is often overlooked when researching exceptional schools (Lashley & Tate, 2009). For students to excel academicaly they must have a wel-ordered, disciplined, and safe environment in which to learn (Jese, 2004). Most HPHP schools approach the achievement of a safe, orderly and disciplined environment by a deeply rooted system of high expectations for everyone. This creates an environment where teachers are respectful of students and of their colleagues, which in turn models for students the importance of respecting their teachers (Kannapel & Clements, 2005). Carter (2000) gives credit 25 to a strong focus of achievement as the key to discipline, for it models for students the rewards of self-control, self-reliance, and self estem. The philosophy of most HPHP schools is to create an environment that focuses on helping students asume responsibility for their own behavior. Positive behavior support programs provide consistent, clear rules, consequences, and rewards that help students to asume responsibility of their own behavior (Johnson & Asera, 1999). Often in these schools teachers, administrators, parents, and students work together to establish simple rules that wil help create a school environment that is conducive to learning. Rules are often established to help prevent behavior problems before they start. In the majority of the HPHP schools there is much efort placed on acknowledging and sometimes celebrating positive student behavior (Moreno & Bullock, 2011). Behavior improvements are also supported when the students understand that they are valued and respected (Izumi, 2002). The principals and teachers in HPHP schools make it a priority to learn the names of al the students as wel as information about their family. This development of a personal relationship among students and staf creates a powerful context for respectful behavior (Bhati & Qazi, 2011). Student behavior can also be directly correlated to the quality of instruction within the clasroom. Students are more likely to behave appropriately when they are actively engaged in learning (Chenoweth, 2007). A high quality level of instruction wil lead to improved student behavior and les discipline, which leads to an even higher level of instruction (Johnson, & Asera, 1999). Some research has shown the importance of climate and culture in schools (Chenoweth, 2007; Marshal, 2009; Van Houtte & Van Maele, 2011). An environment of high expectations for al students, staf, and colleagues is vital for student succes (Kannapel & Clements, 2005). A strong sense of collaboration among teachers is esential, especialy in high poverty schools 26 (Carter, 2000). A safe, orderly, and wel disciplined learning environment that includes positive behavior support programs helps teachers concentrate on learning instead of negative behavior (Izumi, 2002). Researchers have also noted the importance of leadership in schools and that the leadership model used by the principal afects teacher and student performance (Chrispeels, 2004; Chenoweth, 2007; Fowler, 2004). School Leadership Models Leaders are vital to the succes of HPHP schools (Fullan, 2006). Research has shown that within HPHP schools the leaders come in many diferent forms, define their responsibilities in diferent ways, and exhibit various styles of leadership (Duke, 2006; Fullan, 2006; Harris & Chapman, 2002). The literature on school leadership has shown several rich descriptions of diferent leadership models including: transformational, instructional, transactional, authoritative, and situational. Each of these models is described in more detail on the following pages. These leadership models have been found to be the most prevalent within schools (Bolman & Deal, 1997; Chrispeels, 2004; Fowler, 2004; Goleman, Boyatzis, & McKe, 2002; Harris & Chapman, 2002; Sample, 2002). When looking at succesful school leadership models there are universal characteristics that are consistently found when considering the qualities of an efective school leader. The ability to set goals and plan (McKe, 2002), have a clear vision (Bolman & Deal, 1997), personal charisma (Fowler, 2004), a strong sense of self and personal convictions (Chrispeels, 2004), strong communication skils and the ability to motivate and influence others to follow and participate (Goleman, Boyatzis, & McKe, 2002), are al important qualities. Generaly, the definition of leadership is based on the last atribute, the ability to influence and motivate others. (Goleman, Boyatzis, & McKe, 2002). 27 Research has also shown that the educational leader is significant to teachers (Chrispeels, 2004), instruction (Fowler, 2004), and outcomes of student learning and achievement (Goleman, Boyatzis, & McKe, 2002). The demands and dynamics of leadership within a HPHP school cal for strategies that are flexible and responsive to the needs and circumstances of their students, despite the countervailing forces that may exist in the school and broader environment (Masumoto & Brown-Welty, 2009) Transformational Leadership A transformational leader is a motivational leader who has the ability to increase the motivation level of their followers. Transformational leaders believe that people wil follow them as long as they are inspired to do so (Bas, 1985). Transformational leaders believe that they can achieve great things because of their pasion and their ability to share their vision. This type of leadership often fels that the best way to change or move people is by increasing the energy level of self and others and injecting enthusiasm into the culture (Nash, 2010). These types of leaders also fel a sense of responsibility to ensure that their followers know that they are cared about and are inspired to be succesful on a daily basis (Bas, 1985). Transformational leadership is usualy achieved by raising the level of awarenes about the desired outcomes. Inspiring people to transcend their own interests for the good of the group?s goals or organizational goals can also improve outcomes. Lastly, transformational leadership usualy relies on expanding the follower?s hierarchy of needs and wants (Bas 1985). A transformational leader fosters a higher level of need for change and potential within the organization, taking it beyond basic needs. Burns (1978) states, ?The transforming leader looks for potential motives in followers, seks to satisfy higher needs, and engages the full person of the follower.? One of the main objectives of transformational leaders is to enlighten their 28 followers to a greater cause than their own self-interests. Transformational leaders work ?to turn individuals? atention toward larger causes, thereby converting self-interest into collective concerns? (Keley, 1998, p. 113). There are four pilars that transformational leaders use to support their goals. These pilars include intelectual stimulation, inspirational motivation, individual consideration and idealized influence or charisma (Bas & Avolio, 1994). By providing meaning and chalenge to their follower?s work, transformational leaders inspire and motivate their followers to a higher level (Bas & Avolio, 1994). The leader uses positive praise, optimism, and enthusiasm to increase the overal team spirit of the work place. Long-term visions and goals are worked on collaboratively to ensure team commitment. The leader reveals a strong commitment to collaborative vision and goals and communicates clear expectations for everyone to follow (Bas & Avolio, 1994). ?Transformational leaders stimulate their followers? eforts to be innovative and creative by questioning asumptions, reframing problems, and approaching old situations in new ways? (Bas & Avolio, 1994, p. 3). Conflict is used by a transformational leader as a productive tool for broadening possibilities and increasing opportunity for growth. Transformational leaders encourage their followers to embrace conflict and use it for innovative problem solving and a higher level of decision-making (Nash, 2010). Most importantly a transformational leader respects their followers and values their input, often when it is even in conflict with their own opinion. A transformational leader shows profesionalism and integrity whenever they are in contact with any of their followers (Moolenaar, Daly, & Slegers, 2010). 29 Instructional Leadership A true instructional leader believes that student learning and the instructional quality of a school is the top priority, while everything else revolves around the enhancement of learning (Sahin, 2011). To be credible as an instructional leader, the principal should also be a practicing teacher (Fancera & Blis, 2011). A principal who continues to teach whenever possible helps teachers, students, and other staf believe that ?the sole purpose of the school is to serve the educational needs of students? (Harden, 1988, p. 88). The administrative duties that come with the job of being a principal are secondary to the drive and pasion an instructional leader has for the school?s quality of instruction and the disaggregation and use of student data (Flath, 1989). More recently, instructional leadership has been defined as a deeper involvement into the teaching and learning, or the core busines of schooling (Sahin, 2011). The atention from the daily routine of administrative duties has shifted toward working with teachers directly on teaching strategies, disecting student data, and working directly with remedial programs to raise student achievement. Some in the education field have proposed the term ?learning leader? over ?instructional leader? (Jansen, Camock, & Conner, 2010). The National Asociation of Elementary School Principals (2001) defines instructional leadership as ?leading learning communities?. A learning community is an extended learning opportunity to foster collaborative learning among colleagues. Learning communities alow time for al school staf members to met and collectively work on problem solving, goal seting, and other student instruction-driven areas (Lunenburg, 2010). Instructional leadership has also been described in specific behaviors such as modeling good efective instruction, giving meaningful fedback to teachers, modeling efective instruction, soliciting opinions, supporting teacher 30 collaboration, giving praise for excelence in teaching, and providing relevant profesional development (Blas? & Blas?, 2001). Instructional leaders know what is going on in the clasrooms of their school (Whitaker, 2010). They spend time working with teachers on instruction, discipline and other curriculum isues. Instructional leaders know which students are doing wel and which are struggling as wel as the areas where they are struggling. Instructional leaders work directly with students and are visible throughout the school building during the school day. Whitaker (1997) identified four skils esential for instructional leadership. The first skil that Whitaker acknowledges is that an instructional leader needs to be able to show encouragement and appreciation to teachers for a job wel done. Too many administrators do not give this enough atention. Secondly, instructional leaders need to be good communicators. They need to be able to efectively communicate esential beliefs regarding learning, especialy the conviction that al children can learn and no child is unreachable (Mathes & Torgesen, 1998). Thirdly, an instructional leader needs to be a good instructional resource. Instructional leaders should be current on the best instructional trends and practices. Teachers should be able to count on good solid research-based information from their instructional leader concerning the best pedagogical strategies, newest curriculum methods and asesment information (Sahin, 2010). Lastly, Whitaker acknowledges the importance of the instructional leader?s visible presence. The instructional leader must live and breath their vision of excelence in teaching and learning. They must be visible throughout the school building and school day modeling the types of behaviors they want to spread. Instructional leaders are visible when interacting with teachers, parents, and students al day. 31 Transactional Leadership Transactional leadership stands on the foundation that gaining reward and avoiding punishment motivates people (Smith & Bel, 2011). A transactional leader also believes in a clear chain of command and that the overal purpose of a subordinate is to do what their boss tels them to do. Transactional leaders often use management by expectation often. Working to expectation does not earn atention; reward and praise are only given to workers who exced expectations. Structure is very important to a transactional leader. They like clear guidelines that require no translation for subordinates (George & Sabhapathy, 2010). Subordinates should know exactly what is required of them and the rewards they wil receive for following directions. Punishments are not usualy threatened; however they are usualy implied, organized and understood (Keley, 1998). There are four major dimensions of transactional leadership. The dimensions include active management by exception, pasive management by exception, contingent reward, and laissez-faire leadership (Bas, 1996). Active management by exception involves closely monitoring subordinates and correcting action to make certain that good quality and eficient work is done (Bas, 1996). Pasive management by exception incorporates contingent punishment to correct unaceptable performance (Bas, 1996). Contingent reward encompases the leader specifying what needs to be acomplished for the subordinate to obtain the reward (Bas, 1996). The fourth dimension, laisez-faire leadership, describes behaviors that show indirect behaviors and pasive indiference about followers? actions or tasks (Bas, 1996). Transactional leaders are not usualy change agents or reform leaders (George & Sabhapathy, 2010). Rather, they focus on maintaining the status quo. ?The object of such leadership is an 32 agreement on a course of action that satisfies the imediate, separate purposes of both leaders and followers? (Keley, 1998, p. 113). Authoritative Leadership Authoritative leadership cals for a clear divide betwen the leader and subordinates. An authoritative leader gives clear expectations of what they want done, when they want it done, and how they want it done. There is litle to no input from the group. This style of leadership oftentimes uses threats and intimidation tactics to keep the productivity of the subordinates high. Research has shown that this is perhaps the worst type of leadership style for schools (Blas? & Blas?, 2000). In the high-poverty, high-performance schools? research none of the principals were using this type of leadership. There is no creative autonomy for the teachers, and parents have litle to no contribution to the school. Teachers find this type of leadership to be controlling, dictatorial, and bossy. Perhaps the only time this type of leadership is caled for in a school seting is when the circumstances of the educational environment are so severe that it will take a knowledgeable, strong, authoritative leader with a clear plan to turn the school around. Situational Leadership A clear understanding of the dynamics of a situation must be researched before establishing a situational leadership model (White & Greenwood, 2002). Situational leadership is based on the integration of three main pilars. First, the readines level that the group or followers exhibit on a task, activity, or objective must be taken into consideration. Secondly, the quantity of task behavior or direction that the leader wil have to implore is measured. Finaly, the socio-emotional support and relationship building that the group wil require is also taken into consideration. Acording to the situational leadership model, the level of aceptance and readines of the followers wil dictate to the leader whether to increase or decrease the amount of 33 direction or task behavior they give. This level of readines should also be considered when increasing and decreasing the level of relationship building that the leader uses. As the readines level increases in terms of succesfully acomplishing a specific task, the leader should decrease the direction or task behavior and increase the relationship behavior. Once the leader has brought the group to an above average level of readines, the leader should decrease not only task behavior but the relationship behavior as wel (White & Greenwood, 2002). The group is now fully commited and has the confidence to succesfully acomplish the task the leader set out to achieve. Once the group has achieved this level, the leader must reduce the level of supervision and increase the amount of autonomy that the group has to make their own decisions. The decrease in supervision and increase in autonomy wil show the group the leader?s trust and confidence in them. Situational leadership has been used succesfully in many turnaround schools (Paredes, Sawyer, Watson, & Myers, 2007). The principal must first and foremost research and ases what areas need improvement and atach a priority level to each area. Secondly, the principal must set realistic benchmarks to help move the school in a more positive direction. Then, the principal must research and ases the level of readines of their staf to make the changes that wil be necesary for the school to reach the succesful benchmarks it wil take to be an efective school. Once the readines level has been asesed, the principal begins to slowly integrate task- driven directions while also building relationships and using positive socio-emotional support to increase the confidence level of the staf. The proces cannot be rushed; an efective situational leader understands that they can only move at a pace that the group wil be succesful at reaching and meting the benchmarks needed (White & Greenwood, 2002). 34 Leadership Behaviors Certain types of leadership behaviors have often been linked with schools reaching high levels of student achievement (Shouppe & Pate, 2010). Carter (2000) researched and developed his seven common atributes of leaders in HPHP schools. Many other researchers such as Duttweiler and Hord (1987), Lashway (1996), Marek (1999), Verona and Young (2001), Clark and Clark (2002), and Glickman (2002) researched behaviors they believed principals must have to increase student achievement. Carter (2000) cited 21 schools in his 2000 book, No Excuses, that have broken the mold of high poverty causing low student achievement. The schools in his study were reporting scores over the 70 th percentile on national achievement tests. Carter revealed what he believed was the key principal atributes that lead these schools to their succes. Principals must be free to spend money, recruit and hire their own teachers, and create their own curriculum as they se necesary for the improvement of their school (Carter, 2000). He believes principals know best which teachers have the qualities that they wil need to be succesful in their school. Carter also states that principals understand what curricular changes wil be necesary to ensure student succes within their school. Lezotte (1992) chalenged school leaders by stating that someone must decide what is worth knowing. He suggested a national curriculum that would be developed by a national commite. Similarly, Marek (1999) pushed for a curriculum that went beyond state standards and was based in the arts, science and technology. Jackson and Davis (2000) stated that if al educators were to hold students to high expectations, believing that each child could reach the higher bar, then students would excel to achieve at that level. Principals in HPHP schools must make high expectations the mantra of the school (Dutweiler & Madden, 2001). However, communicating and expecting high 35 expectations from students are not enough; principals must raise the bar for the entire staf (Verona & Young, 2001). Seting high-level achievable goals for students and holding students and teachers acountable for reaching those goals are esential components of the succes of a HPHP school principal (Carter, 2000). Another top priority of a principal of a HPHP school is the belief within themself that each and every student within the school is capable of learning. This belief should be evident to every child, parent, and teacher in the school (Clark & Clark, 2002). Principals in HPHP schools must make leading instruction their top priority. This priority starts by recruiting and hiring the best teachers for their school. Managing and discipline must become secondary to their focus on instruction (Clark & Clark, 2002). The quality of teaching is the single most acurate indicator of a student?s succes (Carter, 2000). Once a high quality teacher has been hired, it is crucial that the principal ensures that teacher?s succes by placing them within the content area for which they have the highest content knowledge (Dufour, 2002). Haycock (2001), addresed this ?If students are going to be held to high standards, they need teachers who know how to teach the subject? (pg. 10). Being a hands-on instructional leader is crucial; principals must be in the clasroom observing the efectivenes of the teacher. The most important thing that principals should be looking for in their clasroom observations is student learning (Dufour, 2002). Dufour goes on to state that principals who are true instructional leaders must ask, ?To what extent are students learning the intended outcomes of each course? What steps can I take to give both students and teachers the additional time and support they need to improve learning?? (Dufour, 2002 p. 13). Thomas (1997) found that principals who are truly instructional leaders not only encourage great teaching, they inspire it. 36 A succesful instructional leader creates a shift across the school from a focus on teaching to a focus on student learning. Asesment of students creates valuable data for teachers to ensure student learning is taking place. Principals who are instructional leaders of high achieving schools monitor the asesment of every student and use the data to further develop the curriculum (Carter, 2000). Improvement strategies for the school are created by careful data analysis done by the teachers and the principal together (Dufour, 2002). Data analysis of student asesments can also help a principal develop more meaningful and relevant profesional development opportunities with teachers (Jackson & Davis, 2000). Evaluation of innovations, programs, and instructional strategies of teachers should be done by a principal to ensure of their efectivenes (Kannapel & Clements 2005). If the efectivenes is not evident a principal must be wiling to confront and correct the weak areas or eliminate practices that are not linked to student succes (Thompson, 2002). Bel (2001) agreed that it is a critical atribute of HPHP instructional leaders to use asesment data as a diagnostic tool to determine if programs and strategies are efectively producing high student achievement. Working in a HPHP school can sometimes be daunting, overwhelming, and even exhausting (Chenoweth, 2007; Kannapel & Clements 2005). To keep teachers and staf energized it is important that the principal be positive and show encouraging support at al times (Fullan, 2010). It is also invaluable to take time to celebrate succes as a school (Thomas, 2000). Instructional leaders should show their appreciation to the students and staf by arranging celebrations that alow them to communicate how proud they are of everyone. Sweney (2000) stated that individuals are motivated by celebrations and recognition. These celebrations 37 communicate that the hard work and efort by students and teachers is not only appreciated, but also esential to the succes of the school (Kouzes & Posner, 2002; Marshak & Klotz, 2001). Though there does not sem to be an undisputed list of principal atributes that guarante student succes within any school; there have been several principal behaviors cited within research that have been recommended to help schools reach high student achievement (Carter, 2001; Chenoweth, 2007; Fullan, 2010; Kannapel & Clements 2005). Some of the common atributes sen throughout this body of research are: communicating high expectations, being an instructional leader, data analysis, alignment of curriculum, celebrating succes, seting school wide goals, and careful hiring of teachers (Carter, 2001; Duttweiler & Madden, 2001; Sweney, 2000; Thompson, 2000). Acountability and Asesment The 1966 Coleman report implied that children of poverty could not be expected to learn at the same rate or as wel as middle to high-income students. The 2001 No Child Left Behind legislation that wil not tolerate any child of any income level, race, ability level, or gender to be not on grade level. The political landscape has changed drasticaly in those thirty-five years. The acountability movement that schools systems are dealing with today was fueled by the 1983 publication of A Nation at Risk (The National Commision on Excelence in Education). This report uncovered many important discoveries within the national public school systems, but also reported many inacuracies (Bonstingl, 2001). The conclusions of this report are, however, what began the system of standards and acountability that school systems are judged by today (Carter, 2000). The high-stakes testing that is used today is a product of this acountability drive. 38 Probably one of the most sweping changes that happened in schools after NCLB was the atention that sub-groups such as special education, English language learners, and minority populations received (Kannapel & Clements 2005). The language of NCLB does not alow any exception for any child. Al children wil be brought to grade level by 2014 was and stil is the goal of this legislation. Special education students have an Individual Education Plan (IEP) that is created by highly qualified teachers within the field of special education to help each child reach their potential. After NCLB even the IEP proces changed to ensure that the goals on the IEP are standards based and on grade level. Inclusion clases are a mix of special education and general education students. Inclusion was mandated so that special education students were no longer ?left behind? in a resource clasroom where litle to no standards were being taught. Collaboration betwen the special education teacher and the general education teacher is now required so that these students can be with their peers in the regular clasroom (Kannapel & Clements 2005). Frequent Monitoring of Student Progres No Child Left Behind truly means no child should go unnoticed when they begin to slip through clasroom cracks. Frequent monitoring of student progres is an esential component in the HPHP school (Kannapel & Clements 2005; Chenoweth, 2007). Teachers in these schools can recite the standards and skils that each of their students have mastered and those on which they need to continue to work. These teachers can tel you each student?s strengths and their weakneses. The principals in these HPHP schools can tel you the bottom ten percent of students in each grade level (Chenoweth, 2007; Kannapel & Clements 2005). They can tel you the skils and standards that these students are working to acomplish. They know these students 39 by name. They have met and understand the family dynamics that each of these students may be dealing with daily. In an HPHP school teachers, principals, and other staf members al work together to frequently monitor al students, not just the students that normaly comprise the bottom ten percent. Instead of a student feling the support of a teacher they fel the support of a whole team of people who care about their succes. There are no cracks for these students to fal into. Every crack has been filed with another person to help support and encourage students (Chenoweth, 2007). Frequent monitoring is not viewed in a HPHP school as a way to make sure every student has mastered the content. Teachers view frequent monitoring in these schools as a way of making sure their teaching is on target (Carter, 2000). Al teachers, to gauge their succes or their failure to reach their students, use these frequent asesments. Low succes rates on asesments do not mean that the students did not do wel; instead it is viewed, as the teachers did not teach the material wel (Chenoweth, 2007; Kannapel & Clements 2005). Teachers collaborate to help expand their arsenal of teaching methods (Hanushek & Kain, 2005). When one clas outperforms another, many times the teachers wil collaborate to se what methods were used or what other variables may have contributed. Teaching in a HPHP school is a science; it is calculated, measured, and done until succes is reached (Anderson, 2005). Alignment of Instruction to State Asesment Test Mils is only one of the many terms that personnel at some inferior schools cal HPHP schools (Chenoweth, 2007). They do not want to believe that al children realy can learn and that state asesment scores of 90%-100% are realy possible by children of poverty (Carter, 2001). It is no secret that HPHP schools teach to the test. However, this does not mean that teachers spend 6 hours every school day driling the standards into their students as if they were 40 multiplication facts. In HPHP schools teachers spend an exorbitant amount of time aligning their grade level curriculum to the state standards that are covered on the state asesment (Izumi, 2002). Teachers create units of study that wil capture the interest of their students and inspire them to want to engage in the learning proces. Students in HPHP schools are not taught the grade level standards throughout the school year in several diferent ways. Each skil or standard is spiraled throughout the curriculum to help students with retention. This way many standards are reviewed 3 or 4 times before the state asesment in the spring. Teachers in HPHP schools also help ready their students for the following grade level by introducing the next grade level standards while learning the current level standards. Teachers in many of these schools collaborate with the teachers on the next grade level to se what skils they need to addres further with their students before the end of the year. The closer the teachers get to the end of the school year the more they begin to model for their students what to expect on the next grade level (Kannapel & Clements, 2005). Alignment of Instruction to State and National Standards Since the introduction of standards, educators have questioned whether or not they would truly improve the achievement of students and the quality of teaching (Gandal & Vranek, 2001; George, 2001; Lashway, 2002; Scherer, 2001). Scherer (2001) stated that standards are the greatest hope for improving student achievement across this nation. Vranek and Grandal (2001) reported that standards would help focus the general public?s atention on the inequality within public education and also student achievement. They also forecasted that the standards would lead to a more rigorous curriculum and change the very nature of teaching. Lashway (2002) believed that the standards would create a shift from instructional leadership and foster more of a focus on student learning. 41 The competitivenes of geting students into a good university and then a good job after graduation has led many high performing schools to realize that they must look past their state asesment as the indicator of succes for their students. State standards must be coupled with the National Standards that these students wil be tested over on National asesments like the American College Test, Scholastic Aptitude Test, and the Graduate record Exam. Educators today should no longer be trying to ready their students for the local or state level job market. The generation that is in elementary schools today wil compete for jobs nation-wide, as wel as world-wide (Wagner, 2008). Using Asesment Data for Teacher Planning Another common finding within HPHP schools is the use of some type of targeted assesments throughout the school year to create data to help teachers guide instruction. There is much debate within education about high stakes testing and acountability programs throughout the nation. The performance of HPHP schools on these high stakes state performance asesments does receive a lot of atention by the principal and staf, however they are only a starting point for these schools. These schools al have other regular systems of asesment throughout the year that target the progres of individual students (Kannapel & Clements, 2005). These asesments are what the teams of teachers use for planning and changing their daily instruction and focus. Many schools have a regular, systematic, and integrated approach to asesments for their students and are clear about how these asesments wil be used to drive instruction (Kannapel & Clements, 2005). From those data HPHP schools design and implement individualized support for struggling students. Teachers in these high performing schools use smal learning communities or focused groups to reach al students with similar needs (Chenoweth, 2007). These teachers are very flexible in their use of resources to support student 42 needs and reinforce school culture. HPHP schools across this nation also share a strong commitment to core academics and standards but not at the expense of other important learning in the arts and humanities (Kannapel & Clements, 2005). Another common thread among HPHP schools is the use of common asesments. Many teachers in HPHP schools felt that common asesments are what led to the greatest gains in student achievement (Reeves, 2003). High stakes testing results are rarely received back in time for teachers to do much with in terms of planning. The results are usualy used more as a measure of how wel a school is doing, not as a measure of an individual student?s skils. Asesments however are given by teachers to ases the ability and understanding of needed skils for each student. Asesment results are known within minutes, hours, or days from when the student takes the asesment. This gives the teacher imediate fedback to beter ensure a student?s succes. If an asesment does not show mastery of a taught skil, then the teacher knows that they need to re-teach that skil. Succesful teachers use asesment data to restructure their lesons and to collaborate with other teachers (Chenoweth, 2007). Through collaboration a grade level team of teachers can se what concepts and skils the entire grade level is struggling with. Sometimes one teacher wil be using an efective method of instruction that can be shared to help the entire grade level. It is through discussing asesment data and results that these types of discoveries are made. Importance of High Quality Teachers and Teacher Leaders One of the most discussed problems in the world of education in recent years has been the chalenge to staf al clasrooms with highly qualified teachers (Sander, 2007). Ensuring the qualifications of teachers is one of the main themes within the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB), which mandates that a teacher must be designated highly qualified to teach any grade 43 level or a core academic subject. No Child Left Behind has created a system of ensuring that al children are taught by a highly qualified teacher. NCLB has also driven veteran teachers back to school to become highly qualified. Teachers are able to significantly influence student achievement (Aaronson, Barrow & Sander, 2007; Rivkin, Hanushek & Kain, 2005; Rockoff, 2004; Sanders & Rivers, 1996). Kane, Rivkin, Hanushek and Kain (2005) report that there is a separation in the efectivenes betwen the bottom and top quartile of teachers that equals a .33 standard deviation diference in student achievement gains over the term of one school year. Sanders and Rivers (1996) stated that there is up to a 50-percentile improvement in student achievement depending on teacher quality. They also stated that these improvements are additive and cumulative over subsequent teachers. The literature also supports that on average students that are taught by a first year teacher learn les than students taught by a more experienced teacher (Hanushek& Kain 2005; Krieg, 2006). The studies that have reported these findings found that beginning first year teachers produced significantly lower student achievement gains than teachers that had 10?15 years? experience (Rivkin, Hanushek & Kain, 2005; Rockoff, 2004). The majority of the gains that experience brings to a teacher?s efectivenes occur within the first four years that they teach. There have been several studies that have researched the efect of teacher certification and teacher education level and the efect that they have on student achievement (Hanushek & Kain, 2005; Krieg, 2006). The findings from these studies difer, sometimes very substantialy. Developing Teacher Leaders The principals in HPHP schools understand the importance of developing and retaining strong teacher leaders (Chenoweth, 2007; Kannapel & Clements 2005). The leadership style of the principal does not sem to mater in this equation (Peske & Haycock, 2006). Principals of 44 HPHP schools sem to understand that they cannot achieve the far-reaching goals for their school alone. Teacher leaders drive the improvement measures day-to-day in many of these schools. Their best practice methods along with their pasion, drive, and a relentles work ethic make them truly the driving force of the school (Loeb & Miler, 2006). A principal may harnes this force by continualy supporting and communicating with these teachers. Teacher leaders need the autonomy to plan and create without the worry of being shot down by administration (Krieg, 2006). A principal must also be wiling to give up the glory to these teachers when their hard work acomplishes the goals of the school. A principal that cannot share leadership and be modest about where the credit should go wil never se their school reach it?s full potential (Whitaker, 2003). Recruitment Strategies for Teachers Many large school districts and even some states have put in place policies that wil help atract or recruit teaching talent to their area (Loeb & Miler, 2006). Recent literature studies have highlighted that teachers sek employment very unequaly across schools (Quartz, Barraza- Lyons & Thomas, 2005). A general trend found in literature has been that teachers with les experience and sometimes poor academic records gravitate toward high poverty schools that are atended mostly by minority students (Krieg, 2006; Peske & Haycock, 2006). A 2002 research study looking at New York State?s elementary school teachers found that non-White students were up to four times more likely than White students to have an under-qualified, non-certified, first year teacher (Lankford, Loeb & Wyckoff, 2002). Nothing works beter as a recruitment tool for a school than the reputation of excelence (Haycock, 2006). Every educator wants to be a part of a succesful school where students learn, teachers are respected and have a voice, and administration not only supports, but also 45 encourages and motivates the teachers (Chenoweth, 2007; Kannapel & Clements 2005). Any school with this type of reputation generaly has several highly qualified applicants for every position that comes open (Carter, 2001). Unlike schools of excelence, many of the HPHP schools in the literature struggled in the beginning stages of the school?s turn around to find high quality teachers (Quartz, Barraza-Lyons & Thomas, 2005). Principals within these schools began to realize that as they increased the level of high expectations and acountability and as collaboration grew throughout the school, they began to get a more acurate picture of the level of teachers within the school (Whitaker, 2009). Those teachers who are ready to acept the new level of acountability and collaboration begin to dig in and commit to a new level of teaching. Other teachers who are not up to the chalenges that the principal has laid before them begin to work against the grain (Whitaker, 2003). These teachers usualy wil devote a considerable amount of energy to derailing the new plan of direction for the school. If their atempt is unsuccesful and they find themselves in the minority, generaly they wil look for another school to teach at. This proces of winning over teachers and geting uncooperative, noncompliant teachers to move on can sometimes take a few years to acomplish (Whitaker, 2010). Another very important part of this transition to becoming a HPHP school is for the principal to only hire teachers who are commited to continuing the new mision and vision of the school (Whitaker, 2010). Ensuring that the interviewing teachers are going to also fit in with the existing teaching staf is also important. A HPHP principal must have their finger on the heartbeat of their teaching staf to understand the sometimes complex mix of personalities and atitudes within the school (Whitaker, 2010). 46 Retaining High Quality Teachers in High Poverty Schools Retaining high quality teachers at a high poverty school is sometimes viewed as an impossible task (Clotfelter, Ladd, Vigor & Wheeler, 2007). High poverty-high minority schools are often considered to be a 1?2 year training factory for new teacher graduates (Ingersoll, 2004). These new graduates come to these schools to get their two years of experience and get out as fast as they can find another job. The ability of a principal to recruit and retain teachers in high poverty-high minority schools may determine if they wil be succesful in turning the school around (Ingersoll, 2004). A succesful leader in a high poverty-high minority school knows and understands that they wil not be able to turn the school around alone. It wil take a dedicated staf of teachers with great leadership an average of 3?5 years to acomplish this goal (Whitaker, 2010). Having this understanding is a driving force behind trying to recruit the best teachers who share the desire to take on such a chalenge. Once these teachers have been recruited, the principal then must work diligently to fuel their motivation level by supporting their reform work in hopes of retaining them. Every high quality teacher lost throughout the turnaround proces is another setback for the school?s drive to become high performing and more importantly for the students. The longer this drive towards high performance takes, the les likely it wil become reality (Clotfelter, Ladd, Vigor & Wheeler, 2007). The teachers, students and community must se the improvements within a timely manner to stimulate the drive towards improvement. The best fuel for continuous improvement is results that show progres (Whitaker, 2010). Once the school has achieved a level of excelence that wil drive it into the world of high-performing, high-poverty schools, it may also become a highly sought after school for highly qualified teacher applicants. Most good educators want to be part of a succesful school where students learn; teachers are respected and 47 have a voice, and administration not only supports, but also encourages and motivates the teachers (Whitaker, 2010). Sucesful Curiculums in High-Performing, High-Poverty Schools At the heart of excelent schools is a strong, current and engaging curriculum. It is vital that the curriculum be verticaly and horizontaly aligned so that students transition smoothly from one grade to the next. The principal as the instructional leader has the responsibility to ensure the curriculum is followed and asesed to ensure students are gaining mastery of the content of each subject. Standards-based Curriculum The foundation of these high performing schools is solid standards-based driven curriculum (Rakow, 2008). It is from here that these schools measure where they are going and to what level they need to take their students. A standards-driven curriculum alows the teachers to not only se where the student has been in previous grade levels and what skils they must have mastered by the end of the school year (Carter, 2000). A standards-driven curriculum alows the teacher to forge ahead into where the student wil be heading next year. Standards- driven curriculums provide a road map for everyone on staf to follow, so that the entire building is moving in one direction. These curriculums also help grade levels work more productively together (Rakow, 2008). Long gone are the days where teachers spend more time on their ?favorite? unit of study. Teachers in these high performing schools recognize the value of the grade level working on the same standards at the same time. This type of teaching alows for fluid movement betwen clases for students if necesary. This type of teaching also promotes ?Best Practices? when teachers can plan together and then collaboratively se where each teacher?s strength and weakneses lies. Generaly, teachers using this type of collaborative 48 planning and team teaching approach work together to reach al students in the grade level not just their own (Stuart & Rinaldi, 2009). They work together to strategize ways to reach the students who are having the most dificulty, while also creating ways to chalenge the students who have mastered the needed concepts (Stuart & Rinaldi, 2009). In most HPHP schools you wil find that when you walk into any particular grade level clasroom, the other clasrooms on that grade level are covering the same or nearly the same concepts. Another key ingredient found in these clasrooms is that even though the concept is the same, the method of delivery is what is best for the students within that clasroom. Multiple learning styles are addresed across the grade level (Chenoweth, 2009). Students often wil move from one clasroom to another depending on where they are in their understanding of the concepts (Chenoweth, 2007). Once the teachers believe they have taught the concept to mastery, the teachers will collaboratively create an asesment that wil acurately measure whether the students have mastered the new concepts or not (Chenoweth, 2009). Once this asesment has been given, they wil spend time working together to decipher the data from the asesment to se how they did. Teachers in HPHP schools take ownership of how their students do on asesments; when students don?t do wel on the asesment in one class it is a grade level concern, not just a teacher concern (Chenoweth, 2009). Remediation Programs In many HPHP schools the whole building is involved in working with any student that is faling behind or struggling with needed concepts (Chenoweth, 2007; Kannapel & Clements 2005). Everyone works together to help the teachers bring up any struggling students and the principal, asistant principal, aides, counselors, volunters, and parents may al become involved in this proces (Chenoweth, 2009). Many schools divide students into smal groups or even 49 create one-on-one situations to ensure the succes of their struggling students. It is this collaborative safety net that builds the confidence of the struggling students (Haycock, 2006). The efort that is placed on remediation by the principal is vital to turning a high poverty- high minority school into a HPHP school (Chenoweth, 2007). The literature suggests that leaders in HPHP schools focus most of their atention on ensuring that students are working on grade level and mastering content standards. Data disaggregation, team collaboration, and continuous improvement teams must be focused on how to raise the scores of students who are not performing on grade level. Remediation programs and strategies must be a fluid movement in every clasroom within the school. Administration, teachers, counselors, aides, and parents should al be speaking the same vocabulary related to improvement every day (Foster & Hilaire, 2004; Lambert, 2006). This drive toward improvement becomes the heartbeat of the school and builds momentum for succes. It is from this momentum that the school also forges ahead into creating enrichment or advanced programs for students who have already mastered grade level standards (Lambert, 2006). Enrichment versus Remediation Another area that helps fuel the drive and motivation that it takes to met the demands of working in a high-poverty, high-minority school is enrichment (Hesberg, 2008). Chalenging al involved and pushing the envelope for student achievement with the majority of the school population not only motivates teachers and students, but also builds pride throughout the school and community (Hesberg, 2008). That pride comes from seing students met acomplishments and achieve beyond what they ever thought they could. Enrichment programs come in many diferent varieties, but al have the same goal for student achievement, pushing students to not only a new level of achievement but also a new 50 level of confidence (Chenoweth, 2009). The increased level of confidence that comes from these enrichment programs does not just afect the school?s top students. Many times the same students who are in remedial programs are also placed in enrichment programs in hopes of instiling a new confidence in some other area of school that wil help them achieve greater results in their areas of weaknes (Reis & Renzulli, 2010). Sometimes a weak math student may be a gifted writer, artist, or musician. Taping into a student?s area of strength may help the student begin to enjoy school and subsequently overcome their area of weaknes. The increased expectations that enrichment programs bring create a school environment that celebrates succes and lowers the occurrence of disruptive behavior (Reis & Renzulli). Helping students find something they are succesful at in school not only increases the level of confidence of that student, but also helps instil a love of learning within that student. Education researchers have confirmed for years that students living in low socio- economic areas face serious chalenges within the educational system (Darling-Hamond, 2000; Kozol, 1991). However, despite this research some schools through research-based structures and systemic practices have been able to achieve high levels of student achievement in high poverty schools (Chenoweth, 2007; Denbo & Beaulieu, 2002; Marano, 2003; Washington Learns, 2006). Summary Throughout this summary research on the importance of high expectations for al students and an atmosphere of collaboration among teachers and administrators has been presented. This chapter has also shown the importance of organizational structures, policies, and systemic practices supporting high achievement; the importance of school culture and climate; and efective leadership models. The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB) has brought the 51 general public?s atention straight to the clasroom. The acountability that comes with NCLB has left many public schools fighting to stay off the states? failing schools list. Chapter three presents an overview of the research methods used in this study. The purpose of this research is to help identify the beliefs, organizational systems and behaviors of selected HPHP principals and the strategies and methods used in their HPHP schools. Identifying these principal beliefs, behaviors, and systems may serve as a guide to help other principals who are working to raise the achievement levels in their schools. 52 CHAPTER III. METHODOLOGY Acros the United States, federal and state acountability standards have heightened the general public?s awarenes of the academic strengths and weakneses of public schools (Bilman, 2004; Chenoweth, 2007; Kannapel & Clements, 2005). No Child Left Behind (NCLB; 2001) brought to the American greater public atention to statistics such as 70% of inner-city fourth grade students struggle to met state and national grade level acountability measures in the area of reading (Chenoweth, 2007). NCLB also has put a spotlight on the qualifications of teachers and administrators. The term ?high qualified? is starting to become common language within the general public when discussing schools and educators (Bilman, 2004; Kannapel & Clements, 2005). NCLB also gave parents of children who are in failing schools the choice to send their child out of district to a succesful school (Krieg, 2011). Failing schools face sanctions such as loss of funds and the restructuring of staf (Krieg, 2011). There have even been some schools that have been closed due to their unsuccesful atempts at bringing the level of student achievement to an appropriate level (Krieg, 2011). It is crucial that parents be wel informed in their decision making about where they send their children to school. Under NCLB states are required to publish a report card for each public school within the state. These report cards give the general public a snapshot of the progres and succes rates of the school. This increase in public awarenes may improve the motivation level of school leaders to focus more on student achievement. 53 The presures and chalenges that NCLB has placed on school leaders across this nation have been easily met in some schools and school districts where student achievement has always been high. However, for high-poverty, high-minority schools the chalenges of NCLB may seem hopelesly impossible (Krieg, 2011). Many students living in low socio-economic areas face serious chalenges within their educational system. Some research suggests that historicaly high-poverty urban schools with large concentrations of students of color have been asociated with low student achievement (Darling-Hamond, 2000; Kozol, 1991). No Child Left Behind requires schools to have every student on grade level by 2014. This mandate is a real chalenge when 90% or more of a school?s students come from poverty stricken families (Krieg, 2011). Finding any teacher to work in these schools is sometimes a chalenge, let alone a ?highly qualified? teacher as deemed by NCLB (Clotfelter, Ladd, Vigdor, & Wheeler, 2007). The students who make up the population of these schools many times come from broken homes where putting food on the table is the priority, not homework (Payne, 2005). Principals in these schools usualy focus more atention on discipline and keeping order than raising the academic succes of each and every student (Ingersoll, 2004). Ned for Study The demands on principals and their roles have changed drasticaly over the last 20 years (Murphy & Meyers, 2008). The function of the principal at one time was centered on authority and management (Whitaker, 2003). Efective schools research (Casey, 2000; Chenoweth, 2007; Fullan, 2006; Kannapel & Clements 2005; Kowal & Hasel, 2005; Nicolaidou & Ainscow, 2005; West, Ainscow & Stanford, 2005) began to slowly influence changes in the roles and responsibilities of the principal. Instead of focusing on management functions, principals began to evolve into instructional leaders within their school (Murphy & Meyer, 2008). Principals 54 quickly determined that being an instructional leader alone would not be enough to reach the necesary level of student achievement. To remedy this some principals began to establish and facilitate profesional learning comunities (Cranston, 2011). Many principals began to lead school improvement teams to develop plans and establish goal and mision statements for their schools (Chenoweth, 2007). The role of principal today requires a much higher focus on data analysis, collaboration, student learning, teacher instruction, and the disaggregation of student test data (Murphy & Meyers, 2008). Principals serving in high poverty schools may fel these changes and new demands more than anyone (Carter, 2001). Principals of high-poverty high- performing (HPHP) schools make high expectations the mantra of the school (Duttweiler & Madden, 2001). However, communicating and expecting high expectations from students is not enough; principals must raise the bar for the entire staf (Verona & Young, 2001). Seting high- level, achievable goals for students and holding students and teachers acountable for reaching those goals is an esential part of the succes of a HPHP school principal (Carter, 2001). Another top priority of a principal of a HPHP school is the belief within himself/herself that each and every student within the school is capable of learning. It is esential that this belief be evident to every child, parent, and teacher in the school (Clark & Clark, 2002). Problem Statement High-performing high-poverty (HPHP) schools are doing what many educators have considered impossible (Casey, 2000). These HPHP schools are taking children who are considered hard to teach and achieving academic succes. Too many schools are under- performing. There is a need to learn what HPHP principals are doing, what they believe, and how they drive al children to learn. Chenoweth (2007), in her book It?s Being Done, states, 55 ? these schools could have saved themselves a lot of trouble by faling back on the tired old excuses that many other schools use ? that ?these kids? can?t be expected to do much academicaly because they are poor, because their parents don?t support their education, because they don?t eat breakfast, because the don?t have a culture of academic achievement, or any of a number of other excuses. (pg. 14) Elements of HPHP research emphasize the importance of leadership style and qualities within a school (Bilman, 2004; Casey, 2000; Chenoweth, 2007; Fullan, 2006; Kannapel & Clements 2005; Kowal & Hasel, 2005; Lambert, 2006; Nicolaidou & Ainscow, 2005; Ross & Glaze, 2005; West, Ainscow & Stanford, 2005). Statement of Purpose Despite historical trends, research-based structures and systemic practices have contributed to high student performance in high poverty schools in some areas (Denbo & Beaulieu, 2002; Marano, 2003; Washington Learns, 2006). Research has shown that leaders are vital to the succes of HPHP schools (Masumoto & Brown-Welty, 2009; Murphey & Meyers, 2008). Research has also shown that the educational leader plays a significant role in the development of strong teachers, implementation of high instructional standards, and improved outcomes of student learning and achievement (Bilman, 2004; Casey, 2000; Chenoweth, 2007; Fullan, 2006; Kannapel & Clements 2005; Kowal & Hasel, 2005; Lambert, 2006). The demands and dynamics of leadership within a HPHP school cal for strategies that are flexible and responsive to the needs and circumstances of their students, despite the countervailing forces that may exist in the school and broader environment (Masumoto & Brown-Welty, 2009). 56 The purpose of this research is to help identify the behaviors and atributes of HPHP principals and the strategies and methods used in HPHP schools that contribute to their succes. Identifying these principal behaviors, atributes, and leadership strategies may serve as a guide to help other principals who are facing the chalenges of NCLB. By examining these leadership qualities we may develop a deeper understanding of types of leadership, structures, and policies that promote improved learning for al students. Theoretical Framework The belief that a child?s education is based upon his or her innate ability and socioeconomic status went unchalenged for the first 75 years of the 20 th Century (Chenoweth, 2007; Kannapel & Clements, 2005). Researchers argued that the achievement gap among students was a product of each student?s aptitude and environment, not the quality of schooling (Dembo & Beaulieu, 2002; Dufour, 2004; Marzano, 2003; Washington Learns, 2006). Slowly, researchers began to establish the concept that what happens in schools does play a major role on a child?s achievement. Robert Marzano (2003) stated that not only do schools play a significant role upon student achievement, but that, ?Schools that are highly efective produce results that almost entirely overcome the efects of student backgrounds? (pg. 7). Lezotte (2004) also presented compeling evidence that al children can learn and that schools control factors necesary to asure student mastery of core curriculum. Organizational succes is nearly always dependent upon the central variable of leadership (Murphy & Meyer, 2008). Leadership becomes even more important in times of crisis and significant change (Crandal, 1995; Rindler, 1987; Shook, 1990). ?During a turnaround period is when leadership maters most? (Kanter, 2003, p. 67). Gerstner (2002) stated that ?leadership is the most important element in institutional transformation? (pg. 235). Research suggests that 57 succesful school leadership is not only acepted as the key constituent in achieving school improvement (Harris & Chapman, 2002), but also has been regarded as the sole determining factor for a turnaround school succes or failure (Fullan, 2006; Kowal & Hasel, 2005; Nicolaidou & Ainscow, 2005). The starting point for turnaround leadership in schools is to establish a culture of high expectations, high performance, collaboration, and mutual respect (Kannapel & Clements, 2005). Strong principal leadership is esential to motivate the faculty to raise the expectations and performance of the students (Kannapel & Clements, 2005). In regards to raising expectations, school leaders must establish appropriate, measureable, and agreed upon academic and non- academic goals and targets (West, Ainscow & Stanford, 2005). Research studies reveal that succesful turnaround leaders provide profesional support and encouragement for their staf?s personal growth (Giles et al., 2005). Efective leaders spend significant amounts of time supporting and encouraging their teaching staf (Bilman, 2004). These leaders try to raise each teacher?s self-estem and self-image (West, Ainscow & Stanford, 2005) and to influence their beliefs about their profesional ability (Ross & Glaze, 2005). For the most part, turnaround school leaders operate as facilitators, mentors, guides (Bilman, 2004; Giles et al., 2005), and coaches (Ross & Glaze, 2005; Lambert, 2006) more so than they operate as administrative managers. Research Questions The purpose of this research was to help identify what belief systems, organizational structures, and principal behaviors the principals in four Torchbearer Schools in Alabama are using to drive student achievement. This purpose was addresed by answering the following research questions: 58 1) What organizational structures, belief systems, and leadership behaviors support achievement in torch bearer schools? 2) What support systems are in place to facilitate the use of these structures, systems, and approaches? 3) What role(s) does the principal play when developing and implementing these structures, systems, beliefs, and leadership behaviors? Research Design A qualitative case study research design (Anderson & Davenport, 2002; Chenoweth, 2007) was used to conduct this research. Due to the exploratory nature of the research and the importance of context when seking deeper understanding about the qualities and behaviors each principal exhibits (Chenoweth, 2007; Kannapel & Clements, 2005), a qualitative approach was selected. This research is based in four Torchbearer Schools located in both urban and rural areas. This research included the use of a teacher survey administered to the teachers in each of the purposefully selected Torchbearer Schools. The entire teaching faculty of each chosen Torchbearer School was invited to complete the Principal Instructional Management Rating Scale (PIMRS). The PIMRS is a research based evaluation tool that measures the efectivenes of a principal?s performance on 10 instructional leadership job functions. The subscales are comprised of 50 items, which refer to specific principal behaviors or practices (Halinger, 1982). Each of the chosen four Torchbearer principals was shadowed for one school day and field notes were recorded. At the end of the shadowing day each principal also participated in taking the PIMRS. Each principal was also asked to share their vision and educational / leadership philosophy. 59 Document analysis was another component of this research, and each of the chosen Torchbearer School?s school improvement plans was analyzed for beliefs, polices, and practices. Each school was addresed as an individual case study. A cross-case analysis was completed later to identify common areas of belief and practice. Site Selection The Torchbearer School Program was created by the Alabama Leadership Academy at the Alabama State Department of Education in 2004. This program was created to recognize high-poverty high-performing public schools in Alabama. The idea for this program came from a book study that the Leadership Academy did in 2004. This group read and studied Samuel Casey-Carter?s book No Excuses: 21 Lesons From High-Performing, High Poverty Schools. In this book Casey-Carter (2000) highlights 21 high poverty schools across this nation that have truly beaten the odds and made no excuses about educating students of poverty. These schools reached levels of academic succes that many schools in middle or upper clas areas have not obtained. The book also looks at research-based strategies and methods used in these 21 schools that help them bring the achievement level of these poverty stricken schools to such high levels. While reading the book however, the members of the Leadership Academy noticed that the schools being studied were not public schools. The book highlights charter schools, private schools, and a few magnet schools. This prompted the members of the Leadership Academy to look within the state of Alabama to se if there were any high-performing, high-poverty schools and to develop an award of recognition for the eforts of those in these schools. The name Torchbearer School was selected to designate these schools of excelence. During the 2007? 2008 school year the first nine schools qualified for this prestigious award. Al nine schools met al the criteria and were recognized in Montgomery, Alabama by the State Superintendent for 60 their acomplishments. Each school was also given a $15,000 monetary reward by the State Department of Education. The criteria to be eligible to win this prestigious award includes the following: ? Identified as Meting the Chalenge School, Advancing the Chalenge School, and Exceding the Chalenge School acording to the state rewards plan. ? Have at least an 80 percent poverty rate (percent free/reduced-price meals). ? Have at least 80 percent of students to score at Levels III or IV on the Reading section of the Alabama Reading and Mathematics Test (ARMT). ? Have at least 80 percent of students to score at Levels III or IV on the Math section of the Alabama Reading and Mathematics Test (ARMT). ? Have at least 95 percent of twelfth-grade students pas al required subjects of the Alabama High School Graduation Exam (AHSGE). ? Have a graduation rate above the state average (high schools). Retrieved from http:/alex.state.al.us/showleaderpg.php?lnk=torch During the 2010?2011 school year 11 schools were awarded the honor of being named a Torchbearer School. Four of these schools wil be the focus of this research [pseudonyms were used to blind the actual identity of the four schools in this study]: 1. Black Hils Elementary School 2. Central Elementary School 3. Pine Hil Elementary School 4. Northview Elementary School Each of these four schools was chosen for their exceptional student achievement. Another important consideration for choosing these four schools was the tenure of the principal. The 61 principals of each of these schools were present before, during and after the Torchbearer status was achieved. Additionaly, al of the schools include grades K?5. Two schools are located in an urban area, but within the same school system. The other two schools are in rural areas of the state. It may be important to note if there is any diferences or similarities in these two populations. A brief description of each school site is provided. Black Hils Elementary School Black Hils Elementary School is located in a rural area in southwest Alabama. Principal Dawson led Black Hils Elementary School to Torchbearer status during her first and second years at Black Hils Elementary School. Ms. Dawson is working on her third year as principal of Black Hils Elementary School. Black Hils Elementary was a failing school for over a decade. Low achievement and poor atendance were too often the expectation for the area?s low-income community. The entire student population at Black Hils Elementary School qualifies for free lunch. Ninety-five percent (95%) of the students at Black Hils Elementary School are of minority status, primarily Native American. Central Elementary School In 2004, Central Elementary School was one of the lowest performing elementary schools in the state and was labeled a failing school. Dr. Thomas was hired as the new principal in 2004 and was charged with turning the school around. By 2007, Central Elementary School was named a Torchbearer School. This honor was bestowed upon this school again the following school year and in every year since. Dr. Thomas has led 32 teachers and 480 students towards excelence since she arrived eight years ago. In 2008, Central Elementary School was awarded the U.S Department of Educations prestigious National Blue Ribbon Award. In 2009, this school was awarded the Dispeling the Myth Award from The Education Trust. The U.S 62 Department of Education awarded Central Elementary School with the Turn Around School Award in 2010. Central Elementary School serves a student population that is 99% free lunch and 99% minority status. Pine Hils Elementary School Pine Hils Elementary School is located in Pine Hils, Alabama. Pine Hils Elementary School is lead by principal Mr. Shaw. Pine Hils Elementary School was chosen three years in a row, 2009?2011, as one of the top elementary schools in the state of Alabama. Pine Hils Elementary School was one of only two Alabama schools recognized in 2006?2007 as a National Distinguished Title I School. In 2009, Pine Hils Elementary School was recognized as one of the top ten rural schools in Alabama. Mr. Shaw leads his teaching staf of 20 with pasion and love every day. Pine Hils Elementary School serves 291 students; 76% qualify for free or reduced lunch and 63% are of minority status. Northview Elementary School Northview Elementary School is located in the Redwood Park Subdivision in Fort Wright, Alabama, and encompases kindergarten through grade 5. Dr. Cole has been the principal of Northview Elementary School for 16 years. Northview Elementary School was honored in 2003 as a Council of Leaders in Alabama Schools Banner School, an honor that only twelve other schools achieved in the state. Northview Elementary School is one of the top schools in the state of Alabama in the number of teachers who have atained National Board Certification. Presently, there are eleven out of 30 teachers with National Board Certification. Northview Elementary School earned its Torchbearer status during the 2010?2011 school year. Northview Elementary School serves 476 students, 85% of whom qualify for fre or reduced lunch and 78% who are a minority. 63 Data Collection and Instrumentation In most qualitative research studies data collection includes in-depth, open-ended interviews, participant observations, and a review of writen documents (Larsen, 1987; Maxwel, 1996). It is crucial that in qualitative research the researcher not rely on using only one method of data collection. The data must be triangulated to ensure rigor (Maxwel, 1996). Multiple data sources including the use of an in depth open-ended interview with the principals, principal self- asesment, a whole staf survey, document analysis, and a day of shadowing to collect observational data and record it. Field notes wil facilitate triangulation of the data collected in this research study. Below is a brief description of how each data collection method was used. Open-Ended Interviews The researcher interviewed the principal of each Torchbearer School. The interview questions were designed to ascertain information on the demographics of the school and background information about the principal (see Appendix A, Interview Protocol). Principal Survey Qualitative research investigations often use surveys as a support (Merriam, 1998). The Principal Instructional Management Rating Scale (PIMRS) was provided to the principals and teachers of each school. The PIMRS is a research-based evaluation tool that measures the efectivenes of a principal?s performance on 10 instructional leadership job functions. Specific principal behaviors and practices are measured using subscales that are comprised of 50 items. Each respondent was asked to evaluate the principal?s performance on 50 behaviors, and respondents rated performance on a scale from 1 for ?Almost Never? to 5 for ?Almost Always.? The survey was administered to the entire faculty in each of the selected Torchbearer Schools at a faculty meting. The teachers had the option to participate by filing out the survey and turning 64 it in to a labeled box. Teachers also had the option to not participate by turning the survey in without completing it to the same box. The surveys remained anonymous at al times. Review of Documents A review of documents was used to obtain additional insights regarding the priorities and practices of the teachers, the school improvement team and any other programs aimed at helping student achievement. Another goal of reviewing the writen documents was to help verify and corroborate the data gathered through the interviews and surveys (Yin, 2003). Some of the documents reviewed included the School Improvement Plan, writen documents about instructional leadership, the principal?s educational/leadership philosophy, and the school?s vision statement. Summary The No Child Left Behind Act began the age of acountability in America?s public schools (Chenoweth, 2007). This Act chalenged the belief that a child?s education should be based on his or her innate ability and socioeconomic status. NCLB helped make the achievement gap a topic of concern and questioned the quality of schools throughout this nation (Krieg, 2011). High-performing high-poverty schools are doing what many educators have considered impossible (Casey, 2000). These HPHP schools are taking children who are considered hard to teach and with thoughtful hard work they are achieving academic succes (Chenoweth, 2009). The Torchbearer School Program was created by the Alabama Leadership Academy at the Alabama State Department of Education (SDE). This program was created to recognize HPHP public schools in Alabama. 65 Organizational succes is nearly always dependent upon the leadership of a school (Murphy, 2008). Strong principal leadership is esential in these HPHP schools. Leadership can motivate the faculty to raise the expectations and performance of the students (Kannapel & Clements, 2005). School leaders must help to establish appropriate, measureable, and agreed upon academic and non-academic goals and targets (Bel, 2001; West, Ainscow & Stanford, 2005). A starting point for turnaround leadership in schools is to establish a culture of high expectations, high performance, collaboration, and mutual respect (Kannapel & Clements, 2005). This study examined four HPHP leaders and the belief systems that they operate from to develop a deeper understanding of types of leadership, structures, and policies that promote improved learning for al students. 66 CHAPTER IV. RESULTS Introduction High-performing high-poverty (HPHP) schools take children who are considered hard to reach and teach them in ways that ensure they achieve academic succes (Casey, 2000). HPHP schools serve student populations that are generaly comprised of at least 85% minority students who are also considered to be living in poverty. This population of students face many chalenges such as unstable homes and hunger, and many do not have supportive adults in their home (Kozol, 1991). Schools must first addres these chalenges before they can begin to teach these children (Kozol, 1991). Stable, high-quality teaching and strong instructional leadership are a common thread in the schools that are succesfully reaching children of poverty (WestEd, 2007). It is imperative that further research be done to show how the leadership within HPHP schools is promoting high student achievement (Masumoto & Brown-Welty, 2009). The purpose of this research was to identify the behaviors and atributes of HPHP principals along with the strategies and methods they use to produce the high succes rates at their schools. By identifying the organizational systems, principal behaviors, and principal beliefs that contribute to student succes, findings from this research may serve as a guide to help other principals who are struggling to met the chalenges related to reaching students of poverty. Furthermore, by examining these leadership atributes and strategies we may develop a deeper understanding of the types of leadership, structures, policies, and practices that promote improved learning for al students. In Alabama, high-performing high-poverty schools that are at 67 least 80% poverty and have 80% of their students achieving above grade level on state standardized tests in the areas of math and reading are honored and named as Torchbearer Schools. Annualy, the State Superintendent of Education and the Governor recognize the acomplishments of schools that earn this acomplishment. The Torchbearer School Program was created by the Alabama Leadership Academy at the Alabama State Department of Education in 2004. This program was created to recognize high-performing high-poverty public schools in Alabama. These schools reached levels of academic succes that many schools in middle or upper clas areas have not obtained. The name Torchbearer School was selected to designate these schools of excelence. During the 2007? 2008 school year the first nine schools identified qualified for this prestigious award. Al nine schools met al the criteria and were recognized in Montgomery, Alabama by the State Superintendent for their acomplishments. The criteria to be eligible to win this prestigious award include the following: ? Identified as a Meting the Chalenge School, Advancing the Chalenge School, and Exceding the Chalenge School acording to the state rewards plan. ? Have at least an 80 percent poverty rate (based on percent free/reduced-price meals). ? Have at least 80 percent of students score at Levels III or IV on the Reading section of the Alabama Reading and Mathematics Test (ARMT). ? Have at least 80 percent of students score at Levels III or IV on the Math section of the Alabama Reading and Mathematics Test (ARMT). ? Have at least 95 percent of twelfth-grade students who pas al required subjects of the Alabama High School Graduation Exam (AHSGE). 68 ? Have a graduation rate above the state average (high schools). Retrieved from http:/alex.state.al.us/showleaderpg.php?lnk=torch During the 2011?2012 school year 11 schools were honored by being named a Torchbearer School. Four of these schools were the focus of this research [pseudonyms were used to blind the actual identity of the four schools in this study]: 1. Black Hils Elementary School 2. Central Elementary School 3. Pine Hil Elementary School 4. Northview Elementary School Each of these four schools was selected for participation in this study due to their exceptional student achievement and the tenure of the principal. The principals of each of these schools were present before, during and after Torchbearer status was achieved. Additionaly, al of the schools include grades K?5. One of the schools is located in an urban area; another is in a suburban neighborhood. The other two schools are in rural areas of the state. Three research questions were used to guide this study. The three questions were centered on researching the organizational structures, belief systems, and leadership behaviors that support student achievement in HPHP schools. A mixed methods research design was used. It is crucial when conducting qualitative research that researchers not rely on using only one method of data collection. The data must be triangulated to ensure rigor (Maxwel, 1996). Multiple data sources have been included in this study including an in-depth, open-ended interview with the principals (se Appendix A), principal self-asesment (se Appendix B), a whole staf survey (se Appendix C), document analysis, and a day of shadowing to collect observational data and record field notes for each principal. 69 A whole staf survey, the Principal Instructional Management Rating Scale (PIMRS), was provided to the principals and teachers of each school. The PIMRS is a research-based evaluation tool that measures the efectivenes of a principal?s performance on 10 instructional leadership job functions (Halinger, 1985). Specific principal behaviors and practices were measured using subscales that are comprised of 50 items. Each respondent was asked to evaluate the principal?s performance on 50 behaviors, and the respondents rated performance on a scale from 1 for ?Almost Never? to 5 for ?Almost Always.? The survey was administered during a faculty meting at each of the selected Torchbearer Schools. The entire faculty was present at these metings with the exception of the principal. The principal was also administered the PIMRS during the interview proces. Description of Schools and Leaders These four schools share many commonalities, but also are al uniquely diferent. Black Hils Elementary and Pine Hil Elementary are rural schools with over a hundred-year history. Northview Elementary is a suburban school built in the 1960s. Central Elementary School is the only urban school in this study and was also built in the 1960s. The teachers in these Torchbearer schools have been working with their current principal for 5?9 years in each of the schools with the exception of Black Hils Elementary. The teachers at Black Hils Elementary School have only been with their principal for 2 years because it has only been a Torchbearer School for the last two years. Northview has the largest teaching staf with 34 teachers, followed by Central Elementary with 22 teachers. Black Hils and Pine Hil are smaler schools with 17 and 19 teachers respectively. Pine Hil Elementary teachers average the most teaching experience out of al the schools with 10?15 years. The other three schools average 5?9 years of teaching experience. 70 The principals of these schools also range in the number of years experience. Black Hils principal, Ms. Dawson, has only been a principal for 2 years. Central Elementary principal Dr. Thomas and Northview principal Dr. Cole have both been a principal for over 15 years. Mr. Shaw at Pine Hil Elementary has 5 years of principal experience. Ms. Dawson and Mr. Shaw have both been at their current school for 3 years. Dr. Thomas has been leading Central Elementary for 8 years. Dr. Cole has the longest tenure with 12 years at Northview Elementary School. [Pseudonyms were used to blind the actual identity of the four schools and the principals in this study.] Case Studies The following pages present case studies on each of the four schools. Following the individual case studies, a cross-case analysis is provided to beter iluminate leadership, organizational, and belief trends across the four high performing high poverty schools. Black Hils Elementary School Black Hils Elementary School is located in a rural area in southwest Alabama. The school is nestled among thousands of acres of pine forests. Black Hils is set back in the countryside and is nearly 10 miles from any major road. This school semed to be the only building other than a few homes for miles around. Upon arriving at Black Hils Elementary School the first thing you might notice is the number of smal clasroom trailers that make up this school campus. These trailers are parked in several areas throughout the campus, al with permanent steps and decking atached for entry. The main brick school building is in disrepair and not large enough to house more than a few clasrooms and the cafeteria. There are also a few larger old modular homes that are being used as clasrooms and a concesion area. Yet, the campus is very clean and wel cared for with several flowers, bushes and beautiful trees 71 punctuating the school grounds. There are several Native American structures built on the school campus such as clay mud homes, cooking pits, and mud-stick homes. These structures are new, but are here to serve as a reminder of the rich Native American heritage in this area. The majority of the population surrounding this school is of Choctaw disent. The community members living near the school are scatered for several miles throughout the countryside. The area is impoverished with most families living in older modular homes set off of dirt and gravel roads. There are rolling hils covered with pine trees and several children were out playing in their yards the afternoon that I drove over the winding roads of the countryside to the school. Black Hils Elementary was a failing school for over a decade. Low achievement and poor atendance were too often the expectation for the area?s low-income community. The Choctaw residents trace their ancestry to Native American Indians who made a choice to stop speaking their native language in public rather than join the ?Trail of Tears? in the 1830s. The previous principal before Ms. Dawson and her staf began changing the school?s dismal statistics. They improved reading and math instruction, used data to identify students who needed extra help and launched a cultural education program to teach the Choctaw language and culture. Currently under the leadership of Ms. Dawson, Black Hils Elementary School teachers have helped their students produce consistently among the highest reading and math proficiency rates in the state. In 2011, 94 percent of sixth-graders met state standards in reading. Indeed, 80 percent of them exceded the standards, compared with 63 percent of their peers around the state. Nearly al Black Hils students are impoverished and qualify for free lunch. Leadership at Black Hils elementary school. Ms. Dawson has led Black Hils Elementary School for 3 years. Ms. Dawson describes herself as a ?hands-on leader.? When asked about her leadership style, Ms. Dawson commented, ?I do the data with the teachers. I 72 like to be very visible and hands-on with the students and the teachers.? Ms. Dawson stated that she subscribes to a ?servant leadership style. ?I am always right there ready to support and lend a hand; I think this is why it works. Teachers respect me for this. At least that is what I have found here anyway.? When asked about her core beliefs that drive her leadership, Ms. Dawson stated, I believe school has to be an extension of the family for students and for teachers. We are al in this together. We must care for one another and let each other know that we care for each other. Family is how I describe this school and I think that is part of the backbone of succesful leadership. Dawson went on to say, ?I am prety laid back, these teachers know that they can talk to me and I am just one of them. I don?t have to pull the ?boss? card very often.? Dawson also shared that one of her core beliefs is that, Every child can learn, can read and do math. Al children have something to contribute to this world. We help our students make those contributions. Every child is special in some way. I believe that al children deserve a chance to learn. Leadership role and behaviors. The leadership role that Ms. Dawson plays at Black Hils Elementary is one of a servant leader. Her leadership behaviors as noted in the PIMRS tables [se Tables 3?12], located in the cross case analysis, are of support and involving and developing teachers. Ms. Dawson in her interview addreses this behavior, I spend a good amount of my day working on organizing everything from field trips to asemblies, to profesional development. Making sure that everything is taken care of so that my teachers don?t have to worry about these isues and can concentrate on teaching children. 73 When asked about what things that she did that are the most efective for building leadership within the school Ms. Dawson replied, I think one of the most important things that I do is wear as many hats as I do. I do al that I can to take the load off my teachers so that my teachers can teach. We al have several roles, but I try to wear many more hats than just principal. I am everywhere. The teachers respect this, because they know that in other schools, many of the tasks that I am doing are usualy done by teachers. I try to support them in every way I can. Organizational structures. The first organizational structure that came into view during my day of observation was the use of data by teachers and Ms. Dawson for finding students that needed remediation. Ms. Dawson during her interview stated, ?Student data drives everything here. Once the data is disaggregated remediation starts imediately, sometimes for a few, sometimes for the whole clas.? While I was observing a clas, the teacher had just given and taken up a short asesment from her students. The teacher then gave the students a short 10 minute task to work on by themselves while she quickly went over the asesment, marking down names of students that were not grasping the concepts on the asesment. Within 10 minutes the asesments were gone over and the teacher began separating students into groups for further instruction. During the interview Ms. Dawson also spoke about vertical and horizontal alignment of the curriculum as an organizational structure that supports the schools? work. I have also bought Acelerated Reader and Acelerated Math to help with the vertical and horizontal alignment throughout the school. The results have been great; we have had several profesional development hours devoted to this and it has realy helped. The system is expensive, but I found it to be worth it. We have these two programs down to 74 an art; it is almost second nature. I think having everyone on the same page working through the same program has realy helped us reach al students. The use of data as part of the organizational structure of the school was also discussed and observed during my visit to Black Hils. Ms. Dawson stresed that you can have too much data and not realy be able to use it al. Ms. Dawson recommended having just a few tests that you realy like and using just them for gathering student data. ?Once we finaly did that we could realy dril down and look at each student and that student?s needs?, stated Ms. Dawson. Having support was also another structure that Ms. Dawson spoke about, Using data combined with the State and district support realy made a huge impact on our student achievement. You realy need to have these extra people on staf that can help the teachers teach and go through data for them. It is so hard to teach and be responsible for these students and have the time to remediate and go through data on a wekly basis or every other wek basis. Leadership belief system. Shared vision, goal seting and leadership are a large part of Ms. Dawson?s leadership. During the interview we were interrupted several times by community members stopping by Ms. Dawson?s office to say helo. The goals and mision of this school are developed by the entire staf and by al stakeholders. Ms. Dawson stated during her interview, ?We have many community members that are very involved in this school and are usualy a part of the decision-making for goals and misions annualy.? As Ms. Dawson toured me throughout the school the evidence of a family atmosphere was very evident. The culture and climate of Black Hils are warm and inviting. Everyone semed to be working hard, but not too hard to stop for a quick hug and a friendly helo. As Ms. Dawson and I went from clasroom to clasroom I could tel that the teachers are not intimidated or threatened by her presence. 75 When we entered a clasroom, it always felt like that is where Ms. Dawson was supposed to be. When I asked Ms. Dawson about what her next steps as a leader were she told me, I want to be here everyday to help continue that wonderful family environment that this school has become. Our goals and mision wil always be set by what our students need. I se my next step as simply continuing what I am doing and looking for what we can improve on as a team and family. Suport systems. Ms. Dawson has put in place several support systems at Black Hils Elementary School. These systems include a focus on supporting teachers, creating a family culture, community involvement, profesional development, and protecting instructional time. Acording to Ms. Dawson, I think the best thing that I have done for this school is to realy work on the cohesion of the staf. I have worked realy hard to create or realy bring back that family atmosphere to this school. There were a lot of divisions in the staf when I first arrived, not anymore. We have realy grown together over the past few years. During the interview proces we spent some time discussing meaningful profesional development. She noted, ?Profesional development is what started the succes here, so I believe that is huge when working with teachers.? Dawson went on to say, Al teachers need to know and understand the research behind what they are doing, or what they are being asked to do. It is not enough to just train teachers, you must also educate them on the theories and research behind the strategies they are putting in place if you want them to realy work. 76 Black Hils Elementary School Summary Black Hils Elementary appears to be a unique and special school for al the children that atend, for the community, and for the teachers and staf who work there. Ms. Dawson has built a culture of love, support, and pride. Ms. Dawson and the faculty of Black Hils Elementary School appeared to know what it takes to have their students achieve at some of the highest levels across the state. What is perhaps most impresive, however, is how they got there. The ethic of care (Bates, 2005) that is evident through the atmosphere at this school realy sems to help support al the hard work that goes into the high student achievement. Central Elementary School Central Elementary School is located in a dilapidated neighborhood in a large school district. This school serves a student population that is 99% free lunch and 99% minority status. Many of the homes around the school have been condemned and have boards over the windows. Nearly 95% of the students live in a government-run apartment complex a mile from the school. The streets around the school are not considered safe and are patrolled heavily by police. Six years ago, Central Elementary School was one of five schools to undergo what the school district termed a ?transformation proces.? A new principal, Dr. Thomas, came to lead this proces. She was alowed to start from scratch and hire her own staf. The school system that Central is a part of used cash bonuses up to $40,000 for teachers to lure employees to come to Central. Dr. Thomas comments, ?I have never been convinced that it was ever about the money.? Thomas continued, ?What it was about is bringing in a staf that al believed the same thing, that al children can learn and providing that staf with training and resources so they could change the entire culture of a school.? 77 ?That first year, it was hard,? Thomas said, recaling resistance from the community that included death threats to teachers. Some who were resistant to changes at the school hung dead cats from the building, rubbed fish on the bricks, egged the school and left knives sticking up in the ground on the playground. ?We did not leave. We did not tuck our tails and run. We were commited,? Thomas said. ?We cried together. We came together every afternoon until we solved the problems.? The building was painted and cleaned. The faculty met regularly to come up with strategies to reach every student. Teachers walked children home so they wouldn?t get into trouble in the afternoons. This is a practice that is stil in existence even today. It didn?t take long for the children, whom Thomas caled ?sponges ready to learn,? to notice a diference. Some students wrote in clas asignments that their teachers weren?t faling aslep anymore, that children weren?t fighting in the hals anymore, and that they were actualy being taught. In 2007, Central Elementary School was named a Torchbearer School. This honor was bestowed upon this school again the following school year and in every year since. Dr. Thomas has lead 32 teachers and 480 students towards excelence since she arrived 8 years ago. In 2008, Central Elementary School was awarded the U.S Department of Educations prestigious National Blue Ribbon Award. In 2009, this school was awarded the Dispeling the Myth Award from The Education Trust. The U.S Department of Education awarded Central Elementary with the Turn Around School Award in 2010. Oficials from the U.S. Department of Education, which awarded Central a prestigious Blue Ribbon Award, have been to the school and filmed teachers in their clasrooms. The department is citing Central Elementary School as an example of a ?true turnaround school.? In 2010, U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan visited Central Elementary School and made statements about how impresed he was to be in one of the best performing elementary schools 78 in the country who 6 years ago was one of the worst performing schools in Alabama. ?If it can happen here,? Duncan said of the school, situated inside an impoverished neighborhood, ?I?m convinced it can happen anywhere else in the country.? Dr. Thomas has led Central Elementary School for 8 years. Dr. Thomas describes her leadership style: ?I am the chief Learning Oficer. I work hard at using a distributive or shared leadership model. You can?t do everything yourself, you can?t be the expert in every area. You have to find people that are smarter than you are and put them into leadership roles.? When asked whether she believes that al children can learn, Dr. Thomas stated, Yes, but it doesn?t stop there. Al children can learn at high levels, not just learn, but at high levels. When we interview for teachers I look for that vision that al children can learn at high levels. I look for teachers who have a strong integrity and a strong work ethic, because this is hard work, very hard work. Another core belief that Dr. Thomas shared with me during her interview was about data. Dr. Thomas told me, Data must drive everything that you do academicaly. The school?s goals must be based on what student data tels us we need to work on. It doesn?t stop there though, it?s not enough to just look and talk about data, you have to plan and monitor how each teacher is using that data to instruct their students. After I have reviewed any student data I met with the teacher to discuss student progres or regres. The numbers don?t lie, you have to drive your school with the data.? Leadership role and behaviors. The Principal Instructional Management Rating Scale (PIMRS) [se Tables 3?12] showed that the teachers and Dr. Thomas agree across the board on her role and behavior as the school?s chief learning officer. Developing teachers and involving 79 them in the leadership of the school are just two areas where Dr. Thomas and her teachers agree. ?My teacher leaders are very succesful. You met Mrs. Mitchel this morning. She is responsible for a great deal of our succes. You have to trust the people you put in these leadership roles.? Dr. Thomas continued, My teachers know and understand the expectations. We have a teacher leader subject representative on each grade level. These teachers know what to do whether I am here or not. The procedures are wel established. The expectations are wel known. During my interview with Dr. Thomas I asked her about her most important role as leader of Central Elementary. With no hesitation Dr. Thomas said, ?Hiring teachers! It?s al about the quality of teacher in the clasroom. We have litle to no turnover of teachers. This is basicaly the same staf that was here 8 years ago.? While walking around from clasroom to clasroom I asked Dr. Thomas if there were other behaviors that she felt lead to student succes at Central Elementary. ?Being visible, being here everyday and being on time. I don?t leave the building during the day unles I have to. Everyone knows that I am here. Team building is also crucial. Modeling how to work together and ensure that everyone is involved in the proces,? commented Dr. Thomas. Organizational structures. The organizational structure of Central Elementary School was obvious the moment I walked down the first halway. It is al right there in front of your face, for everyone to se. The hals and bulletin boards are filed with examples of student achievement as wel as student, clasroom, and school-wide data. Where there was not data or displays of student achievement there were quotes, paintings and other advertisements of the ?can do? environment of Central Elementary School. While on my tour of the school Dr. Thomas stated, ?These bulletin boards are realy acountability boards and they create some 80 competition betwen teachers and students. We begin analyzing data and remediating students by the 2 nd wek of school.? The overwhelming structure of Central Elementary School is the use of data. ?We are always looking for data, we have data metings twice a wek. We predict succes on the ARMT by looking at data; I have a pile of data on my desk right now. I look at al students to se who has made progres and hasn?t. I look at overal clasroom to se who has made progres and who has not. After I study the data I met and discuss my findings with teachers. Data simply drives everything that we do,? stated Dr. Thomas. Leadership belief system. While discussing Dr. Thomas?s belief system for leading a school she stated, Monitoring student progres is obviously important in my opinion also, as you can se throughout the building. Each and every clas has a halway display of student achievement. Students notice and watch these bulletin boards; they are interested in each other learning. Another area that Dr. Thomas and her teachers showed a high agreement level on the PIMRS was in the areas of shared vision and goal seting, as wel as communicating school goals. Dr. Thomas commented on this as we headed to the school?s collaboration room. I believe when you are creating the annual school goals each year that it is crucial to have al the staf involved in some capacity. It?s not enough just to talk about school goals and write them on posters and hang them on bulletin boards, good leadership ataches who wil be responsible for working on this goal to each and every goal. Dr. Thomas continued as we entered the collaboration room, 81 Those goals must be created by the teachers that are going to be responsible for meting them and those goals must come from the data that has been collected on each of our students. The benefit of everyone working together on school goals is that they wil al understand the goals. You don?t have a disconnect betwen where we are supposed to be going and where we are now. It?s al in black and white. Suport systems. The PIMRS results [se Tables 3?12] also showed a high congruency betwen how Dr. Thomas self-asesed and how the teachers scored her on promoting profesional development. Dr. Thomas had this to say about profesional development. If you want teachers to improve you must establish a way to continualy get them the profesional development that your school data says you need. We are al life long learners and if we are not growing we are regresing. I take teacher profesional development very serious. During a conversation at lunch with Dr. Thomas I asked her about what other support systems were in place that helped drive student achievement. Dr. Thomas explained that student achievement can only happen when there is an excelent teacher in place in the clasroom. Dr. Thomas spoke about how she develops support for the teachers. I think that one of the most powerful things that we do is that we have building experts. So, when I do hire someone new they are imploded with help and support. They wil not be in isolation. For example I might pair Melisa with a new 2 nd grade teacher. Melissa wil co-teach or be side-by-side with her during the first wek. As the new teacher becomes more comfortable Melisa wil spend les time with them. However, if Melisa senses a weaknes in math she wil then bring in the math-building expert to help. This is all done on a peer to peer basis. 82 Central Elementary School Summary There is no doubt that after spending a full day at Central Elementary School I was beyond inspired. Central Elementary school is a model school for every school in the nation. One of the last things that I spoke to Dr. Thomas about was the fact that most of the HPHP schools across the nation were elementary schools. I asked Dr. Thomas if she believed this could be done at the middle or high school level. Dr. Thomas replied, ?Absolutely, it is going to be the same ingredients that we have put into the succes recipe here. Now you may have to mix them a litle diferent to get the results, but the ingredients I am certain are the same.? Dr. Thomas and her teachers have proven that there are no excuses for students not to be achieving at a high level. As U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan stated, ?If it can happen here, I?m convinced it can happen anywhere else in the country.? Pine Hil Elementary School Pine Hil Elementary School is a part of a county school district and is located in Pine Hill, Alabama. Pine Hil Elementary is a rural school set off the beaten path and surrounded by forests and fields. This school building was built in the 1920s and looks like the traditional old school houses from that era. The building is wel cared for and freshly painted. As you approach the school and pull into the parking lot you notice that the grounds are wel taken care of and there is a beautiful white picket fence across the front of the schoolyard. Colorful flowers and bushes acent the old white schoolhouse and lead you to the old front door where the original corner stone reads 1921. Pine Hil Elementary School is led by principal Mr. Shaw. Pine Hil Elementary was selected three years in a row, 2009?2011, as one of the top elementary schools in the state of Alabama. Pine Hil Elementary was one of only two Alabama schools recognized in 2006?2007 83 as a National Distinguished Title I School. In 2009, Pine Hil Elementary was recognized as one of the top ten rural schools in Alabama. Mr. Shaw has served Pine Hil Elementary School for 3 years and led his teaching staf of 20 with pasion and love every day. Pine Hil Elementary School serves 291 students; 86% qualify for free or reduced lunch and 63% are of minority status. Leadership at Pine Hil elementary school. Mr. Shaw has been leading at Pine Hil for the last 3 years. Mr. Shaw describes himself, ?As an instructional leader rather then a disciplinarian or general leader at the school. I believe it is very important to be in the clasroom every day, being a part of the learning.? When asked about the core beliefs that drive his leadership Mr. Shaw stated, The number one core belief that has led us to where we are is loving and caring for our children. Sure, we are going to be teaching them, but while we are teaching we are also showing that we care for them. You wil se as you walk around the building today, these children wil hug you al day long. These students work hard because they know that we care for them. Another major core belief that Mr. Shaw shared with me during his interview was, ?You must have a highly qualified talented teacher in every clasroom. Our teachers are some of the absolute best. My teachers are extremely dedicated ? they work hard, whether I am here or not, they just don?t stop.? While discussing core beliefs, Mr. Shaw shared with me that his leadership and the school itself run off of one main belief system. ?The students here are taught imediately that they can learn and learn at a high level. Everyone in this school believes to their core that al children can learn.? 84 Leadership role and behaviors. When I spoke to Mr. Shaw about his leadership role within the school he mentioned that monitoring student progres and teacher instruction were high on his list. ?It?s important to watch the teachers teaching and recognize how the students are engaging and reacting to the leson.? Mr. Shaw rated himself at a higher level than his teachers rated him on the areas of the PIMRS [se Tables 3?12] that directly looked at monitoring student progres and communicating with teacher and students. Mr. Shaw told me that hiring teachers was his most important role as a leader. When I hire teachers I don?t involve the other teachers because I know exactly what I want. I am looking for the compasion and love for children as wel as someone who is compasionate. Al my teachers are so much more than just clasroom teachers. They are nurses, mothers, and mentors to these children 8 hours a day, every day. These qualities come across in an interview. I usualy know imediately whether this candidate wil fit in and met the high expectations that this school requires. As an instructional leader, Mr. Shaw also mentioned the importance of knowing and coordinating the vertical and horizontal alignment of the curriculum. The PIMRS showed that Mr. Shaw rated himself lower than his teachers perceived him in the area of coordinating curriculum. While walking around the school I asked Mr. Shaw about how he sets his leadership priorities. Mr. Shaw replied, Priorities must be set by the individual needs of the students. Usualy these needs are found in the data that we go over every wek. We addres each student, one by one to ensure they are al being pushed and on grade level. None of the teachers here teach their clas, they teach every student. They truly understand the meaning of mastery teaching. No one fals behind here if we can help it. 85 Organizational structures. The organizational structure that I felt was most obvious as I observed for the day at Pine Hil Elementary was the school culture and climate. Everything sems to be centered on a love of children first and foremost. When asked about this culture, Mr. Shaw stated, I know that al teachers care, but this is to high level of caring. It is a very close community inside and outside the school. Many times we wil know about what problems are going on in the community and are able to help our children deal with those chalenges in a way that it doesn?t interfere with their learning. It actualy helps the students get to a place where they can learn because they fel safe and loved here. Another organizational structure that was noticeable as I sat and observed in clasrooms was the constant presence of student data driving instruction. ?We use it al the time, commented Mr. Shaw. We have wekly data grade level metings where we look at many sources of data. Our students are asesed about every other wek. This provides my teachers with data that realy shows how they are doing teaching the material. This data is looked at and evaluated to se what each individual student needs. Data drives every academic decision we make here. Being a data rich school is something that has to be led, it is hard work. I asked Mr. Shaw his thoughts on how it became a part of the culture at Pine Hil. ?I believe that it is crucial that the leader of the school supports and recognizes the importance of data. It is a lot of work for these teachers to ases and then go through the data and evaluate where they are strong, weak.? Mr. Shaw continued, ?The leader must embrace this practice and make it a part of the high expectations and climate of the school.? 86 Leadership belief system. Mr. Shaw and I observed students interacting for a while in the cafeteria during lunch. While we were observing I asked him about other beliefs that he felt drove student achievement. Mr. Shaw commented, When we work we work very, very hard together as a team. However, as a leader I also believe that it is crucial that you also celebrate just as hard as you work. We believe in rewards and incentives here. We celebrate hard here for any acomplishment we can. We provide a token reward system with tickets. Mr. Shaw asked a 2 nd grade student that was eating near us to show me her tickets. The young girls opened her purse and pulled out a hand full of tickets. ?These tickets are given out for the 9 wek period for grades, behavior and other things that students are doing right. My fifth and sixth graders wil bring their tests by my office when they do wel and I wil give them a ticket.? Mr. Shaw thanked the young girl and commented, ? You would be shocked how wel this works for al my students.? Another belief Mr. Shaw shared with me was during a walk around the outside of the building on our way out to observe the PE clas. ?I have loved teaching and learning for my whole life. I think people are born into this career. You just have to have it within you to realy be succesful in this busines. You can?t go into any school and fake your way to succes. Children know if you are real or not, you can?t fool them.? Mr. Shaw stopped for a minute and addresed me further, It takes someone special to teach these students, it is realy hard work that requires long hard hours and you have to wear several diferent types of hats. My teachers are so much more than just deliverers of curriculum. They realy are special people. They al have learned their core beliefs about children and learning by working hard, sometimes failing, 87 but stil doing everything you can to reach every student. I am teling you they are just unbelievable. We continued on to observe the only male teacher on campus, the PE coach. Suport systems. When we returned to Mr. Shaw?s office a halway full of parents who were voluntering their time to help around the school greeted us. ?We have an amazing school community. These parents are always up here. They are so proud of this school and want it to be succesful. Many of the parent and grandparents for that mater went to this school,? commented Mr. Shaw. I continued my discussion with Mr. Shaw and asked him about what support systems he thought the teachers appreciated the most. ?As I said before I am in touch with each of my teacher?s daily, sometimes twice a day to se what they need. They sometimes tel me I am too available to them.? How about the students I asked. ?Another important part of my day though is communicating with the students. Sometimes that is on the playground or in the hal in pasing. Sometimes that?s just a quick hug or a high five. These kids know I care about them here. That is the most important communication that I do,? replied Mr. Shaw. I asked Mr. Shaw if he had any other comments about how he supports this school as a leader that has helped drive the succes here. Mr. Shaw took a minute and replied, ?It?s not that I made changes so much as I made the decision not to make changes because this school is functioning at such a high level.? Mr. Shaw again took a minute to think and started again. ?I know many leaders always have to make their mark or have things their way. I came in to an amazing wel run school. Why would I change that? My job is to maintain the succesful programs, policies and procedures that have made this school great for several years running. I don?t want this school to slip while I am in charge. It is important to understand that this school is much bigger than one or two people. This school is a 88 community and a very succesful one at that. But, it wasn?t me that did that I just ensure it stays that way by continuing what we al know works for these children. Pine Hil Elementary School Summary Pine Hil is a quaint country school with a heart for children. There was no doubt in my mind after spending an entire day with Mr. Shaw and his teachers that Pine Hil Elementary School knows how to do more than create high levels of student achievement, they also know how to love their job while they do it. The family climate and culture of this school is felt imediately upon entering the building and can be felt in every halway and clasroom throughout. Northview Elementary School Northview Elementary School is located in the Redwood Park Subdivision in Fort Wright, Alabama, and encompases kindergarten through grade 5. As I drove around the neighborhood waiting to met Dr. Cole at 7:00 a.m. I couldn?t help but notice that Northview Elementary School was the diamond in what physicaly looked like a rough neighborhood. The houses surrounding Northview are in disrepair and have litle to no efort placed in keeping their yards nice. As you come around the bend and get your first view of the school, it kind of shocks you a litle. The bright green and well-manicured gras semed to glow. The flowers, bushes and landscaping are al obviously done with great care. The large clay flowerpots that line the circle drive give off a great statement about how Dr. Cole wants this building to be sen. The building itself is nothing special. At first it appears to be a typical school built in the 1960s. Upon entering the building the statement that was on the exterior continues on the interior. I have never been in a school that was as clean and polished as Northview. The floors were like mirrors, the wals freshly painted and covered in neat and orderly student displays. There was 89 student work displayed everywhere. The Steven Covey 7 Habits were displayed on very tasteful signs hanging from the ceiling, perfectly hung, centered down the halways. Everything about the interior of this building was as perfect as it could be made. You never felt like you were in an average 50-year-old school building. Dr. Cole has been the principal of Northview Elementary for 12 years. Northview Elementary School was honored in 2003 as Council of Leaders in Alabama Schools Banner School, an honor that only twelve other schools achieved in the state. Northview is one of the top schools in the state of Alabama in terms of the number of teachers who have atained National Board Certification. Presently, there are eleven out of 30 teachers with National Board Certification. Northview Elementary School earned its first Torchbearer status award during the 2010?2011 school year. Northview Elementary serves 476 students, 85% of whom qualify for free or reduced lunch and 78% of whom are identified as having minority status. Leadership at Northview elementary. When I asked Dr. Cole to describe herself as a leader her first response was, ?Big on teamwork, highly energized and want al staf to be enthusiastic about coming to work to give their best to our students.? ?So, how do you model this for your staf?? was my next question for Dr. Cole. ?Work ethic is important for al staff and students, encouraging this work ethic daily is an important part of what we do together. I believe this is our second family and we are to support each other. I am a Type A personality and it sems most of my staf members are as wel,? replied Dr. Cole. I then moved on to question Dr. Cole about her core leadership beliefs that help her lead Northview. Dr. Cole pondered for a second and stated, ?I understand that for a school to be succesful in educating students in a manner that wil enhance student achievement and great character, there must be many leaders within the school. I fel that administrators must show care and respect for al staf 90 members who contribute to ensuring students have the best environment in which to learn.? Dr. Cole then stated, I want to expand that to also include that great expectations for staf members are only as good as the high expectations the administrators set for themselves. Teachers and staf must se that the administrators wil do whatever it takes to support them so that great things can happen at school for students. We have many wonderful leaders in our school in al areas. They are continualy encouraged to be the best they can be for our students.? Leadership role and behaviors. The PIMRS results showed that Dr. Cole and her teachers were in agreement as to her leadership roles and behaviors are at Northview. In nearly al categories Dr. Cole rated herself within a very smal margin of what her teachers rated her. Framing and communicating school goals were both areas of stretch and agreement betwen Dr. Cole and her staf. The supervision of instruction and the coordination of the curriculum were another two areas where the PIMRS showed high and similar scoring. While touring al the clasrooms with Dr. Cole during my visit it was evident that she is the instructional leader of Northview. There was a strong respect for Dr. Cole among her staf; however, Dr. Cole also displayed a strong respect for her staf. There was, however, a clear understanding or expectation that Dr. Cole was in charge. The high expectations were the most evident part of my day at Northview. Every clasroom that we entered teachers were working hard engaging students and students were also working hard. The clasrooms were at the same high level of standard as the halways. Perfection and high expectations were displayed everywhere I went in this building from the staf bathroom to the teacher lounge and in every clasroom. The students that atend Northview are treated to a 50-year-old school that looks beter than brand new. 91 Throughout our time together as we entered clasrooms and spoke with teachers it was obvious that Dr. Cole had the heartbeat of every teacher and every clasroom on campus. She knew every child we came in contact with and could tel you something about them. Dr. Cole?s high expectations are communicated and are evident with the entire school body; however, it was also evident that she holds herself to even a higher standard. Dr. Cole does not rule with an iron fist and shout high expectations; rather she holds herself to high expectations and comes along side everyone else to help them reach a higher level. ?I fel that administrators must show a care and respect for al staf members who contribute to ensuring students have the best environment in which to learn. From the secretaries, to the custodians and CNP staf, to the asistants and teachers, al jobs are important and respected. Great expectations for staf members are only as good as the high expectations the administrators set for themselves,? stated Dr. Cole. Organizational structures. The organizational structure that is predominating throughout Northview is data informed decision-making. ?Al data come to me so that I can monitor and make recommendation also. We are a data-rich school and use data daily, but we don?t take asesments just to be taking asesments. There must be a reason that we are asesing, we must be looking for certain skils,? stated Dr. Cole. I noticed throughout the day as I went from clasroom to clasroom speaking to teachers and students that data fels diferent here. When I spoke to Dr. Cole about this she commented, ?Data is the guiding light at this school. We have several data meting throughout the school year. Each and every child is monitored for progres. We monitor students to ensure they are al progresing, not just the students that are behind.? Dr. Cole said that data here is not just numbers, to them data is a child. We also want to ensure that our more advanced students are also growing and learning. It is amazing to watch the numbers grow as we detail and analyze the data for each 92 student and then put in place our plan for that student,? Dr. Cole continued. ?We also use data in our vertical and horizontal teams here. We look at a student?s portfolio of data from year to year to look for paterns. We do not place children in special ed unles there is a solid patern of a learning disability. Too many students are placed in special ed for the wrong reasons. Another organizational structure that is very evident after being at Northview for one day is the collaborative, smal learning communities. Teachers spend a good deal of time helping other teachers, regardles of grade level. The culture and climate of Northview is warm and friendly with high expectations always present. The diference I fel here is that high expectations are being met in a collaborative friendly spirit. Even the students are a part of the collaboration here. We are working on implanting 7 Habits throughout the curriculum and becoming a leadership school. The students are a huge part of making this happen school-wide. We believe incorporating this into our curriculum wil promote great character traits and continue to promote academic achievement that wil follow the children on to their next level of education.? Leadership belief system. Dr. Cole and I went off campus to have lunch and to continue our discussion. During this discussion I found out more about Dr. Cole?s belief system that drives her leadership at Northview. My parents had to quit school in elementary school to help support their siblings. They brought their three children up with an understanding that education is important. Expectations were always very high and a great work ethic was always a must. They instiled in their children respect for al, regardles of status. Both my parents were at- 93 risk students while in school, but there were a few chosen people in their community who took them to church and showed them a beter way of life. Because of those few, very special people, my parents strived to give their three children a great childhood with high expectations. Dr. Cole continued with this discussion and gave me a glimpse into why Northview looks and fels like it does. I often have wondered what would have happened to me and my brothers had those community members not stepped up and shown my parents a beter way of life. Because of this I encourage my staf to be the best for our students and show our children that they can have a great future. Another belief system that Dr. Cole shared with me is the collaborative spirit that I had felt throughout my time in the school. With the outstanding leaders we have at Northview, I seldom make decisions that are solely based on my opinion or my desires. When we hire new personnel, the people who wil be most directly involved with that new employee wil sit on the hiring commite. Dr. Cole continued, Curriculum decisions should involve input from teachers because they are the experts in their areas and they can give beter perspective of impact. Most of the decisions I make on my own are those decisions that must be made quickly in the area of discipline or safety. Suport systems. ?One of my primary roles is to support my teachers so that they can teach. I can?t hold them to high expectations if I am not wiling to support them so that they can do their job,? stated Dr. Cole. One example of this that Dr. Cole told me about was when she 94 (Dr. Cole) first came to Northview students who misbehaved were placed in halways, unatended with work to do. Dr. Cole told me, The teachers did not have the support from the administration to take care of the disruptive students in the clasroom seting. I told teachers I was there to support their instruction and did not want students placed in the halways. So they were told to send students to me when they became disruptive in clas. I established a detention area in the office. Dr. Cole also spent some time talking to me about her role in supporting students. She mentioned that when she first arrived at Northview there were no awards programs. ?Students needed to be rewarded for academics, atendance, and great behavior. When we first started the award programs very few parents atended.? Dr. Cole continued, ?However, as word spread and parents became more aware of their children receiving awards and acomplishing goals, more parents came to the programs and showed pride in what their children were acomplishing.? When I asked Dr. Cole to expand on how she supports student achievement she said, In a high-risk school, I have high expectations for teachers and staf to use great management skils with students so that we can have a great environment for learning. My staf depends on me to take care of discipline and angry parents; they expect me to support them with great hires, with their input. They expect me to listen to their needs, concerns, and suggestions and folow through when appropriate. Northview Elementary School Summary Northview Elementary school is a haven for students where they are respected, pushed, and loved. The high expectations of Northview principal Dr. Cole have become the mantra of the school. High expectations are reached daily by a network of support from everyone involved 95 in this school. High expectations are just a part of who they are here at Northview; it?s not about hard work. At Northview high expectations are viewed as, How can I help you reach your goals? How can we work together so that we al succed? Dr. Cole has truly developed a winning formula for students, staf, and the parents of the Northview school community. Cross Case Analysis As I reflected on the four days that I spent in these Torchbearer schools, I could not help but marvel at their similarities and diferences, yet all were achieving beyond expectations. They al appear to be wonderful places of learning for the students that atend them. They al appear to have found a winning formula for student achievement. The refreshing part of this is that they al did it using a slightly diferent recipe. Dr. Thomas, principal at Central Elementary, told me that succes can be achieved at any school. ?It is going to be the same ingredients that we have put into the succes recipe here. Now, you may have to mix them a litle diferent to get the results, but the ingredients I am certain are the same.? That statement from Dr. Thomas has stuck with me more than any other comment after conducting the research and reading the results of the surveys. Each of these Torchbearer Schools appears to have found the right ingredients, but they have also found the right way to mix them so that it works wel for their school. School and Communities The statistics and demographic characteristics of the students at each of the four schools are similar; however, the communities they live in are very diferent. Central Elementary School is in an area dominated by urban housing projects. Pine Hil Elementary School is more in the country with quaint countryside homes surrounding it. Dilapidated modular homes populated the area around Black Hils Elementary School. Northview Elementary School is located in an older neighborhood with several homes in disrepair. The most noticeable similarity in the school 96 buildings is the evidence of pride and hard work that has been put into the schools to ensure they are as clean and wel organized as they can be. Each of the Torchbearer Schools have a staf that has taken great strides to ensure their schools were clean, neat, freshly painted, and were great learning environments. The exterior of al of the schools were manicured as best that they could be, with flowers and bushes. Student work adorned the wals of each school. School goals, mision statements and artifacts of student data were highly visible in the halways of al four schools. Aesthetics were noticeably important at each of the Torchbearer schools. Leadership and Teachers While contemplating the diferences and similarities in the demographics of the principals and teachers of the schools, I found that Northview and Central were more similar while Black Hils and Pine Hil more closely resembled each other. Table 1 ilustrates that the teachers at Black Hils and Pine Hil have been with their current principal an average of 2?4 years and that the schools populations are about the same size. As a contrast though, Pine Hil teachers on average have more experience than Black Hils teachers. While Northview and Central teachers have an average length of time with the current principal of 5?9 years, they also share the same average number of years teaching. In terms of diferences, the population size of Northview and Central Elementary Schools are shown in Table 1. 97 Table 1 Demographics of Teachers Demographics Pine Hil Elem. Northview Elem. Central Elem. Black Hils Elem. Number of Teachers 19 34 22 17 Average number of years with curent principal 2?4 years 5?9 years 5?9 years 2?4 years Average number of years teaching 10?15 years 5?9 years 5?9 years 5?9 years Table 2 shows the demographic similarities and diferences of each Torchbearer School principal. Again, the similarities betwen Northview and Central are noticeable. Both principals have their doctorate degree and have been a principal for 15+ years. Dr. Cole and Dr. Thomas have also been at their current school for longer than Mr. Shaw and Ms. Dawson. Similarly, the Pine Hil and Black Hils principals have been at their school 2?4 years and have both earned a masters degree. Mr. Shaw has been a principal a few years more than Ms. Dawson. Table 2 Demographics of Principals Demographics Pine Hil Elem. North View Elem. Central Elem. Black Hils Elem. Number of years principal of curent schol 3 years 12 years 8 years 3 years Number of years principal experience 5 years 15 years 15 years 2 years Highest Degre Earned Masters Doctorate Doctorate Masters 98 Leadership Roles and Behaviors The PIMRS showed similarities in self-asesment and teacher perception betwen Northview?s principal, Dr. Cole, and Central?s principal, Dr. Thomas. Both principals rated themselves at the highest level in most areas on the PIMRS that dealt with leadership roles and behaviors. The teachers in each of these schools agreed with their principal in these areas and also rated them very highly. While visiting each of these principals I observed that both of these leaders were strong and confident with their role and clear about what leadership behaviors they wanted to exhibit. Neither principal appears to be narcisistic; rather they appear to be very confident and asured of who they are and how they lead. They are both apparently comfortable in the ?Chief Learning Oficer? position as Dr. Thomas describes it. In contrast, Mr. Shaw and Ms. Dawson present a diferent leadership style or role within their schools. While visiting both these principals they demonstrated a more outwardly servant leadership style (Winston, 2005). The PIMRS clearly showed that on the self-asesment in these areas Mr. Shaw frequently rated himself at a higher level than how his teachers perceived him. The PIMRS showed the opposite for Ms. Dawson. Many times she rated herself at a lower level than her teachers did. This confidence level was evident in both interviews. Ms. Dawson considers herself as one of the teachers in many ways and does not fel as comfortable being the ?boss? as she does being a ?hands-on? principal that is ready to support and lend a hand. Mr. Shaw came across more comfortable with his traditional leadership role; however, he stil wants to maintain a more hands-on approachable leadership style with his teachers. Organizational Structures There are more similarities in the organizational systems across al four schools than in any other area, especialy in ways that support the data informed decision-making culture in each 99 school. Teachers and leaders at each of the four schools stated that they embrace this type of data informed decision-making. Just being in these schools is enough to se the data-rich culture and variety of behaviors that support that culture. After the conversations I had with teachers, staf, and the principals, data was clearly at the heart of each of these schools. Al of the schools were beyond just collecting and looking at data; these schools analyzed, and use this data to inform instructional decision making on a daily basis. These schools also diferentiate instruction for each and every student based on what they observe and what the data tels them. Data is used to inform instructional decisions rather than using it only for summative asesment of annual progres. Table 3 Frame the School Goals Frame the School Goals Pine Hil Elem. Mean Score Teach/Princ Northview Elem. Mean Score Teach/Princ Central Elem. Mean Score Teach/Princ Black Hils Elem. Mean Score Teach/Princ 1. Develops a focused set of anual schol- wide goals. 4.9/5.0 4.9/5.0 4.9/5.0 4.8/4.0 2. Frames the schol?s goals in terms of staf responsibilities for meting them. 4.8/4.0 4.8/5.0 4.9/5.0 4.8/4.0 3. Uses neds asesments or other formal and informal methods to secure staf input on goal development. 4.9/5.0 4.6/4.0 5/5.0 4.9/4.0 4. Uses data on student performance when developing the school?s academic goals. 4.9/5.0 4.9/5.0 5/5.0 4.9/4.0 5. Develops goals that are easily understod and used by teachers in the schol. 4.8/5.0 4.8/5.0 4.8/5.0 4.8/4.0 Note. 5 = Almost Always, 4 = Frequently, 3 = Sometimes, 2 = Seldom, 1 = Almost Never 100 Table 4 Communicate School Goals Comunicate the Schol Goals Pine Hil Elem. Mean Score Teach/Princ Northview Elem. Mean Score Teach/Princ Central Elem. Mean Score Teach/Princ Black Hils Elem. Mean Score Teach/Princ 6. Comunicate the schol?s mission effectively to members of the schol comunity 4.8/5 4.8/5 4.8/4 4.9/4 7. Discus the schol?s academic goals with teachers at faculty meetings 4.8/5 4.9/5 4.8/4 5/5 8. Refer to the schol?s academic goals when making curicular decisions with teachers 4.9/5 4.9/5 4.9/5 4.9/5 9. Ensure that the schol?s academic goals are reflected in highly visible displays in the school (e.g., posters or bulletin boards emphasizing academic progress) 4.3/4 4.6/5 4.9/5 4.7/3 10. Refer to the schol?s goals or mision in forums with students (e.g., in asemblies or discusions) 4.2/5 4.6/5 4.7/4 4.7/4 Note. 5 = Almost Always, 4 = Frequently, 3 = Sometimes, 2 = Seldom, 1 = Almost Never 101 Table 5 Supervise and Evaluate Instruction Supervise and Evaluate Instruction Pine Hil Elem. Mean Score Teach/Princ Northview Elem. Mean Score Teach/Princ Central Elem. Mean Score Teach/Princ Black Hils Elem. Mean Score Teach/Princ 11. Ensure that the clasroom priorities of teachers are consistent with the goals and direction of the school 4.9/5 4.7/5 4.9/4 4.8/4 12. Review student work products when evaluating clasroom instruction 4.4/5 4.2/4 4.8/5 4.6/4 13. Conduct informal observations in clasrooms on a regular basis (informal observations are unscheduled, last at least 5 minutes, and may or may not involve writen fedback or a formal conference) 4.3/5 4.4/4 4.4/4 4.7/4 14. Point out specific strengths in teacher's instructional practices in post- observation fedback (e.g., in conferences or writen evaluations) 4.4/4 4.6/5 4.2/4 4.6/4 15. Point out specific weakneses in teacher instructional practices in post- observation fedback (e.g., in conferences or writen evaluations) 4.1/4 4.8/5 4.4/4 4.7/4 Note. 5 = Almost Always, 4 = Frequently, 3 = Sometimes, 2 = Seldom, 1 = Almost Never 102 Table 6 Coordinate the Curriculum Coordinate the Curriculum Pine Hil Elem. Mean Score Teach/Princ Northview Elem. Mean Score Teach/Princ Central Elem. Mean Score Teach/Princ Black Hils Elem. Mean Score Teach/Princ 16. Make clear who is responsible for coordinating the curiculum acros grade levels (e.g., the principal, vice principal, or teacher-leaders) 4.5/4 4.7/5 4.7/5 4.8/4 17. Draw upon the results of schol-wide testing when making curicular decisions 4.9/5 4.9/5 4.9/5 4.9/5 18. Monitor the clasrom curiculum to se that it covers the schol?s curicular objectives 4.5/4 4.4/5 4.7/5 4.7/4 19. Asses the overlap between the schol?s curicular objectives and the school?s achievement tests 4.8/4 4.7/4 4.7/5 4.7/4 20. Participate actively in the review of curicular materials 4.3/4 4.4/4 4.7/5 4.6/4 Note. 5 = Almost Always, 4 = Frequently, 3 = Sometimes, 2 = Seldom, 1 = Almost Never 103 Table 7 Monitor Student Progres Note. 5 = Almost Always, 4 = Frequently, 3 = Sometimes, 2 = Seldom, 1 = Almost Never Monitor student progres Pine Hil Elem. Mean Score Teach/Princ Northview Elem. Mean Score Teach/Princ Central Elem. Mean Score Teach/Princ Black Hils Elem. Mean Score Teach/Princ 21. Meet individualy with teachers to discuss student progres 4.5/5 4.2/4 4.5/5 4.8/4 22. Discus academic performance results with the faculty to identify curicular strengths and weaknesses 4.7/5 4.7/5 4.6/4 4.9/4 23. Use tests and other performance measure to ases progres toward schol goals 4.9/5 4.7/5 4.9/5 5/5 24. Inform teachers of the schol?s performance results in written form (e.g., in a memo or newsleter) 4.8/5 4.6/5 4.9/4 4.9/5 25. Inform students of schols academic progres 4.6/5 4.5/5 4.9/4 4.7/4 104 Table 8 Protect Instructional Time Protect Instructional Time Pine Hil Elem. Mean Score Teach/Princ Northview Elem. Mean Score Teach/Princ Central Elem. Mean Score Teach/Princ Black Hils Elem. Mean Score Teach/Princ 26. Limit interuptions of instructional time by public address announcements 4.5/5 4.3/5 5/5 4.7/4 27. Ensure that students are not caled to the office during instructional time 4.1/4 4.2/4 4.7/5 4.1/4 28. Ensure that tardy and truant students sufer specific consequences for mising instructional time 3.5/5 4.2/3 4.6/5 3.5/3 29. Encourage teachers to use instructional time for teaching and practicing new skills and concepts 4.8/5 4.8/4 4.9/5 4.8/4 30. Limit the intrusion of extra- and co- curicular activities on instructional time 4.4/5 4.5/4 4.8/5 4.4/4 Note. 5 = Almost Always, 4 = Frequently, 3 = Sometimes, 2 = Seldom, 1 = Almost Never 105 Table 9 Maintain High Visibility Maintain High Visibility Pine Hil Elem. Mean Score Teach/Princ Northview Elem. Mean Score Teach/Princ Central Elem. Mean Score Teach/Princ Black Hils Elem. Mean Score Teach/Princ 31. Take time to talk informaly with students and teachers during reces and breaks 4.7/5 3.9/4 4.5/5 4.4/4 32. Visit clasrooms to discuss school isues with teachers and students 4.6/5 4.1/4 4.1/4 4.7/4 33. Atend/participate in extra- and co- curicular activities 4.7/5 4.5/5 4.5/3 4.8/5 34. Cover clases for teachers until a late or substitute teacher arives 4.4/5 3.8/5 3.9/5 4.6/3 35. Tutor students or provide direct instruction to clases 3.9/5 2.6/3 3.6/3 4.3/3 Note. 5 = Almost Always, 4 = Frequently, 3 = Sometimes, 2 = Seldom, 1 = Almost Never 106 Table 10 Provide Incentives for Teachers Provide Incentives for Teachers Pine Hil Elem. Mean Score Teach/Princ Northview Elem. Mean Score Teach/Princ Central Elem. Mean Score Teach/Princ Black Hils Elem. Mean Score Teach/Princ 36. Reinforce superior performance by teachers in staf meetings, newsleters, and/or memos 4.4/4 4.4/5 4.5/5 4.8/3 37. Compliment teachers privately for their eforts or performance 4.6/4 4.2/5 4.1/5 4.6/3 38. Acknowledge teachers? exceptional performance by writing memos for their personnel files 3.8/4 3.7/4 3.8/4 4.3/3 39. Reward special eforts by teachers with opportunities for profesional recognition 4.2/4 4.3/5 4.1/4 4.4/4 40. Create profesional growth opportunities for teachers as a reward for special contributions to the schol 4.3/4 4.3/5 4/4 4.8/4 Note. 5 = Almost Always, 4 = Frequently, 3 = Sometimes, 2 = Seldom, 1 = Almost Never 107 Table 11 Promoting Profesional Development Promote Profesional Development Pine Hil Elem. Mean Score Teach/Princ Northview Elem. Mean Score Teach/Princ Central Elem. Mean Score Teach/Princ Black Hils Elem. Mean Score Teach/Princ 41. Ensure that inservice activities attended by staf are consistent with the schol?s goals 4.7/5 4.8/5 4.9/4 4.8/4 42. Actively support the use in the clasroom of skils acquired during inservice training 4.7/4 4.7/5 4.8/4 4.8/4 43. Obtain the participation of the whole staf in important inservice activities 4.6/4 4.7/4 4.7/4 4.7/4 44. Lead or atend teacher inservice activities concerned with instruction 4.6/4 4.7/5 4.5/5 4.7/4 45. Set aside time at faculty metings for teachers to share ideas or information from inservice activities 4.4/4 4.6/5 4.3/5 4.8/4 Note. 5 = Almost Always, 4 = Frequently, 3 = Sometimes, 2 = Seldom, 1 = Almost Never 108 Table 12 Provides Incentives for Learning Provides Incentives for Learning Pine Hil Elem. Mean Score Teach/Princ Northview Elem. Mean Score Teach/Princ Central Elem. Mean Score Teach/Princ Black Hils Elem. Mean Score Teach/Princ 46. Recognize students who do superior work with formal rewards such as an honor rol or mention in the principal? newsleter 4.6/5 5/5 4.9/5 4.9/5 47. Use asemblies to honor students for academic accomplishments or for behavior or citizenship 4.3/4 4.9/5 4.7/5 5/5 48. Recognize superior student achievement or improvement by seing in the office the students with their work 4.5/5 4.8/5 4.7/5 4.7/4 49. Contact parents to comunicate improved or exemplary student performance or contributions 4.3/4 4.1/4 4.7/4 4.7/3 50. Suport teachers actively in their recognition and/or reward of student contributions to and accomplishments in class 4.6/5 4.6/5 4.6/4 4.9/4 Note. 5 = Almost Always, 4 = Frequently, 3 = Sometimes, 2 = Seldom, 1 = Almost Never Mastery teaching was a standard in these schools. While I was visiting clasrooms I asked the teachers about the dificulty of geting through their yearly curriculum. Several of the teachers stated that it was easier to acomplish more in their school because of the high expectations even with the extra time that it takes to teach to mastery. Also, a Central Elementary school teacher stated, 109 When al grade levels are teaching to mastery, you don?t have to spend as much time reviewing past concepts. You also don?t have the variation of skil levels in each clas like I have had in other schools. It was not common for me to have some students in my last school that were two grade levels behind and some others that were a grade level ahead. It is so dificult to teach to that many diferent levels. Another leading organizational structure within these four Torchbearer schools was the emphasis on collaborative smal learning communities. Teachers work together verticaly throughout the grade levels and horizontaly across the grade levels. As shown in Table 6 the PIMRS showed strong clarity numbers across the board on coordinating the curriculum. Central Elementary teachers met twice a wek to collaborate and the other schools have teachers collaborate wekly together. While visiting each of the schools however, I noticed that there were several teachers collaborating on their own time outside of the official collaborative metings. The teachers in al of these schools do not question this collaboration rather, they demand it. A teacher from Black Hils Elementary stated, ?These teachers have discovered the value of working together to reach children and would have a hard time teaching without collaborating now that we se the value of it.? Another organizational structure that sems to encompas al four of these schools is the culture of high expectations and the climate that nurtures children. Al four of these schools maintain high expectations across the board for each and every employee and student. The mantra of high expectations does not stop with the teachers; each of the principals holds themself to a very high standard. Each principal?s work ethic and dedication to their school was more than evident soon after entering their school. Al four principals appear to model the profesionalism and behaviors that they want to se throughout their school. 110 Leadership Belief Systems Frequent monitoring of student work and teacher instruction are two areas where al four schools rated their principal high on the PIMRS. The principals also rated themselves high in these areas on their PIMRS self-asesment (se Table 5 and Table 7). Al four principals mentioned that these two areas were a part of their belief system that they felt help lead their students? achievement. In contrast, as I spent time in the schools, I could tel that Mr. Shaw and Dr. Thomas spent les time monitoring in the clasroom. They monitored instruction and student work more through metings and quick clasroom visits. Dr. Cole and Ms. Dawson spent more time in the clasrooms observing. Ms. Dawson spent the most time in clasrooms not just observing, but actively being a part of the clasroom environment. Teachers stated that Ms. Dawson many times lead smal groups for math and reading instruction. Ms. Dawson also worked with individual students that needed further remediation. Another belief system I found strong evidence of during my visits was that al four principals used some type of distributive leadership model. Each used the model to varying degrees, but they al appear to believe in sharing leadership and developing teacher leaders. Dr. Thomas used this model to a high degree; her grade level subject experts were an example of shared leadership. These grade level experts were trained by Dr. Thomas to lead and mentor other teachers. They were trained to know and understand al of Dr. Thomas? expectations. Dr. Cole was further down the spectrum in this area. She definitely used shared leadership while developing the school?s vision and when creating annual school goals. Dr. Cole had teacher leaders that she shared leadership with and they helped guide the school, but Dr. Cole semed to be more comfortable holding the leadership reins a litle tighter than Dr. Thomas. I noticed this while visiting and also through conversations with her teachers. At Central Elementary the 111 teachers had more autonomy to make decision without Dr. Thomas present. However, Dr. Cole liked everything to be cleared through her before teachers made decisions. The teachers at Central Elementary semed to have a firm understanding of what Dr. Thomas would suggest without her even being at the meting. Dr. Cole?s teachers semed more resistant to making decisions without her present. Pine Hils teachers semed to share a good amount of leadership within the building. After conversations with individual teachers during my visit and my own observations, it appears that the teachers at Pine Hil have more leadership than Mr. Shaw recognizes. Mr. Shaw was very complimentary of his teachers and how hard they work for the students at Pine Hil; however he kept an ?I am in charge? atitude during our interview. Ms. Dawson ranked closer to Dr. Thomas on using shared leadership based on the PIMRS results. Ms. Dawson?s ?hand?s on? approach alowed for a good amount of teacher leadership to develop. Throughout my time in the clasrooms at Black Hils my conversations with teachers led me to believe that they al have some leadership role within the school. The demands of being a principal can be overwhelming. As a principal myself I know that there is plenty that can keep you busy and trap you in your office al day if you are not adamant about seting and sticking with your priorities. Al four principals rated themselves high on the PIRMS for keeping a high level of visibility during the school day. After my observations and my conversations with teachers at al four schools, I would also rate al four of them high in this area. Being visible to the students and staf appears to be important to each of these Torchbearer principals. Another area I would rank al four principals high in is in creating incentives for learning by having student celebrations for achievement. Each of the four schools that I visited not only have regular celebrations and award/honor nights, they also celebrate student succes by visuals 112 al over the school. The halways in these schools are filed with student work, awards and acomplishments. The morning announcements at each of the schools on the day I was visiting mentioned some type of student celebration or student achievement. Al four schools made learning atractive and fun. Suport Systems Al four leaders acknowledged the importance of having strong relationships with the community. However, after my visits and during the interviews it became clear that Pine Hil and Black Hils Elementary have a much diferent type of relationship with their community than does Northview and Central Elementary. At Pine Hil and Black Hils Elementary the community is a partner in education, with parents, grandparents, and other community members spending many hours at the school supporting what the principal and teachers do every day. The communities at these two schools want to be actively involved in their child?s education proces. Contrasting that would be Northview and Central Elementary schools. Both schools have a good relationship with the community as stakeholders. The community in both of these schools was consistently made to fel welcome at school. However, the community takes a more hands-off approach compared to Pine Hil and Black Hils. At Northview and Central the community may come to the awards night or to the holiday program, but you are not going to se many voluntering their time to help in the cafeteria or front office. You are not going to se them in the library reading to children, but at Pine Hil and Black Hils you would. Profesional Development One of the most interesting commonalities I found at al four schools was that even though they al rank very high on al State and National standardized tests, none of the schools focus on them as the important end result. Each of the principals made a statement during my 113 visits that they are a necesary evil, but they are a smal part of what influences what goes on in the clasroom. Al four schools focus more on covering the state and national core standards and analyzing data from their own asesments. Dr. Cole commented, We are much more interested in mastery teaching and ensuring that each student learns and retains what they need to go on to the next grade level. If you are doing that, then your students wil always do wel on the standardized tests. Another area where there semed to be a spilt betwen schools was in the area of profesional development. Al four schools have profesional development; however, it is more of a priority focus at Northview and Central Elementary. In fact, profesional development was barely mentioned at Pine Hil or at Black Hils Elementary. Ms. Dawson mentions some profesional development during her interview, but at neither school did it sem like a priority of the principal. At Northview and Central Elementary profesional development was mentioned several times and I was able to witnes during both visits embedded profesional development taking place during the school day. Interestingly on the PIRMS, as shown in Table 11, almost across the board al teachers rated their principal at a higher level than the principals rated themselves in the area of profesional development. Summary In today?s education world of high stakes tests and acountability Northview Elementary, Central Elementary, Pine Hil Elementary, and Black Hils Elementary appear to be seting a standard for excelence. I believe that any school that is achieving at the levels that these four schools are achieving should be geting national atention and should be considered a model school. However, these four schools are not just achieving at high levels; they are dispeling the myths about poverty and minority students not being able to learn. They are proving that not 114 only can these children learn, but they can learn at high levels. Teachers and leaders at each of the four schools appear to know, understand, and incorporate the necesary ingredients that it takes for al students to be succesful regardles of socio-economic status or ethnicity. Each of these four Torchbearer Schools has several commonalities while also being uniquely diferent. The principals of al four schools appear to have found just the right mixture of these necesary ingredients to help drive their student achievement levels beyond the majority of schools across the state. Each principal has demonstrated and incorporated organizational structures that includes using data decision making, smal learning communities for teachers, and have created a culture within the school of high expectations for everyone. Each of the four principals demonstrated their role as instructional leaders in the school, albeit in diferent ways. Developing teacher leaders, ensuring vertical/horizontal alignment of the curriculum, recruiting and retaining highly qualified teachers, and using a distributive leadership model are al leadership roles and behaviors that these principal believe in and practice. The belief systems these principals operated from include ensuring that there is a shared vision for the school and that al teachers have a voice. They had a belief that frequent monitoring of clasroom instruction is vital to student succes. They also frequently monitored student progres on an individual basis to ensure instruction is efective in al clasrooms. However at the core of each of these principals is a belief that al children are special, have something to give, and deserve the opportunity to learn and grow. Chapter five presents a discusion about the findings, implications for practice, and recommendation areas for further research. Chapter five also presents discussion focused around areas for school leaders, policy makers and principal preparation programs to consider. 115 CHAPTER V. SUMARY OF FINDINGS Introduction In our current acountability climate, school leaders are being chalenged to lead their school to perform wel on high stakes tests. Schools with high poverty levels or high minority levels are not exempt from this mandated acountability. The Torchbearer Schools in Alabama serve as examples of schools that have met this chalenge with much succes. The four schools studied in this research?Northview Elementary, Central Elementary, Pine Hil Elementary, and Black Hils Elementary Schools (pseudonyms)?are seting a standard for excelence not just in Alabama, but also across the nation (Alabama Leadership Academy, 2009). However, these four schools are not just achieving at high levels; they are dispeling the myths about poverty and minority students not being able to learn at high levels. This chapter presents a discussion of the findings, implications for practice, and recommendations for further research. In this chapter is also discussion focused on areas of consideration for school leaders, policy makers, and principal preparation programs. Discusion of Findings After analyzing the data and field notes from this study I found several key findings that appear to be part of the succesful recipe that these four schools have used to create student succes. Examining the similarities and diferences in these high performing high poverty schools led me to a beter understanding of the types of leadership, structures, support systems, and practices that promote high levels of learning for al students at these schools. 116 The statistics and demographics of the students that atend these four schools are similar. A high minority and poverty rate can be found at each of these schools; however, the community where each school is located is distinctly diferent. Black Hils Elementary and Pine Hil Elementary are rural schools. Northview Elementary School is a suburban school located in an older subdivision. Central Elementary School is considered an urban school and is located in a dilapidated neighborhood. Children living in urban, rural, and suburban areas can al face the same chalenges such as unstable homes, non-supportive parents, and low expectations. These Torchbearer Schools are proving that children in al types of setings can overcome chalenges and be succesful learners. Leadership and Teachers The leadership styles of each of the principals in this study have several commonalities; yet also difer in key ways. A focus on distributive and instructional leadership styles were found at al four schools; however, leadership was not operationalized the same in each school. While each principal embraced these two leadership styles, each principal used the models to varying degrees. Al of the principals espoused belief in and placed emphasis on sharing leadership and developing teacher leaders while also being directly involved with the instruction of students. Sahin (2011) stated that a true instructional leader believes that student learning and the instructional quality of a school are the top priorities, while everything else revolves around the enhancement of learning. During my visits to the schools, instructional leadership was evident in al four schools. To be credible as an instructional leader, the principal should also be a practicing teacher (Fancera & Blis, 2011). Each of the four principals considered themselves to be practicing teachers, and each was concerned with the quality of daily instruction for students. Instructional leadership at two of the schools was very hands-on with the principal in 117 the clasroom supporting the teacher and sometimes co-teaching the leson. The other two principals used a more meting-focused instructional leadership model. These principals discussed, analyzed, and worked with teachers on instructional strategies for their clasroom to beter reach students. Communication takes places across grade levels and teaching areas, verticaly and horizontaly (Kannapel & Clements, 2005) in these HPHP schools. Data and instruction were discussed across grade levels during collaborative metings with the principal. During my visits to the schools it was apparent that both models alowed the principal to have a first hand knowledge of daily student instruction and student progres in the clasroom. Leadership Behaviors and Roles The behaviors and roles of each of the four principals in this study were observable and wel defined. Interestingly, the similarities and diferences betwen each principal?s roles and behaviors were split among the four principals in this study. Two of the principals played similar roles and displayed similar leadership behaviors while the other two principals demonstrated similar roles and behaviors. The results of the Principal Instructional Management Rating Scale (PIMRS) data clearly showed the similarities in the principal self-asesment and the teacher perceptions of the roles and behaviors of their principal. The PIMRS ilustrated similarities in the principal self-assessment and the teacher perceptions in regards to leadership behaviors and the role of each of the four principals in this study. During my visits to these schools I found that I was able to confirm through observation what the PIMRS data revealed. The teachers and principals at Northview and Central Elementary Schools consistently indicated the highest levels on the PIMRS in the area of leadership roles and behavior. During my visits to these two schools I also observed that each principal was very confident and asured in their role as the school leader. Dr. Cole and Dr. Thomas, the principals in these schools, have both 118 asumed the role of chief learning officer (Fullan, 2006) at their school. Their role is clearly felt throughout the building and they appear to embrace the responsibilities asociated with their roles. The leadership behaviors that Dr. Cole and Dr. Thomas exhibited are consistent with their role as a strong, confident, decision maker. Their behavior is congruent with someone that has a clear understanding of where they are going and how they are going to get there. While both leaders are friendly, approachable, and espouse a shared leadership style, they are clearly in the drivers seat. In contrast, Mr. Shaw and Ms. Dawson, the principals at Pine Hil and Black Hils Elementary Schools, asume a very diferent leadership role within their buildings. Each of these two principals demonstrates a more servant leadership role and related behaviors. Mr. Shaw and Ms. Dawson consider themselves to be ?hands-on? leaders. During my interviews with both principals the confidence level that each displayed was much les about their own leadership than it was about having confidence in their teaching staf. The PIMRS data and field notes both suggest that neither principal takes much credit for student succes within their school, but rather emphasize that teachers deserve the credit. Teachers at these two schools view the principals more as a team member and as supportive of teachers in the clasroom. In contrast, at Northview and Central Elementary Schools the principals are viewed more by teachers as the leaders of instruction and the decision makers of the school. Dr. Cole and Dr. Thomas are quick to give the credit to their teachers for student succes; however, they make it known that they play a large role as wel in student succes. There were two leadership beliefs that were consistent in each principal interview. The first belief is that al children can learn. Two of the principals took that statement a step further by expresing that they believe that al children can learn at high levels. A second belief that came out in each principal interview was the importance of developing a culture of high 119 expectations. One of the common threads that runs through every research study ever done on high performing-high poverty schools is evidence of a climate of high expectations (Anderson, 2005; Chenoweth, 2007; Haycock, 2001; Izumi, 2002; Johnson & Asera, 1999; Kannapel & Clements, 2005; Picucci, Brownson, Rahel & Sobel, 2002; Ragland, 2002). These four Torchbearer Schools are no diferent. Al four schools share a culture of high expectations for every student, for every staf member, and for the leaders. Much of the research on HPHP schools has concluded that a culture of high expectations is absolutely necesary and often is the dominant theme in these schools (Carter, 2000; Chenoweth, 2007; Kannapel & Clements, 2005). Many researchers have even stated that high expectations are what make high performance possible in a high poverty community (Anderson, 2005; Chenoweth, 2007; Kannapel & Clements, 2005; Ragland, 2002). Students in al four of these Torchbearer Schools experience and are held to high expectations. Being at your best and doing your best is emphasized daily in al activities and events at these schools. During my visits to these schools I was able to observe students encouraging other students to be at their best in addition to hearing teachers encouraging other teachers. I also observed teachers training students on this practice by prompting students to encourage each other. Teachers expresed the importance of encouraging others to do their best and complimenting each other for a job wel done. I observed teachers in the halway, clasroom, in the car line and on the playground working with students on this positive encouragement behavior. Dr. Thomas stated, ?This type of culture must be grown and practiced; children do not do this naturaly.? Organizational Structures The organizational structure that drives each of the four schools was another dominant similarity among the schools. The similarities in al four schools were clearly evident from both 120 the PIMRS data and from my field data. Decision-making, high-level instruction, team planning and collaboration are just a few of the similarities that can be found at each of the four schools. However, nothing was more evident within al four of these schools than the culture of using data to drive academic decision-making. Personnel at al four schools regularly analyze and use data to drive instruction on a daily basis. These schools also diferentiate instruction for each and every student based on what teachers observe and what the data tels them. Data is used to inform instructional decisions rather than using it for summative asesment of annual progres. Data are not only used daily; they are used multiple times a day in some cases. It is evident that data drives remediation and enrichment in al of these schools as it is needed. Teachers are trained to analyze and understand what the data and numbers mean and that they have to be addresed. Teachers look at their student data as a guide to how wel they taught their students, not as an indication of how inteligent their students are. The responsibility of student learning is squarely on the shoulders of the teachers and the principal. I observed teachers in al four schools collaborating to find ways to reach their students. They work together to support each other and to find ways to help other teachers teach their students. In these schools students do not belong to just one teacher; they belong to the whole school. Teachers and administrators take shared responsibility for raising each student?s achievement level. Mastery teaching is another commonality in these Torchbearer Schools. While I was visiting clasrooms, several teachers mentioned the importance of ensuring mastery of curriculum. The teachers emphasized the importance that al students master the standards. In al four schools the teachers worked under the operationalized belief that it was their job to ensure that every student understood the standards and content before moving on to the next grade level. I asked the teachers about the dificulty of geting through their yearly curriculum. 121 Several of the teachers stated that it was easier to acomplish more in their school because of the high expectations even with the extra time that it takes to teach to mastery. Another interesting commonality I found at al four schools was that even though they al rank very high on al state and national standardized tests, they do not focus on them as the important end result. Al four principals made a similar statement during my visit that these tests are a necesary evil, but they are more focused on covering the state and national core standards and analyzing data from their own asesments. For example, Dr. Thomas stated, ?Students wil do wel on standardized tests as long as teachers are teaching to mastery on the standards.? Another leading organizational structure within these Torchbearer Schools is the emphasis on collaborative smal learning communities. Teachers in al four schools collaborate both within their grade level and across the grade levels. Teachers at these schools have discovered the value of working together to reach children and would likely have a hard time teaching without collaborating now that we se the value of it. Each school had set times during the day and wek for collaboration; however, many teachers also collaborated outside of that time. Suport Systems Support systems were another area where there was a diferentiation among betwen the four schools. The support systems used in these four Torchbearer Schools are similar, but there are some key diferences at each of the schools. Each of the four Torchbearer principals acknowledged the importance of having strong relationships with the community. Two of the schools have the community identified as a partner in education based on the level of support they receive. Parents, grandparents, and other community members spend many hours at the school supporting what the principal and teachers do every day. These parents and grandparents 122 want to be actively involved in the educational proces. In contrast, the other two schools both appear to have a good relationship with the community as stakeholders. While community members are made to fel welcome at school, the community appears to take a more hands-off approach in the day-to-day work of the school. These communities of these two schools may come out to the awards night or to the holiday program, but few if any community members volunter their time at the school. Interestingly the two schools with high parent involvement were the two schools located in rural areas and are led by a principal with a servant leadership style. The two schools with low parent involvement were located in urban and suburban areas and the principals use a leadership style that parents may find les approachable. Another area where there semed to be a diference betwen schools was in the area of profesional development. Al four schools offer profesional development; however, it is more of a priority at two of the schools than at the others. In fact, profesional development was barely mentioned at Northview Elementary and Pine Hil Elementary Schools. Profesional development was mentioned several times during my visit and during the principal interviews at Central Elementary and Black Hils Elementary Schools. I was able to witnes embedded profesional development taking place during the school day during both visits. Interestingly on the PIRMS, as sen in Table 11, nearly al teachers in al four schools rated their principal at a higher level than the principals rated themselves in the area of profesional development. Significance of Study The significance of this study goes back to a quote from Dr. Thomas, Central Elementary principal: 123 Succes can be achieved at any school. It is going to be the same ingredients that we have put into the succes recipe here. Now, you may have to mix them a litle diferent to get the results, but the ingredients I am certain are the same. While reflecting on the data, field notes, literature review, and my own experiences visiting these schools, this quote sems to capture the most important finding from this study. Succes can be achieved at any school as long as the right ingredients are embedded. It is no secret that research has found over and over again best practices for teaching children. Highly qualified teachers and a highly qualified instructional leader that uses a distributive/shared leadership model are consistently found at high performing schools. Teacher collaboration, data driven decision- making and a strong relationship with the community have also proven to be present in high performing schools. The significance of this study is that the ingredients that are found throughout the literature and nationwide in high performing schools are also the backbone of each of the Torchbearer Schools in this study. Highly Qualified Teachers Each of the four principals in this study unanimously agreed on the importance of high quality teachers. Teachers are able to significantly influence student achievement (Rivkin, Hanushek & Kain, 2005; Rockoff, 2004; Sanders & Rivers, 1996). ?You must have a highly qualified talented teacher in every clasroom. Our teachers are some of the absolute best,? stated Mr. Shaw, Pine Hils Elementary School principal. Aaronson, Barrow and Sander (2007) report that there is a separation in the efectivenes betwen the bottom and top quartile of teachers that equals a .33 standard deviation diference in student achievement gains over the term of one school year. When asked her most important role as a principal, Central Elementary School principal Dr. Thomas said without hesitation, ?Hiring Teachers! It?s al about the quality of 124 teacher in the clasroom.? Sanders and Rivers (1996) stated that there is up to a 50-percentile improvement in student achievement depending on teacher quality. They also stated that these improvements are additive and cumulative over subsequent teachers. The importance of highly qualified teachers is evident both in the literature and also in my field observations in these Torchbearer Schools. Dr. Cole, principal of Northview Elementary School, stated, ?It al starts with ensuring that every child in every clas has a high quality teacher.? Highly Qualified Instructional Leader Al four Torchbearer principals in this study referred to themselves as instructional leaders. Instructional leadership has been defined as a deeper involvement into the teaching and learning, or the core busines of schooling (Sahin, 2011). A true instructional leader believes that student learning and the instructional quality of a school is the top priority (Sahin, 2011). The daily routine of an instructional leader involves working with teachers directly on teaching strategies, disecting student data, and working directly with remedial programs to raise student achievement. Ms. Dawson, Black Hils Elementary School principal, stated that she spends the majority of her day in the clasroom working alongside teachers and students. Dr. Thomas, Central Elementary School principal, stated, ?I look at the overal clasroom to se who has made progres and who has not. After I study the data I met and discuss my findings with teachers.? Some in the education field have proposed the term ?learning leader? over ?instructional leader? (Jansen, Camock, & Conner, 2010). Dr. Thomas described herself as the ?Chief Learning Oficer? of Central Elementary School. Instructional leadership has also been described in specific behaviors such as modeling good efective instruction, giving meaningful fedback to teachers, modeling efective instruction, soliciting opinions, supporting teacher collaboration, giving praise for excelence in 125 teaching, and providing relevant profesional development (Blas? & Blas?, 2000). Dr. Cole, principal of Northview Elementary Schools, stated ?Teachers and staf must se that the administrators wil do whatever it takes to support them so that great things can happen at school for students.? Distributive/Shared Leadership A vital and common element within al HPHP schools is an environment in which there is a shared sense of responsibility among al educators for the atainment of the school?s goals (Chenoweth, 2007; Kannapel & Clements, 2005). There was strong evidence in al four Torchbearer Schools that al four principals used some type of distributive leadership model. Each used the model to varying degrees, but they al appear to believe in sharing leadership and developing teacher leaders. ?With the outstanding leaders we have at Northview, I seldom make decisions that are solely based on my opinion or my desires,? stated Dr. Cole, Northview Elementary School principal. Dr. Cole continued, ?Curriculum decisions should involve input from teachers because they are the experts in their areas and they can give beter perspective of impact.? This sense of responsibility must be developed by a commitment to alowing teachers to be involved in key components of the school decision-making (Johnson & Asera, 1999). Black Hils Elementary principal Ms. Dawson stated, ?Shared vision, goal seting and leadership are a large part my leadership.? Involving al staf members in a variety of roles that are central to the driving succes of the school, a leader wil create a deeper sense of profesional responsibility (Johnson & Asera, 1999). Central Elementary School principal, Dr. Thomas stated, ?I work hard at using a distributive or shared leadership model. You can?t do everything yourself, you can?t be the expert in every area. You have to find people that are smarter than you are and put them into leadership roles.? 126 Teacher Collaboration Another leading organizational structure within al four Torchbearer Schools is the emphasis on teacher collaboration. I witnesed during my visits at al four Torchbearer Schools teachers working together verticaly throughout the grade levels and horizontaly across the grade levels. Several researchers have identified collaboration and teamwork among school staf as a typical feature in HPHP schools (Carter, 2000; Kannapel & Clements, 2005; Picucci, Brownson, Rahel & Sobel, 2002). Al four Torchbearer Schools have teacher collaboration metings at least wekly. Northview and Central Elementary Schools have collaborative metings at least twice a wek. Feldman (2003) found that HPHP schools set aside significantly greater amounts of time for collaborative planning time than leser performing schools. In HPHP schools teachers help, support, chalenge, and create a system of best practices for students (Chenoweth, 2007). Consistent with research, a teacher from Black Hils Elementary stated, ?These teachers have discovered the value of working together to reach children and would have a hard time teaching without collaborating now that we se the value of it.? Parent/Community Relationships and Involvement Research indicates that school-family-community partnerships improve school programs and school climate, connect families with others in the school, increase parents? skils and leadership, and improve a student?s chances of succes in school and life (Henderson & Mapp, 2002). Al four Torchbearer School leaders acknowledged the importance of having strong relationships with the community. Mr. Shaw, principal of Pine Hils stated, ?Parents are always up here. They are so proud of this school and want it to be succesful. Many of the parents and grandparents for that mater went to this school.? Bilman (2004) states that the majority of high-performing, high-poverty school principals atempt to establish strong relationships with 127 parents and the community and are constantly pursuing ways to involve parents in the school. To maximize parent and community involvement, some leaders wil include parents in the management plan of the school (Bilman, 2004). Ms. Dawson, principal of Black Hils Elementary School, stated, ?We have many community members that are very involved in this school and are usualy a part of the decision making for goals and misions annualy.? Data Driven Decision Making There are more similarities in organizational systems than in any other area, especialy in ways that support the data informed decision-making culture in each Torchbearer School. The key ingredient to al the HPHP schools nationwide may be the use of student asesment data to drive instruction (Chenoweth, 2007). Each of the four schools embraced this type of data informed decision-making. Just being in these schools is enough to se the data rich culture and variety of behaviors that support that culture. After the conversations I had with teachers, staf, and the principals, data was clearly at the heart of each of these schools. Dr. Thomas, principal of Central Elementary, stated, We are always looking for data; we have data metings twice a wek. We predict succes on the ARMT (Alabama Reading and Math Test) by looking at data; I have a pile of data on my desk right now. I look at al students to se who has made progres and hasn?t. I look at overal clasrooms to se who has made progres and who has not. After I study the data I met and discuss my findings with teachers. Data simply drives everything that we do. Principals in HPHP schools work hard to ensure that the staf receives extensive training on how to make data analysis meaningful. Ms. Dawson stated during her interview, ?Student data drives everything here. Once the data is disaggregated remediation starts imediately, 128 sometimes for a few, sometimes for the whole clas.? Data usage must become part of the culture of a school to efectively reach al students (Chenoweth, 2007). Teachers must be instructed on how to disaggregate data into components that help define specific areas of student need (Picucci, Brownson, Rahel & Sobel, 2002). Mr. Shaw, principal of Pine Hils Elementary, stated, ?I believe that it is crucial that the leader of the school supports and recognizes the importance of data. It is a lot of work for these teachers to ases and then go through the data and evaluate where they are strong, weak.? Mr. Shaw continued, ?The leader must embrace this practice and make it a part of the high expectations and climate of the school.? Dr. Cole, principal of Northview Elementary School, states, ?Al data come to me so that I can monitor and make recommendation also. We are a data rich school and use data daily, but we don?t take asesments just to be taking asesments.? Dr. Cole continued, ?Data is the guiding light at this school. We have several data metings throughout the school year. Each and every child is monitored for progres. We monitor students to ensure they are al progresing, not just the students that are behind; data here is not just numbers, to them data is a child.? As I reflected on the diferences evident in each of these Torchbearer Schools it became obvious that these succesful Torchbearer leaders have not only ensured that their school has al the right research based ingredients, they have also found how to make them work best with their children, teachers, and community. Context maters: the ingredients of succes were the same at Black Hils Elementary as they were at Central Elementary; however, if these best practices or ingredients were presented at Black Hils as they were at Central, there is a possibility that they would not work. The children, teachers, and community of Black Hils are very diferent than Central Elementary. The skils of efective leaders within these schools include the understanding of how to best present and support these best practices. The active involvement 129 and listening that these Torchbearer principals practice helps alow them the understanding of what their students needs are. Listening and actively involving teachers in decision-making alows for deeper understanding of student need. Carefully disecting data also alows for more understanding of what each student needs to be succesful. Having strong relationships with the parents and community is also crucial for a leader to understand how the context of the research- based ingredients should be applied. Recommendations The results that these Torchbearer schools are achieving indicate that leaders and teachers are using the right practices for teaching children in their own contexts. The methods and practices used by the leaders in these schools should serve as a model for current school leaders as wel as aspiring administrators, but caution should be used when adopting these practices so that local context is considered when selecting approaches to be used. The proces of studying these four Torchbearer Schools and the findings produced from this study have led to the following recommendations in the areas of further research and implementations for practitioners. Further Research There are three areas that come to mind while reflecting on what other research would be interesting and useful to perform in this topic area. In my research I described a diference of philosophy betwen the schools. I also noticed a diference in the community approach at these schools. I think it would be interesting and important to research how community involvement is afected by school proximity, community size, and principal leadership style. Interestingly the two schools with high parent involvement were the two schools located in rural areas and are led by a principal with a servant leadership style. The two schools with low parent involvement were 130 located in urban and suburban areas and the principals use a leadership style that parents may find les approachable. While researching and writing the literature review for this study I noticed that the majority of the schools discussed in the research were elementary schools. I think it would be very beneficial to perform a longitudinal study on how the students at high-performing high- poverty elementary schools perform once they enter secondary education. A comparative study could be conducted on how students that atended high-performing high-poverty elementary schools perform in middle school compared to students that atended other elementary schools. It would be beneficial to study how the foundation that the students that atended HPHP schools perform in a traditional middle school compared to students who have not acquired the same foundation in traditional elementary schools. I would be interested to know if the students with a foundation from a HPHP elementary school are beter prepared for traditional middle school and perform beter. Another potentialy beneficial study in this area would be a comparative study on the atributes of high-performing schools that are located in afluent areas versus high-performing high-poverty schools like Alabama?s Torchbearer Schools. It would be interesting to se what efect socioeconomic status has on the structures, support system, and leadership in high performing schools. Practitioners Profesional development is a major category on most school system?s improvement plans (Kannapel & Clements, 2005). However, in most school systems very litle time is devoted to observing in other schools. I found that just being in these four schools to conduct research changed my perspective about why these schools are succesful. We, as educators, 131 would benefit from spending more time looking at mentoring and modeling as a form of profesional development. In my career I have learned more by observing and being mentored than I ever have by atending conferences. It is vital that we learn from each other. Spending time in other schools, observing what efective practices they are using and discussing these practices with the staf could be an extremely efective form of profesional development. As an education leader I plan on sending my teaching staf to other schools that are achieving in areas that we are not achieving as high as we should or could be. I want my teachers to observe and then use their minds to collaboratively and creatively create a plan that makes sense for our school. Observing, listening and discussing strategies with other educators may be one of the most powerful ways to gain knowledge. As a current principal I would also recommend that school leaders take an honest asesment of how many of the research-driven atributes can be found in their school. I would also recommend that they regularly ases how efective their school is at implementing and supporting these atributes. Principals should perform these asesments and discuss their findings with their teacher leaders, and school improvement team. Leadership Preparation Learning to respond to the realities of school leadership is the most important area that leadership preparation programs need to focus on and instruct. Colleges and universities must be at the edge of current research based efective practices ready to mentor and instruct tomorrow?s leaders. Coleges and universities need to also send their profesors into schools that are leading the way to observe and learn. Educators across this nation must become a web or network for each other. We must reach out to each other and learn from one another. Educators waste too much time and energy working in isolation, trying to solve problems that have already been 132 solved in other schools. Colleges and universities are a part of that prek-20 network. Profesors should be in schools that are working efectively, conducting research, and relaying that knowledge to their students and others. If we are going to se a positive shift in the culture of schools, mentoring and modeling should be taught as part of every education program. Colleges and universities play a major role in building a foundation for the future of this nation by establishing a culture of sharing knowledge as the standard for educators to follow. Summary High-performing high poverty schools across this nation and here in Alabama have found efective, best practices to help drive their student achievement levels beyond the majority of schools across the state and nation. Some of these efective components include teaching to mastery, a focus on the core standards, informing al student learning, decision making with real data, a focus on providing meaningful engaging instruction, and vertical and horizontal alignment of the curriculum. Each principal in this study demonstrated knowledge about and incorporated organizational structures and belief systems that include using data informed decision making, smal learning communities for teachers, a shared leadership model, strong community relationships, meaningful data driven profesional development, and a culture of collaboration. Principals at these high-poverty high-performing schools modeled their deep belief that frequent monitoring of clasroom instruction is vital to student succes. They also frequently monitored student progres on an individual basis to ensure instruction was efective in al clasrooms. A deep love of children, learning and high expectations could be found as the backbone of instruction at each of these four schools. Personnel at these four schools are working hard to prove that not only can al children learn, but they can learn at high levels. 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