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It’s the Administrator Who Creates a Good School.
By Harry K. & Rosemary Wong
Excerpted from the archived article, Even Superintendents Do It
Ask any second-career teacher who has been in the business or sales world and that person will tell you that company meetings endlessly drilled in the importance of “relationship.” Relationships hold marriages, friendships, teams, work forces, and businesses together. People buy when they believe that a relationship has been developed between the buyer and the seller.
Watch an effective teacher. They know this simple but powerful fact too. There is an assignment on the board and the teacher is standing at the door greeting every student, establishing a relationship every day. Whereas, the ineffective teacher is in the room yelling at the students to “sit down,” “find your seat,” and “stop talking,” while blaming the students (the customers) for the day’s problems.
Leaders Are Seen and Are Accessible
So, it was a breath of fresh air when we received a school district newsletter recently and all it said at the top was
Effective Teachers = Quality Schools
This powerful truism came as the headline of the Newsletter from the Sunnybrook School District 171 in Lansing, Illinois, where Dr. Joseph J. Majchrowicz is the superintendent and instructional leader. He, personally, leads a 10-hour staff development training program for his staff. Before we talk more about the Sunnybrook Schools and its superintendent, let’s look at some knowledge that is well known.
This we know:
* The only way to have good schools is to have a team (there’s relationship again) of effective teachers who work together as a learning community. Thus, effective teachers = quality schools.
* It is what teachers know and can do that determines student achievement; it is not the program the teacher uses or the teacher’s philosophy.
* A large-scale study found that every additional dollar spent on raising teacher quality netted greater student achievement gains than with buying another program.
* There is no way to create good schools without good teachers.
It is the administrator who creates a good school.
And it is the teacher who creates a good classroom.
It is unfortunate when we hear from teachers who tell us that their superintendent talks to them over a television set. Or, even worse, they have never seen the superintendent, much less met him or her.
Leaders are seen. Leaders are accessible. Leaders lead and they lead by caring enough about the success of their teachers that they will roll up their sleeves and model instructional leadership. This brings us back to Dr. Joe Majchrowicz of the Sunnybrook School District in Lansing, Illinois. He personally leads and teaches a 10-hour class on effective schools. He also chairs the 18 member District Quality Review Team that annually analyzes and evaluates staff practices in the area of effective schools research.
Sunnybrook is a district that is 25 miles south of Chicago next to the Indiana border by Hammond. Originally, it was an agricultural community of Dutch onion farmers. Today, it is a typical suburban area of primarily residential homes. The student population is about 50/50 Caucasians and African-Americans with a small percentage of other groups. Approximately 47 percent of the teachers have a master’s degree and the average teaching experience is 17.5 years, so a culture of well educated, experienced teachers capable of producing excellent results is present.
In past columns we have talked about teacher leaders, staff developers, and principals who are instructional leaders. In this column, we share with you that even superintendents do it!
In the Flowing Wells Schools of Tucson, Arizona, state superintendent of the year, Dr. John Pedicone, accompanies a bus tour when the new teachers begin their induction program. He acts as a “tour guide” on a chartered bus trip throughout the school district. A Trivia Contest is part of the planned activities, which includes historical, interesting, and relevant information about the district. This activity demonstrates the culture of the district and allows the teachers to experience and become a part of the Flowing Wells community. A relationship is built with the induction program leaders, the community, and each other on this bus tour.
Dr. Kathryn Robbins, superintendent, of the Leyden High School District in Franklin Park, Illinois, personally leads the training of the new teachers in their new teacher induction program. They have created “Leyden University,” which is the district’s continuing staff development program.
Bridget Phillips, principal, at Goldfarb Elementary School in Las Vegas, Nevada, is an instructional leader. She and her staff train the student teachers for one semester and the other semester is used to train the first year teachers. At Goldfarb there is a community of learners who learn and grow together. The staff agreed on a set of school-wide procedures and these are listed in an earlier column.
Creating a New School Vision
In the spring of 2001, the Sunnybrook School District 171 formed a broad-based panel to analyze the systemic effectiveness of its schools and to define future goals for the district. The committee’s work was completed and its findings reported to the Board of Education. Many goals were identified and action plans were developed that cover all aspects of education. A new vision for the district was created, which states
The welfare of children and the development of quality schools being our primary responsibility, the vision of Sunnybrook School District 171 is to create a community-based environment dedicated to the pursuit
