Editor: What cultural norms have you encountered in
school districts that promote a culture of high standards?
Mizell: I'm still waiting to see it, but here is what I
think it should look like:
1. Principals and teachers actually believe students can perform at standard
and they translate that belief into daily and hourly opportunities to learn,
support, and give the encouragement that students need.
2. They consistently confront what Anne Wheelock calls "unspeakable
data" that documents existing learning gaps, and they focus with laser-like
intensity on addressing these specific problems.
3. They don't make excuses for themselves or their students.
4. They identify and confront the gaps in their own knowledge and skills
that prevent them from being more effective leaders and teachers, and they
take the initiative to learn and use what they need.
5. They recognize that persistent low student performance means that schools
and instruction have to change fundamentally, and they set about making
necessary changes, undaunted by the obstacles.
6. They make the best possible use of the human and financial resources
at their disposal, rigorously benchmarking their use against the potential
effects on student learning.
Editor: What do school leaders (principals) do that promote
the development of student and teacher rubrics and exemplars for accountability
purposes?
Mizell: They have to lead, and recognize that accountability
is everyday business. The other day I heard someone at a school say that
many teachers don't come to faculty meetings. Principals have a responsibility
to make good use of all possible opportunities to lead, including faculty
meetings, but there should be no question that attendance at such meetings
is required.
I heard another principal lament the laborious process of documenting deficiencies
in order to terminate teachers, but if principals do not use this power,
regardless of how difficult it may be, then "accountability" becomes
a hollow concept.
As for rubrics and exemplars, principals have to demonstrate that this is
not just a concept for instruction, but for all manner of performance. What
is the school's rubric for an effective teacher? Have principals led teachers
in reaching consensus on that issue? What is the school's rubric for a cooperative
student? Has the principal led the student council in hammering it out?
What is the school's generic rubric, across all subjects, for what quality
student work looks like? Has the principal led the faculty and students
in developing a common vision? In other words, principals sleep in the accountability
bed they make; that is why so many get tangled in the sheets.
Editor: What effective strategies/processes/policies have
you observed schools/school districts use to create a culture in which diversity
(e.g., student population that is diverse-ethnic minorities, poor students,
special education students, students whose first language is not English)
is seen as a strength to enhance schools' instructional programs?
Mizell: Read Anne Wheelock's book, Safe
To Be Smart: Building a Culture for Standardsp;Based Reform in the Middle
Grades. Beyond that, schools have to recognize that students are individuals
with individual strengths that have nothing to do with their race, ethnicity,
language, culture, or income. A major problem in schools is that educators
seldom consider or make good use of students' strengths such as their interests,
curiosity, passion, perspective, or energy.
Educators have to be intentional about identifying these and other strengths,
student by student, and capitalizing to them to improve the quality of life
in the school community. For example, there are many schools where the teachers
speak only English but most of their students speak other languages. Schools
expect students to learn English and the history, government, and culture
of this country, but demonstrate little interest in learning even the language
that the students speak at home. How about a little "reciprocal teaching"
in which each faculty member is engaged with one student to begin learning
that student's language? Students' strengths go beyond this example, but
schools have to make the effort to find and use them for authentic purposes.
Editor: What insights do you have about changes in principals'
leadership as a result of the "Principals Make a Difference" project?
Mizell: Principals are beginning to make the shift from
merely administering schools to using administration as a tool to improve
teaching and learning. They are developing and internalizing values about
what good instruction looks like; they are spending more time in classrooms;
and they are filtering classroom observations through their values. Principals
are also beginning to demonstrate to teachers that they care about what
teachers are learning through staff devel-opment, how they apply that learning,
and what effects it has on students.
Editor: In order for SBR to be successful, school staff
must engage many different partners. Due to limited space, I would like
to focus on one specific partner -- parents or families. Across the country
what strategies are schools/school districts using to engage parents as
full partners in SBR?
Mizell: On the whole, this is a major failure. Schools
simply are not reaching out aggressively to parents to engage them in understanding
what their children should know and be able to do, and how parents can help.
It is a very hard job, and every principal and teacher has had negative
experiences in dealing with families; but this is only one barrier to effective
engagement. It also seems there are simply too many standards and as a result,
both families and teachers are overwhelmed. In addition, the standards are
written in language that families cannot understand. The net effect is that
in many cases it is less rather than more clear to parents exactly what
their children should be learning. Until school systems and schools address
these issues, and routinely take the message into churches, community centers,
barber shops and beauty parlors, hospitals and homes, to show families they
REALLY care about them and their children's learning, "engagement"
will be another catch phrase rather than a reality.
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