Best Leadership Practices for High-poverty Schools

Best Leadership Practices for High-poverty Schools
Author: Linda L. Lyman
Publisher: R&L Education
Total Pages: 186
Release: 2004
Genre: Education
ISBN: 9781578860791

Best Leadership Practices for High-Poverty Schools presents both the practice and theory of best leadership practices in high-poverty schools. Authors Linda Lyman and Christine Villani take a unique approach by inviting readers into two high-poverty elementary schools where they will experience, through in-depth case studies, how two extraordinary principals model and practice their beliefs in the ability and worth of all children. Lyman and Villani demonstrate that a successful learning community for children of low-income families is based on the beliefs and attitudes of the school leader and the entire school community. Preparation programs for school principals typically do not provide for study of the complexity of poverty or the leadership practices that contribute to successful learning and achievement for children in high-poverty schools. The concluding questions that the authors pose provide a guide to developing best leadership practices that make a difference to the learning, achievement, and lives of children who live in poverty.This book offers: an insightful overview of research about leadership strategies and beliefs in high-poverty schools, causes and remedies for the achievement gap, evidence of continuing racial and ethnic prejudice, the widespread deficit thinking that limits learning. The authors challenge leaders, teachers, staff members, and others to examine their own attitudes and beliefs and then to commit to creating successful learning communities for all children from low-income families. This book is written as a resource for aspiring and practicing principals, or anyone interested in improving educational opportunities for children from families living in poverty.

Breakthrough Principals

Breakthrough Principals
Author: Jean Desravines
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
Total Pages: 412
Release: 2016-03-22
Genre: Education
ISBN: 1118801008

Bridge the achievement gap with proven strategies for student success Breakthrough Principals debunks the myth of the 'superhero' principal by detailing the common actions and practices of leaders at our nation's fastest-gaining public schools. Based on the authors' Transformational Leadership Framework, which they developed through in-depth study of more than 100 high-gaining, high-poverty schools, the book distills findings into a practical, action-focused plan for diagnosing school needs and implementing structures, systems and practices that accelerate student achievement. Brought to life by case studies of principals who have led dramatic gains in student achievement, the book is a how-to guide for increasing the quality of teaching and learning; improving school culture; attracting and supporting high-performing teachers; and involving parents and community to help students achieve. You'll learn how breakthrough principals make the school's mission a real part of both strategy and practice, and set up sustainable systems that support consistent, ongoing improvement. High-impact practices are organized into five broad categories: learning and teaching, school-wide culture, aligned staff, operations and systems, and personal leadership. The primary job of school leadership is to help students succeed. It begins with first recognizing and prioritizing areas of need, then finding and implementing the most effective solutions. Whether you work in a turn around environment, or want to make a good school better, this book will give you a set of concrete practices—illustrated through examples of real principals in real schools—that have been proven to work. Discover the primary drivers of student achievement Work toward the school's vision in staffing, operations, and systems Set the tone for all relationships and practices with good leadership Closing the achievement gap is a major goal of educational leadership, and principals are forever searching for viable methods that help them better serve their students. Breakthrough Principals unveils the details behind the success stories from across the nation to provide a roadmap to transformative gains.

Principal Instructional Leadership in GA High Poverty Elementary Schools

Principal Instructional Leadership in GA High Poverty Elementary Schools
Author: Ginger W. Spires
Publisher:
Total Pages: 132
Release: 2015
Genre: Elementary school teaching
ISBN:

Author's abstract: The purpose of this quantitative study was to investigate teachers' perceptions of principal instructional leadership practices in Georgia Reward Highest Performing and Georgia Reward Highest Progress elementary schools. As such, this causal-comparative study identified the frequency of principal instructional leadership practices and attempted to determine if these practices can be related to school effectiveness in high poverty schools. The sample of this study consisted of Georgia classroom teachers in high poverty elementary schools, specifically in the categories of Georgia Reward Highest Performing and Georgia Reward Highest Progress elementary schools. Hallinger's (1983) Principal Instructional Management Rating Scale (PIMRS) was utilized to assess the three dimensions of the instructional leadership construct. An independent samples t-test was conducted to determine whether the means of principal instructional leadership practices in Georgia Reward Highest Performing and Georgia Reward Highest Progress elementary schools, as perceived by teachers, were significantly different. Results indicated principals in Georgia Reward Highest Performing schools exhibited instructional leadership practices and behaviors in the dimensions of Defining the School Mission and Managing the Instructional Program more frequently than principals in Georgia Reward Highest Progress schools. A significant difference did not exist in the dimension of Developing the School Learning Climate Program between the school groups.

Personalized Principal Leadership Practices

Personalized Principal Leadership Practices
Author: Dionne V. McLaughlin
Publisher: Emerald Group Publishing
Total Pages: 240
Release: 2020-06-02
Genre: Education
ISBN: 1789736358

In this book, McLaughlin examines the eight strategies expert principals utilize to lead equitable, high achieving schools. Each chapter will include strategies, case studies, reflective questions and a chapter summary.

An Exploration of Common Leadership Behaviors Exhibited by Georgia Elementary Principals from High Performing, High Poverty Schools

An Exploration of Common Leadership Behaviors Exhibited by Georgia Elementary Principals from High Performing, High Poverty Schools
Author: Donna Regina Bishop
Publisher:
Total Pages: 137
Release: 2006
Genre: Elementary school principals
ISBN:

Author's abstract: Principals of elementary schools continue to be required to perform many duties which include administrative and instructional tasks. The increased accountability for all students to achieve, including the lower achieving students, has made principals focus on their leadership behaviors and practices. Researchers of various studies on principal leadership behaviors and student achievement have found that leadership behaviors make a difference in the academic achievement for all students. Researchers also found that the principals most important role is that of an instructional leader. Principals leading elementary schools with at risk learners may assist them academically when effective strategies, programs, and organizational structures are present within the school. The demands and the complexity of the role of the principal in the 21st century make the principals job a hard task, especially when leading schools with majority at-risk students. The legislation of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act of 2001 obligates elementary principals to reflect on their best leadership behaviors and practices to encourage all students to succeed. Using a qualitative, phenomenological research design, the researcher explored the common leadership behaviors of six Georgia elementary principals of high 2 performing, high poverty schools. The phenomenological research design was appropriate for this study because it provided a means for exploring the lived experiences of the elementary principals leadership behaviors in a high performing, high poverty school. The collection of data was obtained from interviews, school observation, and school artifacts. Six common themes and patterns emerged from the qualitative research study: (1) monitoring of teachers educating at-risk learners, (2) gathering and analyzing student achievement data, (3) instructional decision making using a leadership team approach, (4) appropriate use of reading resources and materials, (5) a positive school climate, and (6) an effective staff of teachers. The six common themes and patterns were identified as common leadership behaviors of Georgia elementary principals from high performing, high poverty schools.

Principal Leadership Practices in High Poverty K-5 Model Schools in Oregon

Principal Leadership Practices in High Poverty K-5 Model Schools in Oregon
Author:
Publisher:
Total Pages: 188
Release: 2015
Genre: Educational leadership
ISBN:

Children living in poverty in the United States face some of life's greatest challenges, including achieving academic success in school. Evidence is also emerging of a growing income disparity in America that affects families, communities and local labor markets in ways that can undermine the effectiveness of schools serving disadvantaged populations (Duncan & Murnane, 2011). Evidence exists, however, that high academic performance is within the reach of all children in high poverty schools, and that principal leadership is a contributing factor. This study examined principal leadership practices in three high poverty K-5 elementary schools in Oregon identified as Model schools under the Oregon ESEA waiver to No Child Left Behind. This study identified themes of leadership practices including 1) high expectations, 2) meeting children's basic needs, 3) shared leadership and teamwork, 4) use of data, and 5) personal attributes of the principal. Other themes considered important to one or more groups of respondents but not necessarily to all included 1) caring, 2) positive support, 3) addressing biases about children and families in poverty, 4) principal's elementary teaching experience, and 5) pride in the local school. As such, the findings of this study support the knowledge base in educational leadership regarding principal leadership as a factor in schools that impact the academic growth of children (Hallinger, 2005; Hallinger, Bickman, & Davis, 1996; Hallinger & Heck, 1998; Hattie, 2009; Jacobson et al., 2004; Leithwood & Jantzi, 2012; Leithwood & Louis, 2012; Leithwood et al., 2004; Lyman & Villani, 2004; Marks & Printy, 2003; and, Water, Marzano, & McNulty, 2003). This study has implications for district hiring and planning for principal succession, teacher hiring, resource allocation, community engagement, and district support for schools serving students in high-poverty communities.

By Their Bootstraps

By Their Bootstraps
Author: Ohio Education Association. Department of Elementary School Principals
Publisher:
Total Pages: 44
Release: 1955
Genre: School supervision, Elementary
ISBN:

Turning High-Poverty Schools into High-Performing Schools

Turning High-Poverty Schools into High-Performing Schools
Author: William H. Parrett
Publisher: ASCD
Total Pages: 225
Release: 2020-04-28
Genre: Education
ISBN: 1416629025

Schools across the United States and Canada are disrupting the adverse effects of poverty and supporting students in ways that enable them to succeed in school and in life. In this second edition, Parrett and Budge show you how your school can achieve similar results. Expanding on their original framework's still-critical concepts of actions and school culture, they incorporate new insights for addressing equity, trauma, and social-emotional learning. These fresh perspectives combine with lessons learned from 12 additional high-poverty, high-performing schools to form the updated and enhanced Framework for Collective Action. Emphasizing students' social, emotional, and academic learning as the hub for all action in high-performing, high-poverty schools, the authors describe how educators can work within the expanded Framework to address the needs of all students, but particularly those who live in poverty. Equipped with the Framework and a plethora of tools to build collective efficacy (self-assessments, high-leverage questions, action advice, and more), school and district leaders—as well as teachers, teacher leaders, instructional coaches, and other staff—can close persistent opportunity gaps and reverse longstanding patterns of low achievement.