Conceptions of leadership and the issue of sustainability. Jared R. Lancer, Ed.D.

Introduction

During a recent presentation by a nationally regarded scholar and leader in education leadership and policy, Brockton high school was discussed as a school that made significant improvement. Brockton high transformed from low performing to becoming one of the highest performing schools in the state of Massachusetts.?This was a significant accomplishment, especially because Brockton high school is the largest high school in the state with over 4,000 students, the majority of whom are Black/African American and Latino and considered socioeconomically disadvantaged.

Inquiry into this high performing high school led to questions and learning as well as identification of a major challenge from a leadership perspective concerning the issue of sustainability.?This formed the basis of the paper.

The main goal to be accomplished is to document representative case examples of problems in school systems and to present analysis of these challenges using principles of leadership.?This discussion focuses on the question of how to sustain high performance in schools in the face of a major budget shortfall from a system leadership perspective?

Problem: Traditional conceptualizations of leadership and the issue of sustainability

There are a number of persisting problems of practice represented in school systems across the country.?However, the main problem is the inability to advance a clear understanding of competent teaching in school systems with consistency based upon a stable knowledge base. This problem results in wide learning variation and inequity as well as the inability among the majority of students to decipher between fact and opinion. Furthermore, the culture in public schools often reflects a counterproductive socialization process to prepare all students to live harmoniously among diverse groups and to solve problems in a democratic society.

This problem deserves the full and complete attention and focus of leadership and educators at all levels.?However, traditional conceptions of leadership magnify and compound this challenge through policy and practice in many ways.

Traditional conceptions of leadership adheres to a narrow, linear as well as surface way of gathering information and engaging in analysis as the basis for making system level decisions.?An example of such decision making in public school systems is reflected in the practice of conducting intensive individual coaching with teachers identified as struggling and teacher evaluations. How does this make sense in the absence of clearly articulating and representing a shared definition of competent teaching and a system of instruction??This type of tunnel vision is reflected when making decisions with isolated and incomplete information. This results in a lack of understanding of issues in schools with consideration for patterns and diverse viewpoints as well as broader impact from a systems perspective.?

This type of perspective is well represented in schools when considering how to use the budget to raise student performance for instance.?Replacing individual teachers considered to be ineffective, adding more staff, efforts to reduce class size, or to ensure that every child has a laptop will not in and of itself raise and sustain student performance. A more comprehensive in-depth understanding of present practice and explanation for learning variation is required.

Rigidity is another characteristic of traditional conceptions of leadership represented in school systems. Rigidity is reflected when decision making is based upon pre-determined ideas or perspectives. This similarly results in incomplete information and lack of a comprehensive understanding of the issues at hand. Rigidity is reflected when there is not a genuine and authentic approach taken to understand the present context and concerns of stakeholders from multiple perspectives.?Instead, there is an inflexibility or inability to make observations and to facilitate structured dialogues that results in understanding diverse perspectives as a means for defining challenges and developing solutions.?The traditional conception of leadership relies instead on the past or recollection of a best practice from somewhere else. Alternatively, an approach that reflects being present and engaging in the current context and culture at its core is required.

This type of leadership conception is perpetuated in decision making at all levels and in all areas, including major policy determinations and budgeting as well as in making important hiring decisions. Organizational decisions regarding hiring for instance may be guided by the notion and goal to find a charismatic leader with innate abilities and a strong personality as the way to raise and sustain student academic performance.??This perspective comes with many risks including creating organizational discontinuity and turbulence as well as academic loss of learning for students.?

Science based approach: Leadership guided by principles of practice

When considering complex decisions, public school systems that use more of a science based approach guided by principles to inform decision making are more likely to create greater consistency, continuity and predictability for the organization in all areas.?Using a science based approach is guided by at least three principles to inform policy and practice at all levels of the education system and inside schools.?This includes the principle of conducting a comprehensive analysis of what is working and not working based upon evidence from a systems perspective with consideration for multiple perspectives.?This principle means that system adjustments or new strategies or proposals build and extend upon a clear understanding of the present system and local context.??

A second principle is facilitating stakeholder investment through structured dialogues to understand and define challenges as well as to generate adjustments to current policies, programs and practices.?Operationalizing this principle results in stakeholders taking on greater levels of responsibility and accountability for the efficacy of strategies proposed to ensure success and to meet the expected outcomes.

Finally, leadership practice guided by the principle of focused analysis means that the system at all levels operates using a structure to flexibly evaluate and analyze the effectiveness of strategies based upon evidence relative to defined measures. Here, there is not a rigid adherence to a particular strategy or approach. Rather, leadership at all levels focus on specific problems to be solved and the main goals to be accomplished.?Leadership teams at all levels engage in focused analysis and make ongoing adjustments to strategies based upon evidence of what is effective and not effective for students.?Organizations where this type of leadership perspective permeates all levels of the system results in greater consistency of focus on solving specific problems and the main goals to be accomplished to meet the expected outcomes for all students.

The case of Brockton High School: Transforming the largest high school in Massachusetts to exemplary and high performing

The story of Brockton high school’s transformation began in 1998, as the largest high school in the state of Massachusetts with over 4,000 students, the majority of whom are Black/African American and Latino and considered socioeconomically disadvantaged.?The release of the first Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) student results revealed that only 22% of the student population met grade level expectations in English Language Arts (Szachowicz, 2013). At that time, the culture prevalent in the school was depicted by the slogan, ‘students have the right to fail’ (Dillon, 2010; Szachowicz, 2013).

Fueled by the audacity of such a statement and a moral and ethical commitment to ensure success for all students, teacher leaders knew that those results did not reflect the school’s best effort on the part of teachers.?These teacher-leaders recruited as many colleagues to participate in a monthly Saturday meeting to review national publications regarding school reform, analyze student outcome data, and to evaluate school policies and practices.?This meeting structure became known as the School Restructuring Committee (“The team”), comprised of approximately 20 teacher leaders.?The team developed a mission statement “to significantly improve student academic achievement and to personalize the educational experience for every student” (Szachowicz, p. 18, 2013).

After analyzing patterns of achievement outcomes and examining the school’s curriculum in relationship to the state’s academic standards and MCAS assessment, the team decided it was essential to define the meaning of literacy as a central schoolwide focus. The team settled on reading, writing, speaking and reasoning (Szachowicz, 2013). This work was accompanied by detailed skill objectives written and agreed upon applicable to all courses and subjects in the school using clear language understandable to all stakeholders. The team determined that these were skills that students needed to master in order to be successful in school and to graduate as well as to be successful in life.?

The team elaborated in great detail, delineating exactly what each skill and objective means and looks like for students and teachers in teaching. The team organized interdisciplinary faculty meetings to obtain input and feedback and to revise and edit the literacy objectives in order to reach common agreement in the school (Szachowicz, 2013).?This culminated in the development of literacy charts that were posted in every classroom.?The team then developed the expectation that every single course offered in the school would incorporate at least one major assignment focused on these targeted skills. This was organized, coordinated and planned to ensure continuity and consistency throughout the year via a calendar and sequence. This calendar and expectation ensured repeated practice for students using a range of diverse course reading content while applying the focus literacy skills across the school beginning with a ten-step student open written response (Szachowicz, 2013).?The team also developed a writing rubric, which subsequently went through ongoing revision, to evaluate student written responses in all courses. The team also developed a protocol for teachers to collaboratively look at student work to ensure consistency of rigor and expectations for teachers and students (Ferguson, Hackman, Hanna, and Ballentine, 2010; Szachowics, 2013).

In this system, site based leadership positions were essential to fully and successfully implement the approach for schoolwide improvement in a large comprehensive high school.?Initially, the department chairs, who were members of the Restructuring Committee, played essential roles in planning and executing. However, to more fully support and monitor what became known as the Literacy Initiative at the school, system leadership determined it was vital to create an Associate Principal position focused on Curriculum and Instruction (Szachowicz, 2009, 2013). Over time, both co-chairs of the Restructuring Committee assumed this role in the school.?In turn, other key members of the team took on administrative leadership roles in the school, including department chairs, associate principal and school principal.

The team planned and executed specific literacy skill-based professional development on a monthly basis to ensure that every teacher was fully supported to develop instructional plans to teach students the essential literacy skills and to execute the schoolwide writing focus. In fact, the Achievement Gap Initiative at Harvard University invited the school to present at its Annual Conference to understand what it takes to become an exemplary high school. Ferguson and colleagues (2010) describe how the system worked to ensure fidelity and consistency of implementation:

Teachers hand in graded student work to department chairs, and the chairs review a cross section of that work with the associate principal. Using the rubric, the associate principal advises the department chairs on the feedback that chairs provide to teachers and that teachers provide to students. This process is carefully scheduled in advance on a system of calendars that the department chairs and associate principal manage (22).

In this way, everyone in the school was held accountable to the standards and criteria for quality learning and student work produced in order to attain the major goals for students to succeed in school and in life.

Starting in 2002, more than 50% of all students began scoring proficient/advanced in English Language Arts on the state’s summative assessment (MCAS). This pattern continued, and beginning in 2006 through 2018 a significant majority of Black/African American and Latino students and all learners were meeting or exceeding grade level expectations in English Language Arts on the MCAS (Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, https://profiles.doe.mass.edu).?This consistent performance led the school to be widely recognized in the state and nationally as among the highest performing high schools and noted for outperforming more than 90% of all schools in the state (Ferguson, et al, 2009; Vaznis, 2009; Dillon, 2010).?

Attributing change in student performance

Brockton high school was considered a shining light on the city and an image of what is possible in a large comprehensive high school with over 4,000 students. Certainly, from a perspective of use of public funds, the district was delivering year after year on its promise to the general public as responsible and entrusted stewards of public dollars.

However, after years of consistent high performance, the district was grappling with a 16 million dollar budget shortfall. In 2017, there was a district reorganization in response resulting in the elimination and consolidation of key leadership positions at the high school in an effort to retain as many teachers as possible (Burgess, 2017; Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, 2020)

This led to the elimination of the associate principal position at the high school, and the principal position was consolidated in the formation of an Executive Director role responsible for the supervision of all secondary schools in the district (Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, 2020).?In 2019, for the first time since 2001, less than half of all students met or exceeded expectations in English Language Arts on the MCAS, with only 37% meeting standard (Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, 2019, https://profiles.doe.mass.edu).

The state department of education conducted a district review and published its report in 2020 which attributed the low performance of the high school to the following key factors among others:?

• "The district eliminated 212 positions from 2014 to 2019 due to budget cuts. These positions included key curricular and instructional leadership roles that were either eliminated entirely or their responsibilities redistributed elsewhere. The district’s decision to reduce leadership, primarily at the secondary level, in order to protect teaching positions has resulted in unstable systems and practices to create and drive improvement initiatives" (Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, 2020, p.1)
• "The decision to reduce the leadership force was not informed by district goals or an analysis of data. It was based on the idea that teachers can be effective without sufficient leadership and ignored the value of having high-level leaders to support and monitor high-quality teaching. This approach also avoided the reality that even with fiscal restrictions, it is possible to provide clarity about strategies and expectations for high-quality teaching practices, along with structures to support teachers and monitor the quality of instruction. Evidence gathered during the review indicated that the district did not fully appreciate the cascading impact of reduced leadership and supervision on the quality of curriculum, instruction, and student support services. Consequently, student achievement continues to deteriorate, even with added support and intervention from DESE’s Statewide System of Support" (Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, 2020, pg. 1).
• "At the high-school level, the loss of key curricular and instructional leadership in the position of associate principal, combined with limited focused oversight from the district and school levels, have left each department as the key driver of its improvement efforts---many of which are not achieved in a timely way and with systematic purpose" (Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, 2020, p. 3).
• "Also, in addition to responsibility for the high school, which serves 4,077 students, the high-school principal also serves as executive director of grades 6-8 with added obligations to monitor all middle-school academic programs and high-school programs and to supervise and evaluate all middle-school principals as well as grades 9-12 deans and department heads. This dual responsibility (for grades 6-8 and 9-12) raises capacity concerns and is yet another consequence of the elimination of leadership roles" (Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, 2020, p. 3).

Analysis using principles of leadership

How can system leadership maintain the integrity of a high performing school in the face of a major budget shortfall??Formulating a strategic response requires leadership at the system level to conduct a comprehensive analysis based upon evidence. Such an analysis results in understanding at the system level what is working and not working for students based upon evidence and exactly how successful performance is achieved for students.?What makes the system work and what are the roles?

Prior to conducting a comprehensive analysis, a science-based approach considers the framing for discussion regarding the major purpose of the agency and the goals to be accomplished for the schools and students to have an enduring impact in the community.?As such, the task of leadership is not simply to pursue the objective of eliminating 16 million dollars from the budget. Rather, a science based approach to leadership requires system level leadership to frame the major purpose for engaging stakeholders in collaborative and constructive problem solving to determine system priorities. Etta Hollins (personal communication, September 14, 2021) suggests framing conversations with such a focus might include the following questions as an example:

1. What change priority do we seek to make?
2. What policies and practices will support the change priority?
3. What societal impact do we seek to have based upon the change priority?
4. What will be used to measure and monitor the impact and expected outcomes?

Albeit an example, these questions aim to center and frame the conversation around the type of impact the system is endeavoring to make on the lives of students and the local community through the quality and consistency of learning experiences for all learners.?

In analyzing the system, if it is revealed that there are essential roles responsible for making its structures work over time with substantial evidence, then there is a significant risk of academic learning loss for students if it is decided to eliminate or alter these positions. The question then becomes, how can practice in the system described be sustained in its present form without eliminating or altering these leadership positions due to a budget shortfall?

However, it is important to point out that from a traditional conception of leadership, it may be perceived that the only way to sustain performance is based on identifying a leader in times of transition who possesses personal attributes including a strong personality.?Making leadership decisions from a systems level based upon this perspective comes with risks including the possibility of academic learning loss and an inability to sustain performance.

What then might be other options available for addressing the challenge of overcoming a 16 million dollar budget shortfall without the elimination of teachers or site level administrators??New options and strategies might be generated when examining the present context and determining what is it that every teacher needs to ensure the academic success for every student in meeting the expected outcomes.?As an analogy, nurses have a routine for their practice that does not depend upon the supervision or instruction from an administrator or physician to carry out their daily routine (Etta R. Hollins, personal communication, September 14, 2021).?Analysis at the system level may result in planning and using existing tools and structures differently or developing revised protocols and provision of resources and supports to empower teachers to ensure success for every student.?

?Conclusion

The purpose of the following inquiry was based upon the goal to learn from the story of a high performing high school noted by a nationally recognized scholar and leader in urban education leadership. Upon learning about the amazing transformation of Brockton high school, it became clear that something changed based on the 2019 MCAS results.?The State Department of Education’s 2020 district review cites underlying reasons for the significant change (Massachusetts Elementary and Secondary Department of Education, 2020).?

The analysis presented here underscores the importance of leadership principles guiding practice, including conducting a comprehensive analysis to understand the inner complexities of what is working and not working based upon evidence.?A central part of analysis includes facilitating stakeholder investment in structured dialogues to understand what is working with consideration for multiple perspectives.?Through skilled facilitation, internal and external agency groups have the potential to become highly engaged and invested in the work and in proposed strategies and solutions. This leads to taking on greater levels of responsibility and accountability for ensuring that proposed strategies and improvement efforts are successful. Moreover, engaging in focused analysis to address clearly defined problems while subjecting strategies to continuous evaluation and adjustment based on impact increases the likelihood of achieving expected outcomes.

In conclusion, the following case illustrates the importance of using a science based approach to leadership which requires a system level perspective.?A central aspect of using a systems level perspective requires planning for the investment of stakeholders to define the major purpose for the organization and main goals to be accomplished for students and desired impact on the local community. ?This type of framing and facilitation can result in shared organizational understandings and perspectives regarding the agency’s purpose and intended impact and may be among the determining factors to addressing the issue of sustainability.?Moreover, the case presented demonstrates the significance of applying more of a science-based approach using principles to guide system level leadership and inform decision making in order to sustain high performance in schools.?

References

Burgess, A. (July 22, 2017). No associate principal for new Brockton High leader. The Enterprise News. https://www.enterprisenews.com/news/20170722/no-associate-principal-for-new-brockton-high-leader

Dillon, S. (Sept. 10, 2010). 4,100 Students Prove ‘Small Is Better’ Rule Wrong. NY Times report on success

https://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/28/education/28school.html

Ferguson, Ronald F., Sandra Hackman, Robert Hanna, and Ann Ballantine. (June 2010). How High Schools Become Exemplary: Ways that Leadership Raises Achievement and Narrows Gaps by Improving Instruction in 15 Public High

Schools. Report on the 2009 Annual Conference of the Achievement Gap Initiative at Harvard University. https://www.agi.harvard.edu.

Szachowicz, S. (Oct. 15, 2009). Maria LeFort helps BHS students succeed. The Enterprise News. https://www.enterprisenews.com/article/20091015/News/310159557

Szachowicz, S. (2013). Transforming Brockton High School: High Standards, High Expectations, No Excuses. International Center for Leadership in Education. Rexford, NY, USA.

Massachusetts Elementary and Secondary Department of Education. (2019). Brockton High School. https://profiles.doe.mass.edu/mcas/subgroups2.aspx?linkid=25&orgcode=00440505&fycode=2019&orgtypecode=6&

Massachusetts Elementary and Secondary Department of Education. (2020). Comprehensive Review Conducted and District Review Report Brockton Public Schools. Office of District Reviews and Monitoring https://www.doe.mass.edu/accountability/district-review/?

Vaznis, J. (Oct. 12, 2009). Turnaround at Brockton High: Emphasis on literacy brings big MCAS improvement. Boston Globe: Report on Success. https://archive.boston.com/news/education/k_12/mcas/articles/2009/10/12/turnaround_at_brockton_high/

Jared R. Lancer ? Copyright 2021