Leadership structures sustaining high performing urban schools. Jared R. Lancer, Ed.D.

Problem of practice: Traditional conceptions of talent management systems in public education to improve student learning outcomes in urban schools for sustainability.

Given the low rate of reading proficiency for all student groups and high rate of trauma students experience within schools (https://www.nationsreportcard.gov/reading/nation/achievement/?grade=12; https://ocrdata.ed.gov/), there are a range of talent development policy discussions, initiatives and strategies enacted to address the shortage of highly qualified and diverse teachers and leaders, especially in urban school systems. Among these policy discussions and solutions is a strategy to develop the internal capacity of local education agencies. This strategy focuses on creating an internal system within districts with the goal of building a pipeline of diverse and highly qualified teachers and school leaders, often in collaboration with university or nonprofit partners. However, a major challenge for the profession at large is the fact that there is an unstable knowledge base with articulated principles to guide teaching practice in public schools. A long-term solution proposed is the development of academically based teacher preparation programs working in reciprocal relationship with urban public schools (Hollins and Warner, 2021).  

Undoubtedly, any short or long-term solution ought to be based in part upon making ongoing firsthand observations in high performing urban schools that have sustained impact over time. As such, this line of inquiry led to identifying such schools as a means for obtaining a greater depth of understanding regarding prospective principles guiding practice in an effort to improve outcomes in traditional urban schools.

The following is therefore based upon visiting 5 high performing urban elementary, middle and high schools with stable leadership over a three year period in the northeastern region of the United States. Observation, documentation and analysis resulted in a deeper understanding of the culture and context in these schools and how leadership as well as supporting structures contribute to sustaining impact over time. The foregoing analysis reveals at least three interconnected commitments and understandings guiding an overall approach and perspective on leadership and practice for keeping teachers engaged in continuous improvement. These commitments are to children, learning and community. These commitments are based upon particular understandings.  The culture in these schools is guided accordingly which permeates discourse, practice and all relationships in the schools.

In this discussion, these commitments and understandings are operationalized into specific structures and protocols. The following presents a brief description of the environment in these schools followed by particular examples of hiring practices as well as supporting leadership structures and protocols in the schools. These supporting leadership structures and practices contribute to making the culture and impact within these high performing urban schools self-sustaining over time.

Leadership in sustainable schools

The leadership approach in these high performing urban schools that have sustained impact over time is based upon a particular set of interrelated understandings and commitments. These commitments are to children and learning and to improving conditions in the community.  

Children

A long-term commitment to children guides all relationships, practice and decision making as well as the purpose, structure and organization of the schools and learning. The commitment is that all staff must know and maintain a collective responsibility for every single child. As Dewey (1902) once said in, The Child and the Curriculum, “the child is the starting point, the center and the end” (187). Everything is designed, planned and organized with a deep knowledge of and respect for children. The commitment to children is further based upon a higher purpose for the school and goal to make an impact in the community and society. The aim is to foster and socialize particular kinds of people interacting in the world with commitments to social responsibility and civic engagement. The long-term commitment to the development and success of graduates is to instill particular skills, habits of mind, and a certain kind of agency for self-determination as well as ability to effect change as part of a collective effort to improve conditions in the society.

Learning

The deep respect for the knowledge, perspective and experience of the child further guides the perspective on learning and the learning process. As Dewey (1904) stated, “the greatest asset that will ever be in the possession of the learner is one’s own direct and personal experience” (17). Leaders in these schools are very clear about the purpose and perspective of learning guiding practice and the role learners play in the learning process. Teaching and all curriculum learning experiences in the schools are deliberately planned and facilitated based upon a deep knowledge of learners and their interests, values and experiential knowledge outside of school. 

These particular schools are guided by a constructivist theoretical perspective on learning. According to Hollins (2010), a constructivist perspective on learning is considered “an active participatory mental process of constructing new knowledge rather than the learner passively receiving, acquiring, and repeating ‘ready-made’ knowledge; new understanding results from building upon and extending existing cognitive schemas through new experiences.” As such, learning occurs through inquiry. Inquiries are driven by a deep commitment and respect for the knowledge, values and interests of students. Teaching practice and supporting structures therefore organize staff in ongoing close observation, documentation and interpretation of students and their responses to instruction and processing of learning. Learning experiences aim to promote collaborative inquiry, analysis and dialogue through investigation and research regarding real phenomena and authentic problems. This approach to learning which fosters student investment in purposeful inquiry is similarly reflected in the leadership approach used to engage the professional staff in figuring things out and in planning curriculum learning experiences as well as solving problems together. 

Community

These schools are guided by a deep purpose to foster particular people with certain habits of mind, skills and self-agency to solve problems to determine their own futures. The vision and purpose for the schools, learning and students is to socialize people who have developed particular leadership skills and responsibilities as well as commitments to social responsibility and civic engagement in order to improve conditions in the society. This larger purpose guides major learning outcomes and learning experiences provided to students. This results in purposeful and authentic learning experiences for students. Moreover, this broader goal and purpose is for developing student agency to effect change in their everyday lives and developing the skills and confidence to make an impact in the local community. This purpose and objective is further enacted within the community constructed within the school.

The environment

What do these schools look like in practice?  The environment is deliberately and intentionally designed to reflect the particular commitments to and understandings of children, learning and community. 

The environment reflects open spaces for children to engage, to invent and to construct meaning and to utilize the tools of industry professionals. Even the front office is specially and uniquely designed for all of the staff and students to work together. The office is structured in a way for students to be there and for an open space for routine and spontaneous collaborative conversation. The staff are observed sitting around a wooden table discussing students and detailed plans. These conversations are organic. The leadership facilitates open dialogue with the staff around guiding questions and the staff make efforts to sway colleagues through conversation and dialogue to reach a common and shared understanding consistent with a unified and cohesive pedagogy.

The school structural designs are created to optimize open spaces for students to build, invent and design and to serve as forums for open and honest dialogues among staff and students alike. The students are observed to be very comfortable and relaxed. They have the freedom to interact and figure things out. Everything from the design of the school, including the office spaces and classrooms without doors are created with children in mind and their values, interests and perspective. 

There are large open spaces where groups of students can be observed designing with real tools and replica structures and scenes from the city and the broader society with wood and tools. There is custom built furniture in the schools for the students. Some students have built the furniture. There are lots of professional tools, including power drills and the like, and wooden blocks everywhere with elaborate structures created by the students in many of the rooms. There is music of interest to the students playing aloud throughout the day. There are no bells ringing to direct students. Students are developing leadership skills, independent thinking and personal responsibility through the intentional design of the school and learning by leadership. 

In some of these schools, the children even design all of the games. Children may be observed skipping in the hallway or sitting in lounges in dialogue as are staff. The staff may be observed sitting around a table engaged in dialogue and problem solving. Diverse books are filled in bookcases everywhere in all areas. There are photographs of every graduating class with their families on the walls. Exemplary student work products, including three dimensional architectural structures and unique designs invented by students from prior years are framed in plexi-glass boxes and other museum-like displays around campus. These features are deliberate by leadership and reinforce the commitment to the history of the school and its community which has been preserved and sustained over time.

Hiring decisions

How is such an environment and culture sustained? What role does the hiring and selection process play?

Hiring decisions reflect the particular commitments to children, learning and community. Much more than years of experience and evidence of student test scores, successful candidates are those who illustrate a deep commitment to students through their pedagogy and planning as well as impact.  Successful candidates are those whose perspective regarding learning is illustrated in practice and is consistent with the theoretical perspective shared within the particular schools. Successful candidates are selected based upon evidence of a genuine and compelling commitment to making a contribution to maintaining the culture and community within the school. In making hiring decisions to sustain the school culture, selections are also made based upon evidence that prospective candidates will honor making a personal impact within the local community through their work both within as well as outside of the school.

In making hiring decisions, candidates must illustrate, explain and provide evidence of a deep knowledge of child growth and development and draw from these understandings in the methods used to facilitate learning. The staff pay attention to where candidates sit relative to students; how candidates observe and interpret the responses of students while teaching; how candidates plan curriculum learning experiences from the perspectives and interests as well as knowledge of the growth and development of children and adolescents. The leadership and staff want to know how candidates plan curriculum. The kinds of questions they ask is also extremely important and the extent to which candidates consider the perspectives and interests of students in planning purposeful projects and experiential as well as authentic learning experiences for students. 

The leadership and staff want to know for example whether candidates understand and can explain the development of 10 year olds and what they will be doing in social studies in three months. They want to know how candidates collaborate and work with colleagues in a community. Leadership and staff want to know how candidates analyze, understand and respect diverse perspectives as well as the methods and approaches candidates use to engage others in thoughtful discussion in order to hear and understand multiple perspectives. The schools want to know how candidates engage diverse perspectives through inquiry as a means for developing an understanding of divergent views based upon the evidence presented without making judgement as a means for reaching a resolution or developing a shared understanding.

Students may participate in hiring decisions with the staff in these schools. In some schools, the entire staff participate in making hiring decisions. In another school, the leadership stated that everyone can serve on the hiring committee – whether students, staff and families. In all cases, decisions are based upon consensus within the community.

In these schools, selecting the right candidate also means prospective staff must show a commitment to making an impact in the community outside of the school. Consistent with the purpose of these schools, all staff agree to honor a personal commitment to improve the community through civic engagement and professional endeavors outside of school. In one school, a teacher stated that everyone has to make such a commitment upon being hired, whether presenting at professional conferences or engaging in projects and civic life for social progress in the community outside of work.

Structures and protocols

What are some of the leadership structures and protocols employed to maintain the culture? How are these structures and protocols consistent with the commitments and understandings to children, learning and community?

The staff dialogue and leadership practice is reinforced through structures and protocols initiated by leadership which all function with a deliberate focus to study each child and to know the children very well. Among others, these include a note card system and practice to document learner processing and responses to instruction. There is also a structure for weekly facilitation of descriptive review protocols used to study and describe the work and reasoning of students around a central question in order to more deeply understand learner perspectives as well as the unlimited capacities and strengths of students. There is also an artifact collection room with archives to house all student work products towards graduation portfolios where products are examined by all staff and students in turn present their work to outside panels. There is a looping structure and course sequencing organized to ensure learner personalization and working deeply with a stable cohort of students over time. There are also comprehensive narrative written descriptions twice per year regarding the growth and development of each student in particular areas. The schools have also developed internal assessment systems, referred in one school as the stages of development in reading and writing. 

These have been in place since the start of some of these schools to study and observe, document and describe as well as analyze the holistic development of learners. These structures provide a means for staff investment in the continuous improvement of practice and student learning. These structures are also subject to continuous refinement and adjustment over time. The purpose is to understand the thinking patterns and work of students – to interpret learner responses and to appreciate as well as build and expand upon the values and interests, perspectives and experiential knowledge of learners.

Taken together, these structures result in extensive knowledge of children and patterns of progress relative to student learning, growth and development. Description of each child’s progress and development is maintained, analyzed and discussed collaboratively in teams. These reviews take place in groups and as an entire staff to determine adjustments and improvements to practice, to the curriculum, and to design particular plans and supports or experiences for all students as well as for struggling learners. In this way, teaching is also the subject of study, inquiry and analysis, always in relationship to the impact on the child based upon evidence. 

The staff engage in inquiry, dialogue and analysis around questions regarding each child’s processing and responses as well as work products. Everyone is heard and respected through dialogue in a process of shared decision making. Every teacher asks the question, how can I treat this child? There is no judgment of the child. The focus is to understand the strengths of children and what they can do. The approach is to understand the impact practice has on students for ongoing adjustment based upon structured dialogue and analysis of documentation reflecting learner processing and reasoning. Description and analysis is based upon observation and documentation of students. The descriptive review is built into the school structures to understand students more deeply to inform practice and make continuous improvements. Weekly meetings are structured to discuss and resolve issues and reach agreements and understandings as a staff.

The emphasis is on the child in all decisions. The dialogue is focused on knowing the child and planning based upon knowledge of the child’s interests and values. Leadership thought and practice reinforces this expectation. Hours are spent daily and weekly to discussing, making observations, documenting practice and student responses, analyzing the children and their work. Leadership is observed often engaging in organic dialogues with teachers, and spending time talking with students and teachers, and discussing the progress and practice of students and teachers and ways to support specific struggling readers. 

Leaders are walking into classrooms posing questions, listening to and participating in dialogues, asking questions and supporting students in all subject areas. One school leader analyzes video tapes of each student in the high school reading texts aloud and engages in dialogue with subject areas teaching teams to identify patterns and adjustments to practice. Leaders engage in description and analysis of practice and student work products through dialogue and questions with teachers. They are raising questions to clarify understandings, to seek out additional information, and to help teachers generate the solutions, strategies and adjustments or development of new plans.  

Conclusion

Making observations in high performing urban schools that have sustained outcomes over time ought to inform policy discussions and strategies enacted for improving the consistency, continuity and effectiveness of practice and learning outcomes in traditional urban school systems. Whether implementing talent development systems or other strategies, the discussion presented here can inform such discussions and efforts. The descriptions provided here regarding hiring practices and supporting leadership structures and protocols enacted by school leaders contribute to maintaining a particular learning environment as well as high performance over time as part of a self-sustaining culture.

References

Dewey, John (1904). The Relation of Theory to Practice in Education. In Charles A. McMurry (Ed.) The Third Yearbook of the National Society for the Scientific Study of Education, pp. 17.

Dewey, John (1902/1990). The Child and the Curriculum. University of Chicago Press, pp. 187.

Hollins, E. R. and C. K. Warner (2021). Rethinking Teacher Preparation Program Design. Routledge Taylor and Francis Group: New York and London.

Hollins, E. R. (2010, October). Application of theories of learning to practice. Paper presented at the 14th Biennial Edgar Snow Symposium: Global Community: A Chinese-American dialogue, Kansas City, MO.

Jared R. Lancer ? copyright 2021