Julie H. Rucker
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Standard 6: A school administrator is an educational leader who promotes the success of all students by understanding, responding to, and influencing the larger political, social, economic, legal, and cultural context.
Questions:
How can a school's administration work with the faculty to ensure all students graduate from high school?
How can the current societal trend of a less than 60% graduation rate be addressed and improved?
Situation:
Tannebaum High School did not make Annual Yearly Progress (AYP) during the past school year because it had a graduation rate of 58% instead of 60% required by the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act of 2001. Of the students who enter Tannenbaum High School as ninth graders, almost half drop out and do not receive high school diplomas. The administrative team at the school realizes that they have the responsibility of making changes within the school to ensure students successfully complete all four years of high school and graduate with their class. The administration is also aware that they will be held accountable for the adequate yearly progress of their school and that AYP requirements will not relax but will instead grow more stringent with each passing year. In addition, administrators are aware of the research that shows students who drop out of school often work in low-wage earning jobs, are on governmental subsidies, or are eventually a part of the prison system. Education is a key to mobility in society, and the administration team wants to make use of all tools within its disposal to ensure all students receive an equitable education that will allow them opportunity and social mobility.
What the Principal Discovered:
The principal of Tannenbaum High School discovered there were few interevention strategies in place to help students who were having attendance problems, academic problems, or both. Too often, students were being placed immediately on SST upon failing two or more courses without any interventions being made prior to student failure.
What Changes Will Be Made As a Result:
The administrative team has identified teachers within the school who have agreed to serve as a leadership team. This team's purpose is to establish a pyramid of interventions that the school will follow with all students who get into trouble academically. The leadership team will attend workshops with trainers from the state department of education and will meet bi-monthly to read and discuss professional publications focusing on their purpose as a leadership team. They will continue to develop a pyramid of intervention until one is created that is acceptable to all stakeholders.
Administration has also implemented an intervention strategy, an extended day program where teachers tutor students in academic areas either before or after school for one hour, four days a week. Students are recommended by their teachers for the program based on grades in the courses they are currently taking. Parents can also request that students attend the program, even if a teacher has not recommended them. Students will voluntarily attend the program, but in the future, administration and the leadership team may make the program mandatory for students who have failed a certain number of courses in their high school career.
Responding to the Questions:
How can a school's administration work with the faculty to ensure all students graduate from high school?
Tannenbaum High School administration has chosen to work with teachers from each subject area within the school who are willing to put in the extra time and effort to ensure all students receive a high school diploma. The leadership team can also fill a gap that often exists between administration and faculty; these teachers are in the classrooms, in the trenches with students, and they understand first hand what the students need in the classroom whereas administrators often cannot address academic problems until failures occur. Teachers can readily identify students who are in danger of failing when there is still time to intervene and offer help because of their closeness to the students' situations.
How can the current societal trend of a less than 60% graduation rate be addressed and improved?
Instead of waiting until students have already failed to implement proven intervention strategies, this faculty has chosen to take an offensive approach to student academic failure. They will work to identify struggling students prior to failing a class and utilize appropriate interventions at that time rather than waiting until it is too late to recover academic credit, thus increasing the likelihood that a student will drop out of school instead of a receiving a diploma.
Assessment of Administrator: Developing
I would rate the whole administrative team of this school as "Developing" in regards to what changes they want to make to improve graduation rates. All of the steps they have taken thus far are appropriate and productive; they haven't yet solidified what their intervention strategies will by, how they will address the monetary issues associated with those interventions, and what follow up procedures they will have to evaluate whether or not the interventions are working.