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You
are here: A Principal's Vision
by Lorna Spear
"Every child who leaves our school will have the social and academic skills and abilities to make choices in their lives."
Nick, a first grader, had made great progress in reading over the past few weeks, so his Reading Recovery teacher gave him a book to keep honoring his hard work. Nick kept it in his reading folder at school. When his Reading Recovery teacher asked him why he did not take it home he replied, with tears in his eyes, "This is the first book I have ever had of my own. I don't want it to get lost or ruined by taking it home".
Too often schools conclude that children who live in poverty should be pitied and need to be loved more than they need to be engaged in learning. People often refer to them as at-risk. In fact, some believe they are incapable of learning the rigorous standards represented by our state's essential academic learning requirements. More than 85% of the 550 students at Bemiss Elementary eat free or reduced lunch. We believe the best way to love our at-promise students is to give each child the academic and social skills and abilities they need to make choices in their lives.
What is the role of a principal in a school with this vision? I state our vision at least once each day at school, to parents, and within the community! I want everyone to know why we come to work each day. I am the lead cheerleader for the successes we share and guide our continuous improvement with data and research. At times, I have to remind myself, staff, and students that there is no excuse for students to not be successful. If we find a strategy that works, we do it more often. If something doesn't work, we do something different!
I encourage and support teachers as they expend huge amounts of energy to plan and implement engaging, constructivist lessons focused on students' mastery of academics. As a professional learning community, they encourage and support each other. The staff at Bemiss understands that children will learn when we use assessment data to determine instruction for each child. Personalized learning is critical to student success. We tell our students how smart and capable they are, and they prove us correct on every assessment at the classroom, district and state level. We focus all of our resources on teaching and learning and find a way to provide the necessary tools for staff and students to attain academic success. It seems I often find myself protecting us from distractions and initiatives that others want to impose upon us. Initiatives that would take away from our core work, teaching and learning.
We believe in collaboration and professional growth as a way of life, and that includes my assistant and I participating in continuous learning and practicing of research-based best instructional practices along side our teachers. If the administrators are not first and foremost good teachers, how can we evaluate, support, and improve teaching in our building. If we do not spend our time in classrooms, where the teaching and learning is occurring, how will we know if a teacher or student needs support?
Clearly, our focus is for all children to meet the standards, but this learning cannot happen if children do not feel safe and cared for at school. Our children know that all students have a right to learn and no one will keep another from learning. Our desire is for classrooms that are so engaging, children want to be there. While we have a progressive discipline plan, our students lead unique, stress filled lives, and each is an individual. We have found that if we treat our students with respect, they will return the respect. With the guidance of experienced, caring counselors we have created a learning community including common vocabulary and a problem-solving approach to discipline. Our children need our attention. If we can give each one a connection, some positive attention, they do not require negative attention from misbehavior. But our students know, we will not allow anyone, adult or child, to keep another from learning.
While I believe the vision and philosophical beliefs of a school are the foundation for success, I am most often asked, not about vision, but about what actions we take to live our vision and philosophy. What is that enables 84% of our students meet or exceed the standard in math? What practices are in place that makes it possible for 74% of our fourth graders to meet or exceed the reading and writing standards? Following are a few of the school-wide practices and strategies you will see in our classrooms at Bemiss:
· Highly trained teachers working closely with instructional facilitators (professional developers) in their classrooms to improve teaching and learning.
· Uninterrupted 90 minute blocks of time for the learning of mathematics and literacy, daily.
· An absolute focus on the essential academic learning requirements.
· Frequent assessments used to inform instruction and decision making.
· Constructivist teaching.
· Writing across the curriculum.
· Attention to common vocabulary.
· No tolerance of students who keep others from learning.
· Class meetings to work on community.
· Everyone engaged in learning, students and staff.
· Classroom teachers who accept responsibility for each child in their classroom.
· A certificated model of student support and professional development.
· Grade level teams planning and working together.
Again, this is not an inclusive list, but some of what we believe are our most effective strategies.So, what is it like to be a principal or teacher in a school where every child will learn the academic and social skills necessary to make choices in their lives? On any given day it can be thrilling, frightening, complex, frustrating, challenging, hectic, intense, or riotously funny. But, from my perspective, it is without a doubt, the most rewarding work I have ever engaged in, because I know we are making a difference for children who might not have opportunities in their lives without the education we are providing for them inside the classrooms of this focused, determined school.
About the author
Lorna Spear has been the principal at Bemiss Elementary School for 6 years. Prior to that, she was the principal's assistant, Title I instructional facilitator at Bemiss, and Assessment Facilitator for Spokane Public Schools. She has taught all grades K-6 and has been a part of Washington State's reform efforts beginning as a member of the Science Subject Advisory Committee, several reading committees, and as a LASER institute faculty member. The past several years she has provided professional development for administrators and teachers exploring standards based education, classroom based assessment, the use of data to inform instruction and schools considering becoming a Title I School wide project. She is currently pursuing doctorate in educational leadership at the U of W and hold a superintendent's credential. Email: LornaS@SpokaneSchools.org
© December 2003 New Horizons for Learning
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