The main focus of chapter 4 “A New Theory for the Principalship” talks about a theory more responsive to nonlinear conditions and loose structuring that can inspire extraordinary commitment and performance. The theory should not replace but subsume the old. The role of traditional management must change form being a strategic model for developing school policies and practices to being a valued albeit limited, tactical option with a new, more broadly based and powerful management theory. In constructing the new theory, many time-honored principles of traditional management will have to be rethought and expanded. We need to try to move from the traditional power over to a newer alternative involving power to.
After reading the chapter and considering the guiding ISLLC statements, and knowing what you know about your school or school division, on what issues do you think your school still follows traditional rules and which do you feel are moving more toward an alternative method?
In my school, we follow traditional rules when dealing with schedules and with discipline. However, we are definitely moving more toward a new "power to" committment by administration relating to curriculum. One example, is the Response to Intervention team that will be developing a new tiered format for special education referrals. This team is made up of administration, classroom teachers, special education teachers, and reading specialists. This team is developing the criteria and creating the norms based on our own school population that will allow us to properly place a student according to their needs.
I applaud every principal who is more power to than power over. It is much more enjoyable and teacher moral is at a high level, which means that is good for the students.
This is a good start to the content in the chapter. Power to is part of the change happening in leadership. Your examples can help others better understand where success has found in current practices.
At my school, we were informed today that we will now have to follow some traditional rules when it comes to our principal's expections. Before, we never had any guidelines as to turning in lesson plans, following blueprints, team meetings, etc. I think this was a positive move on my principal's part because I have noticed many teachers acting as "good subordinates."
However, my school would mostly be defined as a "power-to" school because my principal discusses problems and changes with us before any actions take place.
Our county is also working on implementing RTI. I am currently working with a team of principals and central office employees on the beginning stages of implementation. I am very excited about everything that I am learning with regards to this new approach to learning.
I work in a school with a traditional power to principal. He is old school and gives each teacher the freedom to do what they feel is appropriate and acceptable as long as the results are positive. (sol scores) He doesn't breath down our necks and listens to us on pretty much any topic we feel we need to discuss with him. I am not sure the will be much change in his way of management since he will probably be retiring in the next several years. Its a joy to teach for him.
I believe my principal uses more of the new theory. We work as a team on identifying our goals. Then we decide our best course of action in our classroom. We know the expectations and we try to accomplish them to the best of our ability. An example of one way our school is still following traditional rules is in reading. We are a Reading First school. The state determines what we teach and exactly how we should teach it. We have a reading coach in our school that is in charge of making sure everyone is teaching what they are supposed to, when they are supposed to, the way they are supposed to. We also have the DOE coming in double checking. It can be very difficult at times when you see other skills that need to be taught.
I work for a principal who is more "power to" than "power over". I also feel that this make the working environment more productive. My administrator makes us feel involved with some of the decision making. It seems like the teachers respond well to this and are excited to be apart of whats going on. Happy teachers make better educators. Gabe Long
Brad H: Speaking of old vs. new….At the last school I was at there was a parent advisory board that met with the building level administration once a month. I was in shock when I heard about that, but it worked. The purpose was to give parents a voice not a vote. There was also a parent athletic advisory board that met with the Athletic Director every other month as well. This brought everyone together and seemed to be very successful.
This may be a little off topic and unpopular, but let me agree that I do appreciate my principal's power to rather than power over approach with his faculty. My gripe is with parents who are a little too power to instead of power over their children. I have some students who can do no wrong. I would like to carry over some of the power to principles to the classroom, and I do, but poor use of power over at home sometimes makes me the "power over Police" at school. Hope that is not too confusing!
In my school, we seem to be gradually moving into the future. We have Title 1 going into the classroom, no more pullout. We have inclusive classrooms at every grade level including pre-k.But there is still the mindset among some faculty that things need to be like they "used" to be. In fact alot of our conversations in meetings start with this phrase " When Mr. SO and SO was here, we did ........" Our principal is very supportive of moving into the future but I'm afriad she's going to have trouble with some of the faculty.
At my school, we are working to raise math 6 and math 7 scores on the SOL. Our math department has undergone a total reconstruction. My principal, while working under the "standardized work process" and "standardized outcomes" strategies described in chapter 4, has been able to lead this whole painful process with a team building, morale boosting, and "power to" approach. Of course, our PASS coach and our central office personnel require some very "power over" type procedures, but my principal realizes that we will never achieve success unless all the stakeholders in the school buy into the vision of increasing student performance on our SOL tests.
I am not currently teaching, but my student teaching experience was with a principal who seemed to be at first glance very much "power over" but as I have returned to the school to substitute this semester, I have realized that many qualities I viewed as "power over" may actually have been "power to" in disguise. This particular principal has a very strong personality, but after getting to know her a little better, I can see that she is making a big effort to reach out to the faculty, students, and communtity in trying not only to build school culture, but at the same time make sure the school continues to meet curriculum standards. Like Lesia's school, this elementary school is now bringing Title I to the classroom and avoiding "pull-outs" whenever possible. I can definitely see a "normative" strategy at work.
My school has welcomed back a former assistant principal as principal this year. He has a more power to approach than our former administrator. Teachers now have more control over the instructional decisions in their classrooms. He promotes an environment of collegiality where we share strategies we have found to work with our peers who are free to implement them in their rooms, too. In fact, we received our schedule for next year over a month ago. In the past, we received the schedule the first or second workday in August. One area that is still power over is lesson plans. They still have a defined framework and have to be turned in first thing Monday morning.
Our division is exploring the transition to RTI as well, moving away from the traditional achievement/ability discrepancy model for identification of learning disabilities. This will place a greater responsibility on classroom teachers for the success of every student, but require a change of mindscape because it is so different. I also see a new approach to attendance issues, where in the past, truancy quickly lead to a court appearance. Now, the building level administrator is contacting parents earlier about attendance concerns. Following that, referral is made to a team that meets with student/parents/guardian to determine causes and search for a way to correct the situation rather than involve the courts.
I feel very similarly to how you feel, Adam, in regards to the parents being a little too "power to" with their children. I, too, try to be very power to with my students, and I work at a school that is very power to, almost to a fault. However, often I find myself being, as you say, Adam, the "power over police." It is very frustrating, and can be hard to find the right balance between providing the power to instruction, while also trying to enforce rules, teach responsibility, etc.
The principal at my school is having a successful first year, for the most part. She has been our assistant principal for several years. She has a "power to" approach, but many on our faculty view her as too lenient. She realizes this, but feels very strongly that she is doing "right things" and she believes that change will come gradually. Many of the teachers who have been at the school for years are used to working under a "power over" principal. They often voice their opinion that the school was a better school when the old administration was "in power". It seems that they had become accustomed to following the rules, rather than accepting responsibility for their students and their actions. I appreciate our new administration and I am learning that changes in mindset are difficult for everyone.
At my previous school, we had definitely made the shift from "power over" to "power to," and our principal was doing a nice job of applying traditional management only to simple things. However, much of that changed rapidly when the state assistance team arrived...
When we were in our third year of "improvement" (which was only the first full year for our principal) , we got hammered with 'suggestions' that manifested as top-down directives. It wasn't a big deal when they dealt with our school improvement plan or our tutoring plan, but the many arbitrary changes to things like our schedule and our lesson plan format caused a definite drop in teacher morale.
Considering that some of us will likely get our first opportunity to be principal by stepping into a struggling school, how do we balance the pressure put on our school divisions by the state with what we believe to be in the best interest of our teachers and students? Do we go with an "anything goes for now, let's just get the kids to pass" mentality, with the intent of changing our management style somewhere down the road? Sounds a little too much like the Patriot Act to me :o)
I think when you use power to management it is important to get the faculty to buy into the vision. Working together as a team to address state standards helps everyone see the problems and form solutions. When you motivate instead of dictate, and allow teachers to practice their craft, I think good results will be seen
I also teach at a school where the admiinistration talkes on a more power to approach. The majority of the power over decisions are based on policy whee there are specific guidlines already in place. This type of leadership does boost school moral and also allows for points of view to be seen or considered that may not have originally came to mind in a power over approach. However, the ultimate decision make by the administration may be the original decision.
My school follows traditional management on these issues: dress code; schedule for workdays-everyone has to do them 9:00-3:00, not 8:00- 1:00 with no lunch, as most teachers want to do; and lesson plan formats.
We are moving to a more alternative method in the areas of differentiating instruction- teachers are encouraged to try new strategies/techniques AND committees are formed to make decisions in certain areas such as school calender-principal provides guidelines and allows teachers to create and vote on final product; a
Our school is also struggling with SOL scores and we have been visited by the VDOE several times over the past three years. Even with this facing us our principal has still managed to let the teachers decide how they will use the information the VDOE has given them. Instead of stepping in and dictating he just offered as many professional development opportunities to the teachers and tried to provide any support they needed. Many doubted his theory but it worked and we were accrediated this year for the first time in three years.
My school is definitely a "power to" school. Although this is overall good it can be very frustrating if the expectations are not clear for teachers (and students).
We are currently dealing with teachers who have decided they don't have to be at school for the whole day of parent teacher conferences. They have worked it out with the parents in their class but that has effected the parents who have students in more than one class. This is one example that I believe everyone should be on the same schedule.
My school is also very traditional. Our schedules are very traditional and planned out according to the way it has always been. We also are given a specific lesson plan format that must be completed and turned in every Friday.
The school division is working on getting more technology into classrooms. I have seen a drastic change in the past year.
My principal is a little of both power to and power over. I think with discipline and school policies he follows the power over. At the same time teachers in our school are in on some of the decision making process. We have input on scheduling, team discipline policies and he lets us decide on how we want to teach as long as the desired result is positive. I do think teacher moral effects the student learning process. I am glad that we are moving toward more of the power to leadership.
My school is currently classified as a PASS school and my principal has central office and our PASS coach breathing down his neck with a "power over" approach. He has, however, allowed the staff to create tutoring schedules, observe their peers in the teaching process, and come up with innovative ideas to help our school to become accrediated. This "power to" approach has helped to keep the teachers' morale higher and a feeling of "we're in this together".
I've worked for leaders who are now struggling with the idea of "power to" leadership. The old-school principals have trouble, I think, with giving up power to teachers, or anyone else in the building. If it's because of the responsibility that finally, ultimately falls in the laps of the school principals, thats one thing. But I have a hard time thinking that is why. I think it's just having a hard time releasing power. On the other hand, I've worked for leaders that realize that giving up some power for the good of the cause is just fine.
There seems to be a mix of those administrators that are still using traditional practices and those that are using more of a power to method. The key here with this new idea of a power to system of principalship is that we are not replacing all time-honored principles of traditional management, instead we must expand the system by which decisions are made in the traditional system.
My principal uses a lot of traditional management theory. He thinks in a linear way,has endless checklists, likes people to have all their ducks in a row and follow the rules. The faculty has a joke at our school that he "makes the trains run on time." I am grateful that he does not micromanage teaching, however. He doesn't check or collect lesson plans weekly. He pretty much lets teachers develop their own style, as long as SOL scores are high - that is definitely his bottom line. I would like to see him focus more on developing a vision that everyone feels connected and committed to. Increasingly, teachers feel there is very little shared decision-making about what we do as a school. Focusing on vision would mean that he would have to work more with faculty, staff, and students.
I have had the opportunity to work for a few different principal's and all have had different styles. While student teaching I had an Assistant Principal that wouldn't even smile in front of the students, he was very power over. My current principal is a power to. He allows us as teachers to develop our own styles yet he still offers the support needed for us to be successful.
Our principal uses "power to" and includes the faculty on decisions in the school. There are still some traditional areas...turning in lesson plans, etc. However, teachers feel valued and are trusted to make decisions in the best interests of the children.
Ashley, our county is also implementing RTI. My principal loves to be at the forefront and doesn’t hesitate one bit for us to pilot a new instructional approach. We are the first school in the county to apply these theories and have begun the first stages at the kindergarten level. We, as a grade level, developed our own benchmarks based our students’ scores and pulled the lowest 8 from all three classes into an intervention group. We spend 45 minutes daily during reading instruction to reach these students. One of us teaches the intervention group while the other two teachers take half of the remaining class. While many (including my principal) are strictly against homogenous grouping, educators must do what is necessary to reach every child. We can differentiate until the ‘cows come home;’ however, I believe we must take a never-say-never approach and do what our students need. My two intervention students absolutely love going to the group and experience success at their own levels. I am very excited about this approach and anxiously await an upcoming conference my principal and I are going to regarding RTI.
At my school, traditional rules are still in the form of discipline (In-school suspension and Out-school suspension)and how scheduling is done 7 periods. Because I am in an urban setting, a lot of the traditional systems do not work for this student population.
One thing that is newer is trying block schedules with certain teachers and monitoring the scores of those students involved. And encouraging teachers to visit homes of the students and move student/parent conferences into the neighborhood libraries and community centers to help parents feel more comfortable in their setting to talk about their child's progress.
33 comments:
Group 6
The main focus of chapter 4 “A New Theory for the Principalship” talks about a theory more responsive to nonlinear conditions and loose structuring that can inspire extraordinary commitment and performance. The theory should not replace but subsume the old. The role of traditional management must change form being a strategic model for developing school policies and practices to being a valued albeit limited, tactical option with a new, more broadly based and powerful management theory. In constructing the new theory, many time-honored principles of traditional management will have to be rethought and expanded. We need to try to move from the traditional power over to a newer alternative involving power to.
After reading the chapter and considering the guiding ISLLC statements, and knowing what you know about your school or school division, on what issues do you think your school still follows traditional rules and which do you feel are moving more toward an alternative method?
In my school, we follow traditional rules when dealing with schedules and with discipline. However, we are definitely moving more toward a new "power to" committment by administration relating to curriculum. One example, is the Response to Intervention team that will be developing a new tiered format for special education referrals. This team is made up of administration, classroom teachers, special education teachers, and reading specialists. This team is developing the criteria and creating the norms based on our own school population that will allow us to properly place a student according to their needs.
I applaud every principal who is more power to than power over. It is much more enjoyable and teacher moral is at a high level, which means that is good for the students.
This is a good start to the content in the chapter. Power to is part of the change happening in leadership. Your examples can help others better understand where success has found in current practices.
At my school, we were informed today that we will now have to follow some traditional rules when it comes to our principal's expections. Before, we never had any guidelines as to turning in lesson plans, following blueprints, team meetings, etc. I think this was a positive move on my principal's part because I have noticed many teachers acting as "good subordinates."
However, my school would mostly be defined as a "power-to" school because my principal discusses problems and changes with us before any actions take place.
Our county is also working on implementing RTI. I am currently working with a team of principals and central office employees on the beginning stages of implementation. I am very excited about everything that I am learning with regards to this new approach to learning.
I work in a school with a traditional power to principal. He is old school and gives each teacher the freedom to do what they feel is appropriate and acceptable as long as the results are positive. (sol scores) He doesn't breath down our necks and listens to us on pretty much any topic we feel we need to discuss with him. I am not sure the will be much change in his way of management since he will probably be retiring in the next several years. Its a joy to teach for him.
I believe my principal uses more of the new theory. We work as a team on identifying our goals. Then we decide our best course of action in our classroom. We know the expectations and we try to accomplish them to the best of our ability.
An example of one way our school is still following traditional rules is in reading. We are a Reading First school. The state determines what we teach and exactly how we should teach it. We have a reading coach in our school that is in charge of making sure everyone is teaching what they are supposed to, when they are supposed to, the way they are supposed to. We also have the DOE coming in double checking. It can be very difficult at times when you see other skills that need to be taught.
I work for a principal who is more "power to" than "power over". I also feel that this make the working environment more productive. My administrator makes us feel involved with some of the decision making. It seems like the teachers respond well to this and are excited to be apart of whats going on. Happy teachers make better educators.
Gabe Long
Brad H: Speaking of old vs. new….At the last school I was at there was a parent advisory board that met with the building level administration once a month. I was in shock when I heard about that, but it worked. The purpose was to give parents a voice not a vote. There was also a parent athletic advisory board that met with the Athletic Director every other month as well. This brought everyone together and seemed to be very successful.
This may be a little off topic and unpopular, but let me agree that I do appreciate my principal's power to rather than power over approach with his faculty. My gripe is with parents who are a little too power to instead of power over their children. I have some students who can do no wrong. I would like to carry over some of the power to principles to the classroom, and I do, but poor use of power over at home sometimes makes me the "power over Police" at school. Hope that is not too confusing!
In my school, we seem to be gradually moving into the future. We have Title 1 going into the classroom, no more pullout. We have inclusive classrooms at every grade level including pre-k.But there is still the mindset among some faculty that things need to be like they "used" to be. In fact alot of our conversations in meetings start with this phrase " When Mr. SO and SO was here, we did ........" Our principal is very supportive of moving into the future but I'm afriad she's going to have trouble with some of the faculty.
At my school, we are working to raise math 6 and math 7 scores on the SOL. Our math department has undergone a total reconstruction. My principal, while working under the "standardized work process" and "standardized outcomes" strategies described in chapter 4, has been able to lead this whole painful process with a team building, morale boosting, and "power to" approach. Of course, our PASS coach and our central office personnel require some very "power over" type procedures, but my principal realizes that we will never achieve success unless all the stakeholders in the school buy into the vision of increasing student performance on our SOL tests.
I am not currently teaching, but my student teaching experience was with a principal who seemed to be at first glance very much "power over" but as I have returned to the school to substitute this semester, I have realized that many qualities I viewed as "power over" may actually have been "power to" in disguise. This particular principal has a very strong personality, but after getting to know her a little better, I can see that she is making a big effort to reach out to the faculty, students, and communtity in trying not only to build school culture, but at the same time make sure the school continues to meet curriculum standards. Like Lesia's school, this elementary school is now bringing Title I to the classroom and avoiding "pull-outs" whenever possible. I can definitely see a "normative" strategy at work.
My school has welcomed back a former assistant principal as principal this year. He has a more power to approach than our former administrator. Teachers now have more control over the instructional decisions in their classrooms. He promotes an environment of collegiality where we share strategies we have found to work with our peers who are free to implement them in their rooms, too. In fact, we received our schedule for next year over a month ago. In the past, we received the schedule the first or second workday in August. One area that is still power over is lesson plans. They still have a defined framework and have to be turned in first thing Monday morning.
Our division is exploring the transition to RTI as well, moving away from the traditional achievement/ability discrepancy model for identification of learning disabilities. This will place a greater responsibility on classroom teachers for the success of every student, but require a change of mindscape because it is so different. I also see a new approach to attendance issues, where in the past, truancy quickly lead to a court appearance. Now, the building level administrator is contacting parents earlier about attendance concerns. Following that, referral is made to a team that meets with student/parents/guardian to determine causes and search for a way to correct the situation rather than involve the courts.
I feel very similarly to how you feel, Adam, in regards to the parents being a little too "power to" with their children. I, too, try to be very power to with my students, and I work at a school that is very power to, almost to a fault. However, often I find myself being, as you say, Adam, the "power over police." It is very frustrating, and can be hard to find the right balance between providing the power to instruction, while also trying to enforce rules, teach responsibility, etc.
The principal at my school is having a successful first year, for the most part. She has been our assistant principal for several years. She has a "power to" approach, but many on our faculty view her as too lenient. She realizes this, but feels very strongly that she is doing "right things" and she believes that change will come gradually. Many of the teachers who have been at the school for years are used to working under a "power over" principal. They often voice their opinion that the school was a better school when the old administration was "in power". It seems that they had become accustomed to following the rules, rather than accepting responsibility for their students and their actions. I appreciate our new administration and I am learning that changes in mindset are difficult for everyone.
At my previous school, we had definitely made the shift from "power over" to "power to," and our principal was doing a nice job of applying traditional management only to simple things. However, much of that changed rapidly when the state assistance team arrived...
When we were in our third year of "improvement" (which was only the first full year for our principal) , we got hammered with 'suggestions' that manifested as top-down directives. It wasn't a big deal when they dealt with our school improvement plan or our tutoring plan, but the many arbitrary changes to things like our schedule and our lesson plan format caused a definite drop in teacher morale.
Considering that some of us will likely get our first opportunity to be principal by stepping into a struggling school, how do we balance the pressure put on our school divisions by the state with what we believe to be in the best interest of our teachers and students? Do we go with an "anything goes for now, let's just get the kids to pass" mentality, with the intent of changing our management style somewhere down the road? Sounds a little too much like the Patriot Act to me :o)
I think when you use power to management it is important to get the faculty to buy into the vision. Working together as a team to address state standards helps everyone see the problems and form solutions. When you motivate instead of dictate, and allow teachers to practice their craft, I think good results will be seen
I also teach at a school where the admiinistration talkes on a more power to approach. The majority of the power over decisions are based on policy whee there are specific guidlines already in place. This type of leadership does boost school moral and also allows for points of view to be seen or considered that may not have originally came to mind in a power over approach. However, the ultimate decision make by the administration may be the original decision.
Paul Love
My school follows traditional management on these issues:
dress code; schedule for workdays-everyone has to do them 9:00-3:00, not 8:00- 1:00 with no lunch, as most teachers want to do; and lesson plan formats.
We are moving to a more alternative method in the areas of differentiating instruction- teachers are encouraged to try new strategies/techniques AND committees are formed to make decisions in certain areas such as school calender-principal provides guidelines and allows teachers to create and vote on final product; a
Our school is also struggling with SOL scores and we have been visited by the VDOE several times over the past three years. Even with this facing us our principal has still managed to let the teachers decide how they will use the information the VDOE has given them. Instead of stepping in and dictating he just offered as many professional development opportunities to the teachers and tried to provide any support they needed. Many doubted his theory but it worked and we were accrediated this year for the first time in three years.
My school is definitely a "power to" school. Although this is overall good it can be very frustrating if the expectations are not clear for teachers (and students).
We are currently dealing with teachers who have decided they don't have to be at school for the whole day of parent teacher conferences. They have worked it out with the parents in their class but that has effected the parents who have students in more than one class. This is one example that I believe everyone should be on the same schedule.
My school is also very traditional. Our schedules are very traditional and planned out according to the way it has always been. We also are given a specific lesson plan format that must be completed and turned in every Friday.
The school division is working on getting more technology into classrooms. I have seen a drastic change in the past year.
My principal is a little of both power to and power over. I think with discipline and school policies he follows the power over. At the same time teachers in our school are in on some of the decision making process. We have input on scheduling, team discipline policies and he lets us decide on how we want to teach as long as the desired result is positive. I do think teacher moral effects the student learning process. I am glad that we are moving toward more of the power to leadership.
Sherry Looney
My school is currently classified as a PASS school and my principal has central office and our PASS coach breathing down his neck with a "power over" approach. He has, however, allowed the staff to create tutoring schedules, observe their peers in the teaching process, and come up with innovative ideas to help our school to become accrediated. This "power to" approach has helped to keep the teachers' morale higher and a feeling of "we're in this together".
I've worked for leaders who are now struggling with the idea of "power to" leadership. The old-school principals have trouble, I think, with giving up power to teachers, or anyone else in the building. If it's because of the responsibility that finally, ultimately falls in the laps of the school principals, thats one thing. But I have a hard time thinking that is why. I think it's just having a hard time releasing power. On the other hand, I've worked for leaders that realize that giving up some power for the good of the cause is just fine.
There seems to be a mix of those administrators that are still using traditional practices and those that are using more of a power to method. The key here with this new idea of a power to system of principalship is that we are not replacing all time-honored principles of traditional management, instead we must expand the system by which decisions are made in the traditional system.
BJ Lasley
My principal uses a lot of traditional management theory. He thinks in a linear way,has endless checklists, likes people to have all their ducks in a row and follow the rules. The faculty has a joke at our school that he "makes the trains run on time." I am grateful that he does not micromanage teaching, however. He doesn't check or collect lesson plans weekly. He pretty much lets teachers develop their own style, as long as SOL scores are high - that is definitely his bottom line. I would like to see him focus more on developing a vision that everyone feels connected and committed to. Increasingly, teachers feel there is very little shared decision-making about what we do as a school. Focusing on vision would mean that he would have to work more with faculty, staff, and students.
I have had the opportunity to work for a few different principal's and all have had different styles. While student teaching I had an Assistant Principal that wouldn't even smile in front of the students, he was very power over. My current principal is a power to. He allows us as teachers to develop our own styles yet he still offers the support needed for us to be successful.
Our principal uses "power to" and includes the faculty on decisions in the school. There are still some traditional areas...turning in lesson plans, etc. However, teachers feel valued and are trusted to make decisions in the best interests of the children.
Ashley, our county is also implementing RTI. My principal loves to be at the forefront and doesn’t hesitate one bit for us to pilot a new instructional approach. We are the first school in the county to apply these theories and have begun the first stages at the kindergarten level. We, as a grade level, developed our own benchmarks based our students’ scores and pulled the lowest 8 from all three classes into an intervention group. We spend 45 minutes daily during reading instruction to reach these students. One of us teaches the intervention group while the other two teachers take half of the remaining class. While many (including my principal) are strictly against homogenous grouping, educators must do what is necessary to reach every child. We can differentiate until the ‘cows come home;’ however, I believe we must take a never-say-never approach and do what our students need. My two intervention students absolutely love going to the group and experience success at their own levels. I am very excited about this approach and anxiously await an upcoming conference my principal and I are going to regarding RTI.
Amber Lam
Cheryl Burrell-Graves
At my school, traditional rules are still in the form of discipline (In-school suspension and Out-school suspension)and how scheduling is done 7 periods. Because I am in an urban setting, a lot of the traditional systems do not work for this student population.
One thing that is newer is trying block schedules with certain teachers and monitoring the scores of those students involved. And encouraging teachers to visit homes of the students and move student/parent conferences into the neighborhood libraries and community centers to help parents feel more comfortable in their setting to talk about their child's progress.
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