Self-Reflection

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Ramon sits quietly in his seat. He lets his mind wander as the teacher stands in front of the class talking about yesterday’s homework assignment. He likes where he sits in the first row, fifth seat, because the teacher almost never looks in his direction and he can just blend into the class. He notices his classmates begin to clear off their desks and sees that they are taking out their World Cultures text- books. Ramon begins to worry that the next assignment is to read from that dreaded book. His worst fears are confirmed when his teacher tells the class to open their books to Chapter 6 for group reading. He has heard this before and he knows the routine. Each student will read one paragraph out loud as they go in order through the class. Maybe today she will begin on the other side of the class. No such luck as she tells the first student in his row to begin. With a lump in his throat and beads of sweat forming on his brow, he quickly scans down to the fifth paragraph, hoping that it will not be too long or too hard. His heart sinks when he sees the first word of the paragraph, Mesopotamia. As he looks over the para- graph, he also encounters Egyptian and pyramid. A sense of panic surges through him as he tries to figure out a way of avoiding reading out loud in class. He thinks about pretending he is sick or asleep. Finally he decides to go for a sure thing, so he reaches over and punches the boy next to him on the arm. The boy screams and Ramon is relieved to know that he will not have to read in class today. (Blase- witz & Taylor, 1999, p. 33)

Committing to Literacy Leadership

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RAMON’S STORY IS NOT UNIQUE. IN STUDYING OLDER, STRUGGLING READERS WE found that they repeat over and over again the coping mechanisms they have developed to either avoid reading and writing or to hide their lack of literacy skills. Most often they act out, disrupting the class in some way,

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and become “discipline problems.” By the time these students reach 5th or 6th grade, they know they don’t read as well as their peers and believe that is just how it is. They believe that no matter how hard they try, they will never become readers and writers. Their self-defeating beliefs lead to poor school-related self-esteem. All these factors contribute to great aca- demic frustration, and, when coupled with early adolescents’ develop- mental needs for peer approval and independence, a downhill slide may escalate into a crisis.

The political scrutiny and criticism regarding the lack of an acceptable level of literacy among diverse student populations has made educators well aware of the need to improve literacy learning. In the past, we assumed that students learned to read in elementary school; if they did not, we found alternatives for them in middle school and high school— alternatives that rarely led to academic success or to graduation. By mid- dle and high school (the thinking once went), students should no longer be learning to read, but reading to learn . . . reading to master higher-level content, concepts, and skills. Today we acknowledge that many students, perhaps as many as 50 percent, leave elementary school without develop- ing the reading skills necessary to succeed in middle and high school. We recognize that this skill deficiency severely affects not only their perform- ance on standardized assessments, but also their success in all content classes. For this reason, we believe that supporting literacy is every edu- cator’s job—at every level and all day long.

This book focuses on the end goal for literacy learning: that all students will become joyful, independent readers and writers. It does so by exploring fail-safe literacy leadership, which provides administrators (school-based and district) and teacher-leaders with a deliberate and purposeful process to maximize students’ literacy achievement and help them to become not just better readers and writers, but also better listeners, speakers, and thinkers. We’ve chosen the term fail-safe because the essential compo- nents of the system we suggest, when implemented as we suggest, will ensure your success in improving student results. In our experience, texts and consultants focus on one component or another, but do not combine leadership processes with strategies for adolescent literacy acquisition and development. That combination is key. Blending leadership processes with knowledge of adolescent literacy development will allow all faculty

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members within your school to work together to strategically develop a plan to achieve your literacy goals.

To reach these end goals, it’s up to leadership—school administrators, primarily—to get the ball rolling. The first task in developing a fail-safe system of literacy for your school involves three steps:

1. Believe that all students can be joyful, independent readers and writers . . . and that you can help them reach that goal.

2. Evaluate your fellow stakeholders’ commitment to all students becoming joyful, independent readers and writers.

3. Demonstrate your commitment through action.

Let’s get started.

Step 1: Believe that all students can be joyful, independent readers and writers . . . and that you can help them reach that goal

As busy administrators, most of us don’t take the time to think about what we really believe, select what is most important for our professional lives, and then focus on that one issue no matter what else arises. The first step in improving the literacy of all students in a middle or high school is to believe that through your leadership, you can significantly influence students’ day- to-day learning and help bring about measurable improvement in their reading, writing, listening, speaking, and thinking skills. This initial step is critical because it will serve as a continual reminder of the end goal and help you develop strength for the task of leading and inspiring others.

Valerie: Whenever I reflect on how powerful our individual beliefs are, I think of an old story about an observer on a construction site. The observer went over to a bricklayer and asked, “What are you working on?” “Laying brick,” grumbled the first man. “It’s back-breaking work, but at least it’s a paycheck.” Then the observer went over to a second bricklayer and asked the same question. The response was a little different: “I’m one of the con- struction workers and we’re building the east wall of this structure.” When the observer asked the same question of a third bricklayer, the response was

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quite revealing: “I’m helping to build a cathedral, and one day right here where I’m standing the spirits will rise high above us, and people will be meeting to worship and be educated!” While all three bricklayers had basi- cally the same job assignment, their vision and commitment varied greatly. The third man felt his work had a powerful purpose and connected his per- sonal mission to that of the larger work.

Right now you may be wondering how this story relates to your work of literacy leadership. Think about the various people you interact with in your school regarding the subject of students’ literacy learning. No doubt, some are like the first bricklayer—teachers who just check off the assessed skills when they are designing a lesson, doing the work because it’s their job to do it. Others believe their job is to prepare students for standard- ized assessment, and that literacy skills are a necessary means to that end. But those who will make the greatest difference are the ones who might say, “I’m helping young people develop into good readers and writers so they can be productive, happy adults!” Fail-safe literacy programs are founded on educators’ conviction that the goal of literacy is attainable. And to believe that, we must believe in both our students and ourselves. By beginning with an examination of your beliefs about your literacy work and then seeing how your beliefs align with the common vision of the school, the students, the teachers, the community, and the district, you can go on to fulfill your leadership role with astounding personal and pro- fessional satisfaction and effectiveness.

Step 2: Evaluate your fellow stakeholders’ commitment to all students becoming joyful, independent readers and writers

Once you have examined your own beliefs and have committed to all stu- dents being joyful, independent readers and writers, the next step is to reflect on the commitment of the environment in which you find yourself. Just as your belief system and commitment influence your decisions and behavior, the belief systems and level of commitment among your staff, students, and other stakeholders influence their decisions and behavior . . . and ultimately, affect the success of your literacy mission.

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A few years ago, the two of us learned a valuable lesson about envi- ronmental commitment to and belief in all students. With our personal commitment as district and school-based administrators, we set out to provide support and opportunity for our most needy middle schools (two schools where students’ mean reading comprehension scores were 13 and 18 on the Stanford 9). We had district financial support to provide smaller class sizes, new technology, and new learning tools for teachers and students. We were committed to ongoing professional development for the principals and teachers. Everything was set. Or was it?

It turned out that the environment was not a receptive one. When we met with the faculties to offer new learning tools, professional develop- ment, and literacy-related opportunities for students, we were surprised at the less-than-warm reception we received. Both sets of teachers clearly communicated that we, the district and school-based administrators, did not understand their schools or their community. It didn’t matter that one of us (Rose) had actually attended the first school as a student and the other (Valerie, the newly appointed principal) had attended the sec- ond. We heard comments such as, “You don’t understand our students,” “They are doing their best,” and “We know how to teach them; they need strict discipline or they get out of control!” Although we were disap- pointed in the teachers’ responses, we hoped they would adjust and learn a little more about how to support the students, even though the effort would require them to make some changes. Those who did not want to focus on literacy learning were supported in locating another position in another school.

Likewise, when we met with the parents and a district representative from the community to share the need for modifications within the two schools and the opportunities that would be available to the students, we were surprised to encounter their disbelief in the need for change. The parents voiced unwavering support for their schools as they were and for the teachers. They said things like, “Our teachers are great!” “Our chil- dren are learning a lot,” and “Our students don’t need technology and new materials.”

Although we presented both the parents and the faculties with the achievement data and current research on the possibilities we could pro- vide for the students, neither group accepted that the students were not

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achieving, or that they needed a different learning experience. We were unsuccessful in this literacy leadership experience because we failed to accurately evaluate the stakeholders’ belief systems and their commitment to helping every student fulfill his or her potential and become a joyful, independent reader and writer.

You’ll want to avoid pitfalls by asking yourself these environment- focused questions: Are the demands placed on you by the system or dis- trict reasonable and will they support your commitment? Do the teachers believe that all students can become joyful readers and writers? What about the school leadership team’s commitment to all students? Does the school community believe that all students can become joyful, independ- ent readers and writers? What about the community beyond the school? Most importantly, do the students know that there is a belief and an expec- tation that they will all become joyful, independent readers and writers?

Valerie: As a principal, I found myself wondering how to begin working toward achieving the vision I had for all students to become joyful, inde- pendent readers and writers. Our middle school’s mean percentile in read- ing on standardized assessment was in the lowest quadrant and seemed to be accepted by everyone! The district, in its commitment to the students, community, and teachers, had designated the school as one to focus on lit- eracy learning. The expectation was clear that this approach would improve students’ reading, writing, and math achievement.

I quickly found that my unwavering commitment to literacy was para- mount. How else could I mobilize the students, teachers, community, and political forces to collaborate in working to meet the district expectations? Many people were looking for a weakness in my leadership so they would- n’t have to follow through on the expectations we had set for ourselves and the students. In addition to my own commitment, I needed the commitment of all the stakeholders to effectively bring about change for the students. I needed to realistically evaluate the commitment of the stakeholders so that I could strategize to develop a collaborative team. I also recognized that to effectively influence the stakeholders’ sense of efficacy, I needed a good idea of where they stood.

To begin this process yourself, focused on your own school and stake- holders, review the examples in Figure 1.1 and the subsections that follow

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FIGURE 1.1 Stakeholders’ Commitment to Literacy Learning

Perceived Level of Commitment Stakeholder (please circle) Comments

Students Low Medium High They try to meet expectations of teachers.

Teachers Low Medium High They believe that students do their best and that there’s little point in asking for more. Regard content teaching as their job, literacy as somebody else’s.

School Community Low Medium High Supportive, but each year more parents seem to be exercising their school choice option.

School Leadership Low Medium High Overworked! Team members Team don’t want another

responsibility.

District or System Low Medium High They want us to focus on Leadership accountability for test scores—

and do it quickly!

EXAMPLE

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to stimulate your thinking about key environmental considerations. Then fill out the template provided on page 10 to capture your perceptions of your stakeholders’ level of commitment.

Students. By and large, students believe that their achievement is directly related to their ability. Most accept their achievement (whether low or high) as “fixed” and do not see that a change in the effort they invest or in the practices their teachers use could make a difference. These students lack a sense of efficacy—a belief in their own ability to alter the academic direction of their lives. Most students don’t see how the test scores affect them anyway. Ask yourself: Do your students understand that regardless of their current reading level, they can improve their reading, writing, and testing skills? Do they know that printed texts carry messages and can bring them joy? Do they have choices in what they read and see meaning in what they read?

Teachers. Often, dedicated staff have spent years working in lower-per- forming schools or teaching lower-performing students and may lose their vision of excellence for the reluctant reader. They may need to see what “average” and “above average” looks and sounds like to have measure for comparison. Do your teachers understand the different needs of the older struggling reader? Do they have the knowledge and skills to incorporate the processes of literacy, literacy strategies, and independent reading into their instructional plans?

School community. Older reluctant readers may find themselves in com- munities that acknowledge the need for literacy, but don’t know what to do with them as older students. In many cases, the volunteer literacy tutors who enjoy working with young children are less comfortable work- ing with middle or high schoolers. It doesn’t help that many of the natu- ral challenges adolescents face, including curiosity regarding new ideas and the “adult” world of sex, violence, and drugs—can be exaggerated in lower-performing, frustrated students. Ask yourself: Does your school community understand the needs of older struggling readers? Their desire to be seen as independent and self-sufficient? Their reluctance to ask for help? Their great concern about peer approval and sensitivity to being “different”?

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School leadership team. The entire school leadership team, consisting of the principal, assistant administrators, and teacher-leaders, must share the commitment to all students being joyful, independent readers and writ- ers. Will your colleagues on the team support this commitment in their daily decisions? Will they consistently communicate this commitment to all stakeholders? Will they work to limit classroom distractions? Are they willing to model the love of literacy for teachers and students?

System or district leadership. Today, virtually all school districts voice the need for higher test scores and change, but at the same time, they may encourage administrators not to excite their community, teachers, or stu- dents in the process of pursuing these goals. Communities, teachers, and students tend to be loyal to their schools and believe that although there may be some negative press, their personal experiences are generally good. Extreme change in a school can create discomfort for the teachers, which is quickly transmitted to students and parents. Influential parents tend to resist the idea of change; they want their children’s school to be like school was when they themselves were students, even though today’s students and the demands we place on them are much different. Even if a school needs to change, the last thing the political powers want is for teachers, parents or students to complain that things are changing and that the changes are creating discontent.

Research on the phenomenon of change reports that although it usu- ally takes three to five years for measurable change to emerge, just initiat- ing the process may create anxiety for those who will be affected. Ask yourself: Will the political establishment in your area support the change—and support you when and if teachers or parents resist? As a suc- cessful associate superintendent in an urban district was fond of saying, “The trick to success is to look like you are innovative, while you are really status quo.” This cynical statement reflects a rather common perception of just how much change political structures tolerate. How much change will your political structure tolerate? Will your elected officials support more professional development for teachers, along with new instructional strategies, learning tools, and classroom environments?

Before moving on to the next section, fill out the template in Figure 1.2. You’ll find it a useful resource as you start strategizing for success.

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FIGURE 1.2 Stakeholders’ Commitment to Literacy Learning

Perceived Level of Commitment Stakeholder (please circle) Comments

Students Low Medium High

Teachers Low Medium High

School Community Low Medium High

School Leadership Low Medium High Team

District or System Low Medium High Leadership

TEMPLATE

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Step 3: Demonstrate your commitment through action

You have now examined your belief system and made a commitment to all students, and you have examined the commitment of stakeholders within and outside of the school who affect your planning for a fail-safe system of literacy leadership. Finally, you are in a realistic position to demonstrate your commitment through action.

Other than writing about your commitment to literacy in official doc- uments like school improvement plans, how will you show the students, teachers, school community, district, and system what is most important to you? No, you can’t just run through the halls shouting out your prior- ities all the time, but you can make them clear through the decisions you make. Perhaps you think that you are so busy working to create a positive learning environment for students and teachers that you can’t think about doing anything else. On the contrary: Focusing on your priority—that all students will become joyful, independent readers and writers—will make your job easier because you can use this priority to guide other decisions related to the commitment of school resources and your own conduct.

First, how you make, communicate, and carry out decisions about the allocation of school resources—financial, human, and material—will model for everyone what you believe to be important and serve as the foundation for how others perceive you as a literacy leader. Think about your commitments (the current status of things and your pledge to make changes where needed) in each of following categories, and then fill out the template provided on page 14.

Financial/budget. The most obvious category of resource-related decision making is how you, as principal, allocate your school’s financial resources. Do you fund literacy after everything else is in place, or do you budget for literacy first and everything else second? Do you consider literacy to be equal to all other budget considerations, or is it more or less important? If there isn’t enough money to go around, what steps have you taken to seek additional literacy-focused funds from the district, state, or community agencies? Are you willing to reduce funding or delay funding for another need in order to fund literacy?

Personnel. The next big demonstration of your literacy priority (linked closely with the budget) is how you allocate and use personnel. Does your

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school have adequate staff? Are the class sizes small enough so that reluc- tant readers can receive the support they need? Are you using personnel in a way that will maximize students’ opportunities to become joyful, independent readers and writers? It requires courage and commitment to make personnel decisions differently than they have been made in prior years. Are you up to the challenge?

Professional development. If you have budgeted and allocated personnel to demonstrate commitment to literacy, do these teachers know how to teach reading and writing to adolescents? Do they incorporate literacy strategies into their instruction or do they just assign reading and writing? Recently, a school administrator confided in us that her school has grade- level reading specialists, but these individuals are not trained in ado- lescent literacy and aren’t particularly effective at improving student achievement or helping classroom teachers to do so. Providing reading, language arts, English, and content area teachers with ongoing, literacy- focused professional development is a visible and important way to act on your commitment. In Chapter 5, we discuss how to design a professional development plan for literacy success.

Learning tools. Once you have collaborated with your staff to create clear expectations of a classroom for literacy learning, you will want to provide the best available learning tools to the students and teachers. Classrooms across all content areas that use literacy to improve student achievement must incorporate learning tools in addition to the course textbook. This is another budget-related issue, but it is a philosophical one as well. You may find that the real cost of a budget item is not so great once the research has taken place and the learning tools selected are aligned with your priorities and the needs of the students. Creating a classroom for lit- eracy learning, as well as locating and selecting the best available learning tools for your students, is the focus of Chapter 4.

Learning space. If, when translating your priorities into actions, you find that you need smaller classes, you’ll also need more teachers, who will require more space. Providing the space and infrastructure necessary to support literacy sends a strong message to your students and staff. You might wonder why we are addressing space, but for many schools,

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finding adequate teaching space is a real challenge. Space also translates into budget concerns.

Learning time. Research proves that time is a variable administrators can manipulate to improve student performance. Is literacy afforded equal time in all content areas? For students who are not good readers and writ- ers (those who score below the 40th percentile on assessments), is becom- ing a stronger reader and writer as important as developing skills in the various content areas? Is it more important? Creative scheduling allows school leaders to make it clear what the priorities are. We need to maxi- mize the use of learning time and eliminate time wasters and interrup- tions. Even with these efforts, some students will require more time than their peers to become joyful, independent readers and writers. Where will you find the time? During the school day? Before or after school? On weekends? Perhaps even outside of the traditional school year? When it comes to clarifying for the school and community what is important to you as a school leader, your decisions about how time is used to support literacy may be among the most important decisions you make.

After you’ve reflected on your commitments in each of these categories, record them in the template in Figure 1.3.

As important as it is for principals to demonstrate their commitment to lit- eracy through the way they allocate school resources, the school commu- nity will also perceive their leadership in terms of what they say and how they spend their professional time. Think about it: When there is an important athletic event, is there any question that you want the school’s team to win? You probably wear your school colors and pins to make it clear that your school’s team is important. More than that, you probably attend these athletic events, greeting parents and students and cheering the team on. It’s plain to all that you care and that you are interested in your athletes’ success, sportsmanship, and behavior.

The same tenets go for literacy. If you spend your time in classrooms, asking students to see their writing, asking about what they are reading, and celebrating success, you are sending the message that reading and writing are important. Perhaps you can share your favorite book with stu- dents, or let them know if you write or publish. Sometimes we think that

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Commitment Level

Resources Current Status Level Pledged

Financial/budget

Personnel

Professional Development

Learning Tools

Learning Space

Learning Time

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FIGURE 1.3 Resource Commitment to Literacy

TEMPLATE

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everyone knows what is important, but be careful not to make that assumption. Be explicit and think about how you demonstrate your liter- acy leadership through allocation of resources, your time, your actions, and what you say.

We find a great example of a commitment to literacy leadership in action in Dr. Francis Catalon, principal of Crispus Attucks Middle School, located in one of the poorest communities in Houston, Texas. During the past two years, Francis has made his priorities and commitment to all stu- dents becoming joyful, independent readers and writers clear to everyone in the school community. Students, parents, and teachers have observed their principal’s communications, resource allocations, use of time, and actions to be consistent with these high expectations. He has committed to long-term professional development for the entire school, new learning tools for the teachers, and modifications in the school schedule. He has made changes in personnel to improve learning for students. Those who visit Attucks Middle School today see a positive change in the learning environment and in the literacy strategies used in the classroom. Soon they will see changes in student achievement. Under the literacy leader- ship of Dr. Francis Catalon, the transformation has begun.

In the Classroom

When Dr. Paul Van Mitchell was appointed principal of Colonial High School, with its diverse student population of 3,400, it was ranked seventh out of 12 high schools in its large, urban district. Student achievement was low, but many accepted it because of the school’s high poverty rate and the fact that 75 percent of the students attending spoke English as a second language.

The new principal had different beliefs. Van believed that the students could perform better and that he could affect that performance through his work with the school community. He spent most of his first month on the job in classrooms listening to students, taking note of what they wanted and what they needed. He did the same with teachers and community members. What Van learned was that they all wanted to have a school that was respected and that they could be proud of. With all of the stakeholders on the same page and making a commitment to improve achievement, Colonial High School’s hard work and upward spiral began.

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After five years, the school is now ranked fifth out of 14 high schools and competes favorably with those that have many more advantages. How did Van achieve this improvement? He would say that he didn’t—that he has just served the students, faculty, and community. His service has been through relocation of resources, learning space, learning tools, and time; through pro- fessional development; and through curriculum realignment.

If you ask the school community how their principal shows his commit- ment to literacy learning, they will say he shows it by being in the classrooms. He has a goal of being in 25 classrooms each day—quite a feat for any high school principal. While in classrooms, he continues listening to students, working with them, challenging them, and sometimes teaching them. He reflects with teachers on what is working and how they can serve students better. Dr. Paul Van Mitchell is a fail-safe literacy leader whose actions have lead to measurable improvements in literacy learning.

Review and reflection

As we outline here, getting started on developing a fail-safe system of lit- eracy for your school takes just three steps:

1. Believe that all students can be joyful, independent readers and writers . . . and that you can help them reach that goal.

2. Evaluate your fellow stakeholders’ commitment to all students becoming joyful, independent readers and writers.

3. Demonstrate your commitment through action.

We know that each step is hard work, requiring deep reflection. Keep these steps (and the reflections you collected in this chapter’s two tem- plates) in focus as we proceed through the next five chapters.

Rose: I remember my own first steps on this journey. A few years ago, I was called into the associate superintendent’s office and handed a stack of printouts eight inches high. As the associate superintendent handed me the heavy load, he said, “Our board members are concerned about suspensions

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at the middle schools. Pull a group of our best middle school teachers and administrators together and come up with a plan.”

Not delighted with the assignment, I began to look at the data on these stu- dents. I was excited to discover that all the middle school students who had been suspended 30 days or more were reading below the 25th percentile on the Stanford Achievement Test. This gave me the justification I needed to recommend we develop a literacy intervention plan, rather than a disci- pline plan. With the support of the district leadership, we formed a com- mittee that did just that, but there were many who doubted our approach. One of these was the district evaluator I asked to research the project. His comment: “Don’t you know that if students get to middle school and can’t read, you can’t teach them?”

Well, the researcher was wrong. When our design was implemented, he documented exceptional gains in reading on a number of measures. I’ll never forget the researcher’s words, 12 months later, when he delivered his evaluation report to the superintendent: “I am embarrassed and ashamed for ever thinking these students couldn’t learn to read. They were never the problem. The problem was always us.”

We urge you to make that commitment today. Commit yourself to lit- eracy leadership—to becoming the solution and not the problem. Com- mit yourself to all students in your school being joyful, independent readers and writers. Commit yourself to a system of fail-safe literacy.

❖ ❖ ❖

Further reading in literacy and leadership

Atwell, N. (1998). In the middle: New understandings about writing, reading, and learning (2nd ed.). Portsmouth, NH: Boynton/Cook.

Beers, K., & Samuels, B. G. (1998). Into focus: Understanding and creating middle school readers. Norwood, MA: Christopher-Gordon Publishers.

Blase, J., & Blase, J. (1998). Handbook of instructional leadership: How really good principals promote teaching and learning. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.

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Blase, J., & Blase, J. (2001). Empowering teachers: What successful principals do. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.

Blasewitz, M., & Taylor, R. (1999, January). Attacking literacy with technology in an urban setting. Middle School Journal, 30(3), 33–39.

Brown, J. L., & Moffett, C. A. (1999). The hero’s journey: How educators can transform schools and improve learning. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

Daniels, H., Bizar, M., & Zemelman, S. (2001). Rethinking high school: Best practice in teaching, learning, and leadership. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

Hargreaves, A. (Ed.). (1997). Rethinking educational change with heart and mind: 1997 ASCD yearbook. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

Hasselbring, T. S., Goin, L., Taylor, R., Bottge, B., & Daley, P. (1997, November). The computer doesn’t embarrass me. Educational Leadership, 55(3), 30–33.

Jensen, E. (1998). Teaching with the brain in mind. Alexandria, VA: Association for Super- vision and Curriculum Development.

Lambert, L. (1998). Building leadership capacity in schools. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

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