The Principal Story Documentary Analysis

As with the importance of selecting a highly qualified principal to help raise test scores and closing achievement gaps, the selection and support of staff is also critical. Gregory F. Branch, Eric A. Hanushek, and Steven G. Rivkin’s 2013 study “School Leaders Matter” examined the effectiveness of many principles’ leadership and the effect they had on student achievement ratings. “A primary channel through which principals can be expected to improve the quality of education is by raising the quality of teachers, either by improving the instruction provided by existing teachers or through teacher transitions that improve the caliber of the school’s workforce” (Branch, pg.4). A principal must be able to continually seek out professional development, to research best practices and new educational theories to support their staff and students. If principals are to close the achievement gap, they must be willing to inform and instruct their staff on new teaching strategies. Mr. Canada, from his TED talk, “Our failing schools. Enough is enough!”, states: “You go into a place that has failed kids for fifty years and say: ‘so what’s the plan?’ And they say: ‘Well, we are going to do what we did last year, this year’. What kind of business model is that?” (TED, 2013). The principal willing to venture into new, uncharted waters may succeed or fail, but at least they

This is a case study analysis of The New Principal: Managing Human Resources by Jane A. MacDonald (2006). This case study focuses on issues a first year principal may face when entering her school for the first time. Ms. Vera Zola was not only a first year principal; she was also new to the school district. In her previous role as assistant principal, she was in a neighboring school district. In her new district, the Suburban Public School District (SPS), there were approximately 11,000 students enrolled (MacDonald, 2006). Ms. Zola was assigned to Roma Elementary, one of six elementary schools in the district. There were two middle schools and two high schools. Approximately 80% of high school graduates continued on to higher education or a trade school. Community members had diverse cultural backgrounds and lifestyles, and the community was growing.

In this chapter, Fullan begins by maintaining that principals who are effective lead learners are necessarily also good managers, because they understand that having clear routines is essential for school improvement.” (57) He quotes from Viviane Robinson’s Student-Centered Leadership to both underscore the previous point and emphasize that successful principals take an active learning stance: “The principal who makes the biggest impact on learning is the one who attends to other matters as well, but, most important, ‘participates as a learner’ with teachers in helping move the school forward.” (58) Fullan also borrows from Helen Timperley’s work in responding to the question, Who is in a principal’s class? The principal’s class consists of “team leaders who in turn can leverage the learning of other teachers in their group”

While listing to Melanie talk about how walking around the grounds of the school and how it made her feel unworthy of being able to achieve her dreams really took me by surprise. When they were writing back and forth to the students at Fieldston, I believe that the teachers purpose was to show the students that yes you are worthy and you are just as smart as these other students that do go to this $43,000/year school. The culture of these two schools had

She interweaves examples of three principals from her research. These principals are from urban schools with high populations of low-income and minority students. The examples illustrate throughout the book how the actions of these principals developed or worked against developing trust. She analyzes these behaviors as related to each chapter topic.

According to former Indiana state superintendent of schools Dr. Suellen Reed, “We know from our research that there’s no turnaround school without a turnaround principal” (as cited in Gammil, 2007, para. 2), further supporting the fact that “school leaders have an essential role in cultivating a positive school culture in public schools” (Peterson and Deal, 2002, p.30). However, it is imperative to improve our understanding as to how principal leadership impacts the school culture in high poverty schools to ensure that all children receive a quality education, regardless of zip code, in an environment conducive to learning. The six measured factors are as follows:

Union Hill Elementary School is embedded in an area of rich history in the City of Worcester. Their school building was built following the Civil War and has withstood the changes of time from its early years of a primarily Jewish Immigrant and merchant town to today’s urban neighborhood, rich in diversity but plagued with instability, crime and poverty. In March of 2010, Union Hill was identified as a Level IV School; it was a school that lacked structure with a chaotic environment with many deficits. There was a lack of supervision, schedule, standard-based curriculum, effective instruction and leadership. Most importantly, there was a lack of trust among the parents. They did not have the faith that Union Hill was going to give their children the best education possible. Under the supervision of new Principal Marie Morse, changes were made. There was a new level of commitment and passion among the school staff that drove them toward creating five areas of focus for the year:

In the world of education, we are faced with the task of ensuring every child is given the same opportunities to achieve greatness. Today we will discuss the issue of educational equity in Jefferson County Public Schools (JCPS), and how the district is trying to make education inclusive for all students. You will also hear ways you and the community can play a part in giving every child, every day the opportunity to be successful. I’m your host Angela Ghafoori and this is episode one of Daily Learning Targets.

Mrs. Pitt, principle of Whitman Elementary, has a graduate degree in an educational leadership program that influenced her ideas on different types of valued concepts, such as social justice, equity, and leading for change. She was a tenured fourth grade teacher, and worked as an assistant principle at Jefferson Elementary for three years, another low socioeconomical elementary school. In addition, she was allowed to participate in a study abroad program in Costa Rich, which provided her with the confidence she needed for working with a community of Latino immigrants. She can identify with some of the same

The teacher I interviewed for this project was a fifth-grade teacher, Mr. Keith Wolkovitz. This teacher has been teaching at East Rock Community Magnet School for his entire career of eleven years. East Rock Community Magnet School is a Title I school in the New Haven School District. The school has a very diverse population and over 90% of the students qualify for the free-reduced lunch program. As a Title I school, the school is also mandated by the state to implement certain remedial interventions to improve students’ academic scores.

I participate in a tutoring program for elementary students in Dorchester, an underserved community in Boston. Working with the children has helped me eliminate preconceived ideas that led me to believe schools were bad because the parents did not pay enough attention to their children's educations. I now realize that the problems in education have more to do with the amount of funding that goes into certain schools. Ignorance and distance from reality caused me to believe that struggling neighborhoods inherently produce bad students. I now understand that the problems within the school do not reflect the students’ abilities.

This interview was conducted with Wes Jensen the current principal of Mountain View Middle School. He has been the principal at his current school for two years, and was vice principal of the Blackfoot High School for two years. Before he became an administrator he was a classroom teacher for seven years, giving him 11 years of experience in education. The school has a very diverse population comprised of many different ethnicities including Native American, Hispanic, and Caucasian. The economic situations range from wealthy to highly impoverished. As the principal of this school he is a very professional man who holds high expectations for his staff.

The chapter opens with a case—Robert F. Kennedy High School—depicting the many problems facing David King, the new principal of a deeply troubled urban high school. A school that opened with high hopes only a few years ago now finds itself mired in conflict and dissatisfaction. King’s first meeting with his new administrative staff produces a blow-up in which a male housemaster physically threatens the chair of the English department. By the end of the case, the situation feels overwhelming. Is there hope? The authors follow

David Kane is an African-American young gentleman, who has been latterly awarded the position of a principal at the Thurgood Marshall High School, Illinois. The school is two years old and divided into four “house”, each comprised of 300 students, 18 faculty members and a housemaster. Dr. Louis Parker had been the school’s first principal and had an impressive background, but he reassigned in disillusionment and many described him as a “broken man” .

According to the authors of this article (Donaldson, Marnik, Mackenzie, & Ackerman, 2009), principals need to concentrate on the development of skills and behaviors in order to be successful in motivating, leading, and changing the direction of a school. The successful principal understands that there exists a fine balance of caring for others and the need to accomplish specific tasks (Donaldson, Marnik, Mackenzie, & Ackerman, 2009).