The
Elementary and Secondary
Education Act (ESEA), reauthorized as No Child Left Behind
(NCLB, 2001), requires instructional leaders utilize strategies, approaches,
and program initiatives that are scientific
or research based and frequently monitor
to close any identified achievement gaps. In this pursuit, educational leaders, in-service
teachers, as well as teacher candidates, will benefit from understanding the
seven correlates of Effective Schools Research, which includes the two
variables within a holistic system.
Given any system is a "network of interdependent components that
work together to accomplish the aim of the system" (Deming (1993),
institutes of higher education (IHE), teacher preparation programs, and school
systems will benefit from increasing expectations for its stakeholders to
increase their knowledge of systems and their ability to think
systemically.
Effective Schools Research
identifies the following correlates as present in all cases of an effective
educational system:
1.
Clear
and focused mission
2.
Climate
of high expectations
3.
Instructional
leadership
4.
Opportunity
to learn/student time on task
5.
Frequently
monitoring student progress
6.
Safe
and orderly environment
7. Home-school
relations (Lezotte & Snyder, 2011)
Given the interdependency of the seven correlates of Effective
Schools, educational
leaders must approach these correlates with the view of implementing them holistically
and interdependently. Thus, a clear and
focused mission as well as strong instructional leadership is required to move
the other interdependent correlates from being an ideal to effective systemic practice. Since Effective Schools Research demonstrates that a result of an educational system ignoring
the interdependence among the seven correlates is slow progress, then a lack of
strong, respected educational leadership that brings consensus for a clear and
focused mission will result in confusion about simultaneously and systemically incorporating
all the correlates.
Starting with A
Nation at Risk (1983) through
the latest reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA, PL 98-10) known as No
Child Left Behind (2001), politicians
have predicated education reform on the need to fix a broken system. While far past due, Congress has undertaken
the reauthorization process for ESEA. This
process will either provide another opportunity for true reform or simply offer
politicians more chances to use education as a means for power. To mitigate the latter and promote the
former, effective educational leaders must proactively ensure ESEA is “rewritten to reflect its original purpose: success for all
children, especially disadvantaged children” (American
Association of School Administrators,
2010).
The power to guide professional development, promote professional
learning communities, and encourage active collaboration between all
stakeholders, provides the educational leader a tremendous opportunity to
engage networks of stakeholders to become informed and proactive during the
current ESEA reauthorization process. One
goal for educational leaders will be to help networks of stakeholders
understand the need for ESEA reauthorization to address the primary mission of
ESEA. The related action plan would be
for the effective
educational leader to develop stakeholders into informed networks that
willingly seek to promote the mission of learning for all. As a result, the reauthorization
process will more likely focus upon education of the whole child while ensuring
upward mobility for all Americans. "Whenever
the people are well-informed, they can be trusted with their own government;...
whenever things get so far wrong as to attract their notice, they may be relied
on to set them to rights" (Jefferson,
1789).
References:
Lezotte,
L. W. (1991) Correlates of effective schools: The first and second generation.
http://www.effectiveschools.com/images/stories/escorrelates.pdf
Lezotte,
L. W., & Snyder, K. M. (2011). What effective schools do:
Re-envisioning the
correlates.
Bloomington, IN: Solution Tree Press.
Purkey, W. W., & Siegel, B. L.
(2013). Becoming an invitational leader: A new approach to
professional and personal success. Atlanta, GA:
Humanics. Retrieved from:
Schmoker, J, (1999) The Key to Continuous School
Improvement (2nd edition) ASCD
To
Cite:
Anderson,
C.J. (July 31, 2015) Educational leaders
must develop networks of informed stakeholders to
ensure
the ESEA reauthorization process promotes the mission of learning for all.
[Web log post] Retrieved from http://www.ucan-cja.blogspot.com/
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