Leading for Excellence A Twelve-Step Program to Student Achievement Thomas Harvey, Bonita M. Drolet, and Douglas P. DeVore ROWMAN & LITTLEFIELD EDUCATION A division of ROWMAN & LITTLEFIELD Lanham • Boulder • New York • Toronto • Plymouth, UK WEB pdf.indb 1 1/6/14 1:22 PM Published by Rowman & Littlefield Education A division of Rowman & Littlefield 4501 Forbes Boulevard, Suite 200, Lanham, Maryland 20706 www.rowman.com 10 Thornbury Road, Plymouth PL6 7PP, United Kingdom Copyright © 2014 by Thomas Harvey; Bonita M. Drolet and Douglas P. DeVore All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote passages in a review. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Information Available Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Harvey, Thomas, 1946– Leading for excellence : a twelve step program to student achievement / Thomas Harvey, Bonita M. Drolet and Douglas P. DeVore. pages cm Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-1-61048-982-9 (cloth : alk. paper) — ISBN 978-1-61048-983-6 (pbk. : alk. paper) — ISBN 978-1-61048-984-3 (electronic) 1. Motivation in education. 2. Academic achievement. 3. Educational leadership. I. Title. LB1065.H328 2014 370.15'4—dc23 2013045614 ™ The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992. Printed in the United States of America WEB pdf.indb 2 1/6/14 1:22 PM Contents Examples, Forms, and Charts v Preface vii 1 Strong Leadership 1 2 Establish a Culture of High Achievement 13 3 Vision and Values 25 4 High Expectations 35 5 Love and Passion 45 6 Focus on Learning and Academic Rigor 53 7 Embedded Professional Development 63 8 Academic Achievement and Assessment for the 21st Century 77 9 The Strength of Teams 89 10 Collaboration and Shared Decision Making 99 11 Communication 113 12 Flexibility and Resilience 119 13 A Concluding Note 125 References 135 Index 145 About the Authors 147 iii WEB pdf.indb 3 1/6/14 1:22 PM WEB pdf.indb 4 1/6/14 1:22 PM Examples, Forms, and Charts Example 3.1. Vision Statement 29 Example 3.2. Values Statement 33 Form 5.1. Love Form 51 Form 13.1. High Achievement Environment Scale (HAES) 126 Chart 6.1. What Is Academic Rigor? 57 Chart 6.2. Rigor/Relevance Framework 58 Chart 7.1. Criteria for Effective Professional Development 73 Chart 7.2. Reflection Log 74 Chart 10.1. Participation/Involvement Checklist 110 Chart 12.1. Persistence and Flexibility Chart 123 v WEB pdf.indb 5 1/6/14 1:22 PM WEB pdf.indb 6 1/6/14 1:22 PM Preface We guarantee it! We guarantee that you will achieve a high-achieving school environment if you follow this 12-step program—all you have to do is follow the principles of: Step One Strong Leadership Step Two Culture of High Achievement Step Three Vision and Values Step Four High Expectations Step Five Love and Passion Step Six Focus on Learning Step Seven Embedded Professional Development Step Eight Assessment and Evaluation Step Nine The Strength of Teams Step Ten Collaboration and Shared Decision Making Step Eleven Communication Step Twelve Flexibility and Resilience These are in essence stepping stones to achieving success, 12 steps to craft- ing a high-achieving environment. A number of steps you may be outstand- ing in; some you may be weak at. You may take larger strides than others if you’re not already doing some of them. But these are the stepping stones to attaining a high-achieving environment. But this is dependent on six assumptions: Assumption 1 You’ve got to really want it! You need to have a passion for high achievement and be willing to do anything to reach a high-achieving environment. You vii WEB pdf.indb 7 1/6/14 1:22 PM viii Preface cannot be halfhearted about following the principles included in this book. You’ll make mistakes. But you must go on pursuing all efforts to achieve your goal. If you’re seriously intent on achieving an environment that em- phasizes success in all its forms—academic, arts, success, athletes, and the like—you’ll be one step closer to achieving it. You’ve passed this premise. Assumption 2 You need to be willing to get everyone on the bus! In order to reach your goal of high performance, you must have an operational, high-performing team you are working with. This may mean you need to develop some people, fire some people, promote some people, and encourage all people. It takes guts to do this. You have to make serious assessments of all your employees and then meddle in their professional lives. You have fierce conversations. It would be far easier and safer to ignore their skills and talents and let them be. Let the ship run on its own. But you are a leader. You must give direction. You must build the strongest team possible to serve children’s needs. You must, as Collins (2001) says, get everyone on the bus, but the right people on the bus. Assumption 3 You have scant but adequate resources. This must seem like a strange as- sumption, at least the part about scant resources. The adequate is obvious— you must have the resources to do the job. Whether it may be in the form of budget money or people or facilities or time or even in energy, you’ve got to have the resources commensurate with the tasks required. But scant is another thing. This assumption comes from research I did many years ago (Curtis and Harvey, 1976). I found that scant resources, but adequate, led to the highest degree of accomplishment. People would replace money with ingenuity, innovativeness, and good ideas. “Necessity is the mother of invention” is apt here. If you want a high-achieving environment, then you need adequate, not lush, resources. Where resources were scant, you couldn’t do things in the same old ways. People had to think up ways to get the job done. Invention took the place of resources and whenever invention takes place, the institution works for the better. It is not too surprising in these tight times that institutions have scarce re- sources. But rather than bemoan the situation, take advantage of it. Be more ingenious. Be more innovative. Be more inventive. But keep on fighting for those scarce resources. You must have adequate ones. WEB pdf.indb 8 1/6/14 1:22 PM Preface ix Assumption 4 You have at least one year of experience. If you’re in your first year as a prin- cipal or superintendent, you cannot produce a high-achieving environment. You must listen to all constituents. You must assess the people and environ- ment. It takes experience with the people of the organization to institute the principles contained in this book. On the other hand, you can’t be a year away from retirement. You neither have the energy nor willpower to produce a high-achieving environment. Just pass on the recommendation to read our book to your successor. That leaves most of you. You’ve got no excuses, unless . . . Assumption 5 You are incompetent. Then it doesn’t matter what you want to do. You are not capable leaders. But we assume you are competent. You may be dispirited by the relentless at- tacks on education or you may be worn down by the multitude of tasks required of you. Or you may be saddened by lack of support your community gives you. But remember, you are not incompetent. You are a leader. Leaders get up when pushed down; brush themselves off and do their best from this day forward. But if you are incompetent, get out of the way, so real leaders can lead. Resign now. If you’re not incompetent, then get on with the business of leading your organization to high achievement. Assumption 6 Last, but not least, you have got to have a sane board. The criteria for sanity: • They operate as a team. • They are agreeable, but not always in agreement. • They have the best interest of the children in their minds and souls. • They are attentive to the issues of education. • They don’t try to micromanage. • They are mentally and physically competent. • They don’t have a personal agenda except what is good for schools. Crazy boards do exist. They are damaging to schools and the purposes of education. If you have such a board, then board development is what you must do, if you have any hope of attaining a high-achieving environment. WEB pdf.indb 9 1/6/14 1:22 PM