Full Description
What happens when a Canadian principal, guided by the teachings of Fullan and Hargreaves, takes on the role of school leader in an inner-city charter school in the United States? This inside story of a principal in the DC charter school system, reveals much about the desire for educators and students to experience more than a life of multiple-choice testing that tends to be so commonplace in these schools. While such a case adds to the mound of research that supports the 'change takes time' findings, it nevertheless demonstrates the reality, on a day-to-day basis, of what's worth fighting for in schools. Student and teacher engagement and empowerment matter, and to get to such ends, a school must fiercely focus on targets well beyond test scores.
Contents
Foreword
Leonard A. (Tony) Upson
Acknowledgements
List of Figures and Tables
Introduction
1 Beginning Sketches
2 Trust
3 Day 1
4 Ten Days of Preparations
5 The First Reach: WEDJ Parents
6 First Week of School
7 Parent Communications
8 Connecting with Staff
9 Initial Board of Trustees Communications
10 Arts to the Core
11 Learning that Sticks
12 Building Relationships
13 Safety, Supervision and Discipline
14 Bodies in Their Seats
15 Student and Staff Performance Reviews
16 Learning Communities for Staff and Parents
17 November 2012 Qualitative Site Review
18 Investing Time to Recognize Others
19 Welcomed Visitors
20 Tears in Heaven
21 Arts on Fire
22 Other People's Money
23 Never-Ending Talent Search
24 The DC CAS Experience
25 Middle States Candidacy
26 First Spring Rising
27 Summer Highs and Lows
28 Year 2: Welcome Back Wolves
29 The Sting of the 2013 Qualitative Site Review
30 Response to the Charter Board Qualitative Site Review
31 Board Retreat
32 WEDJ through the Eyes of TenSquare
33 Dismantling Leadership
34 Catching Fire
35 The Chill in January
36 The Ambush..."And So It Begins"
37 Valentine Bundle: February 14
38 Leadership Performance Review
39 Cracks in the Foundation
40 Apology Accepted: Opportunity Denied
41 An Inquiry within an Inquiry
42 Buid to Thrive
43 So How Can Stakeholders Relate to Each Other Differently?
44 Asking Some Tough Questions
References
