Changing the overall public-education paradigm -- small budgets, large classes, lack of competition, built-in excuses for mediocrity -- will require continued effort and attention. But evidence abounds that excellence in individual classrooms and entire schools is attainable in spite of funding or other obstacles. Exhibit A is Sharon Elementary School in Orem.
Principal Muffet Reeves assumed her post there three years ago. As testimony to the influence of an able and motivated chief administrator, test scores and morale have skyrocketed since. School districts everywhere should consider the need to place top-notch principals in every school, then to hold them strictly accountable for performance.Principals should then, in turn, demand accountability from teachers in clear but supportive fashion. Students report to teachers in what, ideally, is a stimulating learning environment. It's a simple model, straight from the business world or Organizational Behavior 101. Generally speaking, it works.
Some status quo defenders argue it won't work since teaching is a subjective art and not a science. Many professions fall into that category, however. Few jobs are absolutely empirical. And education has a broad battery of tests and assignments that accurately measure achievement and success.
At Sharon, a school populated largely by transient students from disadvantaged families, Reeves' positive influence has contributed to the school's double-digit increase in Stanford Achievement Test scores. Parents, teachers, students and Alpine district administrators have credited her caring but no-nonsense style with charging a positive learning environment. That is not surprising, as with any organization, when standards are set at the top.
Too often, however, school administrators are shuffled around, having minimal or even negative influence on teaching and not being held accountable. That must change statewide.
Educators, of all people, should understand the value of feedback and of measuring progress. There is more to learning than what test scores alone indicate, but criteria for what creates a top-notch school are generally understood.
Reeves has taken responsibility for what goes on in the classroom and helped create an environment of order, security and high expectations. She took a careful look at each grade's curriculum and was mindful of what and how teachers are doing. Perhaps best of all, when SAT scores increased across the board, she was quick to give credit to what she called a "Cadillac faculty."
That is the essence of effective and responsible leadership. It should be more evident -- and rewarded financially and otherwise -- in Utah schools