high poverty schools finds their principals create
cultures of accountability
and collaboration to foster teacher effectiveness.
SUPPORT T
how principals teacher effectiveness A study of two of the state’s highest performing
he current standards and ac- countability regime describes ef- fective teaching as the ability to increase student achievement on
standardized tests. This narrow definition of effectiveness can lead principals to create school cultures myopically focused on stu- dent achievement data (Goe, Bell & Little, 2008; Wechsler & Shields, 2008). A “laser-like focus on academic achieve-
ment,” (Reeves, 2004; Williams et al., 2010) if employed too literally, can stymie the nec- essary professional judgment and creativity of teachers and blind school leaders to the potential of collaboration and accountabil- ity to serve as the most significant supports to teacher effectiveness. Last year I explored two of the state’s
highest performing, high poverty schools and observed how principals support teacher effectiveness in these environments (Gal- lagher, 2011). In this article I introduce the two schools, then share teacher descriptions of how they embrace collaboration and ac- countability cultures – created with their
32 Leadership
principals – as critical supports to their ef- fectiveness. These themes were prevalent in classroom observations, teacher surveys and interviews. In order to gain honest, insightful analysis, the county, districts, schools, teach- ers and principals were all told they would be given pseudonyms.
Amber school Amber School serves more than 400 kin-
dergarten through fifth-grade students in the Mason School District, a mostly subur- ban K-8 district of around 4,000 students. The school community is surrounded by some of the most aff luent neighborhoods in San Vicente County. It would be easy to miss this community, hidden between the expressways and boulevards that whisk trav- elers from affluent neighborhoods to high technology business parks or Disneyland- like shopping malls. The school serves the working class and
By Michael Gallagher
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