Major Questions:
� What is the responsibility of an educational leader to a staff?
� What can an educational leader do to encourage the best work from a staff of teachers?
Jan is an administrator who has been at the helm of a small charter school for four years. She spent a few years as an assistant principal of a large public high school, where she was largely responsible for handling discipline problems. This was not a pleasant experience for her, and she was eager to seek another position. When she interviewed for her current job, she expressed how eager she was to see a new school be successful, as she had a strong competitive streak (she played golf on the LPGA for several years). However, her time in the position has not proven to be the professional success that she anticipated. This is not to say that the school has not been successful, but this has largely been the result of factors other than Jan�s presence. The school has had the benefit of a strong staff, particularly a guidance counselor that has taken to the position with relish.
Lois, the guidance counselor has introduced many innovative components to the school and has been a hugely motivator to students. She has arranged internships for many students and has kept students from dropping out who were tempted by the �big money� of full time employment. Unfortunately, Jan does not often thank Lois for the huge benefits she has brought to the school. At the same time, Jan has accepted repeated personal compliments from the superintendent for the success of the school without highlighting the contributions of staff members.
There are also teachers who have brought much to the program that have not been acknowledged by Jan. Ron is a teacher hired to run a computer lab, but soon discovered that the software that was touted by district curriculum directors was, in fact, poorly designed for students who had a history of low motivation. While informing Jan of the problem, Ron found and created a complete alternate set of activities for the computer-based courses that he was responsible for teaching. While Ron did receive thanks from Jan for going �above and beyond,� Jan did not communicate the problems with the software to colleagues in the district offices, and soon the software was brought to other schools for use.
While Ron was going out of his way to increase the ability of students to learn in his classroom, Molly was not taking the same approach in teaching her English classes. She is responsible for teaching Junior and Senior level classes, which have distinct curriculum standards attached to them. The Junior class is �American Literature� and the Senior class is �World Literature.� An outside observer, though, would have trouble discerning which class was which. Students are encouraged to read whatever they would like, and many choose to �read� novels that they have already studied earlier in high school, or even in middle school. The particular realms of literature that are assigned to each class are essentially meaningless in this classroom. Similarly, there are composition skills that are emphasized by state standards in each class, but Molly is willing to accept projects unrelated to these expectations. Her approach is not to scaffold students toward the standards, but to take whatever she gets, while complaining that �they really can�t do much, so I�ll take what I can get.� While Jan has heard these comments repeatedly, he has not encouraged Molly to do more to raise expectations of students (and simultaneously improve instruction). Other teachers have confided in Jan that Molly needs support to do more for the students, but Jan is unwilling to broach this territory.
Jan faced an event that led to more engagement in the process of active management a year ago. He proposed that teachers add a class period to their work day, so that more students could be accepted and scheduled. Teachers did not respond kindly, as they wanted more planning time, not less. Jan made an effort to appeal to teachers� desire to do �the best you can do for students.� One teacher responded that this would be a case of diminished returns, with teachers being less effective as their workload increases. Jan emphasized here belief that she has an exceptional staff and they are up for any challenge, but this did little to convince the staff of the wisdom of her proposal. When she would not relent in her pursuit of this new schedule, the staff approached several central office administrators and the superintendent. While Jan floated the idea of non-renewing contracts for �insubordination,� several of her supervisors convinced her that this idea and the proposed schedule would prove counterproductive.
While Jan has not taken many steps that would ensure success, and has taken some moves that would diminish the success of her school, all hope is not lost. Certainly, there are several excellent teachers among here staff, and emphasis on the good work they do would earn Jan a more honored place among them. If she tried to inquire about how to more actively support these teachers, she would begin to overcome the bad taste left in the mouths of many from the schedule snafu. At the same time, if Jan began to work more directly with the counselor on the innovations she has initiated, there could be even more progress than there has been. Finally, Jan needs to address the under-performing teachers on here staff to provide better instruction for students and to demonstrate that she is committed to quality work.