A Message From Stephen G. Peters
Stephen G. Peters
We believe strongly in developing a school culture that breeds success, regardless of budget cuts and other paralyzing factors that cause educators heartburn and heartache! Monday through Friday, all over the world, the doors of our school buildings will continue to open for our children to enter. They will be expecting their teachers to be waiting with open arms, minds and hearts full of compassion. To a large degree, we are letting them down as we ponder how to keep class sizes conducive to learning, hire great leaders to facilitate and teachers to inspire a generation of learners so different from those who are orchestrating their success or for some, their failure.
Before speaking at a school recently, the principal forwarded a letter from a student to me to read prior to speaking to his staff. In this letter, the student wrote, “I am turning in my books early. Here they are. I am leaving them now because I’m not coming back to school. Nobody really cares about me and the attitudes of my teachers are really bad.”
As I read this letter, I began to see the faces of students we interviewed for my book, “Do You Know Enough About Me to Teach Me?” and hear the stories of their struggles in and out of school. This student letter represents the voices of thousands of others who are making the choice to discontinue their education.
We are ALL very fortunate to have the ability to use our gifts to INSIRE and EMPOWER young children to identify, refine and use their natural talents to make our world a better place for generations to come.
Today’s emphasis on accountability for achievement in schools has made educational leaders eager for answers to the overriding questions, How do we develop instructionally effective schools? More specifically, how do we develop a school organization and culture that promotes and sustains learning? How do we encourage and enable teachers to engage in the kinds of behaviors that are linked to increased student achievement? What leader behaviors are linked to improved school cultures that promote safety and reciprocal-respect among all in that environment?
We have found through our work with high performing schools that the leaders of these schools improve teaching and student learning by creating accountability learning systems and these systems derive from the leader’s five action standards.
- 1) Schools are models of learning.
- 2) Focus on school and teacher practices associated with increased student achievement
- 3) Work with teachers on the school mission; engaging in on-going study of school-wide instructional improvement efforts
- 4) Take an empowering (team) approach to almost everything, and create active learning communities in their schools.
- 5) Hire the very best people for administrative, faculty and staff positions and utilize influential students as part of management team of school.
It is time for our schools to deliver to our youth the promise of America. We can do this synergistically and effectively.
2011 offers that promise to our students, but the deliverance comes through more hard work, resilience and the dedication we have had since deciding to become a part of the greatest profession that ever was or ever will be.
Please join us in our effort to find solutions to our failing schools as we turn them around One Student at a Time, One School at a Time, One School System at a Time!
