Introduction
“If the leaders start with the right question, students’ achievements at the high-poverty school can raise.” It is not the amount of resources that matters, but the procedure of utilizing them. It is evident from the article of Budge and Parrett (2009), on “leadership in high-poverty/high-performing schools,” that the leaders of schools such as Dayton and Granger have realized the importance of a working budget.
They ensure utilization of crucial resources through collaboration with the staff to ensure everyone focuses on the priorities as the only and best option to a better level. Budgeting ensures zero cut on the critical resources, which can be jeopardy of the hard-won gains. The top leaders must take the initiative to prioritize the challenges faced, due to poverty levels (Budge and Parrett 2009).
The leaders’ actions, perception and, utterances influence the turning point from low to high performances in high-poverty schools. Many schools have alleviated the status quo of high-levelled poverty to achieve students’ success. According to Budge and Parrett (2009), “the critical message reverberating from the successes is the ability to overcome the pervasive and powerful effects of poverty on learning.”
The commitment of leaders and strategy of beginning the implementation procedure through inquiry (asking the right questions) are some of the aspects required for success.
I agree with the notion that tough questions can assist leaders find right answers for required achievements because difficulties in the present times are causing managements to react negatively other than confronting the issues at hand. For instance most businesses are today facing hyper competition, job insecurities, unknowledgeable future or equivocation.
This is causing them to cuts on expenses and lay off workers. In a close relation to Gamoran’s writing (2007). These are the worst business strategies because they are defensive. Tough times require people to act positively in fight of the intensified senses of exposure through expansion and find new ways of putting such times to good use.
Secondly, the notion that tough questions can assist leaders find right answers for required achievements concurs with the explanations that adverse circumstances exerts heavier weight, According to Budge and Parrett (2009), this works as an opportunity to learn readiness and the leader has the opportunity to show that it is possible to learn during tough times.
People have always had the thought that learning would occur best during the times of calm and easy flow. This has not been the case and in most instances, periods preceded by success actually breed inertial, inattention to details and, immoderation. The questions leaders have to ask in their aim of achieving success regardless of the poverty levels, involves the need to build necessary management capability.
The other important domain involves the staff duties, which ought to focus upon the students’ daily work, professional performance as well as the entire system of learning. The learning environment should be safe, healthy and, supportive for those involved (Bascia, 2005). The questions that the leaders ask as noted in this paper are for provision of valuable guidance for other school leaders facing similar challenges and bringing out the wrapped opportunities for prosperity.
Leadership
What are the right questions regarding the leadership style? There is need to find out whether there exists a data system in support for classroom and school leaders. Various schools studied by Budge and Parrett (2009), shows the importance of data systems acting as a guide for decision-making procedures. The data system also fosters a caring relationship and an appraisal to establish measurable goals.
There is need for well-established time lines that ensure better achievement. This calls for proper interactions between the teacher and parent through the school managed goals and plans. For instance, school staff members can opt for weekly contacts with the parents or guardians and ability to put up with the responsibility of reporting the progress to relevant authorities within the organization.
The other question on the subject of leadership is elimination of practices and policies that lead to poor performance. All schools have documented policies that guide on issues of funding, tracking, and, assignment to special educational needs (Gamoran, 2007). There is need for faculties to have strong believes regarding achievements and foster them to the students.
When the failure mentality is eliminated, the teachers are able offer extra help to failing children in the aim of achieving the set credence. The underachieving students are not failures but responsibilities, which need extra teachers’ instructional time to catch-up on the higher achievers. This calls for extended tutoring time or introduction of vocational classes as catch-up lessons.
There is equally the need to re-organize time in support of professional education. There ought to be enough investment on personnel through reorganized or rescheduled time that is accommodative of professional development.
The grade level teams made of teaching staff can offer review of data concerning the classroom assessment, discuss the plans and come up with strategies for improving individual’s performance. This enables them to turn up with excellent teaching strategies and a just-in-time support where required.
Learning
The questions leaders require answers for in their aim of achieving success regardless of the poverty levels, involves assessment procedures and literacy levels. For a high-poverty school, there is urgent need for well-established learning targets though properly formulated competency-supporting procedures.
The activities include support for individual educational standards, having public presentations of achievements and plans, compilation of achievement cases and, having brooding amendments through conferences led by students. There is need for development of classroom focused assessment procedures that pursue parental an administration support.
Educational leadership require an analysis of whether each pupil has acquired the required level of proficiency. In the question over proficiency, the management ought to ensure achievement of literacy skills such as analysis of unique needs of students that assures improvement over reading.
According to Neuman (2008), the leaders need to establish the factors that influence or hinder reading achievements through analysis of the individual students. The students’ ability to speak and write language is a great influence to other subjects involved thus the need for all teachers to consider the responsibility of language assistance.
Teachers need to question the students’ ability to meet the targets. The students’ data especially pertaining performance level provide the basis for establishing those who need extra guidance or coaching/tutoring.
This is achievable as before, during or after school activity, as a group work, individual couching, face-to-face, or technological academic intervention and, as support offered through added assessment time. There is need to establish the literacy skill at an early age through assessment of proficiency for individuals.
Learning environment
Lastly is the need to focus the assessment by questioning the learning environment. The safety standards are crucial and prerequisite for learning. Management has to ensure safe structures and implement procedures that place the accountability of actions or else behaviours or practices to the students as a way of promoting the safety.
There is urgent need for leaders to understand the influence of poverty on education. They ought to support achievements without relating failure to poor environmental conditions of family settings as has been the case in the past (Gorski, 2008).
The leaders must develop skills to understand the socioeconomic and cultural diversity and their influences to the students’ performance. Leaders are also in a position to seek family support in the aim of enhancing common goals (Budge & Parrett, 2009). High achievements are possible when students are tightly bond to the school objectives regardless of their social settings.
Conclusion
A school is a communal possession, thus it cannot achieve the objectives without involving the parent especially in a high-poverty social setting. Various factors can influence the performance, thus the need to have counter measures of avoiding them and build a positive thought or relationship.
There is need for engaging the outside stakeholders, to foster communication between families and the institution using the school as a community centre. Enhancing relationships requires enough engagement from the staff. The leader therefore faces the challenge of engaging staff in decision making to gunner their support before involving the outsiders.
Having proper staff-students ratio, ensuring the safety and, remunerations ensures the performance success as a continual journey. Whether it is survival of costs, seeking funds, or soliciting performance support from stakeholders, the questions leaders seek answers for concern high performance in high-poverty schools through ensured sustenance and supports students’ success, as a guideline for all the related education sectors.
Conversely, today a number of leaders are against tough questions posed during the tough times on the argument that the employees’ level of skill is in direct competition with others globally. This means that the procedure of figuring out the right algorithm for a routine performance is gradual and procedural as opposed to the rapid automation due to urgency.
Educationally, global research indicates that the high level of education required ample preparation in reading, writing, language, science, history, arts and other indispensable subjects at the foundation level. All these entities are eventually based on competence, greatest creativity and innovativeness. This call for one to vary abilities over the top to bottom level of professional performance over learning time and not just when requirements get tough.
References
Bascia, N. (2005). International handbook of educational policy. Volume 13 of Springer international handbooks of education. Springer Publishers.
Budge, K., & Parrett, W. (2009). Leadership in high-poverty/high-performing schools.Educational Leadership, 67(2). Web.
Gamoran, A. (2007). Standards-based reform and the poverty gap: lessons for No Child Left Behind. Brookings Institution Publishers.
Neuman, S. (2008). The mediating mechanisms of the effects of poverty on reading Achievement. Baltimore: Brooks Publishing.