Characteristics of Successful Schools

Characteristics of High Performance Schools

The big three characteristics 

• The importance of advocacy.

• An unwavering commitment to equity.

• An unyielding sense of professional accountability for learning.

Why are we discussing this?

Leadership from all adults is the key to creating a high peforming school.

Adult leaders do the following:

• Serve as a catalyst for the specific actions that in turn drive the success of the school.

• Build further leadership capacity.

• Focus on student, professional, and system learning.

• Foster safe, healthy, and supportive learning environments.

• Ground efforts in the unique needs of students who do and do not live in poverty, and those of their families.

Mental maps for problem-solving

Mental maps underpin our professional practice as educators.  What are mental maps? They are the images, assumptions, and personal perspectives that we hold about people, institutions, and the world in general (Argyris, & Schon, 1974), and they are formed by our lived experiences. 

How mental maps work in school

Often tacitly held, they may not be something we are aware of; consequently, they are often left unexamined.  Although our mental maps (or mind-sets) may be invisible to us, they are important because they are the foundation of our behavior—how we plan, implement, and evaluate our actions.  In other words, they influence the theories that guide our choices of action.  These theories can be espoused (as, for example, in rationale we give for our action) or they can be tacitly held (for example, the unspoken rationale for our action). These two kinds of theories are known as theories of action and theories in action. 

How mental maps work in school continued

Effective schools and staff leaders only have a small gap between the two (Argyris & Schon, 1974).  In other words, effective schools are reflective and introspective enough to have challenged their own mental maps, and most of the time the rationale they give for Choosing actions is congruent with their mental maps.

Open Ended

As you prepare to prepare solutions for moving WHS student incomplete grades, to completed passing grades, what is your mental map?

References

Argyris, C., & Schon, D.A. (1974). Theory in practice: Increasing professional effectiveness (1st ed.). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Parrett, W., & Budge, K. M. (2012). Turning high-poverty schools into high-performing schools. Alexandria, Va: ASCD.