Key Characteristics of
Top-Performing Schools
What does research based data tell us
about top-performing schools?
Characteristic #1:
Top-performing schools have climates that
nurture the commitment and engagement
of teachers, parents, and students.
The Climate of Top- Performing Schools
Students are eager to attend school. They believe they are likely to succeed
academically. They perceive that adults in the school care sincerely about their
success.
Teachers believe they are part of a team that is making a powerful difference
in the lives of students. They believe that administrators care sincerely about
their success.
Parents believe that educators have their children’s best interests at heart.
They feel welcome at school and they believe that educators appreciate
whatever small or large contributions they make to their child’s education
Improving Climate: Issues That Make This Difficult?
People are not likely to extend effort if they perceive they are not valued.
People don’t engage or stay engaged with people they don’t trust. They are not
likely to engage if they believe that the organization does not have their best
interest at heart.
People do not engage fully if they believe they are unlikely to succeed. Hope is
essential.
People do not engage fully if they don’t perceive the goals are worth their effort.
Strong productive climates do not result from mandates or compliance behavior
How Do Top Schools Build and Sustain A Great Climate?
1. Leaders make everyone feel valued, respected, and appreciated.
Students, parents, teachers, and support staff know they are valued. Leaders
collect information that helps them know how to improve relational issues. They
identify and resolve issues promptly and professionally. They evidence great
integrity and sincerity.
2. Leaders value improvement and growth. People feel like they can take risks
and try to improve because they know their efforts will be appreciated and
supported.
Leaders ensure that professional development is not “an event,” it is a culture
that pervades the school. People are constantly learning to improve their craft.
3. Leaders keep conversations constructive.
Leaders refuse to be passive when others choose to be negative. Respectfully,
but clearly, administrators and teacher leaders speak out when others claim that
goals are unattainable. Leaders use research and data to focus on opportunities
to improve, not on reasons to blame
4. Leaders keep attention focused on the impact of everyday efforts on
students. Communication frequently, consistently, and in multiple formats
conveys the impact of everyday school actions on student lives.
5. Leaders promote ambitious goals that generate enthusiasm and build a sense
of mission.
Leaders push beyond compliance and encourage everyone to embrace goals
that will make a difference in students lives. People commit to goals they see as
worth their effort.
6. Leaders build hope.
Leaders give students, parents, teachers, and support staff reasons to believe
that their efforts are worthwhile. College and careers are constant topics of
focus. Policies are designed/implemented to nurture, sustain, and rekindle
hope.
7. Leaders celebrate progress frequently.
Frequently, leaders celebrate improvements (both formally and informally). They
find elements of success worth celebrating in results others see as failure. They
are skillful at acknowledging everyone who contributed to successes.
8. Leaders build leaders.
Leaders create platforms for the leadership of many others who want to
influence school improvement. Leaders distribute leadership opportunities in
ways that build the capacity of individuals to contribute to the school’s success.
Characteristic #2:
Top-performing schools have
challenging, meaningful,
focused curricula
Improving Curriculum: Issues That Make This Difficult
Many leaders believe that covering all of the standards is essential. Teachers
are reluctant to focus on mastery when they perceive they must be accountable
for coverage.
Some teachers may not know the content well enough to teach it to a great
depth of understanding.
Often teachers are encouraged to rely upon textbooks that are designed to
promote coverage, versus mastery of concepts.
1. Leaders help educators focus on key academic content.
Leaders encourage teachers to teach a few concepts to mastery rather than
“cover” everything. Leaders encourage educators to increase rigor and depth.
They engage teachers in using assessment data to identify critical content.
2. Leaders structure opportunities for teachers to learn content to greater levels
of depth.
Leaders create opportunities for teachers to work with each other to learn more
about critical content. These opportunities are not structured to promote blame
or shame. Instead, these opportunities provide a collegial way to build upon
strengths and deepen levels of content understanding.
3. Leaders engage teachers in designing and implementing assessments that
provide concrete, common understandings of the levels of mastery students
should attain.
Common assessments drive attention to deeper levels of understanding. By
engaging in assessment design, teachers gain perspective on the levels of
understanding students must acquire.
4. Leaders measure and communicate progress toward goals regularly.
Goals become real as baseline measures and regular measurements of progress
are collected, posted, discussed, disaggregated, acted upon, and celebrated
promptly and regularly. Leaders make data accessible and actionable.
5. Educators help parents and students know which key learning objectives
students need to master.
Parents and students feel empowered when educators regularly share
information about the key learning objectives to be taught and strategies they
can use to enhance learning.
Characteristic #3:
In top-performing schools,
instruction is focused
upon generating student mastery
Improving Instructional Effectiveness: Issues That Make This Difficult
Many teachers have never seen others teach in ways that lead to all students
achieving mastery.
Most principals visit classrooms rarely because of the other responsibilities
that consume their time.
In classroom observations, most principals give limited attention to student
mastery. Instead, they focus on whether or not teachers demonstrate isolated
teaching processes.
Many teachers feel the pressure to improve, but they don’t have specific
assistance that helps them respond constructively.
Teacher collaboration is often not focused on the practices that influence
instructional effectiveness; however, teacher collaboration can be the most
powerful tool for helping teachers improve their practice.
1. Leaders pay close attention to instructional quality.
Leaders visit classrooms frequently to gauge student learning. They constantly
seek evidence that students are learning what their teachers are teaching.
Regularly, leaders share this evidence in ways that build the capacity of teachers
from day to day, creating a culture of professional growth.
2. Leaders help educators support each other in learning how to teach
students more effectively and efficiently.
Leaders provide time and support in a manner that helps educators learn that
one of their primary roles is to support the ongoing learning of their
colleagues.
3. Leaders help everyone remember that learning should be interesting and
exciting.
Leaders help educators teach using 21st Century technologies that is supported
by brain-based research to support student learning. They encourage teachers
to build upon students interests, backgrounds, cultures, and prior knowledge.
They help educators consider how they can make learning enjoyable.
4. Improvement is rewarded. Lack of improvement is not. Lack of effort is not
tolerated.
Leaders communicate their passion to transform relationships, teaching, and
learning through their actions. They reward improvement efforts and they make
clear that a lack of effort is unacceptable.