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Ann Aibor, MI 48106 MICHIGAN'S PUBLIC ACT 25: AN EDUCATIONAL TUG OF WAR By Nell Sue Stephens A Dissertation Submitted to Michigan State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Department of Educational Administration 1994 ABSTRACT MICHIGAN'S PUBLIC ACT 25: AN EDUCATIONAL TUG OF WAR By Nell Sue Stephens This dissertation examines and reports on four selected elementary settings. actual It contrasts the intent of PA25 with its implementation during the early phase of compliance activities. A pilot study examined this contrast first. A telephone survey of thirty principals was used to select four finalists for in-depth interviews representing suburban, and small town settings. June, 1992, was rural, urban A three month window from April to selected to observe faculty and school improvement meetings, perform interviews, and examine printed documentation to determine answers to two questions. 1. What happens to policy as it moves from inception to execution, and 2. How does local context shape policy implementation? The intent of the law was to improve school quality by affecting during individual classroom teacher practice. this stage of policy implementation, However, the school improvers in these four sites were using the policy to solve specific local needs greater financial for improved equity. Principals, responsible for PA2 5 compliance, conflicting imperatives student inherent attendance who are and held are wrestling with several in the law's design. In addition to juggling their own personal and organizational goals, principals must use building level decision making to conduct school reform efforts. There was a tension between principals, who seem more closely attuned with the law's intent, and teachers, who created soft school improvement goals, such as improved air quality, discipline, student self esteem, and attendance. School improvers in these four sites held differing views about how best to improve their schools, or saw their schools as improving but had no concrete measures of success. Principals and staffs were complying primarily because of the PA25 mandate. They spent the majority of their school improvement time creating student incentives and completing paper documentation required by the law. This study identified three contextual factors that shape policy at the local level, decision making, and (3) (1) community, school (2) organizational history. When school improvers in various settings make sense of policy, they use it to meet the needs posed by these three factors. Copyright by Nell Sue Stephens 1994 DEDICATION This work is dedicated to five very special people whose love, support and encouragement have been a constant. To my mother and father for believing in me in the first place. To Denny whose last round of editorial comments helped me get past the final hurdle. every To Maia, for learning to use library in Michigan and for never once querying "hot dogs, again?" And to Glen who was always there for me coaching and cheering me on. Thank you guys! v I love you! ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank Susan, Pat, Laura and Larry and the staffs at Morritz, Montego, Havendale and Hale for so openly sharing their time and their work with me. 1 am indebted to Dr. Doug Campbell who taught me how to look and to listen, to Dr. Gary Sykes for teaching me how to make sense of what I had observed and to Dr. Aaron Pallas for helping me put it all together in readable fashion. I also want to thank Dr. Phil Cusick for helping me distance myself from the work in order to see it as theory and also to Dr. Lou Romano for helping me stay the course. Finally, I want to say a special thanks to all my colleagues in Perry who were always there when I needed help and encouragement. Jackie, Paula, Melody, Jan, Karen, Camille, David, thank you. Sue, Sandy, Bob, TABLE OF CONTENTS Page CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION AND OVERVIEW I n t r o d u c t i o n .......................... l - 2 Research Questions ................... 2 - 3 Significance of the P r o b l e m ......... 3 - 5 The Pilot Study: An Educational Tugof War . . . . 5 - 8 Overview .................................... 9 CHAPTER TWC^- - LITERATURE REVIEW Introduction .......................... 10-11 A Third Generation of Policy R e s e a r c h ....................... 11-13 Mutual Adaptation Using The P o l i c y .......... 14 The Policy G a m e ..................... 15-18 The P r i n c i p a l ....................... 18-23 Implementation Tactics ............... 24-25 The Principal's Conflict ................... 25 The Dark Side of R e f o r m ............. 26-27 Motives of Implementation ........... 27-28 S u m m a r y .............................. 28-29 vii CHAPTER THREE: RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY Introduction ................................. The Pilot S t u d y ...................... 30 30-33 Time S a m p l e ................................... 33 Geographic Location and History of Jenson County .................... 33-35 Sampling Frame ........................ 36-37 The Telephone Survey ................. 37-38 Survey Design ............................... Active Compliance .................... 38 40-55 S u b j e c t s .............................. 55-56 Data C o l l e c t i o n ...................... 56-57 Data S o u r c e s ..................... 57-60 D o c u m e n t s ...................................... 60 V a l i d i t y ........................ 60-61 Data A n a l y s i s ........................ 61-62 Coding ................................... 62 P r o b l e m s ............................... 63-65 Limitations of the S t u d y ............. 65-66 S u m m a r y ............................... 66-68 CHAPTER FOUR: PUBLIC ACT 25: THE POLICY AS INTENT Introduction .......................... 69 Genesis of Public Act 25 ............. 69 - 71 Educational Definitions: The Impetus Behind P A 2 5 ......... 71-75 T i m e l i n e .............................. 75-78 Public Act 25 D e f i n e d ............... 78-82 viii Public Act 25: The Intent of the L a w ... 82-84 S u m m a r y ........... CHAPTER FIVE: 84 THE POLICY IN ACTION Introduction 85 Discrepancy: Intent of the Law and Implementation Activities Dollars Versus Student Outcomes Soft School Improvement Goals . . . . 85-88 ... 88-90 . . . . 90-92 Tension Between Principals and S t a f f s .............. Issues Principals Wrestle With 92-93 . . . . Site Based Decision M a k i n g 94 -100 S u m m a r y ............................ CHAPTER SIX: 93-94 100 - 101 PRINCIPAL SUSAN AND THE MORRITZ SETTING Introduction .............................. 102 Morritz and the District Setting . . 102 - 106 Principal Susan: Her Goals and PA25 106 - 110 Susan and Her L e a d e r s h i p ........... 110-119 S u m m a r y ............................ 119 - 12 0 CHAPTER SEVEN: PRINCIPAL LAURA AND THE HAVENDALE SETTING Introduction .............................. 121 Havendale and the District Setting . 121 - 129 Principal Laura: Her Goals and PA2 5 129 - 135 Laura and Her Leadership Summary ........ ............................ 13 5 - 139 14 0 - 1 4 1 CHAPTER EIGHT: PRINCIPAL LARRY AND THE HALE SETTING Introduction .............................. Hale and the District Setting Principal Larry: . . . 142 - 151 His Goals and PA25 151 - 156 Larry and His L e a d e r s h i p ........... 156 - 162 S u m m a r y .................................. CHAPTER NINE: 142 163 PRINCIPAL PAT AND THE MONTEGO SETTING Introduction .............................. 164 Montego and the District Setting . . 164 - 169 Principal Pat: 169 - 174 Her Goals and PA2 5 . Pat and Her L e a d e r s h i p ............ Summary CHAPTER TEN: ............................ 174-178 178-180 HOW POLICY IS SHAPED BY LOCAL CONTEXT Introduction .............................. Ways to Improve S c h o o l s ........... 181 181 - 196 Morritz Hale Montego Havendale How They Measure School I m p r o v e m e n t .......... 196 - 199 How They Spend Their School Improvement Time . . . . Morritz Havendale Hale Montego 199-225 Why They Are C o m p l y i n g ............. Summary ............................ CHAPTER ELEVEN: 205 - 207 207-209 CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS Introduction .............................. Using the P o l i c y ............ 210 210-211 The Settings ..................... . 211-213 Playing the Policy G a m e 213 - 214 S i g n i f i c a n c e ............ 214 - 219 Implications ....................... 219-223 Policy Maturity 223-225 ................... Suggestions for Further Study . . . 225-227 S u m m a r y .................................. 227 APPENDIX A Telephone Survey Questions . . . . B Principal Q u e s t i o n s ...... 228-230 231 - 232 C School Improvement ............... 233-234 ..................... 235-241 Team Questions LIST OF REFERENCES xi LIST OF TABLES Page 1. Jenson County - Telephone Survey District/Principal List .............. 39 2. Principal Selection Criteria ............... 45 3. Study S u b j e c t s ................................ 56 4. Participant Observations ................... 5. Morritz School Improvement Goals ........ 187 6. Havendale Implementation Plan 195 7. Morritz Core Curriculum Worksheet xii ........... .... 59 201 LIST OF FIGURES Contextual Factors Shaping Policy xiii CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION AND OVERVIEW Introduction State and federal agencies have attempted over the past several decades to change practice within schools. However, changing practice is more difficult than lawmakers assume. Between the input of change policy and the outcome of policy action there exists a local framework that directly affects the outcomes of policy implementation (McLaughlin, 1990). What happens to state policy when it reaches the local level? What localized factors affect a policy when implementors begin to act upon it? These are the issues this study takes up. Since 1983, Michigan educators and the public have been engaged in an educational business tug of war. On the one hand, leaders, politicians and local citizens have been asking for an improvement in school quality, while on the other hand, Michigan educators have responded that it will take additional revenue to do so. previously, in the Michigan The battle had been waged, House and Senate. Now, the struggle is taking place in Michigan schools. On March 13, 1990, Michigan Governor James Blanchard signed into law Michigan Public Act 25, which was designed to improve the quality of Michigan schools. This study examined both the intent of those who wrote the law and the actions that followed from it in four southeastern Michigan elementary 1 schools. The actions upon the policy were considered through the lens of elementary principals and their staffs. When policy reaches the local level, it is the motivation of local implementors that affects the outcomes of policy activities (McLaughlin, 1990). to solve local problems A motivation to use a policy directly affects policy outcomes (Firestone, 1989; Miles and Huberman, 1984; McLaughlin, 1990). This perspective of why a policy is used provides the backdrop for comparison of the policy's intent with its action. Examination of policy in localized contexts yields information for improving school guality through state policy. Research Questions Results of a pilot study conducted in 1991 led to the hypothesis that principals and staffs are using implementation of PA25 to meet specific local needs. the This resulted in the development of two research questions that guided the study: inception to What happens to policy as it moves from execution and how does local context shape principals' implementation activity? Within local settings there are a number of factors that play a role in how a policy is viewed by local implementors. There are both internal and external conditions that determine whether a policy appears to be useful for local implementors. External factors such as financial support for schools and parent involvement in schooling are viewed through the lens of local implementors as they come to terms with what a policy 3 means. Internal factors expertise and morale continuity of an such as the of a staff as well administration implementors unbundle policy. also age, experience, as the goals come into play and when Policy implementors interpret what the policy means in light of these external and internal local conditions. During implementation, principals and their staffs have decisions to make. for solving If they see in the policy possibilities local needs, or for accomplishing personal or specific goals, they will adapt the external requirements of the law to fit perceived internal needs (Firestone, 1989). If a school staff views poor pupil attendance as a problem, it may see the goal setting requirement of school improvement policy as a way to meet this specific local need. A brand new principal looking to improve the morale of a veteran staff may see the accreditation requirement of school improvement policy as a way to obtain additional resources and personnel for the building. These internal and external conditions affecting policy implementation provide the backdrop against which to examine Public Act 25, in terms of intent and action. Significance of the Problem Since business place 1983 with leaders, greater the publication of A NATION AT RISK, legislators and the public have begun to demands improve their quality. upon public schools in Michigan to 4 The intent of Public Act 25 is to hold public schools accountable for improved quality. It is expected that schools will not only be engaged in school improvement activities but will also report annually on their progress to the communities they serve and to the state. Following are the results of a policy implementation study conducted between January, 1991 and June, 1992. During that time period I conducted interviews with writers as well as implementors of the policy as part of a pilot study and subsequent field research in order to determine why and how four elementary principals and their staffs are actively using the policy to meet local needs. Public Act 25 was developed to improve the quality of Michigan public schools. per building incentives It carries $25 per pupil and $400 for schools that comply with the annual reporting and school improvement planning requirements of the law. It also carries a five percent reduction in state school aid penalty for schools that do not comply. Writers of the law included representatives from the Michigan Education Association, the Michigan Senate Majority Leader's staff, the Michigan Department of Education, and the Michigan Association of School Administrators, all of whom spoke in terms of major reform efforts to accrue as a result of the building level decision making built into the law's design. I conducted a telephone survey of thirty representative principals in a southeastern Michigan county between January and March, 1992, in order to locate nine actively complying principals and staffs for further study. From selected four sites as representing rural, those, suburban, I small town and urban contexts in which school improvement activities could be observed between April and June, 1992. I wanted to observe school improvement activities in contrasting settings to see how specific local conditions affect policy outcomes. I also wanted to learn what specific present in these various settings. observations meetings, of spring local conditions are Field notes made during faculty and school improvement participant response to interview questions, and print documentation provide the data for this study. The Pilot Studv: An Educational Tug of War In an attempt to determine how one local district was responding to this state initiative, I spent interviewing eight constituents from a small, district near the state capitol. The two months rural school district has 184 6 students and a total State Equalized Property Valuation (SEV) of $84 million; it levies 35.62 mills for operating expenses and spends $3792 per pupil. Depending upon one's perspective, whether parent an administrator, or teacher, the general responses fell into three categories: 1. Administrators who felt both knowledgeable about the law and directly involved in meeting compliance requirements saw it as more paper work to complete, an intrusion upon an already demanding work load; were 6 they complying to avoid the penalty and to receive the incentive money. 2. The board of education president and PTA president, who did not feel directly involved in complying and who relied upon district personnel, newspapers and association news for information, saw it as a way to force schools to change. 3. The teachers said they knew very little about the law, did not feel that they were personally involved in meeting compliance requirements, and did not see it as having any relationship to their work or their students. It was category one that caught the attention of this researcher for a number of reasons. Although all administrators were complying for remuneration purposes, two of the administrators also spoke about a reason to use the law to accomplish organizational goals. This led me to wonder if other present administrative goals are implementation and what those goals might be. during policy The assumption behind the law is that building level school improvement goals and plans based on student outcomes will result in improved pupil performance during implementation of and compliance with PA25. However, as opposing arguments to the bill indicate, district administrators are complying to avoid the penalty and to receive the incentive money. The House Bill Fourth Analysis dated October 7, 1990, indicates a concern that local districts will "comply with the bill's provisions out of fear of forfeiting additional state aid whether or not they agreed with or were committed to the bill's educational quality" (O'Neil, 1990). goals of improved Even the Senate's Fiscal Agency Bill Analysis begged the question of intent when in an opposing argument it said, . . . the bill speaks to a school's intent, rather than its actions by referring to a district 'that does not want to forfeit state school aid, or a district that wants to receive additional state aid. Thus some could question whether a school's receipt of state school aid would be conditional upon its desires or upon its actions' (Arasim and Rich, 1990). Although teachers in the pilot study felt the law had no impact on their work in the classroom, the administrators were complying to avoid the penalty and to receive the incentive money. At this point, the law might have been dismissed as just another failed attempt to improve school quality had it not been for comments from the superintendent, the elementary principal, and the drafters of the law itself. Comments of the superintendent and elementary principal in the pilot study suggest that at least in the case of these two policy implementors, their approach is pragmatic; they are using the policy to accomplish their own organizational goals. In talking about the use of his district's annual report, the superintendent in the pilot study said he thought the state will find with the annual reports "a bigger piece, bigger economic need, dreamed possible." a a bigger funding need than they ever In this case he said he was planning to use the district's annual report not just to report on school improvement activities of the district but also to draw attention to specific financial needs of the district. For the elementary principal, PA25 with its accreditation requirement is also a means of solving an internal need for greater financial equity. He said, From an elementary perspective accreditation is long overdue. It will be a positive. There has been a mind set of secondary school people that we have to keep all the resources at the secondary level because they have to have accreditation for college and its important to address the needs of all our buildings and our levels in the system. From his perspective PA25 offers the vehicle for providing information about a need for equity in resource allocation at all levels in order to meet accreditation standards. In these two cases administrators in the pilot study were adapting requirements accreditation, of the policy, annual reporting to accomplish the organizational and goals they have for greater financial equity. As preliminary results from the pilot study indicate, administrators were using the policy to draw attention to financial need. of the law, But what about the principle expected outcome improved school quality through reflection on classroom teaching and learning? The quality and equity tug of war between educators and the public Schools. while continues as PA25 is implemented in Michigan The public is asking for improved school quality educators respond that it will revenues and financial equity to do so. require additional Overview Public Act 25 was designed to improve the quality of Michigan schools. This study, a comparison of the intent of the law with the reality of policy implementation in four elementary settings, is divided into the following chapters. Chapter Two provides a review of the policy research literature and discusses organizational and principal response to external initiatives. Chapter Three describes the research design and methodology of this work followed by Chapters Four and Five which contrast Public Act 25 as a policy of intent from a policy of action. each of the principals Chapters Six through Nine discuss and the settings compliance activities are taking place. improvement goals, policy Chapter Ten provides a cross case analysis of the four sites school in which describing their their means of measuring school improvement and how they spend their school improvement time. Chapter Eleven provides the conclusions from implications, and suggestions for further study. this work, CHAPTER TWO LITERATURE REVIEW Introduction It is a long way from Lansing to local schools and in between the miles that separate the state capital from local schools are local needs that vie during policy implementation for time and resources. In order to compare the intent of Public Act 2 5 with the action taking place upon it in four local settings, I posed two questions: What happens to policy as it moves from inception to execution, and how does local context shape the motives individuals have for implementing policy? State and legislation federal for policy decades; in makers earlier have policy been enacting implementation studies, researchers found that policy expectations and policy outcomes are seldom outline, drafters of identical. Public improved school quality, Act As 25, this work in their will later mandate for hoped that building-level decision making would result in improvement in classroom-level school quality. Unfortunately, there is a "black box" of local needs in between the expectations of policy makers and the outcomes of policy activities that needs to be taken into account when laws are written (McLaughlin, 1990). Three generations contained herein. of policy research precede the work Earlier policy implementation work examined efficacy of policy mandates (Pressman and Wildavsky, 10 1984; 11 Bardach, local 1977; and Berman, variables policy outcomes (McLaughlin, 1987 and 1990; Weatherley and Lipsky, 1977; and Scheirer, 1981). policy in 1975), while later studies found place and affect More recently, researchers have examined how implementors requirements that use the interplay local variables or local between policy needs create to their own unique outcomes. This third generation of policy research suggests that local implementors actively use policy to meet specific needs. Active use of policy is dependent implementors (Firestone, 1989). of implementors Peterson, affect policy upon the motives of Furthermore, the perceptions implementation (Wills and 1992, Fullan, 1982). A Third Generation of Policy Research The disposition of policy is directly dependent upon the motivations of local implementors (Firestone, 1989). as both a mandate and an inducement, Serving Public Act 25 carries with it both a $25/pupil award for those who comply with its requirements and a five percent reduction in state aid penalty for those who do not. For over 52 0 Michigan school districts complying with the law because of their reliance on state aid revenues, the incentive and penalty are sufficient to induce compliance with the law's requirements. Even many out of formula districts are complying because they could incur the penalty in their categorical aid for such items as Section 47 Gifted and Talented, reduced early elementary class size, and 12 graduation requirements Representative, (Michigan 1990). Department Therefore, those of Education responsible compliance activities have choices to make. for They can either look at the policy and decide that it is useful in some way or choose to ignore or even negate it. In the Rand Change Agent study between 1973-1978, initial theories regarding policy implementation began to emerge. First, it was found that effective programs and projects use a process of mutual adaptation, that is, adapting the external requirements of the policy to meet Second, was it found that internal local local variables needs. such as administrative commitment to a project affect project outcomes (McLaughlin, 1987). The work of McLaughlin, Berman, Greenwood and Pincus indicate that project outcomes are determined by the interplay among characteristics of the settings and the policies. projects, the institutional If implementors see in policies opportunities to meet institutional needs, there is a greater likelihood that subsequent projects will be perceived as successful. During the initial stages of implementation there are contrasting motivations at work. the opportunity to receive opportunistic motivator. For the non-implementors, federal or state On the other funds hand, is the those with attitudes and commitments to a policy because they see in it an opportunity to solve a local problem are more likely to mutually adapt the policy to meet internal needs of the 13 organization (Berman, McLaughlin; Greenwood and Pincus, 1975) . Implementation, it was found, is dependent upon specific local variables-organizational climate and motivations of project participants (Berman and McLaughlin, 1975). Response to policy ranged from mutual adaptation to non­ implementation with cooptation in the middle. mutual adaptation was present, In sites where change resulted because the policy requirements became integrated into already existing local district districts were implementation occurred, structures. People indifferent to policy problems. In in non-implementing or were districts where overcome by cooptation an attempt was made to adapt to the project but resistance was so predominant that no change was possible. Participant motivations and local conditions supporting change efforts during the initial stage of policy implementation all have a bearing on the outcomes of a project (Berman and McLaughlin, 1975). Administrative commitment, materials, resources and training that support change efforts all have a direct effect on project outcomes. Additional factors at work on projects with successful outcomes include high morale of teachers, the active support of principals, the support of the superintendent and other district officials, and teacher willingness to expend extra effort on the project (Berman and McLaughlin, 1975). 14 Mutual Adaptation - Using The Policy In projects where mutual adaptation occurred, there were both individual motivation and internal institutional conditions present that led to active use of policies to meet perceived internal needs (McLaughlin, 1987) . Active compliance, therefore, first requires a strong motivation to comply. Active compliers exhibit specific personal and/or organizational agendas they plan to accomplish through policy compliance activities. Second, internal active need identified, motion. compliance which the activities also policy supporting requires can that fulfill compliance are once has an been set into In the case of the four elementary schools in this study, motivation begins when principals see a useful purpose for engaging in policy compliance and therefore use specific tactics to engage staffs in compliance activities. Compliance activities range from the development of school improvement plans and annual reports to the agendas and recording of minutes of building improvement activities. local level, tactics of implement policy. creation level of school As policy moves from the state to the its disposition is shaped by the motives and these local the policy implementors. shapes Why the ultimate they choose outcomes of to the The activities of the various players who act upon a policy color and shape it, creating a product that can be quite different from that intended by policy designers. 15 The Policy Game When policy moves from inception to execution, it cuts across several arenas involving a number of different players. Firestone creation uses and the metaphor disposition of of the public game to policy. describe Each the player attaches a different meaning to, and purpose for the policy, from its inception in the state house to its execution in local buildings and classrooms. bargaining chip each uses in The policy itself the game of is the negotiation. Legislators seeking reelection accede to the demands of their constituents desirous of improved school quality by enacting policy to reform public schools. In this way each gets what they want. As the policy moves into local districts, school boards and school superintendents also use the policy to negotiate and play the "you help me get what I want and I'll help you get what you want" game. promotion are the Reelection, special programs, even rewards of these policy game players (Firestone, 1989). During PA25 implementation, principals and their staffs also play the policy game. Principals "sell" their staffs on the accreditation part of PA25, pointing out for teachers what accreditation can get for them. In this way principals are able to obtain teacher cooperation in compliance activities. With PA25 compliance, principals see an opportunity to accomplish their own personal or professional goals, but they must have the active support of their teaching staffs to do 16 so. This is where the policy games become more interesting but also more complicated. first be overcome policy games. Newton's second law of motion must for principals and staffs to engage in Principals must overcome the inertia of their teaching staffs intent upon maintaining the status quo. The outside force principals must apply to the teaching staff to get it into compliance motion is an incentive or reward. Principals must respond to the question "what's in it for me?" Just as principals have motives or agendas, so do teachers. For teachers an incentive has to be something they want or need, such as classroom help, books, motivated students ready to learn. game for reelection, legislators and for principals space, materials, or While "winning" the policy school board members means it may mean promotion or career advancements. However, teachers do not often find promotion out of the classroom appealing. For many teachers, "winning" the policy game means minimal change to what they are already doing in their classrooms. In other words "don't rock my boat"; while for others it means just keeping their jobs (Firestone, 1989). A number of incentives for school attempted over the years as a way to participating in reform efforts. equally dismal have been induce teachers into Everything from stipends to career incentives has met obstacles. been reform in their results Career incentives have during policy games. Malen and Hart (1982) and Firestone (1989) point out the major flaws of career ladder reform efforts instituted in Utah and 17 Arizona in the early and mid 80's in order to produce school reform. Increased salaries, bonuses, and stipends offered in order to influence teacher work life. were However, the programs lost their impact when teachers were overwhelmed by the documentation required, or were pitted against one another during competition for the awards, or when those who instituted the reform efforts were replaced by others with different agendas. Affecting teacher work life in the classroom consistently proves difficult for two reasons. players in the policy game. First, students are also Just as principals must negotiate with staffs, teachers also must negotiate with students when they elicit their involvement in learning (Pauly, 1991). There is a give-and-take in classrooms between teachers and students that is out of reach of policy designers. Second, policies that apply to classroom activities are adapted to meet the needs of teachers and students and they mutate when they come up against conflicting needs of local schools and classrooms (Pauly, 1991). Policy is shaped by the motivations of local implementors as it moves from the arena of design to that of execution. Various players act upon the policy, shaping it and using it to accomplish their own agendas and for their own personal or organizational motives. The negotiations that take place during the policy game are directly dependent upon the motives and tactics of various players in the local setting during compliance activities. Just as the policy is shaped by the 18 players, their motivations are also shaped by the settings in which they operate. The reasons they bring to the games of policy compliance are shaped by the local needs they have, whether it principals be or for for recognition additional or career resources by advancement teachers. by The tactics they use to engage in compliance activities are also shaped by the settings in which they operate. But not everyone chooses to actively participate in policy games. Only those who see a useful purpose for engaging in policy compliance actively participate in compliance efforts. This study selected only principals who indicated they see a specific use for the policy and therefore chose to actively comply with policy requirements. a policy to accomplish personal exhibit motives Those who and tactics actively Principals who actively use or organizational during engage in compliance change agendas activities. have unique characteristics that make them more effective in initiating reform efforts. The Principal Research on principals indicates that they are the leaders of change for school buildings. Griffen However, as Hall, Hord and (1980) point out, not all principals are the same. Some principals are more effective than others in initiating reform efforts. Researchers who study principal leadership styles have identified certain characteristics of those principals who 19 distinguish themselves establish goals, teachers, and as engage manage innovative leaders. in decision making, change set them How they interact with apart from their colleagues. Leithwood and others interviewed and observed twenty-seven principals in three leader types: school districts administrative, interpersonal. and directive, Over half were of the identified facilitative, and administrative type, intent upon maintaining order and keeping their running smoothly. four buildings Twelve percent were of the directive type, taking an active interest in curriculum and teaching issues but retaining decision making for themselves. The interpersonal leader type represented eight percent of the sample and were notable for having goals that were not systematically used for planning and were based primarily upon the climate of the school. facilitative teachers leaders, and The thirty-one percent who were however, provided direct teachers during innovations. heavily upon shared decision making with influential support and assistance to Facilitative leaders also relied teachers to bring other teachers along during the change process (Leithwood and Montgomery, 1986; Fullan, 1982). Corresponding roughly to three of these categories, Hall, Hord and Griffen principal (1980) behaviors identified three types of discrete observed during the implementation of curriculum innovations in ten elementary schools: responders, managers, and initiators. Responders, like Leithwood's 20 administrators, saw their role as crisis managers focusing primarily on administrative tasks during change. Managers, like the directors, supported teachers during teacher use of innovation but became highly involved in the innovation when central office Initiators, precise said it wanted something to happen. like facilitators, however, expressed clear and goals based on what was best for their students. Decisions were made in relation to those goals, and Initiators actively sought change in district programs or policies if it was in the best interest of their students to do. let it happen, Managers helped it happen, Responders while Initiators made it happen (Hall, Rutherford, Hord, Huling-Austin, 1983). Management of change must be a regular part of the job for principals; however, for over fifty percent of the Administrative type principals, maintaining order, managing crises, attending meetings and doing paperwork consume over seventy-five percent of their time (Leithwood and Montgomery, 1986; Fullan, 1982). These Administrators/Responders believe in maintaining tradition and the status quo, preferring to let others take the lead. As their name implies, they tend to respond to, rather than initiate, change. These principals are unclear about how to implement change and do not feel prepared for the change leadership role required of their job. Director/Managers also do not initiate change but serve to support it, especially when Facilitative/Initiators, on the it is other imposed hand, from above. have decisive and long term goals for their schools. clear, They are 21 unconstrained by established practice, orientation and seea relationship between and growth of students. stability, these hold a client building decisions When there is pressure to maintain principals, nevertheless, minimize administrative housekeeping tasks, integrate the change into existing organizational structures, and take an active role in the project. Even when more and more demands are placed upon them, they establish procedures for handling routine matters in order goals to achieve their own personal (Hall, Rutherford and Griffin, and organizational 1982; Leithwood and Montgomery, 1986; Fullan, 1982). These initiators of change are more precise in their articulation of goals, are more assertive in their actions to achieve these goals, aggressively seek support for change, influence teacher choice of institutional goals and methods, and interpret the environment for the people in their buildings (Hall, Rutherford, Hord and Huling, 1984). Initiator type principals affecting implementation. change. aware of the factors They take into account the nature of the change itself including: clarity, are (1) the need for it, (2) its (3) its complexity, and (4) the practicality of the Before and during implementation, they are clear for themselves and for their staffs about its importance, its meaning to classroom practice, its difficulty and the extent of change required by individuals, and how useful it will be. They are constantly developing the meaning of the change required in relation to the policy and its effects upon their 22 buildings (Fullan, 1982). the nature of change implementation, In addition to their awareness of itself and principals the factors who are affecting successful Facilitative/Initiators are" also aware of other implementation strategies required. Among the other generic strategies that initiators of change use are to provide and sell a vision, obtain resources, provide encouragement matters (Fullan, and 1982; recognition, Firestone, and 1989). handle To routine achieve the organizational and personal goals they are after with policy compliance, principals expectations, find resources staff, themselves goals, for available talk time, materials, build to with staffs about equipment relationships with staff, unite staffs their and other staff, make behind common develop camaraderie and collegiality, negotiate with staffs for time or resources, and create time for celebration and recognition. Leithwood and Montgomery (1986) and Fullan (1982) refer to the common characteristics of these actively complying and problem solving principals. They are highly visible in their buildings, involve staff in decision making, see themselves as one member of the team, encourage staffs to see problems as a challenge, provide staff with knowledge and skills, help them to set personal goals, facilitate communication, find non­ teaching time for staff, and establish procedures for handling routine matters. 23 Their choice of implementation tactics is dependent upon the goal being pursued, the factors to be influenced, the characteristics of the individuals involved, the norms of the schools, and the nature of the obstacles to be overcome (Leithwood and Montgomery, 1986). These initiators of change are noted for their use of generic strategies during change implementation. context specific principal Stringfield, strategy Wimpelberg and Kirby However, one identified by Teddlie, (1989) used by effective principals working in schools with low socio-economic status is that of the buffer. In communities with a negative effect on school achievement, effective principals serve as buffers against negative influences. In effect, they buffer their staff and students from negative environments where substance abuse and/or domestic violence in the home or hostility toward the school interferes with student achievement. A principal who acts as an initiator of change for a school will see in policy an opportunity to meet a personal or organizational goal and will therefore put the power tools of his organization, the reform actively accomplish information, resources, and support behind effort engage their (Kanter, in own policy goals. 1983). Initiator implementation They exhibit in or principals order to speak of behaviors that indicate they enjoy taking risks, believe the ends justify the means, and have a clear idea of the personal or organization goals they hope to accomplish through policy implementation. 24 Implementation Tactics Based upon assertions motives were for the previously made regarding implementing cited work, the following of principal expectations policy. First, I expected principals in the study to talk about or exhibit a personal reason for using the policy. Second, I anticipated principal discussion about organizational needs to be met through policy compliance. I expected these active policy compliers and initiators of reform to talk about what the policy meant to them and to their organizations. engaged means However, these key administrators in policy use must first interpret what the policy for their organization (Miles and Huberman, 1984; Fullan, 1982? Wills and Peterson, 1992; and Firestone, 1989). They may look at the policy and see in it an opportunity to obtain more resources for their buildings. Implementation of innovation depends upon the implementor's perceptions about the change. Initiators of change must first construct a meaning of the change for themselves before they can impart a vision to those change agents they take lead. Further, those into account the multiple successful as realities of their followers (Fullan, 1982), breaking change into smaller, more manageable chunks (Kanter, 1983), and seeing change as a process, not an event (Fullan, 1982). They interpret what the policy means to themselves and to those they lead, and they provide the time needed to interpret what the change means and requires in terms of time, training, and resources from the 25 classroom perspective. Active compliers and initiators of change use phrases like "I'm looking at what the policy means to me and my building" and "I'm using the policy to get what we need for our building." In order principals to also achieve apply the policy pressure, outcomes bordering they on seek, coercion (Huberman and Miles, 1984), to elicit the outcomes of policy compliance they want to achieve. They frequently walk a fine line between pressure and support as they coax, cajole, and use a carrot and stick strategy with staffs engaged in school improvement activities. They will use an influential teacher or school improvement team leader to encourage teachers to engage in change (Firestone, 1989). The Principal Conflict Principals are faced with a conflict during attempting implementation. On the one hand, they accomplish own organizational their personal and are policy to agendas, while on the other hand they are using building level decision making of staffs to do so. It therefore requires sensitivity on the part of principals to their staffs as they engage in change. They not only recognition of the new, take time for celebration but they also must allow time mourning and the loss of the old. and for They encourage ownership of ideas by eliciting staff suggestions and leadership (Kanter, 1983; Joyce an Showers, 1982) They also talk about the need to support staffs during change activities. 26 The Dark Side of Reform As the building leader the principal is also the person in the middle (Fullan, 1982). Weatherley and Lipsky (1977) referred to policy implementors as "street level bureaucrats" who develop coping mechanisms in response to external pressure for reform, minimizing efforts for major restructuring. and Huberman "downsizing" (1984) refer to of innovations. this As they as Miles "blunting" "unbundled" or National Diffusion Network innovations in an attempt to make sense of them, teachers tended to use only those components that were adaptable to their own teaching style and called for the least number of changes in existing practice or routine Huberman, (Miles and 1984). This poses a dilemma for principals who are wrestling with the conflicting imperatives of how to accomplish their own personal and professional goals while working to improve school quality through the efforts of others. During this early phase of implementation a policy such as Public Act 25 seeks to improve teaching and learning at the micro level of the classroom, decision-making McLaughlin, involved in level 1987). of through effects at the macro, the Elmore's implementation building description of innovation (Elmore, of the 1980; process differentiates between the macro or building level, where decisions are made, and the micro implemented. or classroom level where decisions are With PA25 there is a discrepancy between the intent of lawmakers and the action of implementors because of 27 the law's design (Elmore, 1980). The law intended for implementors to engage in school improvement goal setting that would result state. in changed classroom practice throughout the However, when local implementors engage in policy compliance, it is not necessarily to change classroom practice but rather to use the policy for solving specific local needs. Nevertheless, principals must wrestle with this conflict during compliance activities, and somehow bring their staffs along as they work together in mutually adapting the external requirements of the policy to their own internal local needs. During PA25 compliance activities such as school improvement goal setting and planning, building staffs are required to engage in building level decision making that will result in improved classroom level student learning, and it is principals who help their staffs see the usefulness of the policy in meeting local needs. Motives for Implementation This study theorized that there are concrete examples of implementation motives present during school improvement goal setting in elementary schools. There are both reasons for and methods of implementing policy. Research conducted by the Center for Policy Research in Education tracked reform efforts in six states. While the research was designed to determine whether local districts in twenty-four districts were using reform, the data only generated information outcomes of policy and district-state concerning interaction. Local 28 factors and conditions leading to policy implementation need further examination (Firestone, 1989). There are organizational contexts within which principals and their staffs must work. There are personal, professional and organizational needs present within these local contexts. There are specific needs and local conditions which shape a policy at the local level. There are also context specific strategies which these policy implementors bring into play during policy compliance activities? Miles and Huberman (1984), Fuhrman and Elmore (1990), and Firestone (1989) dependent upon problems. depend upon indicate that its Therefore, the perceived policy motives implementation of policy utility outcomes principals carrying out state mandates. in at and solving the local others have is local level for Fuhrman, Clune and Elmore (1988) found in over half of the districts studied that implementors saw in state reforms opportunities to accomplish their own objectives. Implementors selected the elements of reform that best suited local goals. If the policy is viewed as a means to an end there is a greater likelihood of compliance. Summary Local implementation of public policy is dependent upon the motives and tactics of local implementors. If principals and their staffs see possibilities in state policy, they will use the policy to solve local needs. a dark side to implementation. However, there is also Because it must compete with 29 previously established routines and limited time and resources, the effects on classroom practice can be minimized by active compliers as they cope with its requirements for change. The next chapter will detail the design and methodology for learning about the local contexts that influence policy implementation. CHAPTER THREE RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY Introduction This study examined the implementation Public Act 25 in four elementary schools. of Michigan's It compared and contrasted the intent of the policy with the action taking place during compliance activities. Because the outcomes of public policy compliance depend upon the motives of local implementors, examining the contexts within which compliance activities were taking place was also part of this work. I wanted to know the reasons principals and their staffs have for complying with PA25, but I also wanted to know what tactics they use to accomplish these goals. These questions were and continue to be important to me as a central office administrator charged with PA2 5 compliance activities for an entire district. from Lansing to local schools, As public policy moves it comes up against pressing local needs that compete for time and resources. I wanted to know what PA25 policy looks like during compliance activities and how local needs affect its disposition. The Pilot Study For this reason, I decided to conduct a pilot study, during the winter of 1991, that took me from Lansing, where I interviewed lawmakers, to a local district, where compliance activities were taking place. This allowed me to contrast the 30 31 intent and action of the policy on a small scale. The writers of the law included representatives from the Michigan Education Association, the Michigan Senate Majority Leader's staff, the Michigan Department of Education, and the Michigan Association of School Administrators. interviews required one and one-half to Each of the two hours of the subjects' time and each subject was asked the same set of ten questions. 1. Have there been any compromises between your original intent and the law today? 2. What do you anticipate district annual reports will look like? 3. What effect on educational programming in Michigan schools do you think PA25 will have? 4. Has the state allocated resources to ensure local groups are compliance with PA25? 5. How do you perceive various understanding/accepting the initiative (parents, board members, business, administrators, teachers, Michigan Education Association, Michigan Federation of Teachers)? 6. Project the future of PA25 in 1 year, 5 years, 10 years? 7. How prepared are local districts to comply? 6. What will happen to the annual reports? Will they be read? 9. Will districts incur penalties if they don't comply or 32 if their reports are inadequate? 10. What preparations have districts made to prepare and comply? From Lansing, I moved to one local district to see how constituents from various perspectives were responding to this initiative. The eight interview subjects included both secondary and elementary principals, the school superintendent, an elementary, middle school, and high school (also the education association president) teacher, the PTA president (a parent) and the board of education president. The three overarching questions for the pilot study were: 1. What knowledge and information did various constituents say they possess concerning PA25? 2. What activities various constituents indicated were taking place within their district to comply with the law? 3. What did the law mean to various constituents within this district? Each interview required approximately one hour and each subject was asked the same set of eight questions. 1. What do you know about PA25? Where did you obtain your information? 2. What was the intent of the legislature in drafting PA25? 3. What has this district done to prepare for compliance with PA25 in terms of allocation of information, 33 resources and personnel? 4. How do you personally/professionally perceive this state initiative? 5. What do you think others are thinking about it? example, parents, teachers, board For members, administrators, other school districts. 6. Project your opinions about PA25 and where it will be one year, five years, ten years from now. 7. What relationship do you see between educational programming and PA25? 8. What board policies have been adopted in response to PA2 5? From different the things perspective. to pilot study I discovered to different people that depending PA2 5 meant upon their Those not involved in compliance saw it as a way force schools to change, while teachers felt relationship to their work or their students. it had no Because the elementary principal saw the accreditation requirement of the policy as a way to solve a need to spread district resources more equitably, I began to think the policy might yield useful study information. Administrators in my own district were struggling to make sense of the policy while coping with the additional paperwork burdens imposed by the law. Nevertheless, for the elementary principal in the pilot study, the policy was a beacon of hope and I wanted to know why. Did other principals feel this way? 34 Time Sample In order to observe local implementation of public policy, it was necessary to select windows of time when school improvement activities were taking place in local districts. Critical to this study of principals at work was observing school improvement goal setting and planning in the Spring. All Michigan districts receiving state aid must comply with school improvement requirements of PA25 by establishing school improvement goals and plans and reporting annually prior to September, of each year. It was during March, April, and May, 1992, at school improvement and faculty meetings that school improvement goals and plans were developed for the 1992-1993 school year. Therefore, I collected data by observing and interviewing principals and staffs during this window. Geographic Location and History of Jenson Countv Located in the southern lower peninsula along the 1-7 5 corridor, Jenson County is notable in Michigan because it is home to Granite corporation. Jenson and birthplace County first of a became major automobile synonymous with transportation in the early 19th century when Jenson County's economy became dominated by the manufacture of carriages. The area boasted an annual production of 100,000 carts and buggies. Historically, Jenson County has been driven by the manufacture of vehicles for transportation. Its economic well being was determined by the health of that industry (Barone, Ujifusa, 1992). 35 Jenson is the state's fourth most populated county, and it houses Granite, the state's third largest city. With a population heavily southern in origin, Granite experienced a cut in its automotive work force from 70,000 workers in 1970 to 40,000 in 1990 based economy, (Barone Ujifusa, 1992). With its auto­ Jenson county's unemployment rate rose from 10.4% in 1989 to 12.4% in 1991. The number of vehicles built continued to decline from 351,000 in 1989 to 235,000 in 1991 (1992 Local Business Trends). However, responded to neither the city of Granite nor Jenson County changes in the national or international economies, resulting in an area that is depressed because of its continued reliance on a declining industry. The resulting ripple effects are being felt by every other part of the economy, including education. As one of the writers of Public Act 2 5 said, I think [Michigan] business is the major impetus behind [PA25] because its supply and demand. I think its absolutely [necessary] to change our work force. They're demanding a different person. They used to demand a person who could run an assembly line and now they're demanding a person who can program the computer to run the assembly line . . . (Interview, 2-22-91, Michigan Department of Education representative, pp 5-6). Jenson County was the ideal spot to locate this study. If Michigan business leaders hoped for improved school quality through PA25 compliance, it is important to see how Michigan business schools. affects policy compliance activities in Michigan 36 Sampling Frame The sampling frame was drawn from participant response to a telephone survey of one-third of the one-hundred elementary principals within twenty districts Michigan's fourth largest county in Jenson (referred County. to as the fictitious Jenson County for anonymity), and the one most heavily hit by Michigan's selected for this study. declining auto industry, was If as writers of the law suggested, the intent was to improve the quality of Michigan schools in order to make the state more economically competitive, then Jenson County would be the perfect candidate to observe during the implementation of this highly touted policy. subjects in this study work in Jenson County. they serve directly and the dollars they influenced by the auto receive industry. All of the The students come from When the homes auto industry of Jenson County quivers, the ripple effects are felt by every other education. economic entity in the county including Many of their comments and much of their activity are greatly influenced by the context of this county. A stratified sample of thirty principals included elementary schools that were located within rural, urban, and suburban settings in Jenson County. Additionally, other issues considered in selecting the thirty initial participants included both school and district size and complexity of the district's organizational structure. Principals from large and small elementary schools as well as from large and small school districts were included in the telephone interviews. 37 Participants were asked to respond to sixteen survey questions (Appendix A) designed to locate principals at either end of the policy implementation spectrum, i.e., those who were actively complying with the intent of the law and those who were complying only with the letter of the law. Those who viewed Public Act 25 as needed and significant, or as an opportunity, and who were complying because of a commitment improvement, category. to school represented the former Those who indicated, by contrast, that they viewed PA25 as a negative factor, a hindrance, or as irrelevant and were complying primarily because of political or financial pressure, represented the latter category. Thirty principals from each of the twenty Jenson County school districts were surveyed by telephone to locate nine principals for manageable study who indicated they actively using the policy to solve local problems. were These principals were then personally interviewed to locate four with specific personal and professional agendas from a variety of contexts who would be engaged in school improvement activities between March and June, 1992. The Telephone Survey Jenson County has twenty school districts, seven suburban, two small urban (less than 4,000 students), five small town, five rural, and Granite, the one large urban district with over 30,000 students. The districts range in size from a low of 1,050 students to a high of 5,501 students and at the 38 extreme with Granite's 30,000 pupil count. The average SEV behind each pupil in the county ranges from a low of $26,309 to a high of $126,039, with the average at $66,031 (Michigan Bulletin 101, 1991). Survey Design Using the 1992 Michigan Education Directory, the following twenty districts and thirty principals list was drawn up for the principal survey conducted in February and March, First I listed all twenty districts 1992. in Jenson County and, using the Michigan Directory, selected, based on school size, the names of one or two principals districts and six from Granite. from each of nineteen I selected twenty male and ten female principals, twenty large (over 400) and ten small (less than principals small town, 400 students) schools included seven suburban, seven rural, and six to call. The thirty two small urban, of the thirty eight Granite elementary principals (See Table 1) . Each telephone survey required five to twenty minutes of the principal's time depending commentary throughout the survey. upon the length of their 39 Table 1 JBNSOM COUMTY TELEPHONE SURVEY - DISTRICT/PRINCIPAL LIST DISTRICT LOCATION INITIAL CODE PRINCIPAL # BUILDING SIZE DISTRICT SIZE SEV/PUPIL | Suburban S-C 1 SOO 4,524 80,823 | j Suburban B-B 30 115 428 2,043 26,309 | I Rural OT 17 414 274 276 2,732 43,692 | Rural MO B 545 1,772 30,210 I Rural GO 9 521 1,540 64,061 Rural CL 7 477 4,337 45,476 Rural MM 20 4 24 888 335 327 3,383 37,288 Small Town D 6 2B 286 607 4,609 . 55,218 Small Town FE 12 477 2,839 73,105 Suburban A-B 11 422 1,050 97,276 LF 13 575 1,409 105,677 [ WH 26 120 120 1,203 81,908 | Suburban B-B 22 440 1,144 61,499 | Small Town LI 29 16 300 430 2,304 63,229 | Small Town Urban Urban BE 14 618 3,440 31,027 Suburban C-A 21 760 5,170 126,039 Small Town FL 19 15 595 564 3,967 70,268 Suburban X 2 509 3,619 48,102 Suburban G-B 5 366 5,501 99,378 Urban GranIra 23 IB 10 3 27 25 359 338 685 266 650 313 30,142 45,880 , _ . . 40 Active Compliance Among the local factors which shape a policy during its implementation, is the meaning or usefulness attached to it by principals. they plan engage in The local needs they hope to meet and the goals to accomplish shape compliance. I the was, policy as implementors therefore, looking for principals who spoke in terms of the policy's usefulness in meeting specific local needs. I wanted to see what happens to policy at the local level and how it is shaped by those local needs. Embedded within each school's local context are the motives or reasons principals have for finding a usefulness for the policy (Yin, 1984). Therefore, among those local factors which shape a policy at each building are the actions principals take during policy compliance. The meaning they attach to it and its usefulness for solving local needs play a role in how a policy is shaped during implementation. During the phase telephone survey, I of principal was, selection therefore, following looking for the active compliers who indicated they were complying not with only the letter of the law but also with its intent. responses to survey questions I was looking for (Appendix A) that suggested principals and staffs were looking at the policy as a way to meet a local need. elementary principals Therefore, were several selected actively because complying their survey response indicated they viewed the policy as a way to solve local problems (Miles and Huberman, 1984, Fuhrman and Elmore, 1990 and Firestone, 1989). 41 During the telephone survey I was looking for phrases I heard from principals selected for interview that indicated they had negotiated with their improvement activities. staffs to engage in school Their staffs initially may not have seen a reason for becoming involved in school improvement and policy compliance activities, but these actively complying principals had found the motivating factor for teachers and were using it to solicit their involvement. Some of their phrases indicated they had even risked censure from the staff but were forging ahead anyway. They used phrases such as "we're up to our neck in crockagators," and "this staff was sold on the accreditation part of PA25." Each of the nine principals selected for interview from their telephone survey response indicated they saw in PA2 5 an opportunity to accomplish personal, professional or organizational goal(s). They viewed it as an opportunity and had therefore lengthened their school day, had "sold" staff on accreditation, or had looked at the policy from the perspective of "how it impacts my building and what would be it means to me." interested implementation study, in When asked participating eighteen said "yes" in or a if they policy "maybe" while twelve said "no". When asked if they had additional comments to make about PA25 or school improvement, responses of those selected for further study indicated they not only were using the policy to solve local already problems, occurring but were school also improvement using it to activities validate and had 42 dominant coalitions in place to support compliance activities. Some principals selected for further study indicated they were making sense of the policy for themselves or for their buildings and saw PA25 as an opportunity. Principal 24-Pat: Everything is so individualistic, not generic. I look at it and how it impacts my specific building and what it means to me. What I look at may not be valid any place else. I tend not to look at the whole but rather how things impact me and my building. Principal 1-Susan: PA25 allows improvement. Others us selected a were voice in using it areas to needing validate improvement activities already taking place. school They had even lengthened the school day or set aside special time to engage in school improvement activities. Principal 14-Dick S.: With the last few questions it would help you to know, we have lengthened our school day by ten minutes to have a half day a month for school improvement. It gives us three hours a month to work on goals and action plans. The staff is committed and involved not to the level I'd like to see but we are involved. We are looking at accreditation and what it can get for us. There is not a whole lot of acceptance of the state mandate unless they can see how it impacts their work or job. Principal 2-Dick A . : Our LSIP (Leadership in School Improvement) meets every other Friday at 8:00 a.m. team Those actively complying principals selected for further study indicated they had to negotiate with staffs to engage in 43 compliance activities; they had to "sell" staff on PA25 or engage them in activities that may have caused some discomfort. Principal 19-Drew: I think the hardest sell here with PA25 is to sell staff that they still have educational freedom to teach. Some feel imposed upon, channeled, structured in a way they don't agree with. I'm trying to get them to look at it as an opportunity. We need to get out of the textbook mind set of going from front to back. I am asking them to bring to bear everything they know, to open up the curriculum. The example I used is to start with an outcome like say the solar system. I tell them how you get there is up to you. They have a lot of freedom this way but not by going from front to back in a science book. Its the way you look at it. It is an opportunity if you look at it in a positive way, with a professional attitude. Some think the school improvement movement came from political pressure and was set up to take something away from teachers. I tell them 'we are the professionals; we know what needs to be done and how to do it.' We've got a problem with AIDS-now how do we solve it? Its similar to what we're doing in education. We're the ones to implement it. Principal 4-Kathy: In this building, paraprofessionals, parents, teachers are highly involved in school improvement. We had a two day retreat. We have had some major changes in attitude. I've brought them a long way. They're working out of their comfort zone right now so they're a tad fragile right now. We are doing a lot of teaming, rebuilding - getting us back together. Others selected, like the principal from the pilot study, were looking specifically at the accreditation component of PA25. Principal 21-Brett: At our building we have complied through the use of the Outcomes Accreditation (OA) model from the 44 North Central Association. We have been into it for two years now and were into school improvement five years before that. OA gives you everything you need to comply with PA25. Principal 6-Larry: Basically my only concern is that legislation needs to focus on the effects on children. It shouldn't be a political issue. We need equity for all children through education refinancing. What needs to be done, can't be done. Children need to be a number one priority. We are involved in MAP (Michigan Accreditation Program) accreditation and are involved in looking for alternative assessment right now. These complying principals were also selected for their representation of varying (large/bureaucratically hierarchical districts). complex organizational districts and contexts small, less Principals from urban, rural, and suburban schools, as well as from large and small schools, and districts were selected. compliance, Not only was I looking for active I also wanted to learn more about the specific local conditions affecting compliance activities. Therefore, it was also important to find actively complying principals from varying local contexts. Following the thirty principal interviews, a matrix was created with principals along the “X" coordinate and eleven screening criteria along the "Y" coordinate The screening criteria used to select (See Table 2) . the principals for subsequent interview included: 1. A willingness to participate in the study. 2. Evidence of active compliance with PA25 requirements and use of the policy. X X X X X X X X X X X X LZ *t X St X *•« *C X X tc EC X X X BE X X X *E X X X X X X X X oc X 11M X X X X X X X X X X X X X X OC X XT X X it •T X X f it X > O il »t X X X X X It X X IT X X X X X X X EC X BE X X X X X X X X X X X X X CT X Ot X X * X X X • X X X X X X X X X X X X X X I X • X 1 X X < iin * X X X c V l » |l X X X •fn rtj X X •I* * x*xnx u tq jn q r tf u v q jn M in u o qan UM»X 00* u tift n * t - M iv ilf lq X\xmm - X X X X X •xxm 0 0 * ***• A911O0 j o » tn f fc ilP lw tu n C w in T ox •MXOX ftu m iM 0 01 v m n u h o x i u h i nusiiii C *T q n S* 46 I was looking for a representative sample of actively complying principals in order to determine if district or building size or location shapes implementation. Are the motives for policy compliance the same for a school in a wealthy, suburban district as those for a school in a poor, rural district? Does a principal in a large urban school use the same tactics during policy compliance as a colleague in a small suburban school? How does local setting shape compliance activities? The writers of the policy created PA25 to improve the quality of Michigan schools. However, actively complying implementors of the policy viewed it as an opportunity to solve local problems. Over and over I heard principals say during the course of this study they were using it to draw attention to the need for more money, resources, personnel, or parent involvement. Those who were actively complying to meet external or internal needs, and also were meeting specific goals with compliance and selecting and using implementation tactics that met contextual needs, were selected for further study. These actively complying implementors of public policy were selected for further study because they exhibited typical behaviors identified by researchers of policy implementation. They indicated in their initial interviews that they were adapting the policy to meet internal needs of the organization (Berman, McLaughlin, Greenwood established dominant coalitions and Pincus, and support 1975) and had structures to 47 carry out the work of policy compliance (Firestone, All concerns of the principals about the expressed their demands of the 1989). frustration law. However, and what differentiated the principals selected for further study from the twenty-one not selected for interview were their comments indicating both a reason and a method for implementing the policy: 1. They were actively using the policy to solve local problems (Firestone, 1989). 2. They were staffs aware engaged of and sensitive in change to (Ranter, the 198 3, needs Joyce of and Showers, 1982). Four of the principals, Larry, Dick A. , Brett, and Dick S., viewed PA25 and the accreditation component as a way to obtain additional resources for their buildings. Dick S. said, "we are looking at accreditation and what it can get for us" (Interview 04/07/92, p. 1). Brett responded, At our building we have complied through the use of the outcomes accreditation (OA) from the North Central Association. OA gives you everything you need to comply with PA25 (Interview, 04/09/92). Kathy, Drew, Pat and Susan used phrases like "bringing my staff along" and "I'm trying to get them to look at it [PA25] as an opportunity," administrative approach indicating in favor a of less a directive more approach to change (Leithwood and Montgomery, or facilitative 1986). 48 When I asked Kathy if she would be willing to participate in a policy implementation study, she declined, staff was "a tad fragile right now." saying her She added that they had just gone through some major changes in attitudes and were at that time engaged in team building and getting the staff back together. Drew had said one of his greatest challenges was working with a veteran staff who complained about the state telling them what to teach and having to teach to the MEAP (Michigan Education Assessment Program). In referring to his approach to the teachers in his building he said, ...for instance, in a science unit, one of the outcomes might be that the children will be able to identify the planets in our solar system. Ok, that's the outcome. So you teach to that. They don't tell you how to get there; you do whatever you want to get there. As long as when your kids sit down to take that test they know there's Jupiter and Neptune and all that stuff (Interview 04/09/92) . Using both the matrix and anecdotal comments thirty principals, I identified eighteen participate in a policy implementation study. from the willing to However, only nine indicated with their commentary that they were in active compliance or were using the policy to solve local problems. Actively complying and problem solving principals used a number of metaphors improvement activities. to describe their school Dick A. (2) for example said his school was "a tiger in school improvement". Others such as principals Larry (6), Dick S. (14), Brett (21) and Pat (24) indicated they were using elements of the law such 49 as accreditation as opportunities to solve local problems in order to obtain counselors, librarians, and additional administrative staff. Principals such as Susan (1) and Kathy (4) suggested with their comments that staffs had to be "brought along" or "sold" on an idea during PA25 compliance indicating they were using strategies during policy implementation. Principals (1), (2), (4), (6), (14), (19), (21) and (24) represented: Susan (1) large, wealthy ($80,823 SEV), suburban Dick A. (2) large, poor ($48,102 SEV), suburban Kathy (4) small, poor ($37,288 SEV), rural Larry (6) small, poor ($55,218 SEV), small town Dick S . (14)large, poor ($31,027 SEV), small urban Drew (19)large, above average SEV ($70,268 SEV), small town Brett (21)large, wealthy ($126,039 SEV), suburban Pat (24)small, poor ($37,288 SEV), rural schools Because principals Dick A. (2), Kathy (4), Dick S. (14), Drew (19) and Brett (21) were not included later in the policy implementation study in four Jenson County 50 sites, I was unable to validate the findings from their principal interviews through interviews with their staffs and observations of their school improvement activities. Nevertheless, some of the data gathered through interview with these five principals was later confirmed in the four policy implementation sites. interviewed but not The five principals selected for further study represented a range of schools from a small, poor and rural elementary to a large, wealthy suburban building. Following the initial principal interviews, I casually asked other educators in Jenson County for the names of innovative elementary school principals improvement who were activities. engaged Six in were recommended and three had been part of the telephone survey. Using the criteria matrix and principal commentary, two of the six recommended principals were also on my list for subsequent interviews principals Susan (1) and Pat (24) from suburban and rural schools. Only one of the nine urban principals interviewed by telephone had met my criteria for the second round of interviews. Before 1 was able to locate four final principals for further study, I would later return to this recommended principal list and be grateful that I had not relied solely on the telephone survey. 51 Because of my second research question local context shape see policy (how does implementation) important to principal policy strategies in different contexts. it was implementation I wanted to study policy implementation in a variety of settings, including rural, suburban, small town, and urban. Additionally, one-third of Jenson County's principals work in the large urban district of Granite. Yet of those initial six Granite principals surveyed, none had met my criteria for willingness to participate and active compliance/use of the policy. Only one principal from an outlying small urban district was a candidate for further interview. Because I wanted to learn how local context shapes policy implementation, I needed a more representative sample of settings including both a small urban and a large urban district. Therefore, I went back to my list of six recommended principals. Only one urban principal who had not been telephone surveyed was on the Nevertheless, school in list. as a recommended principal from a large Granite, she was added to the list of principals for personal interviews. Using the methods I had developed, I met with each of the nine principals during the first two weeks in April, 1992. Each minutes. questions. interview required forty-five to ninety All of the principals answered the same set of I had piloted the ten questions with several 52 principal friends in early January and, using their recommendations, gave a written copy of the questions to each principal and instructed them to question at their own pace (Appendix B). answer each From my April 9, 1992 journal entry, the suggestion that I have a written copy of the questions for them to look at has produced an interesting response. I can see by their looks they were not expecting to have this kind of control of the interview. Some of them wander around and then come back to the questions but their wanderings are just as insightful into what they do as building leaders as their responses to my questions. Also it gives them something to hold onto as they respond to me. Earlier in the study complying principals. I had been looking for actively I found several who had originally intended to use the policy to obtain additional resources for their buildings through the accreditation component of the law. However, at the time I interviewed them, they were coping with how to convince their staffs to concentrate on student outcomes. I asked Brett, Drew, Dick A., Dick S., and Kathy about the strategies they were using to reach their goals that they might not use in another setting; here are several of their responses: The only thing I could answer on that right now is it would depend on how well my staff bought into what we wanted to do. I think that's the key. If the staff is involved and were to look at what we're doing in this building and I was to share it with them and they were to say "This is good. We want to buy into it," then I would say that I would probably develop the same things there that I developed here. The only possible differences might be if I went into a district where the economic strata was, let's say, much higher. It 53 might change my strategies a little. . . . for example, I think I would probably have more parents involved because there would be more interest there (Interview 04/07/92, Dick A.). I really think that we don't have a lot of differences in staffs in Michigan, we don't have a lot of differences in kids. You could pretty much be dropped down by helicopter in any elementary school and you would find a lot of the same kinds of things going on, some better than others (Interview 04/13/92, Kathy). [If I were in an urban setting] [I] might have to try more outreach. More ways to get school in the home or home into school, or parent support programs, social work type activities, agency type activities. Emphasis on pride, those type of things. You might have to get more into maybe extrinsic rewards, behavior modification rewards programs. We have very little of that here. We don't seem to have a need to; I think we see a lot of motivated kids come into school who are motivated because their parents value education and support that. So, we haven't had to promote the awards, rewards type of approach and maybe that would be something else you'd have to do in an urban school to help kids feel good about themselves (Interview 04/09/92, Brett). Dick A. from a poorer district and Brett from a wealthier district both seemed to recognize the importance context plays not only in setting goals but in establishing the strategies to implement them as well. interviewed, Pat, Susan, However, of the nine principals Laura and Larry were the ones ultimately selected because they not only indicated either in the telephone survey or in subsequent interviews that they were using the policy to accomplish personal, professional and organizational agendas, but more importantly, they also were using strategies during policy implementation that are unique to each of their settings. 54 Prior to selecting the four principals for in-depth study, I had established a second set of criteria by which to compare the nine principals. I was still looking for active compliance and use of the policy, a willingness to participate in a policy implementation study, and an indication that implementation strategies of principals were context specific. However, district setting and forthcoming school improvement activities were the key screening criteria at this point in time. Principals (1) and (24), from the telephone survey, Susan from Morritz Elementary and Pat from Montego Elementary would become the principals chosen for "large, suburban," and "small, poor and rural sites." Larry was selected to represent a affluent and Principal (6), small, moderate SEV elementary school from a small town in Jenson County. The principal the recommended by colleagues but not part of original telephone survey, Laura, from Havendale Elementary, was selected to represent a large elementary in the large urban Granite district. These four principals were selected because they were willing to participate in the study, they exhibited active compliance with PA25, and because they represented contrasting settings and conditions where policy implementation activities could be observed between March and June, 1992. Each of the four indicated during personal interviews that problems they were solving and methods they were using during policy 55 compliance were unique to each of their four settings. Subjects Subjects of this four-site study from Morritz included Principal Susan, school improvement leader/special education teacher Sylvia, teacher Jake, second grade fifth teacher grade paraprofessional/parent Cheryl. Sally, teacher first grade Lydia and I also spoke informally with the school secretary and two other teachers not on the school improvement team. with the At the district meeting, I spoke informally education association president from the middle school, the assistant superintendent, three other elementary principals, and the president of the support staff's union. At Hale, subjects were principal Larry and first grade teachers and school improvement team members Emily, Dawn and Catie. At Montego, subjects were principal Pat, teacher and school improvement leader Valerie, third grade kindergarten teacher Laura and Leslie and first grade teacher Janice. also spoke informally with the school librarian, I the custodian, and a parent not on the school improvement team. Havendale subjects included principal Laura, school improvement leader and special education teacher Lori, Article III teacher Samantha, Cheryl (See Table 3) . Chapter I teacher Lavinia and parent Informally, I also spoke with the school secretary and ten other teachers from various grade 56 levels not on the school improvement team. Table 3 STPDY 8PBJECTS MORRITZ MONTEGO HALE HAVENDALE SUSAN - Principal LARRY - Principal PAT - Principal LAURA - Principal SYLVIA * Special Ed Teacher/School Improvement Leader EHILY • Teacher 1st Grade VALERIE • Teacher 3rd Grade/School Improvement Leader LORI - Teacher Special Ed/School Improvement Leader SALLY - Teacher 2nd Grade DAWN - Teacher 1st Grade LAURA - Teacher Kindergarten SAMANTHA - Teacher Article III JAKE - Teacher 1st Grade CATIE - Teacher 1st Grade LESLIE - Teacher Kindergarten LAVINIA - Teacher Chapter I JANICE - Teacher 1st Grade CHERYL - Parent LYDIA - Teacher 5th Grade CHERYL Paraprofessional/ parent Data Collection Research data were collected from four sites using field notes, audio tapes, transcriptions, print documentation, and journal entries. During the collection period, observations and interviews provided information later used to: 1. Develop written portraits of each subject. 2. Reconstruct dialogue. 3. Describe physical settings. 4. Provide accounts of particular events. 5. Depict activities. (Denzin, 1978) I entered the field with the working theory (Geer, 1964) that principals use specific strategies during implementation of public policy to accomplish their own agendas. In order to 57 test this theory, it was necessary to use open-ended interview questions that allowed principals to talk about their reasons for committing to public policy implementation. Data Sources Formal interviews were conducted with principals, members of the school District improvement (XSD) teams, representative and to an Intermediate learn what School reasons and methods principals and their staffs had for complying with Public Act 25. Each subject was asked the same set of ten questions and each interview required thirty to sixty minutes to conduct depending upon subject's commentary (Appendix B and C) . Informal other interviews/conversations school and district with teachers, personnel were parents, documented. Questions were similar to those asked in formal interviews. However, frequently I just listened to subjects engaged conversations subjects and explained nodded what my I participation had just heard or or waited in as observed. Occasionally I used a non-directive probe to obtain additional information. Each event lasted from ten to thirty minutes. Participant observations were conducted at building and/or district level faculty and school improvement team meetings (See Table 4). At Morritz I observed a two hour planning session of their school improvement building leadership team, a two and one- half hour preparation of the district's annual report, a five hour entire faculty review of the language arts core 58 curriculum and joined them for breakfast observations on two separate occasions. were made before and after school and lunch Other observations on six different days lasting ten to twenty minutes. At Havendale I observed their core school improvement team's two and one-half hour preparation of the annual report and school improvement plan, session school for year school and a three hour faculty planning improvement observed staff activities at lunch for on the one 1992-93 occasion. Other observations were made before and after school on six different days lasting from ten to thirty minutes. At Hale I observed a thirty minute faculty discussion of an upcoming canoe trip and the results of a survey to identify at-risk youth, a three and one-half hour entire faculty planning session for 1992-93 school improvement activities and observed staff at lunch on one occasion. Other observations were made before school on three different days lasting from ten to twenty minutes. At Montego I observed a six and one-half hour school improvement team design report a thirty and session minute for the birthday building's breakfast for annual staff. Other observations were made before school on four different days requiring from ten to thirty minutes. 59 Table 4 PARTICIPANT OBSERVATIONS MORRITZ 4/6 - 10 minutes Informal Obaarvatton 4/A • Z houra BLT Annual Report planning aaaaion 4/10 - 20 minutea Informal Obaarvatlon 4/10 • 2h houra DLT District Annual Raport preparation 4/20 - 10 minutaa Informal Obaarvatlon 5/1 - 5 hours Faculty Revleu Languaga Arts Core Currlculua • 1 hour Lunch Obaarvatlon S/6 - 20 minutaa Informal Obaarvatlon 5/IS • 1 hour Breakfast Obaarvatlon 5/18 - 10 minutes Informal Obaarvatlon 6/1 * 10 minutaa Informal Obaarvatlon HALE HAVENDALE 5/7 - 50 minutaa Obaarvatlon * Faculty discussion 4/28 - 10 minutaa Informal Before School Obaarvatlon 6/8 • 20 minutes Infonaal Before School Obaarvatlon 5/7 * 10 minutes Informal Before School Obaarvatlon 6/9 - 20 minutaa Informal Before School Obaarvatlon 5/7 • 2H houra Cora Team Preparation of Annual Raport 6/10 • 10 minutaa Infonaal Before School Obaarvatlon S/11 - 15 minutaa tnformat Before School Observation 6/11 hours Obaarvatlon • Faculty Planning session 5/20 - 10 minutes Informal Before School Observation 6/11 * 1 hour lunch Observation 5/20 - 3 hours Faculty Planning Session • 1 hour Lunch Observation 5/22 - 10 minutes Informal Before School Observation 6/3 - 30 minutea Informal After School Observat1on MONTEGO 4/14 - 6* houra School Improvement Team Annual Report Daaign Session 4/28 - 20 minutes Infonaal Observation 5/1 - 10 minutea Informal Observation 5/8 * 10 minutea Infonaal Obaarvatlon Staff Observation 5/28 - 30 minutea Birthday Breakfast 5/29 • 15 minutes Informal Observation 60 By observing school improvement teams and faculties engaged in PA25 compliance activities I was able to record the disposition of the policy in the local setting. Documents Approximately eighty state, district and building documents were analyzed including Public Act 25, Senate and legislative bill analyses, newspaper Michigan Department of Education documents, articles, superintendent, letters school from improvement the plans, state annual school reports, strategic action plans, agendas, memos, minutes, evaluation forms, building reports, poetry books, test data, survey reports, curriculum documents, teacher contracts, and school newsletters. during Some of the documents were made available to me subject interviews and participant observations. Others were solicited in order to understand the thinking of both those enacting the policy and those charged with its implementation. I wanted to contrast the intent of the policy in Lansing with the action taking place upon it in four local settings. Validity All nine interviews. principals Validation were of asked interview to participate data occurred in in observations at faculty and school improvement meetings of four of the principals. I theorized that the principal who saw accreditation as a means of receiving a greater share of 61 district resources would bring the topic up at goal setting sessions and would, theoretically, place accreditation school improvement and faculty meeting agendas. accreditation reported as a motivator in multiple pieces of of this Documenting principal evidence on such was as then interview notes, field notes and transcriptions as well as agendas and minutes of meetings. However, this same test of validity was also applied across district boundaries. Although motivations varied from principal to principal, multiple evidentiary data supporting the motivational available in order Additionally, evidence [1986], was for not valid only collected, Borman, hypothesis conclusions confirming examined LeCompte, Goetz was and but expected to be be drawn. disconfirming analyzed [1986]}. to (Erickson For example, principals of actively complying schools were expected to use policy to pursue the goals they had for their organizations as evidenced by talking about this tactic in interviews, placing goal-oriented topics on agendas, and discussing goal-oriented topics at faculty meetings. However, when a principal's goal was to use evaluation for school improvement but no evidence of this emerged during observations and interviews; this was an example of disconfirming evidence tending to further investigation and explanation. Data Analysis The Qualitative Huberman (1984) Data Analysis Flow Model provided me with the means of of Miles and collecting, 62 reducing, field. displaying and verifying data while still The amount and variety of evidence, in the as well as its typicality or atypicality (Erickson, 1982), lent credence to the conclusions transcriptions, summaries, drawn. synopses schematic Reporting of included transcriptions, diagrams, synoptic detailed quantitative narratives, and interpretive commentaries (Erickson, 1982). Coding Data entries were coded according to the predetermined categories ON-observational note, TN-Theoretical note, and MNmethodological note (Schatzman and Strauss, 197 3) . Additionally, as key words, patterns, phrases or vocabulary began to emerge (Denzin, 1978), highlighting and color coding allowed me to begin to establish specific categories according to data type and content. conclusion phase of tables were created the This aided in the analysis and study when (Erickson, 1986). provided data display at a glance multiple pieces of evidence. frequency distribution The Distribution tables from multiple sites presence of and confirming evidence supporting accreditation as an agenda, for example, was seen on a distribution table indicating its presence in interviews, faculty meetings, transcriptions, agendas, minutes and at multiple sites at a glance. 63 Problems Although there were several problems with the thirty principal preliminary survey, it nevertheless accomplished its two primary functions. who were not only First, it identified those principals willing to participate in a policy implementation study but were also using the policy to solve local field problems of during candidates compliance; for the second, second it set narrowed of the principal interviews. Three key problems with the survey design included its being read to subjects over the phone, an abrupt and awkward change in format from question 4 to question 5, and an answer selection from the participant's perspective that appeared to be biased. Without being able to see the format and specific questions to be answered, subjects at first seemed lost and unsure about how to answer. Reading the questions over the phone was problematic with this survey questions noise as because or the it did format. not allow subjects Frequently I read the questions and to there was introduced see the background myself as a student and local district curriculum director which may have biased subject response. Some of the questions were also biased as indicated by subject response. one During question (3) subject expressed discomfort with the word After (4b) , one negative?" subject asked "Are they "pressure". [responses] all 64 Even with its limitations, as indicated by subject commentary throughout the survey, it served its purpose for locating eight actively complying principals. Questions (15) and (16) yielded the most productive results because they allowed every subject to use their own words to express their thoughts about PA25 and school improvement and to respond if they would be willing to participate. Each of the thirty principals was quite vocal in their commentary on PA25. Even with the problems that appeared through the telephone survey, well. there were also some unexpected benefits posed as Subject responses to questions 15 and 16, indicating whether they were interested in participating in a policy implementation study and if they had anything else to add about PA25 or school improvement, proved to be the most informative and helpful in selecting the eight principals for further study. It was their response to these open-ended questions that pinpointed those who were complying with the intent as well as the letter of the law. From their negative comments on questions 15 and 16, I identified principals who viewed the policy from a negative perspective and those who viewed it as an opportunity. I also encountered difficulties in locating a principal from Granite to represent an urban district as one of the four sites. Laura had not originally been part of the telephone survey but was recommended as a principal actively engaged in 65 school Improvement in the county by several Jenson County educators. I deliberately held off asking for recommendations until after the telephone survey, study. fearful that it would bias the In retrospect it might have been more fruitful to have sought recommendations prior to the survey. observer, As a participant I also had consciously and carefully constructed answers to subjects' inquiries about my work and attempted to assure that my follow up questions and prompts did not produce answers I was seeking. Another methodological problem had to do with availability of principals. There were principals either on my original twenty district list or on the recommended list of six who were unavailable for participation in the telephone survey or in the policy implementation study. They may have been active compliers with and users of the policy but were not included in the study because they were unavailable or uninterested. Limitations of the Study There are several limitations of this study. First, conclusions drawn can only be generalized to this sampling frame, the four principals where observations and interviews occurred. the three-months of Further, this work does not propose to have covered all school improvement activities taking place at the various sites but rather snapshot of four actively complying principals provides a during the three month sample of time when PA25 compliance activities 66 were taking place. Also, I deliberately eliminated those principals who indicated they were complying with the letter of the law and not with its intent. Only those principals who indicated they were using the policy were considered for this study. study was also limited principals and staffs. comparative case secondary level. study to the The might activities results be quite This of elementary a multi-site of different at the Finally, as with any study there is always the possibility of researcher bias. I have, therefore, used direct interviews quotes from participant observations as well as from field documents. and field Additionally, I have annotated when commentary is my own as in the case of my field notes and field journal so the reader can detect any bias. Summary In all of the four sites I observed school improvement activities and planning of the building teams and observed entire faculties either during regularly scheduled meetings or when school improvement planning was taking place. Formal interviews were held with school improvement team members at each of the sites. in each building for However, I also scheduled time informal interviews and observations before and after school and during lunch with teachers not on the school improvement teams. 67 In addition to conducting interviews and making observations at each of the four sites, I also gathered print documentation of school improvement activities. Artifacts included building and district minutes, agendas, newsletters, annual reports, school improvement plans, teacher contracts, survey reports, evaluation forms, and strategic action plans. Selected teachers and staff from the four buildings were asked to participate in informal interviews. Teachers were asked to respond to eight open-ended questions designed to compare principal and teacher response and to learn how organizational context plays a role in strategy selection and use during the implementation of policy. This sample was selected to compare the response principals within the context of PA25 compliance. been within the mandates have activities of It has only last five decades that federal begun to encroach educational upon leaders. the In of and state administrative their principals, building leaders have choices to make. role as They can negate or ignore those policies holding no negative sanctions, or examine and use policies accomplishing their own goals. holding possibilities for It was theorized that some principals would take advantage of PA25 if they saw in it potential for pursuing their own agendas while others would not. Information gathered during the pilot study led to the decision to examine principal response to policy. In informal interviews conducted during the pilot study each principal 68 shared a personal or implementation of PA25. organizational motivation for While one elementary principal with ten years of administrative experience shared his desire to see greater equity in district resource allocation as a result of PA25 implementation, a second principal was observed using the development of parent surveys during school improvement meetings as a means of improving his status with the local board of education. policy standing This principal's internal motivation for implementation with a board was to where increase a history his of professional friction had prevailed between himself and specific members of the board. If principals have choices to make, why and how do they integrate policy with administrative activities in order to pursue personal and organizational goals? How do they tailor implementation strategies to specific organizational contexts? What do they see in policy that is useful for themselves and their organizations? Before discussing the use that principals make of PA25, it is first necessary to look at the policy itself. What was the intent of designers of this highly touted law, who were the key players, and what events took place during its conception? CHAPTER FOUR PUBLIC ACT 25: THE POLICY AS INTENT Introduction For decades lawmakers from Washington to Lansing have been writing change policy for schools. From desegregation and sex education to school improvement, policy makers have looked to schools to enact answers. are being Before asked to examining settings, Now, Michigan principals and staffs improve the quality of what happens to this their policy schools. in local it is first necessary to examine its genesis and intent. The Genesis of Public Act 25 In Michigan over the last decade there has developed a heightened tension between educators and the public. one hand, the public is calling for improved On the quality of Michigan schools to better prepare its young people for the demands of the 21st Century marketplace. On the other hand, educators say that it will take additional financial revenues to do so. Following the publication in 1983 by the Commission on Excellence of A NATION AT RISK, State Board National the Michigan of Education responded with two publications, BLUEPRINT FOR ACTION and MICHIGAN K-12 PROGRAM STANDARDS OF QUALITY, outlining for Michigan public schools goals for which they were to strive, including 69 increased graduation 70 requirements, student performance standards. performance objectives, and school In 1986 and 1987 representatives from a variety of constituencies came together to form the Michigan School Finance Commission with the challenge to address the following questions: 1. What should be used as the standard for defining the goal of "Equal Educational 2. Opportunity?" How should the General School Aid Membership formula or the state categorical programs be modified to achieve this goal? 3. How should the state tax policy be altered to achieve fairness between simultaneously individuals achieve the Educational Opportunities?" and businesses objective of and "Equal The two key issues facing this group were both quality and equity. It soon became apparent with their publication of EDUCATIONAL QUALITY IN THE 2lst CENTURY that the relative wealth of a school district as measured by State Equalized Valuation (SEV) per pupil has a significant effect on the number of dollars available for the education of children in that district. From the document: First there is the example of Bridgman Public Schools. During 1986-87, Bridgman collected $44 2 3 per student. Bridgman levied only 6.3 mills for school operating purposes. This is based on the fact that Bridgman's total SEV is $565 million of which $525 million or 93% is commercial and industrial property. 71 The second example compares St. Louis Public Schools with Lamphere Public Schools. St. Louis Public Schools has 1,567 pupils and levies 31.78 mills for school operating purposes. Lamphere Public Schools has 2,250 pupils and levies 29.3 mills for school operating purposes. However, Lamphere collects $5,447 per pupil, while St. Louis raises only $2461. In other words, St. Louis Public Schools levies more mills for operating purposes than Lamphere Schools and yet St. Louis has less than one-half the revenue. Lamphere has a total SEV (State Equalized Valuation of Property) of $418 million of which $303 million or 72.5%, is the result of commercial and industrial property. St. Louis Public Schools has a total SEV of only $73 million of which $10.8 million, or 14.8%, is the result of commercial and industrial revenue (Educational Quality In the 21st Century). While the public was looking for improved quality in Michigan schools, educators said increased funding and financial equity for all Michigan schools were necessary to make it happen. Educational Deficiencies: The Impetus Behind Public Act 2 5 As Michigan examine data business leaders and legislators from the previous decade began comparing to inputs to outcomes, a discrepancy began to emerge between what they were spending on education and Michigan's public schools. they saw higher what they were receiving from On the input side of the ledger appropriations for Michigan schools and teacher salaries, but on the output side of the ledger they observed declining ACT scores and graduation rates. At one time it was sufficient for America's schools to prepare the few for higher education; if one was unsuccessful in school he or she could always find work in the factory. 72 However, with the decreasing number of available jobs in the labor intensive industries and concurrent with the increasing number of leaders, openings in particularly the technological in Michigan, began fields, business to question the public the sorting and separating function of schools. On the one hand business leaders and were calling for improved quality of Michigan schools to better prepare young marketplace. people for the demands of the 21st century On the other hand, educators said that it would take additional revenues to do so. That's why all of a sudden we're getting all this attention because this change has been taking place and we in education are pretty well isolated from a lot of realities of the business world. The infrastructure to support our economic well-being is in its human capital. I think [PA25 is] absolutely to change our work force because we're going to have an intellectually based work force Expectations have changed (Michigan Department of Education representative, 02/22/91). In an effort to make Michigan more globally competitive, business leaders began to call for efforts from educators to end the sorting and separating function and to raise academic expectations and achievement for all students. As outspoken Michigan auto manufacturer said, Our future doesn't depend on what our top students can do; it depends on what our average students can do. Our average students are falling way behind . . . when it comes to getting their money's worth, and they know it, so why throw good money after bad when they see no fundamental changes taking place in education . . . and the test scores keep going down? If I want the consumer to give me more money, the first thing I have to do is give him better quality. I can't go to the market and say 'look, my cars are getting worse every year but if you'll just pay more money for this year's model I one promise they'll get better in the future' (lacocca, 1989). As the Michigan Education Association lobbyist and representatives who drafted PA25 said, They [the business community] always said they wanted quality first and then they would increase the money. In other words, if they had proof productivity would increase, then they'd follow up with additional money . . . Just to come back and say you want more money to continue to do the current thing won't work . . . You walk in and say I'm making such and such and you ought to pay me 2 0% more so I can do the same thing, it gives the legislator or the local taxpayer an excuse not to do anything (MEA Representative, 04/11/91). In an attempt to improve Michigan schools eight Senate Bills were introduced during 1988 and 1989. Senate Bill 547 Core Curriculum Senate Bill 548 Annual Improvement Plan Senate Bill 549 Annual Education Reports Senate Bill 650 Schools of Choice Senate Bill 655 Second Count Day Senate Bill 654 Accreditation of All Schools Senate Bill 166 Employment of Non-Certified Teachers Senate Bill 350 Student Competency As a representative from Senate Majority Leader Dan DeGrow's staff said in an interview with this writer, ". . . we kept coming back, we kept passing the bills in the Senate . . . and the stuff was dying in the House." The issues of quality and equity began to merge following the defeat in November, 1989 of both Proposals A and B in which the state income tax was scheduled to increase by either 74 one-half or two cents on every dollar and a state aid penalty was to be imposed on school districts not adopting core curriculum and school improvement plans. Representatives from the Michigan Education Association, the Michigan Association Michigan Department of of School Education, Administrators, and the the Senate Majority Leader's staff came together in late December, 1989, and early January, 1990, to draft Public Act 25, which was signed into law on March 13, 1990. As one Michigan Education Association lobbyist interviewed said. We were trying to put together a legislative package that would increase the funding of education and the business community was very insistent that it would include a strong quality package. Now they always had difficulty describing what was quality. One day it would be to keep kids in school until they were 18. On another it was that your drop out rate is too high. [On the] third day it would be that . . . kids couldn't read, write and subtract. They couldn't really define it. But they always said that they wanted quality first and then they would increase the money. In other words if they had proof the productivity would increase, then they'd follow up with additional money. From our viewpoint we said no, it has to go hand in hand. That you can't ask us to increase quality unless we get the adequate resources to do what we know should be done especially if they are criticizing our urban schools that were already levying a pretty high tax. The discussion started why don't we roll all these into one, clean 'em up and put incentive money in. I was asking for $50 a student. It went down to $3 5 and finally ended up at $25. These were existing bills but it was a refinement. We got it into one package and tied it into the state aid bill and got a commitment from DeGrow [for] the incentive money and then basically made an agreement that it would get to the House floor, Senate floor with no amendments. We knew that all 75 the other groups would wanna take a crack at It and they'd keep adding on and we'd end up with the sane hodge podge that we had before that was unworkable. And that this thing cane out and got on the Senate floor and the House floor and there were no amendments and passed and was on Governor Blanchard's desk in late February and was signed. To have a bill nove that fast . . . As far as I'n concerned to this day the legislature has very little knowledge of what it passed or the ranifications. I felt that this probably was one of the najor pieces of legislation passed in this country. The voices of various constituents from business and education began to merge when they joined forces to create Michigan's Public Act 25. So you have a series of individual bills that finally were thrown into what we call an omnibus bill and that was 4009 and what had been five or six separate issues became a part of one piece of legislation, one statute, now PA25. PA25 is a combination of lots of different issues that had been put together and as we worked more closely with the legislation and the constituents with the various interest groups it all made sense. If you do one thing in one area, it has an effect on everything. When we had an agreement that we would have additional funding to push this thing further . . . the effect became of such significance that even though the very rudimentary language appeared to many people to have been watered down, the overall significance I think is very, very powerful. Initially this was a concern of the Republican side. This stems back to the concern that a lot of people had, that we not just keep dumping money without purpose into education (Senate legislative staff representative, 04/04/91). Timeline Following is a timeline of significant actions taken for the initiation and implementation of Public Act 25. 76 NATION AT RISK published by the National 1983 Commission On Excellence January, 1984 BETTER EDUCATION FOR MICHIGAN CITIZENS: A BLUEPRINT FOR ACTION published by the Michigan State Board of Education MICHIGAN K—12 PROGRAM STANDARDS OF QUALITY 1985 published by the Michigan State Board of Education September, 1987 EDUCATIONAL QUALITY IN THE 21ST CENTURY published by the Michigan School Finance Commission March, 1988 Michigan Accreditation Program Standards published 1988 - 1989 Senate Bills 547, 548, 549, 65-0, 655, 654, 166, 350 November, 1989 December, 1989- February, 1990 Proposals A and B Representatives from MEA, MASA, MDE and Senate legislative staff draft House Bill 4009 January, 1990 Seminar for state Legislators, legislative aides, lobbyists, state organization school quality and financial reform March 6, 1990 Senate Fiscal Agency Bill Analysis March 13, 1990 Governor Blanchard signs PA25 into law July-August, 1990 Statewide PA25 informational meetings on 77 October, 1990 520 Michigan school districts submit board of education resolutions of intent to comply with PA25 requirements October, May, 1990Building level school improvement teams in 1991 520 Michigan districts convene to prepare school improvement plans and annual reports May-July, 1991 Annual meetings held at each building in 520 Michigan school districts July, 1991, 1992, District annual reports submitted 1993 on computer disk to the Michigan Program Standards Department of Education Michigan Accreditation May, 1992 revised September, 1991, 1992, 1993 September, 1993 Annual meetings held at each building in 520 Michigan school districts District submitted school to improvement local intermediate plans school districts Annual meetings held at each building in 520 Michigan school districts December, 1993 PA25 Supplemented changing with accreditation PA3 3 5 and PA3 39 standards; state aid tied to student performance The factory as provider of high paying jobs for unskilled people disappeared in Michigan. Joining with the voices of 78 business leaders in Michigan pressing for higher standards of quality for all children in Michigan schools were legislators such as Senator Dan DeGrow and Representative James E. O'Neill Jr., who jointly introduced House Bill 4009, Michigan statute shortcomings. Public 25, to address more quality, representatives globally competitive from the by improving Michigan staff and the Michigan school Department the Michigan Education Association, legislative educational In an effort to respond to the call to make Michigan Education, Act later known as of the Senate's Association of School administrators drafted Public Act 25. Public Act 25 Defined Public Act 25 has seven parts, bills, formally the eight senate which include requirements covering: 1. Intermediate school districts 2. The local school district's annual education report 3. and 4. The employment of non-certified teachers 5. The school improvement plan 6. The core curriculum and 7. Accreditation One of the law's creators from the Michigan Association of School Administrators described the theory of the process PA25 characterizing it in four parts: 1. the school improvement plan as change, 2. the core curriculum as the content of change, for 79 3. accreditation as the verification of change, and 4. the annual education report as the communication of change. According to the drafters of this legislation, its intent is to provide a better, more competitive work force. With this law, schools and school districts are to engage in PA25 compliance. Staffs are expected to collaborate improvement activities plans and annual creating written reports and to school present in school improvement these plans reports to the public at meetings to be held annually. annual report is to include a mission statement, and Each student achievement data, report of parent involvement, status of the school improvement plan and accreditation, and curriculum offered by the school or district. the core Legislators expect that schools engaged in school improvement activities, that is, annual planning and reporting, will change and Education, one improve their quality. Representing the Michigan Department of writer of the law interviewed said, I think business is the major impetus behind it [PA25] because it's supply and demand. They're demanding a different person. They used to demand a person who could run an assembly line and now they're demanding a person who can program the computer to run the assembly line and the skills are different. They're not gonna put more money into a system that's not working and I don't mean it's not working because people have done bad things. It's that the expectations have changed. An educated work force is a bi-partisan issue. I think a better work force is a major part of the intent of the law. We're gonna have to have an educated work force. 80 In an effort to tie student outcomes to financial inputs, the law has specific revenue incentives and penalties attached to it. School districts which do comply with the law are eligible for additional state school aid in the amount of $25 per pupil and $400 per building. However, school districts eligible for state school aid but not in compliance with the law will incur a five percent reduction in state aid payments. As Section improvement 1277 plans of and PA25 annual stipulates, reports are these to be school developed through building level decision making; policy implementors are to document that administrators, teachers, other school employees, pupils, parents of pupils and other residents have participated,". implementation . and . in the evaluation of planning, the development, district's school improvement plan" (Act #25, Public Acts of 1990, p.3). Further, the act outlines several measures that can be taken for schools that do not meet accreditation standards for three consecutive years. First, the state can appoint a new building principal; second, a parent can send his or her child to any accredited school in the district; or finally, the school can be closed. From the perspective of PA25's intent, the accreditation component of the law was designed to hold schools accountable to improve their quality. It was constructed to verify that school improvement activities and subsequent improvement in school quality were occurring. 81 All Michigan Program (MAP) schools standards must meet and must Michigan include Accreditation in their annual reports their status in seeking school accreditation. Their report must indicate what stage of the accreditation process each building is in, whether it be candidacy status, accredited, or in violation of certain standards. Originally the MAP Standards published in March, 1988, included several pages covering topics such as pupil/staff ratios, the amount to be spent per pupil in the media program, and the ratio of pupils to guidance counselors. Schools were also to include student outcome goals in the three domains of cognitive, affective, and school climate. However, as a representative of the Michigan Department of Education from a local Intermediate School District (ISD) said in looking at the first school improvement plans from 1990, Of [our] studies of schools [we] were not getting to student outcomes. They were sticking with teacher driven outcomes. The state has seen so much of what they call toilet paper issues. [We] wanted to move people off decorating the lounge from getting things for teachers to getting things for kids (MDE representative, 10/22/92). As a result of an analysis of the first set of school improvement plans, the 1988 MAP standards were revised in May, 1992. School improvement planning was still to take place through building level decision making. However, instead of allocating several pages of standards outlining stipulated staff/student ratios in several areas from counseling to media services, the new MAP document includes only two statements regarding organization of the school. 82 Provide sufficient staff and resources to implement curriculum in an orderly and efficient manner. Implement decisions about the choice, use and evaluation of resources for teaching and learning to provide a match between identified student needs and stated student outcomes (Accreditation Standards, Public Act 25, Section 1280, Hay 21, 1992, p.5). With the department first set officials of in school 1990 improvement were already plans, state witnessing discrepancy between the intent and action of the policy. a result, revised accreditation standards were a As published holding schools accountable to student outcomes in order to improve school quality. Public Act 25: Intent of the Law Writers of the law saw in its building level decision making component the potential to empower teachers to improve school quality. This [PA25] was one of the major pieces of education passed in this country. The power in PA25 is the school improvement process to empower the building to lay out that program and develop how they're gonna educate each child and spell that out for three to five years and to communicate that to the constituency . . . we're gonna have to show a dynamic change in delivery of education . . . to make the public feel good about people tackling the problem . . . parents feel good about sending their children to that building (MEA representative, 04/11/91). Representing the Michigan Association of School Administrators, one writer of the law said. Major structural change is needed not just in school finance but the way our programs are taught, the way we deliver services to kids . . . PA25, if its gonna work, you approach it as an opportunity 83 to rethink and revisit how one teaches, what one teaches, what students should learn, how they should learn, how instruction should drive budget rather than budget driving instruction (MASA Representative, 04/04/91). A representative from the Senate majority leader's staff said, We felt to have PA25 prescribed, we could be more accountable . . . If you're testing students and the means by which you are testing them has a relationship to your curriculum and it has a bearing on resource distribution, you are talking about the implications to your community and funding, something that is significant and interrelated (Senate Majority Leader's Staff, 04/04/91). From their commentary, writers of PA25 expected the activities of building level decision making to result in an examination of and major change in delivery of education, and to see a restructuring in how one teaches and what one teaches at the classroom level. Hoping to tie financial inputs to outcomes of improved educational quality, PA25 lawmakers hoped to reconcile the two competing factions calling for improved quality on the one hand and greater financial equity on the other. Not only were lawmakers expecting building teams to reflect on teaching and learning in classrooms across the state, they were also expecting schools to use annual reports as marketing tools for improved school revenue. The MEA representative said, I think its gonna take great courage in the annual report to say here are some problems we have [that] we haven't solved but here are some things we'd like to do. Here are some resources that we don't have that we need and lay it out (MEA 84 Representative, 04/11/91). A member of the Senate legislative staff had said, I think that districts that are smart will use these [annual reports] as means of getting millages passed, of showing why their school systems either are in trouble and the areas in which they are or they will use it as a P.R. piece (Senate legislative staff 04/04/91). Summary Since 1983 the public has been calling for improved school quality, and with PA25, legislators hoped to see Michigan schools engaged in school improvement activities. Drafters of the law saw it as "a powerful piece of legislation" hoping to see teachers engaged in reflection on "what they teach" and "how they teach." With the required annual reports and school improvement plans, Michigan lawmakers hold school improvers accountable to their public and expect they will communicate both their needs and their progress to the communities that support them. The quality and equity tug of war between educators and the public continues as PA25 is implemented in Michigan Schools. The public is asking for improved school quality while educators suggest that it will require additional revenues and financial equity to do so. Chapter Five will continue the discussion of Public Act 2 5 comparing the intent of the law with the action of policy implementation. CHAPTER FIVE PUBLIC ACT 25: THE POLICY IN ACTION Introduction Public Act Michigan 25 was schools. intended Building to improve level the decision accreditation were built into the requirements because lawmakers believed that empowered quality making of and of the law teachers will reflect not only on what they teach but also on how they teach and what students learn as part of the school process. Furthermore, improvement outcomes goals to be in they terms obtained of as accreditation for local schools. will couch their improved part of improvement student their school learning pursuit of This chapter will describe the school improvement activities taking place during PA25 compliance. Discrepancy - Intent of the Law and Implementation Activities Although writers of PA2 5 created it to improve the quality of Michigan schools, those charged with its implementation, particularly the nine I chose to interview, saw in it an opportunity to seek additional resources for their schools. Situated in communities hard hit by a recession in the auto industry,these component principals looked at the accreditation of the law andsaw it as an opportunity to obtain librarians, counselors, and additional administrative staff. 85 86 When the Michigan accreditation program was initially begun, the standards were developed from an input mode, with a stipulated teacher to pupil ratio, designated number of books to be housed in each library, and a specified number of counselors and librarians dependent upon the number of students in each building. In 1991 and 1992 the MAP standards were changed from the input mode, number of books and librarians per building, to a student outcome perspective. are expected to identify Now, school improvement teams and work on improving student outcomes if they are to be part of the Michigan Accreditation Program. Principals component had of PA25 originally looked at the and saw an opportunity to equity in funding across districts. accreditation gain greater The elementary principal in my pilot study had said money had always been channeled to the secondary buildings but accreditation would now require attention and funding to be given to the elementary level, too. These elementary principals hoped to use the accreditation requirements of PA25 as a way to tell their communities they needed additional funding for personnel and other resources. They were hoping for greater equity in resource distribution from their local school districts. Each of these principals expressed chagrin when the input perspective of accreditation outcomes approach. was changed in favor of an Larry and Dick S. in the telephone survey said they had sold their staffs on the accreditation component 87 of PA25 when the rug was pulled out from under them. used phrases like "the State keeps changing They its mind" to describe their frustration at not being able to use the policy as they had previously intended. In the telephone survey, Dick S. said he had hoped to hire an assistant principal, librarian, and counselor with PA25 compliance. I saw this as an opportunity to get the things we needed for our building, for example a counselor, media specialist and additional administration and clerical help but then they changed the requirements for accreditation . . . (Telephone Survey, Dick S., 02/24/92). I'll say this about the original standards. Teachers could point to items and say, 'O.K. we'll be able to get this or at least we'll have some other people who will also be putting the pressure on to see that we get this.' (Personal Interview, Dick S . , 04/97/92). Kathy summed principals and up many the of comments the of the twenty-two nine interviewed telephone surveyed principals when she said, At times I truly and honestly believe that we are involved in Michigan in a mandate of the month program (Interview, Kathy, 04/13/92). Many of the principals surveyed by telephone and personally interviewed referred to the need for more money to improve Michigan schools especially those hardest hit by the declining auto industry in Jenson County. A. said, "Yes. Larry had said, About PA25 being needed Dick As long as they understand we need funding." "We need equity education refinancing." for all children through 88 Every one of the nine principals selected for in depth interview referred to the decline in revenues for education as a result of the failing auto industry of Jenson County. Jenson County is [an automotive] town. Eightythree percent of the people in this town work for the major auto company and, as you know, [it] is in trouble right now and so we have a lot of people who are hurting, a lot of people who have been laid off work, a lot of people are going to be laid off work. We, at one point, were looking this year at, as a district, at going for a bond issue. We have some cramping of space; we have an old building that has become practically impossible. We house 950 four, five and six grades in a building that is close to 100 years old and, none of the plumbing, none of the heating, nothing is up to code and it needs some extensive work. And, we put the bond issue on the back burner now because [the car company] has announced plant closings and we know that this community cannot support a millage or a bond issue with that kind of news. . . . very few people, professional people, live in this town (Interview 04/13/92, Kathy, p.3). We have one [major industry], the other things that are in the area are small businesses. This is about a four square mile school district that has three elementary schools, two others besides this one. We have a high number of single parent families that our students come from. We have a high number of low income families. Approximately 70% of our students qualify for free lunch (Interview 04/07/92, Dick S, pp 1-2). These actively complying principals had hoped to use the accreditation part of PA25 to alert their communities to a need for additional personnel and resources for their before PA25, buildings. Dollars Versus Student Outcomes If, as improving educators the quality had of been saying Michigan long schools would require 89 additional financial revenues, then it would follow that active compliers with the policy would see in this law an opportunity to obtain additional resources for their schools. With declining educational revenues due to lay offs in the Jenson County auto industry, this would seem especially so. Indeed that is exactly what I found during the nine in depth principal interviews. Of their involvement in the Michigan Accreditation Program, Dick S. said, . . . there's three hundred and some standards that were on the original MAP standards and we had ninety-six of them that we didn't meet . . . I sold the staff on accreditation from this stand point. You know how the griping goes in a school and people were griping that they didn't have this and didn't have that and didn't have the other that they should have and so one of my main points was, well, if you want those things, let's get into this accreditation program and then we've got the power of the state board that's putting pressure on the school board to get these things that we don't have. . . . we have to have a media, library media specialist, or the size of our building needs at least a half-time assistant principal (Interview 04/07/92, Dick S., p 5). Brett, from a wealthier district, had said in the initial phone survey that he also was using the accreditation component of PA25 to accomplish organizational goals. At our building we have complied through the use of the Outcomes Accreditation (OA) model from the North Central Association. We have been into it for two years now and were into school improvement five years before that. OA gives you everything you need to comply with PA25 (Phone Interview 02/24/92, Brett). Of their school improvement activities Brett said, ". . . the staff chose, by a vote, to go with, its been two years ago 90 now, with the outcomes accreditation through North Central” He added during the personal interview, . . . most of our goals were more school climate oriented, such as discipline or staff morale but we did have a reading goal that was outcome based. So the movement to outcomes accreditation was natural . . . North Central asked for four or five and we have two affective and two cognitive (Interview 04/09/92, Brett, pp 2, 4). Somehow, you've got to get into outcomes, I feel. Either through PA25 or North Central or MAPS, or whatever you're going to use. Otherwise, I'm afraid you'll have a lot of soft goals that really may not satisfy staff that they've actually done something to help kids (Interview, 04/09/92, Brett, p 5) . Soft School Improvement Goals Three concerns of the principals over the school their building teams. initially interviewed expressed improvement goals established by It is one thing to say that one needs more money to make educational improvements, but at some point in time serious school improvers recognize that resources for schools include people as well as dollars and that currently employed individuals can make a difference for kids. However, getting staffs to move from the former stance of using PA25's accreditation component in order to obtain additional money, to a position where they were concentrating on student outcomes, proved to be a difficult task for principals in this study. Principals spoke about the toilet paper issues and soft school improvement goals their staffs chose to concentrate on. 91 Included among the challenges he said he faces, Dick. A. said, . . . bringing the staff up to speed, changing the way we're delivering education to the kids. . . When we first started we had 'toilet paper issues' like get this door fixed and that one doesn't close and could we have a throw rug over here. We were more or less taking care of small issues that seemed to be important to us at the time but we've moved from that into educational issues now... (Interview 04/07/92, Dick S.). Kathy indicated their school improvement goals last year, . . . were not quite as focused as our goals are this year. We have improved our ability to be able to develop goals that are meaningful. One of the problems that we had was, of course, and I think this is typical, when you first start with school improvement, everybody sees discipline, but this year the thing that excited me was the academic goals included. When you first start with school improvement, you never have academic goals, its always climate goals and they're always climate oriented because those are easy (Interview 04/13/92, Kathy). Dick S. said, Most of what we did that first year was just more or less learning for ourselves what the concept [of school improvement] was. At that time, of course, the emphasis was on the correlates of effective schools. We did do a self survey; we did the Connecticut survey to assess ourselves as a staff . . . We developed a revised student handbook and we developed some procedures for dealing with students in the school. . . . we have kind of gotten away from the emphasis being on the correlates of effective schools and have focused more on the idea of student outcomes . . . I always try to bring the focus back to goals, establishing goals, drawing up action plans, student outcomes (Interview 04/07/92, Dick S.). As PA25 compliance activities began at the local level, the tug of players. war between quality and equity was staged by new Previously they were educators versus the public. Now they were principals versus teachers. Except principals 92 were using a carrot and stick approach. They were encouraging staffs to engage in compliance activities in order to obtain additional resources for their buildings. Tension Between Principals and Staffs Each of these principals saw with the law an opportunity to improve their schools but a tension existed between themselves and their staffs as they wrestled with toilet paper issues or soft school improvement goals of discipline, building repair, and revised student handbooks. Staffs wanted to work on "easier" problems and principals said they had to bring the focus back to educational issues. From the principals' standpoints, staffs had to be coaxed, cajoled, and convinced to consider the more serious issues of school improvement. Dick S. said when his attempt to use the As accreditation component of PA25 to encourage his staff to comply had failed, Teachers are interested in student outcomes but teachers are also leery that they're going to be judged on the basis of those student outcomes (Interview 04/07/92, Dick S., ). These principals were using the policy to solve a need in their building, but they also openly necessity of nurturing, convincing, staffs in to compliance. participate the acknowledged the and even coaxing their changes required of PA25 They not only exhibited a reason or motive for complying (in this case to obtain additional resources), but also a method or strategy for complying by negotiating with staffs to comply. Principals were using the policy to meet 93 specific local needs and were negotiating with staffs to study in engage in compliance activities. Issues Principals Wrestle With Throughout this work, from the original pilot 1990, through the telephone survey, to the last observation in June, 1992, I found principals who were attempting during policy compliance to reconcile two conflicting imperatives: how to accomplish their own personal and professional goals during policy implementation and at the same time use building level decision making to improve school quality. The four complying principals were selected for further study because they were actively using the policy, yet each of them expressed frustration with building level decision making as a way to improve school quality. Each was selected because they were in active compliance with the policy; that is, they indicated they were using the policy to solve local problems and to validate school improvement activities already taking place. Principals were juggling their own goals while at the same time being pressured by the mandate to bring about major reform through building level decisions of empowered staffs. The problem with these two of the law's requirements for reform through building level decision-making is that they are not easily compatible. Site based decisions immediately result in improved school quality. will not Principals have first to find a use for the policy and then help staffs also see the policy as a way to meet a local need. Principals 94 in this study expressed frustration with empowered teachers who develop soft school improvement goals, who said they wanted more and more control over budgets and decisions but either preferred to leave decisions to their principals or took inordinate amounts of time to make decisions. Site Based Decision Making Principals said teachers complained when asked to become involved in budget decisions, principal is hired to do." saying "that's what the In other cases, empowered teachers lacked the larger perspective of the entire school or took large amounts of time to make decisions. about the time it took to make Laura complained decisions and a lack of perspective on the part of teachers. Susan had referred to teachers having to "go through the process" and "they can take all the time they want in my district; after all they're being paid $15.00 per hour!" Pat echoed this frustration when she said she "cajoles and threatens" and uses a "carrot and stick" style when she attempts to keep her staff focused on student outcomes during school improvement deliberations. Site based decision making proved to be a source of contention between principals and their staffs as they engaged in PA25 compliance. of control improvement. as Principals had to wrestle with the issue they involved their staffs in school Larry had originally sold the Hale staff on the accreditation component of PA25 as a way to call attention to 95 a need for a counselor and more librarians. However, when the Intermediate School District scrutinized their school improvement plans and annual reports, school improvers in all four districts found that goals had to be stated in terms of student outcomes - - what the student will know, do, or be like as a result of improved air quality and orderly indoor recesses. Staffs and principals in all four sites exhibited a tension over the issue of control. control was used as a Originally, getting more motivator for PA25 compliance activities. Pat referred to the approach she uses with her staff as a "carrot and stick". PA25 has kind of been justification or validation of what we were doing anyway. It simply added that stick to what we were already doing. . . Getting my teachers involved in school improvement has been a combination of cajoling and threatening because school improvement is something the state is mandating. They realize that if they don't take an active part in it they could have to live with something someone on the outside mandates. There is that element of well we gotta do it or we're gonna be in trouble, carrot and stick combination (Interview 04/08/92, p 3). Principals say they have to keep their staffs focused on student outcomes rather than on soft school improvement goals, while teachers say they want more input in decision making. There is a tension as site based decision making empowerment take place during PA25 implementation. Principal Laura said, When we started the site based thing, I thought I'd be the kind of principal that'd be OK for that. Last year we were saying let's make some decisions together so we started a little hierarchy for and 96 decision making. To be able to spend budget money together jointly is really interesting to watch that all happen. It was real different for me because I saw them making decisions where their focus wasn't global and mine is and four people would come and say, [little girl voice] we'd like this color TV for these four classrooms' and everyone would say 'Oh yeah]' Well why not? And I'm thinking well there's a better way to spend that money for more classrooms and I had to really hold my tongue. At the beginning of this year the gym wasn't used for three weeks cause (little girl voice) they couldn't make a decision, 'We don't like first come, first served to sign up.' This is so crazy and frustrating because the gym isn't being used. She added, I'm saying this is so frustrating because the gym isn't being used while they're making up their minds to come to a decision and one of the teachers says (noble tone of voice) 'isn't it wonderful; we have this sense of power that we can make the decisions?' And I'm thinking this is truly sick but they need to go through the process. Principal Susan from Morritz also felt this frustration when she responded to another principal in the district expressing disdain about spending nearly an hour on wording of the district's annual report. Like Laura, she said to her colleague, "Sometimes you have to take the time to go through the process" (Fieldnotes 04/10/92) . When their building leadership team met, Susan brought the group back from a forty-five minute discussion of orderly recess to student math outcomes by asking if the outcomes they had listed could be measured and were student outcome oriented (Fieldnotes 04/07/92). Earlier that morning as we were completing our interview she expressed dismay that teacher leaders were in charge of 97 the school improvement teams. But she added, "They don't always stay on task but then they're being paid $15.00 per hour so they don't have to concern themselves with time" (Fieldnotes 04/07/92). Time isn't the only bone of contention between principals and their staffs. Budget is also a major issue. Principal Pat of Montego said, I will probably open that [budget] up for some staff input. I have not done that since the first year I was here because the first year I was here when I asked people for any input on budgeting they ranked everything as number ones and very politely told me that it wasn't their job; that was what I got paid for. I had thought that was an area where teachers would want to be involved. I think they're ready for that now. Of course, I'm at the stage where I've done it by myself for many years. For me now its going to be more of a process of letting go (Interview 04/08/92, p 7). Pat also said, It's slower going than I originally thought it would be. My knowledge base was greater than that of many of the people I work with primarily because of my education and current course work. A lot more time is spent bringing people up to level (Interview 04/08/92, p 1). Principal Drew referred to it as "bringing 'em along," while principal Kathy had called it "dragging people." had said. When you have a mature staff, . . . you initially do a lot of dragging of people through the school improvement process. Many of these people have never considered the idea of being empowered; many of these people are not risk takers, many do not want to be involved in making the decisions about what happens here because that's why they hire me (Interview 04/13/92, p 2). Kathy 98 Drew said he asked the staff in his building for budget input six to eight weeks ago about what equipment needed to be replaced. Of twenty-two surveys sent out, he said six came back requesting computer equipment. And yet, he added, at a PTO meeting the night before there was a complaint about the laminating machine not working, and he said he had asked "where were you six weeks ago?" (Interview 04/09/92, p 15) . Every school improvement team member at Morritz comments on the issue of control. Lydia (Morritz), I think we still aren't at the are used to taking the bull by care of everything. A lot of from the top to us (Interview point where teachers the horns and taking it still comes down 05/18/92, p 4). Jake (Morritz), Too many times it's easy for her [Susan] to whip out an agenda for a meeting. Well, it ends up being her agenda . . . we've not all had input in it. One of the main functions of the team in my estimation is to change that around [leaders from the top down] . . . we're as guilty for letting it happen as Susan is for doing it, and she's just so used to doing it. Many times we're so thankful that she does it because it takes the pressure off of us (Interview 05/18/92, p 5). Laura (Montego), Money is a big issue. To be able to buy things that they like to use is a big plus for teachers. I think there needs to be more flexibility of funds that teachers can use for things they feel will build the esteem of their students. Let's face it, if it's something they want, it builds the self esteem of the teacher. It says 'you've got a good enough idea here and we're willing to give you money to do your thing' . . . Teachers say, 'I really need this; I really need to do this' and you hear 'Sorry, no money' (Interview 05/01/92, p 8). had 99 Control during site based decision making was a source of contention between principals and teachers at each of the four sites. an I had asked each principal to explain why control was issue and it was Drew who referred to the transition schools are engaged in during compliance as principals begin to share and teachers begin to exert more control over budgets and decision making. Drew remarked, Its hard getting them to really believe they have control over budgets. Question: How did they get to that point? They were conditioned to "we" and "they". They made decisions over in central office and then they told whoever was sitting in this chair here . . . that's what we did. That's not atypical, that's pretty typical . . . It used to be you go in your classroom and close the door and you were in there isolated and unless you beat somebody, nobody cared much what was goin' on in there (Interview 04/09/92, Drew, p 15, 17). Principals negotiated with staffs as they engaged in site based decision making during compliance activities. Brad said he did a lot of work "to sell North Central Outcomes" to the staff. Dick S. said, "I sold the staff on accreditation." Referring to the decision by the former superintendent to use untrained paraprofessionals in the Chapter I program, from Hale said. It could have been sold to us. It should have come as Dr. Haney [the new superintendent] and Larry would have done it. It should have come from us sitting down as a group of teachers saying how can we do this, and it should have come from us. Emily 100 Referring to their involvement in a program for at-risk children Emily said, I haven't any doubt in my mind' that Dr. Haney had everything we said in his little black book but he brought it out of us so we all thought we came up with the idea and we went away feeling great. That's a great administrator. They make you feel like it's your idea even though they planted the seed and they have the idea but I feel like I have contributed and it didn't come down as a mandate from above. That's when I get rebellious (Interview 06/09/92, p 9). Sylvia from Morritz said, "We're back to the control thing here." (Earlier she had said people in her building favor the idea of year-round school because it would provide more planning time for teachers. However, she emphasized that) "it should not result in more student days, but rather teacher working days . There is a subtle difference because even when we meet together in the summer, it's not work related. It is our time. It is not mandated. We're establishing it” (Interview 06/01/92, p 8). PA25 holds building principals responsible for compliance activities, their but as they engage staffs, principals in school must improvement with negotiate with cajoling and coaxing and bringing them along. early staffs stage of to also PA25 see compliance, reasons principals for engaging teachers, During this had in to assist compliance activities. Summary Since the law holds building principals accountable for PA2 5 compliance, they are the individuals who must mobilize staffs behind school improvement activities. Building principals first must make sense of the policy for themselves 101 and determine its usefulness for their organizations. Next they must interpret what the policy means to their staffs and help them also see its usefulness in meeting local needs. How principals make sense of policy and interpret it for staffs has a significant bearing upon the policy as it moves from conception to execution. the policy principals. from the The next four chapters will examine perspective of each of the four CHAPTER SIX PRINCIPAL SUSAN AND THE MORRITZ SETTING Introduction What happens to PA25 at Morritz depends upon several local factors, the including principal Susan's reason for implementing policy in the first place, her interpretation of its meaning to and for her staff, and finally upon the actions of parents, staff and students in both the Morritz school and the district setting. This chapter will feature Susan and her staff, how she interprets PA25 in light of her own personal and professional goals, and how her staff is executing the policy within the context of the school and district setting. Morritz and the District Setting Susan is the principal of a large elementary school in an affluent, suburban district in Jenson County. There are over 500 her students and thirty staff members in building. Morritz is in a school district with over 4,500 students, has a $17 millon budget and property values (SEV) averaging over $80,000. Morritz is one of five elementary schools in the larger school district. According to Susan, the parents at Morritz are highly involved in their students' academic achievement and she said she works at keeping them informed and involved on a regular basis. Susan described Morritz community. 102 as a solidly middle class 103 There are still many moms who are at home raising their children. About fifty percent of our parents are at home. They have a great deal of energy and lots of interest in what happens in the school and are very, very involved and we've worked hard at keeping them involved in positive ways, keeping them well informed, anticipating their questions and answering them. They want information. They're well read. They have a lot of questions about curriculum, about discipline, structure of school. They're aware of state mandates and so you have to work really hard at communicating with them. You have to work really hard making sure that all these energies are used positively . . . They are very interested in their children's achievement. To them going from an A to an A- is a big deal. They want reasons. They want to know what they can do (Interview 04/06/92, p 2). Susan also referred to the Morritz staff as a group of veterans who need to be recognized for their accomplishments and thanked when they've come through for her. She acknowledges their efforts and supports their continued work during school improvement activities. Susan referred to her high energy staff in the following terms: Our average age is probably 45. But, they are risk takers. When you say 'how about?' they say 'when can we start?' so we've been able to do a lot of innovative things here with curriculum because they're very willing, extremely hard workers. They probably work four hours a day above their contractual time in the building . . . Its a community and staff and student body that you always need to stay a couple steps ahead. Always have something else in the wings (laugh). You know when we tire of this or this program finishes, O.K. we've gotta have something else going because I always think that if you have high energy, intelligent people you really need to work hard keeping them directed and focused in positive ways. Cause they're gonna use this energy some way or other so I look for positive outlets. 104 Along with a veteran staff and highly involved parents, as a former teacher and union member herself in the district, Susan pointed out that another unique feature of Morritz is the heavy influence of the union. Susan began her principalship at Morritz during 1989-1990 when the teacher's association imposed activities. been a ban on all school improvement The association's president told me the ban had imposed until a letter of agreement between the association and the school board could be reached regarding remuneration for participation in school improvement activities as well as specifications for union membership on building and district school improvement teams. the year that PA25 became law in Michigan. It was also Susan said the district and Morritz had been engaged in school improvement activities even before PA25 became a mandate. She said Morritz teachers had been using a survey instrument to see how their school measured up on an effectiveness scale, using the seven correlates of effective schools. The correlates measure things such as school climate, instructional leadership, home and school relations, expectations of students, etc. Of that period in the school's history Susan said, When PA25 came down the pike this district had a very strong teacher's union. The teachers across the district were mandated not to be involved in anything that said school improvement until there was a letter of understanding in the teacher's contract. So that took quite a while for that to become a reality. So it was actually about year and a half to two years before the board and the association reached some agreement as to our 105 involvement in school improvement so everything was at a standstill. We in this building looked at the correlates and how we measured up but we never could call it school improvement or actually write goals or follow the process until the ban was lifted on involvement. Teachers must have a majority on the team according to the agreement. Members are elected. It is a seven member team, four teachers, an AFSCME person, a parent and the principal (Interview 04/06/92, pp 5-6). Not only does the union have a specific letter of agreement with the administration and board, it also controls school improvement team membership and requires compensation for all school improvement activities. leader Sylvia confirmed, As school improvement team "The union here is real strong" (Interview, 06/01/92, p 8). At the (DLT) District Leadership Team meeting, I saw the first indication of the strength of a key union leader in this district. The team meets once or twice each year. This meeting was called to review and update the district's school improvement plan. A middle school teacher and the education association's president took issue with the word "which" in the mission statement initiating a twenty minute discussion out of the total two and a half hours on whether it should read "by a skilled staff which" or "a skilled staff who". This same teacher, who had successfully postponed discussion of the district's school improvement plan and school improvement goals by initiating the twenty minute argument in wording between which or who, turned to me at the break and asked if I would like a copy of their agreement on school improvement activities. She smiled as she said, "we are the 106 only district that I know of that stopped school improvement until we negotiated certain issues. We have had calls from other associations who want to use our contract language" (Fieldnotes 04/10/92). By spending wording, the accomplish discussion, this group to amount time never did get improve the of student education on mission to what they learning. association statement wanted Later president in also to the took issue with the membership of parents on building level school improvement teams, saying, "they don't have the expertise to make those kind of decisions" (Fieldnotes 04/10/92). When Susan became principal at Morritz, working in a setting student achievement. where parents are she knew she was very involved in Even though she had been a teacher in another school in the district, she also knew that Morritz teachers were a veteran staff. Furthermore, she recognized the heavy influence of the union. Knowing the setting in which she would be assuming a leadership role, Susan had a clear goal in mind and several strategies for bringing that goal to fruition. The next section will feature Susan and how she has interpreted PA25 for herself and her staff as a way to make Morritz an exemplary school. Principal Susan; Her Goals and PA25 In her mid forties, tall, designer suits, Susan said, blonde-haired and wearing 107 Being an elementary principal has always been my ultimate career goal; however, I do hope that one day our school will be recognized as an exemplary school. When I asked her to explain what an exemplary school is and how one achieves that status, she shared nomination/application package with me. a thirty page Each year schools across the state are invited to submit an application for recognition as a school which exemplifies "effectiveness in meeting local, state and national education goals, and other standards of quality applicable to schools generally" Ribbon Schools. 1991-1992). schools must thresholds: tested first (Blue To be eligible for application, satisfy one of three eligibility (1) seventy-five percent or more of the students achieved at or mathematics or reading; above the fiftieth percentile in (2) there was a five percent increase annually during the previous three years of students achieving at or above the fiftieth percentile in mathematics or reading; or, (3) the school can demonstrate exemplary progress as determined by a carefully worked out and fully documented system of evaluation. Eligible schools are then required to submit an extensive application covering a number of areas including leadership, teaching environment, environment, success, parent curriculum and instruction, and community support, organizational vitality, and curriculum emphasis. student indicators special areas of of Applications are reviewed by a state level review panel and the top seventeen applications are 108 visited by a team to verify data. Following that, fifteen outstanding elementary schools are selected to represent the State of Michigan. Nomination packages then go to Washington, D.C. where a national review panel considers the application. The competition continues for schools across the country selected for site visits and those ultimately selected go to Washington, D.C. for a national recognition ceremony at the White House. schools, In 1989-1990, seven Bloomfield, (from Royal of the fifteen state exemplary Bloomfield Oak, Hills, Brighton, Grosse Birmingham, Pointe and West L'Anse Creuse), were selected for national recognition. Susan knows that academic achievement in a specific curricular area is required for exemplary school status. also knows that PA2 5 requires annual reporting She on student achievement with annual comparisons for at least three years. Because she must show improved achievement for exemplary status and must report on school achievement annually, she has incorporated a requirement of PA25 compliance with her own goal to achieve successfully exemplary meshed school PA2 5 eligibility. requirements and She has exemplary eligibility together. Furthermore, Susan has an ace in the hole to accomplish both PA25 requirements and exemplary status with the reading consultant at Morritz. Susan is using the expertise and influence of the Morritz reading consultant to help improve student reading Morritz was on achievement. the original The State reading of consultant Michigan at curriculum 109 review committee that drafted Michigan's new definition of reading and created the new MEAP reading test. She is a highly regarded and influential member of the Morritz staff. As I interviewed various Morritz staff members, over and over they spoke proudly of their reading and her influence not only at Morritz but of her achievements and notoriety at the state level. consultant Susan knows that the reading consultant has a great deal of credibility and influence with staff. PA2 5 Therefore, to establish reading improvement as both a school improvement curricular area seems goal and logical. the exemplary In fact, school the third school improvement goal in the Morritz Elementary School Improvement Plan, as per PA25 requirements, calls for an increase in MEAP test scores on the reading portion of the test. On at reading least two consultant occasions working I also with observed grade level the Morritz teachers on Michigan's New Definition of Reading strategies when staff worked on their language arts curriculum. One day, the reading consultant explained to fifth grade teachers how Know Want Learn, the K-W-L reading strategy, could be used to help kids summarize passage. On and find the central the MEAP reading test, purpose this of a reading is one question students are always asked - "What is the central purpose of this passage?" One of the Michigan Definition of Reading strategies teachers can use to help students answer this type of question is the K-W-L. With the K-W-L strategy, before the reading, students are asked what they already Know about the 110 subject and what they Want to learn by reading the passage. Following the reading they are asked, "What did you Learn from the passage?" With their reading consultant as a resource it is no surprise that the Morritz staff are focusing on reading during PA2 5 compliance activities. PA25 has a number of areas that must be included in local school improvement activities and reported on annually including the status of the school improvement plan as well as student achievement. As she makes sense of the policy for herself and the Morritz staff, Susan has chosen the area of reading on which to concentrate school improvement and PA25 compliance activities. Because she must report annually on student achievement for PA25 and has to demonstrate improved reading scores for exemplary school eligibility, Susan has meshed goal the requirements of PA25 with her own for exemplary status and has mobilized the Morritz staff behind this effort. Susan and Her Leadership There are a number of leadership skills Susan brings into play as she works to achieve exemplary school status. Among them are involving staff in school decision making, setting a building tone information, that supports risk taking, and providing resources and support for teachers engaged in change. Susan said to me, "I guess I've always had some leadership abilities and was able to utilize them in a special education I ll role." In responding to my question about why she became a principal, she said, I thought perhaps I could make a difference in the schools and use the ideas I'd used with kids to modify their behavior and their achievement in special education programs. Some of that seemed applicable to an entire population of children. Susan began to apply these skills for staff as well as students. As a twenty year veteran special education teacher in the district, Susan said she did not know the Morritz staff but knew the strength of the union over all teachers. As a result, during the summer of 1989, even before assuming the Morritz principalship, Susan used her first leadership strategy to weaken the hold of the union over this staff and counterpoise her own influence. One of the strategies she used to mobilize staff behind school improvement activities was to send out a questionnaire asking for their suggestions for ways to improve their school. She used their responses to make minor changes at the school so that upon their return in the Fall, staff felt she had really listened to and acted upon what they had to say. Having worked in the district for two decades, Susan knew of the adversarial position of the union even before taking over the Morritz principalship, and she chose to circumvent its hold on her staff by getting them involved in decision-making right away. She knew about the union ban on school improvement activities during the Summer of 1989 but chose to negate its effects on her staff during the subsequent year. 112 Upon their return in the Fall grade level teachers noticed that the school schedule accommodated their having lunch and planning time together and Susan asked for agenda items for the first faculty meeting and school improvement team meetings. As Susan pointed out, this was school improvement even with the ban. wanted. But it was school improvement Morritz teachers Following this auspicious beginning, Morritz staffers worked with Susan during 1989-1990 on the correlates but did not call it school improvement to avoid incurring union censure. Lydia said, This is just her third year here,... I've always been at Morritz. The other people that I've worked for didn't really value much what we had to say. ...Here now with Susan, it's we work together. I really feel we do. ...One of the first things when she became principal over the summer was to send out a questionnaire, 'What do you feel that needs to be changed?' and what sort of things maybe bother us or need to be different. I mean, she did implement those. It was obvious that she read through them because there were some changes made before we even got back. Minor things, but it was nice to feel that she had listened or at least read through and could advise on some things and that was a big change. ...We were really pretty divided. ..Susan came in and I can't even be specific as to say what she did. I guess she just treats everybody pretty equally and so nobody was top dog or listened to more than anyone else and it was almost as if the whole regime got us all back to being equal (Interview 05/18/92, pp 1-6). In their survey responses Morritz staffers asked for more classroom storage space, time for grade level planning, and to be the ones to establish school improvement committee agendas. When they returned in the Fall, Morritz staffers discovered 113 that Susan valued what they had to say and wanted them involved in decision making. Susan had said that she hopes Morritz will one day be recognized as an exemplary school and she knows that one of the criteria for that status is improved test scores. Goal number three in the Morritz school improvement plan calls for an increase in MEAP reading test scores. However, for that to occur, Susan recognizes that a change in practice is required and change is risky . Therefore, she has set a building tone that supports risk taking. Susan said, I worked really hard at establishing a working relationship to make them the best they can be. I'm not interested in their failures . . . I'm not interested in seeing them at their worst. I'm interested in seeing them at their best . . . we have things happening in this building that are not happening in other places - the risk taking, the leadership that's being developed, their willingness to look at new strategies and materials. I have encouraged people to try new things. I've worked very hard at getting them the training they needed, the materials they needed, to have a staff person or myself be supportive of them as they're taking risks (Interview 04/06/92) . Sylvia confirmed, She set the building up - not just PA25 - the whole tone that she set to take risks. If you bumble, everything is a learning experience. That freedom takes a lot of the pressure off. The risks don't seem as risky. The penalty isn't there. You just move on (Interview 06/01/92, p 5). Involving staff in decision making and supporting risk taking are two leadership strategies Susan regularly uses. She also makes sure Morritz staff has the information, resources and support they need as they engage in change. 114 Sally said, I think a big plus for us is that Susan truly does want input from the staff, she wants them to have positions of responsibility. And I know there was some concern with some of the principals on the district level that if things didn't go well and there were failures, that they would be blamed because the buck stops here so to speak and they were a little afraid to turn over some power into the hands of the teachers, feeling like if this doesn't work out and I get all the blame, is that really right. But I would say that Susan definitely has faith in her staff and I think her staff has done well by her, taking up responsibilities and really working and I think buying into the process. I think people here are excited about what they're doing and they want to improve their schools... This principal did come in and say, you know, 'Risk things. I'm not going to be there to catch you. If you risk something and you try something new and you fall flat on your face and it's a big failure,' she said, 'I don't care. What do you do: You pick yourself up and you try it again or try something else.' And she said, 'I'll be there to help you, you know. I'll come right in and work with you if you want me to. ' So nobody really feels like they're afraid to try something new. People are really trying new things. ...our big emphasis is reading. Seeing how much more they read for pleasure. They like to do activities, they're excited about things. We used to have a situation where we had workbooks for every subject and you'd spend your whole day getting out a workbook and this little subject was here and you'd put your book away and then you'd do another subject. And it's not like that now. We are really making our own curriculum. We have a few workbooks, maybe a math workbook. But we talked about not even doing that next year. We may go ahead and develop our own math curriculum. A lot of us have taken classes this year in that direction (Interview 04/28/92, pp 3,5,7,9). In order to provide information, resources and support for Morritz teachers as they use new definition of reading strategies, Susan has made herself and the building's reading 115 consultant available to assist teachers in their classrooms. I also observed during school improvement activities that every teacher had the strategies on color coded cards. Each card had been laminated and all of them were attached to a metal ring making it easy for teachers to refer to them. Furthermore, consultant previous necessary Susan had her instructed years. for and teachers them Information, teachers engaged on said the reading strategies resources in their and change and during support this are is a leadership skill Susan regularly uses to accomplish her goal to improve reading achievement and thus lead to exemplary eligibility. The Morritz teachers are a veteran staff under the arm of a very strong union. Nevertheless, Susan used her leadership skills to mobilize them behind school improvement efforts. Jake said, Three years ago, had we put up signs for committees, we wouldn't have got the response we got just from when we first started the building committees. We got almost one hundred percent, for those committees and three years ago, we would have been probably lucky to get twenty-five or thirty percent just to join a committee and do something for the building. Everybody was pretty much involved in 'I' rather than 'we' and I think Susan has played a very important part in changing that. She has supported us and backed us in so many ways, I think it's one of the reasons why it's very difficult for people to say, 'Give up some of your leadership.' They like what she's done and I can't speak for everybody but I know just from what I see, how people talk and the things that I see happening in the building; it's just amazing to me because there are people here that three or four years ago, were going through the motions of teaching and are now so fully committed to really being involved with kids, that it's just fun to 116 watch. And I mean these are people that are middle aged teachers that are making a big change in their life to do this. ...They could have easily worked another ten years and retired without ever making a change but yet, they've been very willing to make this change and have. ...we have people...that next year won't be using their math books. They don't want a math book because they have gotten enough stuff together on their own that they feel that they can do a better job without a math book. Manipulatives and just creative ways to teach math rather than page by page by page (Interview 05/18/92, pp 6-7). Morritz improvement. staff seem proud to be mavericks in school After telling me the Morritz staff is making its own curriculum, I asked Sally, "Does that create any kind of problem for you as far as fitting into the district?" She replied, We don't fit in with the district. We really don't. When Susan and I go to district meetings and we talk about what we're doing here, sometimes people are hostile. And I don't know if it's because they feel threatened. I'm a member of our association, an officer of the association. Quite often I get phone calls from people in the other buildings and they want to know, 'How did you teachers get to choose what you wanted to do for reading? How did they get the money to buy paperback books instead of a basal?' You know, 'How do you get to do what you wanted to do in math?' And a lot of that boils down to the building principal. They have a principal who says, 'I'm sorry,' you know, "you will use this.' And that does make a difference. ...Over the past two years, especially. The first year Susan was here we dabbled a little bit in whole language and we had gone out andbought some of our own books and the more we did, the more we wanted to do (Interview 04/28/92, pp 3,6,7,9). Susan has effectively separated her staff from the strong arm of the union and mobilized them behind her goal to improve achievement. school She has used her leadership strategies during improvement activities and PA25 compliance to 117 accomplish school. her own goal for making Morritz an exemplary She involves staff in decision making, supports risk taking and provides information, training and resources for staff engaged in change. Sally said, Our school went through major changes three years ago when the principal came. Before that we had a principal who had a lot of good ideas and I think she did well by us for the time that she was here but she was definitely the authority and we were under her. When Susan came, all that changed immediately. I mean, right away from the very first day, we were involved in committees and making policy decisions and doing planning. I think our school has come, in the three years she's been here, probably seven years leaping ahead because we are getting into new areas... It has just been so much easier the last three years because it hasn't been kind of a union or an adversarial kind of a situation. It has been somebody who's headed in the same direction as we are, maybe even faster than we are and who's kind of encouraging us to go out and try new things. So I really like it. I'm thinking, gee, three out of my twenty-one years you haven't had to push or feel like, O.K., well maybe I should just sit back and do whatever the boss says because after all, they're the ones who evaluate y o u . Question: What's evaluation like now? How does that work? Well, we invite her to come when we want her to come, which makes us feel good. It was always the threat of somebody's going to drop in, you know, and when you're having a day where, hey, we're just cleaning out our desks and, then the principal comes in to evaluate, and she says, 'I know you people know your job so just invite me in when you're planning some special little thing or just an everyday thing. I just want to come in.' So, I mean, people, I don't think people sit back and think well we just won't do anything, we don't really need to teach just the day that she's there. I think people feel like, 'Hey, she thinks that I'm doing a good job all the time. She doesn't need to catch me. ' And the way it used to be was somebody's going to catch you. It really does make a big difference (Interview 04/28/92, p 4-5). 118 Over and over staff spoke about Susan supporting them right there in the classroom as they tried out new skills, involving them in policy making and building level decision making, uniting the staff and valuing their ideas. She regularly solicited the advice and influence of key teachers in her building school including the reading consultant and improvement chair, placing them in influential positions where they could encourage and support changes in classrooms. The Morritz staff along with the entire district was heavily unionized and any changes had previously been met with resistance and a required letter of agreement between the education association and the administration. Even during the moratorium on school improvement activities imposed by the teacher's union in 1989-1990, Susan patiently waited for PA2 5 compliance activities to formally resume. She and the Morritz staff worked undercover on the correlates of effective schools during the ban and were careful not to call them school improvement activities. To be eligible to apply for exemplary school status, seventy-five percent or more of Morritz students must achieve at or above the fiftieth percentile on the MEAP reading. In 1990, 62.7% of the Morritz fourth grade students passed the narrative (short story) portion of the MEAP reading while in 1991, the number increased by 10.9 percentage points; bringing the number to 73.6%, school eligibility. only 1.4 points Furthermore, away while from exemplary Morritz narrative scores had increased by nearly eleven points from 1990 to 119 1991, overall HEAP reading scores for both the narrative and informational (science or social studies passage) readings in the other four elementary schools had decreased from 9.8 to 22.9 percentage points Michigan Education during that Assessment same period (1991-1992 Program, School Summary Essential Skills Reading - Grade 4). Susan is performance proud of through the her impact work she with has made on student the Morritz staff. Increasing test scores indicates she is closer to achieving her exemplary school goal. She is also aware that her efforts have not gone unnoticed by central office staff. During an interview she said. He have things happening in this building that are not happening in other places...we're the only school in the district who does a totally literature approach which is a big change for our district. The rest of the district is hanging tight to basals...While district [MEAP] scores were down twenty points, ours were up eleven points (Interview 04/06/92, pp 4-5). During a break in the district school improvement team meeting that I observed, when Susan privately introduced me to the district's assistant superintendent, he leaned toward me and whispered, "Susan is a star. its like a mini-lesson." Every time I hear her speak Overhearing him, Susan quickly added, "We're all learning." Summary From Susan's comments and those of the Morritz staff, Susan apparently has begun to accomplish one of her professional 120 goals to make Morritz an exemplary school. She is using PA2 5 compliance activities to make this happen. She recognizes the heavy influence of the union and the need to involve staff in decision making. She has been very successful in setting Morritz apart from the influence of the union and has even managed to create mavericks among the staff who are proud of the accomplishments they have made schools in the district. staff has during the new Susan consistently makes sure her information, program in comparison to other resources, implementation and and support uses teachers to encourage instructional change. needed influential She makes sure her highly involved parents are both informed about as well as involved teachers in school decision making. but she successfully Change heads off encouraging staff involvement in decisions. is risky for conflict by As she made sense of the policy and interpreted it for herself and the Morritz staff, Susan elected to use PA25 compliance as the vehicle for achieving exemplary school status and has used specific leadership strategies during policy compliance to accomplish her own professional goal. Chapter Seven will describe Laura and the Havendale setting in which she works. CHAPTER SEVEN PRINCIPAL LAURA AND THE HAVENDALE SETTING Introduction Much of what happens to a policy is dependent upon the reason principals have for implementing it and the conditions of each local setting where they work. The history of the district, its finances, the reasons staff has for acting upon the policy, all play a role in policy execution. before a staff begins policy compliance But even activities, each building principal must first make sense of the policy and interpret what it means for themselves and the people they lead. The next chapter features Laura and the Havendale setting where compliance activities were observed, interprets the policy in light of her own how she personal and professional goals, and how her staff is executing the policy within the context of Havendale and Granite. Havendale and the District Setting Laura is the principal of Havendale, located in the heart of Granite. There are over 600 students and forty-two staff members at the school. Havendale is just one of thirty-two elementary schools in the city. With a $144 million budget, Granite serves 30,000 students and collects tax revenues on property values with an average SEV of $45,000. Heavily hit by the recession in the auto industry, Havendale stands, like the nearby empty automotive factories, 121 122 as a memory of better times. and busy employees, Once filled with noisy machinery the automotive plants are now silent. Three story Havendale, built in the early part of the century with its hard wood floors, push button electric lights and indoor plumbing once served the wealthy populace of Granite. Later it served as a beacon of hope to prospective auto workers arriving from the south during the pre and post war automotive boom. Havendale and the bustling auto industry offered the dream of a better future to children of working class families. Education was the door to a successful future for these newcomers to Granite and Havendale was the key for that door. The area surrounding Havendale now houses families where hope has been replaced by despair. Havendale families are struggling with unemployment, poverty, drug and alcohol abuse, and violent crime. Few have two parents in the home and most move every time the landlord appears for rent payment. Children come to school with no hope and no support from home for academic achievement. One Havendale staffer said, "These are fragile people just struggling to survive; they do not have good memories of school themselves and therefore, view it as a hostile place." Havendale children have witnessed drug deals and murders, wait for fathers to get out of jail, dream of winning the lottery so they can move out to the country where supposed to be better, life is and look forward to growing up and collecting their ADC checks. They witness physical abuse and 123 are themselves physically abused. For Havendale children life means just staying alive. In their interviews Havendale staffers told me they do what they can to get kids to come to school as regularly as family situations will attendance, allow. good They behavior and provide for incentives school for performance. Teachers told me they regularly struggle with parents who view them as the enemy, and they nurture and comfort children from harmful and abusive home environments. Along with hostile homes, Havendale staff claim they also must contend with a restrictive centralized bureaucracy that requires waivers for every school improvement innovation. they engage in school improvement activities, As Havendale teachers regularly deal with two factors, hostile homes and an inhibitive bureaucracy. A paraprofessional sixteen years community. said and she resident has seen of a the major area for change in over the She said, It has changed from a stable to a transient community. The once bright, shiny eyes and rosy cheeks have been replaced by a dull pallor. The people here are survivors. They're literally struggling to survive. Its a very needy community with fragile people. Most of them are high school dropouts who experienced no success in school. They feel intimidated by us. They used to be blue collar workers who lost their jobs when the factories closed. Now they are unemployed, working part time, menial jobs or selling drugs. She told me about two of Havendale's students witnessing a drug related murder just (Fieldnotes 05/20/92) . ■- two blocks from the school 124 A teacher and non-resident said to me at lunch, "This is a drug immersed community. They're out until 2 and 3 a.m." She spoke about the twenty-four year old mother with six kids who was excited about going on vacation when the father gets out of jail. She said children will say 'when we win the lottery, we're moving out to the country'; they see success as being attainable elsewhere." She said "what would require a call to protective services in the community where I live is the norm here." She added, "There is a lot of verbal and physical abuse and neglect in the homes here" (Fieldnotes 05/2 0/92). Inside Havendale there are slogan posters everywhere with Ninja Turtles and cartoon characters imploring kids to stay off drugs, to "Aim High" and "If You Dream It, You Can Do It". Outside as I observed parents one morning one mom was wearing tight biker shorts and a see through blouse to drop her child off at school. In contrast to the slogans inside, her rusty Monte Carlo had a bumper sticker that read {Field Journal May 11, 1992). 'Shit Happens' From the June 3 entry, Every time I am in that building I am struck by the aching poverty. Today Lavinia told me about a 6th grade boy who had welts on his back from the beating his father (recently released from jail) had given him. (This was among the numerous reports of abuse Havendale teachers regularly make.) When there is blatant disregard for children's personal and physical welfare at home, how can schools improve academic achievement? A resident of the Havendale community with two children of her own in the school, Laura said she has worked in Granite ever since she began her teaching career over twenty years ago. During that time she has worked in six different schools 125 in the city. years. She has been principal of Havendale for eight Before that she was an assistant principal at both Havendale and another elementary for three years. me the community is the biggest challenge she Laura told faces. said, What we have here is low, we have white trash which is worse than working with any other area. I've always worked inner city. I've always worked predominantly with Blacks and I'll tell you the difference between the two communities is horrendous. White lower class folks-its just a horse of a different color. In the Black community you can always make sure that Auntie's gonna be there to take care of the babies or grandma's gonna make sure they get shoes and aunt and uncle are gonna make sure they get to church. In the white community there isn't anybody. When you call the gramma because you can't get anybody, the mother, the gramma says 'I haven't seen my daughter in five years and I don't give a shit. But the baby has a broken arm. 'I don't care.' There's just no support system for these people. They're young people out struggling on their own, a lot of them. [These] people are struggling on their own existence because they never had a childhood. They got pregnant young. Most of my community are these people; they're into drugs. We're one of the highest sale and use of marijuana in the entire city and one of the highest crime areas in the city. My people come out at night. We had the third worst school in the city as far as attendance is concerned. Average daily absence is twenty per kid. Twenty days per kid! And we are the lice capital of America here. We have the worst lice problem in the world and why is that, because there is absolutely no desire to keep a house clean. Sixty-six percent of these people are on free and reduced lunch. We're forty-two percent mobile. The kids here in September are not here in the Spring. But we get em back two or three times during the year. They move away whenever the rent comes due. A large percentage is rental homes. You drive around and furniture is out on the sidewalk. There is just no aspiration to be better. She 126 You know when you ask a first grader what do you want to be when you grow up and she says 'well I want to be a mommy so I can collect my check every two weeks' there's no aspiration. Its been OK for grandpa and grandma or whatever. Its been OK for aunt and uncle. That's hard to work against. When we've got values at school that say we do not fight but we've got parents at home who say 'knock the shit out of him' and you call and say your child is having a really inappropriate day and the parent says 'beat the shit out of him.' That's what I get. I call home and the man in the background says 'hang up on the f'in whore'. I get that all the time. In the last two months I have been called so many names. Its all out of frustration. School was not a positive place for these people to be so its very difficult for them to come and talk to me. They see us all as the enemy. How can we get kids to be responsible when their parents aren't responsible? I think the way I treat parents would really change if I were in a place where they were educated. I talk to these parents like they were kids. There are a whole lot of motorcycle gangs in this community. When I first got this job, I was 34, 35,* these parents are younger than I am but look older but its because they don't have any TEETH! It's because of the decay. I remember my first parent conference. I walked out there to escort the parent in and he had chains hanging from everywhere. From the neck, ears, waist. And I remember thinking shit! And he was mad! (Interview 04/08/92). Chapter I teacher and school improvement team member, Lavinia, who has worked in Granite for over twenty five years, echoed Laura's comments about the community. I started in 1957, September, population 900, maybe a thousand, and I've just seen a big change in parents, students. We have a school population now that I'm really concerned about. A lot of young mothers, a lot of broken homes, and I hate to say, you know, that a lot of one parent families. We have changed a lot. Years ago, we had more 'traditional families.' More of them where Mom and Dad were in the home or grandma, and that has broken up. 127 This has always been quite a transient area, but it's even more so now. And, it appears that we had more support from the community, more parents were involved, maybe that was because of the size, I don't know but now our babies are, seem to be so anxious, very hostile, the little first graders. Even like the Pre-K, very hostile little babies, angry. Need a lot of love, they need a lot, they need so much. Not just material things. This is a high drug area, a lot of drugs are in this area. They see a lot of violence at home, for instance, a kid, he might be talking and then the kid will say, 'You know, my dad took my cat and threw him into the television,' or 'He threw a chair into the television' (Interview 06/03/92). Lavinia told me about another student who had been sexually abused from the time she was in second grade. It's just one crisis right after another. A little girl in class, my sixth grade class, Sandra, we were working, good rapport usually, but one of the boys said something, one of my stronger students made the remark about the mark on her face and he called her scarface and she said, 'FU' and she walked out of the room! And so I immediately [followed her out]. When I got to [her] she was crying and she said, 'No one should have to go through what I have to go through.' So, we talked and talked; we talked a long time. Then I went out into the office and I told Janet, the school counselor, I said, 'Look, I want you to go and spend some time with Sandra.' And she said, 'Well, Protective Service, they were out.' I said, "No, no, it doesn't have anything to do with that.' I told her what had happened and so then she filled me in on some more information, and the little girl had been sexually abused [in second grade] (Interview 06/03/92, p 4). In addition to working with children and families from hostile and harmful home environments, Laura and her staff are also working within a district bureaucracy which controls over forty school buildings, schools. Laura political and said, too far including "The system removed thirty-two here from is kids" elementary too big, too (Interview, 128 04/28/92, p 19). Havendale's school improvement plan includes waivers from the central office hierarchy for the school to have site based management and to implement a whole language reading program in place of basals. When I asked Samantha, the Article III teacher, about the waivers in their plan she answered, ...that's so we can do site based management ...if you can get a waiver, see, then you can go, you can do something that's maybe not established policy in the city and they'll let you try it, say for a year or something to see and then, you know, you evaluate it and see how it's going. I think one of our waivers is becoming an established policy in the city. We wanted to go back to using S (satisfactory) and U's (unsatisfactory) in at least first and second grade and I think, but I'm not sure, I thought I heard someone say that was going to be on their report card and then in the third grade they were using letter grades for science and social studies and our waiver requested an S and U for that in third grade (Interview 05/11/92, p 4) . Laura said, "the word has just come down with no input from the teachers that report card grades will be replaced by S, N, and U." Although Havendale had planned to ask for a district waiver to replace the A, B, C, etc. reporting system with S, N and U she added, "the decision came down from the top without teacher input. system where elementary There needs to be a management teachers and principals feed up" (Interview 04/28/92, p 20). It is not only difficult for principals and teachers to have a say in decisions affecting their students, it appears it is also hard to have their buildings cleaned or repaired. None of the staff nor Laura herself talked about the lack of 129 cleanliness or maintenance in the building. did share with me a copy of the However, "Study and Administration and Support Services: Laura Evaluation of A Report Prepared for Granite Community Schools" document in which the H.B. Maynard and Company from Pittsburgh recommended to Granite, with its $144 million budget serving 3 0,000 students, that the maintenance department be streamlined by fifteen percent. The building cleaning. itself was filthy from years of inadequate One teacher saw me walking the halls early one morning and asked if I would like to see her first grade room. She had just been hired in January. The room would have been grand in the building's heyday with large windows that were now covered by years of grime and dirt and floors with years of accumulated dust and debris. Up in the third floor hall there was a warp in the hard wood floor an inch high. Like the population it serves, Havendale now seems to stand as a monument to better times. Two key factors that affect policy compliance activities at Havendale are bureaucracy. hostile homes and an inhibiting district The next section will feature Laura and how she has interpreted PA25 for herself and her staff. Principal Laura: Her Goals and PA2 5 Laura is a large woman in her early forties whose presence one immediately notices when she walks into a room. She wears bright clothes and wears a number of gold rings and bracelets. She has a loud voice and a distinctive laugh that peppers her 130 conversation. Like Havendale's Chapter I teacher, Lavinia, she refers to her students as "my babies" or "the babies" in conversations. In her eighth year as principal at Havendale, Laura had been an assistant principal for three years before that. Referring to the experience, she said, "I served in six different schools in Granite. your blood. When you're You do an your duty and you give assistant principal, you're shared" (Interview 04/28/92). Laura said she had applied for the directorship of elementary education for Granite schools and was one of the top three candidates for the position. She said people were calling to congratulate her because they thought she should have the position. in favor, However, she was passed over for promotion she said, of a minority person. Laura said, "I think my expectations are to let people be the best they can be" (Interview 04/28/92, p 5). Laura has not given up on her professional goal to one day hold a central office position. However, for now, 'meeting the needs' of her students appears to be the driving force as she incorporates requirements for PA25 compliance into her goal for meeting the needs of her students. Laura recognizes that PA25 compliance is required. She knows that it means one more deadline to meet. she has chosen to make the best of required However, compliance activities by using school improvement goals to meet the needs of her students for academic performance. academic performance, improved attendance, All three, attendance, are part of behavior, behavior, Havendale's and and school 13X improvement: plan. Within this setting, where families are hostile toward the school and the district bureaucracy requires compliance with or waivers from central office dictates, Laura has created a meaning for herself and her staff of PA25 compliance. this law, she has seen the opportunity to raise With academic expectations for Havendale students, to gain notice by central office, and one day directorship. achieve her goal of a central office During PA25 compliance, Laura and her staff are working on improving student behavior, attendance, and reading achievement. The first of five Havendale school improvement goals as stated in their annual report is for students to demonstrate growth in Language Arts. Laura and her staff spoke about some of the staff making a trip to Baltimore, Maryland to observe the Success For All program as a means of improving Havendale student reading achievement. Success For All is a program for students below who are reading additional reading assistance. expectation to receive Laura said this program is being examined by staff as a way to improve reading. However, as Laura herself points out, "These kids come in so down trodden. We can't even teach them unless we enhance their self esteem first" (Interview 04/28/92). Therefore, she is using activities such as those during March Is Reading Month to improve self esteem through an incentive program for attainment of a reading goal. Laura said she had danced on tables at lunch when a reading goal for March Is Reading Month 132 had been accomplished by students. Laura shared with Havendale had written. me the poetry book the children at She said she read poems at lunch with the kids as a way to encourage both their writing as well as their reading. children that She they, said she uses too, are the book published to show writers. her The dedication reads as follows: This poetry book is dedicated to the spirit in all of us! The spirit to be free to express ourselves with paper and pencil. It is dedicated to the reality that we can all be writers — Published writers like Shel Silverstein who wrote "Where The Sidewalk Ends" from which our spirits became set free (World's Greatest Poems by Havendale Kids). She also said the Havendale school improvement team had instituted the STAR (Success Through Accepting Responsibility) incentive program for school improvement goal number five as a way school. for students to develop Two improvement strategies plan for a positive listed achieving in this the goal attitude toward Havendale school are student attendance as well as classroom behavior. to improve Students are rewarded with prizes and treats for improved classroom behavior and school attendance. The 1992 Havendale school improvement plan boasts to the entire community that average daily attendance at Havendale had increased by six percent in only one year as a result of staff school improvement efforts. Laura and Havendale students are already beginning to stand out as they use the platform of the PA25 annual report to boast about accomplishing a goal they had set. 133 Goal number four calls for Havendale students to participate in character building educational strategies and one of the objectives for reaching this goal is for support groups to be established for students and staff training to be held on student self esteem. Both are listed as ways for growth in student self esteem. Improving student attendance, reading achievement incorporated are ways requirements of behavior, Laura PA25 self esteem, and her compliance staff into and have meeting specific Havendale needs. Laura also recognizes the effect that angry parents have on student performance. She said, "we're trying to think of all kinds of creative ways to make school a positive place in the minds of parents" (Interview 04/28/92, p 13). As a result, goal number five in their school improvement plan states that, "Students and parents will develop a positive and supportive attitude toward school" 1992). (Havendale School Improvement Plan, To accomplish this goal, Laura said she had written and received a grant for warm fuzzy phones for calling parents about positive things about their children. from room to room. The phones rotate Laura wants parents to feel good about the school by hearing good news about their children. Besides contending with hostile homes, Laura must also deal with a district bureaucracy dates, and district waivers. that mandates deadlines, due The way Laura handles this is to postpone and even ignore them when they interfere with what she feels are the more pressing needs of her students. 134 Principal Laura said, We had a school improvement plan in place before PA2 5 came in. We didn't do an annual report before. We're doing the annual report because we're mandated. Our annual report was due in central office in early April and here it is the end of the month and its still not in. We were supposed to have the annual report finished before we went on break which was a week ago Friday. We didn't get ours finished (Interview 04/28/92, p 12 ). Annual reports are unimportant to Laura compared to the more pressing task of educating children. Further, Laura expressed her dismay in the organization at the state level for PA25 compliance. She expressed disdain with the paperwork required of the state and the deadlines and waivers required by Granite's central office. How are they gonna reinforce that? That's gonna be a real trick. I'm doing the best I can. But the bottom line is, I mean if I'm late with a report which I am right now — (whisper) I don't care. What's the worst they can do to me. Fire me. That doesn't sound too bad today. It's (the report) gonna be done after I meet the needs of my kids. That's always been my philosophy as far as paperwork goes. Its important. OK?But its gonna be done after I meet the needs of my kids (Interview 04/28/92, p 17). Laura added that she felt the state kept changing things: I think PA25 needed to be more organized before it hit the schools. We're told one thing and then another and things change so you have to do things over. If you're gonna give me rings to jump through, at least give me guidelines so I can jump. Its all paper. There's not gonna be anyone to replace me. I mean if I don't have my plan in place for two years, who is gonna replace me? (Interview 04/28/92, p 16). Laura still hopes to obtain a central office position but in the mean time helping Havendale students improve 135 achievement, attendance, and behavior are her primary goals. Laura also recognizes the negative effect of her students' home environments and is working to make school a more positive place for parents by having teachers call parents with good news about their children. Furthermore, she bribes her students to come to school, to behave appropriately and to read and write regularly. When students improve their attendance, go a specified number of days with no detentions or suspensions, or meet specific reading goals, she provides rewards in the form of treats or outings. Finally, when district requirements get in the way of meeting the needs of her students, she simply postpones or even ignores them. In order to help her kids improve strategies with staff and students. Laura uses several The next section will explain the strategies Laura uses during school improvement activities. Laura and Her Leadership Among the strategies Laura uses to help her achieve her goals are to hold high expectations for her staff, students, and parents, to buffer staff and students from the negative influence of the community, and to promote her students in the local newspaper. Laura knows that for her students to improve and for her to be a viable candidate for promotion, the Havendale students have to stand out. She she and uses compliance requirements of PA25 to make this happen. the In her annual report, Laura must report on both student achievement 136 and parent involvement. Whatever she does to promote annual increases in both categories makes her students and herself stand out. To set her students apart, Laura first of all holds her staff to a higher standard, Laura said, The building is seventy-eight years old and has only had four principals which is pretty unusual. So when I came in and said we will be reviewing lesson plans and we will be looking at your report cards before they go home and whatever staff said, 'no, no and no thank you' so consequently (laugh) I gained sixty-five pounds in my first year and its been uphill ever since. Its been a real adjustment for them for me to come here and say 'I'm the instructional leader for this building.' I take that job very seriously; we're going to do these kinds of things (Interview 04/28/92) . However, as Lavinia pointed out, she does not ask of staff what she herself is unwilling to give. Lavinia said, [Laura's] a hard worker and what she asks of us, she will do and she will do more...she's a leader and wants so much for the children in this community (Interview 06/03/92, p 3). Laura is also raising standards for parents as well. She said. We have a seventy-two percent pick up of report cards; we don't just send them home with the kids EVER. I don't care if you're on your deathbed; somebody can come get that card and talk to a teacher. If you wanna know how your kid's doing, you gotta come up and see. We do have kids who have never ever been checked on so we send a letter. So then we go to the homes (Interview 04/28/92). Laura expects students. more from her staff, her parents and her She examines report cards before they go home and requires parents to pick them up in order to learn about their student's progress. In an interview, Laura said her 137 predecessor did not examine report cards or lesson plans or expect parents to pick up report cards. She said she changed that when she became principal by telling staff she would be looking at lesson plans and report cards and by telling parents they had to come to school to pick up report cards. Laura's Havendale staff spoke children, about her taking them opening on up field the world trips, offering achievement incentives, whatever it takes to help achieve. teacher I interviewed at lunch said, "Laura to is A always organizing field trips, bringing in speakers and doing things that will open up the world to these children" (Fieldnotes, 05/20/92). On one of my visits, the sixth graders had just returned from an overnight trip to a science museum Laura believes exist in the in showing world. She students takes the them about bringing in a guest author to of state. opportunities on encourages their reading and writing. out field trips Laura herself speak with that and spoke Havendale children, organizing field trips, doing whatever it takes for her students to see opportunities in the world. rewards Havendale students for attendance, good behavior. (Interview 04/28/92) . good Lansing. and But the On one of my students who had achieved an attendance goal were being treated with popcorn. with achievement, She said, "I use a lot of bribery. kids respond to that" visits, She also behavior She does were On another occasion, going whatever to it the takes Potter to Park report students Zoo in in the 138 building's annual report that seventy-two percent of Havendale parents picked up report cards. reporting on student PA25 requirements achievement and parent include involvement. Laura uses this platform of PA25 compliance requirements, the annual report, to promote her building to the community and to central office. Holding high expectations for staff, parents and students is one strategy Laura uses to boost student performance, thereby making her students and herself stand out. A second strategy is to buffer her staff and students from the negative influence of the community. Article III teacher Samantha said, What role should the principal play in school improvement? I think a leadership role. I think maybe the principal should be the one that is the buffer too. Maybe when, maybe the principal is the one that's got to be socked in the arm. I think that our principal does a fairly good job of that when someone, when something goes wrong or something, she says, 'Hey, wait a minute. My people are, you know, blah, blah, blah.' We've done this and that, and I don't think that, you know, what I think that she sort of stands between us and whoever they are, in a lot of ways. I think she should be the one that gets socked in the shoulder (Interview 05/11/92, pp 5-6). According to Samantha, Laura even goes to bat for staff when it comes to bucking the district's hierarchy. She said, I think the principal plays a strong leadership role in the improvement and she certainly has the directives from downtown so that if we're going too far afield, you know, she, and yet some of things that we've wanted to do, she has said, 'You know, I'll see what I can do, you know I'll talk to so and so or I'll call so and so (Interview 05/11/92, P 4) . 139 Laura herself spoke about serving as the buffer between staff and disgruntled parents. She laughed as she said, "After all isn't that what I'm getting the big bucks for?" Laura also told me about her dream to create a greenhouse in the school's central courtyard where students could grow fruits and vegetables. However, because the cost was prohibitive, Laura found several local businesses willing to set up grow labs in several classrooms instead. Laura's dream of hot house plants reminded me of how she appears to insulate staff and students from the outside world, nurturing and shielding them from harmful community elements. Laura finally seeks the attention of central office and the city of Granite by publishing school events and student activities, all of which brings attention to Havendale and to herself as the school's leader. As she said, I do what I need to do to promote my building. I surpass everybody down town and call the Journal when I get articles in the paper. It's because of articles I write, I promote my kids. You have to promote yourself. You can't rely on downtown. You have to do your own thing to promote your own kids (Interview 04/28/92, p 19). She shared a folder with all the press clippings she had written for the Journal. Holding high expectations, buffering students and staff and finally promoting Havendale students are three strategies Laura uses as she makes sense of PA25 and puts its annual reporting requirements to use to accomplish her goals for Havendale students to improve and to one day obtain a central office position for herself. 140 Summary When Laura first became principal, she had to mobilize the staff into holding higher expectations for students. She insisted on seeing both report cards before they went home and teacher lesson plans. This initially met resistance but she persisted in expecting more of both staff and students. Laura also had to neutralize the negative influence of many Havendale families. She obtained grant money for warm fuzzy phones for teachers to let parents know about good news. She also began to establish her dream of a Havendale garden for growing fresh vegetables. for teachers who would hostile parents. She regularly serves as the buffer ordinarily Further, be targets of the most she insists that parents come to school to pick up report cards. Like Susan, principal Laura is also closely aligned with the intent of the law which is to improve student performance. However, Laura recognizes that to improve student performance, she must first attendance. meet a local need to improve student In a setting where the average absence rate is twenty days per student, establishing improved attendance as a school improvement goal during PA2 5 compliance is seen by Laura and the Havendale staff as a way to meet this specific local need. Through the PA25 compliance requirement for school improvement goal setting, Laura and the Havendale staff are working together to meet a local need for better student attendance which they hope will result in improved student performance. 141 Although Laura doesn't see the reporting or paper requirements of the law as important (she ignores due dates and deadlines), she does however, see the themselves that she is required to report on as activities important. The intent of PA25 is important to Laura but the annual report compliance requirement is not. Laura said that Havendale staff had been working on school improvement even before PA25 became law. The only distinction between activities then and now is that she is now reporting on those school improvement activities because she is required to by law. Chapter Eight will feature Larry and the Hale setting in which compliance activities are taking place. CHAPTER EIGHT Principal Larry and the Hale Setting Introduction Regardless of where it is being executed throughout Jenson County, PA2 5 has a different meaning at every implementation site. The principal and staff at Hale Elementary are engaging in policy requirements students, compliance of the activities and tailoring the law to meet the needs of their staff, and school. This chapter will focus on Larry and how he has interpreted the meaning of the law in terms of his own personal and professional goals and how the Hale staff is executing the policy within the context of their school and district setting. Hale and the District Setting Larry is principal of a small town school with 2 85 students and ten staff members. in a district that It is one of five elementary schools serves over 4 600 students, raises tax revenues on a moderate SEV of $50,000, and has a total budget of $16 million. According to Larry and his staff, Hale is a community in the middle of change with the school serving an increasing number of what they termed "at risk" families. When they used the term at risk they indicated it meant students were at risk of school failure. Hale staff spoke about having a greater number of single, poor, one parent families with fewer numbers 142 143 of traditional, two parent middle class families. They also said they felt there was a widening gap between what they called the "have" and "have not" families, the upper middle class and lower class families, with Hale serving more at the lower end. In conversations and observations, Hale staff indicated a need to address the problems of these at risk children who exhibit behavior problems and low self esteem and whose parents they believe are not involved in or supportive of the school. Both Emily and Larry referred to the large socioeconomic gap in the Hale community. First grade teacher Emily said, "We have some very high and some very low and there battle zone in between. is a We have a large number of apartments, trailers, and single parent homes" (Interview 06/09/92, p l). Larry said, We seem to be split between the haves and the have nots. We have a lot of apartments and trailer parks which means kids are always moving. We are a bedroom community and the schools are the largest employer (Interview 04/06/92, p 2). First grade teacher Catie echoed comments about demographic gap in the community when she said, We have a real high number here of the one parent, low income in our building. Higher than the rest of the district and that makes it harder too. And yet, we have some parents here, whether they're single parents or the family, some of the old standards, the old values, and really, really work with the kids, really try. Then we've got the other kind where I have never even met the parents. There was one mother this year, that stood me up for every appointment we ever set up and never called, never came. I would talk to her on the phone, but she would be evasive and say, 'Well, I'll come in to see you.' So I never, never had the 144 the chance to talk to this woman. I could never get into problems that her child was facing in school because there was no cooperation, no presence. She just didn't come (Interview 06/10/92, p 6). At two of the observations I noticed staff discussing the at risk grant the district was applying for to serve students considered at risk of school failure. To qualify for the grant. Hale had participated in a survey conducted during the Fall of 1991, where teachers in the building were asked to identify first through fifth grade students in their classes who exhibited characteristics school at characteristics. Among considered were having been achievement, alternative risk and education poor attendance. director shared the retained, The low district's results survey with staff at the May 7 faculty meeting. the of the According to the printed survey report, of the 286 students enrolled at Hale, 119 were categorized as being at risk for the purpose of the $1.5 million grant being submitted for federal funding. The application included plans to conduct parenting classes, provide an extended school day, hire counselors for each of the four elementary buildings, and provide daily breakfast for students and weekly dinners for families. The grant was being solicited to provide support for families and to increase their involvement at the school. Larry described the needs of these at risk Hale children: I see a need for peer counseling and student assistance type programs. We have one elementary counselor for 2400 students. We participated in a study of at risk students and our alternative 145 education coordinator has just written a grant to have more counselors (Interview 04/06/92, p 6). . . . we have a tremendous amount of verbal abuse including four letter "F" words which is one of the most common words. What shocks us is the fact that some of these young people absolutely know what it means. And our concern is because of child abuse and sexual abuse of children that our children have had to learn the mechanics but they don't have the emotional maturity to deal with the responsibility and the respect issues that are involved (Interview 04/06/92, pp 4-5). Emily added. We need to do some parenting teaching. We have some parents who have no skills and have no where to go for [help] . Our kids and families need counseling but they can't afford it. That's something we need to pick up here at school. Parent involvement is one of our weak areas, single parents. Its difficult to get parents into school. Our former administrator turned parents off. Larry is getting them back with us again (Interview 06/09/92, p 4). Dawn described the problems of Hale children. We seem to have a lot of problems in our school with self esteem and also with children getting along with each other. We need to address the behavior of the children here before we can teach them anything. There are a lot of problems and I think some of it is socio-economic and some of it is just society in general causing it (Interview 06/08/92, p 2). I asked Catie to describe the problems and behaviors staff was indicating Hale children exhibited and she said, Attitude, toward adults, toward authority figures, for one thing. You know we were taught, and I taught my children, to respect adults and a lot of children are not taught that anymore. And, we'll get little kids now that'll come in and stand there like this, with their hands on their hips and say 'You can't touch me'. They know the law says that you can't put a hand on them and they will use it, and they're not taught that they have to behave in school. And have that kind of attitude. I don't know, it just seems to be a lack of respect for 146 people, for property, they don't respect other people's property. They think anything that's there is for them to grab or use or whatever. According to Hale staff members I spoke with, greater numbers of students are coming to school from single parent, low income because families. of prior attendance. They are at retention, risk low of school achievement, failure and poor Furthermore, staff said they exhibited low self esteem and behavior problems, and in some cases just getting parents to school to discuss these problems with teachers was difficult. The first outbreak of time I visited scratching sprinkled itching Principal Larry, Elementary from several powder the Hale on other physical fifth graders students education there during teacher, was who an had recess. and the school secretary were calling parents to come and get their children. In an interview, Larry used the itching powder incident to point to what he considers a major problem at Hale and facing educators everywhere. Our society is largely anti-natalistic at this point in time. Parents have to work so its a case in point with the little epidemic we had going on here (itching powder in the upper grades after lunch) . Its a real inconvenience for parents to have to come up and get their children. They're put out of work - caused a loss of productivity there. That message is given to the children. There is nothing constructive for them after school. What we are not addressing is the basic fact that in this country as a whole is that children are considered a liability instead of an asset (Interview 04/06/92, p 13). 147 Two months observation later time, when Larry I said called to he spent had set up faculty several weeks working through Protective Services with a truancy problem of one of his students. of the previous unconcerned. He said the child had missed forty-five sixty days of school and the mother was Larry said by the time Protective Services went through the necessary steps to file a charge of negligence, the mother will have moved to Granite schools where the child's attendance problem will become lost in the hundreds of other more major problems (Field notes 06/03/92, p 1). Larry and structures his staff indicated not of Hale students changing, only parents are family are becoming less and less supportive both academically and financially of the schools. community Larry said that in more recent years, the local has not been as financially schools as it had been previously. supportive of the He told me that of the three previous millages put before the voters for extra money for instructional failed. As a materials result, the and building twenty-five repair, year-old all had building exhibited signs of neglect. From my April 7 fieldnotes, The once beautiful mahogany paneling was warped, cracked and peeling. The building outside needed minor repairs. It is no wonder they see PA 25 as a means of getting what they need. Buildings are in disrepair, things are broken, warped, blocked up and in general need of attention. Its a metaphor for the public schools - in need of attention (Fieldnotes 04/07/92, p l). 148 In talking about their school, both Emily and Dawn said Hale has had the reputation of being what they called the dumping ground for the rest of the district. what that meant they said, When I asked "the place no one wants to be" including staff and students. Emily said that Hale, Used to be thought of as the dumping ground for other schools. We're now known as the school that's willing to try some things. We piloted math explorations. For a while we were the cast off; now we're the school of choice. Parents want to send their kids here (Interview 06/09/92, p 3) . Dawn echoed, Our school for years and years and years has always had a reputation in [the district] of not being up on the latest methods. From comments we've had from parents and PTO, they're changing their minds about that (Interview 06/08/92, p 4). Emily and Dawn both indicated that the reputation of the school had changed in recent years. When I asked them why that had happened, I discovered that both the building and the district had recently undergone a change in administration. Not only was Larry a fairly new principal, but there was also a new superintendent in central office. Hale has undergone major administrative changes in the last two years. Catie said, We had a lot of change at one time, at the time Larry came. In our own building, we had a new principal, new secretary, new janitor all the same year. And new cook. So it was a lot of change all at one time for a building this size. Then, right in that same time period, was also a new superintendent of schools. That was like a breath of fresh air because he would tell people in meetings that just because something had always been done a certain way, didn't mean it had to be 149 that way. If you have ideas, I want to hear them. Before, nobody wanted to hear the ideas. You could give ideas and its like talking to a brick wall... You know its been really nice, as far as the teaching staff, to have the feeling that somebody's willing to listen and a change is possible if you can justify the reason for it. Its kind of nice (Interview 06/10/92, pp 3-4). Emily said the previous principal used to go on shopping trips during lunch time and return with her purchases to show the staff. Dawn, who has been at Hale for twenty-three years, said, Our morale is higher now and we feel like we have more of a role in planning things than we did say two years ago. Especially this year, I think it's been even better than last year. Of course, we're a couple years into it now. And I think that we understand it a little better. I'm still lost most of the time and things change so quickly that it seems like we have something, we understand something and then of course it changes. But I think overall that we have a pretty good rapport here with each other and we don't have too much trouble. We listen to some of the bigger schools, of course, we're a fairly small school but we listen to some of the problems the teachers talk about when we're in grade level meetings or so on at other schools and we consider ourselves pretty lucky I guess here because some of them say, 'Oh, we never see the principal, we don't get to do this and that.' Larry is always around and helps us out quite a bit. Question: What happened? higher? What happened? You said morale is I think what happened is we've just gotten more involved in things and we can plan our own things. Before we were all just being told, this is the way you're going to do it and we never had much to say about if we wanted to do that or if we didn't. Question: mean? Your principal changed overnight, you No, he didn't change overnight. We principal (Interview 06/08/92, p 3). got a new 150 About the change in central office administration, principal Larry said, This is his first year as superintendent and he is very dedicated; he's still a teacher that's the bottom line; he's still really a teacher and always will be and because of his attitude, 1 think it's catching. People aren't afraid to take some risks. He rolls up his shirtsleeves and gets involved with us. He is part of the team. For the first time, we have win-win negotiations and there is a family feel to the organization (Interview 04/06/93, p 5). Emily added to Larry's comments about the new superintendent when she was describing an incident that had taken place several years earlier. She said certified reading teachers had been laid off as a cost saving measure by the previous superintendent. soliciting She said the previous superintendent, without teacher paraprofessionals in input, classrooms had to Chapter One reading professionals. placed replace the untrained certified She said, It could have been sold to us. It should have come as Dr. Haney [new superintendent] and Larry would have done it. It should have come from us sitting down as a group of teachers saying we need to do this. It should have come from us. I haven't any doubt in my mind' that Dr. Haney had everything we said in his little black book but he brought it out of us so we all thought we came up with the idea and we went away feeling great. That's a great administrator. They make you feel like its your idea even though they planted the seed and they have the idea but I feel like I have contributed and it didn't come down as a mandate from above. That's when I get rebellious (Interview 06/09/92, p 9) • The Hale staff is working in a setting demographics of the community have changed. that greater numbers parent families. of children from low where the They indicate income, single These children exhibit low esteem, poor 151 attendance, problems. low Not academic only achievement have family and school structures behavior changed, administration has also changed in recent years. the The next section will feature Larry and how he is working to accomplish his personal and professional goal within this setting. Principal Larrv: His Goals and PA2 5 Larry said he was director of in a management position as associate education for the 'Granite Journal,' Jenson County's newspaper before returning to school for principal certification. In his mid forties, Larry said he had worked for ten years in a parochial school setting before taking over the Hale principalship two years ago. He said, Aside from all the rhetoric and mission statements, I wanted to focus on learning to help children discover the value of learning and become lifelong learners. . . . we're like a tour guide bringing meaning, into their lives, to stop from automatically going into the mode here's the information kids - now swallow it. We need a fresh approach to help kids see there is no limit. To help them see their self worth; they are a unique individual, they add to our community and the community is better off because of them — they have something to give — a service kind of orientation (Interview 04/06/92, p 1). Within this setting, which holds a reputation as the district dumping ground, where the administration has recently changed and where family structures have also changed, Larry is incorporating requirements for PA25 compliance into his own goal to make Hale the school of choice for parents. 152 Larry had called his superintendent to inform him about Hale's participation in the study and to share with him my UCRIHS approval form and a copy of my interview questions. He seems to want very much to impress his new superintendent, Dr. Haney, and speaks about him with great respect. one of the ways he sees his school as Larry said improving is by the comments of parents "we are becoming the school where parents want their kids to be." When I initially spoke with Larry, I discovered that he had been using the requirement for accreditation component of PA2 5 to accomplish a goal of his which is to make Hale the school where parents want their children to be. The law requires schools to be accredited or they can be closed or have a new principal appointed. With the original Michigan Accreditation Program (MAP), the Hale staff latched onto PA2 5 as a way to obtain additional resources for their building. MAP standards were quite lengthy with The original stipulations as to teacher pupil ratios, number of books required in the library, the number of counselors, media specialists and administrators required according to the building's total pupil count. By working to become accredited through PA2 5 compliance, the Hale staff initially was using the law to obtain things and people they felt they needed for their building. Larry saw it as a way to say to the community that Hale was becoming accredited, district. and thus the elementary school of choice in the 153 School improvement goal number four of the Hale Elementary School improvement plan states "Hale Elementary will qualify for initial accreditation status by Spring/Fall calls for all accreditation standards to be 1993." in It place by Spring, 1993, for the library to have a minimum of forty-one stations, provisions of a media specialist, more library storage, the guidance program to be developed and expanded and a health service program to be developed with the addition of a school nurse to the staff. Teachers had said they felt the at risk students they were serving needed counseling services. By establishing accreditation as a goal with MAP standards backing them up with the requirement for a guidance program for students. Hale teachers were happy to engage in compliance activities. For them, it meant having a need they saw fulfilled. Larry said accreditation he had originally component of PA2 5 "sold" as a his means staff of on the obtaining community financial support. He was using PA25 to engage Hale staff in policy compliance. However, teacher study, Catie and several others like Hale first grade interviewed during this Larry has become disillusioned with the potential of PA25 to enlighten communities about financial needs of the schools. We are in the MAP accreditation process which is causing problems because as it moves to an outcomes approach, the state is backing down on some of the goals they've set. They've taken the teeth out of the accreditation process. Its very easy for a community to say we don't wanna spend money on that and that's a little disheartening (Interview 154 04/06/92, p 3). Dawn explained what teachers hoped to gain through the accreditation requirement of the law, . we're trying to get accreditation for our elementary school because we felt like if we do, then we'll have more things to work with, like art and we need more space here and also it seems like the elementary schools are the first to be cut if anything happens. And we feel like if we're accredited, that won't happen to us as much. They seem to keep things in the high school a lot more readily than they do in the elementary because of the accreditation (Interview 06/08/92, p l ) . All of the Hale participants I interviewed felt confused about changes they view as coming from the state department. Catie expressed the frustration they feel: We had set up all of our goals and our objectives and had everything all ready; then we were notified by somebody connected with the state department of education that some changes were being made, which would mean that we would have to go back through and change some things, the way we had done some of them. . . . we had a big meeting, a lot of the schools that were involved in this, had a big meeting over at the middle school library one day after school, with the person from the state, and she couldn't even answer questions because things were still changing and she still didn't know. People would ask questions and she'd say, 'Well, that's still in negotiation,' this sort of thing. So, you know, it's almost like we're being told to do it but we're making it up as we go along so they don't know what they want you to do. That's the feeling we're getting (Interview 06/10/92, p 1). Larry expressed his frustration with the changing requirements of the law: I think legislators should take a year sabbatical and come and work in schools and find out that when you change things so quickly and you don't have the funds or you don't allow people to do adequate training and do the research behind that you're spinning your wheels a lot. Some of it is necessary. Let's face it, unless there is external 155 pressure we as an organization are change (Interview 04/06/92, p 12). resistant, to With PA25 its the law. So there's no running and hiding from it. Its getting people to face either I have to change... to deal with this, to take control of it or I can let it take control of me. Its a royal pain at times because the state doesn't know what its doing from day to day and it keeps changing the rules as we go along. We do all this. We make plans and then we have to change at midstream (Interview 04/06/92, p 11) . When the MAP accreditation standards compliance lost some of its impetus at Hale. a way to make Hale the school where changed, PA2 5 Larry saw it as parents want their children to be and used the accreditation carrot to engage staff in compliance activities. They looked at PA25 requirements as an opportunity to get what they needed for their building. As they wrote annual PA25 school improvement goals, Hale staff included seeking accreditation as an area on which to concentrate their efforts. During my data collection, the staff was struggling to cope with the new MAP standards which require school them to identify improvement goals based not on inputs but rather on student outcomes. Emily said, It's been very discouraging to put in hours and hours. We figured out we put in an extra week doing meetings and things and then to be ready to present it to your board and the week before the legislature changes things. It's all student outcome based instead of the way we had it set up the way they told us in the first place. [Now] there are no dollars and cents tied to it to do the things you're supposed to do (Interview 06/09/92) . 156 As I observed and interviewed the Hale staff, Larry was trying to regroup and make new meaning for himself and his staff of PA25. At that time, it appeared that he was attempting to rally the staff behind the at risk grant and was negotiating with activities. At Hale, there is no compensation for staff to work on school them to continue in PA2 5 compliance improvement before or after the school day. Therefore, Larry is using three strategies to engage staff in compliance. The next section will feature these strategies Larry is using. Larrv and His Leadership The three leadership strategies Larry uses to engage his staff in PA25 compliance are to unite them behind the common school goal for meeting the needs of the at risk population with the at risk grant, to involve them in school decision making, and to negotiate with them for time to engage in PA25 compliance requirements. Earlier Larry had sold his staff on the accreditation component of PA25 and used this part of the law to engage them in compliance activities. With the law, Hale staff previously viewed accreditation as a way to obtain needed resources for their building. Now, they were waiting behind the at risk grant to develop school improvement goals that meet the needs of students who exhibit poor attendance, low self esteem, academic achievement, and school behavior low problems. Developing school improvement goals for PA2 5 compliance based 157 upon needs at Hale is still the overall focus at Hale. Now, however, the goals are being established to meet the needs of a specific population. Larry and his staff spoke about the need for counselors and student assistance consider at risk. type programs for these children they When I asked Larry for times that would be best for observing Hale's school improvement acitivites, suggested I observe the May 7 faculty meeting. entire May faculty meeting, he During the staff heard the results of the survey conducted the previous Fall indicating that half of their students qualify as being at risk of school failure. Emily said, We've been working with kids at risk. It's interesting. We started the [at risk] study and now all the other schools have jumped on. We laid the groundwork (Interview 06/09/92). Two of the four goals increased of this school Goal two states that "Students will exhibit a through needs Hale population. esteem the 1991-1992 plan self on the improvement positive focus in at success." risk The strategies to accomplish this include training both staff and parents in defining and fostering student self esteem. Other strategies include positive feedback to parents through phone calls and notes, the development of a homework policy, and an instrument to measure student's feelings of self worth. Goal number three states that "students will feel physically, intellectually, and emotionally secure at school." The Hale plan indicates that they will teach appropriate 158 student: behaviors, behavior, and institute a reward system for appropriate investigate programs resolution skills to students. which Hale staff teach conflict indicated to me that students behave inappropriately at school and have low self esteem. With two of the four goals in their school improvement plan, Larry and the staff are hoping to meet the needs of their students. Larry had originally planned to use the accreditation component of PA25 to engage Hale staff in PA25 compliance. However when the HAP program changed, Hale. so did the focus at Previously they had looked at needs for materials and people. Now they are looking at needs of children whom they believe exhibit low self-esteem, poor behavior and low attendance. A second strategy Larry uses is involving staff in decision making. He stated. Coming in new I can see areas where we're not as cohesive as we should be but the real challenge is our staff has to come to terms with that and are beginning to speak out at faculty meetings to say 'hey I think we really need this a bit more'. We still have to grow some, to become a little bit more open to each other's ideas at times. We have to get over being sensitive on certain issues at times but we're growing. We're taking some risks that some of the established staff members here say they wouldn't have taken a couple years ago. We're beginning. We have to start someplace (Interview, 04/06/92, pp 7,10). Larry himself views his role during school improvement activities as a cheerleader, encouraging and supporting staff. 159 Larry said, Hy own role I guess in school improvement initially was as a cheerleader. I think the staff underestimated their abilities. I started out saying 'come on guys, what's really important? We know we can't get any more hours in the day, but if you have more say in your environment, if you could leave and know you've touched at least two more kids than you did the day before, how would that make you feel.' The challenge we face as a group is how do we make all this change without the training? To unite us in a consensus to sort out the important from the unimportant. I'm working with a veteran staff; change is different. We are working on pride. We've begun to develop some strategies to play together. We need to know each other as people if we're really going to be free and exchange ideas. We have a staff canoe trip planned for the end of the year. For some of us it will also be an overnighter (Interview 04/06/93, pp 2,3,7). Catie added, What role should the principal play? Well, I think he [Larry] does kind of act as our cheerleader, keep us going, motivated. He helps keep us on track. It's easy in this, where nobody really knows precisely what's going on or quite how to do it, it's easy to get too far off one direction or another, so he tries to keep us on track, what we should be doing. He tries to let the decision making come from the staff. He's really been good about having it be from us and not from him. He gives suggestions if he thinks we need them, ideas, but he pretty much lets us come up with what we think is the important thing of what we need to do. I have a feeling that, since this has started, we've been listened to more than ever before, which is kind of nice. Larry said that for school improvement to occur Hale staff had to learn to work together and to make decisions as a team. He and Hale staff view him as a cheerleader and as a leader who involves staff in decision making. 160 He added. He need to come up with strategies linking curriculum between the grades. It's gonna take us awhile because we've worked in isolation so long. I try to involve the whole staff. I probably push them to all be involved when some would rather be doing something else...I get tired sometimes but I say 'what do we need to do for the kids?' and I model that. We've done some changing of rooms to foster read athons and other activities. I've encouraged teachers to think about would they be interested in teaming and I just let it go at that. They have begun to switch some classes, share some teaching. He have scheduling problems as we share itinerant staff but the teachers are beginning to dream about some ways to overcome that and having the patience to stick with it even if it doesn't work out at first. That's important as far as reaching our long term goals - we've got to experiment a little bit and keep track of what's working. We're beginning to understand that we have to document what we do. We have to look and make sure its research based and if its not working out you abandon it and move on and you comeup with a different strategy. Its helping us grow through that process. I see us beginning to grow, to become independent thinkers ourselves and as you reflect back we were probably in a rut. We probably fell right along the lines of 'just tell me what I have to do - exactly what' (laugh) we don't want kids to do. We want kids to be free and independent thinkers. We have to take some gambles (Interview 04/06/92, pp 8,11,12). Emily added, Larry is a workaholic. Larry has gotten more out of every staff member than they have ever put in in their life because he's an example. We're all putting in way more hours. There's a beautiful feeling of improvement in the school even among parents (Interview 06/09/92). Twenty three year veteran Dawn added involving staff in decision making. support for Larry 161 Our principal plays a big role. He wants to get us all involved and everything but he's a good motivator and he's very positive. And he likes to get everyone involved. A lot of times he will just sit back in the meetings and kind of play devils advocate. He will let us hash it out. So I think he's been a good leader in that he throws out some good ideas but he lets us throw them around and get the answers. And I think that's probably the way it should be. I think overall that we have a pretty good rapport here with each other and we don't have too much trouble. And also we can tell from talking to other teachers, I've been here so long that it's hard for me, it seems to me like, that all the schools should get along as well as we do. We've just gotten more involved in things and we can plan our own things. Before we were all just being told, you know, well, this is the way you're going to do it and we never had much to say about if we wanted to do that or if we didn't, I lose kind of perspective on what goes on at other places but I hear so many teachers complain about how the staff doesn't get along and how they can't get any cooperation from principals and things, and we just don't have that problem here. Once in a while somebody will get upset about something but usually it's nothing big and if we do, sometimes, you know, usually, we just tell each other why we don't really like that. Either we say too bad or we, however, we resolve it. We don't have much of that problem and I'm glad (Interview 06/08/92). I also observed staff decision making when staff met on June 11, to establish school improvement goals for 1992-1993. Although Larry participated in the discussion, Emily ran the meeting as teachers set goals. encourage spent staff listing Larry's contribution was to to prioritize following the what subsequent year. they wanted to hour accomplish they had during the He also made arrangements for lunch to be delivered as they worked. 162 The third strategy Larry incorporates into compliance activities is to negotiate with staff for time to meet for school improvement activities. On my last visit to Hale and the first day of summer vacation for teachers, I observed what turned out to be the entire staff as they planned for 19921993. As school improvement leader and first grade teacher Emily said, We'll be working on Thursday on our own time. Everyone is invited. I'll be interested to see how many show up because there is no pay - lunch - but no pay (Interview 06/06/92, p 7). As it turned out, every staff member was there from 12:00-3:00 p.m., finalizing goals and making plans for 1992-1993. isn't able to pay his staff to be involved in Larry school improvement activities but he negotiates with them and uses memos so they do not have to attend so many staff meetings. Larry activities time. said take most place of the after staff's school school rather than improvement on release Because he is not able to pay staff to be present, he said, I'm willing to cancel a staff meeting. If they feel like they've got too much going on, I can accomplish it through memos. They serve on several district committees. I have to be flexible (Interview 04/06/92, p 9). Larry also provided lunch for staff who attended the school improvement goal setting session on the first day of summer vacation. 163 Summary Working in a district where more and more students come from families with risk factors and the administration has recently changed, Larry at first used additional resources for his building. PA25 to obtain Now, however, he is working to unite his staff as a team behind common goals. The next section will feature Pat and the compliance activities of the Montego staff. At first Larry used the accreditation component of the law to engage staff in compliance activities. However, after the accreditation standards were changed, Larry elected to unite staff behind the at risk grant for improving student self esteem and behavior. He also involves staff making with and negotiates staff for time to in decision engage in compliance activities. Along with the new superintendent, new principal Larry is attempting to establish himself in the Hale community. While working to establish a niche for himself in his new school, Larry is working against contextual conditions where teacher morale was changing. low and the demographics of the community are Greater numbers of children are coming to school from uninvolved and non-supportive homes. Larry is using an at-risk grant as the rallying point for his staff during PA25 implementat ion. Chapter Nine will feature Pat and the Montego setting where compliance activities are taking place. CHAPTER NINE PRINCIPAL PAT AND THE MONTEGO SETTING Introduction Regardless of where its execution is taking place, the disposition of PA25 is greatly influenced by the people who are implementing activities occur. it and the setting where compliance The meaning the principal attaches to it, the perspectives of staff and parents, all play a role in the implementation process. This chapter will focus on Pat, her reasons for implementing PA25 as well as those of her staff, and the conditions that prevail at Montego Elementary that impact the policy. Monteao and the District Setting Pat is principal at Montego, a small rural building with 327 students and eighteen staff. four elementary buildings in the district. It elementary is one of With a $6 million budget, the district serves over 3300 students based on tax revenues obtained from an average SEV of $37,000, one of the three lowest in Jenson County. Principal Pat said Montego is a poor community suffering from the cut backs in the auto industry. community as a blue collar, She referred to her bedroom community feeling the economic constraints of the recent car company lay offs. She said there are five trailer parks in the district, making hers a building with high numbers of transient students. 164 She added 165 that sixty-five percent of the children are on free and reduced lunch and many parents are single, on ADC and unemployed. Like Havendale and Hale, Montego is dealing with greater numbers of emotionally needy children coming to school. School improvement team leader Valerie talked about one of her third graders who had been arrested for assault on another student during recess. She said he had been using World Wrestling Federation knee drops to the head on the black top. We thought maybe he had even fractured a cheek or jaw bone. I want to deal with raising my science and math scores and you have a situation like that. I mean these kids need to have their emotional needs met first because if not, how can they concentrate on what they're doing in school. I'm concerned because we have children who are such emotional time bombs, they're not able to learn (Interview 05/08/92, p 6). Laura added, I guess when you had told me that you were going to ask me questions, something about how our school compared to itself, I was thinking in regards to students, maybe a little further back, but I do think even from two years ago, it seems that we have a trend that the students that we're getting in from other places and the students that w e 're losing, we seem to be getting a lower ability level, more children from single parent families, more children from families with abuse, and all of that of course has it's impact on what you're able to accomplish here and how you have to accomplish it and the stress and the, you know, when you're dealing with a lot of children that have emotional problems and that puts a real stress on teacher's energy level. I think just coping with those kinds of things besides trying to do all those things that we've been doing for years (Interview 05/01/92). Like Valerie and Laura, Leslie said that it is difficult to meet students' academic needs when they have emotional needs 166 from abuse and low self esteem. However, she said the Montego staff had decided that the best way to improve student self esteem was to first improve parents' self esteem. She said during the previous year the staff had arranged to have speakers come in but attendance was poor. As a result, the staff had decided to take a different approach in 1992. See, we wanted to get the parents, [but] you can't, you can't give something that you don't have. ... We want to build the children's selfesteem. Well, it takes parents and staff, not just staff and just parents can't do it. We've got to work together. ...Because parents don't have any self esteem. ...So, we have to work with the parents' self esteem before they can work with the children but we can't work with them until we get them here to work with them. And so that's what we're doing this year. Get them to come our way, get them as a team, and then we can work with the students (Interview 04/28/92). Kindergarten teacher Leslie went on to describe how on the first day of school staff arranged for a mini meeting of parents with things parents were interested in, not a speaker, but rather balloons, door prizes, pens, and other free items. She said the gym was packed with parents: We put it in the paper, we had posters up, 'come to the mini meeting the first day of school'. ...In the gym we had chairs sitting in circles because our parents don't, we've got six trailer parks, and they don't know each other; and you've got to get them connected before they can do anything so we had the chairs in circles, you know. We invited [them] and they all came. ...it was really festive in there. The PTO president was the speaker and introduced [everyone] to these parents. They could talk and then as some people came in, the PTO president could interrupt and say, 'Excuse me, I would like to introduce...' and we introduced every single person that had anything to do with their child's education this year, all the way from the crossing 167 guard up to the school board; they all came. The head of transportation, the cooks, you know, the playground attendants, everybody came and everybody was introduced. The support staff relieved the classes so the teachers could go down by grade and be introduced to all these parents. ...She told them who we were, and we said we were glad they came... It was fantastic, it really was nice and we had more parents that said so. It all started out fun the first day of school. So that was our first thing. Now, our culminating thing was last Thursday. We had an Easter parade... [We] ran out of parking space... [We] ran out of chairs in the gym. This is at 1:30 in the afternoon, 2 o'clock. [We] ran out of chairs, they were lined up down the halls, that's how many parents we had come to this. It was fantastic (Interview 04/28/92) . For the Montego school improvement team members I observed and interviewed, a major problem they see is improving student self esteem and involving parents at school. They told me they had tried to involve parents with sessions on parenting skills. When that was unsuccessful, they decided to try a different approach. They chose to create a party atmosphere on the first day of school and invite parents to meet building and district staff, the ones responsible for their childrens' education. When that proved fruitful, they followed it up with an Easter parade in the Spring. In addition to involving parents whom they believe exhibit low self esteem, the Montego school improvement team said they are also working in a district where the administration has frequently traditional. changed because of a board that is very 168 Janice said, I've been at Montego since 1973. I would say the majority of us have been together in this particular building for at least ten years and some of us for twenty... Our district is kind of backward. They do not like change; the old guard is constantly fighting the new as far as city projects and things like that. We fought up until this year on Michigan Model [a program for health and sex education]. They're just so afraid somebody's going to come and fill their children's minds with weird thoughts. The board hires administrators that have no backbone [or those who do have] get fed up and leave for something better. And so, unfortunately we have all these administrators and Pat included, is not a strong person in that respect. She's very good with us but as far as fighting for more for our building outside of our building she doesn't do it (Interview 05/29/92). Leslie echoed Janice's dismay with the unstable administration. ...we've had many, many, many superintendents. You know, we've gone through all these people. Some of them were climbing ladders. We have a very difficult community and school board to work with for various reasons. . .we do have a high turnover of administrators. And so we are constantly adapting to a new leader in this system, total system. In this building, I've been here probably sixteen, seventeen years, let me think, yeah, and this is the second administrator that we've had here. And, of course, she's the youngest one in the building which makes it very difficult for her. I'm sure, to be chief. Plus she went from peer to boss, so that didn't help either. We've, we get along real well with her, we have a good rapport with her. The staff does not socialize outside of here very much. We have some on our Board that are completely, I mean, you say self esteem and they just. . .you know, get rid of this person. And so we had that to contend with so we were just kind of egg shelling it along here, trying to decide, 'How are we going to present this?' [self esteem as a school imporvement goal] There is some resentment against the upper administration... (Interview 04/28/92, pgs l,9,10). 169 While Montego staff view the board as traditional and the administration as frequently changing, Pat views the Montego staff as very traditional: My staff is a relatively mature staff. The vast majority of them have been in this building in excess of ten or fifteen years. I do have one first year teacher. But that's not typical. But they are a good staff. They are a very professional staff. But change is difficult and they are for the most part fairly traditional in their outlooks toward educational processes. It's slower going than I originally thought it would be. My knowledge base was greater than that of many of the people I work with primarily because of my education and current course work. A lot more time is spent bringing people up to level (Interview 04/08/92, p.l). Students with low self esteem, a traditional board of education, a changing administration, and a veteran staff are descriptors Pat and Montego staff use when they describe the setting in which they work. How Pat uses PA25 compliance activities in this setting to accomplish her own professional goal is the focus of the next section. Principal Pat: Her Goals and PA2 5 In her eighth year as principal of Montego, Pat is a former reading specialist who said she became a principal because of her interest in empowering sounds like a little girl. and has a little girl voice. teachers. Pat both and She dresses in flowered jumpers In her late thirties, very proud of her career accomplishments. age twice looks She mentioned her in conversations as a matter of pride become a principal so early in her career. Pat is in having She said she is 170 one of the few women administrators she knows with her years of experience who is so young. She also spoke openly in front of the school improvement team as we drove to lunch about her ambition to one day become a central office administrator. She said her principalship has delayed work on her dissertation which she said she plans to pursue in order to seek assistant superintendency. a curriculum directorship or She also said, in front of staff, that she regularly goes through the Michigan state University placement bulletin to see what opportunities are out there, but is fearful that a career move would delay her academic goals at this point. Pat said taking the principalship had put her PhD behind her original time schedule, but she also expressed surprise that she had remained in this position long. so She said she usually doesn't stay in one place this long. In both telephone and personal interviews, Pat indicated that she views PA25 as an opportunity to empower teachers and to involve them in decision making. However, she also acknowledged that involving them in decision making requires a combination of cajoling and threatening, a carrot and stick approach. Pat commented, PA25 has kind of been justification or validation of what we were doing anyway. He had started the process probably three or four years before PA25 came into it. It simply added that stick to what we were already doing. It is, the teachers who perceive PA25 to a degree as a threat. There's no doubt about that. But we try and look at it more 171 as [an] opportunity. It forces us to put written form good things we've been doing. into Getting my teachers involved in school improvement has been a combination of cajoling and threatening because school improvement is something the state is mandating and they realize that if they don't take an active part in it they could have to live with something someone on the outside mandates. There is that element of well we gotta do it or we're gonna be in trouble. Carrot and stick combination. That's what we have to stop and keep remembering and go back and look at - the changes that have occurred in the building as a direct result of our school improvement team and go back and celebrate those items (Interview 04/08/92, pp 2,5). Pat was outspoken in saying that her vision necessarily coincide with the vision of the people building. may not in her She just hopes to keep them all going in the same direction so they all end up at the same place. In an earlier interview Pat had said, I had the good fortune when I was hired in to work for a superintendent who was very well versed in the area of school improvement and we were one of the original districts in the LSIP (Leadership In School Improvement) program so we started that process a number of years ago. That did get a key person in my building some good training in school improvement which helped with bringing other people on board. Like many school improvement teams we started with the things that are less threatening to the staff to change so that our two first building wide projects were school wide discipline and communications. One was chaired by a teacher. One was chaired by support staff with various representatives from the school; we developed a building wide assertive discipline plan that did get the consensus of the school. It has been in place for three years. 172 This year we finally did tackle an academic subject. That was a difficult decision to get to but we did. We selected an area in mathematics and the teachers went through the district outcomes selected those which they felt we were going to need the most work on, wrote objectives for those and they're in the process of, most of them have developed their evaluation instruments and they are checking between now and the end of the year to see how well we managed to meet those goals. We put the math goals in writing but we've never really sat down and tried to put a real plan together, looked at long range perhaps as well as short range goals (Interview 04/08/92). Pat had said she became a principal to empower teachers, to engage them in decision making. She also spoke about teachers taking key leadership roles during PA25 compliance. On two occasions when I asked Pat questions about the school's annual report or school improvement goals, Pat told roe I needed to speak with Valerie, the school improvement team chair for 1991-1992, or Leslie, the chair from the previous year. During the development of the annual report, school improvement information to be team who decided upon included as Pat typed the it was the layout into her and lap top computer the information they dictated to h e r . She said, I am trying to encourage people to go into leadership roles. .. I have some people who are doing a very good job at the building level. I have another one who is doing some excellent things in the local education association and I wouldn't be surprised to see her become the president in the not too distant future (Interview 04/08/92). Although I was able to observe Pat working to accomplish her goal to empower teachers during PA25 compliance, I was never able to make a connection between PA2 5 and her goal to become 173 a central office administrator. The Montego staff appear to be a collection of individuals and as she herself said, Pat is just attempting to keep them all going in the same direction. Leslie said, The staff does not socialize outside of here very much. It's just too broad of a spectrum. We have all the way from a minister's wife as a staff member to my husband, a bar owner (Interview 04/28/92). Janice added, We are our own people. Pat has always been real supportive in allowing us to be individuals. We are not a school that gets together to go to the bar or has a weekend here or there or anything like that (Interview 05/29/92). During observations made at Montego, it became apparent that the staff is a collection of individuals working in a very conservative community with administrators who come and go with regularity. Pat appears to be making surface level attempts at keeping Montego's disconnected staff together. Every Thursday before school Pat has what she calls C & C meetings where staff can come for coffee and share concerns or problems they are having. She said that at Christmas she had asked her mother to make bear sweatshirts for each of the staff with the paw prints of the school's mascot on the front. Every staff member wore them on designated days throughout the year. However her outspoken comments to me in front of school improvement team members concerning her ambition to one day move into a central office position may be a contributor to the staff's insecurity with the administration. 174 During school, groups both observations I observed of twos staff and and on members threes. casual sorting Even visits to themselves during the the into birthday celebration one morning, most staff members seemed anxious to get back to their classrooms to begin the day. Montego staff indicated they believe students exhibit low self esteem, the administration changes with regularity, and they view themselves as a collection of individuals. Pat views them as a veteran staff, herself as a facilitator, and she just hopes to keep the staff all moving direction. involving in the same She also wants to empower the Montego staff by them in decision making and encouraging their leadership during PA25 compliance. Pat and Her Leadership I observed and heard about several leadership skills Pat exhibits during PA25 compliance activities that she believes will empower Montego teachers. Her approaches include involving staff in decision making, providing resources and support, and handling routine tasks for staff. Pat recognizes that the Montego staff is a collection of individuals with up to twenty or more years of experience. Pat views herself as a facilitator in school improvement and Leslie, Laura and Janice confirmed that opinion, saying "She is a facilitator" and "She has always been real supportive in allowing us...to carry through what we feel is important." 175 Leslie said, "What role should the principal play in school improvement? very, very Our principal is a facilitator. supportive and really good as She has been a facilitator" (Interview 04/28/92, p 8-9). Pat said, My role in this building is that of a facilitator. I do not run the school improvement team. With this particular staff it would not work. In other buildings it probably would. The teachers, staff have to move at a rate that they feel comfortable with and by having teachers or support staff in the key leadership roles it moves at a rate they are more comfortable with. We've moved slower than I ever anticipated. My background as a reading consultant makes me very comfortable in a facilitator setting but I think as a facilitator one wouldn't move at a rate that one would if they were in a more definite leadership role. I think that would depend on the personnel and [a rate] they're comfortable with. If you were in a building that doesn't have people who are comfortable in a leadership position, then you would have to move in and take that. We meet weekly on a volunteer basis for what we call coffee and concerns. That helps keep people informed about what's going on but it also keeps things from festering (Interview, 04/08/92, pp 3,4,6). Both Laura and Janice confirmed Pat's view of herself as a facilitator. Janice said, Pat has always been real supportive of us in allowing us, like I say, to be individuals and to carry through what we feel is important. She does give her opinion, just as everybody else in the school does, but she doesn't demand that we do things a certain way or anything like that. The only thing she tries to do is to keep us on a time line because the state needs certain things by certain times and, you know, like writing that report and everything. She's been really good about doing that (Interview 05/29/92). 176 Laura added, She's a coordinator. This is just my own opinion here, I don't know what everybody else thinks. But I think that it needs to be a staff and not just all the principal's ideas that are being passed down and we're all going, 'Yes, yes, yes.' We don't want to be yes men to the principal because we're the staff, we're the teachers, we're the ones that have to make it all work so there really has to be ownership and if you're just following the principal's guidelines, you're not going to get all the ownership and, if you want the thing to go, you have to have that (Interview 05/01/92). During the seven hour observation I made while the Montego school improvement team developed its annual report for 19911992, Valerie chaired the discussion while Pat typed in the goals and computer. Montego other information dictated to her on a laptop At that time, she was handling a routine task for staffers. Pat moved the information around and changed the format of the report as the team decided to use a bifold rather than trifold format for the report. The Montego staff views improving student self esteem as a goal to work toward achieving. As a result, their annual report indicates staff had attended workshops on improving student self indicated however, esteem that no achievement. staff during had the been previous working on year. math formal plan had been created to Pat had outcomes; improve math Staff told me in informal conversations that community members were coming in to hear students count out loud and a local service organization was providing treats for students who had attained specific math goals. 177 In order to empower teachers and engage them in compliance activities, improvement, Pat takes a encouraging facilitative teachers to role lead in school discussion, establish goals, and plan activities. Pat and her staff supporter as well. see her as a resource seeker and In describing the role Pat plays in school improvement, Valerie said, ...as a leader, she had to set a good example as far as the importance of school improvement and I think Pat has done a good job of that. For example, you know, arranging for us to have the day off to work on our annual report. That really gave the entire staff a sense that it's important (Interview 05/08/92, p 5). Laura also told me about Pat writing and receiving a grant for twelve classroom computers, one for every teacher. Yeah, we were very, very fortunate. She wrote the grants for every one of us and asked us to come in and sign them if we wanted. We got twelve computers through the grant. Thank you Pat. Pat knows how to write grants (Interview 05/01/92, p9). When students had achieved a March Is Reading Month goal, Pat fulfilled her promise to students by taking her office outside in front of the school. She dressed as a skunk and was principal in a cage for an entire school day. A second strategy Pat uses to empower teachers during PA25 compliance is to provide resources such as classroom computers to Montego teachers and students. She also provides support in the form of typing during the PA25 compliance requirement for preparation of the annual report. A final strategy that Pat incorporates into her goal to empower teachers and engage them in compliance with PA25 178 requirements is to handle routine tasks as she did on the day I observed her typing the school's annual report while the school improvement team dictated to her. Montego staffers are a collection of individuals who view the administration as changing. They believe that Montego students exhibit low self esteem and have designed their school improvement activities to increase student self esteem. Summary In order to meet the needs of her staff and students and to accomplish her goal to empower teachers, Pat has taken on the role of school improvement facilitator. She encourages staff to take on leadership roles and decision making. She provides resources and support for teachers and handles mundane tasks such as typing for them. Pat's approach to empowering teachers and keeping the Montego staff all moving in the same direction, is to let them make the school improvement decisions from establishing the goals to designing the activities to accomplish those goals. Although Pat had originally been recommended to me as an innovative principal and her initial response to me in her telephone interview indicated she was using the policy, interviews and observations of her and the suggested she may be a conventional principal. policy compliance activities at Montego incidental to the accomplishment of her goals. Montego the staff Furthermore, appear to be 179 There may be one of two reasons for this conclusion. Of the four sites, I spent the least amount of time at Montego. It could be that I was not able to observe the full spectrum of school improvement activities and therefore, had insufficient data to conclude that Pat is actively using PA2 5 compliance activities to accomplish personal and professional goals. A second reason might be that Pat, although she views the policy as a way to empower teachers, does not see compliance activities as a way to obtain her goal for a central office position. Each of these principals and their staffs is implementing PA25 in varying settings. Susan must contend with a strong union as she works to make Morritz an exemplary school while Laura struggles with hostile home environments and a district bureaucracy on her way to a central office position. changing administrations and changing demographics, with new principal Larry is attempting to unite his staff behind the common goal of making Hale the school where parents want their children to be while Pat is using teacher leadership and decision making to empower Montego teachers. Even though each of these principals and their staffs are engaged in compliance activities in different settings with specific local needs, these school improvers are working to improve student performance. these four sites, As PA2 5 is translated at each of it takes on a slightly different meaning. However, at each of these actively complying sites the intent 180 of policy writers and policy implementors is aligned in that improving student performance is the ultimate goal of each. Chapter Ten perspectives, will examine the four sites from three how they spend their school improvement time, the goals they have established, and the means they use to measure the accomplishment of those goals. CHAPTER TEN HOW POLICY IS SHAPED BY LOCAL CONTEXT Introduction During implementation activities, principals and staffs set aside time to establish goals and develop school improvement plans to accomplish activities those goals. How are shaped by specific those goals local needs will and be the focus of this chapter. Ways To Improve Schools Although there are common school-wide goals verbal responses from school improvers at the in writing, four sites indicate the ways they think their schools could be improved are varied from better communication with parents to more time together as a staff. Futhermore, when I asked them to describe how their schools could be improved, their responses also varied. Three of the principals said the way to improve their schools was with more staff training while their staffs said they needed more money or space and parents needed training. At Morritz, responses ranged from improved assessment from Susan to more time to collaborate, more space, or more teacher training from her staff. Morritz Principal Susan: "We need to have more closely aligned assessment. we test [Iowa Test of Basic 181 Skills] does What not measure 182 what: we teach h ere." Teacher Leader/Special Education Teacher Sylvia: "We need more time to collaborate. Planning themes and units together takes time." Second Grade Teacher Sally: "I would like to see us have rooms that were better equipped for space." First Grade Teacher Jake: "I would like to see more people be able to go to training and inservice sessions." Fifth Grade Teacher Lydia: "Space...that's the one thing that we really need." Paraprofessional/parent Cheryl: "Getting everybody involved...that's real important that everybody works together." At Hale, Larry said teachers need to be retrained while staff there felt the best way to improve the school was to have parent training, more space, or better communication. Hale Principal Larry: "No one should be grandfathered with certification; all teachers need to be retrained or go back to school." First Grade Teacher Leader Emily: "We need to do some parenting teaching. We have some parents who want to be good parents but they have no skills..." 183 First Grade Teacher Dawn: "What needs to be done is we're going to have to have more space number one." First Grade Teacher Catie: We're working on trying to get better communication among the staff and out to the district, to our community. We're trying to find ways that we can make the community more a part of what we're doing...involve the families more. At Montego, Pat felt professional development was most important while Hale staff felt students needed more security and the school needed more money. Monteao Principal Pat: I think the number one concern I have is professional development. I have a mature staff. They have interests in an area like whole language but reading articles isn't sufficient. I have a problem with little one day training sessions. That really doesn't meet the needs in terms of staff development. I would like to see more money funneled [there]. Third Grade Teacher Leader Valerie: I just really think that when children come into this building they should all feel like its a welcoming place, its a place where they feel safe and secure . . . Kindergarten Teacher Laura: "I think there needs to be more flexibility of funds that teachers can use for things." Kindergarten Teacher Leslie: "We need more money. We always need more money." First Grade Teacher Janice: "Well, obviously the first thing is we need more money to do some of the things we want to do." 184 Like Pat, Laura also felt a need for staff development but Havendale teachers said additional personnel and more staff involvement were key goals for the school. Havendale Principal Laura: In order to really make a difference, we gotta keep up on the latest, really keep up with our staff development. Research is saying the way to enhance self esteem is through cooperative learning. It shouldn't be just a one shot deal. This one shot in the arm doesn't work. Special Education Teacher Leader Lori: "We need to have more resources, not only financial but also people." Article 3 Teacher Samantha: "I think it'll be a better school when everybody really gets involved about what they're complaining about." Chapter I Teacher Lavinia: "One thing we need — this school. counselors. We need counselors in Our kids need someone to talk to." Parent Cheryl: "How to make this a better school. As president of the parent group, I think we are one of the better schools." Principals and their staffs did not concur on ways to improve their schools. Teachers wanted money, space, and parent training while principals said the way to improve their schools was with staff training. Dick A. referred to the toilet paper issues, Kathy alluded to their climate goals, Brett called them soft goals and as Principal Pat from Montego explained. 185 Like many school improvement teams we started with things that are less threatening to the staff to change so that our two first building wide projects were discipline and communication (Interview 04/08/92, p 4). Although policy writers expected to see the policy used "as a means of getting millages passed, school systems however, are in trouble", of showing why their one policy writer added "if you're gonna be selfish and say we should be getting more money, then you have to be able to defend why" (Interview 03/04/91, Senate Majority Leader's Staff, p 6). As the earlier comments about improving schools and the following goals from Morritz, Hale, Montego and Havendale indicate, at this stage of policy compliance, school staffs are looking at ways to meet local needs for more space, time to collaborate, and for parents and teachers to receive additional training. In all four buildings, staff and principals said their school improvement goals were established two years ago when staffs completed either the San Diego or Connecticut Effective School improvement survey. established creating Following that, priorities were goals affective and school climate. in three domains, cognitive, Staffs reviewed the proposed goals and building teams finalized them for developing into their school improvement plans and/or annual reports. The three categories of school improvement goals were established in order to requirements. meet MAP (Michigan Accreditation Program) As every school improvement team member and principal related to me, they had received training in the 186 school improvement process through the Intermediate School District (ISD). Therefore, the school improvement structure, vocabulary and adherence to MAP requirements is likely due to the training received at the ISD. At Morritz, staff listed improved air quality and a more orderly indoor recess as their first two school improvement goals. Goals three through five call for improving MEAP math and reading scores and providing staff development (See Table 5). When asked about their school improvement goals, air quality and indoor recess garnered the greatest amount of both interview and observation time. Forty-five minutes of this morning's 90 minute observation of the BLT (Building Leadership Team) was spent on the issue of indoor recess. Topics included how to keep kids behaving and ideas for supervision from hiring more aides to soliciting volunteers. Susan said with the millage up in the air and potential cutbacks hiring was probably out of the question and the union would prohibit the use of volunteers. She finally turned the conversation back to a student outcome orientation by saying 'there's a problem with this goal in how to measure the expected outcome in terms of what we want for the student' (Fieldnotes BLT Observation, 04/06/92). Fifth grade teacher Lydia said, Playground, indoor recess is a biggy because there are lots of problems during that time with the kids. . . . air quality came about because people didn't feel administration had done certain things to alleviate the problem, didn't feel that we were taken seriously (Interview 05/18/92, p 2). 187 Table 5 M ORRITZ SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT GOALS GOAL GOAL #1 Climate School Morritz students will be healthier, show an increased interest in learning, demonstrate better dispositions, thereby increase academic performance by improving the air quality at Morritz. GOAL. 2i Affective Student time-on-task and ability to work cooperatively will increase by providing an enjoyable relaxing and safe indoor recess time where the entire Morritz community is well informed as to expectations and procedures. GOAL. 3 t Cognitive Increase MEAP test scores on the reading portion of the test to above 300 in each category for each student. GOAL 4t Cognitive To improve MEAP test scores on the math portion of the test. GOAL 5 i Cognitive OBJECTIVES Objective li Each month, the oxygen and co2 levels will be monitored in order to maintain an acceptable air mix. Objective 2t The levels of dust/allergens will be decreased by 25% during the 1992-93 school year. Objective 3i An on-going committee will be established to meet quarterly with appropriate school personnel and consultants in order to discuss progress of air quality improvement. Objective It Increase the supervision during indoor recess to one aide per four classrooms. Objective 2t Provide two supervised alternatives to the classroom during the 1992-93 school year. Objective 3t Strengthen cooperative skills as demonstrated by 0% behavior citations given during indoor recess by the end 1992-93 school year. Objective It All fourth grade classes will receive instruction through team-teaching on reading strategies in the fall of 1992. Objective 2t The library will be open 100% of each school day. Objective 3t 100% of library funds will be allotted to expository materials. Objective It Math objectives will be aligned to the Silver Burdett curriculum materials. Objective 2t Two math enrichment/incentive activities will be provided for all grades during 1992-93. Objective 3: Incoming fourth grade students will be targeted with correspondence math summer activities. Objective It Eight one-half day staff development activities will be provided in the areas of reading and math, objective 2t Professional resources will be increased by 50%. To provide on-going staff development in curriculum innovations and instructional strategies. (Goal Worksheet - Observation at faculty school improvement goal approval, 05/01/92). 188 First grade teacher Sally said, "Well the one with the air quality is our big, number one concern. We want to get a safe environment here and I think we are on track." For over eight years the teachers in the upper elementary hall claimed to have smelled gas and when maintenance people came out, they found no evidence of a gas leak. Lydia added, You basically need somebody here for a length of time to smell it And even though the association (union) worked through that and there were times people were frustrated with the association too! They didn't really feel that they had done enough (Interview 05/18/92, p 2). Susan referred to the air quality issue as a concern of the staff when the building's windows were energy conservation era of the 80's. covered during the She said staff felt the air was stale because there were fewer windows to open to circulate it. She said staff perceived there to be more pollutant and allergens in the air so one goal was to monitor air quality. the roof interviews, quality As a result, air exchange units were placed in (Fieldnotes 04/07/92, p 10) . In all of the school improvement team members referred to air and/or indoor recess as priority goals. As they establish their goals for school improvement, Morritz staffers are using the policy to meet an internal building need for improved air quality and more orderly indoor recesses. For these school improvers, the goal setting activity they engage in during PA25 compliance is seen as specific local building needs they have. a way to meet the 189 Halfi Like Morritz, Hale has established goals in three domainscognitive, affective and school climate to meet standards of MAP (Michigan Accreditation Program). Larry said, The biggest problem is the affective — kids low self esteem. With climate it is for children to be free from physical and verbal abuse. We have a tremendous amount of verbal abuse including four letter "F" words - one of the most common words. What shocks us is the fact that some of these young people absolutely know what it means. And our concern is because of child abuse and sexual abuse of children that our children have had to learn the mechanics but they don't have the emotional maturity to deal with the respect issues that are involved (Interview 04/06/92, p 5). Emily referred to the socio-economic gap that exists in the district. low.” She said, Larry had "we have some very high and some very described the conservative but diverse community as a "split between the haves and the have not s. We have a lot of apartments and trailer parks which means kids are always moving." Emily said, We have a large number of apartments, trailers and single parent homes. In fact we thought about making climate next year's primary focus because we got to straighten up our conduct things before we can teach anything (Interview 06/09/92, p 1). Dawn said, We've decided to put climate because we think that we need thebehaviors of the children teach them anything (Interview ahead of the rest to address some of here before we can 06/08/92, p 2). Students will demonstrate mastery of reading skills defined as essential in our curriculum. Our MEAP scores indicate students are good story readers, but need to learn how to use inf ormationa1 text. Cognitive Goal: 190 Affective Goal: positive success. Students will exhibit a self esteem through increased Students will feel physically, intellectually and emotionally secure at our school. (Hale Elementary Annual Report, 1992, p 4). School Climate Goal: Improved school air quality improvement and focal behavior points of at children Morritz are and the Hale elementaries. As school inprovers in these two sites unbundle and make sense of the policy, they look for specific local needs that can be met with the school improvement goals they establish (McLaughlin, 1990; and Firestone, 1989). Montego After being in the school improvement process for several years, Pat said she was pleased the staff had finally tackled an academic subject as a school improvement goal. this stage of policy compliance, the Montego However, at staff are primarily looking at the policy as a way to improve parent self esteem and parent involvement. Principal Pat at Montego said, I had the good fortune when I was hired in (as principal eight years ago) to work for a superintendent who was very well versed in the area of school improvement. We were one of the original districts trained through LSIP (Leadership In School Improvement) a number of years ago . This year we finally did tackle an academic subject (as a school improvement goal) (Interview 04/08/92, pp 2,4). Janice said, As far as school improvement goals one of the first things that we thought was important was 191 communication - with Along with that went a and then from there we the student. He went (Interview 05/29/92, pp staff, parents, students. discipline policy. . . . felt we could go into like into student self esteem 2-3). Valerie said, A lot of our emphasis has been on parental self­ esteem and parental involvement because we know that its been proven that if you raise self-esteem in children, academically they do better but we also know we can't do that by ourselves. It has to start at the home level (Interview 05/08/92, p 4). Laura said, We seem to be getting a lower ability level; more children from single parent families, more children from families with abuse. . . . obviously when you look at what our goals are with our self-esteem and parent involvement . . . I think the school improvement team is trying to address them (interview, 05/01/92, p 4). Following are our goals for the 1992-93 school year: * Increase student self-esteem (Affective) * Staff team building (School Climate) * Explore feasibility of parent/student homework program (Cognitive) * Explore additional area of academic need (Cognitive) * Provide training in cooperative learning (Cognitive) * Explore possibility of implementing the Rainbows for children program." (Affective) ("An Annual Education Report for Montego Elementary School", May, 1992, p 4). Pat said, He selected an area in mathematics and the teachers went through the district outcomes, selected those which they felt we were going to need the most work on and wrote objectives for those and they're in the process; most of them have developed their own evaluation instruments (Interview 04/08/92, pp 45) . 192 When I asked during a break in the day-long meeting of the school improvement team how they were meeting the math outcomes they had established, one of the paraprofessionals on the team said, "we use parents to listen to second graders count and Kiwanis offers incentives for third graders learning the multiplication tables to nine" (Interview 04/14/92). Montego staff are using PA25 compliance activities to call attention to the special local needs they have for improved self esteem of students and improved parent involvement. As the policy is implemented in this rural, impoverished setting, the meaning attached to it focuses on its usefulness in solving an external need for more involved parents and an internal need for improved student self esteem. Havendale Like the interviewed, other the three building Havendale staff teams has observed established and both cognitive and affective goals Havendale's goals: 1. Students will demonstrate growth in Language Arts. (Cognitive) 2. Students will demonstrate growth in Math. 3. Students will demonstrate responsible (Cognitive) behavior in order to maintain a safe and orderly environment. (Affective) 4. Students will participate educational strategies. in character (Affective) building 193 5. Students and parents will develop supportive attitude toward school. a positive and (School Climate) ("Havendale Elementary School 1992 Annual Report"). Samantha said, school improvement goals focus on improving attendance, discipline and reading. We have a high absence record here because we have transients . . . our people move every time the rent comes due . . . you pay your rent and then you can drift until the landlord can get you out and so our people move from house to house so that a child might be out a week or more moving from house to house . . . Some of our parents, their priority is not getting people to school so we have a lot of absences and one of our goals is to improve our attendance. Another goal is discipline. We have a goal for growth in reading and a goal for growth in math and a goal to improve relations with parents (Interview 05/11/92, p 2). Lori said, improving reading, self esteem, math, and parent involvement are the school's goals. What are some of our school improvement goals? They would be to improve reading, to improve character development, self-esteem, to improve writing, to improve math, to improve parent involvement (Interview, 05/22/92, p 1). Lavinia said, discipline is the biggest priority during Havendale's school improvement activities. We have a discipline problem here at Havendale; academics aren't the greatest. So, we were trying to think of ways to improve the academics for our students . . . discipline was an area we needed to work on and we needed to have the parents more involved (Interview 06/03/92, p 1). Parent and school improvement team member Cheryl said, I think a lot of them [school improvement plan goals] were discipline; the kids really need discipline here. Curriculum - they've changed it and went to whole language, which is a lot different than when my older kids went here (Interview 05/22/92, p 5). 194 Principal Laura referred to the community as being the school's biggest challenge. She added that improving attendance is a priority for school improvement. The people are struggling for their own existence because they never had a childhood. They got pregnant young; most of my community are these people. They're into drugs we're one of the highest sale and use of marijuana in the entire city and one of the highest crime areas in the city. My people come out at night. They come out at 11:00 p.m. because they're out all night. We had the third worst school in the city as far as attendance is concerned. Average daily absences is 20 per kid - 20 days per kid! And, we are the lice capital of America here. We have the worst lice problem in the world and why is that because there is absolutely no desire to keep a house clean (Interview 04/28/92, pp 6-12, 18). For Havendale school improvers in this urban setting, PA25 means setting goals that will meet their localized needs for better student attendance, discipline and parent involvement. They are using the policy in the hope that it will result in improvement in these areas. All four teams were chaired by a teacher in the building. Havendale, Montego and Morritz team members were given release time from classroom responsibility during the time I observed them preparing annual reports or school improvement plans. However, Hale teachers were working without pay after school when I observed their school improvement team at work. At Morritz, teachers are focusing on improved air quality and more orderly recess. At Hale the staff believes the way to improve the school is to concentrate on improved school climate through better student behavior. Improved student self-esteem is of primary importance at Montego while just 195 Table 6 HAVENDALE *B IMPLEMENTATION PLAN GOAL #3 - Students will demonstrate responsible behavior in order to maintain a safe and orderly environment. OBJECTIVE #1 - Students will exhibit appropriate behavior as defined by staff and students. ACTIOS STEPS TO HE TAKEN PERSON(S) RESPONSIBLE UNO MUST BE KEPT INFOMED/INVOLVED TIMELINE EVIDENCE OF ACCOMPLISHMENT 1. To enforce established elassroom/buiIding rules. Staff & Principal Parents, students & staff Sept. 1991 On­ going thru 1996 Hallway posters/ signs, building posters-classroom & HalIways 2. To continue the use of STAR theme in promoting acceptable school behavior. Staff Parents, students & staff Sept. 1991 On­ going thru 1996 Awards, teacher evaluation 3. To provide positive activities such as. Student Council, NYSP & other clubs. Staff Staff, students, parents Sept. 1991 On­ going to 1996 Calendar, club minutes A. To use student hall Staff Coordinator Staff, students, parents Sept. 1991 On­ going thru 1996 Hall guard schedule & signs, Continue us of WHO team 5. To continue use of WHO team, as needed. WHO team Staff, students, parents Sept. 1991 On­ going thru 1996 Usage as indicated by charting 6. To implement In­ school suspension program. Volunteer staff members Principal Staff, students, parents May 1992 On-going thru 1996 Administrative logs 7. To continue school inservices on Positive Techniques for Discipline. Staff Inservice Dept. Staff, students, parents Jan. 1992 On­ going thru 1996 Brainstormed lists 8. To continue Citizen of Week, Most Improved awards. Staff Staff, students, parents Sept. 1991 On­ going to 1996 guards, and post hallway signs to encourage acceptable behavior. Awards (Havendale School Improvement Plan, p 12) 196 getting the kids to school, better attendance, is the focus at Havendale. To each of these school improvers, change involves improving student attendance or discipline and involving more parents. They are concentrating on reward systems to improve student self esteem and student achievement. They believe that more money for materials, space, and training will create better schools. The Havendale school improvement plan calls for staff to visit the Maryland. Success For All Reading Program in Baltimore, Hale teachers believe they have taken a risk by adopting a math series requiring the use of math manipulatives with students. Morritz has taken a whole language approach to teaching reading and Montego is raising parent self-esteem in order to improve student achievement. School improvement to the teacher leaders in each of these four districts means embracing a new math series, learning new strategies for teaching reading, creating pupil achievement incentive programs student self-esteem. or attending workshops for promoting They have taken local needs at each of their sites and translated the goal setting requirements of PA25 to meet those needs. How They Measure School Improvement When asked to compare their school to itself a year ago and two years ago, school improvers at the four sites said their schools were greatly improved. When pressed to describe how 197 they know and what they use to measure, Morritz principal Susan said she has seen growth in her staff because They feel really good about the new skills they are learning. I know because of a gut level feeling and observations and comments from staff and parents. The (staff) are so excited about what they're doing (Fieldnotes 04/07/92, p 13) "In comparison to two years ago," Hale principal Larry said, "Our school today is a little bit more willing to take risks, a lot more open to discussing professionally with parents and in involving parents as full time partners. I gauge by comments from parents, the San Diego survey, the MAP visitation team, students themselves, participation in events like the 300 kids at the roller skating party and tons of volunteers at the end of year field day, more parents responding to newsletters (Interview 04/06/92, pp 14-15). Hale's Emily said she measures by having "parents who are wanting their school" children here when they could be in another (Interview 06/09/92, pp 3-4). Others also gauge their school's improvement by comments from parents and staff. Dawn from Hale said, We just say that we feel better about what we're doing, and we feel better that other people are recognizing what we're doing, in the community, parents and we've been getting good comments and we've been getting requests to come to our school now, quite a few more, things like that. It makes us feel like, like maybe people are starting to realize we're doing it (Interview 06/08/92, p 5). Jake from Morritz said, I don't have any way to measure that. I just look at people and the smile that they show in the morning or the things that they talk about. I can remember in the lounge hearing a lot of talk about this child and that child and not about, it was more negative than it was positive and things seem to be, people are talking more positive about their students. The good things that they've done and, you know, I myself have on occasion taken things into the lounge, 'Look at what this person did 198 today,' you know, and it's, I mean, you're proud of it. But I don't think it's, there's no real measure in terms of percentages and things that need to be measured, like for the BLT, for things that we want to show for our goals, that I know of. I'm sure that there probably would be a way but we're not measuring that (Interview 05/18/92, p 7). Jake's principal Susan in an interview said. We think that we're better than ever, [because] we're working together as a team very well. We have encouraged a lot of grade level collaboration . . . Based on what people tell me, there is a lot of camaraderie; its a much closer staff, able to share each other's successes, encouraging each other, seeking advice from each other. The tone of the lounge is one in which we're talking about instruction. They are very pleased with themselves. They've tried some things and they worked. Job satisfaction, I think, is at an all time high. The teachers feel real good about the new skills they've learned (Interview 04/06/92, pp 8-9) . They feel better about what they are doing, are happy with the new skills they are learning and are hearing positive comments from staff and parents. As their comments indicate, the school improvement goals they have created are difficult to measure. Laura from Montego said, Urn, how do you measure this? Gosh, that is really tough. I mean, how do you measure whether or not your self-esteem of your students is up, how do you measure something like self-esteem? (Interview 05/01/92, p 6). Lavinia from Havendale said, The school, it's different this year in, even from the last inservice when I heard, when I read the evaluations from about twenty-five people. All of them were very favorable and they all said that they like the idea of planning ahead and of the calendar that we tried to get started on Wednesday. And, because we still have hopes that we'll get a grant for the grow lab. That I think that 199 enthusiasm is radiating throughout the building and hopefully we'll be able to see an improvement in attendance, and improvement in academic achievement, and improvement in making self-esteem, enhancing a child's self-esteem and, of course, we can measure this through telling, comparing attendance and also comparing it to the number of detention or suspensions which I feel is a real reflection of how they feel about school. Usually those kids do not have a positive attitude towards school and I felt that pre and post test measure if there's been some learning taking place (Interview 05/22/92, p 2). Leslie from Montego said, What do I use to measure? Just observation. I just know where we were and where we're going and are we getting there. I don't document it all. I'm terrible at paper and pencil . . . I really think that we are doing great (Interview 04/28/92, p 10) . More space, more money, teacher training, new texts, new programs, all are seen as ways to improve schools and they know they are improving because people are happier and feel better about what they are doing. How They Spend Their School Improvement Time At Morritz, Havendale, and Hale I observed staffs working on school improvement goals for 1992-1993. The Morritz staff worked on the core curriculum requirement of PA25 delineating what language arts outcomes are taught at each grade level. At Havendale I observed the work of various teams as they established special programs and events for the subsequent year. At Hale, staff spent their time listing goals for 1992- 1993, and matching field trips with relevant curricular areas for the following year. The work I observed at Montego 200 focused on the creation of their annual report. of policy compliance, At this stage school improvers are spending most of their school improvement time setting goals, planning student activities or meeting the annual reporting paper requirement of the policy. Morritz I was able to observe three of the faculties as they established strategies to accomplish their school improvement goals for 1992 -1993. their third scores. school At Morritz I observed them working on improvement goal to raise MEAP reading Morritz principal Susan opened the meeting by telling staff that the district's K-12 reading committee had already made the decision to adopt the state's core curriculum. However, language their work that day was to arts list the strategies they were currently using to implement and evaluate the language arts goals. She said that their report was due at the ISD for critiquing in two weeks. Susan modeled her expectations for the product anticipated by the end of the day. She said kindergarten teachers might indicate that identification of story elements might be deemed inappropriate at that level. However, first grade teachers might indicate that all first grade students are introduced to basic story elements while second grade students as a group identify them. Third graders might independently identify them with fifty percent accuracy, fourth graders with eighty percent accuracy and fifth graders with one hundred percent 201 accuracy. Following that, the building's reading specialist Janice modeled and explained exactly what would be expected after the day long session. She handed out a thirty page resource packet containing the district's reading outcomes with work space for developing objectives, strategies and an evaluation for specific outcomes: Table 7 MORRITZ CORE CURRICULUM WORKSHEET READING OUTCOMES - GRADE ________ A. CONSTRUCTION OF MEANING THROUGH THE DYNAMIC, INTERACTION AMONG THE READER, THE TEXT AND THE CONTEXT OF THE SITUATION GOAL OBJECTIVES STRATEGIES EVALUATION GOAL 1: Construct a statement of central purpose or theme GOAL 2: Use text factors (text types, structure, and features) as an aid to constructing meaning; Morritz staff worked together in grade levels further delineating what is expected of students at the end of every grade in reading. I observed the fifth grade teachers working on goal 1, that students will construct a statement of central purpose. They developed a strategy to first have all students identify a central purpose in a narrative piece with eighty percent accuracy. Morritz staff began to examine specific reading outcomes expected of students and began to quantify those expectations. Morritz was the only site where I was 202 able to observe staff working on the core curriculum requirement of the policy. Havendale At Havendale I was an observer as the faculty divided into the following goal groups: special programs and events, school climate and discipline, and inservice. Laura clarified the assignment by telling the groups their purpose for the day was to develop activities for implementing the thirty-five page school improvement plan. Laura explained that the seven components of the school improvement plan would be submitted for review to the ISD and that state money to the school was tied to the plan. I spent forty-five minutes of the two and a half hour session observing the largest group with sixteen of the fortytwo member staff charged with developing special programs and events for 1992-1993. During that time the group decided to designate certain days out of the year for special events such as T-Shirt day, button day, beach day, tie day, clown day, school color day, backwards day, Michigan State University and/or University of Michigan day, sweatshirt day, and so on when students are to dress according to the daily theme. They worked from 9:50 until 11:30 planning special events in order to achieve their third school improvement goal for students to demonstrate responsible behavior in order to maintain a safe and orderly environment. One of their strategies to implement this goal 203 is listed in their school improvement plan. They plan to continue the STAR (Success Through Accepting Responsibility) theme in promoting acceptable behavior. During the observation I heard one of the teachers joke, ••let's have a no talking day." Another interjected, "I don't want to have to do anything extra in my classroom. I don't have any problems with buttons; that's nothing extra for me to have to d o ." I moved to the eleven member school climate and discipline committee where they commented that the in school suspension has cut down some behavior problems, but they still need to create incentives to reward appropriate behavior. Later as I observed the five member inservice committee, the group decided to poll the staff to learn what topics they wanted to see on the two days allotted for inservice by the contract. Hale At Hale the afternoon focus was on planning for 1992-1993. Larry opened the session telling staff the purpose of the day was to make learning more productive for students. After listing the following twelve problems staff felt they needed to solve, school improvement in order to chair prioritize them make afternoon. Problems listed include: 1. coordinate the reading program 2. consistent discipline policy Emily the suggested best use of they the 204 3. lunch set up 4. housekeeping of student desks 5. staff awareness of medical problems of students 6. playground equipment and repair 7. Chapter I format 8. purchase of VCR's 9. an orientation for children/parents to improve behavior of children 10. scheduling of music, art and gym 11. field trips 12. self-esteem During a forty-five minute discussion of field trips, the group listed destinations by such planetarium and third grade, grade as level a orchard the state Village at fifth grade. the farm most and zoo curriculum for for second grade, capitol in fourth first relevant grade, a courthouse and in Greenfield Following that, another two hours of the three hour meeting was spent discussing how to improve student behavior in the building. Monteao The entire day spent with the Montego school improvement team from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. focused on preparing their annual report. They concerned themselves with placement of the goals, where to place photos, whether to use a trifold or bifold format and what should be listed in their points of pride. 205 At each of the sites, the greatest amount of their school improvement time is spent in setting goals or preparing their annual reports in compliance with PA25 requirements. at Morritz However, I was also able to observe the staff as they engaged in the additional requirement of the law for offering a core curriculum in language arts. Whv They Are Complying When asked "why is your building complying requirements?", following were the responses. with PA25 Principals and teachers felt they had no choice in the matter. Leslie from Montego, "Because we were told we have to do it" (Interview 04/28/92, p 4). Laura from Montego, because we had to be. "I thought we were involved in it I mean we don't have a lot of choice in this, do we?" (Interview 05/01/92, p 1). Valerie from Montego, This building was engaged in PA25 compliance before they were asked to comply. The staff here seems to be really anxious and focused on improvement. I think a lot of the reason our building is engaged in PA25 is because we have a staff that's always looking to improve, not only themselves but the educational opportunities they can give the kids and they're just not satisfied with anything less than the best and it just happened PA25 came along. So its the law and we're required (Interview 05/08/92, p 1). Janice from Montego, Well I think we're engaged in it because we actually started out as an Effective Schools committee about five or six years ago and it just seemed to kind of roll into this and we are concerned that we don't want the state telling us 206 how to do things or the administration. We want to be right in it with them. So then they can't tell us what to do (Interview 05/29/92, p 2). Principal Pat from Hontego said, Getting my teachers involved in school improvement has been a combination of cajoling and threatening because school improvement is something the state is mandating and they realize that if they don't take an active part in it they could have to live with something someone on the outside mandates. There is that element of well we 'gotta do it or we're gonna be in trouble. Carrot and stick combination (Interview 04/08/92, p 3). Samantha compliance from Havendale, with PA25; I "Aren't you mean do you supposed have a to be in choice?" (Interview 05/11/92, p 1). Lori from Havendale, the state department" "PA25 was a mandatory directive from (Interview 05/22/92, p 1). Lavinia from Havendale, "It's mandated. of choice. It's not a matter It's something that was sent to us and we are required and expected to do it" (Interview 06/03/92, p 1). Principal Laura from Havendale said. The school improvement team used a control tactic to get everyone to vote on the school improvement goals. She said the committee told everyone, There are agenda items posted on the board that will be voted on. Everybody needs to come and vote 'cause we're making decisions that will affect everyone in the building (Interview 04/28/92, p 5). Sylvia from Morritz, From talking with other people about why we're engaging in PA2 5 . . . I think the excitement and the anticipation when we started going on this, people were eager to get some kind of control. It seemed like our input maybe would have more weight. It was a real good feeling when we began. Its 207 changed somewhat since then, partly due to the funding. I think that really took the wind out of a lot of people's sails (Interview 06/01/92, p 1). Jake from Morritz, "I think PA25 kind of directs the way school improvement is going to go. They tell us some things, we interpret it, then go" (Interview 05/18/92, p 2). Lydia from Morritz, District wide I think we're doing it because the state has mandated it. I really don't think we're at the point in this district where everyone wants to have teacher input. I don't think everybody really values what we have to say. We're down here in the trenches and I think they would like to keep us down without asking us what we think about things (Interview 05/18/92, p 1). Summary This study examined how local context shapes principal's implementation activity. As the previous chapter has outlined, policy is shaped by the needs present within local settings. The meaning attached to it and its usefulness are determined by the reasons principals have for implementing the policy and the local factors present within each setting. At this early stage of policy compliance, the goals principals and staffs have established and the time they spend on school improvement are determined by the needs each has within their local settings. goal established If pupil attendance is a problem, that is a and school improvement time is spent designing incentives for children to attend school regularly. These four sites were chosen because principals indicated they were in active compliance with PA25; that is, they were using the policy to solve local problems and to validate 208 school improvement activities already taking place. The goals they had established were direct reflections of local needs they were trying to meet during compliance activities. In the affluent, suburban setting of Morritz where parents are involved and supportive of schooling, staff have established improved air quality and reading as their school improvement goals. However, Susan knows that she is working in a context where the bargaining association has a strong influence on Morritz teachers. She effectively imposes her own influence in order to accomplish her own goal to meet exemplary school criteria. in decision consultant making to and influence She does this by involving staff by using teacher the school's choice during reading compliance activities. In the urban setting of Havendale, where students exhibit low self esteem and have a high absence rate, Laura and her staff have established goals and incentives to reward students who improve attendance and performance. Laura has involved her staff in decision making during policy compliance in order to make her students and her building distinctive. At Hale and Montego where staff believe that parents need to be more involved in schooling, they spend their school improvement time establishing goals and designing activities for parents to be more involved in school. communities where demographics are In both of these changing and the administration has also changed, these two principals have united their staffs behind common school improvement goals and 209 empowered teachers to design activities that will meet a local need for involved parents. The next chapter will focus on the major conclusions of this work and provide some suggestions for future study. CHAPTER ELEVEN CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS Introduction Changing practice within schools has proven more difficult than expected to writers of change policy. of change policy and the outcome Between the input of policy action, local conditions mold and shape a policy as it moves to a local setting. Within local settings a number of factors play a role in how a policy is viewed by local implementors. internal policy and external appears (McLaughlin, to conditions be 1990). useful External There are both that determine for local factors such whether a implementors as financial support for schools and parent involvement in schooling are viewed through the lens of local implementors as they come to terms with what a policy means. Internal factors such as the age, experience, expertise, and morale of a staff as well as the goals and continuity of an administration also come into play when implementors unbundle policy. interpret what the policy means in Policy implementors light of these local conditions. Using The Policy Each of the school improvers in this study works in Jenson, the county hardest hit industry. The students in Michigan by they 210 serve the declining and the dollars auto they 211 receive come industry. from homes directly influenced by the auto When the auto industry of Jenson County quivers, the ripple effects are felt by every other economic entity in the county including education. Many of their comments and much of their activity are greatly influenced by this fiscal context. Public Act 25 may have been intended to improve school quality through reflection on teaching and learning at the classroom level, but its design for building level decision making has resulted in a continued tug of war between quality and equity at these four sites. When I first entered the field I found principals who were coping with changes in the law's requirements. At first, they had "sold their staffs" on the accreditation component as a way to obtain additional resources and personnel for their buildings. and school However, following the first set of annual reports improvement plans, the Michigan Department of Education revised the accreditation standards from an inputs to a student outcomes perspective. implementors were no longer able to use the policy as they had originally intended. Now, they were organizational forced to go back to sense of square the policy again, one and make adapting it to personal and organizational goals, and selling its usefulness in meeting local needs to staff. The Settings Each of the four sites represents a different contextual setting. Morritz is a large elementary school in an affluent, 212 union-dominated, suburban district. Havendale is also a large elementary building but it is located district of Granite. in the large urban The average tax revenue behind each child in Granite is about half that of Morritz. Affluent and educated, parents of Morritz children are very involved in the education of their children. Uneducated and unemployed, parents of Havendale children are alienated from the school. Further, Havendale is implementing PA25 within a restrictive, centralized bureaucracy. Hale and Montego are both small elementary buildings from districts supporting with moderate school to children. below Both average schools tax are revenues witnessing changing demographics with greater numbers of children coming to school from contrasting family and financial structures. Hale is located in a small town while Montego is in flux from primarily rural, small town to a suburban district. Both schools are also implementing policy within new or changing administrations. Furthermore, each of these principals has a set of goals they hope to accomplish through compliance activities. In order to make Morritz an exemplary school, Susan must increase student achievement. ambitions Laura and Pat have and need to make their buildings themselves stand out and be recognized. central and office therefore Larry wants Hale to be the district's school of choice and is attempting to unite his staff behind this common goal. Each coaxes, cajoles and negotiates with their staffs, listening to what their staffs 213 have to say, resources providing time, in exchange for materials, staff computers or other involvement in school improvement. Plavina The Policy Game In this study, response to PA25 was highly dependent upon the specific local needs in each of the four settings. principals and staffs hoped to accomplish What personally and professionally was reflected in compliance activities at each of the four sites. four different (McLaughlin, The policy was being used in each of the settings 1990). to meet specific local needs As players engaged in the policy game each of them first asked themselves "What does the policy mean to me?" (Firestone, 1989). Demonstrating accomplishment and achievement are the motivating factors that cause these principals to engage in policy compliance activities. However, to get what they want, they must go a step further in the policy game to learn and use what motivates their staffs and students to also engage in the policy game of school improvement (Pauly, 1991). Both motivation and local context played implementation activities at the four sites. key roles in After principals identified their own personal and professional goals, in order to engage staffs, they looked for local needs that could be met with component elementary PA25 compliance. originally level. meant However, To staffs, additional with the accreditation resources changes in the at the Michigan 214 accreditation program, principals had to find new ways to engage staffs. All four principals actively involved their staffs in the policy game by activities. finding ways After to engage them first asking themselves in compliance "what does the policy mean to me," next each asked, "what does it mean to my building?" Significance Earlier policy implementation work examined the efficacy of policy mandates (Bardach, 1977; and Berman, 1975), while later studies found outcomes local variables (McLaughlin, 1987; in place that affect policy and Scheirer, 1981) . More recently researchers examined how policy implementors use the interplay between policy requirements and local variables to create their own unique outcomes (McLaughlin, 1990; and Firestone, 1989). This study focused on policy implementation in four school settings. Two research questions guided the study: (1) what happens to policy as it moves from inception to execution and (2) how does local context shape principal's implementation activity. This work identified principal motivations and specific contextual factors present in local settings which shape a policy when it reaches the local level. How the principal interprets a policy and makes meaning of it to staff in terms of its usefulness in meeting specific localized needs shaped the outcomes of the policy. During the 215 implementation of PA25, the use made of the policy is largely under the control of principals who respond to three principals whose contextual factors during compliance activities. Central to the use of reform are motivations are shaped in large part by these three factors. Policy is shaped across settings by organizational decision making and Figure 1). (1) the community, (3) school history (2) (See The first factor, the community, is identifiable as the support parents and the local community provide for schooling. Community academic both. or support Communities can be either and parents schools by providing resources for schools financial support or their in the form of school housing, personnel, books, materials, release time for staff and other items necessary for educating students. Academic support are those expectations as well as emotional support parents provide for their child's school success. The decision making process of a school can be observed in one of several arenas. and staffs Decisions can be made by principals at the building level, by centralized district level administrative hierarchies or by the discussions between an education association and an administration or board of education. The third factor, the history of the school, is represented by a number of different aspects of a school, including the demographics of a community, the age, turnover, or expertise of a staff, or those critical events occurring during the life of a school that may impact culture or decision making years 216 Figure 1 Contextual Factors Shaping Policy Compliance Community Organization Decision Making Process Alienated Parents District Heirarc hy Require* Waiver* History Four Principal* in 00 Years I IPrincipal I | Principal |— Invoke* Stall Low Student Expectations BuHen From " Provide* Incentive* tor ^ ec*e*®!' Making IPrtnripal | -C Home Environment* Student Achievement Ignofes Due Dote* S ta r D ecides on Building U sage S ees pfeport C ards School Improvement School Improvement GoataPlans/Annual Report* Late Lesson Plans Student Attendance, Behavior, Discipline xf Parents Supportive ot J * Labor-Managemerit R elations- ‘“ f " 0 I Prindpell | Principal"! Slaveys Staff Supports Risk Taking Seek*'Exemplary School Improvement Goal* Uy e c t Irrituent}*! Tied to fleetin g Perform ance Teacher U m r 5 ^ ? Not Ftnandaly/A oadem lcaly Supportive d School I No R atoaseTbne I Principal k T~ tor S td l ^ /^ ^ N e g e tto te e W M iS td l Blocks School Improvement AdivUe* input Into Agenda* Changed Administration Invovlea Stall In Dad* ion Making Low S td f Morale I Euzzii Unite* Stall Behind Provide* Ineentivee tor MAP Program Studerd Atilriavement Student ActhriUea ________ Behind C reaiaeStaff Cam raderie Common School Im pnw m ent Goal* C anoe Trip At Risk Grant C hanged AdmlnlWatton Not Financialy Supportive/Involved Principal | Empowers Te ac-hnr* to D eikri P m f t \ Flourine Involvement ActMtia* Involves Stall Provide* Computer* Task* In Dectoton MaMng lor Teachers Provide* Incentive* tor Student Achievement S td f Sweatshirt* Budget C and C M eetings Annual Report Format 217 later. this The significant historical factors which emerged from study that characterize these four schools include changes in administration, changes in the demographics of the community, and a ban imposed on school improvement by an education association. Local compliance activities are shaped by a principal's response to these factors. A community's financial and academic support for schooling influences whether a principal and staff will design incentives for increased student performance and parent involvement activities during school improvement goal setting. Furthermore, where release time for school improvement is not provided for staff by the community, the principal negotiates with staff for time to engage in school improvement planning. Where the history of the school suggests that staff is insecure or staff morale is low, a principal may involve staff in decision making during compliance activities in order to build team spirit or to improve morale. parent involvement result of school history principal activities response needs. In a and to Staffs will design student both setting incentives community where needs as a and organizational decision making such as labor management negotiations impedes compliance activities, principal response results in staff involvement in school improvement decision making. During policy implementation, make. principals have choices to If they see in a reform mandate a purpose, they will scan both the requirements of the policy and the needs of the 218 environment: to determine how to put the policy to use solving localized needs. in They will examine their community and gauge its financial and academic support for schooling. Decisions made by staffs during compliance activities are greatly influenced by the reading the principal takes on this community factor. Principals interpret the policy for staffs in light of the local needs represented by this community factor. However, there are two other factors that also influence a principal's choices as he makes sense of policy. two other environmental factors as well. He looks at Both the decision making process and history of the school play key roles in the decisions a principal makes during compliance activities. The decision making processes that prevail within an organization from both a labor-management perspective as well as from the district's administrative hierarchy, influence a principal's choices during the interpretation of a policy. Looking at Figure 1, at Morritz, where labor management decision making is viewed as a influence on impediment, school the principal decision making by asserts her own circulating a questionnaire among school staff even before taking over the principalship. The results of this principal's action during policy compliance indicated that school staff were involved in school improvement decision making during a district-wide ban on school improvement activities. Occasionally, the three factors interface. For example, at Hale, Havendale, and Montego, where the community is viewed by 219 the principal as a negative factor, the principal engages the school's decision making process, involving staff in designing activities that are expected to improve community support for schooling. district's At Hale and Montego, administrative decision where historically making hierarchy the has adversely affected staff's sense of security, the principal uses the school's decision making process to empower staff during school improvement goal setting. In all of these settings, policy compliance activities are shaped by the needs of the community as well as the decision making process and history of the school. These factors represent local needs that implementors look to the policy to solve. When principals interpret policy for staff, when implementors design school improvement goals and activities, it is with specific characteristics of community, making and school history specific factors, in mind. decision In response to these implementors shape and mold the policy to meet these particular needs. In this way, implementors are using the policy to meet specific localized needs. The implementation of PA25 is highly dependent upon the meaning attached to it by principals. How they interpret the policy to staff in terms of meeting local needs shapes and molds the policy when it reaches the building level. Implications The abstract concepts of policy sometimes conflict with the realities of the school. Principals and teachers engaged in 220 school improvement activities routine tasks of motivating also must take care students, handling of the "itching powder" incidents, and reporting parents who abuse their children. All of these activities take time. When school improvement teams make choices about how to spend the two to six half-days they have each year for school improvement, they choose to keep state aid coming into their districts complying with the paper requirements of the law. remains is learning, meted out for staff training the new definition of reading, in by What time cooperative the use of math manipulatives, and similar activities. Participants in this study said one thing they could use more of is time for collaboration where teachers could work together regularly. If reflection and collaboration on practice for improvement is to occur, teachers must be given time for it. The current structure of the school organization precludes this. school As Sylvia from Morritz said, the year round is necessary but only teacher contact time, if it means more teacher to not teacher to student contact time. Legislators and local communities as well as teachers and principals change schools must is to occur. their beliefs Seeing if teachers restructuring as thinkers of and reflective practitioners, with tax dollars spent for teachers to work and plan together without students present, is essential if PA25 is to achieve its purpose of improving the quality of Michigan schools. 221 Time for collaboration is only one of several implications from this study. should be As principal Larry from Hale said, no one grandfathered; everyone required to continue learning. not only time for in schools should be For this reason, schools need collaboration but assistance during collaboration as well. Currently, schools are left to struggle on their own, or, if they have the resources, to bring in outside consultants for specific Teachers were effectiveness. their schools purposes. trained However, to teach, this not is to insufficient. measure school This would account for their comments that were improving because of smiles and gut feelings and their lack of precision in how to measure school improvement. As the Michigan Educational Association representative said of school improvement plans created in the 1980's, some school improvement plans that have no "We got depth, no commitment, no understanding and are gonna be failures because they're not outcome-based. been trained" (Interview, It's tough for people who haven't Michigan Educational Association representative, 03/11/91). Not only are school improvement teams needing continued assistance and training during school improvement activities, they also need assistance with the changing needs of their clientele. Those interviewed at Hale, Havendale, and Montego spoke about greater numbers of students coming to school from uninvolved parents and non supportive homes. Again, the 222 Michigan Educational Association representative, and a writer of the law, confirmed this when he said, "Staffs are not equipped to meet the needs of the children we're receiving" (Interview, Michigan Educational Association representative, 03/11/91). abuse and Teachers untrained in working with children of neglect improvement goals school attendance. would for out improved of necessity self esteem create and school increased From their perspective, just getting kids to school with their self esteem intact takes precedence over other possible school improvement issues. Sometimes the requirements of the policy conflict with the realities of the school. Insufficient time for collaboration, limited training for school improvement goal setting and goal measurement, and decreased parental involvement and support make it difficult for school improvers to translate building level decision making into individual classroom practice. Greater demands are made upon their time and resources by Public Act 25 requirements, but $400 per building and $25 per pupil incentives may not be sufficient for the sweeping reform originally intended with this law. Improving school quality will require additional resources in the form of dollars, collaboration, on-going training, and time. Much can be done with what currently exists. Some school improvement teams had expanded or restructured their days to create more time for teacher collaboration. Two teams were meeting on their own time without pay to engage in school improvement activities. All four principals talked about the 223 need for more staff development. Laura said, "this one shot in the arm approach just isn't enough" (Interview, 04/92). More time and additional resources are required if sweeping reform is to occur. Policy Maturity An observer of policy implementation will notice that the shape a policy takes changes not only another but also over a span of from one setting to time as well. If implementation activities of PA2 5 were to be examined from an historical perspective, one would discover that local implementors use the policy at different times for different purposes (Kirst and Jung,1980). enact new policy, implementation implementors those scene. adjusting new Furthermore, as legislators mandates Observers to changing changing state requirements play would, local a role on the therefore, needs see as well as in an attempt to satisfy both. Implementation is affected as a policy matures over time. In the case of PA25, when it was first adopted, there were four components, the annual report, school improvement accreditation and core curriculum written into the law. the annual reports and school plan, Only improvement plans were fully implemented in the early stages of PA25 compliance. At that time, ISD's provided training for local districts in how to prepare annual reports and school improvement plans. Workshops were held across the state offering advice about what to include in an annual report and school improvement 224 plan as well as how to plan an annual meeting for the public. As the policy has matured over time, structures have been put into place at implementation of state the and core county levels curriculum and supporting accreditation components of PA25. Only in the last three years have structures to support the implementation of a core curriculum been put into place. Now, the Michigan Department of Education and a centrally located university have entered into a partnership to assist local districts in developing a core curriculum in accordance with the law's requirement. More recently, in what local schools call the legislative Christmas package of December 24, 1993, PA335 and 339 were written to enhance PA25. These laws revise the state's financial aid to schools and alter accreditation requirements. Now, local districts are to adopt the state's core curriculum in math, science, reading, history, geography, economics, American government, and writing. Furthermore, accreditation has shifted from an incentive based program to a requirement that if all schools in the district are not accredited, the district forfeits five percent of its state aid. With PA335 and 339, staffs are required to design goals and staff performance. development activities based upon student According to this new legislation, sixty-five percent of the school's population is required to perform above the fiftieth percentile on a standardized test within a six year period of time or the district will forfeit state aid. 225 Principals and staffs adapted to changed accreditation standards in 1991 and a historical perspective will further illuminate compliance activities as PA3 3 5 and 3 39 supplement PA25. with When PA25 was first adopted, it provided school staffs flexibility improvement in developing plans. The goals and accreditation designing and core school curriculum structures of the law were not in place at the time and staffs had the flexibility to design goals based upon local needs alone. A continued investigation of PA25 implementation will uncover how these accreditation latest structures of core curriculum and will continue to shape policy compliance activities across settings and over time. Suggestions For Further Study The conclusions drawn in this study can only be generalized to this elementary population sample. Therefore, it would be helpful to examine the intent of the policy with the actions taking results place upon from it in a multi-site complying secondary comparative case sites. The study might be quite different if collected at the secondary level. This study focused only on actively complying sites where the effects of policy are muted and downsized conflicting local needs and conditions. because of What is occurring in sites where principals do not indicate they see a usefulness in the policy? We have seen why these school improvers chose elements of the law to meet local needs and chose, therefore, to comply. What local conditions inhibit the use of the 226 policy in non complying schools? The four proactive sites from this work would also be useful for further study. Only building level activities were examined with this work. Perhaps classroom observations and interviews with students would yield additional information about the effects of building level decision making upon individual classroom practice. This work only examined during a three-month window. school improvement activities A two to three year follow-up study conducted in each of the four sites would allow for a comparison of policy activities over a period of time. Another approach to policy study might be to examine and contrast the activities of Morritz and Montego with those of Hale and Havendale. Both the former schools had been engaged in school improvement activities for more than three years before Public Act 25 became law while the latter were new to the school improvement process. A comparison of more experienced school improvers with those of less experience might help in determining how time is a variable in the effects of policy outcomes. This policy study identified differences compliance that were dependent upon affluent, suburban school local improvers had in policy settings. already moved The to curricular discussion while their colleagues in urban, rural and small town settings were parents and motivating students. in other suburban, rural, concentrating on involving Are these conditions present urban, and small town settings? 227 Also, have staffs in other affluent, suburban settings moved into discussion of the core curriculum or is that a unique response at the Morritz site? Are other urban and rural districts using PA25 to involve parents and motivate students? Finally, now that lawmakers have school improvement plans and annual reports available to examine, how do they view the intent of the law? now, Are there components of the law they would in retrospect, add, delete or alter? How have local compliance activities influenced their thinking in terms of mandating school reform? Summary State and federal agencies have attempted over the past several decades to change practice within schools. Those who design change policy often assume a direct relationship exists between the input of policy intent and the outcomes of policy action. As this study has outlined, local conditions have a significant impact upon what happens to a policy when reaches the local level. it The decisions principals and staffs make concerning the usefulness of a policy to solve local problems during and the context compliance disposition. specific activities strategies directly affect they a employ policy's APPENDICES Appendix A SURVEY QUESTIONS AGREE UNDECIDED DISAGREE I am aware of the requirements of Public Act 25 3 2 1 3 2 1 3 2 1 community 3 2 1 board of education 3 2 1 superintendent 3 2 1 teachers 3 2 1 3 2 1 In my opinion, this building is complying with PA25 In my opinion, this building is complying: a. to avoid the 5% State aid penalty b. because of pressure from the: c. because of our commitment to school improvement I personally view PA25 as: a. a negative factor 3 2 1 b. a hindrance 3 2 1 c. irrelevant 3 2 1 d. needed 3 2 1 e. an opportunity 3 2 1 f. significant 3 2 1 I am receiving the greatest support for compliance with PA25from: a. the community 3 2 1 b. the board of education 3 2 1 c. other administrators 3 2 1 d. teachers 3 2 1 228 229 6. In my opinion, regarding their knowledge of PA25 requirements, the people in this building are: a. highly informed 3 2 1 b. moderately informed 3 2 1 c. uninformed 3 2 1 7. In my opinion, the people in this building view PA25 as: a. a negative factor 3 2 1 b. a hindrance 3 2 1 c. irrelevant 3 2 1 d. needed 3 2 1 e. an opportunity 3 2 1 f. significant 3 2 1 a. In my opinion, concerning their involvement with PA25 compliance, the people in this building are: a. highly involved 3 2 1 b. moderately involved 3 2 1 c. uninvolved 3 2 1 9. About school improvement, I am: lO. a. highly informed 3 2 1 b. moderately informed 3 2 1 c. uninformed 3 2 1 Concerning my commitment to school improvement I a m : a. highly informed 3 2 1 b. moderately informed 3 2 1 c. uninformed 3 2 1 230 11. Concerning my involvement in school improvement 1 am: a. highly informed 3 2 1 b. moderately informed 3 2 1 c. uniformed 3 2 1 12. In my opinion, concerning their knowledge about school improvement the people in this building are: a. highly informed 3 2 1 b. moderately informed 3 2 1 c. uninformed 3 2 1 13. In my opinion, concerning their commitment to school improvement, the people in this building are: a. highly informed 3 2 1 b. moderately informed 3 2 1 c. uninformed 3 2 1 14. In my opinion, concerning their involvement in Bchool improvement, the people in this building are: a. highly informed 3 2 1 b. moderately informed 3 2 1 c. uninformed 3 2 1 15. Would you be willing to participate in a policy implementation study? 16. Is there anything else you would like to add about PA25 or school improvement ? Comments: Appendix B INTERVIEW QUESTIONS - PRINCIPALS 1. Tell me about yourself, why you became a principal, some of the expectations you have for yourself and your organization, and some of the challenges you face. 2. Describe the setting you work in, your community, parents, students, the staff here. 3. Describe your involvement in school improvement, your own, the people in this building, parents, community, the district as a whole. 4. What are some of the goals you/the staff have reach these established to improve this school? 5. How do you/how does goals? this staff plan to What things/strategies will you/the staff need to accomplish to reach these goals? 6. Are there strategies you use in this building that you would not use in another elementary setting? they? 7. Why? What role, What are Why not? if any, does Public Act 25 play in all of this? 8. What is your own personal view of policy mandates? 9. How does your school compare to itself a year ago, two years ago? 231 232 10. What, in your opinion, needs to be done to make this a better school? better school? How do you go about making this a Appendix c INTERVIEW QUESTIONS - SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT TEAMS 1. Why is your building engaged in PA25 compliance? 2. In what way, if any, does PA25 compliance relate to your building's school improvement activities? 3. What are some of your school improvement goals? How were the they established? Who was involved in process? 4. How do the people in this building plan to meet these goals? What plans/strategies will you use to accomplish these goals? 5. What role should the principal play in school principal play in school improvement? 6. What role does your improvement? 7. How does your school compare to itself a year ago, two years ago? Why? How do you know? What do you use to measure? 8. What, in your opinion, needs to be done to make this a better school? How do you go about making this a better school? 9. How does your school compare to itself a year ago, two years ago? Why? How do you know? measure? 233 What do you use to 234 10. What, in your opinion, needs to be done to make this a better school? better school? 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