Moral and Values-Based Leadership

Moral and Values-Based LeadershipAnd School Improvementby Rosetta Stone Portuguese Michelle Fattig-Smith, Ed.S.Public school leaders today are somewhat like an heir receiving a handsome legacy from a distant relative, who neglected to include in the will instructions for maintaining the bequest, (Tyack Hansot, 1981, p. 14). Criticism of public education today may be due, in part, to technological advances outpacing the ability of schools to compete and the ensuing erosion of traditional authority;' past successes leading to more educated, critical, and vocal complainants; a pervasive doubt that true change and improvement can be made; and a certain level of ignorance regarding the true state of performance compared to past performance of our educational system (Schlecty, 2001, p. 21). Research shows that many school-level factors have been proposed to be the true basis for effectiveness in education (Marzano, 2003, p. 15); however, considering school factors alone do not provide an understanding of the overall climate of our culture and how outside factors affect teachers and students (Glickman, Gordon, Ross-Gordon, 2004, p. 33). There is more to school reform and school improvement than just getting the job done. School reform and school improvement must add value to the process by managing limited resources and maximizing outcomes through collaboration and capacity building (Sergiovanni, 2005, p. x). Criticism of Public EducationThere has always been a divide between educational policy and actual practice; therefore, meaningful Rosetta Stone Spanish and lasting school reform efforts have struggled. Policymakers continue to propose educational reforms that fail to consider real schools, educators, parents, and students (Plaut Sharkey, 2003). Unfortunately, the public does not always trust the reformers. While there appears to be agreement between the public and the reformers in a broad view regarding the goals of education, there remains a deep chasm in the perspectives on how best to meet these goals. Although more children are graduating than ever before, and more enrolling in college, dissatisfaction with public education, in urban areas in particular, stands at an all time high (Schorr, 1997, p. 245). School Factors in the Larger ContextPoverty dramatically affects growing numbers of children in our country today. As a group, children are America's poorest citizens, (Canestrari Marlowe, 2004, p. 85). The proportion of American children living in poverty has risen dramatically over the last decade and continues to rise at an alarming rate, and the greatest concentration of poverty tends to be found among single-headed households, particularly those headed by women (Turnbull, Turnbull, Shank, Smith, Leal, 2002, p. 10). Poverty, unemployment, bad housing, blighted and unkempt physical environments, single-parents, and married couples struggling to raise children, earn a living and make ends meet became yet a another facet of the malady of our distressed society (Taylor, 2002). Poverty impacts the ability to obtain adequate medical care, food, and shelter. The size of the school, quality of curriculum, resources, teachers' expectations, and potential for tracking has been an issue, and low income and Rosetta Stone English minority students are more likely to be in low ability classes or non-college-bound curriculum opportunities.