February 2016: The Journal of Communication & Education
Read my article on how to improve world language programs in private and public schools under the section of "Steps to a New World Order." http://languagemagazine.com/

“Leading schools by example, through autonomy and accountability”

By: Joaquín Fernández-Castro

School leaders should model excellence, honesty and integrity and provide autonomy to each department and faculty member to achieve the mission and vision agreed upon by the school community. To be effective, the critical role of a servant leader is to unlock the potential for excellence for each member of the school and attract additional outstanding students and faculty. A school leader needs to focus on the development of innovative school programs that are mission oriented, data informed and will bring the school to its highest level of accomplishments. How can leaders achieve a school organization that delivers excellent results?

Each department should be autonomous and accountable within their fields: responsible for innovation, professional development, setting specific benchmarks, and evaluating and accomplishing results in the implementation of the school’s mission and vision. Departmental results should be rewarded for reaching or exceeding the benchmarks. Non-academic and non-teaching departments could use specific benchmarks appropriate for their respective fields and be rewarded accordingly. Excellence is only possible through accountability. To be effective, accountability requires autonomy to devise how to reach or exceed benchmarks and actual results need to be rewarded in a meaningful way.

Accountability must include objective metrics such as student results at national (AP, SAT, ACT or subject specific) or international (IB, PISA) exams but they should be only one of SEVERAL benchmarks. Departments should advocate and decide on additional objective benchmarks, which may include student retention, the actual number of students taking the most rigorous classes, course evaluations, class observations, etc. Other benchmarks could also include subjective students and faculty surveys. If incorporated, these surveys should be accountable to professional standards and methodologies. Subjective surveys should be put in the context of all the other objective measures. Together, these benchmarks can identify areas for improvement, help outline specific and data informed action plans and measure progress in the pursuit of excellence.

Striving for excellence also means hiring the best and most qualified and diverse teachers and staff. This may require a discussion with all the school constituencies about establishing competitive compensation packages and a mentorship structure to attract and retain talented professionals. Inclusivity and diversity should not only refer to hiring practices, financial support and admissions but also to internal procedures, opportunities and support for minority faculty and students to thrive within the school.

All major decisions and changes affecting the school’s future or its mission and vision, should be openly discussed with ALL faculty and constituencies BEFORE a final decision is made. A school cannot be an inclusive and a diverse community unless the voices of its faculty and constituents are heard.  Decisions affecting the school’s future should be made with transparency and after listening to all points of view.

Schools must hire visionary and effective leaders and senior administrators, since the challenges to reach educational excellence are ever present. As difficult as it is to reach the highest level of educational accomplishment, it is even more difficult to maintain it. This requires a committed and clear thinking leadership, able to articulate a vision for the continuous accountability and improvement of the school. A true leader should be ever vigilant of the competition and aware of national and international educational trends.

“A vision for educational excellence” By: Joaquín Fernández-Castro

ALL children can reach their full potential when provided with the opportunities and structures conducive to building upon their gifts and motivate their curiosity. Achieving educational excellence requires talented faculty and staff properly trained and motivated as well as a rigorous and high quality curricula providing all students with opportunities to reach and develop their full potential. A forward looking school should establish an innovative program that will bring the school to its highest level of accomplishment. How can we design an outstanding educational program that delivers excellent results?

Achieving educational excellence and joyful rigor begins with the school leadership, senior administrators and faculty. We can only expect educational excellence from our students if we, the adults in charge of their education, continuously strive to reach and model excellence ourselves. For a school to achieve its full potential, the priorities should focus on the educational quality, scholarly skills and the rigor of all its academic programs.  After all, 21^st century skills can only be achieved through a rigorous curricula. Proven programs like the College Board Advanced Placement (AP), the International Baccalaureate (IB) or support programs like the Advancement via Individual Determination (AVID) together, with other rigorous programs of experiential, interdisciplinary and inquiry based learning can help fulfill the school’s mission to achieve educational excellence for all students. Extra-curricular programs will aim at growing the whole child in all aspects, including integrity and service to truth and others.

Educational excellence can be accomplished through a Liberal Arts curricula, balancing Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) with Social Sciences, Humanities and the Arts’ curricula, including extracurricular activities. Expecting rigor and high academic standards within that balanced curricula and establishing strong graduation requirements in all disciplines is the keystone to educational excellence and 21^st century skills. This may include requiring and expanding external benchmarks such as AP or other national (SAT, ACT, or subject specific) or international (IB, PISA) programs to measure progress and achievement. A critical element of this balanced curricula is an earlier, intensive and strong world languages requirement linked to a global studies program to prepare students for our increasingly interconnected world. Extra-curricular programs with high expectations are one additional element to achieve an excellent yet balanced education. Thoughtful discussion with all constituents needs to take place on any new or redesigned curriculum and how to develop and implement the programs adopted.

To best serve all students’ learning abilities, a flexible structure of regular, honors and accelerated tracks within ALL academic departments should be in place if the school has the resources and the number of students to do so. The AVID program could be part of this flexible structure, since it has a proven record of bringing “middle of the road” and struggling students to successfully complete rigorous courses. AVID, the IB program and the AP program also can provide opportunities for early acceleration for all students like the International Baccalaureate Primary Years Program (PYP) and Middle Years Program (MYP) or the College Board pre-AP courses. A discussion about the sequencing and pace of the whole curriculum K-12^th grade will be necessary to devise the most effective program. These topics need in-depth discussions with division heads, department chairs and faculty and with the larger school community such as the board of trustees and parent associations.

In order to provide the best pedagogical practices, the school needs to support professional development and training for all teachers and administrators. If a school adopts either the AP, IB, AVID programs (or a combination of all), the school should require and use the professional training resources and workshops established by these programs. If the school adopts its own unique program, it is critical for it to include a strong professional development component. Faculty and administrators’ training should be part of the professional development expectation. School scheduling and assessments should reflect the pedagogical needs of the curricula adopted. Opportunities and structures for students to reach their highest potential and support for training a dedicated and high quality faculty are the keys to academic excellence.

Princes of New York by Robin Lester, a former Headmaster at Trinity School in New York. This is an insightful and thought provoking fiction about intrigue and politics taking place at a top private independent school. You will not be able to put it down once you start reading it.
See his linkedin page https://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=AAkAAA4k0XUBBWWsdES_OjzGqTB2T-WxFHABDwU&authType=NAME_SEARCH&authToken=pDsk&locale=en_US&trk=tyah&trkInfo=clickedVertical%3Amynetwork%2CclickedEntityId%3A237293941%2CauthType%3ANAME_SEARCH%2Cidx%3A1-1-1%2CtarId%3A1442346519812%2Ctas%3ARobin%20Lester

Leadership Matters. What the Research Says About the Importance of Principal Leadership,  by tthe National Association of Secondary School Principals
http://www.naesp.org/sites/default/files/LeadershipMatters.pdf [PDF]What the Research Says About the Importance of Principal 

ACTFL: Who benefits from learning languages?

See http://www.actfl.org/advocacy/who-benefits

WHO BENEFITS

STUDENTS

PRE-K & ELEMENTARY

• Young people are most open to learning about new languages and cultures.
• Early language study leads to long sequence programs and proficiency.
• Starting early facilitates addition of more languages.
• Language study helps children develop cognitive skills.

MIDDLE SCHOOL

• Language learning leads to greater understanding of different cultures.
• Increasing language proficiency opens more opportunities in secondary study.
• Language study enhances problem-solving and critical thinking skills.
• The skills required in learning a language transfer to other academic subjects and improved performance in those subjects.

HIGH SCHOOL

• Developing proficiency in other languages broadens career options.
• Skills in languages other than English make those not bound for postsecondary study more attractive employment candidates in a wide range of careers where communicating with diverse customers is necessary.
• Good language achievement enhances a student’s college prospects and opens paths for a wider range of college-level fields of study.

COLLEGE

• The postsecondary experience can be greatly enhanced by study abroad and travel abroad programs when students have multilingual skills.
• This is the point of final career preparation, where language proficiency will greatly enhance their employment and future career prospects.
• Knowing another language will expose postsecondary students to career fields they might not have known about without this academic background.

COMMUNITY AND BUSINESS

• Solid language programs make the community and its schools more attractive to potential residents and employers.
• These programs contribute to a more diverse population and enhance the cultural experiences of all citizens.
• Offering language programs addresses the concerns and demands of parents in the community.
• Encouraging language learning helps develop a more valuable employment pool with contemporary skills.
• Acquisition of language skills increases business opportunities with minority groups within the community.
• Broader language skills help to improve the community by minimizing language barriers and building cross-cultural understanding.

- See more at: http://www.actfl.org/advocacy/who-benefits#sthash.nDIxKj17.dpuf

Insightful books on leadership, education reform and college admissions

Captain D. Michael Abrashoff, It's your ship. Management Techniques from the Best Damn Ship in the Navy. Business Plus, 2012.

Ken Iverson, Plan Talk. Lessons from a Business Maverick. John Wiley and Sons, 1998.

Amand Ripley, The Smartest Kids in the World and How They Got that way. Simon & Schuster, 2013.

Joel Klein, Lessons of Hope. How to Fix Our Schools. Harper Collins Publishers, 2014.

Kelly McGonigal, The Upside of Stress: Why Stress is Good for You, and How to Get Good at It. Avery Publishers, 2015.

Kegan, R & Lahey, L, Immunity to Change: How to Overcome It and Unlock Potential in Yourself and your Organization. Harvard Business Press, 2009.

Herminia Ibarra. Act Like a Leader. Think Like a Leader. Harvard Business Review, 2015

Morgen Witzel, Managin for Success: Spotting Danger Signals - and Fixing Problems Before They Happen. Bloomsbury, 2015

Jay Matthews, Harvard Schmarvard: Getting Beyond the Ivy League to the College That Is Best for You, 2003

Jay Matthews, Supertest: How the International Baccalaureate Can Strengthen Our Schools Hardcover – March 10, 2005

Jay Matthews, Question Everything: The Rise of AVID as America's Largest College Readiness Program Hardcover – April 27, 2015

Jay Matthews, Work Hard. Be Nice.: How Two Inspired Teachers Created the Most Promising Schools in America Paperback – January 20, 2009

Frank Bruni, Where You Go Is Not Who You'll Be: An Antidote to the College Admissions Mania, 2015

Michael Marmot, The Status Syndrome: How Social Standing Affects Our Health and Longevity Paperback – August 25, 2005

Micheel Marmot, The Health Gap: The Challenge of an Unequal World Hardcover – November 3, 2015

Julie Paterson Combs, Sandra Harris and  Stacey Edmonson, The trust Factor: Strategies for School Leaders. Routledge, 2013

Eva Moskowitz and Arin Lavinia, Mission Possible: How the Secrets of the Success Academies Can Work in Any School, John Wiley and Sons publishers, 2012.