Examining the Attributes of Effective Schools

Although diverse school models exist, a fundamental question remains—how are we to know whether or not a school model is effective, and how can effectiveness be judged? A number of research studies focus on characteristics of effective schools. However, there is debate over which attributes should be considered when describing successful schools.

According to some researchers, student performance should be the primary indicator of a successful school. Other researchers propose that students’ social characteristics, such as personal growth should be included when determining effective schools. Another issue with school effectiveness research is that findings are predominantly based on research conducted in elementary schools or unique school settings in the inner city.  Consequently, it is suggested that these findings cannot be generalized to all schools.

 We benefit from a discussion of a number of attributes that influence school effectiveness.  As suggested above, the context of schooling will impact factors that contribute to effectiveness in specific schools. At the same time, there are attributes and factors that contribute to effectiveness across schooling contexts. By understanding an array of effectiveness attributes we are able to observe which attributes exist at a particular school and which, if adopted might facilitate effectiveness, given a particular school context. 

A 2008 study describes five common characteristics that make up an effective school; these characteristics, and the theory behind them has also been described as the five-factor theory. The first factor is quality leadership.  In other words, students perform better where the principal provides strong leadership.  Effective leaders were visible, able to successfully convey the school’s goals and visions; collaborated with teachers to enhance their skills; and were involved in the discovery of and solutions to problems.

The second factor is having high expectations of students, as well as teacher.  High expectations of students have repeatedly been shown to have a positive impact on students’ performance. More attention should be paid to high expectations of teachers. In other words, teachers who are expected to teach at high levels of effectiveness are able to reach the level of expectations, particularly when teacher evaluations and teacher professional development is geared toward improving instructional quality.

The third characteristic of a successful school is the ongoing screening of student performance and development.  Schools should use assessment data to compare their students with others from across the country. Effective use of assessment data allows schools to identify problematic areas of learning at the classroom and school levels, so that solutions can be generated as to how to best address the problems.

The fourth characteristic of a successful school is the existence of goals and direction.  According to research, the successful school principal actively constructs goals and then effectively communicates them to appropriate individuals (i.e., students, teachers, community-at-large).  School principals must also be open and willing to incorporate innovation into goals for school processes and practices. Hence it is important to invite input from all stakeholders in the process of developing school goals. Student performance has been shown to improve in schools were all in the school community work toward goals that are communicated and shared among all in the learning environment.

The fifth and final factor of a successful school is the extent to which the school is secure and organized. For maximum learning to occur, students need to feel secure.  Respect is a quality that is promoted and is a fundamental aspect of a safe school.  There are also a number of trained staff and programs, such as social workers, who work with problem students before situations get out of hand.

Apart from the five factors of a successful school already mentioned, the size of the school seems to be a school effectiveness factor.  Research has found that the smaller the school, the better students perform, especially in the case of older students.  This is the rationale behind the concept of schools-within-schools. Students in smaller learning environments feel more connected to their peers and teachers, pass classes more often, and have a higher probability of going to college.

A number of school districts view preschool education as a factor that will influence overall effectiveness across all schools located within the district. Evidence suggests that children with preschool experiences fare better academically and socially as they enter kindergarten and beyond. Experiences in literacy and numeracy among early learners not only prepares preschoolers for a kindergarten curriculum that has heighten expectations of prior knowledge, but also helps identify early learners who will need additional support to ensure they are able to have positive learning experiences later on.

Additional factors that influence effective schools include time to learn, teacher quality, and school and parental trust. Research supports the commonsensical view that the more time a student spends learning, and the more efficiently that time is used, the higher their achievement.   Schools that find creative ways to extend time on learning will likely be more effective. Further, schools with high quality teachers also tend to be more effective. Schools able to hire teachers from high quality teacher education programs increase the possibility of being an effective school.

However, school effectiveness can also be influenced by the frequency, relevancy, and quality of the teacher professional development offered by the school and/or school district. Trust and parental participation are also features of a successful school.  Trust between all parties of the school community is vital for enhancing the school’s effectiveness because it supports the prospect that parents and teachers believe in the motives and actions of each other.  Parental participation is also important because it sends the message to students that the adults in their lives—both teachers and parents—believe in the importance of education and are willing to make time to support students’ educational experiences and efforts.

Historically Black Colleges and Universities Are Worth Saving

If you haven’t been paying much attention to the debate concerning the relevance and effectiveness of historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs), now is the time to sit up and take notice. If you don’t, there is a chance it could soon be too late. Over the last two decades, we have seen the number of HBCUs in the United States sharply decline and this greatly concerns me. Those who believe in the benefits of HBCUs need to stand up and let their voices be heard, before these important institutions are gone forever.  

HBCUs are coming under fire for everything from not improving their failing infrastructures to producing lower graduation rates, and more. But we need to take a moment to look at why people should pull together, rally around them, and help them make it through turbulent economic times. HBCUs have helped to educate some of the most prominent African American figures in this country’s history, including Jesse Jackson, Samuel L. Jackson, Martin Luther King Jr., Spike Lee, and Thurgood Marshall, among many others.

HBCUs provide cultural benefits, as well as providing an affordable education. This cultural foundation has been important to the African American community for over a century. Our HBCUs were there, supporting the community and educating our people, long before other colleges would even let them through the door. So are we saying that, just because mainstream American colleges will now let black students in, we should abandon the institutions that supported us and helped us get to where we are today?

HBCUs are a part of African American tradition, going back generations. They were not only there during the struggle; they helped our people get through it! We owe them our support and respect. They were there for us, and it is time, right now, for us to be there for them.

The biggest reason that HBCUs are fading is because they are often lack sufficient funding, which makes it difficult for them to survive. Without adequate funding, they will end up deteriorating and are apt to become a thing of the past. The low completion rate at HBCUs has also been a contributing factor to their demise. But I believe that it is the other way around: the lack of funding has contributed to the lower graduation rates. HBCUs have to deal with the fact that many of their academically eligible students drop out of college each year because their financial needs cannot be met with Pell Grants and other aid. A large portion of HBCUs have small endowments, so there isn’t a huge rainy day fund to tap into when financial challenges arise.

I received my Masters and Doctoral level training from Jackson State University. Recently, Washington Monthly magazine ranked Jackson State University number 9 among 258 colleges and universities across the country in terms of social mobility, research and service ratings. This attests to the fact that many of our HBCUs are achieving astounding results, against all odds. In my home state of Mississippi, I grew up attending athletic and cultural functions at Tougaloo College, Alcorn State University, Mississippi Valley State University and of course the aforementioned Jackson State University. These universities are sources of great pride and a part of the African American intellectual tradition.

Now is the time when people who support HBUCs, including advocates, organizations, faculty, students and alumni, need to rally together to help save this historical piece of African American history. If these groups come together and make their voices heard, we will be able to save these institutions. But make no mistake, if there is no rally, if there is no coming together to let the powers-that-be know that we want them saved, then I predict that they will be gone in 50 or so years. And they will not return. Nobody is going to turn back the hands of time and open another historically black college or university, because it wouldn’t be historic. Right now, they are historic, and they need our support and rescue!

Many people are currently asking whether HBCUs are worth saving in the first place. I ask, how can these historical institutions, which represent African American culture, tradition and struggle for educational equality, not be considered worth saving? If they are not worth saving, then it makes it very difficult to find any other piece of African American heritage that is worth saving. These educational institutions are symbols of our people that must not be ignored.

I urge those who care about these institutions to speak out, show your support, and demand that adequate funding be provided to them, so that they can make it through these turbulent economic times. It’s not just about saving a college or university. This is a metaphor for saving ourselves! With proper funding, these schools will thrive, carrying on our culture and traditions as they were meant to do.

In the words of the great Eldridge Cleaver, “You’re either part of the solution or part of the problem.” Which will you be?

Examining the Impact of Culture on Academic Performance

A person’s culture and upbringing has a profound effect on how they see the world and how they process information.  This fact was discussed by Richard Nisbett in his work, The Geography of Thought: How Asians and Westerners think differently…and why Nisbett worked with psychologists in Japan and China and determined that the holistic way of viewing the world typical of many students from those countries differed from that of their American counterparts, who tended to view the world in parts or distinct classes of objects that could each be defined by a set of rules. 

In other words, the Asian children see the world in terms of the relationship between things, whereas the American children see the world in terms of the objects as distinct entities. This information is helpful when we consider how cultural background might influence approach to learning and school performance.  There are a number of theories that seek to explain differences in school performance among different racial and ethnic groups.  Three theories stand out: the cultural deficit theory, the expectation theory, and the cultural difference theory.

The cultural deficit theory states that some students do poorly in school because the linguistic, social, and cultural nature of the home environment does not prepare them for the work they will be required to do in school. As an example, some students may not have as many books read to them as are read to children in other homes. Not being able to read has a negative influence on their vocabulary development. Vocabulary development may also be stifled by the amount and nature of verbal interaction in the home. As a result, some children arrive at school lacking the level of vocabulary development expected. The cultural deficit theory proposes that deficiencies in the home environment result in shortcomings in skills, knowledge, and behaviors that contribute to poor school performance.

Expectation theory focuses on how teachers treat students. Teachers often expect less from students of certain racial, ethnic, and cultural backgrounds.  When teachers expect students to perform poorly, they approach teaching in ways that align with their low levels of expectations.  In these instances, students tend to perform at the low levels expected of them by teachers.

Rosenthal and Jacobson tested this theory in their Pygmalion Effect study. A group of teachers were told that their students were due for an intellectual growth spurt during the school year.  Even though the students were average in terms of academic performance, the teachers interacted with them based on this expectation. All students in the experimental group improved both academically and socially by the end of the year. Based on the notion of a self-fulfilling prophecy, students who experience high expectations seek to reach the level of expected behaviors. Correspondingly, students who experience low expectations act to meet the level of behavior expected of them.

The cultural difference theory is based on the idea that students who are raised in different cultural settings may approach education and learn in different ways.  It is important for teachers to be aware of the difference between the school atmosphere and the home environment.  People from different cultural traditions may have an approach to education that differs from the mainstream approach used in American schools. For instance, differences can be noted in the Polynesian concept of learning, whereby younger children are generally taught by older children rather than by adults.  This is a very different approach to learning and one that may need to be considered in an American school that is attended by Polynesian students.

Teachers need to ensure that they incorporate methods of teaching in their classrooms that accommodate various beliefs and cultural notions students bring to school. This requires each teacher to develop an understanding of their student’s culture, but also to know who their students are as individuals. It is also important for teachers to ensure that they treat all students the same and to have high expectations for each one, so that they will all strive to reach their full potential.

Examining the Attributes of Effective Schools

Although diverse school models exist, a fundamental question remains—how are we to know whether or not a school model is effective, and how can effectiveness be judged? A number of research studies focus on characteristics of effective schools. However, there is debate over which attributes should be considered when describing successful schools.

According to some researchers, student performance should be the primary indicator of a successful school. Other researchers propose that students’ social characteristics, such as personal growth should be included when determining effective schools. Another issue with school effectiveness research is that findings are predominantly based on research conducted in elementary schools or unique school settings in the inner city.  Consequently, it is suggested that these findings cannot be generalized to all schools.

 We benefit from a discussion of a number of attributes that influence school effectiveness.  As suggested above, the context of schooling will impact factors that contribute to effectiveness in specific schools. At the same time, there are attributes and factors that contribute to effectiveness across schooling contexts. By understanding an array of effectiveness attributes we are able to observe which attributes exist at a particular school and which, if adopted might facilitate effectiveness, given a particular school context. 

A 2008 study describes five common characteristics that make up an effective school; these characteristics, and the theory behind them has also been described as the five-factor theory. The first factor is quality leadership.  In other words, students perform better where the principal provides strong leadership.  Effective leaders were visible, able to successfully convey the school’s goals and visions; collaborated with teachers to enhance their skills; and were involved in the discovery of and solutions to problems.

The second factor is having high expectations of students, as well as teacher.  High expectations of students have repeatedly been shown to have a positive impact on students’ performance. More attention should be paid to high expectations of teachers. In other words, teachers who are expected to teach at high levels of effectiveness are able to reach the level of expectations, particularly when teacher evaluations and teacher professional development is geared toward improving instructional quality.

The third characteristic of a successful school is the ongoing screening of student performance and development.  Schools should use assessment data to compare their students with others from across the country. Effective use of assessment data allows schools to identify problematic areas of learning at the classroom and school levels, so that solutions can be generated as to how to best address the problems.

The fourth characteristic of a successful school is the existence of goals and direction.  According to research, the successful school principal actively constructs goals and then effectively communicates them to appropriate individuals (i.e., students, teachers, community-at-large).  School principals must also be open and willing to incorporate innovation into goals for school processes and practices. Hence it is important to invite input from all stakeholders in the process of developing school goals. Student performance has been shown to improve in schools were all in the school community work toward goals that are communicated and shared among all in the learning environment.

The fifth and final factor of a successful school is the extent to which the school is secure and organized. For maximum learning to occur, students need to feel secure.  Respect is a quality that is promoted and is a fundamental aspect of a safe school.  There are also a number of trained staff and programs, such as social workers, who work with problem students before situations get out of hand.

Apart from the five factors of a successful school already mentioned, the size of the school seems to be a school effectiveness factor.  Research has found that the smaller the school, the better students perform, especially in the case of older students.  This is the rationale behind the concept of schools-within-schools. Students in smaller learning environments feel more connected to their peers and teachers, pass classes more often, and have a higher probability of going to college.

A number of school districts view preschool education as a factor that will influence overall effectiveness across all schools located within the district. Evidence suggests that children with preschool experiences fare better academically and socially as they enter kindergarten and beyond. Experiences in literacy and numeracy among early learners not only prepares preschoolers for a kindergarten curriculum that has heighten expectations of prior knowledge, but also helps identify early learners who will need additional support to ensure they are able to have positive learning experiences later on.

Additional factors that influence effective schools include time to learn, teacher quality, and school and parental trust. Research supports the commonsensical view that the more time a student spends learning, and the more efficiently that time is used, the higher their achievement.   Schools that find creative ways to extend time on learning will likely be more effective. Further, schools with high quality teachers also tend to be more effective. Schools able to hire teachers from high quality teacher education programs increase the possibility of being an effective school.

However, school effectiveness can also be influenced by the frequency, relevancy, and quality of the teacher professional development offered by the school and/or school district. Trust and parental participation are also features of a successful school.  Trust between all parties of the school community is vital for enhancing the school’s effectiveness because it supports the prospect that parents and teachers believe in the motives and actions of each other.  Parental participation is also important because it sends the message to students that the adults in their lives—both teachers and parents—believe in the importance of education and are willing to make time to support students’ educational experiences and efforts.

Becoming Aware of the Learning Differences and Preferences of Boys and Girls

While debate continues on whether or not differences in gender are determined more by biology or society, one thing is patently clear: gender awareness is central to working in schools where adolescents are the predominant school population. In the middle school years, parents and teachers often observe a distinct shift in interest levels and in personality among students, as raging hormones take over.  Early adolescence is often spent in a cloud, struggling with questions about what it means to be female and what it means to be male. 

All too often, this has a profound impact on academic performance. Male and female brain development occurs in different areas of the brain, at dissimilar rates.  This leads to disparity and discrepancy in the ability to master the material successfully. Moreover, middle-school aged students appear to be frustrated with learning.  The natural curiosity of elementary school children with their inquisitive enthusiasm for school suddenly disappears under distraction due to social and physical development, apathy, and a torrent of hormone-induced emotion.

Gender can be viewed as a social construct with culturally based expectations of appropriate behavior for girls and boys, which differs. There are also physiological differences in girls and boys that impact their learning and behavior. Both are important to understand to ensure the development of girls and boys are supported by school culture and climates.

Developmental Differences: One Brain Running on Two Tracks

Research over the past few decades has demonstrated that the differences between male and female learning are rooted in physiology.  Boys’ brains develop differently than girls’ brains.  The areas of the brain involved in language and fine motor skills mature earlier in girls than in boys. Many studies show that male and female brains are structurally different.  This makes it easy to understand why more boys are identified with behavior issues, attention disorders and learning disabilities.

 One solution would involve schools restructuring the environment to arrange more time for movement, and teachers becoming more noise-tolerant.  Silent and seated is not a comfortable learning condition for boys, whose brains require more physical movement.  Boys may also tend to push the margins of authority more often, and engage each other in pecking order activities in order to establish hierarchical positions among themselves. Many boys panic over their lack of status, and the stress produces cortisol, which triggers the “fight or flight” instincts.  Combined with other hormonal issues, this often leads to misbehavior and academic struggles.

Studies indicate that girls tend to be superior in verbal abilities and that this tendency seems to cross cultural and racial boundaries.  Similar findings were shown through studies in South Africa—gender discrepancy percentages were roughly the same in blacks, whites and Indians.  Yet another study with Japanese and American students in Miami, Florida, produced the same results.  As a result, the differences in educational styles are basically innate and biologically based.

Males and females also differ in their preferred modes of receiving information.  Females prefer uni-modal learning, whereas males prefer multi-modal learning.  According to a learning style preference study conducted by Wehrwein, Lujan, & DiCarlo, 54.2 percent of females preferred a single mode of information presentation, while only 12.5 percent of males preferred this mode of information presentation.  Males tended to prefer multiple modes of information presentation, with 58.3 percent being quad-modal.  A responsive teacher might be wise to offer verbal as well as written instructions, a chart and a how-to-diagram, in the case of quad-modal learners. 

Because males and females rely on different areas of the brain for accurate language transmittal, the genders are processing language information differently, which may explain why teachers’ instructions are sometimes perceived differently. Recognizing the psycho-emotional differences in male and female learning styles and the physiological differences in their rate of cognitive development helps us understand why there is no single solution that will be truly effective for both sexes “equally.”

Socialization styles also influence learning climate preferences among girls and boys.  Girls tend to prefer a non-competitive learning environment and cooperative learning situations.  Boys enjoy the competition and find the win-lose structure motivational.  Girls are more organized, take better notes, keep journals, set goals for themselves and ask teachers for help and clarification.  Boys do not take advantage of help as often. Being aware of the aforementioned differences between boys and girls can assist teacher to successfully educate both genders equally.

Utilizing Culturally Responsive Curriculum in the Classroom

Instead of the “color blind” approach to instruction where students’ race or ethnic background is overlooked in the interests of equality, it is wise for teachers to be “color aware” in designing their classroom climate and curriculum.  Although students are individuals, they are also products of their environments—no one grows up in a vacuum.  A multicultural society is best served by a culturally responsive curriculum.  Schools that acknowledge the diversity of their student population use this model as an effective tool for school unification, as well as to promote cultural understanding.

 As a result, a culturally responsive curriculum is both inclusive in that it ensures that all students are included within all aspects of the school and particularistic in that it acknowledges and respects the unique differences students may possess. A culturally responsive curriculum also encourages teachers’ understanding and recognition of each student’s non-school cultural life and background, and provides a means for them to incorporate this information into the curriculum, thus promoting inclusion.

Schools have the responsibility to teach all students how to synthesize cultural differences into their knowledge base, in order to facilitate students’ personal and professional success in a diverse world.  A culturally responsive curriculum helps students from a minority ethnic/racial background develop a sense of identity as individuals, as well as proudly identify with their particular cultural group.  Schools with a culturally responsive curriculum strive to develop a balanced understanding of history—a perspective that reflects both the positive and negative experiences of all of America’s ancestors.  It is also important for teachers of “mono-cultural” classrooms to integrate multicultural learning experiences into the curriculum. Multicultural learning experiences tend to build a tolerant, accepting and non-discriminatory classroom environment. It fosters empathy and appreciation for other cultures, and prevents prejudices built upon ignorance and lack of exposure.

According to education icon, Gloria Ladson-Billing, students in mono-cultural learning environments should also be exposed to the history and perspectives of diverse populations. Such learning experiences expands their understanding of individuals they will likely encounter in a diverse adult world.

Examining the Impact of Culture on Academic Performance

A person’s culture and upbringing has a profound effect on how they see the world and how they process information.  This fact was discussed by Richard Nisbett in his work, The Geography of Thought: How Asians and Westerners think differently…and why Nisbett worked with psychologists in Japan and China and determined that the holistic way of viewing the world typical of many students from those countries differed from that of their American counterparts, who tended to view the world in parts or distinct classes of objects that could each be defined by a set of rules. 

In other words, the Asian children see the world in terms of the relationship between things, whereas the American children see the world in terms of the objects as distinct entities. This information is helpful when we consider how cultural background might influence approach to learning and school performance.  There are a number of theories that seek to explain differences in school performance among different racial and ethnic groups.  Three theories stand out: the cultural deficit theory, the expectation theory, and the cultural difference theory.

The cultural deficit theory states that some students do poorly in school because the linguistic, social, and cultural nature of the home environment does not prepare them for the work they will be required to do in school. As an example, some students may not have as many books read to them as are read to children in other homes. Not being able to read has a negative influence on their vocabulary development. Vocabulary development may also be stifled by the amount and nature of verbal interaction in the home. As a result, some children arrive at school lacking the level of vocabulary development expected. The cultural deficit theory proposes that deficiencies in the home environment result in shortcomings in skills, knowledge, and behaviors that contribute to poor school performance.

Expectation theory focuses on how teachers treat students. Teachers often expect less from students of certain racial, ethnic, and cultural backgrounds.  When teachers expect students to perform poorly, they approach teaching in ways that align with their low levels of expectations.  In these instances, students tend to perform at the low levels expected of them by teachers.

Rosenthal and Jacobson tested this theory in their Pygmalion Effect study. A group of teachers were told that their students were due for an intellectual growth spurt during the school year.  Even though the students were average in terms of academic performance, the teachers interacted with them based on this expectation. All students in the experimental group improved both academically and socially by the end of the year. Based on the notion of a self-fulfilling prophecy, students who experience high expectations seek to reach the level of expected behaviors. Correspondingly, students who experience low expectations act to meet the level of behavior expected of them.

The cultural difference theory is based on the idea that students who are raised in different cultural settings may approach education and learn in different ways.  It is important for teachers to be aware of the difference between the school atmosphere and the home environment.  People from different cultural traditions may have an approach to education that differs from the mainstream approach used in American schools. For instance, differences can be noted in the Polynesian concept of learning, whereby younger children are generally taught by older children rather than by adults.  This is a very different approach to learning and one that may need to be considered in an American school that is attended by Polynesian students.

Teachers need to ensure that they incorporate methods of teaching in their classrooms that accommodate various beliefs and cultural notions students bring to school. This requires each teacher to develop an understanding of their student’s culture, but also to know who their students are as individuals. It is also important for teachers to ensure that they treat all students the same and to have high expectations for each one, so that they will all strive to reach their full potential.