MAKING SCHOOL'S RELEVANT
According to a recent America's Promise Alliance report, only 51.8% of students in the 50 largest U.S. cities graduate from public high school. In 17 of those cities graduation rates fall below 50%. Suburban and rural-based public high school students do better, making the nationwide average to be 70%. What's wrong?
Here's what one astute Canadian administrator did to find out: Kelly Christopherson, a principal in a K-12 school in Saskatchewan, brought a group of high school kids together and asked them what they thought would be the characteristics of an effective school. They gave him four very significant characteristics:
1. A relevant curriculum
2. Broad connections with others (networks)
3. Transitioning skills to outside world
4. Lots of engagement with course work (participation).
It shouldn't be too difficult to build a relevant program around these four characteristics. Once an administrator knows what students (clients) want (need), she/he must bring teachers, parents, and students together into a truly collaborative planning effort to meet the real needs. In a relevant program, everyone matters. It can be very productive and meaningful when administrators drop their "boss" role and begin collaborating.
See www.crisisinschoolmanagement.com
