Powerless to Powerful: Leadership for School Change

(Hardback)

Available Formats

Publishing Details

Classifications

Physical Properties

Description

The pressure is on. Throughout the country, educators and administrators are working hard to make sure students pass standardized tests and graduate. At the same time, teachers are overwhelmed by ever-increasing demands. Efforts at reforming schools often replicate the same approaches and net the same discouraging results. Staff at many schools feel defensive and powerless as a result of being unable to meet standards they didnt set and dont know how to achieve. This book describes a humanistic approach to implementing programs and systems that bring academic press, social support, and relational trust together in unique ways. Based on the understanding that old beliefs are changed by supporting new behaviors, the approach includes acquiring and using data in innovative and intentional ways. Properly conducted, the approach results in high morale, a sense of inclusiveness and success, increased efficacy, and improved metrics in all areas of education. The book includes the research and theory behind the approach, action steps for leaders, and lessons learned in the processuseful elements of success for any school.

Reviews

It is so refreshing to read a book about school reform from the point of view of the people who actually did the work.This book is proof that with dedicated, tenacious, and student-centered educatorsanything can happen! -- Becky Berg, Superintendent, Marysville School District, Past President ASCD
In this timely book, the authors share important lessons of a lived experience in school leadership in which a low-performing school was genuinely transformed into the opposite. And this account comes not from an inner-city in a large school system, but from a mid-size district that could exist anywhere in the nation. This well-written book is a must-read for every educator who embraces a commitment to success for all. -- Michael Dunn, EdD, Superintendent, North East Washington Educational Service District 101
In the current context of school systems, people often feel not only unloved, but also powerless. This bookshows that person-to-person relationships can restore the balancein leadership-impoverished school systems, turning them intoorganizationswhere peoplelisten, embody greater vitality, and act with love and courage. -- Shann Ray Ferch, author Forgiveness and Power in the Age of Atrocity: Servant Leadership as a Way of Life; National Endowment for the Arts Literature Fellow; professor of Leadership Studies, Gonzaga University
The work ofDr. Salinain high-poverty, high-minority, underachieving schools affirms that poverty is not a sickness, diversity is not a challenge to overcome, and hope is not a strategy for change. Powerless to Powerful combines the theory, the evidence-based research, and the proven practical application to truly transform your school and district. -- Trevor Greene, National Association of Secondary School Principals' 2013 National High School Principal of the Year

Author Bio

Charles Salina, PhD, was the turnaround principal at Sunnyside High School in Sunnyside, WA. He is currently chair of the Leadership and Administration Department in the School of Education at Gonzaga University. Suzann Girtz, PhD, is a former high school math and science teacher who now teaches research and assessment in the School of Education at Gonzaga University. Girtz also consults and does grant work, including evaluation, and is particularly interested in the areas of assessment and secondary school reform. Joanie Eppinga, MA, is the owner of Eagle Eye Editing & Writing (www.eagleeyeediting.com).