Making Change at a Junior High School: One Principal's Sense of It.

ABSTRACT The current emphasis on school reform makes many demands on principals. The case study in this article describes the experiences of one urban junior high school principal who was part of a five-year federal grant that targets schools with at-risk youth. Themes that emerged from this qualitative study include school culture, educator and student self-efficacy, and the principal as a moral leader. MAKING CHANGE AT A JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL: ONE PRINCIPAL'S SENSE OF IT In order to meet the needs of the twenty-first century, public schools are under pressure to change. To address the demands currently placed on schools, building principals are frequently involved in leading change efforts by themselves or in collaboration with others. Numerous authors have linked the leadership and reform efforts of principals to improved school culture and instructional practices (DuFour, 2002; Fullan & Hargreaves, 1996; Short & Greer, 2002; Sparks, 2002). Principals, as change agents, must be prepared to overcome some barriers to collaboration and professional development in their buildings. Often, however, the experiences and needs of building principals are overlooked during the change process. This study attempts to address that problem. The case study reported in this article is part of a larger study that was designed to answer the question, "What are the experiences of an urban junior high school principal involved in a collaborative change effort? " The data describe the experiences of one urban junior high school principal who was part of GEAR UP, a program created through a five-year federal grant that targets schools with at-risk youth. After a description of the Gear UP program, I will briefly describe the setting and methodology for the study and then review findings by discussing three themes that emerged from the data analysis. Each part of the results section includes a brief literature review relative to the theme, the principal's reflections, and a description and analysis based on the author's experiences and knowledge. GEAR UP As part of a collaborative five-year federal grant with the university, Ravine Junior High School committed itself to restructuring in order to improve teaching and learning. GEAR UP (Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness Programs) is the result of a United States Department of Education $4.7 million grant for the creation of partnerships between several universities, public schools (locally, Ravine junior High and Ravine High School, a pseudonym), and numerous other community based agencies and organizations (GEAR UP, 2003). GEAR-UP grants were designed to target schools that had relatively high drop-out rates and whose graduates were generally underrepresented in higher education. Consequently, among its many goals, GEAR UP was designed to increase the number of students prepared for college by improving teachers' instruction and by enhancing the articulation between the elementary, junior high school, and high school (GEAR UP, 2003). One of the specific goals of GEAR UP was to restructure schools in order to provide sustainable systemic structural reform (GEAR UP 2003). The restructuring included extensive job-embedded professional development for teachers in order to improve student achievement. Interventions included in the restructuring plan were to provide common planning time for teachers and to establish and sustain teaching teams or clusters at each grade level (GEAR UP, 2003). METHODOLOGY For the last three years, in my role as one of the university GEAR UP consultants, I have worked with the Ravine junior High School principal, Jackie. Because of my past experience as a building principal, she accepted me as a colleague. Consequently, I have engaged in a long-term case study, with Jackie, to describe her experiences (Creswell, 1998; de Vaus, 2001). This case study is based on three years of data collected from, multiple sources. …