Leading Good Schools to Greatness

Susan Penny Gray, PhD has been an educator for more than 40 years in Indiana and California, including 15 years as Director of Curriculum Services for the San Marcos Unified School District in San Marcos, California and 7 years as a member of the Educational Leadership faculty at San Diego State University. During her tenure as Director of Curriculum Services she was responsible for the development, implementation, and maintenance of exemplary programs recognized throughout California in Reading/Language Arts, Mathematics, History-Social Science, and Science for grades K through 12. She was also responsible for effective teacher and principal support strategies that during the years under her direction evolved into a powerful system of coaches and facilitators of staff development. Dr. Gray has “walked the talk” in helping principals become truly effective instructional leaders. Her insights give down to earth, practical meaning to the research discussed in this book.Dr. Gray serves on the San Diego State University (SDSU) Educational Administration Preparation Programs Advisory Committee. In her capacity on this committee and as a current member of the faculty of the Educational Leadership Department in the School of Education at SDSU, she has assisted in implementing changes in that school’s administration preparation program. She has designed and currently teaches an administrative course on instructional improvement through evaluation and supervision. In this course students participate in a walk-through supervision practicum, formal evaluation exercises, and the design of teacher and administrator evaluation systems. In addition, Dr. Gray teaches and coordinates the advanced administrator credentialing program at SDSU and supervises the fieldwork for administrative credential candidates at all levels.In addition to her involvement with the faculty of Educational Leadership at San Diego State University, Dr. Gray serves as an officer on the Board of Directors of California Curriculum Management Systems, Incorporated (CalCMSi). She is certified to train administrators and teachers in Conducting Walk-Throughs for Higher Student Achievement and has implemented this training in several states across the country. She has also served as an external evaluator of schools and is a certified School Assistance Intervention Team leader for the State of California. She received curriculum management audit training from the California Curriculum Management Audit Center in Burlingame, California, in 1998. Since then she has served on school district audits in California, Washington, Texas, Ohio, Arizona, Maryland, New York, and Pennsylvania. She has also served on academic achievement teams conducting comprehensive on-site assessments of the educational operations of school and community college districts in California.Dr. Gray earned her undergraduate degree from the University of California, Santa Barbara, and her master’s degree from San Diego State University. In 2006, she received a doctoral degree in educational leadership through the Claremont Graduate University/San Diego State University Joint Doctoral Program. William A. Streshly is Emeritus Professor of Educational Leadership in the College of Education at San Diego State University (SDSU). Prior to coming to SDSU in 1990, he spent 25 years in public school administration, including five years as principal of a large suburban high school and 15 years as superintendent of several California school districts varying in size from 2,500 to 25,000 students. In addition to his numerous publications in the professional journals, Dr. Streshly is author or co-author of five practical books for school leaders, The Top Ten Myths in Education, Avoiding Legal Hassles (two editions), Teacher Unions and Quality Education, Preventing and Managing Teacher Strikes, and From Good Schools to Great Schools: What Their Principals Do Well.Currently, Professor Streshly is a Senior Lead Auditor for Curriculum Management Systems, Inc., an affiliate of Phi Delta Kappa International. He has audited the instructional operations of more than 40 school districts in 16 states. His intense interest in the role of effective school leadership stems from his own extensive experience as well as his in-depth observation of the work of hundreds of practicing school principals across the country.

• List of Figures and TablesForeword by George MantheyPrefaceAcknowledgmentsAbout the Authors1. The Skills for Leading Good Schools to Greatness Can Be LearnedApplying Good to Great Research to School PrincipalsConversations With Highly Successful PrincipalsAdministrator Preparation Program ReformReflection2. First, Build RelationshipsReflectionAssess Your Leadership CapacityA Behavior Different From That of Effective Private Sector ExecutivesThe Three Key Elements Needed to Build RelationshipsConstructing Your Personal Profile of a Highly Effective PrincipalPart I: Building TrustPart II: Engaging in Effective Interpersonal CommunicationPart III: Encouraging Constructive Conflict Around IdeasAsk an Effective PrincipalReflection3. How to Exercise Your Professional Will With HumilityReflectionAssess Your Leadership CapacityResearch on the Risks of Charismatic Leadership For SchoolsDistinguishing Personal Humility Is Not So EasyWhat Highly Successful Principals Say Conveying a Duality of Professional Will and Personal HumilityStrategies for Exhibiting Professional Will While Remaining HumblePractical Application of Strategies for Exhibiting a Duality of Professional Will and Personal HumilityAsk an Effective PrincipalReflection4. How to Face the Brutal Facts…Then Do Something about ThemReflectionAssess Your Leadership CapacityThe Research on Confronting the Brutal Facts and Unwavering ResolveWhat Highly Successful Principals Say About Confronting the Brutal FactsStrategies for Confronting the Brutal Facts and Then Doing Something About ThemAsk an Effective PrincipalReflection5. How to Get the Right Faculty on BoardReflectionAssess Your Leadership CapacityThe Research on Getting the Right PeopleWhat the Right Place for the Right People IsThe Wrong People for the SchoolWhat Highly Successful Principals Say about Getting the Right PeopleStrategies for Getting (and Keeping) the Right PeoplePractical Application of Strategies for Getting the Right Faculty on BoardAsk an Effective PrincipalReflection6. How to Find and Promote the Hedgehog Concept in Your SchoolReflectionEducators Differ from CEOsAssess Your Leadership CapacityResearch on the Hedgehog ConceptHighly Successful Principals Exhibit the Hedgehog ConceptStrategies for Understanding and Executing the Hedgehog Concept in SchoolsOne School’s Process for Developing New Mission and Vision StatementsPractical Application of Strategies for Finding and Promoting the Hedgehog ConceptAsk an Effective PrincipalReflection7. How to Build a School-Wide Culture of Self-DisciplineReflectionAssess Your Leadership CapacityThe Research on a Culture of Self-DisciplineWhat Highly Successful Principals Do to Build a School-Wide Culture of Self-DisciplinePractical Application of Strategies for Building a Culture of Self-DisciplineAsk an Effective PrincipalReflection8. The Road AheadResearch on Leadership PreparationWhat to Look for in a Principal Preparation ProgramTips to Help New Principals SucceedA Final WordResource A: Research MethodologyResource B: Interview Participant SelectionResource C: Principal Interview Questions Derived From Collins’ (2001) CEO Interview Questions and Demographic QuestionnaireReferencesSuggested ReadingsIndex

"Our best teachers obtain great results by building positive relationships with their students. Gray and Streshly show how our best principals do the same thing and how these behaviors can be learned and practiced."