Keys to Success for Urban School Principals
Second Edition
- Gwendolyn J. Cooke - Kansas City, Missouri School District
March 2014 | 176 pages | Corwin
'A must read for practitioners of educational leadership and students alike! Offers powerful strategies, recommendations, and resources to successfully lead school reform. The checklists are invaluable tools to bring about the cultural shift needed to focus all stakeholders on teaching and learning.'ùRoy F. Davenport, Principal, Alfred E. Beach High School, Savannah, GA Urban principals face unique challenges that deserve unique solutions. How can urban principals meet the challenge of educating students in environments that routinely include poverty, violence, aging infrastructure, lack of funding, cultural differences, and high levels of turnover? This accessible manual offers powerful tools and practical guidance to ensure that urban principals succeed as school leaders. Gwendolyn J. Cooke provides tried-and-true, research-based strategies for initiating, stabilizing, and sustaining effective practices. Each chapter includes reflective thinking activities to help school leaders assess needs, and set and achieve goals. This second edition examines the challenges the current educational environment and links the ISLLC standards to seven keys of leadership:Control: manage the school community by building consensusCaring: create a school climate that invites students to learn, grow, and exploreChange: use effective strategies to implement constructive change processesCharisma: cultivate your own charismatic potential Communication: strengthen your ability to communicate in different settingsCurriculum: provide instructional leadership by harnessing the power of curriculumCourage: find the courage needed to take risks that will move your school forward Use these proven strategies to increase your leadership capacity and effect real change in your school!
Preface
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Introduction
1. Control: Managing the School Community
2. Caring: Addressing the Affective Domain of Leadership Success
3. Change: Leading in a New Direction
4. Charisma: Leading With Personality
5. Communication: Sharing Vision and Commitment for Success
6. Curriculum: The Tool for Instructional Leadership
7. Courage: Risk Taking and Responsibility
Resource: School Leadership Styles Instruments
Bibliography
Index
"An outstanding guide for school leaders. Offers powerful strategies, recommendations, and resources to successfully lead school reform. A must-read for practitioners of educational leadership and students alike!"
Alfred E. Beach High School, Savannah, GA
"This book definitely makes a contribution to the field of urban school leadership. It blends research with practical application very well."
Xavier University of Louisiana