Table Of ContentAcker-Hocevar, Cruz-Janzen and Wilson have produced a remarkable
book after a sustained and comprehensive piece of research. They have
found seven schools that can overcome the odds, the odds of having a stu-
dent group that doesn’t come from the right side of the tracks and an educa-
tion system that is built on hierarchy and punishment. They have likened the
success of each school to a tree, a Learning Partnership Tree (LPT), with a
solid trunk of core values and a substantial root system of leadership, com-
munication and involvement that branches into what they call their Systems
Alignment Model (SAM). And like a tree, they found that each school was
unique in terms of how it applies the various aspects of trunk, roots and foli-
age to develop into a fully functioning organic system. Some are Aspen, oth-
ers are Oaks, but all in their own way are beautiful. However, what also needs
to be said is that these trees have grown on barren ground. The study also
found that these schools were able to achieve all of this in spite of, rather than
because of, the state system of education in which they found themselves. We
find schools that struggle to make ends meet, where teachers and principals
can be moved overnight and where schools are punished if they don’t meet a
narrow range of standards, regardless of how many other skills and attitudes
schools might help students attain. It leaves us with the question, how much
better would these trees grow, if they found some fertile soil to support them?
—Tony Townsend, Professor
Chair of Public Service, Educational Leadership and Management
School of Education
University of Glasgow
This book will be received as a timely and significant piece of research.
It represents a balanced discussion about the meaning of educational
excellence within a framework of equity and fairness, and measurement
and impact. In part, the study is a critique of a high stakes testing frenzy,
which unfortunately has emerged as the dominant tool for evaluating pub-
lic schools, and worse, the quality of education. The authors explain con-
vincingly that other measurable factors, like respect for culture, support for
parents, involving teachers in decision-making, and other features, must be
part of the equation for success at schools with any history of traditionally
low-academic performance.
—Professor James Jennings
Tufts University
Department of Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning
Professor Jennings has held visiting appointments at Northeastern University (1988),
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (1992), and Yale University (1997).
Acker-Hocevar, Cruz-Janzen, and Wilson conclude that standards-based
reform approaches may be necessary but they are not sufficient to
promote student success. A more humanistic framework emerges in this
book that reaffirms the value of principals’, teachers’, and parents’ shared
leadership and participation in a more context-driven, additive notion of
school reform.
—Marilyn J. Taylor, Ed.D.
Associate Professor
Institute for Teacher Education and Department of Curriculum Studies
University of Hawaii at Manoa
This wonderful book reminds us that successful schools are complex,
human organizations. They exist—and persist—in spite of many poli-
cies and in the face of many challenges. They exist—and persist—because
committed administrators, teachers, and staff work with families and learn-
ers to ensure that everyone is well and respected and cared for and suc-
cessful. Acker-Hocevar, Cruz-Janzen, and Wilson are to be commended for
providing us with rich portraits of seven marvelous schools and for helping
us understand how each became a great place to work and learn.
—Lynn G. Beck
Dean and Professor
Gladys L. Benerd School of Education
University of the Pacific
Leadership from the
Ground Up
Effective Schooling in Traditionally
Low Performing Schools
A volume in
Issues in the Research, Theory, Policy, and Practice of Urban Education
Denise E. Armstrong and Brenda J. McMahon, Series Editors
Issues in the Research, Theory, Policy,
and Practice of Urban Education
Denise E. Armstrong and Brenda J. McMahon
Series Editors
Struggling for Social Justice: Inclusive Leadership for a Diverse World (2011)
by James Ryan
Schools as Radical Sanctuaries: Decolonizing Urban Education through the Eyes
of Latina/o Youth (2011)
by Rene Antrop-Gonzalez
Including Families and Communities in Urban Education (2011)
Edited by Catharine Hands & Lea Hubbard
Inclusion in Urban Educational Environments: Addressing Issues of Diversity, Equity
and Social Justice (2006)
Edited by Denise E. Armstrong & Brenda J. McMahon
Leadership from the
Ground Up
Effective Schooling in Traditionally
Low Performing Schools
Michele A. Acker-Hocevar
Washington State University
Marta I. Cruz-Janzen
Florida Atlantic University
Cynthia L. Wilson
Florida Atlantic University
INFORMATION AGE PUBLISHING, INC.
Charlotte, NC • www.infoagepub.com
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Acker-Hocevar, Michele, 1948-
Leadership from the ground up : effective schooling in traditionally low
performing schools / Michele A. Acker-Hocevar, Marta I. Cruz-Janzen, Cynthia
L. Wilson.
p. cm. -- (Issues in the research, theory, policy, and practice of
urban education)
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN 978-1-61735-650-6 (pbk.) -- ISBN 978-1-61735-651-3 (hardcover) --
ISBN 978-1-61735-652-0 (ebook)
1. School improvement programs--United States--Case studies. 2.
Educational leadership--United States--Case studies. 3. Children with
social disabilities--Education--United States--Case studies. I.
Cruz-Janzen, Marta. II. Wilson, Cynthia L. III. Title.
LB2822.82.A27 2011
371.2’07--dc23
2011038824
Copyright © 2012 Information Age Publishing Inc.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a
retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical,
photocopying, microfilming, recording or otherwise, without written permission
from the publisher.
Printed in the United States of America
Dedication
We dedicate this book along with our heartfelt appreciation to our hus-
bands, Fritz Hocevar, John Janzen, and Mel Wilson, for their patience
and support. We thank our children Shawn Moffitt; Kevin and Shawn Ho-
cevar; Bryn Black; Eva Hodgens; Ashley Brooks; Amber, Andrew, and Aus-
tin Wilson; and our grandchildren Evan and Ryan Moffitt; Elsa and Jonas
Hocevar; and Jude and Zack Hodgens, who have graciously sacrificed time
they could have had with us had we not been working on this project. We
are each grateful to our families for their love and encouragement as we
pursued this work over the years.
Contents
Series Editors’ Preface .........................................................................xiii
Acknowledgements .................................................................................xv
Introduction ........................................................................................xvii
1 Let the Journey Begin!....................................................................1
2 The Conceptual Framework and Research Methodology:
Developing the Systems Alignment Model (SAM) ..........................9
Standards-Based Reform Variables ...............................................11
Embedded Variables .......................................................................16
Research Methodology ...................................................................19
Selection of Schools ..........................................................................19
Design-Based Research ....................................................................20
Instrument .....................................................................................21
Pilot Study ......................................................................................21
Inter-Rater Reliability .....................................................................22
Site Visits ........................................................................................22
Research Questions ........................................................................23
3 Show Me the Money ......................................................................25
Introduction ....................................................................................25
Description of the School ..............................................................26
Entrepreneur Funding ...................................................................27
Overcoming External Obstacles ....................................................30
vii
