Blazing New Trails - Connexions

130 CRITICAL ISSUES IN PROMOTING ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT
Teachers need to understand the students that they serve, and they must be willing to
build relationships. Because of this, four of the ten principals noted their practice in hiring
teachers who focus on building relationships as being a key to student achievement. The four
principals focused on hiring teachers who would build relationships with students and realize
that students have various learning styles. In addition, they looked for teachers who best fit
the culture of their campuses. Three principals stated that they wanted teachers who would be
good enough to teach their own children. If they were not good enough to teach their own
children, then they were not good enough to work on their campus.
One principal emphasized that relationships built when students were at his school
could last a lifetime. He commented:
I see former students all the time. They come by and visit. To me, it shows that I
succeeded in building those relationships that we talk about. Those students don’t have
to come back and visit with me, but they do, and that means a great deal to me and our
staff who have been here as long as I have. I have students who I haven’t seen for 20
years, and they ask me, ‘Do you remember me?’ They tell me what company they
work for. I think that, even though they were not the nicest student in school, they
know that I gave them respect, and they come back and say they are sorry that they
had acted like a jerk. It is that respect and relationship piece and having high
expectations for all students that is important. All students can learn. You hear people
say that, but it is [difficult to make it happen without building relationships].
Scheduling. Five of ten principals referred to scheduling as an important aspect to
student academic achievement. The five principals allotted time during the day for teachers to
meet with one another and discuss instructional issues. Teachers were able to see best
practices from teachers in the same building. Not only did teachers observe one another, they
were able to see their students in different settings. This helped with discipline, as one
principal stated, “If I am a science teacher on a team and I am having trouble with Juan or
Johnny but he's not having any trouble in other classes, I want to see what they are doing to
keep him engaged so that I don't continue having the same problem in mine.” A few of the
campuses had an extra planning period built into the schedule which allowed principals to
have in-depth conversations with teachers and staff about instruction and interventions for
struggling students.
Research Question 3
Research Question 3 investigated strategies that principals of high achieving majority
Hispanic schools used to establish a culture of success. Emergent themes included knowing
school history, committing to success, supporting teachers, and embracing student cultures.
Knowing school history. Nine of ten principals acknowledged their school’s culture as
important, thus it was important to know and share the school’s history of success. A principal
commented that he had started every school year with students by sharing with them the
school’s history. He further stated that knowing the history of a school was important because
it allowed students to see how far they have come. When one principal first became principal
at this school, he understood how successful they had been. Having known the school’s
history and its success, he intentionally did not implement major changes during his first year