Blazing New Trails - Connexions

Creating Shared Meaning in High Performing, Low Socioeconomic Urban Elementary Schools 151
would accomplish. She stated that she “involves her teachers in decision making,” and she
does not like to “make arbitrary decisions when [they affect] the whole school.” According to
Beta, “[involving her teachers in decision making] is what makes [School B] successful ….
The people feel that they have a voice, they are not afraid to speak out, and they are not afraid
to give their opinion.” Teacher B1 noted:
We work as a team in 4th grade, and she lets us do whatever scheduling we need to do
and she trusts [that] we know what we are doing and we’re going to get it done the
best we can, and when something doesn’t work she’s ok with that. She does not make
you feel like a failure. If it doesn’t work, then [we] are just going to try a different
way.
Teacher B2 stated that “[as] part of the site based decision making I keep other teachers aware
of what decisions we are making. I feel very much a part of the decisions that were
implemented in this school.”
Seamless Policy Implementation
During this study, two new policies were implemented, one in each school. Principal
Alpha made a school policy change to spend more time in the classrooms. “[The time I spent in
classrooms made] more impact for the teachers ….Nobody likes me to be watching what they
are doing, …. That’s one of the things I’ve changed …. The principal is in the classroom, and
[I] might not be there long [but I’m] there more often” (Principal Alpha). Teacher A3
mentioned how well a new district policy on “Principles of Learning" 3 was working in her
classroom. The policy included “accountable talk [see endnote 3], and [for] me to be quiet and
let the students lead the discussion. Instead of me being a big talker, the children have to be the
big talkers.” This is a district policy that many felt to be counter-intuitive because the students
are doing most of the talking. Alpha, however, strongly supported this program and during
classroom walk-throughs made certain teachers were properly implementing the principles.
Principal Beta implemented a new program for breakfast delivery to the classrooms.
The program allowed students to eat breakfast while getting tutored before the beginning of
the regular instructional day. Teacher B1 commented about breakfast in the classroom, “First
there was hesitation by staff, but [that changed] once teachers started seeing that students
stopped having belly aches, [and] they were able to focus more.” It was surprising to these
authors that several participating teachers in this research study were unaware of the above
policy changes made by the two principals. The policy changes seemed seamless; they flowed
within the regular rhythm of a school week; they did not seem disruptive; and teachers did not
regard them as policy changes but as part of group buy-in rather than a top-down directive.
Educational Beliefs and Values
Principal Alpha has a very high value of education that she acquired from her parents
who taught her that one needs an education to be able to advance in life. She believes that she
3 The Principles of Learning, recently implemented district-wide, are condensed theoretical statements
summarizing decades of learning research developed at Learning Research and Development Center - University
of Pittsburgh. It has nine principles that include “accountable” talk and clear expectations.