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THE PRACTICE: Effective principals set high expectations and standards for the academic and social development of all students and the performance of adults.
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Content Presented By:
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National Association of Elementary School Principals
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The Policy
As school leaders think about how to engage students in the learning process, their first priority should be to look at what they are asking students to learn. Is the curriculum content of real value to students? If not, then educators' most earnest attempts to "motivate" students to learn will be doomed to failure. There are a number of schoolwide practices that set the stage for student engagement.
First and foremost schools should develop a coherent curriculum, organized around important concepts, rather than a grab-bag of isolated facts. The curriculum plans should emphasize the relevance of the curriculum content to students' own lives. In addition, schools should ensure that all learners study a challenging and compelling curriculum.
Once the curriculum content is in place, school leaders can take the following steps to create a climate that fosters student engagement:
- Construct smaller learning communities. Much research has demonstrated the benefits of smaller schools in terms of student attitudes towards learning. If your school is large, consider establishing smaller learning communities (teams, schools within schools) that foster a sense of belonging.
- De-emphasize competition. You can begin to build a culture of inclusion by balancing the use of approaches such as the honor roll with others that recognize and publicize a wide range of school-related accomplishments of students. Establish grading/reporting practices that reflect individual student progress and emphasize learning, not winning.
- Build the schedule around learning. Meaningful learning often cannot take place within rigidly specified time periods, such as the 50 minute class period. Consider how flexible scheduling could be used to encourage more authentic instruction and learning.
There are also effective classroom practices which have been identified as increasing student engagement:
- A positive and caring learning climate;
- Effective presentation of content and strategic questioning;
- Sufficient opportunities for students to practice and apply what they are learning;
- Instruction in metacognitive skills that enable students to learn more effectively; and
- Use a variety of groupings for instruction.
As well as a number of instructional methods designed to use the basic elements of student engagement to increase student achievement:
- Thematic, integrated curriculum;
- Project-based learning;
- Experience-based learning; and
- Cooperative learning.
As an instructional leader, setting policies that support effective teaching (and teachers) in your school will produce the best learning for children.
The above is taken from "Urban Principals Respond - Building and Maintaining a High-Achieving School" published by the National Association of Elementary School Principals (2003).
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