Cadwalader Elementary Teams with MRSH to Lead the Way

Leadership is a critical issue and a difficult one for some schools. There is no single recipe for success as the varying leadership styles of administrators, teachers, chairpersons, and all stakeholders vary greatly. However, MRSH presents a model for organizing schools that accommodates efficacious, on-site decision-making.

Cadwalader Elementary School in Trenton, New Jersey, exemplifies the effective implementation of Modern Red’s Leadership Team/Task Force structure. While many schools establish a Leadership Team, this school utilizes theirs for meaningful decisions about policies directly affecting student achievement. Cadwalader leads the way for newer MRSH schools seeking an example to follow when implementing a decision-making structure based on the school’s needs and Modern Red’s benchmarks.

The Modern Red way
Prior to its partnership with MRSH, Cadwalader participated in decision-making through a Site Management Team, so the concept of teacher and staff participation in decisions impacting their school was not entirely new. Modern Red’s plan, however, included the establishment of five task forces which would work with and through the Site Management Team (commonly called the Leadership Team in a Modern Red school). These task forces—Finance and Organization, Parent and Community Involvement, Professional Development, Curriculum/Standards and Assessment, and Technology—are chaired by members of the Leadership Team. All other faculty and staff serve on one of the task forces. The principal is, of course, a member of the Leadership Team. According to Juda Winget, Facilitator for Whole School Reform, “Although we had used site management, Modern Red became more specific. Our experience and their plan made for a very effective organization.”

One way that Leadership Teams (LT’s) in Modern Red schools evaluate themselves is through a set of implementation benchmarks designated for each task force and organized into three distinct phases. These benchmarks are distributed in booklet form to all school staff during a MRSH Overview session. Karen Reynolds, the Modern Red consultant who serves as their leadership coach, led the Cadwalader staff through this process last year. Reynolds reported, “They discussed each MRSH benchmark thoroughly and assigned evidence and a phase for each one.” As they went through the Leadership Team benchmarks together, they realized that “the LT is at the highest functioning level on all benchmarks.” One LT member commented that they no longer have to focus on the process but that, “MRSH is just part of how we do things now. It is fully integrated.”

Important factors
How did they make this journey to the point where effective management strategies are “just part of how we do things?” One factor involves the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI©), an instrument administered to the staff of MRSH schools and used to identify patterns of temperament to aid team members in understanding themselves and others. The staff at Cadwalader embraced this idea and chose to use their knowledge of one another’s type to assist them in their collaborative efforts. In fact, a special staff development day was held this past spring to administer the MBTI© and conduct team-building activities with staff members who have come on board since the beginning of their MRSH partnership. “The thinking,” states Reynolds, “was that in the past the MBTI© helped the staff understand, appreciate, and be more patient and tolerant of each other, so they wanted to give new teachers the same opportunity.”

The leadership practices of a school’s principal critically impact the effectiveness of a management system, and that is certainly true in this case. Ms. Gloria Jean Tunstall, principal of Cadwalader ES, is an excellent model for effective leadership. Reynolds notes, “Gloria does not micro-manage, but she does give direction and hold accountability. She is the best I’ve seen at getting the best from everyone.” This is high praise and is echoed by Winget, who says, “Our principal is a participant but doesn’t dictate. There is never a point where she wants us to go in a different direction as long as we give valid reasons for wanting things. That is an integral part of having a good Leadership Team…you need a good leader.”

A third factor involves following Modern Red’s recommended practice of taking teachers’ preferences into consideration and utilizing their individual expertise when assigning task force positions. Their Technology Facilitator was made chairperson of the Technology Task Force, for example. And the positions generally remain stable, enabling all members to deepen their knowledge and understanding of their areas, while accommodating the new perspectives of those who join the staff.

Sample decisions
What kinds of decisions do they make…and for what reasons? One MRSH priority is to confine the task forces and Leadership Team to topics impacting student achievement. Therefore, issues pertaining to student progress, such as concerns about the need for more frequent writing experiences, are addressed by the team. Their decision about this was to incorporate a literacy block into their day each morning from 8:30-9:20am during which, according to Ms. Tunstall, “The teachers will be engaging in an intense writing program.”

An area that indirectly impacted students involved the many professional development days required by the school’s adoption of MRSH and Cornerstone, a literacy initiative. Teachers objected to being out of their classrooms, and sufficient substitutes were difficult to obtain, so after some brainstorming and consulting with the Professional Development Task Force, the LT decided to provide stipends for the teachers and hold all such meetings after school from 3:00-7:00pm.

One situation involved the principal’s enthusiasm. The College of NJ was offering a science initiative that sounded very good, and Ms. Tunstall recommended that the school adopt it. While she was excited at the possibilities, the teachers were feeling their stress levels rise. Reynolds helped them examine ways to handle stress based on MBTI© types, and they shared with the principal that this would be their third initiative, and the additional in-service days coupled with what they were already involved in would be overwhelming and likely result in poor performance in all three programs. Ms. Tunstall immediately recognized the reality of their situation and agreed that it would be wiser to wait on the science plan.

These examples illustrate the collegial atmosphere that exists at Cadwalader. Their implementation of MRSH’s effective procedures has truly become routine and clearly express their school’s mission statement: “Working together for one cause…to motivate, educate, and involve students, parents, and the community.”

September 2004