THE PRINCIPAL STORY Fact Sheet
“Leadership is an essential ingredient for ensuring that every child in America gets the education they need to succeed.” – Education Leadership: A Bridge to School Reform, The Wallace Foundation – “Leadership is second only to classroom instruction among all school-related factors that contribute to what students learn in school.” How Leadership Influences Student Learning, Universities of Toronto and Minnesota.
THE PRINCIPAL STORY, a national multiplatform broadcast film and outreach project, was selected for full funding by The Wallace Foundation to help elevate the visibility of leadership as a lever for school improvement. The Foundation was seeking a film that would focus on the vital and changing role of school leadership and highlight compelling, credible stories of principals and their leadership teams who improve teaching and learning to benefit all students. The documentary film project aims to raise awareness, educate and motivate key audiences, including opinion leaders in policy and education; provide resources; and spur collaboration and action. Since 2000, improving education leadership at all levels of the system – state, district and school – has been the sole focus of The Wallace Foundation’s efforts in education. Documentary A compelling feature-length documentary THE PRINCIPAL STORY portrays the challenges principals face in turning around low-performing public schools and raising student achievement. This intimate, one-year journey is seen through the eyes of two dynamic principals, one in only her second year in the Chicago Public School System, and the other, a seven-year veteran in Springfield, IL. The film shows how these leaders keep their focus on improving teaching and learning amid the competing demands of managing their staffs as well as the social and emotional issues surrounding their students and communities. The film’s principals motivate teachers and students by using data to make better decisions, by offering professional development and training for struggling teachers, and by allocating resources to build a learning community within and beyond the school. THE PRINCIPAL STORY reveals the complex social and political connections among children, parents, teachers, principals and superintendents. Poignantly, it shows the heart, commitment and skill that are required for leading and improving public schools in which more than 85 percent of students come from families living below the povertyline. THE PRINCIPAL STORY is a Nomadic Pictures’ film, produced and directed by Oscarnominated filmmaker Tod Lending and award-winning filmmaker David Mrazek. The Principals Ms. Kerry Purcell is in her sixth year of overseeing 387 students at Harvard Park Elementary, which serves an economically challenged neighborhood in Springfield, IL. In the testing basement with severe discipline problems when Ms. Purcell took over five years ago, Harvard Park recently made AYP (Annual Yearly Progress) and qualified for the 2008 Illinois Honor Roll by the Illinois State Board of Education for significantly increasing student performance over a three-year period.
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Dr. Tresa Dunbar is a determined second-year principal at Henry H. Nash Elementary, a pre-K8 school with 635 students in the distressed west Chicago neighborhood of Austin. Nash Elementary has been on probation for more than 12 years, and the clock is ticking. National Media Outreach Campaign The media outreach leader in the public television industry, Outreach Extensions is collaborating with producers Tod Lending and David Mrazek, The Wallace Foundation, advisors and national outreach partners in developing and implementing a national campaign for THE PRINCIPAL STORY. Designed to accompany the film’s national PBS broadcast, the media outreach campaign will serve as a launching pad to raise awareness about high-quality education leadership, build public will and lead to solution-based action. Campaign objectives are to: • Conduct a national media awareness campaign to focus public attention on education leadership and the changing role of today’s school principal in an environment of increasing accountability. • Leverage individual stations’ media assets (e.g., production/broadcast, web, new media) and community engagement strategies to customize local campaigns that promote discussion and action based on the documentary. • Target key audiences including policymakers, educators and other opinion leaders to deepen understanding of the critical importance of leadership to school improvement and encourage changes in policy and practice. • Collaborate with national partners, public television stations and other community stakeholders to build and support on-the-ground efforts to strengthen leadership and lift student achievement especially in the nation’s most challenging schools and districts. Key target audiences are principals and assistant principals; principals in training (aspiring principals) and teacher leaders; superintendents and district mid-level leaders; college of education deans and instructors and other principal trainers; federal, state and local policymakers; education researchers and opinion leaders; education funding community and education media. Campaign Assets / Components Public Television Station Grants THE PRINCIPAL STORY national media outreach campaign is offering grants to public television stations to increase opportunities for local/district/statewide engagement and secure a significant level of activity and impact. Designed and managed by Outreach Extensions, the two-tiered station grants program is designed to increase public awareness, promote discussion and incrementally support changes in policy and practice. • Tier One – Multiplatform Media Outreach Grants / Up to ten $7,500 - $10,000 grants THE PRINCIPAL STORY aims to inspire stations to utilize their broadcast (television, radio) programming and production capacities – and other multiplatform media assets – to present local examples and perspectives that can engage interested audiences. Stations’ productions (e.g., broadcast town halls, local documentaries, public affairs segments) can showcase local school leaders and leadership issues and programs as well as reach opinion leaders (e.g., policymakers, community and business leaders, academic community and other media) to create an impetus for action. Tier Two – Community Engagement Grants / Ten $5,000 grants Stations can work with local partners to determine the focus of their high-impact campaigns, including leadership issues raised in the documentary and outreach campaign that are most relevant to school reform or policy issues in their communities. Engaging the primary target
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THE PRINCIPAL STORY Fact Sheet
audiences, stations may create forums and community events as well as integrate their campaign activities with such local opportunities as education summits, school change or leadership initiatives, principal training programs or other professional learning activities. Outreach DVD/CD Package The national media outreach campaign’s signature media asset will be an outreach DVD/ CD package that will support campaign participation. Station grantees are eligible to submit bulk orders for distribution at their educational screenings and community engagement activities. See content in A (video resources) and B (print materials) below. 2.
A. Video (DVD) Resources • • Film clips (totaling 20 minutes), highlighting 5 to 7 clips from THE PRINCIPAL STORY documentary, will be organized by themes/issues to support outreach activities. Four video vignettes (5 to 7 minutes each) provide examples of state and district-led innovations in leadership training and support that illuminate what is occurring in diverse settings around the country. These programs have been funded by The Wallace Foundation as part of its 10-year initiative devoted to education leadership. o School Administration Managers, or SAM Project, has proved to be an effective strategy to release more of the principal’s time from management tasks so they can focus on improving teaching and learning in their schools. This vignette highlights the second year of successful implementation at the John F. Kennedy Montessori School in Louisville, KY. The vignette follows a “day in the life” of principal Opal Dawson, an 11year veteran, and her SAM, Tiffanie Schweinhart – and how they work together and, more importantly, apart. Two years ago, Dawson applied to participate in the district’s SAM Project, but her school was not selected. Undeterred, she adjusted her budget to promote her secretary to a SAM, and hire a new secretary. Dawson spoke with parents and students about the new arrangement; she would spend the majority of her time interacting with teachers and students in the classroom and around improving instruction. Mark Shellinger, national SAM expansion manager, explains how principals and SAMs receive extensive professional development and mentoring. Launched with three schools in Jefferson County, KY, in 2002, the SAM Project, which can take various forms, has spread to more than 200 schools in 37 districts and nine states. Other districts include Linn-Mar Public Schools in Marion, IA and Victor Elementary District in Victorville, CA. Superintendent’s Academy for Building Leaders in Education or SABLE in Atlanta, GA began in 1999 when the newly hired superintendent, Beverly Hall, discovered a leadership crisis. Two thirds of the principals were eligible to retire, and many were not focused on improving instruction. The vignette explores unique components to this district-developed training program; for example, participants’ immersion in tackling real school problems and what steps to take to save a failing school in a high-poverty neighborhood. SABLE is grounded in research-based practices and competencies deemed critical for urban instructional leaders. After the initial weeklong training SABLE participants meet once a month for two full days. Mentors guide them in their first year as principals. Interviews are with SABLE graduates, including principals of high schools, mentors and training coordinators, as well as Dr. Hall. Oregon Cultural Competency Project is a statewide endeavor to train educators in effective leadership and teaching practices for a growing population of culturally diverse students, an effort to combat racial inequities in education. Rob Larsen, project director of the Oregon Leadership Network, explains that principals and teachers are expected to be competent to instruct students of all backgrounds and cultures. At Vose
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THE PRINCIPAL STORY Fact Sheet
Elementary School in the Beaverton School District (near Portland), principal Will Flores oversees dual language instruction. In first grade, students are mostly taught in Spanish; by fifth grade, the ratio has shifted to the majority of instruction in English. Testing data from Vose shows student scores rising. We also hear from Jerry Colonna, Beaverton superintendent, as well as Susan Castillo, state superintendent of public instruction. The state has new standards for both principal and superintendent leadership preparation programs that specifically focus on cultural competence; the University of Oregon has cultural competence integrated into its leadership training curriculum statewide. o New York City Leadership Academy (NYCLA) is an independent nonprofit organization that recruits, develops and supports effective school leaders, with a focus on preparing principals to lead New York City’s high-need schools. Like SABLE, it was started in 2003 to face a shortage of skilled, effective principals capable of turning their schools around. Interviews with Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Schools Chancellor Joel I. Klein, and NYCLA CEO Sandra Stein introduce the full-time 14-month Aspiring Principals Program. It features a summer intensive in which project teams work on a school scenario that reflects real-world challenges in the city’s schools. Following a oneyear residency at a school with a trained mentor principal, participants are then expected to become principals. We meet Daysi Garcia, NYCLA graduate and third-year principal at P.S. 65, a low-performing school of Latino and immigrant students. Garcia explains how the NYCLA program strengthened her ability to transform her school by focusing on in-depth data analysis, team building and collaboration, and by identifying the strengths of her teachers. She also learned the vital importance of parental involvement.
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Executive video for policymakers (7-10 minutes) highlights leadership policy implications for federal, state and local policymakers to consider as they deliberate on school reform. The video captures diverse voices offering compelling testimony about the importance of effective principal leadership. Interviewees include: Susan Castillo, State Superintendent of Public Instruction, Oregon Department of Education; M. Christine DeVita, President, The Wallace Foundation; Arne Duncan, CEO, Chicago Public Schools; Beverly Hall, Superintendent, Atlanta Public Schools; Katie Haycock, President, The Education Trust; Joel I. Klein, Schools Chancellor, New York City Public Schools; Chris Koch, State Superintendent, Illinois Department of Education; Diane Rutledge, Executive Director, Large Unit District Association, Illinois; Sandra Stein, CEO, New York City Leadership Academy; Kyla Wahlstrom, Director, Center for Applied Research, University of Minnesota; and Gene Wilhoit, Executive Director, Council of Chief State School Officers. Through interviews with thought leaders, policymakers and educators at every level of the system, the video considers why principal leadership is important for raising student achievement and turning around low-performing schools. It provides the policy community with possible actions they can take to support school leaders to be successful for all students, across all districts, schools and classrooms. For example: states and districts can insist on quality leadership training and development opportunities, including mentoring, for novice and continuing principals; develop effective assessments of school leaders that are based on leadership standards that focus on what they do (not just what they know); build statewide data systems with timely, actionable data that helps leaders and teachers make the right decisions for students; provide incentives that encourage good leaders to go to the toughest schools; and emphasize that an investment in leadership can guarantee that education resources (time, people and money) will have an impact.
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Video short (30 minutes) – THE PRINCIPAL STORY focuses on principals leading an elementary and a K-8 school. Yet, high school principals have unique challenges. This short video looks at a third principal’s story, that of Dr. Asuncion (Sunny) Ayala, a tenacious fiveyear veteran who began her career as a school clerk and now leads Chicago’s North Grand
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THE PRINCIPAL STORY Fact Sheet
High School, with 702 students. Built to relieve crowding in the predominantly Puerto Rican neighborhood of Humboldt Park, the school is brand new and state of the art. But the problems are age-old: struggling families, low expectations for children, and the lure of gangs. Joan Crisler, a 20-year veteran educator and former Chicago principal, will guide viewers on this exploration of leadership challenges at the high school level, and how one capable principal is making a difference. • • Additional interviews and outtakes (10-15 minutes) from the film and video vignettes will enrich the leadership content provided by the project’s media resources. THE PRINCIPAL STORY promo (two minutes of scenes from the documentary) will assist stations, partners and other stakeholders in promoting the film and outreach project.
B. Print Materials (CD and downloadable from project websites) • THE PRINCIPAL STORY Field Book – Designed for principals, assistant principals, aspiring principals – and those who train them), the Field Book will focus on what the principal does to improve teaching and learning. Section One provides an introduction to the documentary project, information about the schools and principals presented in the film, and general tips for viewing. Section Two contains strategies for enhancing viewers’ experience in using the documentary and film clips: guiding questions, reflective writing prompts, notetaking guides for viewing, and strategies for individual and collaborative analysis and reflection. Section Three contains references. The National Staff Development Council will author this guide. Discussion guide for policymakers – As an accompaniment to the executive video for policymakers, descriptions of key policy issues and questions to prompt discussion will be written by the Council of Chief State School Officers, National Association of State Boards of Education, National Conference of State Legislatures and National Governors Association. Discussion guides for video vignettes – Representatives of the individual state or district profiled in each of the four vignettes will write a narrative description of the program and questions to prompt discussion.
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DVD of THE PRINCIPAL STORY A DVD of the 90-minute feature-length documentary will be provided to stations awarded project grants for use in their local campaigns. Websites Streaming video, print resources, new media and interactive elements will be designed for website access. All project assets described in items A (video resources) and B (print materials) will be housed on the web – hosted by the broadcaster and/or The Wallace Foundation. Local station activities will also be featured. Stations will be able to link directly to The Wallace Foundation’s Knowledge Center at www.wallacefoundation.org. 5. National Outreach Partners A select number of national professional associations that reach policymakers and practitioners are providing content expertise and are hosting events and screenings throughout 2009. As outreach partners, they are willing to participate as experts or help to identify local spokespeople for station panels or other campaign activities. See Chapter Four for more information on the partners and their campaigns. Partners include: • American Association of School Administrators
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Council of Chief State School Officers National Association of Elementary School Principals National Association of Secondary School Principals National Association of State Boards of Education National Conference of State Legislatures National Governors Association National Staff Development Council
Promotion An integrated promotional campaign will generate awareness about the project on national and local levels, as well as create a multiplatform dialogue surrounding the issue of education leadership in America. Local station campaigns will be spotlighted.
Outreach Extensions 7039 Dume Drive, Malibu, CA 90265 Judy Ravitz, President Telephone: 310.589.5160; Fax: 310.589.5280; Email: outext@aol.com Ken Ravitz, Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Telephone: 310.589.5180; Fax: 310.589.5280; Email: ken@outreachextensions.com Anne Llewellyn, Outreach Project Director, THE PRINCIPAL STORY Telephone: 949.551.6870; Fax: 949.551.6871; Email: annellyn@cox.net
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