Organization and School Leadership Faculty Publications and Presentations

Best Leadership Practices from an Exemplary Charter School District in South Texas

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

Spring 2018

Abstract

Charter schools have emerged as a powerful force in the American school reform movement. When first introduced, charter schools came with two distinct promises: to serve as an escape hatch for students in failing schools, and to create and incubate new educational practices. This qualitative study identified best practices from an exemplary charter school system that differentiated charter schools from traditional public schools. The three main themes and subthemes discovered are: 1) Academic focus: a) The principal as an instructional leader, b) High expectations of students, c) Data driven decision making 2) Staffing tendencies: a) Recruiting strategies, b) Autonomy to hire staff, c) Non-renewal of staff; 3) Organizational level characteristics: a) Senior administrator visibility and feedback, b) Staff Accountability and expectations, c) Lack of School board politics. If emulated these best practices could result in an increase student achievement by strengthening the leadership capacities of traditional public school administrators, and thus strengthen the traditional public school system.

First Page

5

Last Page

37

Publication Title

The Charter Schools Resource Journal

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