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Monday, October 16, 2006
The Turnaround Specialist Who Wasn’t
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
As Alexander Russo, an education writer whose blog I peruse, says, it IS hard to delight in Principal Parker Land’s downfall. But at the same time I’d have to confess it’s hard not to. I don’t mean I’m glad the principal chosen to turn around a failing Virginia school based on his success in a high performing school didn’t perform a miracle. I wish he had. But is anyone surprised?
I’m glad his story is being told on PBS, because it points to the obvious faulty logic in appointing principals with good track records at schools with favorable demographics to schools with challenges and expecting better results.
Scores at Land’s school went down, and he is off - after just one year - to be principal somewhere else.
Asked if he failed, he says he doesn’t see it that way. He adds: “I’ve learned that our kids, a significant number of those kids are in crisis. And there’s a level of support that’s needed that we just haven’t realized yet.”
Of the 21 principals in Virginia’s “Turnaround Specialist” program, 14 fell short of testing goals, reports John Merrow, the correspondent behind the intriguing series, which ran on the Newshour. More than half the principals changed schools or left the program, Merrow said.
There is a similar program in Georgia, but I don’t know if any high-performing principals took the plunge in lower performing schools. I’ll ask. Meanwhile, those of you with experience in lower performing schools, would you want a principal like Land to come in? Have you had a principal with a track record at high performing schools come in and take charge? Did it work out?
