Closing the Achievement Gap -- What's a Building Leader to do?

I hope that everybody had a successful SPRING forward! YAWN!! I want to take a brief look at the role of the educational leader in terms of closing the achievement gap for this week's topic. The root of many school's SOL (Standards of Learning) problems mirror their ability to close the achievement gap.

Personally, I think that many problems with achievement gap have to do with cultural competency issues. In other words, some teachers do not understand the members of their classes on a racial, religious, economic, gender, disability or other level. I am going to veer in this direction with some future writings as it is the centerpiece of my dissertation studies.

     As a building leader, the responsibilities of closing the achievement gap fall on several levels. The core traits involved with being a successful school leader are an ability to serve as a model teacher, a continuing awareness of cultural competency and the ability to analyze data, develop effective teaching strategies designed to improve learning deficiencies, and communicate the findings to the teaching staff.    First, as an administrator, one is expected to be an educational leader. As such, the school leader needs to be a capable teacher in the classroom. A wealth of classroom experience helps when it comes to working with teachers to develop strategies. Therefore, any strategies aimed at closing the achievement gap can be modeled on a daily basis.
     Secondly, in order to improve the achievement gap situation, the administrator needs to work with the leadership team to promote cultural competency among the members of the teaching staff. This should be an ongoing process. Cultural competence is more involved than simple cultural awareness and it cannot be taught in a single professional development session. This is especially important in more diverse school systems. This concept could be the most important element to be overcome in order to truly make progress toward closing the gap. It is not simply a black or white issue, but transcends many nationalities, and includes issues such as learning disabilities and socioeconomics.
     Third, as a building leader, one must be skilled at reading into the most appropriate data to identify trends in achievement and to determine what needs to be improved. Effective teaching strategies are best employed when the available testing data has pointed to the deficiencies that need to be addressed. Studying the evidence and clearly communicating a plan of action to the teaching staff is crucial to closing the achievement gap.  Having the ability to analyze data becomes a useful skill when the information can be shared among staff members. A competent assistant principal will promote an environment of positive collaboration and shared experiences among teachers.
     These are the most important skills for a school leader to possess, but they must be encompassed with the ability to build and develop teams of teachers, to foster an environment of cooperation and trust and to show empathy with teachers when needed.