Chapter 4
Strategies for Self-Assessment

I worry about the term "having a vision." A vision is something that changes all the time. Providing for conversations is key. The role of leadership is initiating and sustaining conversations.

"Setting up conversations causes vision to evolve," replied an elementary principal from California. However, no matter how broad the consensus about the reform agenda, reformers seldom achieve universal approval and buy-in. "You crash up against the expectations of others," a retired Pennsylvania superintendent reminded the group, and those expectations are often fragmented and contradictory. "There are so many barriers," he explained. "It's hard to sustain dialogue in an intractable system." Furthermore, said an award-winning principal from Georgia, "Our belief systems are different from the board of education's and the state superintendent's." "Loneliness is a problem," added the New Yorker. "Even worse for superintendents," countered his colleague. Reflecting a concern of most wage earners, the superintendent then articulated one of the ultimate reality checks: "You also have to behave in such a way that you can last." Figuring out how they are doing, in relation to their dreams and ambitions, is problematic for those challenged daily by the cacophony of opinions in successful democratic organizations.

How do sustainers of reform assess their progress, document their accomplishments, and protect their processes from erosion, in light of the ambiguities that surround them? In some cases--perhaps many cases--their own supervisors are unfamiliar with the vision that inspires reform at the school level. Supervisors' initial criticisms may be wide of the mark and their reactions may dampen enthusiasm. In addition, change agents are liable to damage from the heat of friction created when the old customs clash with the new. Some of the criticism from above and below in the conventional hierarchy may be nothing more than the creaking and grinding of a system making important adjustments. But if it is loud enough, the noise of a small, uncomfortable minority can derail a generally good plan, whether or not their complaints are serious or justified. And, of course, sometimes that shrill, small voice coming from a resister makes a crucial point. How do effective leaders cope?

Self-assessment is a tool that some participants said they use to demonstrate their accountability to their own values as well as to the appropriate expectations of their professional communities. In the forums, participants described several approaches to self-assessment. For instance, one group in California targeted the general domain of shared decision making and brainstormed ways that a leader could demonstrate to a supervisor expertise in that domain. On the other hand, a group in Kentucky focused on the prerequisites for leadership under the Kentucky Education Reform Act (KERA) and created a comprehensive, detailed rubric anchored firmly in KERA. Although the Kentucky group addressed state-initiated rather than school-initiated reform, its members expressed no less anxiety about their pioneer status and no less interest in becoming proficient as individual leaders in their home schools than did the Californians, who were heading an array of reform activities.

As a teacher, I was part of the restructuring committee at my high school in 1992. We decided to use a frame work based on Ted Sizer's ideas, laid out in Horace's Compromise and Horace's School. In spite of disparate personalities and teaching philosophies, our committee as a who agreed on the value of the nine common principles. Our process led us to the decision that a change in schedule was necessary to begin the restructuring. We had visited a number of high schools implementing various kinds of "block" scheduling. One member of the committee, an English teacher very different from me in temperament and educational philosophy, then proposed a plan for a 4-block, 90-minute schedule. Everyone on the committee felt that her proposal addressed the issues paramount at our school in a way that other schedules we had observed had not. Personally, I was overjoyed that the process which had taken so much time and energy was finally reaching a conclusion.

As we discussed it, this same teacher kept insisting that while the plan offered may features that should be of help to our at-risk population, it did not offer the one-on-one help may of them seem to need. As she kept reiterating this point, I found myself becoming extremely irritated with her. I sensed that the other members of the committee felt the same way, but still she continued to worry this point. It was soon driven home to all of us that she was not going to stop talking about this and we would have to deal with it, so we began to brainstorm. Our brainstorming ultimately led to a special schedule developed for the 200 most at-risk students in the school. Instead of four classes of 90 minutes each day, they would have three classes and a 90-minute tutorial which would be set up with hands-on activities for study skills as well as one teacher from each core area for individual tutoring.

This was a very humbling experience for me. I had often viewed this English teacher as negative and not very creative. I had felt that she taught in too rigid a manner to accommodate the less able students. But she cared enough about them to persevere in the face of everyone's irritation to create a schedule that would consider them in a special way. Since that day I have resolved that when I find myself being irritated by someone who appears to me to be acting obstructively, I take a step back and consider that they must be time I have done this, I have given up some of my control and have gained a thousandfold. Each time that I have voluntarily given up some of my control and focused on listening to others, I have found the people around me empowered and able to generate creative solutions to whatever problem we are facing.

Private High School Principal
Kansas City, Missouri

Many of the participants found some important aspects of leadership hard to evaluate by conventional methods; claimed one, "Being a change agent is a thousand times more art than science." However, they also recognized and accepted the need to show accountability. Commenting on the inherent paradoxes of leadership in reform, one veteran bilingual administrator said, "We celebrate our successes; we pat ourselves on the back. . . but whenever we have to talk about measurable objectives, we go 'ewww!' Still, I need something to hold onto!" Some participants explained how tools such as journaling or portfolio development help them assemble evidence of their skill development. In several instances, groups seized the rare opportunity offered by the forum to consult with like-minded colleagues and construct visionary professional development programs that used individual reflection, mentoring, and group work to promote growth and assess progress. In general, these leaders emphasized developmental assessment, with its promise to document progress while stimulating critical reflection about next steps. However, a few of their ideas could also serve as formal accountability structures, providing the occasion to demonstrate real accomplishment in a previously untried arena of practice.

The three sections that follow describe some of the participants' ideas: first, individual, reflective strategies; second, activities that could be organized for a small group of learners in the role of reform sustainer; and third, a formal rubric that attempts to chart progress in a complex system. In several cases, variations on these strategies have also been documented more formally elsewhere, and brief descriptions of available resources are offered at the end of this chapter. The final section of this chapter discusses the elements that are essential for developing effective self-assessment and briefly summarizes ideas and plans developed by professionals in this field.

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[Chapter 3 References]

[Individual Exercises in Assessment]