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Media
LESSM
ARTICLES FOR MANILA BULLETIN
EFFECTIVE SCHOOL LEADERSHIP PAVES WAY FOR HIGH STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT
Any organization's success is dependent on the effectiveness of
its leader. Much like any other institution or company, schools need
strong leadership in order to excel. Schools with strong leadership
promote good teaching and high level of learning. Effective school
leaders recognize and assume a shared responsibility not only for
students' intellectual and educational development but also for their
personal, social, emotional and physical development. Moreover,
effective school leaders collaboratively create a vision of success for
all leaders and use their skills in communication, cooperation, and
community building to ensure that the vision becomes a reality.
What makes an effective leader in education?
The following qualities can be seen in effective educational
leaders:
1. They have a vision for success.
2. They set high expectations for student achievement
3. They build capacity for leadership
4. They demonstrate ethical and moral leadership
5. They nurture and support a learning community
6. They acknowledge and share responsibilities for high academic
achievement of all
students
What can be considered good leadership?
In today's climate of high expectations, school leaders especially the
principals are the focus on improving teaching and learning. They need
to be educational visionaries, instructional and curriculum leaders,
assessment experts, disciplinarians, community builders, public
relations experts, budget analysts, facility managers, special program
administrators and expert overseers of legal, contractual and policy
mandates and initiatives.
An overwhelming responsibility
The job requirements sound overwhelming. But they also signal that the
field has begun to give overdue recognition to the critical role and
mounting demands on school principals. The question is: are present and
future principals getting the professional preparation they need to meet
them?
Growing consensus on the attributes of effective school principals shows
that successful school leaders influence student achievement through two
important pathways — the support and development of effective teachers
and the implementation of effective organizational processes. This
consensus is increasingly reflected in preparation and licensing
requirements, which generally subscribe to a set of common expectations
for the knowledge, skills, and dispositions of school leaders.
There is evidence that suggests that school heads make a strong impact
on student learning. The principal's abilities are central to the task
of building schools that promote powerful teaching and learning for all
students.
Recent research has reinforced the critical nature of the principal's
job. Three aspects can be considered essential to the principal's role:
1) Developing a deep understanding of how to support teachers
2) Managing the curriculum in ways that promote student learning and
3) Developing the ability to transform schools into more effective
organizations
that foster powerful teaching and learning for all students.
On the way to improvement
Principals who undergo concept-driven preparation programs that consist
of a yearlong and carefully mentored program received higher performance
evaluation ratings by supervisors and were perceived by teachers as
being more effective in managing their schools, according to a recent
study.
Therefore, continuous, career level-appropriate, and seamless
professional development is essential to a principal's progress.
Training activities should build on prior learning experiences and
continue throughout the stages of a principal's career. It is therefore
important that closer links should be made between teacher preparation,
administrator preparation, and administrator professional development in
order to provide a continuity of learning experiences framed around the
principles of effective teaching and instructional excellence.
ENSURING SCHOOLS' SURVIVAL, LEADING THEM TO SUCCESS
Effective resource management is a challenge for any institution. It is
an even tougher feat for schools, which are generally considered not for
profit. Operation expenses for school supplies, teachers' wages,
instructional equipment, and the maintenance of classrooms,
laboratories, gymnasiums, and other facilities can be steep. School
management has to be prudent—and at times, creative—not just to make
ends meet but to achieve high educational standards at that.
It is a good thing that management training for school administrators
has been more available in recent years. Many school heads are teachers
who have been promoted because of outstanding teaching and people
skills. Although these skills are important to running a school, it
takes so much more to run it effectively. Many academic managers are
just that—academic. Very few have undergone management education. Few
are conscious about profit-and-loss and other financial matters. Many
acknowledge the need to enhance their leadership and managerial skills.
Short training courses, such as the Leadership Strategies for School
Managers (LESSM), aim to address this need.
The LESSM has been running since 2006 and has benefited
hundreds of school administrators nationwide. It features respected
education consultants from top institutions such as the University of
the Philippines, Ateneo de Manila University, De La Salle University,
and the Asian Institute of Management, among others. It covers
management issues such as finance, human resource development, and legal
policies governing schools.
This 2008, the LESSM adopts the theme School Managers
Surviving the Global Crisis in response to the world financial
meltdown. The two-day conference aims to make school leaders more aware
of the global situation and how they can combat its possible effects on
the educational system. To be held on December 5 and 6 at the Ateneo
Institute of Social Order, it will cover topics such as Achieving
Financial Stability, Meeting Accreditation Standards within a Budget,
Strategic Resource Management, Promoting Excellent Instruction on a
Tight Budget, Financial Implications of Legal Problems, and School
Leadership and its Cost. Dean Roberto Borromeo and Ms. Lilia Vengco of
the De La Salle University System; Dr. Cornelia Soto of the Ateneo
Education Department; and Prof. Liza Carascal of the U.P. Open
University are among the invited resource speakers.
There will also be a brief session on how principals can recreate their
professional image for less the cost during the conference. Each
session will provide practical how-to's and bank on actual school
management scenarios. For more information on the LESSM, call 927-7770
or 0917-5009099, or log-on to www.educ18.net.
SMART SCHOOLS SAVE
There are many ways a school can cut on cost without
appearing cheap or stingy. Schools can maintain good facilities and
give decent teachers' wages without going bankrupt or making tuition
fees so high. The following are some of the ways schools can cut on
expenses without compromising its services.
1. Save on energy.
On any operations budget, electricity charges take up a huge chunk.
Determine the electricity consumption of the appliances and equipment
that your school uses through an energy audit. Find out which equipment
use up the most electricity and cut down on any unnecessary use of the
equipment.
Take for example the airconditioner—equipment that uses a lot of
electricity.
School heads should come up with guidelines on the use of
airconditioning units. For example, these could only be turned on when
at least three people are in the room. Units must also be turned off
during lunch breaks and an hour before people leave the office.
Measures could be established on the practice of bringing and plugging
in personal equipment such laptops and cell phones and personal
appliances such as radios and coffeemakers in schools. In the United
Sates, some schools allow teachers and staff to use personal appliances
in the school, but for a fee.
Energy-saving measures can be big, such as implementing school-wide
week-
long breaks or shutdowns during summer or in between semesters, which
can lead to one big reduction of bills and expenses. But cost-cutting
practices can also be smaller-scale. Turning off the lights of various
rooms that are not in use or of hallways that already have enough
illumination, using low-wattage lights such as compact fluorescent
lights, or, better yet, maximizing natural light to illuminate a room
can lead towards a collectively substantial reduction in energy
consumption. Asking computer users to make full use of energy-saving
features of their equipment can help some more. Some equipment like
vending machines refrigerators could be unplugged overnight.
2. Monitor purchasing policies.
A big part of the school budget also goes to paper, pens, pencils, and
other supplies. Take time to evaluate cheaper but still good-quality
alternatives to what your school usually purchases. Give regular
reminders to students and faculty members on the economic use of
supplies. For example, each student or employee could help by using the
econofast mode of printers and both sides of bond papers. This may cut
down on ink and paper usage.
3. Involve the whole school.
Communicate clearly and effectively to the whole school community the
reason behind these new belt-tightening measures. School officials must
be able to get the cooperation of all members of their community, from
teachers to students to staff to parents, in order to effectively
implement the changes in policies and procedures. They must be open to
dialogues and suggestions in order to ease the anxiety felt by all
stakeholders.
School managers can also actively seek out partner schools and
organizations, which will allow them to learn other cost-cutting
projects that could be applied to their own schools. Seminars and
conferences, which provide a good network of contacts for school heads,
are an opportunity for them to learn about the budget practices of other
schools. Financial limitations are not uncommon in schools. Ideas and
different perspectives from other administrators who have been
successful in cutting down operation costs can be very helpful during
these hard times.
INVESTING ON SCHOOL LEADERS
A few years ago, participants of an international convention on
education were asked what their priority was for their respective
country's educational system. Most of the attendees said that they want
a desktop computer for each student in their country. The Philippines
had a more modest goal – just a chair and a writing table for every
pupil in public schools.
The government has of course introduced significant improvements
recently. Under the leadership of Department of Education Secretary
Jesli Lapus, students' performance ratings have increased. Resource
management in public schools is under closer watch and considerable
savings have been made. But much still has to be done. Many public
school facilities remain in a sorry state.
Teachers getting disheartened
Teachers have a common goal: to prepare students to be successful at
what they do. But much as they love being part of students' lives,
Filipino teachers simply cannot support their families with their
income. It's no wonder that many of our teachers would rather work in
other fields than practice the noble and valuable profession of
teaching. Many are now abroad as caregivers, hospital aides, and office
workers. Those who choose to remain in the country are opting for call
center jobs, which offer above-average salaries.
Both public and private schools find themselves in the
same tight fix of losing teachers and declining material resources.
While private schools can implement tuition increases to cover their
expenses, they can only go so high. Parents, who feel the burden of the
weakening economics, cannot afford higher tuition fees. Many have
already transferred their children to less expensive private schools and
to public schools because of financial limitations.
Some private schools are turning to the government for support. Through
the Expanded Government Assistance to Students and Teachers in Private
Education (GASTPE), students who can no longer afford private school
tuition fees but cannot be accommodated by public schools are given
financial assistance. Schools that accept students from overpopulated
public schools, in turn, receive the Php5,000 subsidy for the students'
tuition.
Insufficient funds due to low enrolment and poor teacher
retention are just few of the many troubles that the country's
educational structure faces. And such concerns are what school managers
have to deal with every day. It takes sheer determination and strong
purpose to manage and maintain a good school even in tough times.
School managers need all the help and training they can get.
Building on management competency
Competency is important. School administrators need to continuously
improve and not be done in by "The Peter Principle" (rising to the level
of incompetence). They need to keep ahead of the game.
"For a neophyte middle administrator like me,
seminar-workshops would really be a great help to improve my leadership
and working relationship with my subordinates," says Adela Esmaquilan of
St. Paul College Pasig.
One program that offers training-seminars to school administrators and
educators is the Leadership Strategies for School Managers (LESSM). The
LESSM is a series of training sessions specifically designed for school
leadership enhancement. It tackles human and legal issues in school
management, financial stability, excellent teacher retention, among
other topics.
Great Mabuti, a school principal and a LESSM attendee has this to share,
"It's great to know what works and what won't work in school
leadership…"
The LESSM seminar mirrors every school administrator's work challenges.
It provides educators an opportunity to brainstorm with their peers on
possible solutions to potential problems in school management. Majority
of the participants who have attended the LESSM believe that good school
leadership is one of the keys in maintaining effective schools. Such
leadership is also vital in cascading a positive influence on teachers.
As Mr. Lauro Silapan, an educator from Cebu, puts it, "…it is very
important to manage the most important resource – personnel and
teachers."
Motivation is essential in retaining good teachers. To that, Eric John
Ambat, vice-president of Miraculous Medal School, agrees, "A teacher's
role is to bring out the best in every child, it is likewise a challenge
to administration to bring out the best in every teacher." Investing in
an educator's training will promote quality teaching, thus result to
dynamic schools. "Setting high expectations would always drive an
individual to perform better and set higher goals", adds Ma. Cristina
Elloso of Paref Woodrose School.
Technology can also help lead schools to global excellence.
But a survey of 4, 310 public schools conducted by The Department of
Science and Technology (DOST) showed two of the major problems in
implementing ICT education for instruction are 1) teachers' fear of the
technology and 2) lack of appreciation of school principals to the idea
of ICT education.
Educators should believe otherwise, as Jacqueline Lazo of PSA Novaliches
says, "One shouldn't stop learning and should be open to changes and new
things." Educators should equip themselves with the current trends in
education. They cannot give what they don't know and not have.
In spite of economic limitations, there are still educators who remain
dedicated to improving the educational system in the country. These
school leaders still believe they can make a difference. In their
desire to provide students and teachers the best guidance, they invest
time, money, and effort to enhance essential skills—communication,
management-mindedness, and strategic leadership. For more information on
the LESSM, you may call 927-7770 or 0917-5009099, or visit
www.educ18.net
LESSM ARTICLES FOR PHILIPPINE
STAR
STEERING SCHOOLS AWAY FROM
FINANCIAL PERIL
“The Philippines is in a better position to face this crisis because of
fiscal reforms undertaken by the government in 2005-2006. The impact on
domestic financial markets of ongoing global financial stress would have
been greater if these reforms had not been in place.” This is according
to International Monetary Fund Resident Representative Reza Baqir.
Economic reforms initiated by the government and Filipinos’ innate
resiliency are what cushion us from the effects of the ongoing world
financial crisis. Amidst news of foreign businesses going bankrupt and
of the international stock market in disarray, Filipinos are at the
malls shopping for Christmas, eternally hopeful for better days. But can
we survive on sheer optimism? How do we know that the global crisis
won’t plunge us into deeper poverty? Is our positivism steering us to
concrete solutions or are we just drifting, going with the flow, without
any direction?
In these critical times, every industry—particularly one as vital and
influential as the education sector must be even more cost-conscious and
budget-smart. It is a huge challenge for schools to maintain excellent
standards while making sure that they have enough resources to go
around.
Fortunately, management training that addresses the specific concerns of
running an academic institution is now available to school owners,
principals, and finance officers. One such program is the Leadership
Strategies for School Managers or LESSM, which has been running since
2006. With the theme School Managers Surviving the Global Crisis, the
LESSM will tackle finance and management issues such as Achieving
Financial Stability, Meeting Accreditation Standards within a Budget,
Strategic Resource Management, Promoting Excellent Instruction on a
Tight Budget, Financial Implications of Legal Problems, and Leadership
and its Cost on December 5 and 6 at the Ateneo Institute of Social
Order. It will feature highly respected resource speakers such as Dean
Roberto Borromeo and Ms. Lilia Vengco of the De La Salle University
System; Dr. Cornelia Soto of the Ateneo Education Department; Prof. Liza
Carascal of the U.P. Open University; and law in education expert Atty.
Maritonie Renee Resurreccion.
There will also be a brief session on how principals can recreate their
professional image for less the cost during the conference. Each session
will provide practical how-to’s and bank on actual school management
scenarios.
STUDENT PERFORMANCE—A RESULT OF SCHOOL LEADERSHIP
The success of any organization lies on the effectiveness of its leader.
Much like any other institution or company, schools need strong
leadership in order to excel. Schools with strong leadership promote
good teaching and high level of learning. Effective school leaders
recognize and assume a shared responsibility not only for students’
intellectual and educational development but also for their personal,
social, emotional and physical development. Moreover, effective school
leaders collaboratively create a vision of success for all leaders and
use their skills in communication, cooperation, and community building
to ensure that the vision becomes a reality.
Effective Leadership in Education
Effective school leaders share the following qualities:
1. They have a vision for success.
2. They set high expectations for student achievement
3. They build capacity for leadership
4. They demonstrate ethical and moral leadership
5. They nurture and support a learning community
6. They acknowledge and share responsibilities for high academic
achievement of all students What is good leadership made of? In today’s
climate of great expectations, school leaders especially the principals
are the focus on improving teaching and learning. They need to be
educational visionaries, instructional and curriculum leaders,
assessment experts, disciplinarians, community builders, public
relations experts, budget analysts, facility managers, special program
administrators and expert overseers of legal, contractual and policy
mandates and initiatives.
A Big Load to Carry
The job requirements sound overwhelming. But they also signal that the
field has begun to give overdue recognition to the critical role and
mounting demands on school principals. But are present and future
principals getting the professional preparation they need to meet them?
Growing consensus on the attributes of effective school principals shows
that successful school leaders influence student achievement through two
important pathways — the support and development of effective teachers
and the implementation of effective organizational processes. This
consensus is increasingly reflected in preparation and licensing
requirements, which generally subscribe to a set of common expectations
for the knowledge, skills, and dispositions of school leaders.
Evidence suggests that, second only to the influences of classroom
instruction, school heads make a strong impact on student learning.
Principals’ abilities are central to the task of building schools that
promote powerful teaching and learning for all students.
In recent years, research has reinforced the critical nature of the
principal’s job, of which there are three aspects:
1) Developing a deep understanding of how to support teachers
2) Managing the curriculum in ways that promote student learning and
3) Developing the ability to transform schools into more effective
organizations that foster powerful teaching and learning for all
students.
Moving to Improve
Principals who participated in a preparation program that is
concept-driven and consisting of a yearlong and carefully mentored
program received higher performance evaluation ratings by supervisors
and were perceived by teachers as being more effective in managing their
schools, according to a recent study.
Therefore, ongoing, career-staged, and seamless professional development
is essential to a principal’s progress. Training activities should build
on prior learning experiences and continue throughout the stages of a
principal’s career. It is therefore important that closer links should
be made between teacher preparation, administrator preparation, and
administrator professional development in order to provide a continuity
of learning experiences framed around the principles of effective
teaching and instructional leadership.
EQUIPPING EDUCATORS FOR ‘BATTLE’
A consensus on the first World Conference on Education held in Thailand
14 years ago states that there could be no development in financial,
social, and health terms…"unless the battle for education was won."
14 years after, has the Philippines won the battle?
In 2008, the Department of Education received a budget of 144 billion
pesos, while State-run Universities and Colleges were allocated 19.4
billion pesos through the Commission on Higher Education (CHED).
We’ve seen several successful development projects in the public school
system recently. Under the leadership of Education Secretary Jesli Lapus,
student achievement has increased. Procurement of textbooks, supplies,
and equipment are more closely monitored and major savings have been
achieved.
There is, of course, still a lot to be done. Many public school
facilities remain in a sorry state and 85% of the budget allocated for
the salaries may not be enough to encourage Filipino educators to stay
put.
Teachers going elsewhere
All teachers have a common goal: to prepare students to be successful at
what they do. But much as they love being part of students' lives,
Filipino teachers simply cannot support their families with their
income. It's no wonder that many of our teachers would rather work in
other fields than practice the noble and valuable profession of
teaching. Many are now abroad as caregivers, hospital aides, and office
workers. Those who choose to remain in the country are opting for call
center jobs, which offer above-average salaries.
Both public and private schools find themselves in the same tight fix of
losing teachers and dwindling funds. While private schools can implement
tuition increases to cover their expenses, they can only go so high.
Higher tuition fees put off parents, who are feeling the economic
crunch. Many have already transferred their children to less expensive
private schools and to public schools because of financial constraints.
Some private schools are turning to the government for support. Through
the Expanded Government Assistance to Students and Teachers in Private
Education (GASTPE), students who can no longer afford private school
tuition fees but cannot be accommodated by public schools are given
financial assistance. Schools that accept students from overcrowded
public schools, in turn, receive the Php5,000 subsidy for the students'
tuition.
Drop-out rates, insufficient funds, and low teacher retention are just
few of the many troubles that the country's educational structure faces.
And such concerns are what school managers have to deal with every day.
It takes sheer determination and strong purpose to manage and maintain a
good school even in tough times. School managers need all the help and
training they can get.
The Quest to Learn
Competency is important. School administrators need to continuously
improve and not be done in by "The Peter Principle" (rising to the level
of incompetence). They must keep ahead of the curve.
"For a neophyte middle administrator like me, seminar-workshops would
really be a great help to improve my leadership and working relationship
with my subordinates," says Adela Esmaquilan of St. Paul College Pasig.
One program that offers training-seminars to school administrators and
educators is the Leadership Strategies for School Managers (LESSM). The
LESSM is a series of training programs specifically designed for school
leadership enhancement. It tackles human and legal issues in school
management, financial stability, excellent teacher retention, among
other topics.
Great Mabuti, a school principal and a LESSM attendee has this to share,
"It's great to know what works and what won't work in school
leadership…"
The LESSM seminar mirrors every school administrator's work struggles.
It provides educators an opportunity to brainstorm with their peers on
possible solutions to potential problems in school management. Majority
of the participants who have attended the LESSM believe that good school
leadership is one of the keys in maintaining effective schools. Such
leadership is also vital in cascading a positive influence on teachers.
As Mr. Lauro Silapan, an educator from Cebu, puts it, "…it is very
important to manage the most important resource – personnel and
teachers."
Motivation is essential in retaining good teachers. To that, Eric John
Ambat, vice-president of Miraculous Medal School, agrees, "A teacher's
role is to bring out the best in every child, it is likewise a challenge
to administration to bring out the best in every teacher."
Investing in an educator's training will promote quality teaching, thus
result to dynamic schools. "Setting high expectations would always drive
an individual to perform better and set higher goals," adds Ma. Cristina
Elloso of Paref Woodrose School.
Technology can also help lead schools to global excellence. But a survey
of 4, 310 public schools conducted by The Department of Science and
Technology (DOST) showed two of the problems in implementing ICT
education for instruction: teachers' fear of the technology and lack of
appreciation of school principals to the idea of ICT education.
Educators should believe otherwise, as Jacqueline Lazo of PSA Novaliches
surmised, "One shouldn't stop learning and should be open to changes and
new things." Educators should equip themselves with the current trends
in education. They cannot give what they don't know and not have.
It is a comfort to know that there are still educators who remain
dedicated to improving the educational system in the country. Despite
economic limitations, these school leaders still believe they can make a
difference. In their desire to provide students and teachers the best
guidance, they invest time, money, and effort to enhance essential
skills—leadership, communication, and management-mindedness.
Through these mentors, the battle for education can be won.
For more information on the LESSM, you may call 927-7770 or
0917-5009099, or visit www.educ18.net.
SAVING SMARTS FOR SCHOOLS
Schools can maintain decent facilities and competitive teachers’ wages
without going overboard with tuition increases—through a little prudence
and creative. Here are few tips on how schools can cut on cost without
cutting on quality.
1. Control energy consumption.
Electricity bills take up a huge part of the operations budget.
Determine the electricity consumption of the appliances and equipment
that your school uses through an energy audit. Find out which equipment
use up the most electricity and cut down on any unnecessary use of the
equipment.
Take for example the airconditioner—equipment that uses a lot of
electricity.
School heads should come up with guidelines on the use of
airconditioning units. For example, these could only be turned on when
at least three people are in the room. Units must also be turned off
during lunch breaks and an hour before people leave the office.
Measures could be established on the practice of bringing and plugging
in personal equipment such laptops and cell phones and personal
appliances such as radios and coffeemakers in schools. In the USA, some
schools allow teachers and staff to use personal appliances in the
school, but for a fee.
Energy-saving measures can be big, such as implementing school-wide
week-
long breaks or shutdowns during summer or in between semesters, which
can lead to one big reduction of bills and expenses. But cost-cutting
practices can be small as well. Turning off the lights of various rooms
that are not in use or of hallways that already have enough
illumination, using low-wattage lights such as compact fluorescent
lights, or, better yet, maximizing natural light to illuminate a room
can lead towards a collectively substantial reduction in energy
consumption. Asking computer users to make full use of energy-saving
features of their equipment can help some more. Some equipment like
vending machines refrigerators could be unplugged overnight.
2. Review purchasing practices.
Schools use up a lot of paper, pens, pencils, and other supplies. Take
time to evaluate cheaper but still good-quality alternatives to what
your school usually purchases. Give regular reminders to students and
faculty members on the economic use of supplies. For example, each
student or employee could help by using the econofast mode of printers
and both sides of bond papers. This may cut down on ink and paper usage.
3. Get the cooperation of the whole school
Effectively and clearly communicate to the whole school community the
reason behind these new belt-tightening measures. School officials must
be able to get the cooperation of all members of their community, from
teachers to students to staff to parents, in order to smoothly implement
the changes in policies and procedures. They must be open to dialogues
and suggestions in order to ease the anxiety felt by all stakeholders.
School managers can also actively seek out partner schools and
organizations, which will allow them to learn other cost-cutting
projects that could be applied to their own schools. School heads can
expand their network of contacts through seminars and conferences, where
they get to learn about the budget practices of other schools. Financial
limitations are not uncommon in schools. Ideas and different
perspectives from other administrators who have been successful in
cutting down operation costs can be most helpful.
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