A Charter School Principal Story: A View from the Inside (Second Edition) - Paperback

by Barbara J. Smith (Author)

What happens when a Canadian principal, guided by the teachings of Fullan and Hargreaves, takes on the role of school leader in an inner-city charter school in the United States? This inside story of a principal in the DC charter school system, reveals much about the desire for educators and students to experience more than a life of multiple-choice testing that tends to be so commonplace in these schools. While such a case adds to the mound of research that supports the 'change takes time' findings, it nevertheless demonstrates the reality, on a day-to-day basis, of what's worth fighting for in schools. Student and teacher engagement and empowerment matter, and to get to such ends, a school must fiercely focus on targets well beyond test scores.

Author Biography

Barbara J. Smith has been a teacher-researcher and school leader in public, charter, independent and international schools for over 40 years. She has started three schools and has been a teacher educator at three teaching faculties and graduate schools of education.