How Do I Begin to Break Ranks?
Breaking Ranks II begins by asking principals to assess the extent to which their schools meet the needs of every student. Nine questions are proposed to guide the principal’s and the leadership team’s thinking:
- How many of the students who enter your school in ninth grade graduate in four years?
- What percentage of your graduates must take remedial courses in college or a community college? What percentage of those finish college?
- Does your leadership team successfully interact with “hard-to-reach” parents with activities such as home visits, Saturday meetings, and meetings outside of regular business hours?
- How many low-income and/or minority students are enrolled in advanced courses?
- How many teachers from different disciplines work together on a regular basis?
- Are the aspirations, strengths, and weaknesses of each student known by at least one faculty member or other member of your staff? How do you ensure the staff member uses that information appropriately to help the student become successful in all classes and activities?
- What percentage of the classes per week at your school is primarily lecture-driven?
- Aside from student government, do students have a voice at your school?
- Were you able to answer these questions and support the responses with data?
Some questions can be answered with empirical data gathered from school records. Others require principals to reach out and ask various members of the school community about their impressions of the school’s performance. NASSP has developed a series of surveys to help principals gather data and, more important, to spark conversation about the need for school improvement. The survey instruments, some of which can be found in the Appendix section of the Breaking Ranks II book, can be downloaded below in PDF and administered manually. Or NASSP can administer the survey electronically for your school and tabulate your results. Click the survey below to download the PDF document or to obtain more information on NASSP’s electronic service.
You can also learn more about initiating a Breaking Ranks II initiative at your school by attending a Breaking Ranks II training.