Andrea Gabor asks whether Brockton High will do a better job in the selection of a successor than Mayor Bloomberg.
Brockton High is a large high school in Massachusetts that successfully turned around its performance through teamwork and coloration, not punishment, closing and privatization.
Now that the principal is retiring, Gabor hopes the successor will be a knowledgeable insider, not a “star” intent on rocking the boat.
Gabor contrasts the steady progress at Brockton High with the upheavals in New York City, where the mayor replaced Joel Klein with a novice who failed.
I question her claim that Klein and Bloomberg “decentralized” decision-making. For the past decade, every important decision in New York City regarding education policy has been made in City Hall, not the schools.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Brockton HIgh School has been a poster child for inadequate state funding, and yet has become an example of accountability done right: Teachers hold students accountable!
Brockton High School principal’s philosophy:
THEN (circa 1998)
“students have a right to fail.”
NOW (Szachowicz, retiring 2012 after 10 years):
“There is no such right!
High Standards,
High expectations,
No excuses!”
Leadership Leverage Points
– Coherent Vision
– Empowerment
– Instructional Leadership
Source http://www.unm.edu/~nmcsa/09Conf/Szachowicz%2520Keynote.ppt
Also of interest:
Your search – Szachowicz site:aft.org – did not match any documents.
Your search – Szachowicz site:nea.org – did not match any documents.
The search Szachowicz site:ed.gov finds:
“Transformed by Literacy”, Principal Leadership, v11 n3 p18-23 Nov 2010
When low test scores demanded a hard look at the curriculum, literacy became a focus for improvement at Brockton (MA) High School. Schoolwide training for teachers and a rolling implementation model ensured consistency and reinforcement of the skills. Results came in improved scores and national recognitions, including selection as a National Model School by the International Center for Leadership in Education, two bronze medals on the “U.S. News and World Report’s” America’s Best High Schools rankings, and acknowledgment by Harvard University’s Achievement Gap Institute for closing the gap. Brockton has become a national model for student achievement and will work hard to continue its success.
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