Introduction If this book revolves around any one meaningful message, it is that the soul of any school is its character, what the Greeks called ethos, without which meaningful teaching and learning cannot—will not—take place. Many throughout the United States look at the seeming precari- ous state of national and international affairs and believe, as I do, in the importance of renewing our commitment to the philosophy and tenets of our country’s founding. In doing so, I wonder about the role the declining state of American education has played in our current condition. We look at our social and cultural state of affairs and find too many Americans devoid of basic knowledge, from their math facts and both oral and written skills, to a lack of knowledge of history— American or otherwise. Company managers regularly complain about job candidates’ inability to express themselves.1 That should be no surprise, as many high school and college graduates lack both hard and soft skills—from writing proficiency; public speaking; and data analysis to critical thinking and problem-solving; paying atten- tion to detail; and understanding leadership, communication, and listening; as well as the importance of interpersonal connections, eti- quette, and teamwork.2 The dearth of workplace talents makes it all the more difficult for graduates to find, much less to hold, the jobs dead last that are increasingly based on knowledge and information. Folks on both sides of the political spectrum, young and old, have bemoaned the continued overall abysmal state of American education. We have our share of successful schools throughout the country. It is fair to say, however, that American K-12 education annually lags behind the educational systems of many other industrialized na- tions. Why is it that so many schools appear chaotic, “graduating” students year after year bereft of the most basic skills, much less the ability to think critically? This is a story of a hard-luck public school that occupied the low end of the achievement scale for years, a school that many teachers felt was not a place where they wanted to teach, a school abhorred by many parents, a number of whom actively sought out other schools or education locales in the effort to provide their youngsters with a bet- ter education. Such dreadfully poor-performing, disruptive school environments can undergo remarkable transformation, when there are underlying values that revolve around character and a tireless, near-monomaniacal emphasis on self-discipline, quality instruc- tion, continuous improvement, making connections with one an- other, and establishing partnerships—day after day, year after year. It’s a story about hope; about grit, fortitude, determination, caring, passion, perseverance, and teamwork evidenced by students, staff, and parents. It’s a story about character. While located in what is considered an otherwise wealthy county in the Baltimore-Washington, D.C. corridor, considered a top-rated school system, some members of the Harper’s Choice Middle School (HCMS) staff and community stated that they felt the school was ignored, because of the unfavorable condition of the school’s envi- ronment and its poor academic performance. Whatever the case, I viewed it as the quintessential public school, a majority-minority school serving students of various races, ethnicities, and socioeco- xxiii stephen wallis nomic levels, a kind of “United Nations,” running the gamut from well-to-do single-family homes to low-income apartments and con- dominiums, and the majority of those students qualified for free or reduced lunch. I wanted to know precisely where our foreign-born youngsters hailed from, and I found that the student body represent- ed countries and nationalities from Puerto Rico, Mexico, El Salvador, Ghana, Liberia, Iran, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Taiwan, Vietnam, Hondu- ras, and China. The school was also described as “dead last” in conversations with teaching staff, parents, and school district officials. It was among those schools replete with disruptive student behavior, including widespread bullying and thievery; failing state academic test scores; low staff morale; racial unrest; and parent dissatisfaction with school and school district administrators. However, it later rose to become a State Character School of the Year, cited among the top schools in the Virginia–Washington, D.C.–Maryland area, and later designated a National School of Excellence, only to return later to an unfavorable academic condition. How does such a transformation occur? And how is it that, once a school has overcome its hard luck and achieved success, it can find itself yet again at the bottom of the barrel? The turnaround started with my belief that schools must revolve around character. In the case of Harper’s Choice, it became the soul of the school, from which decisions would be made regarding stu- dents, staff, the instructional program, parents, and the wider com- munity. This specific quality will be a recurring theme throughout the book. I will also devote extended analysis or commentary to hot button issues in American K-12 education, some of which will appear as chapters in the book. These are exceedingly important topics that figured prominently in our school’s success or are of pivotal import to the success of American education today: character, without which organizations simply cannot reach their optimum level of success; xxiv dead last leadership, a cornerstone in any orchestrated successful endeavor; school safety and security, a topic I could well have made the first chap- ter, given its critical importance; the resegregation and poisonous racial narrative that is wokeness and critical race theory; the achievement gap, that persistent performance disparity among groups, the elimi- nation of which is arguably the holy grail in education; parents and schools, a linchpin in a youngster’s school success; school choice; and vocational-technical education. I spent a career in public school teaching and administration. I was passionate about the profession, and I sought to ensure that stu- dents enjoyed attending school every day, that their parents believed in and felt good about the school their kids were attending, that teachers and staff enjoyed getting up in the morning and coming to work each day, and that the wider business community respected the school serving the community and felt confident that we were producing good citizens and, perhaps, future company employees. I believe such came under my specific purview, and I was going to do everything within the scope of my position to make that happen, to advance the teaching profession, and maybe even save some lives. I have only my extensive experience and modest observations to offer. I would like the reader to gain a glimpse of what it is like to run a busy demographic school, a term I use to describe my statistical view of a school community, this school community: multicultural ethnicities, a wide variance in community member education levels, income distribution, marital status, criminal behavior and police ac- tivity, social services casework load, and parent-school involvement. This school’s busy demographic presented students carrying emotional baggage, with an array of challenges, including pregnan- cy; involvement in the juvenile justice system, with some youngsters required to wear ankle bracelets; as well as those affected by family turmoil and disruption. As such, there were any number of folks in xxv stephen wallis and out of the school building on a daily basis. They might be county or state social services staff, psychologists, court-appointed individ- uals representing the student or parent, parent(s) arriving with an attorney, family services representatives, and the like. I would like the reader to understand the day-to-day challenges of such school communities, and to take from this book suggestions that might well prove successful in a school serving your community. If we continue to share “what works,” perhaps larger percentages of people—including students, parents, teachers, school officials, and legislators—will find it within themselves to transform the plethora of failing, disruptive, and violent schools into educational settings promoting first-rate teaching, exemplary student behavior, out- standing student academic achievement, and active parent partici- pation and support throughout our country. The reader will note that I will sometimes place quotation marks around a word or phrase and, depending on the context, it likely im- plies that I do not, in that specific case, agree with the meaning of the word as normally used. The book clarifies how character, grit, traditional values, respect, and a no-nonsense attitude trump the typical education orthodoxy of appeasement, identity politics, and excuses. It’s a book about a hard-working staff—ordinary people having accomplished some- thing special, something extraordinary— and in the process, found in themselves—students, staff, and parents— a kind of rebirth, a new beginning in how they began to look at themselves to become more purposeful, more meaningful in the lives of others. In that vein the book provides useful insights for any organization or corporation on the power of character, passion, and teamwork to obtain maxi- mum results. Research studies, my professional teaching career, media reports, and the assessment of scholars on the condition of American educa- xxvi dead last tion inform a point of view and critique made throughout this book of schools, educators, students, parents, and legislators, as well as the suggestions I offer for consideration. Having said that, I am as appreciative as I am humbled of the rewarding and edifying experi- ences I enjoyed as a professional high school English teacher, school administrator, and school principal. I hope the following pages ad- equately express that sentiment and that the reader takes away some equally edifying insights as to how best to improve K-12 education for our youngsters, our families, and for a stronger, more robust America. xxvii
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