Leadership and Decision-Making Skills of High Poverty Elementary School Principals in an Era of Reduced Resources

     I am recruiting retired principals from high poverty (title 1) elementary schools in Oregon to participate in this study.  I have IRB approval from Portland State University.  Please contact me at kspooner123@gmail.com if you are interested.

ABSTRACT

Recently, a great deal of interest has been generated around the role of principal and its effectiveness, especially its impact on improving teacher instruction and student learning. Waters, Marzano, and McNulty (2003) concluded that one quarter of all “school effects” on achievement can be attributed to principals. While there is general agreement on the principal’s importance and affect, do we understand how principals have adapted to changes in schools with reduced resources and increased learning needs of students?  How have principals made decisions in an environment where resources have been reduced over time?  Given the stories of principals from high poverty elementary schools, the purpose of this narrative inquiry is to describe the leadership and decision-making skills principals employed when having to respond to decreasing resources and the need for increased student achievement. Participants in the study will include retired principals from high poverty elementary schools who were employed during the time period extending from 2008 through 2014.  Findings from the study should make sense of the meanings elementary principals have constructed and attached to the phenomena of  decision making in times of financial reduction in order to help other principals who have been challenged by similar circumstances.

Running in a Land Flowing with Bananas and Oranges

Click on the title above to read this. Let me know what you think.

Oregon Symphony Invites Jon to be Guest Soloist

We just heard the news. Jon was invited to be a guest soloist with the Oregon Symphony on Sunday, February 22nd. Congratulations Jon!

Jon Spooner Wins Again!

Jon had one of his best performances of the Sonata(Vox Gabrieli) by Stjepan Salek this last Saturday, April 26th. Out of nineteen trombone players from throughout the state, he placed first. This was the second year in a row that he was able to achieve this honor. We are all very proud of him. The video was uploaded to you tube. You can view it at:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-b2iHljz_rE

The recording quality is not the greatest and Jon says there is a lot of room for improvement, but you can't stop a proud father from showing off his son's work. Congratulations Jon!

Jon's Choir Performance- Horizons

I thought Jon's performance of this piece was an interesting coincidence. The piece titled Horizons by Peter Louis Van Dijk was commissioned by the King's singers in 1995, the very same year I traveled to South Africa for my Fulbright Exchange Trip. The song depicts the experiences of the San and the Europeans. During my trip, I was able to hike through the Drakensburg mountains and view rock paintings left by the San. In the drawings there were depictions of the British soldiers who ultimately brought their undoing.

This trip was a peak experience in my life and as I sat there listening to this piece on Wednesday, I was flooded with memories of teaching in a Zulu village, running in a race on trails that bordered Mozambique, traveling to the bottom of a gold mine, overcoming culture shock and homesickness, being caught up in the struggles and transformation in the new South Africa, walking in the steps of Mandela at Robin Island.- I could go on and on.

I sure enjoyed this, especially since this was the first time I got to hear Jon sing in a performance setting. I wonder if he remembers sitting in the airport on his mother's lap crying as I took off on the plane.

If you're reading this, take a minute and click on the video bar to watch and listen to this story.

Diving Bell and the Butterfly

Maggie and I had a chance to see probably one of the greatest films ever yesterday. The Diving Bell and the Butterfly is a film adaptation of a book written by Jean-Dominique Bauby, a magazine editor from France who suffered a stroke and wrote about his experiences. By blinking his eyelids, a speech therapist was able to translate his blinks into letters forming words and sentences and eventually a book.

The creator/director of the film, Julian Schnabel produced a masterful work. I understand that he is also a painter. After watching this film, it really makes one think about what it means to be a human being. I was able to read a couple reviews and I agree with most of what I read. Schnabel really wanted the viewer to leave that movie with a feeling of hope about the human condition.

Watching this man suffer through the loss and the complete control of his body except for one eye and an eyelid and experiencing it in the first person was simply the most amazing movie experience I have ever had. I have to say that it was one of those experiences that causes one to make changes in their own life. I know that it changed me.

In Remembrance

Jon's trombone playing has matured quite a bit. We sure enjoyed this moment last week.

What a performance this was! Enjoy this on You tube. Here is the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xCKmXpCHm0o

It was interesting to see all of the related videos and comments that were put up.