Identifying behavioral characteristics of high school principals providing leadership in reforming Iowa high schools

Technological advances and the changing world have created new challenges in preparing our youth to lead satisfying lives in the twenty-first century. Current literature supports the case that change is needed in our high schools to move from the factory preparation model to become more personalized learning communities preparing students for life in a global community. This reinvented high school will require reinvented leadership to guide the process of high school reform. The purpose of this study was to identify behavioral characteristics of high school principals providing leadership in reforming Iowa high schools. Interviews were conducted with educators from two Iowa schools that were implementing the nationally recognized reform programs, High Schools That Work (HSTW) and/or Achieving Via Individual Determination (AVID). Ten teachers and four administrators participated in individual semi-structured interviews. Constant Comparative Analysis method was used throughout the research project to analyze the data. Themes were confirmed, crosschecked, and tested for coding reliability as part of the ongoing analysis. The themes that emerged from the data analysis led in the development of a visual model, Key Elements of Leadership for the Effective 21st Century High School Principal. The elements and sub-elements of the model are as follows: (1) Student Focused System, with sub-elements—student needs drive decisions, student-centered environment for each student, student voice, and student choice; (2) Culture of Learning, with sub-elements—facilitates a shared philosophy, supports collaboration, establishes high expectations, nurtures parent partnerships, and encourages community engagement; and (3) Essential Characteristics, with sub-elements—visionary, effective communicator, risk taker, learner, decision-maker, and relationship builder. The Key Elements for Leadership are interrelated and provide a multi-dimensional approach to leadership

Health Literacy in the Mathematics Classroom: The Iowa Core Curriculum As An Opportunity to Deepen Students’ Understanding of Mathematics

By 2012, all high schools in Iowa will be required to incorporate the new Iowa Core Curriculum, followed by elementary and middle schools in 2014 (Iowa Department of Education, 2009). The Iowa Core Curriculum addresses the question: How is Iowa\u27s educational system preparing our youth for successful lives in the 21st-century global environment? (Davidson, 2009). It consists of core content standards, and identifies essential concepts and skills for content areas. The Iowa Core Curriculum also includes the ―21st Century Skills‖ of ―health, financial, technology, and civic literacy, and employability skills. These skills are to be infused into existing subject matter rather than taught as separate stand-alone subjects