Together They Soared: The Power of Transformation at Higgins High School

Jessica Jordon

Introduction

10 months ago, Louise Knox was appointed the Principal of Higgins High School which was facing significant challenges, including: poor academic performance, high absence and dropout rates, and a student body who seems apathetic and disengaged from learning. Higgins High faculty were discouraged and dissatisfied, both by the growing student body detachment and the inability to course correct.

Fully aware of the challenges, Louise joined Higgins High with a vision to transform the school where students thrived and were equipped with the skills they would need to go to college or begin careers. Louise believed that championing open lines of communication and encouraging collaboration among faculty would empower teachers and be the catalyst that boosted student engagement and academic performance.

In this teaching case, we will analyze how transformational leadership principles can be applied in an educational setting, and examine the challenges and successes of a transformational leadership approach.

Background

Higgins High School is located in a suburban neighborhood in a large county and serves approximately 1,550 students. In the surrounding area, there are four middle schools that funnel students into Higgins High, creating a diverse socioeconomic population where 45% of students are Hispanic, 35% are African American, 15% are White, and 5% identify as Asian. 48% of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, indicating varying levels of poverty in families within the surrounding community.

Faculty at Higgins High is made up of 83 teachers and 19 support staff. Thanks to high teacher turnover, 30% of the teaching staff has been in their position for less than two years. Only 29% of teachers report feeling engaged or satisfied. This high turnover has impacted students negatively: the graduation rate has declined steadily by 5-8%, dropout rates have increased 6% year-over-year, and only 40% of students meet or exceed standardized tests.

Declining academic performance has been impacting the school’s ability to secure funding, and creating high teacher turnover. Parental involvement within the school has plummeted and the community around Higgins High School has increasingly low expectations.

Louise Knox’s Transformational Leadership 

Arriving at Higgins High School, Louise Knox brought a vision for change. Although she was stepping into an environment with a long list of troubles, she was a firm believer in the power of transformational leadership to create meaningful, long lasting change. Louise leveraged classic transformational leadership factors, like:

Vision and Idealized Influence

Louise believed in serving as a role model for teachers and students, and made sure her values of integrity, passion, and commitment to standards were always on display. Her leadership philosophy was that Higgins High could become an institution of academic excellence and growth, despite their historic challenges. To do this, Louise relied on open communication and began hosting roundtables and focus groups with students, faculty, and parents in order to discuss the school’s problems. By listening, she helped others feel valued, and in return she gained their trust.

Inspirational Motivation

With trust gained, Louise was able to bring her passion forward to inspire and motivate others to believe in her vision. She built momentum by recognizing and reinforcing small ways a student or teacher acted in a way that supported her vision. Things like incremental attendance improvement were celebrated, a teacher who experimented with a new method was recognized. Launching an unofficial motto for the school to emphasize the importance of teacher and student connection, Louise always made sure to work “Together we soar!” into meetings and communications, breathing purpose into the work to turn around Higgins High.

Intellectual Stimulation

Louise believed in empowering teachers to take ownership of their curriculum and make adjustments that refreshed the material, bringing it to be more relevant for students, and making it more fun for them to teach. Interdisciplinary projects, classroom structure changes, hands-on learning experiences, and piloted teaching methods were encouraged as a way for teachers to create a dynamic learning environment where their expertise was cultivated and independence celebrated. Louise also encouraged students to propose new ideas for clubs and extracurricular activities that allowed diverse interests and skills to be developed, and offered students to create deeper, more personal connections with Higgins High.

Individualized Consideration

Recognizing that students and teachers would approach Louise’s vision with varying degrees of buy-in, Louise made it a priority to offer a supportive environment that offered something for everyone. For teachers, this meant establishing mentoring programs that paired veteran teachers with newcomers, and monthly staff meetings where new educational techniques could be discussed as a group. For students, Louise focused first on at-risk students who were most likely to drop out or not graduate. With the help of school counselors and a special teacher task force, Louise worked to create flexible learning plans and offered student mentoring.

Through her transformational leadership, Louise laid a foundation for a major cultural shift at Higgins High. She built trust, cultivated leadership, and motivated others by sharing and gaining their commitment to her vision for Higgins High excellence.

Discussion Questions

1. Louise made efforts to engage faculty and students in her transformational vision. How might this have played out differently if she had taken a transactional approach instead? What about a servant leadership approach?
   
2. Do you think Louise would have been successful using this approach with a private school? What about a public school with a less diverse population in a more affluent environment? Why or why not? What would need to change?
   
3. Reflect on Louise’s push for teachers to experiment with new methods of teaching. Can you think of any ethical considerations she should consider, or challenges she should proactively plan to mitigate?
   
4. Once cultural shifts are made, do you think Louise’s leadership style will need to change? If so, what do you think the next best leadership approach should be?
   
5. Imagine it’s five years down the road and Higgins High has radically transformed: students are graduating at record rates and successful in their next steps to either go to college or begin their careers, test standards have dramatically improved, teacher and student engagement has been sustainably high, and there is deep support for Higgins from parents and the greater community. Higgins High is a beacon of academic excellence and an exciting place to teach. What do you suggest Louise’s next steps should be, for continued Higgins High success? How much longer do you see Louise remaining at Higgins High?

Author Bio

Jessica Jordon is a communications professional with over a decade of experience supporting senior leaders in the financial sector. She specializes in strategic communications: integrated messaging, executive communications consulting, speechwriting, and leadership presence. Currently pursuing a master's degree in public policy from the University of Northern Iowa, Jessica is bringing a level up to integrated communications plans by combining her professional and educational experiences.

License

This case study is licensed CC BY-NC 4.0.