Schools to Watch

Jose Barillas

When they saw that I would back them up, the teachers enforced the rules, safety and security problems diminished, and teachers relaxed. As a result, instruction became more creative, teachers stopped focusing on bad behavior, and the general atmosphere of the school changed.

JOSE C. BARILLAS is a native of El Salvador who immigrated to the United States in 1970. He received a BA degree in Education from the University of Illinois in 1976 and a Master's degree in Administration from Chicago State University in 1982.

Mr. Barillas' teaching experience actually began in the Illinois Department of Corrections where he taught English as a Second Language to inmates at the Stateville facility in Joliet. In 1980, frustrated with the correctional system, Mr. Barillas decided to change his environment, and he embarked upon his career with the Chicago Public Schools. He taught first and second grade at Pickard Elementary School for two years, assumed the duties of Bilingual Program Coordinator, and in 1984, became the school's Assistant Principal. Along with all of these assignments, he taught Adult Education ESL classes in the Chicago City Colleges system. He truly has experience with a full range of students!

The highlight of his professional career has been his appointment in August of 1994 as the principal of Thurgood Marshall Middle School. With the underpinning philosophy of the school based on the Carnegie Foundation's Turning Points report, Mr. Barillas believes the school's crowning achievement has been its designation as a School to Watch by the National Forum. He attributes Thurgood Marshall's success to the high level of site-based management he has been able to guide and facilitate. The students benefit daily from the leadership model presented to them every day by their principal and teachers as a team and as individuals.

Mr. Barillas is an active member of NASSP, AIMS, NMSA, and the Illinois Principal's Association and Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

My tips for school leaders

Prioritize and then address the immediate needs of the students and school. Sometimes a school's immediate needs are very obvious or even mandated from a higher level. When I was hired as the principal at Marshall, the Local School Council gave a directive to me concerning safety and security in the building. It was a number-one priority to focus on that mandate. Addressing the mandate could have been done in many ways. I believe that if you involve your constituency in a decision that is going to affect everybody, and they have a voice in the process, the administrator will get the support of the great majority. Based on this belief, I brought the teachers together, and we brainstormed ways in which together we could improve the safety and security in the school. During our sessions together, we formulated a few basic rules that we would all enforce and that I would support. I then needed to prove that I would back them up in enforcing the rules. This step is crucial in developing the trust that the new leader needs in order to effectively guide his or her staff. When they saw that I would back them up, the teachers enforced the rules, safety and security problems diminished, and teachers relaxed. As a result, instruction became more creative, teachers stopped focusing on bad behavior, and the general atmosphere of the school changed.
Discovering the school's culture is the next task. If, as a principal, you do something foreign to the school's existing culture, you may find yourself standing very much alone. As a new principal, you want to come in and make positive changes, and are often very eager and excited to do so. Figuring out the school's culture is not always an easy task. The survey process may help you figure things out. Opinions of trusted colleagues are helpful. Walking the building and talking to kids, teachers and parents is probably the best way.

Unfortunately, often you discover the school's culture by the reactions you receive to ideas you try to implement. In my zeal to improve school attendance, I purchased small dry-erase boards for outside every classroom. My instructions were to have a student calculate the attendance percentage each day and to post it in large letters on the board to inspire competition and increase attendance. It worked for a week or two for some homerooms, weeks or a month for others, but gradually it became evident that because it was not their idea, no one was really doing it. Later, when a concern came up regarding traffic flow in and out of the cafeteria, instead of using my own ideas, I took the issue to our team facilitators meeting and had the teams decide how to combat the issue. They decided to add small passing periods in between each lunch. They control the flow of traffic and do a nice job of it. That small problem was solved by the teachers and therefore remains solved.
Promote the positive aspects of the school's culture. After you get the feel for the culture of the building, pick up on its positive aspects and validate those teaching methods that are effective and that are child-centered and nurturing. As the old saying goes, you as principal have to "walk the talk." You need to be very visible and a hard worker and your staff will pick up on it. Finally, keeping the flow of communication constructive is of utmost importance for your faculty to stay focused on issues that will keep the school's philosophy consistent, alive, and working.