The book, “Successful Schools and Educational Accountability: Concepts and Skills to Meet Leadership Challenges”, contains four sections with nine chapters, each dedicated to how the No Child Left Behind Act affects leadership decisions at the school site. The authors open with a discussion focused on the beginning of school reform movement with A Nation At Risk and flows into modern day reform, namely NCLBA. Wong and Nicotera (2007) touch on a list of topics including: high standards for decision makers, follow‐up after implementation, measurement of results in a valid and reliable manner with focus on controllable aspects of issues affecting schools, the problems with current trends in decision implementation at schools, the necessary traits for effective decision making, the school/ body politic relationship, the leakage of authority in NCLBA implementation, and data‐driven decision making.
In section one, the first chapter discusses how A Nation At Risk, which began the movement towards school accountability in the United States, proposed changes necessary to public schooling and how its designers failed to create a plan for implementation. The authors discuss how the emphasis moved to believing that all children can perform well, irrespective of background, using the standards‐based reform method. This method advocates the use of high‐stakes testing, being that these are inexpensive, can be externally mandated, can be rapidly implemented, and produce visible results. These factors contribute to its political appeal. The authors also discuss the seven conditions necessary for accountability and the six principles of effective schools‐level accountability, the most prominent being a focus on student learning through teaching for understanding and teaching for diversity. The chapter closes with useful case studies.
Section two contains three chapters. Chapter two discusses how modern educational leaders have to contend with a system dominated by student assessments, where measures shift constantly and where a policy of “more of the same” leads to certain failure. Leaders must understand the underlying assumptions of educational accountability, the fundamental challenges, and how they must implement comprehensive and systematic reform in order to demonstrate improvement. The authors discuss the three ingredients necessary for success, including: the use of reciprocal accountability in an intelligent manner, the notion of having high quality standards, and the use of valid and reliable assessments. The authors also discuss caveats, one being a focus on external pressures, which downplay the support necessary and assumes willingness on the part of the school to implement change. The chapter concludes with an explanation of the four aspects of educational accountability with an in‐depth explanation of each and the consequences of weak implementation.
Chapter three contends with the results‐driven approach to leadership and the high expectations that this sets on administrators. Leading by results involves, according to the authors, basing your policy decisions on inquiry (what works) and always focusing on educational instruction. The authors go into detail about the four components of this method: acquiring knowledge and skills about instructional practices, building capacity around an effective collective enterprise, collaborative inquiry and reflection, and shared leadership involving teacher support. The authors also delve into leadership theories covering institutional leadership, shared leadership, transformational leadership, and results‐driven leadership. They conclude by saying that the response to new leadership expectations has created more autonomy for the educational leader in exchange for more accountability.
Chapter four informs the reader about the politics involved in allocation and the changes that occur in transit from the point when legislation is passed to when it is implemented at the local level. The authors state that NCLBA is not addressing these needs, instead responding with a federalist structure to localized issues. The dynamics of the process are covered, and include an explanation of the compromises necessary to achieve policy, past policies (ESEA, The Great Society), and a reiteration of the government's ability to affect policy by controlling the redistribution of wealth. The state, according to Wong and Nicotera (2007), has significant power to change federal legislation in an effort to improve equality. They have chosen to take the results‐driven route, making local schools accountable to the state as a consequence. Individual schools now have more leeway in exchange for more accountability.
Section three contains three chapters beginning with chapter five. Chapter five opens with the concept that educational leaders are critical to facilitating accountability, are central in articulating the vision of the school, and must be knowledgeable about standards to be met in order to meet state mandates. Some states have clear standards and these provide indicators of student mastery, or benchmarks, in the form of curriculum mapping. The authors emphasize that student assessment should not narrow the scope of content covered. Rather, it should serve as a measure of effectiveness for instituted policies, administration, and educational practices. Chapter six reviews the idea that, in order to be effective, school leaders need to know how to effectively use student assessment. They must know how assessment works to be able to gauge progress. Educational leaders must know how to interpret data and translate it to be able to choose appropriate strategies that will positively affect their students.
Chapter seven discusses how NCLBA drives accountability practices across the country and how administrators need to be well‐versed on the policy regulations in order to satisfy state‐required reporting and to display school progress. A component of further developing school accountability programs are discussed: setting consequences for failing schools or schools that have a lack of progress. Administrators need to be wary of the sanctions used because they will always receive more media attention than the rewards given to schools. The authors cover the national procedures for schools that fail to show progress and the remediation steps taken. A school showing no progress for two years goes under a school improvement plan. During the first year, that school must offer public school choice to its students. During the second year of being under a school improvement plan without showing improvement, the school will undergo corrective action in the form of curriculum changes and staff reorganization.
Section four comprises the final two chapters of the book. Chapter 8 covers data‐driven decision‐making where data are used to make informed decisions regarding school policy. The steps in this process are collecting data, conducting needs assessments, setting improvement goals, adapting instructional practices, and evaluating the impact of policy decisions. The authors state the importance of this method of decision‐making and state that educational leaders must embrace and understand this to the fullest extent. In the final chapter, chapter nine, Wong and Nicotera (2007) recap the information covered in the previous chapters. The authors discuss how research has found professional development strategies with proven results in improving student performance. They also state that effective strategies encourage schools and districts to design innovative approaches to improvement. Making sure that teachers take an active part in reform is essential to effective implementation as are developing professional learning communities and peer‐coaching.
The book concludes with a useful list if comprehensive appendices, including but not limited to: a glossary, a bibliography and an index; a detailed explanation of NCLBA 2001; a detailed explanation of “A Nation at Risk”; School Leaders Licensure Assessments and Interstate Leaders Licensure Consortium Indicators; and the National Education Association's lawsuit against unfunded mandates on NCLBA. In the opinion of this reviewer, Wong and Nicotera's book, “Successful Schools and Educational Accountability: Concepts and Skills to Meet Leadership Challenges”, is a highly valuable, insightful and recommended volume, presented with rigor and thought. It's especially recommended for public officials, teachers, school leaders and school boards who wish to gain insights into reform principles to guide their actions as constituents of policy reform, education reform and accountability for school improvement and student achievement.
