CHAPTER 9.

Ralph Spezio’s case: Adding unusual services in an urban elementary school to attend to the needs of the “whole child”

Raffaella Borasi, Ruthanne Vitagliano, & Frederick C. Jefferson

9.1. Ralph’s story

  9.1.1. Introduction to Ralph’s case

This is the case study of Ralph Spezio, retired principal of one of the elementary schools in the Rochester City School District. Ralph was the principal of one of its elementary schools from 1990 to 2002, and during this twelve-year period he initiated many innovations that impacted not only his students’ learning but also their lives and their families, and often went beyond what we may expect to be the purview of a school principal.

Ralph’s school, especially when he began his principalship, confirmed all the commonly held stereotypes for urban schools (as documented in the data reported in Figure 9.1).  There were about 700 children in this K-5 building, almost all of whom were eligible for the Free or Reduced Lunch program (and, thus, considered to live in poverty). The school also had a large population of English as a New Language (ENL) learners. Ralph recalls that student performance on standardized tests was very poor.  The overall physical condition of the building both inside and out was dismal.  Many of the rooms were in need of paint. Equipment and supplies were scarce.  Furthermore, there were problems with the preparation and commitment of his teachers, a negative force that came with an already established culture that he characterized as “toxic”.  Ralph also faced challenges with the larger structure of the organization, as his school was part of one of the largest and poorest school districts in the state.   As one principal among many, he often needed to present his non-traditional ideas to central office for approval, and these were not always well received.

As he took on the leadership of this school, Ralph vowed to make changes any way he could to support his students for success in life. For him, this meant looking beyond the quality of learning and instruction his school offered.  A critical component of Ralph’s educational philosophy was his emphasis on meeting the needs of “the whole child”. Indeed, he understood that children came to his school with plenty of needs that often involved their families and communities, and consequently, his initiatives would need to meet those needs first in order to ultimately improve his students’ learning.  As he recognized that most of his students started school at a disadvantage, he was also absolutely committed to do what it took to help “level the playing field.” He was convinced that children should be at the center of the schooling process, thus his leadership and his team’s work was focused on children, not on “what is comfortable for adults”. As stated by one of his collaborators,

“… he always kept telling us, it’s the whole child… I can’t change what happens in your house on nights and weekends… but I can make sure that while you are in school all your needs are going to be met…”.

As a result of this vision and beliefs, Ralph’s efforts and resources were employed to design innovative and comprehensive solutions that addressed the needs of the whole child – as demonstrated in the story reported in this chapter.   These solutions involved, among other things, the addition of a pre-school program (along with the building needed to house it), a partnership with a teacher preparation institution to better prepare urban teachers who could then be employed in his school, and the creation of a family health care center on the school premises.

Figure 9.1. Ralph’s Elementary School Profile (as of 2004 when he retired)

  9.1.2. Highlights of Ralph’s professional journey

Early experiences of discrimination

Ralph was raised in a suburban neighborhood in Western New York State, very near to the urban setting that would eventually become the site for his practice. Ralph, the son of an Italian immigrant family, lived in what might be considered a rural neighborhood at the time, where few if any Italian families resided. Ralph remembered his father wanting to be a farmer and wanting to capture the “American Dream.” Early on, Ralph recognized how his own ethnic background differed from the other children in the neighborhood. Ralph often faced questions about his ethnicity from the children of this small Anglo-Saxon community. Oftentimes, conflicts arose regarding ethnicity and Ralph’s father became concerned that his teenage son would try to solve any conflicts with his fists, instead of his head. He recalls his father telling him:

“You can’t change people’s attitudes with your hands…you have to change them with your actions. People don’t respect you if you threaten violence with your hands, but they will respect you for what you accomplish.” (Ralph)

These early experiences taught Ralph about discrimination and the harsh effects it could have on the young. Years later, working with children in the inner city, he made sure students in his own classroom were taught to respect one another, as he was deeply dedicated to helping students understand and appreciate the role of diversity in their lives. He reported telling children in his schools:

“We all have strengths and we all have needs…I never forgot those things. Those are values that were burned into me.” (Ralph)

Ralph’s adolescence was centered on typical teenage boy experiences. At school Ralph developed into a strong athlete; he worked hard for his coaches and found lasting friendships among his teammates. Over time, Ralph perfected his ability to communicate, a skill that would serve him well in the future. Ralph became an excellent communicator at a very early age, which in turn helped him develop his social relationships with others in his neighborhood.

Becoming a teacher

After graduating from high school, Ralph entered into the teacher preparation program at a nearby college. He recalls always knowing he wanted to be a teacher. His college offered education students what was then called the “The Professional Year”, which allowed student teachers to spend an entire year in a classroom. This program gave Ralph the opportunity to teach and to connect to children and, as a result, he discovered the joy and value of helping children learn.

Upon graduation from college, Ralph began his professional career as an elementary teacher in an urban elementary school. Soon his reputation for being able to teach and work with all types of students grew and he found himself with a classroom containing many of the most challenging students in the school. Ralph took these students in and embraced their challenging personalities. Year after year, his principal placed more and more children in his classroom. Ralph knew he was over the maximum class size, but he never said a word.  Ralph fondly recalled how he was able to build a rapport with the most difficult students by providing them an opportunity to exhibit positive behaviors in school.

“I turned the biggest scorchers into the best leaders in the classroom by setting them up for success…” (Ralph)

Working with the administration in the building, Ralph reported creating situations whereby these difficult students were called upon to do some positive task in the school. By prior arrangement, the principal of the school then rewarded each student, praising them for their good deeds, thus these students became a part of the school instead of a problem in the school. He also rewarded his class for their hard work by letting them participate in games without keeping score, subtly teaching them how to exist in groups and how to be team players, where everyone learned the importance of helping each other. He carefully and deliberately generated a positive classroom environment where even the most troubled youth found success. He saw the need to develop motivation in his students, knowing that this internal motivation could lead to a much more important outcome—self-efficacy. Motivating others would become a key element in Ralph’s future leadership role in education; time and again he would skillfully demonstrate his ability to motivate many stakeholders within the larger school community.

Moving into school leadership roles

After fifteen years of successful teaching in the urban classroom, Ralph considered leaving a small community of learners to become, first, an instructional specialist for his district and, later, an elementary vice principal. He did so with the goal of exerting a bigger influence or “multiply the effect” by impacting more children. He initially worried about transitioning from working directly with a few children in his own class to working with a whole school community, especially the adult population of a school. Over time, however, he was able to develop skills for recognizing the good teaching from the bad, and as an instructional leader more generally he was able to assist teachers in their growth and development.

When recalling the many who assisted him during his early years as an emerging leader, Ralph credited the work of several of his mentors for guiding him down a new pathway. These people took a special interest in talking and working with him, providing guidance and wisdom he carried with him throughout his professional journey. The strong mentoring he received helped him move successfully from teacher to vice principal to principal of the school. One of the most important lessons he learned was that there are certain ways to build a positive culture in a school, ways that he would put into practice after he became principal in his own school. Having been vice-principal and then appointed to principal in the same school, he knew “the lay of the land” and was able to quickly begin to make important changes.

An innovative school principal

Ralph’s principalship began in an urban elementary school in need of much guidance and care, as mentioned in the introduction to this chapter. He was especially concerned about the existing “toxic” culture of the school, and the negative force it represented. As a result, Ralph vowed to make changes any way he could.

In one of our interviews, Ralph stated that “leadership starts with a foundation of trust.” And with this trust, “comes the ability to see organizational goals and the ability to see the strengths of people and being able to build on them.”  These are tenets Ralph began leading with and tenets that he passed onto others he worked with during his principalship.

Ralph launched his twelve-year career as elementary school principal by having the usual opening day meeting. Looking out at his first group of teachers and staff, he recalled how, in that occasion, all eyes were on the new guy as “every word is weighed and it is the beginning of my 12 years as principal with all these people and all these responsibilities that it brings… I mean it was just an incredible weight on me.”

As Ralph looked down at his scripted notes, he realized how wrong the words were for the moment – as they were “the same old junk.” Instead, he turned to his audience, becoming himself and said “Let’s celebrate the beginning of a new academic year. This is wonderful that we’re together.” Ralph reported that he looked his staff in the eyes and told them of the challenges facing all of them. That very moment, he began transforming the culture of his school by explaining to his staff that he could not “do this” alone, that the challenges were many, and he would need the help of everyone in the room.

As Ralph continued with his somewhat impromptu talk, he had his staff envision what they considered to be their “perfect school”. He pretended that they were in a time machine and that they were able to move three years into the future. He asked the staff to think about this future school and to think of what it looked like, what it felt like to walk into this winning school. He captured the teachers’ and staff’s imagination, asking them to see the children most clearly, what were the children doing and saying and learning? He remembered teachers moving in their chairs and starting to talk and think about his questions. Then he took this “moment” one step further and had the teachers writing their ideas on chart paper posted around the room. They all talked about the ideas generated from this activity.

“They were involved in their school and they were thinking and they were dreaming and that was our mission and vision right there…captured. Afterward I silently prayed, ‘Oh thank you, thank you for that guidance!’” (Ralph)

With this activity, Ralph carefully and skillfully created another space, another time, for his teachers to envision what the school could be, what they should strive for, and how in this very moment they would clarify their goals for the future.

This was the beginning of Ralph’s journey towards making this urban elementary school, with high poverty rate, a positive place to learn, and a place where the whole child could come and be welcomed.

“The 99% poverty to me really defined how high the mountain is, the goal to go from A to Z. My job as principal is to support the mountain climbers…those are the teachers, the children and the parents. How else are we going to climb the mountain if the mountain climbers aren’t supported?” (Ralph)

Ralph made it very clear to his community that he put children first and would support anyone on the staff that would do the same. His message to all was “I’m cheering for you. I want you to be the best teacher in the building…I’m going to make it my responsibility to help you.” And he reported telling his teachers:

“What we’re talking about here is the ‘will’ of the missionary spirit, the calling to education, the ability to never give up on a child. I mean just absolutely do everything within your power to teach that child. Children who live in survival mode, 24 hours, 7 days a week, in excruciating poverty, are the most intuitive human beings I’ve ever met. They know exactly where you’re coming from. They know if you are doing your job. I say set them up for success…many have already been set up for failure.” (Ralph)

When he became principal of his elementary school, Ralph quickly identified a negative faction among the faculty, with unsatisfactory work ethics.  Fearing that a negative group of teachers might dominate the culture of the school, he worked hard to communicate and establish new expectations for the school. His message spoke clearly to that of the “toxic” culture he initially sensed among his teachers.

“I’m your principal, so you need to know what’s important to me … and there are three things: Professionalism  … that’s acting, dressing and all those things considered professional. Hard work is important to me. I don’t think you accomplish anything that’s of significance without hard work, that’s my opinion. And loyalty… loyalty and devotion to children, loyalty to each other, loyalty to the profession.” (Ralph)

Along with this message, Ralph knew he had to make major adjustments with staffing. The expectation that teachers and other staff in his school should have a “missionary spirit” meant that he did not think everyone worked well in his school. Indeed, there were considerable personnel changes in his school during his tenure as principal. At the same time, he also always tried first to figure out how to support teachers who were not performing to expectation and to identify their strengths so as to build on them as much as possible.

Central to Ralph’s initiatives as a principal was his ability to create partnerships with other organizations. He never settled for what the district could supply his school. Rather, one of his strengths was the ability to work creatively to secure outside community support so as to create opportunities to better the conditions for his students and his teachers. For example, early on he recognized a need to get more books into the hands of children. So he formed partnerships with two suburban schools. The suburban schools held book drives for Ralph’s school and in turn students at his elementary school gave musical concerts as a show of thanks to those schools.

“I’m not looking for a hand-out, I have things to give too…I make that very clear. … We bring things to the table too. The children are wonderfully skilled, artistic and have powerfully creative talents. We gave a beautiful performance of our gospel choir … made people cry … or my string orchestra … So we gave back a lot. … Anytime you have a partnership, I think people who work with you need to feel your enthusiasm, they need to see the fact that you are giving of your time to … this partnership.” (Ralph)

The following are just a handful of projects that Ralph initiated to help close the gap for the children in this community:

• Because there was no pre-kindergarten program at his elementary school, Ralph formed a partnership with Kodak, and using Edison Technical and Vocational High School students, built a building to add a pre-school. He then brought in a full Montessori program and was the first pre-school program in NYS to have received NAEYC National Accreditation.
• He changed almost the entire teaching staff at his school and hand-picked many of his classroom teachers from a unique urban teacher preparation program that he developed in partnership with an area college. This program received national attention because it not only brought minority men and women into the urban elementary school, but it also was more rigorous than the traditional method of teacher preparation.
• He partnered with St. Mary’s Hospital (now Unity Health) and built the first community health center of its kind in the state that was attached to the school and open to the entire community even when school was closed. The children are viewed in the context of the entire extended family, and because of a sliding fee scale, no one is turned away.
• He partnered with Strong Health to double the size of the community health center and include a full-service dental facility operated by Strong’s Eastman Dental Center. This center has over four dentists, two operating rooms, and also has a sliding fee scale so that even without dental insurance, everyone is cared for. Even when the school is closed, this facility can remain open.
• He developed Project Success which was a before and after school tutoring program that brought in over 80 college students from area colleges each week. He had large academic summer school programs and integrated programs with the neighborhood Charles Settlement House, which is directly across the street from the school.
• He secured a grant for violins, violas, cellos, and stringed bass and crafted a partnership with the Eastman School of Music to have a full stringed orchestra at his elementary school.
• He developed a partnership with the Empire Statesmen and the Rochester Crusaders Drum and Bugle Corps to form a tuxedoed elementary school marching band.
• He developed a huge and vibrant Parent/Teacher Organization that was a chartered PTA at his school. Each classroom had a Classroom Parent, both primary and intermediate grades had Parent Advisory Councils, parents were a welcomed and equal partner on the School Planning Team, and monthly PTA meetings brought very large numbers of parents for a dinner meeting (with childcare) which was directed and run by the neighborhood parents.
• Partnerships were developed with suburban schools where student and staff exchanges took place on a regular basis.

Many of these projects were made possible through partnerships which enabled Ralph to leverage support and contributed funding that was critical to make significant innovations possible.  Collaborating with the police department, the churches, the city government, businesses and others in the community was also very important for Ralph. Building a sense of community was so crucial for him that he made the bold decision to approach his district and request that students from outside the neighborhood not be bussed to the school. He felt that if his campus was to truly be for the neighborhood, then only children from the immediate area should be the focus of the school population. This radical decision demonstrates his willingness to take risks whenever he thought it was in the best interest for his school.

In what follows we now describe in more detail three of these innovations, to give a better sense of the different types of innovations he engaged during his principalship as well as how he went about this process.

  9.1.3. Ralph’s innovation #1: Adding a new pre-school

How the idea came about and was evaluated/refined

A significant example of Ralph’s risk-taking and ability to build partnerships occurred in his very first year as principal. Ralph recognized early on the need to enhance the early childhood education program at his school, as most of his students already entered kindergarten disadvantaged. If he wanted to give his students a chance to succeed, he felt that he needed to offer them a quality pre-school program.

Unfortunately, his initial requests to add a pre-school program to his school were denied on the grounds that he did not have enough room for it. In response, he set out to build a new pre-school building on his campus!

There was no question in Ralph’s mind that this was a critical need that must be pursued no matter what, because it was critical to the success of his students and central to his vision of “leveling the playing field” for his students so they could compete and have a chance of success.  He did not even consider the risks of undertaking such an initiative, as he thought it was a necessity – although making this dream a reality took tremendous vision, perseverance, risk-taking and collaboration.

Planning and gathering the needed resources

When Ralph told his teachers about his plan to literally build the structure for the pre-school on the existing school property, they were highly skeptical of this idea. They did not know Ralph well enough to know just how creative and persistent he could be!

To radically cut down the expenses for the new building, Ralph secured a partnership with a nearby technical school in the district.  If he was able to secure the needed materials, the high school students would build the frame structures for the new pre-school and move it to his school’s premises when ready.  This arrangement was a win-win, as it would also provide a unique learning experience for these high school students.

Ralph first looked for support and funding from a major corporation in the city. He recalls visiting a top executive in the corporation (whom he knew personally as they had participated together in a previous education initiative) and pointing out to him the school from his office window, while he presented the need for a pre-school as a way to “level the playing field” by providing support to his students as early as possible. He remembered saying “If you can help me get a building, I promise you, I will put a first-rate program there.” This promise secured Ralph $500,000 to build his pre-school.

Once he secured the funding resources for the building, Ralph felt compelled to fill it with the best possible pre-school program. After extensive research, including visits to model pre-schools throughout the country, he chose the Montessori program and proudly reports that his Montessori school was the first pre-school in the state to receive national accreditation.

Throughout this process, Ralph had to secure the support of the central office. This did not always come easy. He recalls that at one point he put his keys on the table and stated that if he could not provide his students a quality early start, he did not feel he could do his job effectively—a pretty bold move for a first-year principal! Yet in the end he got what he felt his students needed in order to be successful.

Implementing and monitoring the initiative

As planned, the technical school students were able to build the frame structure for the new pre-school, and then moved it to the parking lot of Ralph’s school. Ralph recalled this event saying:

“Teachers literally gasped, because when they walked in from the parking lot in the morning there was no preschool building, and when they walked out later on, there was a building standing there… I had five flatbed trucks and cranes bring the building [sections] over that kids at the Tech school built… Teachers said ‘Oh my God, this is what he’s talking about. Yeah, we can do this stuff’” (Ralph)

With a building to house it, Ralph’s elementary school has continued to have a pre-school program ever since!

  9.1.4. Ralph’s innovation #2: Establishing a school-college partnership to prepare urban teachers

How the idea came about and was evaluated/refined

Early in his principalship, Ralph also experienced challenges with some of the new teachers he had hired. He clearly recalled the case of a new teacher who had great difficulty managing a group of first grade students. Other teachers came to him quite concerned about this situation. Out of desperation, Ralph asked a more veteran teacher to mentor the new teacher by being in the classroom most of the day. Although this remedied the situation in the short term, it was costly and took a staff member out of an assignment. He knew he could not do this with every new teacher. He also knew something had to be done to better prepare the new teacher work force to handle the challenges of the urban classroom.

“I said, I can’t do this with every teacher that comes in here. If the colleges are not going to prepare teachers for high-needs [students] then I’m going to prepare them. We have to do something tangible to get there.” (Ralph)

This led Ralph to create one of his most important initiatives, resulting in a partnership with a college to establish an innovative teacher preparation program that involved prospective teachers in longer and intensive internships in his elementary school. As Ralph recalls:

“This program developed from my frustration of not getting teachers sent to me that had the skills to meet the needs of high needs children. … They didn’t have a clue, and then what we were forced to do was to train them all over again and we didn’t have time to train them.” (Ralph)

Ralph thought that if he could contribute to develop a teacher preparation program that would better prepare urban teachers, the following benefits could be gained:

• The graduates from the program would provide him with a ready supply of teachers to choose from and hire, for which he would know what experiences they had already received and that many of his staff would already be familiar with;
• Other urban schools besides his would benefit from better prepared teachers;
• And, most importantly, his students would benefit because they would be more likely to have better teachers and less “transitions” (as hopefully fewer novice teachers would not work out and need to be substituted).

Ralph knew he would need a higher education partner for this initiative, but he was confident that he could find one in his alma mater, as it was a local college that already had sent student teachers to his school.  Except for this, the initiative would not require resources other than his staff’s time.

As he did before he committed for any of his major initiatives, Ralph asked himself whether this was “good for the kids”, and since the answer in this case was a clear yes, he had no hesitation moving ahead – especially as in this case both the financial commitments and risks would be minimal.

Planning and gathering the needed resources

To bring his idea to fruition, Ralph contacted a professor from his college alma mater, requesting to have a meeting with someone in charge of the teacher preparation program and then invited these people to tour his school. At this critical initial meeting, Ralph brought his own support team consisting of a teacher leader, a parent and his vice-principal to help him sell the idea. The college sent three people from their education department. Ralph reported setting the tone of the meeting by making it clear that he was looking for ideas from the partners to design the best possible experience for everyone, including the children. He then proposed his idea to have student teachers in his building for at least three semesters.

“We had [proposed] a spiraling curriculum where they put one foot in the water and became more and more comfortable until the last semester. The students took their methods courses in our school, learning in ‘chunks’, until they were driving the ‘vehicle’ on their own completely. I wanted them to have multiple experiences in each grade level and I wanted them there in my first staff meeting in August.”  (Ralph)

Ralph knew the moment that he suggested student teachers attend the first meeting in August that an immediate barrier to his plan would arise. People shook their heads and said, “We start our student teaching in October.” Ralph responded by saying they were “cheating” their student teachers by doing that. Ralph urged the group in his office to think of student teachers seeing the new room for the first time and how important it would be that they help to set the furniture up, help in transforming the room into a welcoming, warm, colorful environment for the first day the children and parents come into the room. He also stressed that the bonding issue is absolutely critical to the children, as children need to know that someone is there to care for them.

“So the teacher in a high-needs school with children on survival mode, coming from a third world-type poverty level, needs to understand how to gain trust from children. That’s called the bonding process and you need to see this happen. You can’t learn it from a methods book, you have to watch it and the current student-teacher preparation program is denying student teachers that opportunity. By the time October comes that bonding process is done. The student teacher walks into that classroom, has no clue what happened before hand and they are able to get a teaching certificate …but when they go to get a job, they don’t know what hit them. They don’t know what hit them because they have missed the critically important bonding process, and we have to teach them. It’s not fair to the student [teachers], it’s not fair to the children, and it’s not fair to us as professionals because we have to mop up afterwards.” (Ralph)

When the meeting was over, the college people left without guaranteeing Ralph anything. He waited to hear from the college as to whether his request for student teachers to be at the opening August meeting would be granted. Four days later he got the phone call that said 20 to 25 student teachers would be assigned a mentor for their internship in Ralph’s school and they would be there for the first staff meeting in August. His vision for this initiative was beginning to become a reality.

Implementing and monitoring the initiative + ensuring long-term sustainability

Once launched, the collaborative teacher preparation program was a success.  As one of Ralph’s close collaborators stated:

“That program…that was a winner where he created his own teachers… You were growing your own teachers and had young people coming in from all walks of life who really see what it’s like to teach in an urban environment.” (Ralph’s collaborator)

The program lasted ten years and provided many of the new teachers Ralph hired for his school. The fact that the school was able to hire graduates from his program created an incentive to continue it for both parties.  However, this was not sufficient to sustain the program after Ralph’s retirement, although the school continued to promote some partnerships with area colleges to strengthen the internships of prospective teachers so as to better prepare them to work in urban settings.

  9.1.5. Ralph’s innovation #3: Developing an on-site health clinic within an urban elementary school

How the idea came about and was evaluated/refined

Another major innovation was initiated as Ralph tried to understand the factors that were impeding his students’ success, and he recognized that health problems were a major issue. As a result, he conceived the idea of building a health clinic on the school premises that would provide many of his students—and their families—the medical care they needed as a prerequisite to being successful in school. This was undoubtedly one of Ralph’s biggest risks and strongest partnerships.

Ralph recalls how the idea for this initiative first came to him, as he recognized that many of his students were suffering serious health problems that kept them from learning.

“I am like a parent to the kids and when a child who comes to school without their primary needs met…if they have a cavity in their teeth for example…they don’t learn because they’re focused on the pain in their mouth. If they are hungry… if they have asthma…one child in my arms almost died from asthma…we’re not talking fluff here…this is real stuff.” (Ralph)

The problem wasn’t only that the students and their families did not have access to needed medical services, but also that when offered, these services were not coordinated nor easily accessible.

Ralph recognized that his confidence in undertaking such a risky project was built on his past successes and the partnerships he had already created:

“Unless you have certain foundations in place, you’re not going to do anything of this magnitude. There are certain things you must have in place first, as a leader, before you can think of raising $1,200,000… I don’t want folks to think ‘Oh, gee whiz, I can just whip up a little idea like that and go forward.’” (Ralph)

The process started with recognizing the potential of a special partnership with a neighborhood hospital. Personnel from the hospital were already invited to provide nutrition programs at the school. Ralph told us about thinking that the partnership could do much more, given their common goals. Ralph also knew the hospital had the same philosophy about supporting children who lived in poverty by treating the whole family. He believed that, as schools are not open all year long, there needed to be another structure in place to treat the child in a family with high needs. The hospital, having the same passion for wanting to provide more for the urban children, began the fundraising for the proposed health center. The hospital won a large community service award of $75,000. Ralph was invited to the reception honoring the hospital and soon found out that the hospital had decided to match the award and to give to him a check for $150,000.

Ralph considered this money as the first payment towards the construction of the new “full-service community health center,” as identified by the State.  He knew he had to raise more money, but he was committed to this initiative, as he felt it was something he had to do for his students to succeed.

Planning and gathering the needed resources

The news of Ralph’s mission spread to other areas of the city and resulted in more support. For example, a Woman’s Board of the partnering hospital funded over $400,000 for building the health center and considered this a flagship project. Ralph also sought advice from a long-time friend and corporate executive who told him how to go about “selling” the project.

“He said, ‘Listen… let people make their own decision, and once you hold it up and communicate the project, if it’s worthy then the money and support will come.” (Ralph)

There was much leg work to be done to secure funding for the health center and Ralph knew the burden to communicate the vision for it was his.  He also knew if he failed in communicating it, he failed the children. He needed people to “see” what he was envisioning to react positively to his ideas, so he had an architect do an elevation drawing on a large poster size board and whenever he was talking to potential donors about the project, he would show them the poster so they could envision walking in the entrance and down the hallways of the proposed health center.

Ralph developed a critical partnership with a key person who was working for the partnering medical center in the capacity of director of an outreach health program, serving what she called “vulnerable populations” in the city. She was a grant writer and knew the “ins and outs” of federal funding for special projects such as the one Ralph was envisioning.  In her interview with us, she admitted that she was quite outspoken at first with regards to school clinics, which she felt were extremely inadequate for providing year-round care for vulnerable populations. When Ralph approached her with his idea for building a full health facility on his elementary school campus, however, she agreed to listen.

“I was just flabbergasted. I went over and met with him and I could tell instantly that he knew what he was doing. He was one of the most engaging people I have ever met, and he could relate to any culture, at any level. … I’ve observed him with bank presidents, with nurses, with physicians, with lawyers, with teachers … because he’s so passionate … he’s very logical … he presents his stories not only with passion, but he’s always got the figures to back them…he really knows what the children need and how to get it.” (Ralph’s collaborator)

She and Ralph worked through such challenges as finding funding for low-income families who did not have medical insurance. She helped write and secure a grant from the federal government targeted for “vulnerable” populations.

The arduous task of building a health center connected to an urban elementary building often met with what might have seemed insurmountable obstacles, but Ralph’s perseverance prevailed. Two very large roadblocks came from both the State Education Department and the State Health Department, but they were both successfully resolved.

“Each of the State directors absolutely refused to sign off on it…. They told me, “You can build it, but you must turn it into classrooms because you’re not going to put a health center in there. You’re going to have a mental health component on an elementary campus? Are you crazy, Ralph?…We’re not going to be liable for that. We’ve never done that before” … The whole concept of an integrated school/community health center seemed to be a deal-breaker … We had three people … the County Executive, the Mayor and the District Superintendent send a special courier to directly hand deliver a message of appeal to the Governor … the Governor then directed those two department heads to sign off on this project.  We soon received a one-sentence memo from each department head telling us to proceed with the project.” (Ralph)

Implementing and monitoring the initiative

Once all the permissions and funding were secured, the process of building and staffing the health center was relatively straightforward – and the Orchard Street Community Health Center became a reality.

Ensuring long-term sustainability

Even after Ralph retired as principal, the health center has continued to provide services to the vulnerable populations living near the urban campus. The funding stream that started with the first grant continues to currently support the Health Center, so families can receive the necessary health care and children can go to school ready to learn.

A collaborator commented on the success of this initiative, “I know it’s been very well utilized in the neighborhood; I think having it proximate to the school has led to trusting relationships.”

  9.1.6. Updates on Ralph’s story

Ralph’s story as an entrepreneurial educator did not end with his retirement from the principal position. Rather his quest to improve the lives of urban children continued in a different form, which might have been even more impactful, and he worked at addressing the critical issue of how lead poisoning affects small children and what we, as the public, must do about it.

Six years before retiring as principal, Ralph discovered that many of his students were continually having learning problems despite all the efforts put forth by his school. He noticed that many children were having trouble attending to the teachers and performing in the classroom. Even though he had placed high-quality teachers in his classrooms, there still continued to be behavioral and learning problems in children that perplexed him. He worked with the Building Intervention Team to try and find the root cause to these problems, and one day he happened upon a form from one of the nurses that had a column for lead poisoning on the health sheet.

Ralph wondered whether this might actually provide some answers to the problems his students were experiencing. He did extensive research on the damage of ingesting lead and what it could do to a young child’s system. He found that thumb sucking and crawling are ways children ingest the poison into their bloodstream and then into the brain. He suspected that many of the children in his school might have lead poisoning so, with the permission of the County Health Director, he secured the health reports of the children in his pre-school. The results of the tests were astounding.  41% of the 3, 4, and 5-year-old children tested were starting school with brain damage and 100% of the younger children in Special Education population had significant loss of I.Q. and brain damage that could be related to lead poisoning.

Ralph’s discovery prompted city and county officials to join forces to start a fight against lead poisoning and to recognize the need to educate the community on the dangers of lead poisoning. Ralph told the media and the public: “There’s an invisible monster devouring our children, stealing their I.Q.s and stealing their futures.” He emphatically urged politicians and health officials to establish educational awareness programs for parents and landlords. He answered the poignant questions on how to deal with this serious issue by telling people that it is important to recognize the dangers and to educate everyone.

Soon after discovering that almost half of his incoming elementary grade children were affected by lead poisoning, he co-founded the Coalition to Prevent Lead Poisoning. He became the spokesperson for the State, traveling and talking to all types of audiences. He met with politicians in the State capital and was instrumental in helping pass a city ordinance, one of the first of its kind, to create the primary prevention of childhood lead poisoning. With the help of a State senator, Rochester was designated as a national model for this cause.  Even in his retirement, Ralph was once again striking through barriers and getting the necessary work done in the name of children. He said, “Everywhere I go now, people want to speak to me about this project.” His commitment to this vital project was also intended to “level the playing field” for children and “to protect the children.” This is a mission Ralph continually pursues each and every day.

9.2. Analysis of Ralph’s entrepreneurial activity

  9.2.1. Ralph’s practices about vision

Throughout Ralph’s story, it is clear how consistent and influential his vision was. As he was convinced that children should be at the center of the schooling process, his leadership and his team’s work was focused on what is good for children, not on what is comfortable for adults.  Because of his emphasis on meeting the needs of “the whole child”, he also engaged in initiatives that went beyond what most principals would consider in their purview—as illustrated especially in the development of the family health care center.

While being a visionary leader was critical for Ralph’s success, being able to effectively communicate this vision was equally important. Ralph was certainly skillful at doing so. As stated by one of his collaborators:

“He is a big picture person, and he can convince anyone to do anything. I don’t think I’ve ever turned him down for a request.  I mean … he always has compelling arguments and as I say, he’s compassionate, and … it definitely comes through.” (Ralph’s collaborator)

Telling moving and compelling stories about his school and his students was a tool that Ralph uses very effectively. This was demonstrated by the stories he told during our interviews as well as in presentations to the community we were privileged to attend.

Ralph also used field visits to his school very effectively as a vehicle to gain support from partners and influential members in the community:

“…let’s face it, Ralph brought a lot of people into the school … the Surgeon General, the Governor, you name it. He attracted those kinds of people to his school, and they toured the school. He’d bring people in that building and walk them through just like everyone was going to be on task and do what they were supposed to do…and there were sometimes that it wasn’t perfect, but it was okay, because this is a school and that sometimes happens.” (Ralph’s collaborator)

His passion and total dedication to his school and students also gained him credibility and support from both staff and community members. In all his partnerships, he also purposefully tried to show his partners how his vision was going to support mutual goals—as especially evident in the cases of the teacher preparation program and the health clinic.  A close collaborator commented on Ralph’s commitment to children:

“He’s a people person, a caring person, he’s totally committed and invested in whatever task or project he engages in, and he doesn’t half do anything. Once he focuses on something that needs to be done, he attacks it with such a vengeance and such aggressiveness … he’s a risk taker.” (Ralph’s collaborator)

His “no excuses in life” motto resulted in Ralph forming a solid community network of partnerships over many years to get done what had to be done.

  9.2.2. Ralph’s practices about opportunities

The dismal conditions in which the school operated when Ralph became principal (e.g., poor facilities and the “toxic culture” within the school), combined with the poverty experienced by children and their families, helped Ralph and his team members recognize multiple needs and, thus, opportunities to help children succeed. When we asked Ralph how specific initiatives (e.g., the health care center, the teacher preparation program, and many others) originated, he told us that it was a collective effort, meaning that he invited teachers, staff, and parents to participate in the process of generating ideas to meet the many needs of children and their families. We also observed, though, that he was personally driven to identify his students’ needs and to find ways to address the problems they experience, and he dID so in a very proactive way by looking for out-of-the-box solutions — as illustrated in particular in the case of the Health Clinic and Lead Poisoning initiatives. In other words, because he personally cared for his students, he was always on the look-out for opportunities to better address their needs.

Ralph recognized a constant sense of urgency that he believed most principals who work in urban school settings share, as the context in which these schools operate makes it imperative to react quickly to meet the needs of children and families. In fact, whenever he missed an opportunity, he felt really upset because he knew his students would be the ones losing.

However, he also argued that principals need to be careful when evaluating whether to pursue a specific opportunity or initiative, because sometimes they “put all their energy into putting out little fires” instead of thinking about the bigger picture and engaging in a more thoughtful process for evaluating ideas that will truly meet the needs of the “whole child”.

So, he shared that he developed a systematic process for him and his team to evaluate opportunities and ideas for innovations, which he referred to as a “filtering” process (or “filter). In his own words,

“We sit around in the decision-making team and someone … has a project or an idea that’s great, that’s cool, or that’s interesting, so we say, “Let’s put it through the filter”. In other words, it’s not what’s comfortable for adults necessarily, it’s what’s best for children… Now does it make it through the filter?” (Ralph)

Ralph’s “filter”—i.e., evaluating whether and to what extent any innovation represented “what is best for the children”— was perhaps one of the most important features of his entrepreneurial process, as this screening process helped him and his team focus on designing initiatives that added value to the services offered to children and families and that had a long-term effect.  Indeed, this focus on providing value to the client over the organization was a characterizing element of Ralph’s entrepreneurial activity, as well as the other case study subjects operating in K-12 schools. It also shows the key role played by an overarching vision in making decisions about which initiatives to undertake.  It is also clear from his story that once he determined that a specific opportunity was worthwhile, he would pursue it no matter what, and he would not let considerations such as lack of resources or permissions stop him.

  9.2.3. Ralph’s practices about risk

As evident from his story, Ralph was not afraid to take on even significant risks if he felt that an initiative was critical to the well-being of his students. Indeed, he seems to be the paradigmatic example of an individual who weights “missing the boat” over “sinking the boat” risks (Brown & Cornwall, 2000). From his story, one might even wonder if he ever evaluated the risks involved in an initiative, as his behavior might suggest that he ignored risk considerations whenever he believed an initiative was critical to the success of his students. Yet, when we asked Ralph to talk about his risk-management practices, he said that he thought of himself as a leader who takes calculated risks. Moreover, he believed that taking calculated risks can help educational leaders to be more innovative and successful.

“I’ve never been reckless… I am not a gambler, but I do take risks … I do.  They are calculated risks … they are strategic risks … You’ve got to take a risk in anything that you do, otherwise you stay where you are.” (Ralph)

  9.2.4. Ralph’s practices about resources

Ralph was aware that understanding the needs of the children and using the “filter” to evaluate opportunities was, simply, not enough. He also needed to gather the necessary resources to successfully implement the initiatives he had been deemed necessary.

As the principal of a public school, Ralph did not have much control over the district’s financial resources, nor the capacity to generate revenues that could support new initiatives. Therefore, he turned to seeking external funding in the form of grants (as illustrated in the Health Clinic initiative), gifts from corporations and other organizations in the community (as illustrated in the case of both the Health Clinic and Pre-School initiatives), and most importantly partnerships. As Ralph explained in his own words:

“I think it’s your duty to make partnerships and to move the agenda forward with bringing in resources … linking arms I call it … in the name of kids. Let me just say this … I’ve discovered first-hand that people want to help … As the entrepreneurial leader, it’s your duty, it’s your absolute responsibility to create the vehicle that allows people the ability to help.” (Ralph)

One of his close collaborators confirmed Ralph’s unusual ability to create these successful partnerships:

“He instilled pride in the community where no one [before] would bother with their school, because that was important to the community and to him. He didn’t mind bringing people into his building and it didn’t matter what you looked like, smelled like or what you needed, he found a way to help you.” (Ralph’s collaborator)

The many partnerships Ralph developed with leaders of the business community in which the school operated led to raising millions of dollars for the school. A collaborator jokingly commented:

“People got to the place where if they knew he was coming downtown for something, then they’d say … ‘put away your checkbook’. Because they knew by the time he finished with you, you were going to give him what he was asking you for!” (Ralph’s collaborator)

Ralph attributed the success of his fundraising to what he called his “magic formula”:

“The magic formula is to recognize the need or problem, surround it with reliable data, and use that data as a baseball bat to drive resources into the school and the community for the children.” (Ralph)

Indeed, it is clear that Ralph was able to attract funds to implement his initiatives because they were innovative and because they were oriented towards meeting needs of children. Ralph was also good at using information strategically, as he gathered compelling evidence that documented the feasibility as well as the urgency to pursue the initiatives he wanted to implement. Showing results was also important; as a collaborator commented: “I saw his test scores have gone up from 33% to 83%”. In other words, being able to point concretely to past successes resulted in more partnerships and more resources.

Finally, to help him gather the needed resources, Ralph was also able to effectively use the social capital he had built over time by developing meaningful relationships and partnerships with leaders of the community.

Ralph was also skillful when it came to secure the human resources he needed. Ralph had a particular strategy to select members of his organization. He said that “every single member of that staff was hand-picked” to ensure that they shared the same commitment to children and were willing to do whatever it took to help all children succeed. He knew how he wanted to build his team and what kind of teachers he needed in his school. As mentioned earlier in the story, he wanted teachers who would put children first and who would never give up.

“I have created an opportunity to pick people with a missionary spirit and put children first … and to select those adults who reach a child’s mind through their heart … and don’t give up on kids … and all those things are important, you know.” (Ralph)

“You need to have the skill and the will.  I can help you with the skill, but I cannot help you with the will… The “will” is the missionary spirit … the ability never, never to give up on a child – never, never.” (Ralph)

While this was not easy to achieve, given that the hiring of teachers was in part handled centrally by the district, he found ways to work with this system to get the people he needed for his school.

  9.2.5. Ralph’s practices about growth

As the principal of a public school, Ralph was in no position to “grow” his school in terms of number of students or staff members. However, he did grow the number and types of services that his school could offer to its students and their families—by adding a pre-school program and an on-site health clinic, among other things.

As an individual, Ralph felt the drive to increase his “sphere of influence”. He explicitly explained his decision to move from teaching to administration as motivated by his desire to influence more and more children and to “multiply the effect”.  His later efforts towards creating future school leaders and working in many other community initiatives were similarly motivated by the desire of impacting more children in this way.

  9.2.6. Other interesting elements of Ralph’s case

Persistency combined with flexibility when facing problems

As shown throughout his story, Ralph encountered many obstacles and problems while implementing his unusual initiatives. In each case, Ralph took a proactive approach and tried all possible ways to overcome the obstacles. Once he had decided on a course of action, he was also very persistent and would not give up, but rather figure out a way around any problem or obstacle.

“He didn’t really see things as obstacles.  If he had an obstacle … he used to say … if you can’t come by the front door try the back door, if you can’t get in the back door try the side door … he would always find a way, and really I think the harder you made it for him, the more of a challenge it became.” (Ralph’s collaborator)

By taking an “out of the box” approach to problem-solving, and by looking deeply at the root-cause of problems, Ralph often suggested solutions that were non-conventional. For example, in investigating the causes of the low levels of academic achievement experienced by his students, Ralph identified and addressed health-related issues that had not been previously thought of as having a negative impact on students’ achievement, or as being in the purview of a school.

Figuring out how to work within a bureaucratic and dysfunctional system

Public schools are usually not very “entrepreneurial” as organizations, and Ralph’s school and school district were no exceptions. Ralph did not benefit from a decentralized decision-making system, nor had much control on this budget and resources; even hiring was to a great extent controlled at the district level. However, Ralph found ways to work within this challenging system.

According to Ralph’s collaborators, one of the most significant obstacles he encountered during his principalship was the bureaucracy of the school system.  To implement many of his major initiatives, he needed to get permissions at the school district level and sometimes even at the state level, and that was not an easy task. However, Ralph never mentioned bureaucracy as his biggest challenge. Instead, Ralph discussed the importance of developing skills to be able to “swim in the political soup”. He understood the importance of respecting the hierarchy, norms and regulations of the schooling system, yet he was also unwilling to compromise his vision. When he needed to insist and to persevere, he did so. When he needed to give credit to school officials, he also did. In sum, he did not use the limitations of the system as an “excuse”, but rather thought he was still responsible for making a difference and the only way to do so was to work hard in favor of children within the existing system (while also pushing its boundaries).

Ralph was also able to take advantage of the dysfunctional organizational structure of his urban district to be more entrepreneurial – as the lack of attention to what other members of the organization do, characteristic of dysfunctional environments, allowed him to engage in unusual initiatives without attracting too much attention (at least some of the time!).

  9.2.7. Concluding thoughts about Ralph’s case

Ralph’s story is evidence that being entrepreneurial as a school leader can lead to tangible benefits, such as more effective organizations and higher student achievement. His principalship was characterized by a series of radical and unusual innovations that transformed the nature and operations of his school, including the creation of a healthcare center serving entire families, the creation of a teacher preparation program, and multiple partnerships with the community. Taken together, these innovations greatly increased the success of the school (i.e., “added value”), as measured in terms of not only student learning, but also increased sources of funding for the school, improved school building and grounds, and positive labor/management relations.

It is worth noting that Ralph was able to achieve these goals despite working in an organization—a large urban school district—that was not very conducive to entrepreneurial behavior. While accepting to work within the constraints of this bureaucratic system, he was willing to “push back” and take some strong stances if he thought it was critical to the welfare of his students. He did not let the limited control on the resources he had stop him from pursuing worthwhile initiatives and rather found alternative ways to secure the resources he needed. He also proactively worked at changing the organization at least where he had some control—that is, by developing a different climate, culture and expectations within his own school.

As Ralph’s story unfolded, it brought to our mind Williams’ (2006) identification of the “James Dean” type of entrepreneur operating in K-12 schools.  Indeed, the following description aptly applies to Ralph:

“[W]e are talking of creative school leaders who generally believe that rules are for fools if they stand in the way of creating better schools. Note that we are not talking about ignoring the rules that protect the welfare of the children under their charge, nor are we talking of breaking all the rules. James Deans usually consider common sense in picking their battles. … The underlying assumption guiding the James Deans is one of serving their students by any means necessary. That is, they see the problem in modern school systems as systemic in nature, and that effectively educating students requires creative measures and rule-breaking.” (Williams, 2006, pp.132-3)

Ralph’s story is also especially interesting because it challenges some common expectations about what is in the purview of schools and school leaders. Ralph argued very forcefully and convincingly that you cannot address the most fundamental problems faced by urban schools and urban students today if you limit yourself to look at curriculum and pedagogical issues – important as they are. Rather, you must look at the “whole child” and address rather than ignore factors such as health, malnutrition, violence, poverty, that greatly affect a child’s capacity and readiness to learn.

At the same time, schools cannot do this alone, but rather need to work in partnership with other social organizations. These considerations suggest that there may be more parallels between social entrepreneurs like Rod, and entrepreneurial school leaders like Ralph, than one might have initially expected.

9.3. Commentaries on Ralph’s case

We are collecting readers’ insights and lessons learned from reading Ralph’s case on the companion website, and we invite you to add yours by following the specific guidelines provided in the “Guidelines for Contributions” document.

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