Trust In Schools

First and foremost, show personal integrity. Highly regarded superintendents demonstrate honesty and commitment to follow through in all interactions with board members, faculty, support staff, parents, students, and the community. Moreover, it is imperative for a superintendent to show care. Trusted and respected superintends take a personal interest in the well-being of others. This provides a feeling of self-worth and respect. Trust must be the cornerstone of all interaction.

Be accessible. Superintendents earn the trust of the members of the school and community by encouraging open communication and actively making themselves available to board members, teachers, parents, students, staff, and community. Superintendents should take

In their study, Trust in Schools: A Core Resource for Improvement, Bryk and Schneider discuss their 10-year study of more than 400 Chicago elementary schools. Findings are based on case study data as well as surveys of teachers, principals, and students conducted by the Consortium on Chicago School Research. Analyzing the relationship between a school productivity trend indicator and periodic survey reports, Bryk and Schneider were able to establish a connection between the level of trust in a school and student learning. While they are careful to clarify that trust in and of itself does not directly affect student learning, they did find that “trust fosters a set of organizational conditions, some structural and other social-psychological, that make it more conducive for individuals to initiate and sustain the kinds of activities necessary to affect productivity improvements. Bryk and Schneider’s work indicates that while trust alone does not guarantee success, schools with little or no trust have almost no chance of improving. Other noteworthy findings of their study are that trust among teachers is more likely to develop in small schools with 350 or fewer students, that the stability of the school population increases the likelihood of trust, and that trust is more likely to be found when teachers and

Teachers should be enthusiastic about confronting challenges and eager to find solutions. A core element of this is demonstrated through both words and action that teachers can and should be trusted to do what is best for students. In environments in which teachers feel unsupported, mistrusted, or constantly on the verge of reprimand, trust between teachers and administrators is highly unlikely to improve. Furthermore, research indicates that an inspiring and informed teacher is the most important school-related factor influencing student achievement, so it is critical to pay close attention to how we train and support both new and experienced