Zach Boness

EDAD 633

April 2, 2017

Case Study #3

Summarize the case:

The issue is that Eighty-Ninth Street Elementary school has issues that are

plaguing the school there. This student population is plagued with gang violence which

has led to an absence of parents. The parents don’t care about their own children who

are in the school system. This can have a dramatic effect on the students within the

school. If the parents don’t care why should the students (Hanson, 2009)?

There were basic needs that were being overlooked by the people involved. So

the superintendent finds a teacher within the school system who is a great educator

named Beasley Tunson. The superintendent asks Mr. Tunson to apply for the principal

job at Eighty-Ninth Street Elementary School. At first he declines, but in the end decides

to do it. With that being said Mr. Tunson had an opportunity to go out of the country for

the summer with a school enrichment program in Africa (Hanson, 2009).

After Mr. Tunson goes over there he has a life changing experience. He gets a

deeper more in-depth look at the issues that are plaguing children around the world. He

sees there education is the source for basic needs of children. We, as educators, need

to understand who to reach out to these neglected children to help them prepare for life
after school. School is more than just an education. It is a way to allow children to be

loved and prepare them for success in life. All of this came to Mr. Tunson his encounter

with an African child named Bem (Hanson, 2009).

Identify the Problem in a single sentence.

The problem in this case was that No Child Left Behind the main focus of

administrators when there were bigger issues that needed to be handled such as

preparing children for success outside of school when the student’s parents were

uninvolved (Hanson, 2009).

Select specific information from the case and categorize it according to people,

place, or program.

People

1. Parents that were within the school district of Eighty-Ninth Street Elementary

were uninvolved in their children’s life because of the gang activity.

2. Mr. Tunson became an administrator to be able to love and reach out to these

children.

3. The administrator hired Mr. Tunson because he had a unique way of reaching

out and impacting his student’s lives.

4. Bem and the African children helped show Mr. Tunson that there were bigger

issues than just meeting the requirements that No Child Left Behind had for the

school.
Place

1. School is located in a Southeast section of a very large school district in a major

city.

2. Community is impacted by gang activity.

3. Parents are too busy or too absent to care.

4. The enrollment of the school is around 850.

Program

1. The school is plagued by the absence of parents in the lives of the students.

2. Students that are impacted by gang activity are feeling the ill effects of not having

active parents in their education (Hanson, 2009).

3. School enrichment program enlightens the new administrator with how to impact

the school population.

Review and prioritize the information.

1. Mr. Tunson is a new principal of the school and has an opportunity to do a school

enrichment program in Africa.

2. The school population of Eighty-Ninth Street Elementary school has uninvolved

parents because of gang activity.

3. The impact that the African school enrichment program has on Mr. Tunson

allows for him to become an even better administrator.

Refer to the data in each category to solve the problem identified in the case and

to respond to the case study questions.

Mr. Tunson inherits a school where parents are much uninvolved in their

children’s lives. This has a dramatic effect on the school body and hurts the scores of

the school with the requirements of No Child Left Behind. Mr. Tunson has the

opportunity to go to Africa where he sees that there are bigger issues that need to be

dealt with than just meeting the requirements of NCLB. Instead we, as a school, need to

put students in the best position to be able to have success in their life. Not just focus

on standardized testing (Hanson, 2009).

1. We do have some school districts that are similar to 89th Street Elementary. The

reason I say this is because there are parents to these children who are absent

from their child’s life. The challenges are getting the child to see the importance

in school because their parents don’t care. The solution is to reach out to these

kids and build rapport with them (Hanson, 2009).

2. Teacher and school administrators are responsible for the conditions of the

school. They are dealt the conditions of the town the live in, but they can impact

the condition of the school by building rapport with the students. If students know

that you truly care they will go out of their way to try their hardest in school

(Hanson, 2009).

3. The way that you get parents more involved is by building rapport with the

parents too. Having opportunities for the parents to come to the school and

reaching out to parents is the best way to get them more involved.
 4. The way that you motivate children to come to school is by building rapport. If the

school is a fun and safe place they will want to go to school.

5. I have had an experience similar to Mr. Tunson. It showed me that there is more

to being a teacher than just making sure they pass your class. It is about loving

them and helping them have the best opportunity to have success in life.

6. The one way that conditions are similar is that both Nigerian and American

children are neglected. It might not be in the same way. The Nigerian children

lack resources where the American children lack parent involvement. Both

conditions drastically impact the children.

7. I do identify with Mr. Tunson. I do believe that effective teachers should become

school leaders. This allows for the next group of teachers to become effective

teachers too.

8. I feel that the experiences that Beasley had does contribute to school leadership.

It allows for administrators to see the bigger picture.

9. I can identify a student who influenced my role as an educator. The student

allowed me to see that there is more to being an educator than grades. It is about

building relationships and helping these students is successful in life. We, as

educators, need to reach out and love these students.

10. I have not had a life-changing experience that influenced me as an educator.

Instead I had an educator who impacted me as a student which inspired me to

become an educator.

Hanson, K.L. (2009). A Casebook for School Leaders: Linking the ISLLC Standards for
Effective Practice (3rd ed). Merrill/Pearson, Upper Saddle River, NJ