Posted on May 17, 2002 at 10:22 a.m.

STORY:

Testing pressure was blamed in the recent suicide of a Georgia school principal. In San Jose last month a teacher was placed on administrative leave following accusations that she discouraged her students from taking the state’s tests. Under President Bush’s new education plan, standardized testing will play an even bigger role in how schools are judged, and school administrators, principals and teachers are feeling the pressure. UAB school leadership expert and author
Jerry L. Patterson, Ph.D., says creating a resilient school environment is a key to dealing with testing pressures.

WHO:

Jerry L. Patterson, Ph.D. is an associate professor of educational leadership at UAB. He recently co-authored the book Bouncing Back (2002, Eye on Education Inc.) with fellow UAB professors Janice Patterson, Ph.D., and Loucrecia Collins, Ed.D. The book identifies seven strengths that teachers and administrators in poor school districts must have to foster improvement in student achievement. He also is the author of The Anguish of Leadership (2000, Association of School Administrators), which looks at the daily struggles of 14 school superintendents.

WHAT:

“The pressure to perform is real for superintendents, principals and teachers, and from my perspective it doesn’t appear that the pressure is going to go away,” Patterson said. This is especially true in an era where accountability is being measured by tests and where the public has an appetite for that kind of information. So administrators and teachers are faced with either wishing that the accountability and subsequent pressure would go away or learning how to make this reality work for [them] and not against [them].”