Domain I—Leadership
of the Educational Community – Competencies 1 - 4
Competency 1 Area:
The superintendent knows how to act with integrity,
fairness, and in an ethical manner in order to promote the success of all
students.
·
Model and promote the highest standards of
behavior, integrity, actions and behaviors
·
Meet with a group of administrative staff
members to discuss their perspective of ethical behaviors employed by certified
professionals. Seek recommendations for policy changes, trainings and
consequences for increased ethical practices by certified professionals.
·
Review the board policy manual and discuss the
compilation and updating process and the role of the board in the process.
Competency 1 specifically uses the
word ‘know’ in the listing but I feel that it is more of an action item. One
can say and know anything but the real tell-tale sign of complete understanding
is in these modeled behaviors on a daily basis. During my internship I have
paid attention to things that I never before paid much attention. Viewing
school business from a macro-perspective, or the superintendent’s position, has
brought things to life for me. An example of a questionable action is bending a
rule because one benefits. I have witnessed an administrator make an exception
to a rule that ironically happened to meet a personal need. The individual is
no longer in the same position, she actually was promoted for performance, but
the effects of her decision linger and to change the decision would put the
current leadership in a tough position as it has now become the norm. The
action is not illegal or harmful to kids but I firmly believe that had it not
benefitted her she would have held her ground. As far as updating the board on
policy updates I feel that this process in my current is a sterile process and
it is conducted in a fair, ethical and orderly manner. The superintendent
receives the policy updates from TASB, he and the cabinet review any new policy
that will have any type of impact, and if it requires immediate change the
procedure is developed. Once all of the policies have been thoroughly reviewed the
information is presented to the school board. School board questions, comments
and concerns are fielded and then if the board approves the superintendent’s
recommendation the policies and procedures are implemented throughout the
district. Ethical practices by certified professionals are constantly being
pushed to their limits. In my opinion some of the questionable limits are for
legitimate purposes and others are for personal gain or illegal. My
recommendation for increasing ethical practices is to continue to enforce the
current policies and when an ethical practice is questioned investigate, review
findings and follow through with either punitive consequences or clearing up
the misunderstanding. The worst thing to do would be to let the situations go
and not pay any attention to them. As superintendent the entire community,
within and outside the school district, is looking to you to lead by example.
So for at least this reason all actions of the position and those of your staff
must be ethical in the eyes of the community, anything less than ethical is not
acceptable.
Competency 2 Area:
The superintendent knows how to shape district culture by
facilitating the development, articulation, implementation, and stewardship of
a vision of learning that is shared and supported by the educational community.
·
Develop a strategic plan for a comprehensive
district plan (Advanced Junior High Math)
·
Review and compare two different district vision
statements. Note strengths, weaknesses and make recommendations for my
district.
·
Review the ways in which assessment data are
used by the school board, superintendent, principals, staff and by the
community. Write a reflective statement about how leaders can better use the
data.
·
Selected a project (revise the PE curriculum)
and include the steps used to gain consensus and include the steps and
assessment of the outcomes in the notebook.
·
As a leader of a group, practice each of the
group leadership tasks. At the conclusion of the meeting have the group members
evaluate my performance in each of the tasks. Include a summary of the
evaluations and recommendations for improvement.
Competency 2 can be summed up in the word
steward. As superintendent it is your job to move the organization in a
direction, or towards a common vision, by shaping and facilitating the way. The
superintendent can’t, effectively, move the district towards his vision and
expect amazing results. Shaping the district’s culture is an organic process
that requires facilitating, articulation, and collaborative implementation
strategies. During my internship I have experienced this type of leadership and
learned more than I can express in words. As a leader in order to make change
the steps one takes must be strategic. Before change can be presented the need
must be clearly established or the community/audience will not buy in to the
effort. I led an effort to address the advanced academic program for
mathematics at the junior high level. I feel I was successful in moving the
process forward because I had paid attention to other efforts to make a new
difference that while being what was needed were not strategically designed and
implemented. As a result the initiative has been deemed a failure and largely
in part to poor, or a lack of strategic, planning. Strategically planning an
initiative is a great start but the most effective method for creating
organizational ownership of the initiative is to have them build it. If they
build it, then they are already there. If the teachers, or stakeholders,
create, design, or make what is needed then the effort is not nearly as
difficult to sell to the organization. I led an effort during my internship and
I witnessed this firsthand. Our K-5 Physical Education curriculum document was
absent and I was directed to create another one. I could have researched the
topic and designed a curriculum document but it would have been received cold
and shelved by the K-5 PE teachers. Instead, I decided to take a risk and I
strategically presented the need to the K-5 PE teachers. They were shocked at
first to be asked to be involved, much less take ownership, of the task. I
provided them with time, resources, expectations, and a deadline. Teachers are
amazing, they produced an amazing document with depth, complexity and have a
plan to work the document as a draft this school year and next summer the
document will be finalized and completed. District mission and vision
statements by in large all say the same thing. I have not found a real novel
mission or vision statement. If I was to put into my own words any of the
statements that I found they all would be the same, they all seek to provide
students with the best possible education that will prepare them for their next
step in life. Some of the statements are lengthy, some short, some are plain,
and others are aesthetic masterpieces. In my opinion, the words as presented in
print are meaningless. As I continue to grow and learn I will seek to identify
an organization’s mission and vision by gathering a sense of the local culture,
feeling the local climate and asking the stakeholders what the organization is
about. If stakeholders can speak to the mission and vision then there really is
depth and organizational ownership of the printed statements. As a steward of
an organization trying to move an organization, quantifiable evidence must be
reviewed constantly by all stakeholders. In the absence of data one is
operating on hope. Hope is not an effective strategy for change. Data of all
types, attendance, failure, report card grades, benchmark scores and
standardized achievement test results need to be reviewed frequently and used
to drive and support the goals that are geared towards achieving the vision and
mission of the district. Leading efforts that involve district stakeholders is
a daunting yet exciting activity. I relish the challenge and seek to apply what
I have learned from watching others implement initiatives as well as from
personal experience. I strive to make a mistake only once. I expect to make
mistakes once and eventually after several trials I hope to find myself closer
to perfect.
Competency 3 Area:
The superintendent knows how to communicate and collaborate
with families and community members, respond to diverse community interests and
needs, and mobilize community resources to ensure educational success for all
students.
·
Interview one or more persons involved in
district/school public relations.
·
Assist in conducting a staff meeting. Survey a
random sample of participants about presentation-strengths and areas to improve
·
Examine policy and procedure for parent
involvement in the district. Write a summary of the district initiatives in
parent involvement.
·
Examine and evaluate the school library with
regard to resources and practicality of addressing the Technology Application
TEKS.
·
Compile a list of social agencies that are
available to help and support students, faculty and administration.
Interacting with
the community is a general weakness of mine. During my internship as well as my
experiences working at the district level I have realized that authentic
communication with family members is a deal breaker. Sending a letter or an
email is not enough requesting support is not enough to truly garner their
assistance. Parental involvement in the district is a matter of desire on the part
of the campus or district. I have found that the best way to build support for
a program, campus, or initiative is to personally deliver the message. This
genuine delivery model is dated but its selling power is ten times greater than
an email for example. In looking into the parental involvement opportunities
one thing that concerns me is that most of the involvement that takes place is
the law. Parents are ‘involved’ but really they are required to be on a
committee. They barely know the name or purpose of the committee they are
serving. True parental involvement where the parent is a critical, not
mandated, member is not as evident in my district or in education in general.
The library services in my district are working to address all technology
application TEKS in the library lessons that they provide to students. I was
not aware of this and was surprised to learn that our libraries were ahead of
the curve in preparing lessons that specifically addressed the technology
application TEKS that are now another requirement of all school districts. The
services that the libraries provide are much greater and much more diverse than
they were ten to fifteen years ago. The card catalog is extinct and web browser
and search engines have replaced them. Research has to be taught differently as
a result. Students can research anything and have results within seconds. The
focus of teachers and librarians is teaching students about primary and
secondary resources, not everything that is found on the internet is legitimate.
In working to involve parents and community in the business of education a
superintendent needs to be strategic. To make the biggest impact, the
superintendent needs to build these relationships with parents and the
community long before calling on them to assist in accomplishing our mission.
The Public Information Officer (PIO) in my district works tirelessly to
communicate in every way possible in order to effectively distribute any and
all messages. She attends all community events and serves as the liaison
between the district, superintendent and the community. As the PIO, one of her goals is to be
proactive in presenting information to parents and the media. The media can be
an asset or a detriment to the mission. She continually works to strengthen the
relationship she has with our local media specialists and uses them to harness
all that is good about our district. The PIO and the media are conduits of
information and effective outlets for information that are used to keep the
parents and community members informed and involved in our business of
educating our students. When parents and community members are valued for more
than legal requirements then and only then will the relationships grow and
produce the educational results desired.
Competency 4 Area:
The superintendent knows how to respond to and influence the
larger political, social, economic, legal, and cultural context, including
working with the board of trustees, to achieve the district's educational
vision.
·
Interview retired educator from the community
with a focus on school system. Identify significant changes to school system.
·
Obtain a copy of the Superintendent’s job
description and evaluation instrument. Analyze the correlation between the job
description requirements and standards of the evaluation instrument.
Times are changing
and teachers who have retired ten to fifteen years ago are glad that they do
not have to deal with the assessment and accountability that is the current
reality. The one thing that remains constant regardless of when a teacher
retired is that kids will be kids, they are timeless. In my conversations with
retired teachers they all are fearful of technology and do not have a grasp of
how it can be incorporated into teaching and learning. The expectations of students, teachers, and
the community are grossly different. What schools are required to do today is a
much different standard than what was required fifteen years ago for students
and teachers. The struggles and hurdles today were unheard of in the past. The
world is changing and so too must teachers, students and education as a whole.
Assessment is probably the single greatest change in the public school setting.
The superintendent’s job description and the evaluation tool are correlated. I
spoke to the superintendent about the job description and the evaluation tool
and he said that some of the statements were vague and he wants to visit with
the school board to get quantifiable standards that he could work and build
goals towards accomplishing. To say student achievement will improve is all but
meaningless and lacks depth, clarity and is very subjective. By being given
tangible targets everyone knows the expectation. The expectation will either be
met or it will not. Regardless, progress, good or bad, can be monitored and is
easily measured. The superintendent’s evaluation tool is closely correlated to
each job description requirement but as currently stated lacks specificity.
With seven board members, all with different mindsets, it is very important
that each of them expect the same thing from the superintendent otherwise the
evaluation process can be the beginning of the end of the relationship.
Everyone needs strategic, measurable, attainable, result oriented and timely
goals (SMART), even the superintendent.
DOMAIN
II—INSTRUCTIONAL LEADERSHIP – COMPETENCIES 5 - 7
Competency 5 Area:
The superintendent knows how to facilitate the planning and
implementation of strategic plans that enhance teaching and learning; ensure
alignment among curriculum, curriculum resources, and assessment; use the
current accountability system; and promote the use of varied assessments to
measure student performance.
·
Evaluate curriculum for Math grades 6-8 &
Algebra I by analyzing the TEKS addressed in the SpringBoard product. Determine
whether or not the materials (Level 1, 2 and Algebra I) will adequately address
the TEKS required for use in advanced courses.
·
Analyze school schedule and make recommendations
for increased efficiency and meeting students’ needs.
·
Conduct an audit to determine the degree to
which the district has incorporated brain-based learning theory into the
instructional program.
·
Plan and facilitate a student program that
focuses on social, academic and leadership needs of students. (Robotics
Challenge)
·
Review IDEA and meet with Special Education
Director to discuss responsibilities of principals in meeting sped guidelines.
Enhancing teaching and learning is the core
of the education business. All school related business can be traced to
ultimately impacting students learning via effective teaching. Instructional
leadership is the domain that deals directly with teaching and learning. My
experiences during my internship have been educational. Robert Marzano’s
research identified a viable curriculum as having a great impact on student
achievement. I was tasked to evaluate the junior high advanced math curriculum
and make a recommendation that ensured that the materials used adequately
addressed the grades 6-8 and Algebra I mathematics TEKS. This journey provided
me with an opportunity to study TEKS and tie them to curriculum. I was able to create a document that visually
displayed all of the TEKS required and sequenced them in a manner so that the
four courses could be adequately addressed in three years. Another experienced
I had was reviewing the junior high’s bell schedule. Protecting instructional
adequate instructional time for the core subjects while also integrating
intervention time and electives was challenging. The thing I learned from this experience
was that the decisions are not always student-centered. I assumed this and no
one will own that they think differently but the original solutions to the
master schedule were all teacher-centered. Once student-centered possible
solutions were brought to the table, with great trepidation, progress was able
to be made that met all of the requirements of the master schedule. I think
that one of the issues with the way this situation was handled was that it was
approached from the top and teacher input was not included. Fear of what the
teachers might think about the new ‘changes’, I feel, blinded the
administrators ability to think clearly and with a student-centered approach to
the issue at hand. Implementation of curriculum is critical to student learning.
Trying to identify how often brain-based learning was attempted was
interesting. After several discussions with the curriculum department and
various other educators I decided to use our walk-through data and use the high
yield instructional strategies and levels of student engagement as indicators
of evidence of brain-based learning. The results are less than appealing, 20%,
but there is now a baseline that can be reflected upon for future study. This
is an area of continuous professional development in the district. I found that
addressing student social, academic and leadership attributes at the same time
to be challenging at first. Then I found the perfect venue, a robotics
challenge. Students were put in groups (social), given a challenge (required leadership
to accomplish) and had to use skills learned to complete a given task. The
LEGO’s robotics competition that I initiated as part of a large grant that the
district was awarded provided the students with a fantastic opportunity to tie
social, academic and leadership attributes altogether in one activity. Not only
did the students thrive, their parents came out of the woodwork to support
their kids on the day of ‘The Challenge”. The students, parents and teachers
felt the initiative was a huge success. The venue and design of the event
produced results that amazed me and the parental involvement was a complete
surprise. As I reflect back on the event I am trying to create a parallel that
I can apply to other areas so that I can get similar results from students,
parents and teachers. Instructional leadership for special education students
is, sadly, about compliance. Great teachers provide accommodations and
differentiate instruction to meet students where they need to be met so that
they can be successful without being told to do so. After speaking to the
Director of Special Education her biggest concern is that students with
identified needs get the support they need. I guess I feel insulted that there
is a law that now makes it illegal to not provide the services that a student
needs to be successful. That being said, principals need to ensure that their
campuses are in compliance with the ARD committee’s decision regarding a
student’s placement academic intervention (IEP’s). The compliance is two-fold.
The paperwork needs to be correct and then the support in the classroom needs
to reflect what is on the ARD paperwork.
Competency 6 Area:
The superintendent knows how to advocate, promote, and
sustain an instructional program and a district culture that are conducive to
student learning and staff professional growth.
·
Meet with grade/subject teachers and review
current curriculum and lessons. Compile a list of traditional behavioral and
experimental learning objectives. Solicit methods for more cognitive and
experimental objectives in curriculum lesson plans.
·
Review board policy on technology and study the
district plan on use of technology. Evaluate compliance and make
recommendations.
·
Gather and analyze district normed test results.
Assess current strengths and weaknesses in student achievement. Make
recommendations for improvements
·
Review board policy and school handbook with
respect to discipline. Review practice and meet with campus administrator to
discuss student discipline. Assess compliance and write reflection on student
discipline.
·
Compile a list of current issues that affect
teaching and learning. Use research and administrator perspective and then
assess degree of urgency for each issue.
Advocating for continuously improving
instructional is the never ending task assumed by all school districts in
Texas. The way this effort is accomplished is by cultivating a culture among
students and staff that promotes their growth. Learning theory, technology, and
student discipline are all current issues that are driven by normed test
results. My internship experiences have brought me closer to a few of these
issues from a macro perspective. Seeking to incorporate more experimental
learning objectives in classrooms as opposed to traditional is a daunting task.
Teachers and administrators seem fearful of failure. They do not want to take a
risk and try something that they do not know. Seeking methods to increase these
types of teaching and learning involves conversation and trial and error that
is encouraged. We learn more from our failures than we do from our successes.
These types of lessons actually reduce student discipline issues. When teachers
teach and students are learning, discipline problems are nonexistent. One
strategy that has proven to garner the attention of students is incorporating
technology into daily lessons. Technology is a great strategy for hooking
students into the lesson but one of the things educators need to continue to
develop is maximizing the return on the incorporation of technology into the
lesson. The return on the investment should be quantifiable and in the form of
formative and summative assessments. With hard, quantifiable data informed
decisions can be made that should improve student learning. This entire process
should be completed with teachers and not conducted in private and then passed
down to them. Ownership needs to be built into the continuous improvement
process or compliance will become the standard teachers work towards.
Competency 7 Area:
The superintendent knows how to implement a staff evaluation
and development system and select appropriate models for supervision and staff
development to improve the performance of all staff members.
·
Collaborate with an experienced staff developer
and turn around staff training.
·
Interview for a professional position and then
critique the process.
Staff evaluation and staff
development are areas that I have grown in the past two years and greatly
during this internship. I have had the opportunity to collaborate with staff
developers and turn around staff training. I attended several trainings and
shared what I learned from the sessions with my supervisor when I returned to
the office. My supervisor and I discussed the trainings, specifically
addressing how they connected and tied to our goals that were supported by our
data. She decided to have me turn around the training I had received at our new
teacher pre-service in August. I presented a strategy to help teachers think
about preparing to deliver their daily learning target while differentiating
the materials in order to meet students where they need to be sev3d in order to
be successful.
Interviewing potential staff
members is a game of chance. Interviewing for a professional is nothing like
working the job being sought. I interviewed for a professional position,
principal at a large 4A high school, upon request from the assistant superintendent
in the district. I was giving a presentation at a conference and she sought me
out and asked if I would apply and that they had no front runners. I applied. I
interviewed and did not make the short list. I was very appreciative of the
hospitality of the district and especially for the deputy superintendent for
providing me with feedback on my interview. He said he saw great potential but
I was still too green. This was the first time I interviewed to be a principal.
I may or may not have been the best candidate for the job but the interview
process to me, regardless of where you are, is more about who you know and what
the committee feels about you after the interview itself. All the candidates
that get selected for an interview are going to be quality and all say the same
thing. I believe the selection process boils down to leaving the committee
feeling comfortable. I believe that the higher up you move in administration
the more a person needs to be personable. A long time ago I was told that every
day is an interview; this has never been truer than in educational
administration. The higher ranks are fewer and far between and this elite
community is closely related by less than six degree of separation.
DOMAIN
III—ADMINISTRATIVE LEADERSHIP – COMPETENCIES 8 – 10
Competency 8 Area:
The superintendent knows how to apply principles of
effective leadership and management in relation to district budgeting,
personnel, resource utilization, financial management, and technology
application.
·
Complete a requisition for a service or supply
from a budgeted account and identify the flow pattern from initiation to
approval and finally to delivery.
·
Review the TSSA technology standards and assess
the level of compliance by leadership in the district offices. Write a plan of
action to address the areas of weaknesses.
·
Compile a list of professional associations,
service organizations and local, state and federal agencies that provide
expertise to the Superintendent.
·
Compile a list of books, publications, training
manual and state publications that are essential for the position of
Superintendent.
·
Assist in recommending to the board the End of
Course changes to local policies (EIC Local and EIA Local)
Administrative leadership is an
area I have grown by leaps and bounds, however I still have a mile to go.
During both this internship and my past position in administration I have
learned, by doing, some of the basics about budget, personnel and resource
utilization. We have heard that the way things are done in our districts may or
may not be the correct method for operation. I was fortunate in the area of
budget because I assumed a budget at the same time a new director of finance.
Being new to the budget and to the district we both learned by reading policy.
Legal and local policies are two of the publications that are essential for the
position of superintendent. As I asked several of my peers, my supervisor and
reviewed my past five courses I listed several insightful resources that will
be beneficial to me as I continue to study and hone my craft as an educational
leader. I am still working on the TSSA compliance assessment. I believe the
findings will be interesting. The legislative requirements are constantly
requiring school districts to amend policy to reflect, support an implement new
legislation. One of the latest requirements is the mandate that End of Course
(EOC) tests must carry 15% of the final course grade. There are several
negative impacts to this mandate and I was on the committee that created and
proposed a recommendation to the school board that met the intent of the law in
our district. While the requirement is more detrimental than good our
determining factor when deciding on the specific of our proposal was that the
EOC would only help and would not hurt a student as far as gaining credit for
the course. The implications of the EOC and students are far reaching and I
believe are not all known at this time. My concerns are many but will not stop
me from working as an educational leader to overcome the challenge set before
us and in front of our students.
Competency 9 Area:
The superintendent knows how to apply principles of
leadership and management to the district's physical plant and support systems
to ensure a safe and effective learning environment.
·
Review policies for student transportation and
evaluate the district’s level of compliance.
·
Meet with the Director of Maintenance, discuss
job responsibilities and staff requirements. Shadow one of the staff members.
Report on meeting and findings.
·
Interview district food service manager to
discuss requirements, concerns and issues.
Maintenance and the physical operations of a school district
are the foundation of the educational journey for every student on every campus
every day. I interviewed the director of transportation, director of
maintenance, and the director of child nutrition. In my conversations with each
of them I was thoroughly amazed at how much they do that has never been on my
radar. If these three departments do not do their job then I, as an
instructional leader, can’t even begin to do mine. These three departments
really set the stage for learning. Transportation gets the students to school,
safely. Food service provides nutritious meals twice a day to the students. The
maintenance department maintains the physical environment. The physical
structure, the electrical, HVAC, plumbing and grounds constantly need attention
and repair. As I reflect back on these interviews and appreciate even more what
these departments do I firmly believe that they are just as mission essential
as a classroom teacher.
Competency 10 Area:
The superintendent knows how to apply organizational,
decision-making, and problem-solving skills to comply with federal and state
requirements and facilitate positive change in varied contexts.
·
Analyze how changes to programs and personnel
have affected persons resistant to the change.
·
Review board policy regarding student services.
Assess the degree of compliance with the policy and education plan. Identify
three ways to improve student services.
·
Choose a current issue at campus/district level.
Meet with person on each side of issue, identify goals that both sides desire
and help devise a solution that meets needs of both sides.
Organizational leadership is an area that I feel I can grow
the most. I feel confident that I possess the knowledge and potential to
address whatever comes in my path on a daily basis. Nevertheless, I feel like
competency 10 is a weakness because I would like to be able to be more
visionary in my thinking, more proactive and less reactive in my leadership.
When I think about the great leaders that I have worked for whom, in my
opinion, are visionary, the one thing they both have had is a great amount of
experience. I think that experience is one of the greatest teachers of all.
Reflection is another great teacher. When analyzing programmatic changes and
the effects they have on the affected personnel it was no surprise that they
struggled at the onset. Change is difficult until the new behavior has been
repeated a few times and then, like anything else, it is accepted with slight
adjustments here and there. In my opinion, student services encapsulates anything
that a school must to do to help a student to be successful. Most districts
have a student services department. I struggled with this part of my internship
because I firmly believe that there is but one driving purposes as far as
student services and that being to help students succeed. To propose three
suggestions to improve student services has been difficult. The three things I
came up with include improving communication with parents/guardians, building
relationships with all students, and supporting teachers with time so they can
improve their delivery to meet the diverse needs of all students. There are
many issues of concern in the district that have appealing arguments on both
sides. The one that I chose to address was curriculum and instruction at the
campus level. The concern is identifying when the district should intervene at
the campus level to improve student learning. Currently the district provides
training, data-driven of course, to campuses and also supplies the curriculum
and benchmark assessments. The campus is charged with the delivery, the
instruction, the how. Campuses seem to want autonomy in delivering content but
when the results are bad the comment is that the district provides inadequate
training, poor curriculum and requires too much testing. The district stance is
that a committee made up of campus representatives selects curriculum, the training
that is brought in for teachers is not randomly selected it is strategically
chosen based upon data and the two or three assessments (benchmarks or CBA’s) that
are required every year are necessary to ensure and hold teachers and campuses
accountable to the scope and sequence that must be delivered in order to
prepare our students for the next grade level. When things are good it is the
result of the campus-based efforts, when they are bad it is that the district
is too involved with campus-based issues. In my opinion, the solution involves
a collaborative effort based on student and teacher growth and performance
based on data. Both entities want the same thing and when they work together
the partnership can be powerful and students are the real winners.
