An effective school leader possesses skills to create, implement, evaluate, improve and share a staff development plan. I met with Ben Rhodes, Sandy Creek Middle School’s principal, to interview him on the specific elements of his yearly staff development plan. We began with the design process focusing on the district and school goals. District goals include improving literacy across the content areas in reading and writing, Guaranteed and Viable Curriculum (GVC). Guaranteed and Viable Technology (GVT), and Closing the Achievement Gap (Equity in Excellence). Using a variety of assessments to focus on specific needs, Ben Rhodes and Mary Sonya, our Pupil Achievement Specialist, examined CSAP, Explore, MAP, and RAD data. They use the Colorado Growth Model to help guide them to determine if students have made adequate yearly progress. Together, they created the plan that included the district goals mentioned above as well as continuing to include new technology skills, information on special education changes with Response to Intervention (RTI), maintaining current staff implementation of literacy goals and a new goal of raising achievement in math.
In deciding how to meet the skill needs of the teaching staff, Ben begins with the hiring process. Knowing what our School Improvement Plan goals are, his interview questions include specific skills and knowledge that will help Falcon Creek students meet these achievement goals. Mr. Rhodes is very clear about his high expectations of the teaching staff. He is currently in Denver University’s P.H. D. program in Educational Leadership and he utilizes his knowledge of best practice research. His assessments of staff learning needs are gleaned from a variety of sources that include feedbac...
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...district trains staff with new technology tools that will include net books, mounted projectors, peripheral technologies, new student achievement reporting system (aka RAD and DAS systems running on Brio software, new access points, that centralizes the management console, so students and staff will be able to connect to the CCSD wireless network at all school sites. Training will also be provided to refine the RTI process. Using district and school goals, assessing needs using the right data, planning specific content and processes to teach best instructional practices, providing resources to ensure success, measuring success and providing frequent feedback, adjusting practices as needed to ensure successful implementation, evaluating and improving strategies and then sharing the plan with the community has been key to ensuring the highest student achievement.
Ms. Hall has had many years of public education experience and higher education training in which to hone her leadership style and framework. She started her career as a teacher in the Kirkwood School District. She then served as an assistant elementary principal at both Ritenour and Pattonville School Districts before being selected to serve as the assistant superintendent of the Maplewood Richmond Heights School District in 2008. Throughout her career she continued to pursue her education as a means o...
My assignment is a combination of two interviews. I interviewed an Assistant Principal, Ms. Katis Romig, as well as, our Curriculum Director, Mrs. Maria Petkanas. They are both responsible for the curriculum development and instruction for the school where I work, P.S. 811Q. I also learned a fair amount from Ms. Romig and Mrs. Petkanas including that District 75 Citiwide Special Education’s Deputy Superintendent, Ms. Barbara Joseph, had given the school feedback and suggested writing curriculum and textbooks. This was the only feedback she gave our principal during her observation last week.
Leadership training programs allow for teachers to use their professional experience as an educator and combine it with the academic and hands on experience of being a leader by providing a comprehensive program. Leadership “…is learnable by providing real world leadership training” (Ramsey, 2006, p.xx). The training program prepares educators to be leaders and equips them with the tools necessary to be an effective leader. There is a need for an “,,,infusion ...
Achievement First is a charter management organization (CMO) that operates 17 schools from the elementary to the high school level in New York and Connecticut. Achievement First works to close the black-white student achievement gap by providing a high quality education to students in low-performing urban districts, having started initially with Amistad Academy in New Haven and moved into Hartford and Bridgeport, Connecticut, and New York City. Achievement First has been recognized for its impressive results – with two K-8 schools reaching the top four percent among New York City schools on the Department of Education’s Progress Reports in 2008 and with Achievement First’s flagship middle school scoring at the top of the region in reading and writing. They do this by setting high expectations and ambitious goals with a challenging curriculum, developing teachers and school leaders, focusing on data, increasing the length of the school day, and creating a strong school culture. Like other CMOs, a huge challenge for Achievement First is scalability – specifically, recruiting and developing effective leaders and teachers.
To be a successful teacher one must first understand their own personal classroom management strengths and build from those attributes. Equally important are those areas of concern that could benefit from professional development or active conscious practice. As a future educator I have been exposed to many management styles and strategies throughout the course of the semester in the Creating Positive Learning Environments classroom as a result I can better understand my own personal managerial strengths and areas that also raise concern.
Through interviews and research, supporting data was gathered from Northeastern School District’s Superintendent Shawn Minnich, Ed.D, who provided the current state of curriculum development for Northeastern School District (NESD). In addition, Kelley Engle, Ph.D., Campus Associate Dean - Curriculum Developer for Harrisburg Area Community College (HACC) addressed the college’s assessment needs and programs in place. Respectively, both parties outline the curriculum’s current challenges and ever evolving changing paradigm to meet workforce demands.
Education is an integral part of society, school helps children learn social norms as well as teach them how to be successful adults. The school systems in United States, however are failing their students. In the world as a whole, the United States is quickly falling behind other countries in important math and reading scores. The United States ranked thirtieth in math on a global scale and twentieth in literacy. This is even more true in more urban, lower socio-economic areas in the United States. These schools have lower test scores and high dropout rates. In Trenton Central High School West, there was an 83% proficiency in literacy and only 49% of the students were proficient in math. Many of these students come from minority backgrounds and are often from low income families. There are many issues surrounding these urban schools. There is a severe lack of proper funding in these districts, and much of the money they do receive is sanctioned for non-crucial things. Schools also need a certain level of individualization with their students, and in many urban classes, this simply does not happen. While there are many factors affecting the low performance of urban schools, the lack of proper funding and distribution of funds, the cultural divide between teachers and students in urban districts, along with the lack of individualization in urban classrooms are crucial reasons to explain the poor performance in these districts. Through a process of teacher lead budget committees and further teacher education, urban schools can be transformed and be better equipped to prepare their students for the global stage.
His greatest strength would be his professionalism. Specifically, he has a respectful attitude towards all students, families, colleagues and school leaders. Also, he is highly engaged during staff meeting and participates often. Also, he is open to feedback. During content meetings and coaching conversations he reflects upon and responds to feedback with openness. Moreover, he quickly implements instructional feedback from content leaders. Also, one of his emerging strengths is his ability to use data to re-teach lessons with a brief error analysis and provide immediate feedback to students.
The CIP plan is separated into specific sections, and the AIT team reviews and the CIP plan to determine PD topics. The purpose of this Continuous Improvement Plan (CIP) is to communicate the goals, strategies, and actions a school is taking to improve academic achievement and school climate. The plan is written to inform a variety of stakeholder audiences including, district and school leadership, family and community members, state and federal education agencies. The intention of the school’s CIP is to show progress on the level of teaching and learning of the students in the school. The school’s CIP provides an outline for examining instructional concerns in the school that has not made adequate progress in student’s achievement. Consequently, the school’s continuous improvement plan emphasizes the achievement in the core academic subjects and the strategies used to teach them, followed by professional developments to ensure that students are accomplishing
Williams. I was thrilled when I came to work here to find that Mrs. Williams is the type of respected but approachable leader that is my preferred leadership style. I am grateful to have her as my mentor for this learning experience, as I feel we match closely in leadership qualities. My strength as a leader is the supportive leadership style. Like Mrs. Williams, I feel that building relationships and a culture of respect and trust is key to being an effective leader. As a teacher, I spend a good amount of time at the beginning of each year building a rapport with students and families which helps me connect with the students. As a leader of teachers I feel that being supportive of my faculty and staff will be most beneficial in helping develop a productive work environment and develop a necessary level of trust with all of the staff under my supervision. I also want to be participative and achievement oriented. I have always had a drive to be successful in all I do. I am confident that this skill will carry over to my role as a leader. The one area I will need to work on is being directive when necessary. I am not always good at being direct and want to protect others feelings. I will learn from Mrs. Williams as I continue through this program how to be directive with faculty and staff, as well as disgruntled
The teacher was rated using a rubric with specific criteria in four domains including planning and preparation, the classroom environment, instruction, and professional responsibilities (Hillsborough County Public Schools, 2012). Within each of these domains are components which are the performance factors that are relevant to classroom teachers. In domain one the components include: demonstrating knowledge of content and pedagogy, demonstrating knowledge of students, setting instructional outcomes, demonstrating knowledge of resources and technology, designing coherent instruction, and designing student assessments. The components for domain two include: creating an environment of respect and rapport, establishing a culture for learning, managing classroom procedures, managing student behavior, organizing physical space. In domain three the components included are: communicating with students, using questioning and discussion, engaging students in learning, using assessment in instruction, and demonstrating flexibility and responsiveness. There is only one component that was rated for domain four which is reflecting on teaching.
Research suggests that high-performing schools begin with a shared philosophy about learning and teaching that unifies stakeholders and guides instructional decisions. Literacy program reforms will only succeed when members of a school’s community take collective responsibility for student success. Teachers, administrators, parents and even community members should be empowered to take active roles in the reform process. Schools need to move beyond policy talk and create their visions based on effective classroom practices and collectively organize to accomplish the goal of literacy achievement.
We must have the correct mind-set. We believe our students can learn; have high expectations; are willing to give extra help; find ways to make
Administrative leaders must have a clear vision of their school, a plan for getting there, and an ability to communicate effectively their mission and goals to the learning community. Leaders must recognize how to achieve the process of change by challenging well-established beliefs and behaviors of the community. Encourage resistors to adapt to innovative ideas in the school community. Dr. Hunter clearly articulated goals to all stakeholders in all aspects of the school culture. The guides developed by the Local Administrators Partnership Strand (ILIAD) addresses standards and procedures on ensuring quality service as leaders. These standards and guidelines aligned to leadership standards from the National Association of Elementary School Principal (NAESP) (www.naesp.org) an ILIAD partner. The unstructured interview analysis will describe leadership styles and roles, curriculum development, and evaluation methods.
With the proper guidance and support, teachers can achieve academic excellence in the classroom. They follow their principal’s vision and share their goals. Teachers also serve as leaders in their classroom. They share their vision and goals with their students promoting positive attitudes in the classroom. Just like it is important for principals to respect and understand what their teachers need, students also need the support, understanding, respect and empathy from their teachers. When teachers demonstrate commitment in the classroom and set high expectations they raise the level of learning in the classroom. Teachers that work with the students and their parents to understand and meet their needs will achieve positive academic outcomes. Students engage in learning with positive attitudes and strive for high achievements. Teachers work together with their leaders to improve their teaching