Jeff Burgess
Reflection: ISLLC V
Internship 6062/6072
Dr. Michael Arnold
Spring 2004

ISLLC 5 Summary and Reflection

Expectations:

5.1 Develops a personal code of ethics.
5.2 Assesses the level of trust in a school setting.
5.3 Examines the prevailing nature of values in the school community.
5.4 Examines the essence of how school leaders treat people (e.g. with respect, courtesy, fairness, and equity).
5.5 Demonstrates ethical decision-making.

The elementary counselor and I planned the beginning of an elementary student council at our elementary school. After discussion of qualifications and procedures, I created the forms for the artifact – Establishment of an Elementary Student Council.  The artifact includes a description of qualifications and procedures for developing the student council, a letter to parents of student council members, and a contract with parental permission form for participation in the student council.  
The Establishment of the Student Council reflects personal a code of ethics (5.1) that is expected of teachers and administrators, and modeled and taught to students.  Teachers, administrators, and the student council members are expected to model citizenship, cooperation, respect, responsibility, caring, honest, integrity, fairness, and self-discipline.  These characteristics were described in the contract and discussed at meetings.  
The Establishment of the Student Council helps to examine the nature of values in the school community (5.3).  The Student Council representatives are chosen by the student body and reflect the values of the school community.  The Student Council is a representation of the student body and communicates the nature of the values of the students it represents through participation in activities such as Grandparents Day (serving refreshments), Red Ribbon Week (deciding on themes for each day), the OACAC canned food drive (collecting and delivering the food items),  the Valentine’s Day Dance (decorations), and maintenance of the elementary school garden (this was recognized by administration and briefly discussed at a school board meeting).  
The Student Council Member Contract demonstrates ethical decision-making (5.5).  The Contract contains criteria for membership in the Student Council.  Violation of those required criteria will result in a decision by the council, council sponsors, teachers, or administration, demonstrating ethical values.  One student council member was reprimanded and placed on probation during the current school year. 
I participated in several discipline referrals throughout the school year. The referrals included in the artifact are from intermediate level classrooms.  One is a student with excellent academic skills that has behavioral problems.  The other is a special needs student with behavioral problems.  The Participation in Discipline Referral artifact examines how school leaders treat people (5.4).  Referral #2 concerns a student who is having difficult coping with problems at home and school.  A meeting with the parent, principal, and intern discussed how the student was being treated at school by students, teachers, and administrators.  It was agreed upon that the student would receive counseling services and character building assignments, a demonstration of ethical decision making (5.5).  
The referrals that involve the special needs student show ethical decision-making (5.5).  An evaluation on 9/22/03 determined that the student was not stable enough to allow him to remain in a school setting. A conference with parents, the special education teacher, special services director, and psychological case workers determined that for now that the student should be tutored at home until another evaluation determined that he would be able to function in the school environment.  His services would be limited to his ability to focus on learning activities, about two hours a day of instruction provided by the special services director.
Another decision (5.5) on 12/12/03 resulted in the same student being taken to the office and sent home for not showing cooperation to classroom teachers and the principal during the period before lunch.  It was decided that the student would go to the lunchroom alone at 11:45 each day and eat alone before going home at 12:00.
The Quilt of Rights: Missouri Show-Me CHARACTERplus Project Schools Conference Presentation was a lesson was submitted in November 2003 for publication in a booklet to be distributed to Missouri Show-Me CHARACTERplus Project Schools in a conference – “Character Education Leads to Healthy Schools and Communities.”  The conference will was held in many locations statewide.  I personally presented the lesson in a roundtable discussion at the conference that was held in Springfield on January 30 with counselors and administrators from other schools.  The modeling of the assignment and personal choice of personal rights important to myself shows the development of a personal code of ethics (5.1) and examines how school leaders treat each other (5.4).  When students are involved in the assignment they choose rights important to them, which assesses the level of trust in a school setting (5.2), examines the prevailing nature of values in the school community (5.3), and examines how school leaders treat people (5.4).
	The Certified Faculty Survey was distributed to certified teachers in the elementary building.  This survey is given as part of the Missouri School Improvement Plan (MSIP).  The Greenfield District has met conditions for a waiver for the next MSIP cycle visit scheduled for next year, so this survey will not be given as long as the district continues to meet the conditions of the waiver.  The survey is available at http://www.dese.state.mo.us/divimprove/sia/msip/advquest/faculty.html .  After collecting the survey, using a Likert Scale I assigned scores of 2, 4, 6, 8 or 10, with 10 be the most favorable response.  Several questions on this survey are directly related to ISLLC V.  Some examples are listed below:
Ratings: 8.0-10: Excellent      7.0-7.9: Fair     6.0-6.9:Caution     0.0-5.9:Unsatisfactory

(5.2) Assesses the level of trust in a school setting: examples:

8.9	I feel safe at this school.
8.3	Students are safe at this school.
6.9	In our community, people tend to trust each other.

(5.3) Examines the nature of values in the school community: 

examples of areas of concern:

6.7	My building uses a number of strategies to motivate students to perform their 	best on the MAP tests.
6.3	The teachers in my building study the achievement levels of subgroups of 	students (by 	race/ethnicity, gender, LEP, migrant and/or disability) and based 	upon this study take actions. 
6.5	The district has provided me with specific professional development opportunities 	in the 	development and revision of my curriculum.
6.5	The district has provided me with specific professional development activities 	related to aligning the curriculum to the Show-Me Standards on the MAP.
6.1	Parents have input into the development of the district's curriculum
	to improve the performance of any subgroup which lags behind.
5.7      I know how my curriculum is aligned to the benchmarks on the MAP.
5.2      Students have input into the development of the district's curriculum.
5.6	The community provides enough money to adequately provide quality 	educational programs to children.
5.9	If I wanted to I could easily arrange for my students to use the Internet at school for a class project.
5.9	I use computers and related technology in my classes.
5.5	I have the educational technology I need to support my instructional program.
4.8	Incorporating the Internet into our instructional programs is a high priority in my district.
3.8	Access to the Internet in my building is reliable.
5.9	Greater emphasis should be placed on cultural diversity awareness in this school.

(5.4) Examines the essence of how school leaders treat people:

8.4	Students understand what conduct is expected of them.
7.9	Discipline is handled fairly in this school.
7.7	Rules of conduct for students are consistently enforced.
8.1	There are avenues for recognizing and rewarding the accomplishments of all students.
6.3	I have the opportunity to share with the administration what materials are needed in my 	classroom prior to the adoption of the budget.
 	
	Evaluating these results, there seems to be concern in the areas of curriculum development and professional development. The area of technology needs some serious attention.  There is also a need to look at cultural diversity awareness and a concern for a lack of trust in the community.  An awareness of the lack of money that the community provides for educational programs is reiterated in a survey of community leaders shared under ISLLC VI.
	The Student Questionnaire was given by the counselor to students in grade three through six in the elementary building.  This survey is also given as part of the Missouri School Improvement Plan (MSIP).  The Greenfield District has met conditions for a waiver for the next MSIP cycle visit scheduled for next year, so this survey will not be given as long as the district continues to meet the conditions of the waiver.  The survey is available at http://www.dese.state.mo.us/divimprove/sia/msip/advquest/elem.html.  After collecting the survey, using a Likert Scale I assigned scores of 2, 4, 6, 8 or 10, with 10 be the most favorable response.  Several questions on this survey are directly related to ISLLC V.  Some examples are listed below:
Ratings: 8.0-10: Excellent      7.0-7.9: Fair     6.0-6.9:Poor     0.0-5.9:Unsatisfactory

(5.2) Assesses the level of trust in a school setting:

3,4,5,6	3rd	4th	5th	6th	Question
8.1	8.1	8.6	7.8	7.9	I feel safe at school.

(5.3) Examines the prevailing nature of values in the school community.

3,4,5,6	3rd	4th	5th	6th	Question
6.5	7.2	6.5	6.2	6.2	Students behave well in this school. 
7.3	8.1	7.6	8.1	6.9	The community is proud of this school. 
7.3	7.4	8.0	6.9	7.2	I like going to this school. 
7.2	8.1	8.3	6.3	6.6	I have fun learning. 
7.2	7.5	6.9	7.0	7.2	Students at my school are friendly. 
9.3	8.9	9.3	9.5	9.5	My family believes that I can do well in school. 
8.3	8.5	8.6	8.7	7.5	This school is a good place to learn. 

(5.4) Examines the essence of how school leaders treat people (e.g. with respect, courtesy, fairness, and equity):

3,4,5,6	3rd	4th	5th	6th	Question
7.5	7.7	7.4	7.2	7.6	 I am treated fairly at school. 
7.6	8.6	7.4	7.9	7.5	Discipline is handled fairly in my school. 
8.8	9.2	9.1	9.4	7.8	My teachers are good teachers. 
9.1	8.8	9.5	9.0	9.1	My teachers think I can learn. 
7.5	8.3	8.0	7.6	6.6	My teachers make learning interesting. 
8.3	8.6	7.9	8.6	8.0	Teachers in my school really care about me. 
8.6	9.0	8.6	8.9	8.1	If a student has a problem there are teachers 							who will listen and help. 
8.4	8.3	8.6	8.8	7.9	Teachers treat me with respect. 
8.4	8.9	8.5	7.9	8.3	My teachers make clear what I'm supposed to 						learn. 
9.0	9.0	9.4	9.3	8.5	My teachers expect very good work from me. 

	There is some concern in this data that the students don’t really think that the students behave well in this school, and the rating is low for students at the school being friendly.  I have recommended to the school counselor implementing a bully-free school plan that is described under ISLLC VI in the letter to Senator Foster. The only other serious concern that I recognize is a confirmation of a suspicion that I already had figured on:  Students in the upper grade levels don’t seem to like their teachers as much and are not as excited about school as students in the younger grades.