Lisa Patterson                                    Candidate for Educational Leadership

Summer ’07 Cohort                            EOCS 7450: Practicum in Leadership

Case Study 1

ISLLC Standard 1: A school administrator is an educational leader who promotes the success of all students by facilitating the development, articulation, implementation, and stewardship of a vision of learning that is shared and supported by the school community.

Name of Case Study: Developing a School Mission, Vision, and Ongoing Improvement Plan

Essential Questions of Case Study:

1.     Did the leadership style demonstrate knowledge and understanding of strategic planning required in developing a school mission and vision, and a school improvement plan?

2.     Do the leadership styles facilitate strength in their dispositions based upon personal beliefs, values, and commitments toward improving achievement of all students?

3.     Are the leadership styles facilitating processes and engaging in activities ensuring the implementation of the school vision, mission, and school improvement plan?

Description of the Situation

Last year, our school system began preparing for school improvement by looking at the Georgia Keys designed for needs improvement schools. Though the entire system had made AYP for three years in a row, the administration felt the Georgia Assessment for Performance of School Standards (GAPSS) process was a quality instrument for determining specific improvement needs of our schools. Therefore, several teachers and administrators served on GAPSS visits to other school systems to learn the process. The visits were very enlightening and gave us tremendous insight into the strengths and weaknesses of our schools. I was privileged to serve on two GAPSS teams in which I gained much knowledge into school improvement. Because this was my school principal’s last year, and I am the school Instructional Coordinator (IC), I was given the responsibility of leading the faculty and staff in the quest for school improvement by following the GAPSS process. Therefore, question one relating to Standard 1, pertains to myself as an administrator. My new principal and I will facilitate the process of writing and implementing the school improvement plan. Therefore, questions two and three refer to both of us as administrators.

Knowledge

Our learning goals center around the following: Georgia Performance Standards (GPS) curriculum; instruction based upon research-based, effective, teaching strategies; and the use of varied assessments. Using the principles of developing and implementing strategic plans to assess our school’s strengths and weaknesses I organized the following steps in order to develop a school mission, vision, and improvement plan: First, I informed all faculty and staff members on the eight strands of the Georgia Keys and what the strands entail (curriculum, instruction, assessment, planning & organization, school culture, professional development, leadership, and student, family, community involvement & support. Next, teachers chose committees on which to serve, with the task of determining school weaknesses and brainstorming ways to improve. Then, the committee chairs reported findings to the entire faculty. Next, teachers, parents, students, and community members were given surveys with questions relating to all eight GAPSS strands. The school improvement team collected and analyzed data from the following information sources: surveys, standardized assessments, professional development needs assessment, and committee reports. Finally, based upon data results, the improvement team was ready to write specific school improvement goals.

Dispositions

The school mission and vision had not been revisited in eight years, at which time it was developed through the NSSE process for SACS Accreditation. As teachers studied the outdated mission statement and school vision, they realized it no longer fit our school. Teachers agreed that we needed a mission and vision statement that would be easy for all stakeholders to remember and that stated our learning goals, beliefs, values, and commitments toward improving achievement of all students. The new county wide vision states, “We will educate all students for success in life.” Unanimously, teachers voted to adopt this vision statement as our own. All faculty and staff members were encouraged to submit ideas for a mission statement.

After collecting ideas, faculty members voted, and reached consensus on the following mission statement: R eaching

                                            C limbing

                                            E xcelling

                                            S ucceeding

The approved mission statement is an acronym of our school name. It refers to our goals for each student and for ourselves as educators.

Performances

Our school improvement team is working diligently to effectively communicate the vision and mission of the school to all stakeholders. Our efforts to effectively communicate the school mission statement thus far include the following: displaying student made, mission signs in all hallways of the school; embroidering the school mission on all student and teacher spirit wear; reporting the school mission and vision in the ABC booklet published by our local newspaper; and having students recite the mission statement each morning on the televised, student-led, morning announcements. The administrative team plans to emphasize the school vision in all collaborative sessions they participate in with teachers. Also, the principal has planned regularly scheduled grade level, content level, cross-grade level, professional learning, leadership team, school council, student council, and faculty meetings in order to regularly monitor, evaluate, and revise the vision, mission, and implementation plan to continuously improve our school.

Answers to the Questions

1.      Yes, the leadership style demonstrated Developing knowledge and understanding of strategic planning required in developing a school mission and vision, and a school improvement plan. The administrator effectively communicated effective consensus-building skills among the faculty in the school. However, I neglected to include students, parents, and community members in the decision-making process. 

2.     Yes, the leadership styles facilitate Proficient strength in their dispositions based upon personal beliefs, values, and commitments toward improving achievement of all students? The Instructional Coordinator facilitated collaborative discussions among faculty members in negotiating consensus upon a school mission statement and vision. The new principal has strategically planned meetings which will involve all stakeholders in the continuous school improvement process. Our greatest challenge will be to convince all faculty and staff members to commit to achieving the plan.

3.     Yes, with the help of the school improvement team, the leadership style is Proficient in facilitating processes and engaging in activities ensuring the implementation of the school vision, mission, and school improvement plan? Because the completed plan has not been written at this point, much more work is needed in order to reach the Accomplished level of performance.