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.

 

I chose to disaggregate my team’s CRCT testing data.  I wanted to be sure I looked at subgroups that impact our AYP status.  I was amazed to discover that most of the students on my team receive free/reduced lunch.  Many of these same students were black.  13 other students were also receiving special education services while 1 student was classified as an English Language Learner.

Disaggregating this data afford me the opportunity to see which students were considered high impact. My team took the data I disaggregated and formulated plans for each student.  We utilized the book Students With Disabilities Can Make AYP by Kathy Cox, State Superintendent of schools for Georgia.  

 

Standard 2          A school administrator is an educational leader who promotes the success of all

                                students by advocating, nurturing, and sustaining a school culture and instructional

                                program conducive to student learning and staff professional goals.

 

I was given the task to carry out staff development training on Response to Intervention (RTI).  Our county had adopted the concept of remediation early and often as opposed to later and in desperation.  I conducted monthly faculty meetings designed around eight modules.  The modules are listed below.

Module 1             Pyramid of Interventions and Response to Intervention an overview

Module 2             Differentiated Instructional Strategies

Module 3             Research Based Strategies

Module 4             Standards-Based Classrooms

Module 5             Comprehension Strategies for Narrative and Informational Texts

Module 6             Teacher/Student Feedback, Commentary and Evaluation

Module 7             Vocabulary: Defining Research Based Practice

Module 8             SACS Accreditation for the 21^st Century

 

I was frequently called upon to answer staff questions regarding interventions.  The main question was in determining whether an intervention was an accommodation or a modification.  Through my training it was easy for me to describe the difference as an accommodation changes what is learned and a modification changes how the learning takes place.

 

 

 

Standard 3          A school administrator is an educational leader who promotes the success of all

 students by ensuring management of the organization, operations, and resources for

 a safe, efficient, and effective learning environment.

 

I attended all leadership team meetings.  This team is responsible for analyzing student/teacher data to better utilize all of our resources.   These meetings were facilitated by a Department of Education consultant assigned to the school based on our needs improvement status.  Most of the meetings dealt with why the school is still in needs improvement status and what could be done to rectify this problem.  The subgroup of students that has continually been unsuccessful on the state mandated tests were in the special education program.   The team determined that most of the staff assigned to teach these students were not “highly qualified” to teach the subject they were assigned to teach.  This discovery led to a reorganization of the special education department.  The team also looked at IEP’s and test scores to determine if these students would benefit from collaborative classroom instruction.  In many cases the team moved students from the resource setting to a collaborative model.

 

 

 

Standard 4          A school administrator is an educational leader who promotes the success of all

                                students by collaborating with families and community members, responding to

                                diverse community interests and needs, and mobilizing community resources.

 

I attended two different school board meetings.  One of these meetings (9/16) I was recognized as being a teacher leader.  The elementary curriculum director conducted a presentation on Response to Intervention and how the county teacher leaders were promoting staff development on RTI at their base school.  I was recognized due to the fact that I not only presented at my base school but two other schools.  The schools had lost their teacher leader due to promotions.  After the presentation, the superintendent discussed the progress on building two new schools, one elementary and one middle school.  He also assessed the support for continuing the penny sales tax designated for schools.

 

The school board meeting of March 18 was focused on gearing up for the next school year.  Teacher contracts had been given and the Associate Superintendent for Human Resources resigned.  The Board had to nominate and approve an interim Associate Superintendent.

 

Standard 5          A school administrator is an educational leader who promotes the success of all

                                students by acting with integrity, fairness, and in an ethical manner.

 

Confidentiality of student information is increasingly important.  While educators need to know information in regards to a student as far as their educational history, there are many other items in the students permanent record that need to be guarded.  It is important for me to know where my students stand instructionaly based on state testing, previous report cards, and teacher commentary.  A student’s social security number is not a part of the educational picture of a child.  This is a piece of information that needs to kept secure.

 

I have worked increasingly hard this year to portray an educational leader who expects that others in the school community will demonstrate integrity and exercise ethical behavior.  An incident where I utilizied this performance was when a cohort chose to post student benchmark results by name in the hallway.  I spoke to the educator and later administration about the ethics behind this posting.  Students deserve to be treated with fairness in regards to posting information that may embarrass or humiliate them.  The educator in question chose not to post the results in the hallway.  She chose to meet with each child and show them where they stood in comparison with children their same age throughout the school.

 

Standard 6          A school administrator is an educational leader who promotes the success of all

                                students by understanding, responding to, and influencing the larger political, social,

                                economic, legal and cultural context.

 

I spoke with three parents about ways the school could be improved.  One of the parents ultimately moved their child into my classroom.  The interview was conducted prior to the child being placed in my room.

Rev. Holmes stated that he felt like the school should be more accessible to parents.  He always felt like an intruder when he wanted to visit his child’s classroom.  He stated that all he was interested in was making sure his child was on task and participating.  He suggested having parent days at least once each grading period.

 

Mrs. Brown serves as the president of our PTO.  She wants to see more parent involvement.  She feels like that is the key to students being more successful.  Throughout the year she has planned activities at the PTO meetings that would encourage parents to attend.

 

I spoke with a 7^th grade parent and asked the same question – What could we do to improve our school?  He responded that enforcing the dress code was a priority for him.  He felt like if students dressed appropriately for school a lot of gang problems would go away.  His primary concern was the oversized baggy pants that are worn around the thighs.  If students look successful, they will in turn feel successful.

 

I randomly spoke to community members while at the grocery store in my neighborhood.  I live in the zone for the school where I am employed.  One lady I asked stated that we should get rid of the children who are not in school to learn.  I asked where she thought these students should go and she suggested the alternative school.

 

I attended a neighborhood association meeting and asked the same questions.  Most of the responses I received were – “get rid of the principal”.  I explained that getting “rid” of an administrator may not be the only solution.  I proceeded to ask why they wanted to get “rid” of the principal.  A few of my neighbors shared that they understood that the school went into needs improvement status the year the principal joined the staff.  I was able to explain the growth our school has seen under the leadership of the administrator. I used actual test score data to support what I was saying.