Statement of Purpose
What is it that enables a trajectory-changing education? At Building Excellent Schools, the answer is rooted in sound and relentless execution on all the core fundamentals of running a school, i.e. the academic program, school culture, and operations. At Educate78, the answer is rooted in designing a school experience for students that is authentic to a particular community and also allows for deeper learning. As a lead petitioner in the process of founding a school – and a fellow of each of these organizations – I have been fortunate enough to observe and learn from both viewpoints. I have come to an understanding that both are true and not mutually exclusive. My goal is to soundly integrate the best aspects of both models
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If we can execute on the mission of Aurum Prep, we will be a proof point for schools that help students gain a deep understanding of themselves, their communities, and how to create a better society. To build the foundation for this, we have already worked intently with families and community members to understand what it is they want for their children upon graduation. After hundreds of conversations, we know that the Oakland community seeks an interdisciplinary, identity-based curriculum to help students define who they are for themselves. In response, we have crafted each year of our middle school to help our students to address fundamental questions like – who am I? Who are we (as a community)? Who am I becoming? We have developed the initial framework and scope for the projects our students would complete, including engaging in a genealogy/ancestry project and ultimately writing their own self-determined autobiographies. I believe it would be incredibly powerful to learn from High Tech High’s project-based learning approach to we continue to design these learning experiences. Engaging in the Graduate School of Education would help us to more fully flesh out critical aspects of our model like these.
The Graduate School of Education is committed to developing reflective practitioner leaders who are working with colleagues and communities to create and sustain innovative, authentic, and rigorous learning environments. I am a leader who is seeking to design a school that is committed to ensuring equity for all children in East Oakland. While I have experience in the school design process, being part of the GSE would ensure that our team is able to implement the aspects of our school design that will ensure an equitable learning for all of our
In Leverage Leadership, Paul Bambrick-Santoyo presents seven principles or levers that great principles and other school leaders take to effectively transform their schools into greatness. These seven principles, or levers, enables continuous, about-face, and duplicable growth for schools and their leaders. More than half of a principle time is spent on things that does not transfer into student achievement and/or success. However, with purposeful emphasis on these seven levers, the exact time investment leverages more learning. School leaders plus the seven levers equal more student achieve, thus setting the school on the path for greatness.
The author further discusses some schools similar to Anne Fox Elementary School, that have transformed and really became the academic haven for children, paving newer paths of success for their students. It gives an overview of the other chapters and lists some great changes that had taken place when these schools really adopted the principle, and the results they had received from making a change in their system. It goes to show that when our systems aren't working in terms of helping children meet their goal it is very important for us to become open to change and really believing that change and success in any child are possible as long as we believe in them. Becoming a supportive adult can make the biggest difference in a child. From this chapter I learned that being open-minded, researching new ways to improve, accepting our mistakes can really change our effectiveness in the lives of the children around
As a student affairs practitioner I believe I am a cornerstone of the higher education experience. I have made it my mission to help students be the best version of themselves for the benefit of not only them, but of society at large. I work to help create not only educated students, but also engaged members of a global society.
I am a dedicated educator who has devoted her life to educating low-income families in New Orleans, Louisiana. By pursuing my doctorate at Argosy University, I believe that the rigorous course of study will enhance my knowledge and productivity in the workplace. Argosy University Educational Leadership program is compatible with my career goals. My career goals are to obtain higher education, teach adult learners and to start a non-profit organization. The non-profit organization will focus on low-economics families while giving needed educational services to students who attend the charter schools of Orleans parish. As I researched Argosy University curriculum and conversated with an admission counselor I am convinced the University gives a supportive learning environment for student’s lives and careers.
Danielson’s framework and the High Schools That Work (HSTW) have countless interesting factors in common. If put together, I am confident we could create a framework that would definitely revitalize, our educational system. These two frameworks both have interesting points to add and by putting them both together, we could create a new framework that focuses on the key aspects of teaching and which will have a positive impact in our educational system.
Facilitating a foundation in academic or philosophical pedagogy can help form a path for the educator, a path to better understanding teaching, education, learning and learners. Often, most of the programs designed for learners and the curriculum is often derived from theories. Understanding theories can help guide a teacher through their education journey. Sometimes, teachers may struggle with classroom organisation or implementing the curriculum in a considerate, all-encompassing and engaging way, especially if you are a CRT or Graduate Teacher - and often these concepts can help inspire and encourage teachers. To be an empowered teacher means your classroom and students will be empowered learners, and that is the best type of learning. There are many theories that have contributed to education as a body and has many of these theories help educational departments plan curriculums to benefit not only teachers but also all students. What makes for a great teacher is considering the characteristics of the local community as well involving students’ families’ in the school body. Influences that help shape a teacher’s identity can include…
I am a member of the Better Seeking Team at my elementary school. This committee is a leadership team responsible for driving decisions and changes in a positive direction. The National Institute for Urban School Improvement describes the school leadership team as “a school-based group of individuals who work to provide a strong organizational process for school renewal and improvements.” (2005, p. 2) As a member of this team, we recently attended the 2015 Model Schools Conference presented by the International Center for Leadership in Education. Bill Daggett, the founder and chairman of the ICLE, says its focus “has been devoted to observing, studying, and supporting the transformation of the nation’s most rapidly improving schools. The key to improving student performance is a tireless focus on providing rigorous and relevant instruction, and that every level of the education organization must be tightly aligned and carefully coordinated around that singular goal.” (n.d.) My professional goal for the coming school year is to implement the major aspects from one of the presentations our team deemed most significant at the conference, the Rigor/Relevance Framework for teaching in a twenty-first-century classroom.
Identifies skills, theories of change, program designs, partnerships, and ways of building schools where students achieve.
It also showed us that value in education comes in different forms. For example, students like DeAndre valued education but didn’t think the education he was receiving was the best approach for him. It may appear the DeAndre was uninterested in learning but in reality he was interested in learning things that could help and resonated with his cultural history. I was enlightened by the way this article helped to highlight different types of students in a positive light. I resonate with this article because I went to a high school where students were labeled as noncompliant or “acting white”. I fell that more educators should read this article to get a well-rounded view of all their students especially those in the minority community. Furthermore, after reading this article I began to brainstorm alternatives to making school more appealing to all categories of students. According to the Boston Globe a new idea called community schools are entering discussions about better school models. The Boston Globe defines community schools as “both a place and a set of partnerships between the school and other community resources. Its integrated focus on academics, health and social services, youth and community development, and community engagement leads to improved student learning, stronger families, and healthier communities”. This idea sounds great to me because not only does it address the needs of the student
I believe the school endeavours to provide as much variety of opportunity as possible to allow each child to find something they are good at. The mission and aims show that the school recognises the diverse nature of its children and families, and their individual faiths, cultures and abilities and encourages its
The school is testing ground for the brain. I believe that the student should be exposed to new ideas, experiences, techniques and methods so as to further develop their own capacities to adapt, change, learn, and grow as people. One of the most important goals of the school, if not the most significant, is to develop literate and productive members of society, who are able to converse with a variety of issues using varied methods of communication and media. All students should be encouraged to make thoughtful contributions to society, no matter how large or small they may be. Also, the school is not confined to a
All students deserve a quality education regardless of race, gender, socio-economic status, or zip code. At Aurum Preparatory Academy Charter School (“Aurum Prep”), each of our students will receive a quality education that will prepare them for success in college and career. We know from numerous examples of high achieving schools in the communities of Oakland and around the country that all students can achieve at high levels when provided with the proper structure, strong instruction, and clear guidance. We will provide our students with a rigorous and seamless secondary education rooted in expanding their literacy and mathematics skills, and in full alignment with rigorous national standards as adopted by the State of California. At Aurum Prep, we foster character development through our FIRST values: Focus, Integrity, Respect, Self-Determination, and Team. For students to determine their own life’s trajectory, they must have a foundation that prepares them to (a) excel in college and life and (b) become responsible leaders in their communities and in our world. We must have high expectations and clear structures, all provided within a culture of joy for learning, working hard, and honoring our students’ fullest self-determined potential.
First, Aspire seeks to create district change within its selected geographies, by influencing, modeling or pressuring change. District change is the primary focus of Aspire’s work. In addition, Aspire seeks to build capacity among other educators, charters, and CMOs, which collectively will create a statewide network of high performing schools. Finally, Aspire will advocate for changes in educational policies, practices and institutions in California. Together, these three activities will create the changes necessary for improved achievement for all California
In light of accountability requirements, fear of not meeting AYP (Annual Yearly Progress), and required school improvement plans, often the idea of “school improvement” is considered a negative attribute. Obviously schools do not want to be singled out or identified as in need of improvement. Teachers often take the same view towards the idea of improvement. We as teachers take very personal that concept of improvement; we often parallel the need for improvement to failure. However my belief is that effective schools are always in a school improvement process and effective teachers too also are constantly adapting their practice in a culture of continuous improvement and growth. Therefore it is important as an effective leader to build a community of trust and collaboration. I quote “We are all in this together. Once we know that we are, we’re all stars and we see that we’re all in this together.” (Disney High School Musical, 2006) These lyrics from a popular Disney movie put to light exactly the school culture where the goal is not personal but as a community to use data driven and research based approaches in reflection and growth that assist all stakeholders.
School improvement is transformation. It is one of the most important actions of a school. It is a process that schools must use with fidelity to ensure that at all students are given the opportunity to perform and achieve at exemplary levels. School improvement is vital to schools and it is a process that cannot be done in isolation. It requires team work, collaboration, and constant analysis of data and setting of goals. School improvement goals focus on how to meet the needs of students. Addressing the educational needs, funding, and achievement gaps between subgroups is collaborative effort involves everyone that has a vested interest in the schools. These basic measures set the foundation for improvement. And so, if it is the