Educational Leadership : Palmer Lake Elementary School

Achieving a school district’s mission and vision requires the commitment of its stakeholders. In order to involve them in the process, it is necessary for educational leaders to “motivate staff, parents, students, board and community members” (Educational Leadership Constituencies Council, 2002, p. 4). The transformational leadership theory emphasizes the importance of educational leaders acting as role-models in order to motivate and inspire the school community. This approach has the potential to involve all stakeholders, leading to increased student success (Bush, 2007). The Assistant Director of Special Education in Northwest ISD directly supervised the school district’s assessment staff. Her education, experience, and passion set an example for her subordinates, stimulating them to achieve more, leading to her promotion to Executive Director of Student Services.

In this chapter, Fullan begins by maintaining that principals who are effective lead learners are necessarily also good managers, because they understand that having clear routines is essential for school improvement.” (57) He quotes from Viviane Robinson’s Student-Centered Leadership to both underscore the previous point and emphasize that successful principals take an active learning stance: “The principal who makes the biggest impact on learning is the one who attends to other matters as well, but, most important, ‘participates as a learner’ with teachers in helping move the school forward.” (58) Fullan also borrows from Helen Timperley’s work in responding to the question, Who is in a principal’s class? The principal’s class consists of “team leaders who in turn can leverage the learning of other teachers in their group”

The Kentucky Leadership Framework defines teacher leaders as those who “transform their classrooms, schools, and profession, activating teacher growth and achieving equity and excellence for students” (Kentucky Teacher Leadership Work Team, 2015, p. 4). Therefore, the definition of what it means to be a teacher leader can be found in a review of relevant literature; yet, their roles can be unclear within the schools (Angelle and Schmid, 2007). Jacobs, Gordon, and Solis (2016) point out that when “teacher-leaders’ roles and responsibilities are not clearly defined, misunderstanding, conflict, and resentment can result” (p. 399). In addition, a study of 672 participants revealed that teacher perceptions regarding teacher leadership can vary based on school grade configurations—elementary, middle, and high (Angelle and DeHart, 2011). According to Angelle and Schmidt (2007), “As we work to provide precision to the term teacher leadership, we look to widen the level of understanding of this critical component of school reform at all levels” (p.

According to former Indiana state superintendent of schools Dr. Suellen Reed, “We know from our research that there’s no turnaround school without a turnaround principal” (as cited in Gammil, 2007, para. 2), further supporting the fact that “school leaders have an essential role in cultivating a positive school culture in public schools” (Peterson and Deal, 2002, p.30). However, it is imperative to improve our understanding as to how principal leadership impacts the school culture in high poverty schools to ensure that all children receive a quality education, regardless of zip code, in an environment conducive to learning. The six measured factors are as follows:

The following information was gathered during a discussion with Dr. Clayton Mork from the Crescent School District. He shared his personal view of the role of an instructional leader. Also his view of how instructional leadership practices relate to student achievement. Dr. Mork shared two instructional leadership actions and outcomes he implemented at Crescent School District related to student achievement. Dr. Mork also explained his philosophy of curriculum development regarding involvement of teaching staff.

This interview was conducted with Wes Jensen the current principal of Mountain View Middle School. He has been the principal at his current school for two years, and was vice principal of the Blackfoot High School for two years. Before he became an administrator he was a classroom teacher for seven years, giving him 11 years of experience in education. The school has a very diverse population comprised of many different ethnicities including Native American, Hispanic, and Caucasian. The economic situations range from wealthy to highly impoverished. As the principal of this school he is a very professional man who holds high expectations for his staff.

For this experience, I chose to visit an elementary school and its feeder middle school. I chose this because students leave this elementary school with a high rate of student achievement, yet in middle school the scores plummet. I wanted to investigate how this gap could be minimized. Comparing philosophies, expectations and leadership styles for schools within the same community was also a goal.

I am applying to Plymouth State University’s Master of Educational Leadership program for the winter of 2016-2017. Currently, I am the head of the math department, hockey coach and assistant athletic director at New Hampton School, in New Hampton, NH. I would like to pursue a master’s degree in educational leadership with a focus on athletic administration to further my knowledge of the required leadership qualities, specialized skills and educational systems so that I may ultimately become a better math department chair and an athletic director.

Since its development in 1994 the standards of Educational Leadership have pursued promoting an understanding on what is expected from the educational administration field.1 The goal of this paper is to present a personal appraisal of a connection between the ELCC standards and my own experiences in district leadership and a reflection on my professional practice of the standards. It is implicit that an educational leader should promote the success of every student by advocating and effectively implementing the 6 standards of Educational Leadership. 2

Throughout this book, Sergiovanni is attempting to reframe the role of leadership in a school from an old paradigm focused on management and control and the view that a school is a formal organization, to a new paradigm of empowerment through caring, acknowledging the expertise of teachers and students, and facilitating their active participation in the school.

According to the authors of this article (Donaldson, Marnik, Mackenzie, & Ackerman, 2009), principals need to concentrate on the development of skills and behaviors in order to be successful in motivating, leading, and changing the direction of a school. The successful principal understands that there exists a fine balance of caring for others and the need to accomplish specific tasks (Donaldson, Marnik, Mackenzie, & Ackerman, 2009).

Marzano, McNulty and Waters propose five steps for a plan of effective school leadership. The first step is developing a leadership team with purpose. The definition used for a purposeful community is one with the collective efficacy and capability to develop and use assets to accomplish goals that mater to all community members through agreed-upon process (Marzano, et. al, 2005). The second step is distributing some responsibilities throughout the leadership team. The third step is to select the right work. The fourth step is to identify the order of magnitude implied by the selected work. The last step is to match the management style to the order of magnitude of the change initiative. The last step incorporates whether this is first or second order change.

In order for the principal to develop positive relationships within the community the school needs to demonstrate, and promote the contributions provided. The school needs to adopt an “our children” attitude with the community to share in the benefits for students (Epstein, 2009).

Risks and challenges may face these teachers with placing blame on the motivator. They must take control of the situation and make decisions that do not cause more playing of the blame game. They must always show others the big picture and help them to see the purpose. Treating all people, the same and helping them make the decisions, will make the process run more smooth. Teacher leaders can be catalysts for change feeling secure in their own work and have commitment to continual improvement.

“To maximize student academic and social success and to encourage lifelong learning and citizenship.” is the mission statement for Van Buren Elementary School. In order to maximize student achievement teacher leaders and administration must work in unison to identify goals for improvement. By analyzing data teacher leaders, administrators, and teachers can work together to derive a goal in the area of literacy instruction pertinent to our school. According to Taylor and Francis, “By design or default, teachers also are leaders of change, whether they promote it, support it, resist it, or ignore it.” (Taylor & Francis, 2014, 102-103) Henceforth, teacher leadership will be essential to achieve our literacy instruction goals.