Educational Leadership Student Mission Statement

My educational leadership philosophy is founded on respect. Respect must be given and received mutually. From teacher to students, to custodial staff, each person has their own story, fights, successes, and talents. Working together as a team to promote self and community advantages will enhance not only the school, but in turn will affect the world.

Schools must have a positive climate and supportive culture in place. Creating a clear mission for all to follow

When someone accepts the responsibility of a leader they accept and challenge themselves with the personal liability to take charge and spark change. Within this acceptance, there is also the balance of sharing power and enforcing positivity. A leader should not be a dictatorial force, but a teacher. It is my goal as a student leader to persevere with immense dedication, responsibility, and personal passion.

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.

This combined with the achievement related goals and social values become the basis of the schools mission statement.

 To promote a positive ethos in the school through encouraging a shared understanding of the values which underpin our school ethos

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.

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.

As a leader I envision my school as one where students and teachers come to a place they enjoy entering each day. All share the focus of the school, the belief that all students can become high achievers. Staff is centered on student achievement; no matter what academic level that all students face coming into the classroom. All staff will understand that all children are teachable, even those with learning issues.

There are many ways of communicating ethos, mission aims and values. However the best way to communicate this is by ensuring us as adults display the behaviours we want to see, we must be kind and considerate, as this is the behaviour the children will follow. They can also be communicated via the written word, through reports, letters and the school prospectus. As long as this information is readily available it can be a very effective way of communicating the above, as it means that they are always on hand to refer back to.

Leithwood and Jantzi argue the ability to articulate a clear vision is an essential attribute for school leaders (2008, p. 507). Goal setting is a powerful motivator for change and when leaders are able to clearly communicate inspiration vision to those they lead, it is possible to harness this motivation to bring about school improvement in student learning (Leithwood & Jantzi, 2008, p.507). Clearly defined goals encourage school community to contribute to common goals and also streamlines decision making as only options that align with the vision need to be considered (Hallinger, 2010, p.129).

In Moral Leadership, Sergiovanni shows how creating a new leadership practice--one with a moral dimension built around purpose, values, and beliefs--can transform a school from just an organization to a community. He believes that this "community" can inspire the kinds of commitment, devotion, and service from all stakeholders that can make our schools great. Sergiovanni explains the importance of justifying emotion and getting in touch with basic values and connections with others. He reveals how true collegiality, based on shared work and common goals, leads to an interdependence occurring naturally among

According to Hans Urs von Balthasar “a vocation is something lived, something enacted and a concrete life story” (Contino, 2004, p. 85). My vocational life story has developed over the past forty years with my first job at twelve babysitting six children to where I stand today teaching home economics at Chowchilla high school. “I build my own life story through the decisions of projects I undertake” and the choices I have made regarding my career path (Contino, 2004, p. 85). Someone looking from the outside at my wandering path might believe of my career changes seem a bit radical. Moving bicoastal, leaving a stable career of twenty five plus years to go back to college, take a pay cut and joining the unstable labor market of Home

I am seeking admission to Concordia University-Chicago’s Educational Leadership Doctoral program. Currently I am an Instructional Leader with the Rockford Public School District. I would like to pursue a Doctorate degree in Educational Leadership to further my knowledge of the required leadership traits, essential skills and educational systems, practices and laws so that I may ultimately become a contributing member of a school district’s administrative cabinet.

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.