Friedman And Mandelbaum : An Organization

beliefs and values of the people in the organization.. The best way to do that is to start with

Journal One in The Alternative by Galen Leonhardy, tells the story of a teacher who helps open an alternative school in Kozol Creek, Idaho, and the struggles he faces in attempting to implement a collaborative education process. The author writes of teachers who let students run free through the halls or simply ignored kids because they did not know how to handle them. He also writes of teachers who strive for a more personalized education by learning who their students are and understanding the environment from which they come. I have also dealt with both kinds of teachers in my educational experience, as I was a student of an alternative school. Mr. Lamar, to me, represents what a teacher should be. His personal dedication to making a difference in students’ lives and his willingness to go the extra mile by empowering students to take responsibility for their education changed how I perceived my own education. Mrs. Patton, on the other hand, is a teacher I would much rather forget. Her militarized style of teaching made learning an afterthought to the daily complications we encountered in the classroom. Both Mr. Lamar and Mrs. Patton taught me the importance of being included in your own education.

In the first journal of The Alternative, Galen Leonhardy journals his daily experiences as a teacher for an alternative school is Kozol Creek, Idaho. He describes the students in his classes and discusses his teaching methods to aid these students academically and socially, in order for them to transfer back into public life. The goals that he sets for himself regarding assisting the students are encountered by obstacles such as uncooperative colleagues and a local community that is ripe with preconceived stereotypes, poverty, and systematic neglect. The stark contrast between Leonhardy’s teaching methods and those of his unaccommodating coworkers reminds me of the disparity between some of the teachers that I had in middle school, some utilizing effective methods to encourage students and others employing unproductive methods of disparaging students.

The United School District (USD) 475 is located in the small town of Junction City and on the military installation of Fort Riley, Kansas where I lived from June of 2004 to December of 2014. Shortly after receiving my high school diploma in 2012, I applied for the position of Paraprofessional at an Elementary school. I thought that this would be the perfect opportunity to gain some experience in this field, since my original goal was to become a special education teacher. However, what I did not anticipated was that this formal organization was plagued by an array of bureaucratic shortcomings that affected the effectiveness and efficiency of the support staff.

I am providing an analysis of “Who Decides Where Jerry Goes to School? Family and Educator Conflict in Special Education Placement” by John J. Steffen and Joanne M. Marshall (2006). The school and district’s administrators are facing a conflict with the placement of a special education student. After being diagnosed with several medical disabilities which affected his behavior, the student struggled to achieve success in the initial placement that was chosen for his academic experiences as part of his inclusion in the Exceptional Student Education (ESE) program. However, the procedures, decision making, communication, learning objectives, and follow up process were plagued with mistakes. This decision making process, the conflict between school administrators and parents, and the needs of the student for his success in academic achievement is the focus of this case study analysis.

Most U.S citizen views America as a country spiraling out of control. There is a sense of fear and prevailing doom as the country faces serious issues such as a growing debt and uncontrolled spending. In the article, “America remains the world's beacon of success, Tim Roemer begs to differ otherwise. Roemer points out that America has a lot going for it, for example,” The United States has the largest and most technologically powerful economy in the world. It is a country full of accomplishments, hope and worth fighting for. This is why America is admired by many and attracts immigrants from all around the world.

One thing that is a for certain in education is changes will take place. Education mirrors the world we live in, and that is, change is inevitable. However, this process is not always accepted by the entire staff of a school and may be found burdensome to others. As a teacher leader, when certain changes in the school take place regarding a rule, the entire staff needs to come together to ensure the rule is being implemented and enforced. One such change that is happening at my school is the once a week mandatory meeting of all PLC teams. The decision to implement mandatory PLC meetings did not go over well with all teachers. When a school makes a rule or policy change, there are parts of the organization, such as the political, human resource, and cultural perspective that feel the effect.

In the United States, the citizens of the nation possess countless opportunities to gain success in business and their own well-being, with as little government influence as possible in this world today. Furthermore, an individual’s success or failure reflects on the nation as a whole. If a country displays a disappointing amount of success, then the morale of it declines. For the USA, the philosophies of freedom should not go unnoticed, and its people

New Harbor North High School has encountered several complications within the operation of their public school. The school is simultaneously gaining students requiring special needs, while experiencing a decrease in diverse teachers that are capable of addressing these needs. New Harbor North is losing experienced teachers due to funding shortages over that have increased over the past four years. The school is greatly impacted by the economic changes that are currently causing budget cuts and poverty within the community. Although the school is encountering difficulty amongst the school’s operation, the students are managing to excel at high rates compared to the school’s district.

My interest in pursuing a position as a school administrator for an elementary school system is to provide leadership for staff members and quality education for all students, and to become part of the world of education. The Benjamin Franklin School located in the Dallas School District serves as a growing population of approximately 1,070 students. The school offers a well-defined educational system for the students, and it has an overall student-to-teacher ratio of 17:1. In addition to the statewide curriculum standards, the school offers special education programs and classes for the gifted and talented. As a result of the school district rankings in the student’s performance, Benjamin Franklin School has become the worst in the

Starratt’s work resonates with any educational change initiative, but this book has added dimension and depth to my work. Every day I attempt to orchestrate organizational change in dysfunctional special education departments that serve special needs individuals. First, Starratt (2004) makes it clear that an overarching goal of an effective and ethical educational leader is not only to identify the critical areas of concern, but to initiate the change needed to uphold and enhance the “common good.” In my current career, that applies to special education systems requiring reform where unwilling administrators do not reorganize priorities for that to happen. While the definition of the phrase, “the common good” may be unclear, when it comes to initiating change in special education practices, the indisputable outcome should be the ownership of all special needs students by every staff member.

Question One: Are there common concerns that are heard across the school? Across the district?

In my search for organizations that are involved with the system and the families surrounding it, my supervisor referred me to the School District of Philadelphia alternative schools. These are schools children are transferred to based on behavioral problems. Coming from the school district, I have already heard of these schools and knew some of the possible places to contact. Although I have previous knowledge, I decided to start at the school district office to get a list of all the alternative schools. This is where I hit one of the first barriers on my path of recruitment. The school district gave me the biggest run around, sending me from one office to another, then transferring me to completely different buildings and programs. No one seemed to have the answer. I wondered why the home office of all the schools did not have a list available of the possible alternative schools.

In discussions with Ben Robertson and Matthew Rose on what our topic for the Instructional Leadership Action Plan (ILAP), we all believed that providing teachers with more information on the Special Education Process would well serve the needs of all teachers. Ben and I both talked to our principals about having the ILAP at our respective schools and both principals agreed that the need for it was great in both buildings. However, when discussing travel for Matthew it was decided that we would have the ILAP at Nickelsville Elementary and would later hold the same ILAP, based on our feedback from teachers at Nickelsville Elementary and our cohort, at Gate City Middle School.

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