I Was On A Mission

Unfortunately, one problem I noticed was the breakdown in communication between all levels of the team. The pattern of communication I noticed was closed and limited to only a small portion of the team as a whole. With such a large building, this is something that needs to be addressed immediately. Opening the lines of communication within the department will strengthen the relationship each member has with their leader. This builds trust and will improve

Mr. Jones acted as an ineffective leader. As a matter of fact, neither he demonstrated his leadership skills when he reacted before he was prepared to do so. First, he disobeyed a mandate from his supervisor when he disclosed the information given to him, on an apparent violation of the Code of Ethics of the Education Profession in Florida, Rule 6B-1.001 (2): “…The educator will therefore strive for professional growth and will seek to exercise the best professional judgment and integrity”. He shredded his integrity, when he failed to show loyalty to his supervisor. Furthermore, principal Jones seems to be new as an administrator. Even when the authors only described him as in his first year of principal in the neighborhood school, they do not provide any more information to evidence prior experience as an administrator in other settings.

My research focused on a case study that depicted a school that was on the verge of collapse and how effective leadership can turn a negative situation into a positive outcome. After reading this case study, I noted several similarities to the movie “Stand and Deliver”, in regards to a school that was unable to obtain even a small degree of operational success, (Musca and Menendez, 1988). The support element was basically nonexistent, no one was assuming responsibility for their actions. Without established procedures there is no path to follow, which leads to corruption and disparity. Through effective leadership these problems were identified and corrected. Mike Odiotti and Judy Seiberlich successfully transitioned a school that was on the path of ruins and developing it into the school that it was destined to be, (Berger, Howard, &

School leadership has become an increasingly difficult and pressure-packed role in recent years due in large part to a new climate of accountability and measurement stemming from Federal educational policies such as the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLBA) and continuing with the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). With increasing pressure to raise student test scores and subsequently overall school performance ratings, administrators and teachers in some schools and districts have unfortunately begun using strategies, which are not ethical (and sometimes illegal) to increase student achievement. This paper is in response to a fictional case study based on the article entitled, “Looks Like 10 Miles of Bad Road: Cheating, Gaming, Mistrust, and an Interim Principal in an Urban Texas High School,” written by David E. DeMatthews of The University of Texas at El Paso, which was published in the Journal of Cases in Educational Leadership in 2014. This paper will briefly introduce the background of the fictional case, before identifying the relevant Educational Leadership Constituent Council (ELCC) Standards and the manner in which they could be applied to create a plan of action for the administrator referenced in this scenario. Next, will be a discussion of the difficulty associated with competing realities faced in this case, before a final discussion of how this case study and similar scenarios relate to the preparation of effective school leaders.

While I attended Wichita State University for my bachelors of Social Work, I was afforded the opportunity to participate in a leadership program two consecutive years. We learned tips on strategies to become more effective leaders. Whenever I participate in activities that require me to take a leadership or supervisory role, I tend to think of what I learned in the program. The conflict that I identified as a supervisor in this activity was mainly that we had a student with erratic behavior, with firearms at home, and a mother who not only, saw nothing wrong with it, but wanted him removed from public school and is largely uncooperative with the school regarding his psych eval.

As principal new to a situation I would take some time to move about the school listening and talking to all constituents. While I might be excited and anxious to create change or perhaps have pressure from the district to do so, I would move forward cautiously with an awareness of the impact any change would impose on the existing culture.

Supportive and shared leader: The school change and educational leadership literatures clearly recognize the role and influence of the campus administrator (principal, and sometimes assistant principal) on whether change will occur in the school. It seems clear that transforming a school organization into a learning community can be done only with the sanction of the leaders and the active nurturing of the entire staff's development as a community (American Institute of Recearch, SEDL, 1997). In my school in the beginning of the year before starting of the academic session, Principal, Vice Principal and teachers get together and start to disseminate the roles and responsibilities of different coordinators such as Academic Head, Non-Academic, Exam controller, Club coordinator, literary in charge, House Masters, Class Teachers, Disaster coordinator, Games and sports in charge, Health in charges and HODs are appointed. Furthermore, those above-mentioned roles are divided among Academic and non- academic heads. And the Principal is the overall chair person. Therefore, I think my school is in the institutionalization stage of this dimension.

School improvement is identified in a series of stages, two of which are leadership by binding and leadership by bonding. When binding is present, staff feel morally committed to performing beyond the expectations of the leader. Leadership by bonding, however, emerges when there is a community of practice present within the school. Staff learns to trust one another, support each other, and develop collaborative relationships.

This study would examine the actions, influence, and motivational techniques of a superintendent in a district, where there is a significantly reduced rate of suspensions and expulsions, compared to both state and national norms, and located in an urban, low socioeconomic environment. As Northouse (2013) states, “People who exhibit transformational leadership often have a strong set of internal values and ideals, and they are effective at motivating follower to act in ways that support the greater good…” (p. 191). Ideally, through this study, I would look at the superintendent’s actions and how the vision leads to the greater purpose of the district. Questions examined may include; what is the vision of the superintendent, why is the vision

However, if there is no strong leadership the academic goals and value of a school will begin to collapse. When I first started attending SSJ, we had a strong and well-respected principal Abbie Rief, when she walked the hallways, students scattered to find their class or they would have to face her wrath. When she spoke all the students become silent and listened as if their mother was speaking. Ever since Mrs.Rief’s presence has stopped gracing the Secondary School of Journalism leadership has become subpar and the school has suffered dramatically. The lackluster efforts that have been put forth by principals that have gotten possession of the helm here at SSJ has felt outright disrespectful. From teachers leaving and even crucial classes not being available for students to take that are required for them to graduate it has been downright awful and gut-wrenching. If I were principal I would only expect and demand the best out of my students and let them know that they are they are the ones who must control society's future. The students here at SSJ deserved a better hand then they have been dealt but through and through we have

In terms of becoming a mediator and consensus builder the authors detailed the need for principals to possess relational leadership skills in order to be able to both facilitate groups and coach others on staff in the ability to facilitate their own groups, and stressed that the key to this is the ability to effectively participate in conflict resolution (Donaldson, Marnik, Mackenzie, & Ackerman, 2009). The authors suggested that conflict is part and parcel of school reform and that in addition to being able to deal effectively with conflict the successful principal needs to develop the ability for bringing about consensus within the group, noting that interpersonal and intrapersonal skills were as much or more important than knowledge (Donaldson, Marnik, Mackenzie, & Ackerman, 2009).

Principals are under increased pressure to create systemic change within their school. Providing leadership coaching will give principals the tools they need while on the job and can improve their interactions throughout their workday. The purpose of coaching is to move from one place to another (Reiss, 2007, p. 54). The coaching model in the executive world has various models which supports the concept of helping leaders reach their next level with improved thinking skills or clarifying purposeful action to achieve challenging goals. Coaching develops leaders or gives leaders an additional edge (Allison-Napolitano, 2013). The coaching process is successful in helping individuals and organizations through change (Reiss, 2007, p. 56). This paper will review coaching models for school leaders and how interactionism is reflected and plays a part in coaching models. To be clear, executive coaching is defined by the chicagoexecutivecoaching.com,

Possible Solutions. The system needed to be completely revamped. Policies and procedures needed to be developed and implemented in order to reestablish commitment and direction. The first step was to identify the problems, then develop sound solutions, (Berger, et al., 2010). Interviews and surveys needed to be conducted and data needed to be analyzed to identify the discrepancies, (Berger, et al., 2010). The school required a new administrative staff that had a proven track record of effective leadership, (Berger, et al., 2010). The new leaders would need to be strong in their convictions in order to successfully change the negative behaviors. Change needed to be implemented to provide new structure in which to build upon. Roles and responsibilities needed to be redefined, communication was needed to develop new ideas and create a positive learning environment.

The principal must have knowledge and understanding of effective communication strategies when collaborating with staff, educators, and students (O 'Connor & Jackson, 2017). The teacher’s morale is ultimately impacted by the principal 's open-line of communication; therefore, the school environment affects how the principal is perceived by the teachers and staff morale can influence student learning. However, the principal should focus on developing a collaborative relationship among the teachers, which foster new ways of exchanging view points and ideas (Whyte & Karabon, 2016). The principal plays a major role in how effective the vision or goals are followed by subordinates. In other words, how the perception of the principal ethical and values are aligned with the teachers. Hence, collaboration in schools is, the result of teachers and principals working together for the end results, which are student’s high achievement in learning. When the skillful principals and the sagacious educators “walk the talk” effective leadership and the strategic guidance is a must in the collaborative community of succeed.

School leadership has significant effects on student learning, second only to teacher’s instruction. (Leithwood, 2004) Principals that incorporate distributive leadership allow people to share their expertise and passions for specific items and can increase the effect on learning. Distributive leadership is a framework for analyzing and reflecting upon situations with the understanding that no one has all the answers and as a team, a better solution can be created. It provides a structure and a culture for systemic change. (“Distributive Leadership,” 2010) Distributive leadership allows change to continue even if there is a change in principals or any one member of the team. A strong, well thought out plan with a great leader will