Ilead Program Reflection

Roberts, S. & Pruitt, E. (2003). Schools as Professional Learning Communities: Collaborative Activities and Strategies for Professional Development. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

Throughout my educational career at St. Paul High School I have been involved in many roles of academic excellence and leadership that I believe have well-prepared me for my future.  As a freshman and sophomore, I received two ACE Awards for maintaining a minimum 4.0 GPA and as a junior received and Academic Letter.  During my sophomore year of high school, I participated in a number of leadership roles including 2015 HOBY ambassador and The Congress of Future Medical Leaders delegate.  Now, as a senior, I have taken on more positions of academic leadership such as participating on the St. Paul High School Academic Challenge Team and being a member of the National Honor Society.  Although these are only a number of my accomplishments over the

Dr. Fremstad has been instrumental in the implementation of Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) at West Fargo High School. She understands the power of teacher collaboration and has led the charge to train and monitor the program with fidelity. Jennifer has inspired educators to share student evidence of learning and extend intervention or enrichment learning opportunities based on the data. In addition, she advocates on the importance of frequent classroom visitations with her leadership team and establishes annual visitation goals to support teachers and

In our school, fostering nurturing professional learning communities is imperative to shaping our school’s culture.

To help with this concern, I would make room in the school’s budget for professional development. The goal would be for teachers to learn and grow so that they feel confident in leadership roles and have the skills needed to educate students. I would incorporate different forms of professional development such as peer observations, workshops, and a peer mentoring program. The hope would be that the new teachers would begin to collaborate and learn from other teachers.

Though the idea of working collaboratively is not a new one, the concept of professional learning communities (PLCs) has recently become very popular in education. During the summer of 2012, the Pasco County School District introduced the concept of PLCs into its schools in an effort to improve student learning in this era of increased educational scrutiny and accountability. Department heads suddenly found themselves relabeled PLC facilitators and called to attend two days of summer training meant to prepare them to lead PLCs once the school year began. The other PLC participants, the

To further help the veteran teachers and the new teachers coming in, professional development will require an ongoing commitment from all levels of the school organization. There will need to be resources available to help guide the teachers’ professional development. The adoption of professional learning communities (PLC’s) within the school and district supporting them is paramount. The continued development will help the teachers implement PBL (Rosenblatt, 2012)

This course was not what I was expecting it to be, but I was very happy with the information that I took away from it. I am a Patrol Lieutenant with the Knoxville Police Department and mainly work the very poor East part of town. This area is about 75% African-American and the residents have adopted me as one of their own and I have made it a mission to try to help improve the area as much as I can. This course has taught me several things that I can use to help this needy community.

Educational leaders are responsible for adapting instruction to meet the needs of their ever-changing student body and staff. This requires leaders to commit to professional development through continued learning opportunities. Hirsh and Hord suggest that “one of the most powerful ways for principals to extend their learning is to participate in professional learning communities (PLCs)” (2008, p. 27).

Effective schools are data-driven and embrace professional development that promotes professional learning communities (PLCs). Effective utilization of PLCs addresses the need to frequently monitor student progress and adjust learning accordingly. How might teacher inquiry be used to further the goals of an effective school?

Gifted and talented programs are intrinsically valuable to many children’s education as they provide a system in which all students involved are engaged, challenged, and intellectually stimulated. In "How People Learn", Donovan, Bransford, and Pellegrino (1999) stress the importance of each student being given reasonable and appropriate goals based on his or her level of understanding and competency (p. 20). Gifted and talented programs help institutionalize the attempt to meet all student’s needs by providing uniquely appropriate challenges which aim to keep every student engaged, thus receiving the best chance at success. Although there are many valuable and

There is a great need for education reform in urban school systems. Many of the students are struggling to reach academic achievement. In order to meet the needs of all students, the school system needs to examine the curriculum to identify opportunities to implement a gifted education program (Steenbergen-Hu, 2016). Although my district has one program focusing on grades 2-8, there is still a need for a drastic change. The program needs to be expanded beyond the one school and 7 classrooms.

According to the National Association for Gifted Children (NAGC, 2009), a misconception is gifted learners are able to succeed on their own, and the truth is gifted learners need to be challenged to learn something new each day. In a “Tale of Two Principals,” Weber, Colarulli-Daniels, and Leinhauser (2003) determined research on the topic of principal leadership characteristics and practices in gifted education is neither extensive nor current. The National Association for Secondary School Principals (NASSP, 1998) published a special issue introducing gifted education research and theory to its readers and instructional leaders of schools. During this special edition, the administrative journal acknowledged principals’ authority to positively

The S.T.A.R. program was phenomenal. Ever since I heard about the program I wanted to participate in it, and I could. I enjoyed it very much. I learned a plethora about teaching and children, more than I could have done in a regular internship. I am glad I took the opportunity to be in the program. I recommended students using the program because I knew they were going to be involved with children and the S.T.A.R. program was the perfect way to be exposed to children and how to work with them.

Desimone (2009) addresses that continual professional development is significant to improve the quality of teaching, and efficiency of classroom. He further adds that “Professional development is a key to reforms in teaching and learning, making it essential that we use best practice to measure its effects” (Desimone, 2009:192).