Mr. Jones Acted As An Ineffective Leader

The ever-changing landscape of education and school accountability has given rise to a renewed focus on shared leadership. In the past, the principal was viewed as the primary decision maker within a school. However, Glickman (1989) points out that it is impossible for school principals to effectively complete all the necessary instructional and managerial tasks within schools. He contends that some teachers have more leadership abilities than the actual administrators and that “in successful schools, principals aren’t threatened by the wisdom of others, instead, they cherish it by distributing leadership” (Glickman, 1989, p. 8).

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 importance of effective leadership and its impact on improving student achievement are evident in today’s schools (Leithwood, Louis, Anderson, and Wahlstrom, 2004). While the school principal is traditionally thought to be the school leader, Glickman (1989) proposes that “the principal of successful schools is not the instructional leader but the educational leader who mobilizes the expertise, talent, and care of others” (p. 8). Lumpkin, Claxton, and Wilson (2014) contend that helping “each school fulfill its mission and energize and expand the professionalism and professional contributions of teachers, the expertise of all teachers, especially teacher leaders, is needed” (p. 59). Teachers directly impact student learning, and

After the decision of integrating the schools was final, principal Jones used his leadership skills for the process of communication. He used a multiplicity of methods to inform, the students and their parents, about the process and options that they had to enrolled in a new learning community. Furthermore, he created task forces to

A new superintendent in an urban school district believes educators are trained to run schools and should do so with the least amount of interference possible. For this reason, an ethical crisis arises when the district decides whether or not to close a local high school. While public relations officers want district administration to be as transparent as possible to remain honest and open, the superintendent and other schoolboard members want to hold meetings with no media present. This facts of this case will become clear through explication.

SPC Jones achieved the XVIII Airborne Corps Noncommissioned Officer Basic Leader Course graduation requirements with an overall 94.33 % grade point average. She exceeded the Army standard by scoring 273 points on her APFT. SPC Jones has exhibited unwavering motivation from beginning to end through her constant pursuit of perfection. Her relentless effort to excel was seen in every evaluation which resulted in her ability to achieve outstanding results in 11 of 12 evaluations. SPC Jones took her leadership role seriously and her ability to communicate with purpose, respect and confidence commanded the respect of her peers. She demonstrated true team cohesion by not only putting out information but by helping when needed even when in a

In our school, the principal is the head of our organization and since she does not have an Assistant Principal, is the head all alone. She has been principal for 10+ years at the same establishment and loves every day. She stresses to her staff the importance of student safety, student achievement, parental

W. Edwars Deming, American engineer and management consultant, wrote “a bad system will beat a good person every time.” This quote demonstrates the necessity for a school administrator to establish a school culture that is inviting and characterized by collaboration. In order to intentionally create a welcoming and collaborative school climate, clear, frequent, and inclusive communication is fundamental. Families, staff, and community members should be afforded the opportunity to become involved in enhancing student learning, the decision making processes of the school, and meaningful school-based activities. Opening the lines of communication about possible involvement at a school promotes a good system, in which good people can thrive.

As human beings, we are often presented with dilemmas that make us question our integrity and moral turpitude. School administrators, in particular, engage in multiple decision-making processes on a daily basis, as they are responsible for developing and maintaining a safe teaching and learning environment on their campus. In fact, Weaver (2007) adds that many school administrators make their decisions based on equity, fairness, and student achievement. After analyzing the case of Richard Inman, the junior high school assistant principal, it became evident that he made the decision not to complete the expulsion paper based on his personal code of ethics. That is, he made his decision based on his values, goals, and beliefs regarding the success of every student in his school. Moreover, because he was raised in the same neighborhood as his students, he felt he could identify with their struggles and therefore made a personal agenda to cultivate a relationship with the students

This report is designed to address an issue related to a school administrator acting in an ethical and fair manner. For the sake of maintaining confidentiality in this report, I will use a false name for the school administrator. I will also use a false school district. However, the policies outlined in the report are directly from the state and school district.

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.

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).

There is also a need to change in the internal culture of the school. From informal interview it would appear some teachers due to frustration and their voices not being heard have given up on themselves and students alike.

The principal’s role in developing positive community relations sets the tone for communication patterns, partnership formation and/or alienation (Fiore, 2013). There are many tasks that the principal has that is important to school and community relations. Some of those are being a good listener, diplomatic and tactful and all situations. They also have to promote the open door policy to be free to communicate with students, parents, and their staff. They also have to inform the superintendent and community about good and bad things that are

Effective school leadership today must combine the traditional school leadership duties such as teacher evaluation, budgeting, scheduling, and facilities maintenance with a deep involvement with specific aspects of teaching and learning. Effective instructional leaders are intensely involved in curricular and instructional issues that directly affect student achievement (Cotton, 2003). The writer of this paper acknowledges that school principals should play the role of instructional leaders, not just a school manager. The reality is that are many demands on a principals time and management skills making it difficult for most of them to spend time in classrooms, when performing teacher evaluation. Principals often make sure that teachers