Successful administrators possess the necessary attributes that help them make decisions and solve various problems. All school leaders, regardless of their title or role in a building or district, will face obstacles involving individuals, community members, staff, and students. In order to address these challenges, leaders must understand the issue, formulate and apply a solution, and then reflect on their implementation of the solution to decide whether or not it is improving the situation. By no means is this an easy task, but effective leaders must strive to make sure their students, personnel, and constituents are being led down a path that will lead to overall academic and personal success. According to Young (2008), “as such, …show more content…
Collecting and assessing data is an integral part of the NCLB law. If Principal Hulbert knew her staff was using generic lesson plans, her assumption that data was not being analyzed nor collected was most likely accurate. Principal Hulbert understood the problem related to lesson planning and now had to address her staff and begin to formulate a solution. When presenting her findings to the staff, a very outspoken staff member, Bill Osborne, became defensive and vehemently defended the school’s staff. He stated that Buchanan Elementary School was mostly compromised of a veteran staff and cited outside factors, such as poverty and emotional, social, and parental issues that hindered learning at the school. Furthermore, he argued that creating new lesson plans will just be a formality and no true change will ultimately occur. At this point, Ms. Hulbert now realized that she not only had academic achievement issues connected to the NCLB, but her school culture was also jeopardized by a disenfranchised …show more content…
True learning cannot take place and sufficient lesson plans cannot be submitted until Ms. Hulbert addresses and fixes the culture issues within her building. The culture of a school system is shaped by attitudes, routines, habitual ways of doing things, behavioral norms, rules of conduct, position requirements, and the network of social relationships within which people work (Sergiovanni, 2006). Mr. Osborne and the rest of the staff strongly supported the principal prior to Ms. Hulbert, Mr. Sampson, and his stance on lesson plans. Mr. Sampson believed lesson plans were a part of a monotonous routine and only needed to be submitted to appease the superintendent. His beliefs created a trickle-down effect in the school, which ultimately led to negative perceptions from the staff in relation to a variety of issues. First, the staff believed lesson plans were irrelevant because Principal Sampson never checked them, thus they were not valued. Ms. Hulbert needed to deeply reflect on what occurred prior to her arrival and make the necessary improvements that will lead to positive changes in the school. Consequently, her decision to have teachers rewrite their lesson plans were justified and necessary if she wanted to begin to close the achievement gaps in her school. Ms. Hulbert’s decision to have the staff rewrite their lesson plans is part of her vision
Future school leaders are expected to understand, address, and solve problems they will encounter (Copland 2000). School leaders must also be able to anticipate a problem before it happens. Problems that school leaders are faced with can be identified as routine, structured, or ill-structures problems. Routine and structured problems are the familiar issues that leaders face, ill -structured problems are more complex. Ill-structured problems are more complex and lack clarity and present numerous obstacles. The ill-structured are the situations that are unforeseen and cannot be anticipated. The Interstate School Leader Licensure Consortium or ISLLC has developed six standards that provide a foundation for thinking about ill-structured problems.
Leadership is an essential component of a schools’ success or failure. Learning By Heart, by Ronald S. Barth provokes teachers and administrators to reflect on their practices and contributions to their school. Roland Barth offers us different viewpoints on educational reform from his own experiences in education from being a public school teacher and principal to being a Harvard University faculty member. He mentions how school improvement and restructuring will come from within every teacher and administrator not from any program because “schools are not capable of improving themselves”.
Since August of 2015, I have had the privilege of working with an incredible leader in Andrea Williams, principal of Theresa Bunker Elementary School. She is the epitome of a well-rounded leader who exemplifies all of the qualities of a leader as described by House’s path-goal theory of leadership. Mrs. Williams works diligently each day to create a productive work environment. She is direct when she needs to be and is extremely respected by her faculty as a fair leader. As I have observed her over the past two years I have seen her leadership skills in action. I have been extremely impressed with her drive, passion, fairness, supportiveness and ability to create a positive climate and culture that makes work a
Palmer Lake Elementary School refers to a public elementary school located in Brooklyn Park. The school has 678 students with majority being Whites and non-Hispanics. The teachers; population is between 40 and 50 teachers: 6 speech teacher, two reading teacher, 3 gym physical, two music teachers, 28 for regular classes, one media. Accordingly, the ratio of students to teachers is approximately 15:1. Each class has varying number of students ranging from 19 to 28 students. Approximately 54 percent of the students are male and 46 percent are female. The percentage of students eligible for subsidized lunch is 65. This essay examines the leadership skills and styles of Dr. Tim Brown after an interview in his office. Dr. Tim is the principal of Palmer Lake Elementary School and plays the following roles. First, he shapes the vision of academic success and instructional competence for all students and teachers respectively. Second, he plays the role of creating a climate and environment that is hospitable for learning. Third, he cultivates leadership in other teachers. Fourth, he is answerable to external stakeholders such as parents and state education authorities concerning the school’s performances and use of resources. Effective educational leadership is a continuous process that involves self-examination, learning from others, collaboration and sustainable use of resources to accomplish the goals and
20). Without a clear understanding of expectations, followers will have a difficult time making sense of goals, anticipated outcomes, and success criteria. As evidenced in observation data, Mr. Smith, Director of Elementary Education, provided direction for school administration, teachers, and instructional leaders at central office. He outlined professional development plans for elementary leadership for the 2016-2017 school year, developed a roll-out plan for standards-based reporting K-5, coordinated next steps for observation data related to school improvement planning, and established expectations for reporting student growth in literacy on a quarterly basis. Evident in his dialogue with teachers, administrators, and central office staff was his ability to listen to those in the trenches at the school level. While outlining expectations, goals, and success criteria, Mr. Smith understood that building a sense of community was critical; this leads to the next task of leadership – creating
The concept of transformational leadership and contingency theory (Chance, 2009) resonated with me for this tenet because it involves “engagement between leaders and followers bound by common purpose” (Chance, p. 94) and the importance of strong open communication between leader and followers in addition to the interactions with other systems that are internal or external. As a school leader, it is essential that I not only see where the school is now, but likewise develop a shared vision between all stakeholders within the school community on where we would like to see it in the future and on how to get there by setting clear, specific goals through collaboration. It is vital to foster participation in school decisions, which embodies participatory leadership. Encouraging participation in school decisions from staff, parents, students and the community at large will require that I, as an effective school leader, to be a good listener, communicator, motivator and collaborator as well as lead by example. According to DuFour and Marzano (2011), “Through their actions and words, effective leaders convey their conviction in their personal efficacy and the collective efficacy of those the
The purpose of this “Purpose, Reflective Practice, and Career Goals” paper is to reflect on how the Education Specialist program in Leadership in Educational Administration will help me to build upon my leadership skills and provide me with the knowledge and tools necessary to effectively lead a school district dedicated to improving student achievement. In this paper, I explain how the program aligns with my career goals of becoming a school district superintendent and the importance of lifelong learning for educators. According to Rüprich & Urhahne (2015), teachers should set goals. I consider myself a lifelong learner with the ability to build leadership capacity and support instruction. Additionally, the Paper highlights the benefits of the program at Capella University as well as the usefulness of the available resources and the impact they will have on my learning during this journey.
As a new member of the working town of the Westview Community, Principal Joe Thompson has made a few mistakes. He has proven himself to be human and extremely fallible to his parents, students and community members. Principal Thompson did not do his homework in advance, scout out the town, nor did get to know his constituents. He did not talk to any of the current staff at the school to understand the true needs of the parents and students, which communicates to people that he is insensitive to their needs. Due to a lack of research and naivety Principal Thompson has accused the Westview Community parents of being unconcerned and uninterested parents, in their children’s educational careers and overall success.
The book turnaround leadership emphasizes on the kind of leadership required for turning around a persistently low-performing school to one that will meet the required accepted standard achievements based on state test. The book informs the reader on how to implement successful strategies that specifically target low-performing school and later place that school in a proven turnaround system that con potentially lead to change. The system in suggested requires moves from school to the district in order to fully see and evaluate the system as a whole. The final outcome, is to have success in turning around school in a more productive manner. Leadership is something extremely important, it empowers people and it gives someone the opportunity
As a school administrator, it is important that all needs of students, parents, and caregivers are being taken care of. By doing so will allow students to be successful in education, all parents to become actively involved in the student-learning process, and allow all stakeholders to become involved in the decision-making process. The first step that I would take as a school leader, in developing a plan of action when addressing these needs would be to identify the issue that needs to be addressed. By doing so will allow me to consider what is going on at the school, and to identify the desired goals I hope to achieve as the leader. Secondly, I would identify the controlling principles I will apply as principles to the decision making process
There are many things that influence academic achievement in schools. The most effective change agent affecting how a teacher instructs is the principal (Goff, Edward Guthrie, Goldring, Bickman, 2014). An effective leader can influence and have a positive impact on all stakeholders (Schmidt-Davis &Bottoms, 2011). This makes the principal 's leadership vital.
Throughout my years of experience in education, the most powerful moments are when students draw parallels of theories with practices. Therefore, having the opportunity to analyze various leadership theories, along with the information that I have learned in Dr. McGhee’s “Leadership Theory and Practice” class, has led to a memorable and invaluable experience. Moreover, I found the leadership analysis report from the interview with the exemplary leader significantly thrilling because it allowed me to apply all knowledge I gathered during this course and make real world connections. I considered Mrs. Magana as the person for my interview because she has made a great impact as a leader here in Fort Worth Independent School District (FWISD). Mrs. Magana’s greatest assets are the colleagues that she leads. As a leader she would be the first to say that without a dedicated and committed team who enthusiastically choose to follow, the team can accomplish little. She also says that the best investment is the time spent with her team members, learning about each team member 's wants, needs, values, and priorities. She uses this information to help each individual grow and prioritize his or her talents, in order to provide each individual, the opportunity to excel and advance. Knowing this about Ms. Magana inspired me to continue to learn about her leadership style even further. She has served in education for 33 years. Eleven years as a teacher, nine
Administrators can reinforce effective practices and procedures that embrace diversity and support differentiated instructional techniques, which address all types of learners and ability levels (Riehl, 2000). All in all, educational leaders can help identify and prioritize shared goals, acquire and distribute necessary resources, and support the implementation of strategies to improve student learning and
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).
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.