By Shirley Tharp
I had the opportunity to shadow and interview three very accomplished school administrators. The opportunity to experience the day to day duties and responsibilities of each administrator has been the most rewarding aspect of this practicum experience. Each administrator was more than willing to allow me tag along with them for the day and was thorough in explaining events and other subject matter to aid in my understanding.
I first shadowed and interviewed the principal of the high school where I currently work. We both attended the monthly Principals Conference which was held at the county Board of Education building. The day began with a morning meeting attended by all of the county's high school principals. Information was shared among colleagues and relevant news was delivered by board members and the superintendent. The afternoon session brought all of the county's principals together to brainstorm solutions to current issues. Presentations were made by curriculum development personnel and the Special Education director. The day ended with a message from the superintendent regarding recent incidents involving one of the high school's head football coach. Local news reporters were waiting outside, but no one from the meeting spoke with them.
The second opportunity I had to shadow an administrator was with one of the male assistant principals at the high school where I work. The day primarily consisted of meeting with the principal to discuss specific discipline situations and strategies for dealing with them. The assistant principal spent most of the morning calling students to his office and discussing discipline and conduct write-ups with them. He also lead a meeting with the parent of a student who had been accused of taking money from another student's purse during a physical education class. The rest of the day was spent entering discipline information into SASI, which is a computer program used to keep track of school data that is submitted to the state department.
The third experience of shadowing was with what our county calls a lead teacher. In reality though, this person functions as an administrative consultant for the special education department at the county level. As a future administrator, this is the position that I would seek since my background is in special education. We spent most of the day attending meetings that were held to determine a student's eligibility for special education services, dismissal from such services, and/or annual Individual Education Plan review meetings to update educational goals and objectives. All of the meetings were held at one of the four county high schools. The lead teacher was responsible for evaluating teacher, student, and parent input and leading the team in determining if special education services were required. Most students continued to receive services, but two were dismissed since the team concluded that special education was no longer necessary for the student to make progress in the curriculum.
These experiences have been very meaningful in my learning process and I wish that I could have had more time to spend with each one. Each administrator used different strategies to approach similar situations throughout the school day. Each also reported the value of parent involvement and a well disciplined school.