Case Study #1

ISLLC #1 A school administrator is an educational leader who promotes the success of all students by facilitating the development, articulation, implementation, and stewardship of a vision of learning that is shared and supported by the school community.

A Motivated Communicator

Questions:

How does an administrator facilitate the development, articulation, and implementation of the school’s vision?

How does the administrator maintain, share and support the vision throughout the school community?

Professional development starts with a vision and requires a dedication to student achievement. All members of the staff should be actively involved in the process and they must all feel that their input is important. Objectives should be set and a plan of action should be developed in order to achieve the desired outcome of a real improvement in the methods of teaching and learning. Any accomplishments or changes should be evaluated and ongoing. The principal at Dogwood Road Elementary has strong values in shared governance. She believes in setting high standards of learning with continuous school improvement and expects and supports the involvement of all school staff. Teachers meet the needs of students by taking pre-approved staff development programs. During the summer before the school year begins all of the faculty and staff of Dogwood Road Elementary meet at a retreat. Everyone manages to get to know one another and play together as well as work together. During these meetings the principal gives everyone present a School Improvement Plan for the upcoming year as well as a plan for the next year. On these plans, she has included a copy of the school’s mission as well as the System Goals for the current year and also the School Goals for the upcoming three years. These documents and the information on them are explained in detail. This principal is an excellent communicator and motivational speaker and at this meeting could be described as the captain of a team of cheerleaders. She clearly states her vision and expectations. . The results of surveys from both parents and students are then distributed and discussed. The group as a whole examines test data from the ITBS and CRCT. All of the stakeholders help to develop an action plan. We do this with both grade level meetings and cross-level meetings. We then set our yearly achievement calendar indicating the times that we will evaluate our progress in implementing the plan and achieving our objectives. The plan is discussed thoroughly under the leadership of the principal and then the entire group comes up with their own philosophy. This year we decided to make our philosophy statement, “All students can learn.”

Upon completion of the meeting with the faculty staff, and after clear objectives and goals are determined the principal shares this information with the school council and the PTSO attendees. A poster is made with this implementation plan and it is posted in the lobby of the school building for all to see. Throughout the year, usually on a quarterly basis, the grade level staff meets with the principal and the progression toward our goals is thoroughly reviewed. As goals are met and as PTSO meetings, Civic Club Meetings, Board Meetings and other community meetings are held throughout the year, the principal shares the test results and other information that exemplify the strides we have made toward meeting our objectives. She takes every opportunity to praise the faculty, staff, parents and students for their hard work. Again, as the school year nears a close, the principal reiterates the vision and objectives and tells how we have accomplished and again takes the opportunity to praise everyone for their support in accomplishing these goals. And finally, at the end of the year when the students have gone for the year a retreat day is set for the upcoming summer and the cycle begins again.

There are many avenues of reward that can be used for persons who do commendable work, top among those being regular verbal praise at meetings or during classroom visits. The staff and faculty at Dogwood Road Elementary School receive many extrinsic rewards and for the most part have high self-esteem and take pride in their accomplishments, thanks to the praise and support given them by the principal. She appears genuinely sincere when she compliments others and always displays a true commitment to the vision of the school. She has a clear understanding of the process one must go through to achieve the vision. Clear and effective communications skills are her forte. She has exemplary data collection skills and is able to present this data enthusiastically and in a clear and positive way. Along the way she monitors, evaluates, and revises the plan as needed. Being fair by nature works well for her in her leadership role and her involvement in community activities benefits the Dogwood Road Elementary School as a whole.

I feel that this case study ranges from high proficient to low accomplished meaning that it is well done with clear evidence to back up the thoughts related about the school and the principal. Clear and specific evidence was presented in several instances. Many times specific criteria was given to describe the accomplishments of the principal. The questions have been answered in detail and appropriate examples were given. All evidence presented was very specific and credible. I feel that I thought this out very well detailing the principal’s knowledge, disposition and performance. Even though in the interest of being succinct I did not include some components on the list of ISLLC Standards, I did give many examples that would describe an accomplished administrator.

Clearly the principal described understands the processes involved in developing and implementing the strategic plan as evidenced by all things described in this paper. Her excellent abilities in communication have proven many times to be an asset to the school as evidenced by the control and enthusiasm she displays at the retreats and later at the various meetings held within the school and in the community. She always assumes a lead role through the entire process and all persons around her can tell that she believes in and is committed to continuous school improvement. Whenever it is determined that a goal needs to be revised, she carefully listens to the views of all concerned and then historically makes a good decision as to whether or not it should be changed and how to change it. She is always willing to do the work required to make Dogwood Road Elementary School as good as it can be. Another of the principal’s strong points is her ability to constantly model her beliefs in the vision of the school, thus conveying to all her genuine commitment to Dogwood Road Elementary School. She represents the school extremely well in the community as a whole and whenever possible lets everyone know about the vision and mission of the school.