Case Study #3

ISLLC #3 A school administrator is an educational leader who promotes the success of all students by insuring management of organization, operations and resources for a safe, efficient, and effective learning environment.

Effective School Operations

Questions:

How does an administrator facilitate the development, articulation, and implementation of the procedures expected by the administration of the school?

How does the administrator maintain, share, support and assure that the operations and resources for a safe, efficient and effective learning environment are available and communicated to all?

The administrator or principal of a school must start with a vision and always have a dedication to student achievement. This requires that that person be a motivated communicator and that the school philosophy is shared with all staff. That person must be thoroughly committed to the school. 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 as well as in the operations of the school. Any accomplishments or changes should be evaluated and ongoing. The principal at Dogwood Road Elementary has strong values in shared governance and shared responsibility. The principal has some staff members on different schedules. They are responsible for opening the building. Car duty is also equitably distributed among faculty and staff. She believes in setting high standards with continuous school improvement and expects and supports the involvement of all school staff. There is a custodian assigned to each hall of the building and teachers call upon these persons for assistance when needed. Teachers are responsible for keeping an inventory of supplies and equipment. 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. All policies of the school are reviewed and discussed by the entire group. 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 principal of Dogwood Road Elementary has initiated a visitor to the building policy. Everyone must come in the front door and sign in when they arrive. There is a strict check-out policy which requires that all persons picking up students their driver’s license. The name on the license must match the information form that parents must complete giving approval of persons allowed to pick up students. The parents are required to send a signed note if anyone not on the list is going to pick up a child.

Persons picking up students in their personal cars must have a poster provided by the school. The poster has the names of the child or children who will be picked up by that person. Only those persons who have these posters can pick up a child. All others must go into the school and show their driver’s license and be compared with the student information sheet.

The principal is a highly visible person, constantly encouraging that everything be orderly at all times. If she can’t be visible, she assures that needed personnel are always available. She takes every opportunity to praise the faculty, staff, parents and students for their hard work. 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. 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 is proficient meaning that it is 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 well as the complete operation of the physical facilities, and the management of the human resources 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 a safe, efficient and effective leanring environment. She strives for continuous improvement in the operations of the school. Whenever it is determined that there is a safety issue, she immediately addresses it by coming up with or revising a policy. 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 always displays a neat appearance and constantly monitors the school, encouraging all staff to maintain a neat and uncluttered environment. Visitors are always complimentary of the physical facilities of the Dogwood Road Elementary School. It has a reputation for being well maintained.