Standard 5: Managerial Leadership
School executives will ensure that the school has processes and systems in place for budgeting, staffing, problem-solving, communicating expectations, and scheduling that result in organizing the work routines in the building. The school executive must be responsible for the monitoring of the school budget and the inclusion of all teachers in the budget decision so as to meet the 21st century needs of every classroom. Effectively and efficiently managing the complexity of every day life is critical for staff to be able to focus its energy on improvement.
Element 5A. School Resources and Budget
The school executive establishes budget processes and systems which are focused on, and result in, improved student achievement.
The school executive establishes budget processes and systems which are focused on, and result in, improved student achievement.
Learning Commons Donors Choose: One of the goals North Edgecombe had during its previous school year was to design a space on campus that was collaborative in design and allowed for student and teachers to collaborative utilizing various forms of technology. To support this vision, I partnered with our school's Media Specialist to create a Donors Choose page to generate funds for the media center that we redesigned as the Learning Commons. The vision for the Learning Commons was to create spaces where students can work on a plethora of projects independently or in small groups. This space was also designed to facilitate classroom instruction through the use of various tools and resources for students to show mastery of the content being taught. Due to the diligence of our Media Specialist, this project was fully funded! The funds went towards the purchase of a green screen kits, which included materials that allowed students to create multimedia videos by using iPads and other robotics to stimulate the experience. Below is a screenshot of the Donors Choose website and a video of students using this technology for a class project.
School-Based Budget Project: To gain a deeper understanding of school budget and the impact funds have on instruction and the overall quality of education, I completed a School Based Budget Project in my School Budget course led by Dr. Eddie Price. In this course, I was able to learn about the various budget codes and the purpose each one serves in ensuring that students have access to resources, staff members, and programs that will greatly enrich their learning experiences. For this assignment, I reviewed both qualitative and quantitative data for the school's data. After reviewing this data, I decided how I would spend the funds that were given to the school I was in charge of. Below is the presentation I created in addition to the video presentation I recorded using FlipGrid in which I explain my suggestions for budget spending.
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Element 5B. Conflict Management and Resolution
The school executive effectively and efficiently manages the complexity of human interactions so that the focus of the school can be on improved student achievement.
The school executive effectively and efficiently manages the complexity of human interactions so that the focus of the school can be on improved student achievement.
Student-Student and Teacher-Student Mediation: In previous years when conflict arose between a teacher and a student, the student was given a referral and sent to the front office. Additionally, two students that engage in disagreement often find themselves in conflict for the remainder of their high school experience. I wanted to change the dynamics of student to student and teacher to student dynamics, so I created the process and procedures to mediate conflict resolution meetings as conflicts arose. This process sought to encourage healthy dialogue between the two parties and find solutions to the conflicts they were facing as opposed to ignoring it. This process worked extremely well for both students and teachers, as all that participated in this process were able to express their feelings and agree to common agreements at the end of the process. Below is the script I created to use during the meetings. To the right is the mediation agreement that was filled out and signed by all active parties at the completion of the mediation session.
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Element 5C. Systematic Communication
The school executive designs and utilizes various forms of formal and informal communication so that the focus of the school can be on improved student achievement.
The school executive designs and utilizes various forms of formal and informal communication so that the focus of the school can be on improved student achievement.
Homeroom P.O.W.E.R. Training: Staff members were responsible for providing students with training prior to the start of our enrichment and intervention blocks known as P.O.W.E.R. To prepare staff members to give this training, I trained each staff member with a homeroom on the presentation I created for students over a two day time period. This presentation was used to explain P.O.W.E.R expectations to students, and to ensure that teachers were in the training, I used email correspondences to send reminders and follow up information as it related to the training provided. Teachers were knowledgeable of the processes and were able to follow through with training expectations due to this method of communication. Furthermore, teachers actively referred to the email correspondences from me to ensure that they were fulfilling these requirements. Below are two emails that I sent to all staff members to remind them of expectations shared during the training(s).
North Edgecombe Week At A Glance (WAAG): In order to prevent weekly staff meetings to share out imperative and time sensitive information, I worked with the administrative team to create the weekly Week At A Glance (WAAG). This digital platform is distributed to staff members weekly and share important information necessary to the function of the school week as well as weekly shout outs and celebrations, best instructional practices for teachers to use in their classrooms, and optional readings and reflective videos across a variety of topics. Teachers, staff members, and district personnel can submit reminders that we include in the newsletter before it is sent on Sunday. This process ensures that all staff members are receiving the same information on a consistent basis. Since its inception, overall use of the WAAG has been favorable. Staff members are now regularly checking their emails in anticipation of the weekly newsletter. This has decreased the number of staff meetings used to disseminate information by 100%. I have attached a copy of the WAAG below to show the overall layout and components that staff members receive weekly.
Element 5D. School Expectations for Students and Staff
The school executive develops and enforces expectations, structures, rules, and procedures for students and staff.
The school executive develops and enforces expectations, structures, rules, and procedures for students and staff.
Benchmark Rotation Sessions: During district Case 21 Testing, there were many students that were not expected to test on many of the designated testing days. As a result, students had no assigned area during the school day which posed a threat to student safety and security. To ensure that all students were safe during this important testing time, I worked with my Assistant Principal mentor to create an opportunity for students to participate in enrichment opportunities while they were not required to test. Each session provided students the opportunity to either participate in an enrichment opportunity or participate in an intervention period, one of which prepared juniors for the upcoming ACT. As an incentive for students, all teachers agreed to give a classwork grade for participation in these sessions. I organized all of the grades teachers gave to students that participated in each session and sent the grades to teachers for them to organize. This process ensured that students had an increased layer of accountability in attending these sessions as well as teachers following through with giving students the classwork grades. The artifact below is the document I created that has every student's grade they earned during the rotation sessions.
NEHS Student Consequence Chart: In order to ensure that students receive the appropriate consequence for disciplinary referrals, I worked with my mentor principal to create the North Edgecombe High School Student Consequence Chart. I placed this chart in the student handbook for all students and parents to see and understand the process the administrative team followed when assigned consequences. During the school year, I used the document below to assign consequences as listed on the form. If a student reported to the office additional times, they would then receive the next consequence on the chart. Utilizing this process helped me to ensure that my discipline processes were fair and objective. This process also helped me communicate the process to parents who had concerns about their child's consequence.