Name of Artifact: Revised Personal Leadership Style and Philosophy
Date of Artifact: May 10, 2022
Course#: EAD-536 Strategic Leadership and Management of the Principalship
My leadership philosophy has remained solid throughout my journey at Grand Canyon. I am already a servant leader through teacher leadership, and wish to bring that same mentality and heart to my administration role within the district. I serve my students, my co-workers, staff, administration, the parents and families, and our community. I seek our roles to help student achievement, and offer myself up to be on committees and collaborations that will benefit the overall culture of the school and student involvement as well.
Throughout this journey, my personal and professional goals are steadfast, and wrapping up my Masters in Educational Leadship has only solidified that philosophy, not only in where I want to go with this degree, but who I want to be. I want to lead and bring up others through professional and academic development so that they may have the requirements and qualities to lead beside me in a collaborative and positive way. I look forward to fostering relationships with all my stakeholders and building upon the foundation of collaboration, community, trust, and heart. I am excited to find out where this journey will take me, and thank Grand Canyon University for putting me on that path to success.
Name of Artifact: Benchmark - Adverse Situations
Date of Artifact: May 4, 2022
Course#: EAD-536 Strategic Leadership and Management of the Principalship
Scenario: You are the principal of Sunset Hills, a K-8 school with an 800-student population. It is a May mid-morning in Phoenix, Arizona, where the outside temperature has reached a staggering 98 degrees and is rising. While visiting classrooms in the campus' main building, you begin to notice the classrooms seem to be getting warmer and warmer. At noon the facilities manager notifies you that the central air conditioning units in the building are down. As you continue to walk through classrooms, you observe students sweating and trying to cool down waving their papers as fans.
School does not end until 3:45 p.m.
Keeping the district, parents, students, teachers, and the media in mind, address the following:
Management and Operational Systems
- Identify the main decisions that must be made.
- Identify additional information needed to inform your decision.
Human, Fiscal, and Technological Resources
- Organize staff to ensure the safety of students and consistency of response.
- Identify additional resources needed to ensure safety of students and staff.
Safety and Welfare of Students and Staff
- Identify legal rulings regarding the safety and welfare of students and staff to consider in making a decision.
- Identify district policy regarding the safety and welfare of students and staff that might affect a decision.
Collaboration with Faculty and Community
- Identify possible stakeholders involved in the decision-making and/or affected by the recommended solution.
Solution and Rationale
- Explain your solutions for addressing the situation.
- List action steps you would take to implement the solutions, including a timeline for implementing them.
Provide a rationale for your proposed solutions.
- Explain how the solution protects the welfare and safety of students and staff, complies with laws, rights, and policies, and involves appropriate stakeholders.
Name of Artifact: Safety Calendar
Date of Artifact: April 27, 2022
Course#: EAD-536 Strategic Leadership and Management of the Principalship
For this assignment, I reviewed my school’s emergency plan and any other resources related to handling emergencies. Using this, I create an example of an annotated yearlong calendar outlining scheduled tasks regarding safety.
Included on the safety calendar:
Monthly fire drills: All fire drills are at varied times, with an explanation of how the time of day will affect the evacuation. (Ex: Monday, September 2 at 11:55 a.m. Evacuation will be from the café as the seventh and eighth grades will be at lunch. In addition, the doors in Hall 1 will be blocked so the second grade will have to take an alternate path.)
Quarterly lockdown drills: Each drill is a different simulated situation at a different time. (Ex: October 3 at 2:00 p.m. a parent walks into the front office demanding to see their child. The parent tells the secretary at the desk they are armed.)
One full school evacuation: Provisions for how transportation will be coordinated. Where will the reunification point be? How will parents be notified?
Training for teachers: Includes training and reminder communications.
Revisiting/Debriefing after each drill: Who will be involved? What will the process be? How will the debriefing/adjustments/positives be shared with the staff?
Name of Artifact: Performance Evaluation and Action Plan
Date of Artifact: March 9, 2022
Course#: EAD-533 Developing and Empowering Instructional Leaders
School administrators are responsible for evaluating the performances of various employee groups. Being able to identify the strengths and weaknesses of employees and provide them with quality feedback is essential to the success of the entire school. As the school leader, you will need to evaluate the instructional leadership capacity of your entire staff.
You are a school principal in a 9-12 grade high school. In preparation for a meeting with your ELA department chair, Mr. Wong, you have been analyzing the students’ ELA performance data. Including Mr. Wong, your school has eight ELA teachers. For seven of the ELA teachers, 70% or more of their students are demonstrating good to exceptional outcomes on their writing benchmark data. Four of the teachers have historically yielded student scores with above average state standardized test results in comparison to schools in your district with similar demographics. In previous discussions, Mr. Wong has cited the teachers’ efforts to plan together utilizing the pacing guide, core program, and assessment results as the primary reasons for their students’ positive outcomes.
One teacher, however, Mr. Blumenstock, has been identified as an outlier by the district’s assessment coordinator, relative to the results of his students, compared to the other two teachers. Additionally, you have observed evidence that suggests Mr. Blumenstock is behind on the pacing guide compared to his colleagues. You also have anecdotal information that he does not engage with his teammates during scheduled content team meetings, which leads you to believe that he is not making an effort to plan with them outside the scheduled meetings.
Part 1: Analyze the Case
Consider the following questions to begin analyzing the situation:
- What do you consider the responsibility of the team lead/department chair in assisting the outlier teacher?
- What stakeholders should be included in the conversation relative to next steps? Are these individual conversations or a group discussion or both?
- What questions should be considered when making a determination about next steps?
Part 2: Identify the Larger Issues
Consider the following questions to analyze the contextual issues present in the situation:
- What school or district policies might affect your decisions?
- What additional information do you need as part of your decision-making process?
- What are the potentially positive and negative outcomes of doing nothing?
- What are the potentially positive and negative outcomes of taking action?
Part 3: Create an Action Plan
Use the following questions to guide you in describing what approach you will take to assist the team lead/department chair to help the outlier teacher, including 3-5 specific action steps:
- What is your plan moving forward?
- How does your plan sustain a culture of collaboration, trust, learning, and high expectations?
- How will you include the critical stakeholders in the decision-making process?
- What challenges do you anticipate?
- How will you provide ongoing support to your team lead/department chair?
- How will you evaluate the results of your teacher leader’s efforts?
- What does the timeline look like?
Name of Artifact: The Shared Leadership Initiative
Date of Artifact: February 23, 2022
Course#: EAD-533 Developing and Empowering Instructional Leaders
In addition to teacher leadership positions, school administrators also identify non-teacher leadership positions in different areas of a school. School administrators need to establish criteria that align with district personnel policies and practices by which to both select and monitor the success of the leadership team members they have chosen. When determining the criteria, administrators should also consider the current school climate and culture to keep and work to sustain a positive school culture.
In preparation for this assignment, refer to the list of non-administrator/non-instructional leadership positions generated in the Topic 1 organizational chart. You are a principal and have been asked to implement a new policy for filling these non-administrative/non-instructional leadership positions occupied by teachers, staff, and other stakeholders.
Write a narrative identifying a protocol for the annual selection process that includes:
- Objectives, measurable criteria used to assess applicants for any non-administrative/non-instructional positions.
- Protocol to ensure an unyielding commitment to the positive school culture including staff morale, shared leadership, collaboration, trust, and a student-centered environment is supported.
- Strategies for promoting effective team/group dynamics in the newly developed process.
Name of Artifact: Supervising and Coaching Special Education Teachers
Date of Artifact: December 1, 2021
Course#: EAD-530 Improving Teacher Performance and Self-Efficacy
In this topic’s field experience, you will be conducting a pre-conference with a special education teacher. Before the pre-conference, write a summary developing the following questions. For each question, describe the responses you would expect to receive from a special education teacher, and how you might coach that teacher during the pre- or post-conference.
- What questions might you ask about their lessons (i.e., objectives, state standards being addressed, activities, assessments, and materials)? What questions might you ask that would provide you with information about the students’ IEPs, accommodations, specific disabilities, etc.
- What questions might you ask to identify the teacher's plan to differentiate instruction?
- What questions might you ask to identify areas where the teacher believes students struggle, and how the teacher will address these areas?
- What questions might you ask to determine the teacher’s understanding of students’ prior knowledge and how, if at all, it has guided the instructional planning for this lesson?
- What questions might you ask to determine the teacher’s classroom management plan and any behavior intervention plans for individual students?
Name of Artifact: A Case Study: Mr. Smith
Date of Artifact: November 17, 2021
Course#: EAD-530 Improving Teacher Performance and Self-Efficacy
For this assignment I was to respond to the case study that including the following:
Assumptions: At least 3-5 assumptions you have made about what is happening in the classroom.
Questions: Minimum of 3-5 open-ended questions you would ask the teacher about the class and lesson in order to test your assumptions and gain a better understanding of what you observed.
Positive Feedback: Positive feedback you would provide the teacher regarding their instructional style and presentation strategies.
Constructive Feedback: Constructive feedback you would provide the teacher regarding their instructional style and presentation strategies, keeping in mind the teacher’s experience.
Teacher: Mr. Smith Teacher Experience: 20 Years
Grade: 10 Subject: On Level Biology
Upon entering the classroom, you observe students at individual desks, seated in rows, facing the front of the room. You do not observe any disruptive behavior during the observation. For the full 10 minutes you are in the room, Mr. Smith is presenting material about the parts of the cell using a PowerPoint. He is instructing from the front of the room (because that is where the computer is) and his presentation is concise, yet thorough and informative. There are multiple pictures, diagrams, etc. included in the presentation. During the presentation, a couple of students ask clarifying questions about the material. Most of the students are taking notes during the presentation.
Name of Artifact: Benchmark - Reflection of Professional Development Session
Date of Artifact: October 13, 2021
Course#: EAD-523 Developing Professional Capacity
This benchmark assignment is a compilation of the skills and knowledge gained in this course. This was an opportunity to convey what I learned and reflect upon my growth. I presented my revised professional development session and received feedback from the participants. It is important in professional practice to reflect on that experience.
Name of Artifact: State & District Academic Standards Professional Development
Date of Artifact: October 13, 2021
Course#: EAD-523 Developing Professional Capacity
In this assignment, I was to create a 10-15 slide digital presentation for the professional development session that served to inform and work with teachers on making data-driven, student-centered, instructional decisions based on state and district academic standards.
Name of Artifact: Benchmark - Character Education Curriculum Proposal
Date of Artifact: September 2, 2021
Course#: EAD-520 Strengthening Curricular Programs to Promote Continuous School Improvement
For the benchmark for this course, we were to select a character education program appropriate for our school’s culture. In a 12-15 slide digital presentation, we needed to develop a proposal to the curriculum director or site administrator proposing that our choice for a character education program be implemented schoolwide. Our proposal needed to incorporate school-based data and evidence-based research to substantiate what you are proposing.
Name of Artifact: Curriculum Action Plan
Date of Artifact: August 25, 2021
Course#: EAD-520 Strengthening Curricular Programs to Promote Continuous School Improvement
This field experience challenged us to analyze a curriculum map and how it is being implemented. What are it's strengths? Weaknesses? Are there any gaps? Is there differentiation, evidence-based research behind it, educational resources, and basically break it down to find it was effective and aligned with the school's mission and vision. Being more familiar with Florida ACCESS Points, I analyzed FDLRS curriculum maps provided to our school. You can view my findings by CLICKING THIS LINK.
Name of Artifact: Reviving the Professional Culture
Date of Artifact: July 21, 2021
Course#: EAD-513 Shaping School Culture
As a benchmark assignment for this course, we were given a case study to review as a new principal coming into a high school that is entering its 2nd year in existence. The scenario included taking the data available and coming up with a mission and vision for the school, as well as determining some long and short-term goals for the school, to include building and sustaining relationships within the community. My personal plan for reviving this school can be read by CLICKING THIS LINK.
Name of Artifact: Supporting a Positive Student-Centered Culture
Date of Artifact: June 30, 2021
Course#: EAD-513 Shaping School Culture
The purpose of this field experience assignment was to discover strategies for promoting, collaborating, and communicating the school mission and vision. Additionally, I gained insight into the effect of vision and mission as a factor in the current school culture and be able to apply this experience to future roles. To do so, I observed fellow teachers teaching in their classrooms. I analyzed their specific classroom routines, activities, and environmental factors, and the degree to which they support a positive student-centered culture. Following these observations, I wrote two research-based recommendations for one of the teachers to promote a more positive student-centered culture.
Name of Artifact: Site Budget Categories
Date of Artifact: April 14, 2021
Course #: EAD-510 Education FinanceIn this task, I use my school's continuous improvement plan to identify budget line items that align with the school's mission and vision. My work as well as my reflection can be seen by CLICKING HERE.
Name of Artifact: Budget Defense
Date of Artifact: May 5, 2021
Course #: EAD-510 Education FinanceThis was our final project in which we had to eliminate a position and cut 10% off of our budget. We were to create a PowerPoint presentation to fully explain all of our decisions and reasons in relation to our improvement plan, mission, student advocacy, and various other areas.
Name of Artifact: Zero Tolerance Case Study Analysis
Date of Artifact: March 3, 2021
Course #: EAD-505 Education Law
In this case study, a student brings in what looks to be a handgun from the 19th century that her father found in an attic after a zero tolerance policy on weapons of any kind was given out to all students and parents. This is my case analysis, course of action, and reasons behind it.
Name of Artifact: Individuals with Disabilities Act (IDEA) Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973
Date of Artifact: March 10, 2021
Course #: EAD-505
Working with students with disabilities, this slide presentation was something that I loved working on with my other two teammates during my Education Law course. It outlines the importance of the rights students with disabilities have, as well as stress the moral and legal obligation of accommodations and services we as educators need to adhere to.
Name of Artifact: Personal Leadership Style and Philosophy
Date of Artifact: February 3, 2021
Course #: EAD-501 Educational Administration: Foundations for the Developing Leader While through self-assessments in this course, I have the style of a servant leader. I enjoy collaboration, seeking ideas and suggestion from others, encouraging growth and development, and modeling what it means to serve the community in which we live. Building relationships in and outside of the school I work at is very important to me, as well as being actively involved in committees, groups, and ongoing education for myself and others.
There are some traits in the other leadership styles that I also possess. At the end of the day, I do care about my students’ performance, as well as my own, and will set goals with a rewards system, much like a transactional leader. I can be confident in my abilities and seek to inspire positive change in the culture and behaviors I see within our school, much like a transformational leader. However, because I do recognize where these two styles can turn toxic or work against me and my school, I will be mindful to keep a servant’s heart in all that I do. My personal belief is that I can be all these things, and become the educational leader I need to be, and that my school deserves. It is all about keeping a good balance, keeping myself in check, and keeping in mind that I must model for others the type of leader I want them, and myself, to be proud of and inspire to become.
