STANDARD TWO - Instructional Leadership
School executives will set high standards for the professional practice of 21st century instruction and assessment that result in a no-nonsense accountable environment. The school executive must knowledgeable of best instructional and school practices and must use this knowledge to cause the creation of collaborative structures within the school for the design of highly engaging schoolwork for students, the on-going peer review of this work and the sharing of this work throughout the professional community.
2A: Focus on Learning and Teaching, Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment
The school executive leads the discussion about standards for curriculum, instruction, and assessment based on research and best practices in order to establish and achieve high expectations for students.
Learning Walks
I used the learning walk to store notes taken during classroom observations. I conducted learning walks at least twice a week in visiting classrooms to ascertain the lessons. I stored the learning walks in a log that I continually updated and provide feedback to teachers of what I observed in their classrooms. The learning walks were also helpful in my reflections of what I saw and I referenced these insights with teachers in conversations I had with them.
Experiences in the School Building
I created a document that detailed my strategies for empowering teachers to be great. Throughout the document, I included examples of ways to engage teachers to develop leadership traits and grow as potential teacher leaders. This task inspired me to proactively think ahead about engaging and retaining teachers who complement a positive, collaborative school culture.
I collaborated with a group of fellows who had experience at the high school level and we created a presentation of effective professional learning teams (PLTs). Throughout the presentation, we provided tangible examples of how high school staff members can engage more cohesively with a professional learning team that is goal-oriented, data-driven, collaborative, and focused on continuous improvement. We also detailed the impact of assigning roles and having minutes taken that are accessible to the instructional leader during each PLT session. I learned more about the extent to which we can leverage technology and creating action steps for professional learning teams to actively engage in discussion about student achievement.
This assignment produced an opportunity for me to explore professional learning teams. I examined a PLT at my previous school and analyzed how they placed emphasis on communication, continuous improvement, having a goal-oriented team acting on an agreed upon vision that aligns to the school improvement goal. This experience introduced me to the efficient process of knowing what to look for in a highly engaging PLT.
School Improvement Goal and Action Steps
I examined the school improvement plan of my previous school and the progress made to reach its goals. Within our school improvement plan at Moore Square Magnet Middle School are the mission, vision and goals of the school, with built-in action steps for meeting the goal by following each school improvement plan indicator.
Goal Setting Sheet
goal_setting_follow_up_worksheet.docx |
Data Project
I assessed the processes and demographic data of my current school assignment. I included within the analysis of my school and the visual story the data conveys. This data project aligns with Standard Two of the North Carolina Standards for School Executives as I examine the functions of the school, the outcomes of students and evaluate the processes in place.
I compiled information about my school on the following topics: facilities, first impressions, student population, financial information (budget), school curriculum, achievement, relationships with neighboring schools/district professionals, culture and awards/celebrations, student discipline, calendar, internal school communications, external communications, and school website for the purpose of a school profile that the public may review. This profile provides information about the school's methods of communication to the public, the calendar in which school opens and concludes for the year and a day-to-day bell schedule. Additionally, the public profile provides deeper information into the school's academic performance, expectations for the first-time visitor entering its doors, a glimpse into the curriculum taught and the accomplishments of the school. The public school profile is available to view here.
Fellows were tasked with shadowing a student throughout the school day in order to learn more about the bell-to-bell experience a student has in their classes, interactions with classmates and teachers and any facet of the day. This task consisted of noting our observations throughout the day into a packet that leads to unpacking the academic, social and emotional experiences a student has and noting any gaps in the experience for a student. The gaps may comprise of a need that the observer noticed, such as hunger by the student or a discrepancy in electronic resources for students to use in completing an assignment. By the end of the task, fellows reflected on their observations and devised a "hack" or an intervention that may address any gaps noticed and provide feedback to their administrative team of any elements observed that may benefit from more attention by an administrator.
This button contains the results of a holistic needs assessment for Moore Square Magnet Middle School. This details the entire processes and functions for our students at our school.
2B: Focus on Instructional Time
The school executive creates processes and schedules which protect teachers from disruption of instructional or preparation time
The master schedule for our school is contained within this button as it encompasses the classes offered, the instructors will teach the classes and the times in which the classes will occur. The Moore Square leadership team create the master schedule with an attention given towards honoring the allotted instructional time for teachers that while driven by student selection of electives, it provides instructors with a realistic set of preps and a planning period that is uninhibited by a duty.