Final Reflections on This Class

In reflecting on this class and thinking about what we learned from class activities, readings, and speakers, my biggest takeaways are:

1. Principals ARE human resource professionals.
2. As a principal/HR professional, the single most important decision you make for students is the teacher you hire.
3. It is our job to coach for excellence, have crucial conversations, lead with courage, and support the development of the marginal teacher.
4. You never know what HR situations you will deal with, so the best way to be prepared is to lead by your moral imperative, act with integrity, and seek counsel (from peers or legal professionals).

In relation to the standards covered in this class, I learned:

Wisconsin Administrator Standard 3

The administrator manages by advocating, nurturing, and sustaining a school culture and instructional program conducive to pupil learning environment.

• Culture is the reason why great organizations have sustained success.
• Change must be a part of every culture and organization. Embracing change and innovating will ensure that your organization thrives when approaching problems related to teaching and learning.
• All organizational action, behavior, and decisions must align to cultural norms and support the vision of the school/District.

Wisconsin Administrator Standard 4

The administrator ensures management of the organization, operations, finances, and resources for a safe, efficient, and effective learning environment.

• Investing time in designing and implementing a comprehensive hiring process is critical for student learning.
• It is our responsibility to improve the effectiveness of marginal teachers.
• We must understand how budgeting supports the vision as well as how budget impacts the District compensation model and its ability to recruit and retain a diverse and highly-qualified staff.

Wisconsin Administrator Standard 6

The administrator acts with integrity, fairness, and in an ethical manner.

• You must know what you stand for and lead with your moral imperative.
• Consistency and adhering to laws and policies is critical (no exceptions).  
• We must be knowledgeable of the employee handbook as well as policies related to FMLA, ADA, and worker’s compensation.

Wisconsin Administrator Standard 7

The administrator understands, responds to, and interacts with the larger political, social, economic, legal, and cultural context that affects schooling.

• It is important to stay as current as possible with laws/policies that impact schooling.
• We must be resourceful in seeking counsel as needed from legal professionals, state statutes, policy briefs (pregnancy, hiring, harassment) etc.

Linking Meet and Confer to Student Performance and Vision

Meeting and conferring is a strategy/process all principals should have in place. As a principal, it is important to be transparent, establish trusting relationships through two-way communication, and value feedback to build and sustain credibility to show you value the perspectives, knowledge, expertise, and opinions of the staff within your learning organization. When two-way communication (meet and confer) is strong and is a norm, staff can work collaboratively to meet the diverse needs of students and increase student performance through the collective commitments to the district vision.

When the school community approaches communication and decision-making through the lens of the district vision, action aligns to continuous improvement goals that facilitate achievement of the vision.  The vision provides direction and motivates school staff, students, and community members to work together to advance student performance and learning.  The vision emerges from core values and is the compelling, motivating, and guiding force for all organizational action and behavior to foster high levels of student achievement.  

High levels of student achievement / performance is the number one goal and priority of public education and every learning organization.  The district vision defines what teaching and learning should look like and aspire to be so the vision becomes the reality.  When teaching practices and student performance data is analyzed to celebrate success and identify areas in need of improvement to problem-solve, decisions must be made regarding action that needs to be taken to move the organization forward and increase student achievement.  If a strategy/process for meeting and conferring is an established norm, discussion can focus on mutual interests aligned to vision with a commitment to provide solutions related to student performance that honor the perspectives of staff and administration.  When all stakeholders feel they are heard and their feedback is valued and utilized to inform decision-making, meet and confer can positively impact culture, sustain positive relationships, increase student performance, and work to make the vision reality.

Chapter 118 - General School Operations

           As with all the statutes, Chapter 118 for General School Operations is vast and deep and covers topics from reading instruction to human growth and development to school safety patrols to compulsory attendance to teacher contracts to course options.  As a new principal, there is so much to know about school operations and the layer of knowledge related to the state statutes is important.  As I poured through and skimmed through the very long list, the one topic I found to be most interesting to dig deeper into was 118.33 regarding requirements for high school graduation in relation to Act 55 civics test since my District is working through the implications of the test.
            This is a current political issue impacting all Wisconsin graduating seniors and high schools in the state. The Act 55 Wisconsin Civic Graduation Requirement states that “any student graduating from a Wisconsin high school (starting with the class of 2017) takes a civics test comprised of 100 questions that are identical to the 100 questions that may be asked of an individual during the process of applying for U.S. citizenship by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services.” (Section 3266R, 118.33(1m)(a)1.)  Wisconsin is currently one of nine states to have mandated a civics test and twenty-four other states are currently considering implementation.  More specifically, the statute requires students to correctly answer at least 60 of 100 questions identical to the INS citizenship test in order to graduate from a WI public, charter, or private school participating in a parental choice program.  IEP teams will determine if the test is appropriate for each individual student with an IEP (Individualized Education Plan).  Students who are identified as LEP (Limited English Proficient) may take the test in their language of choice.  Each school district can decide what format of the test to use (print or digital) and when to administer the test prior to graduation.  Students’ transcripts will need to indicate that they have “passed” the civics test requirement.  While this is a mandated requirement, there are no state funds provided to administer this test.  Districts are responsible to give the test, score it, and keep records of student scores/passing.  The Department of Public Instruction is not involved in the procurement, grading, or gathering of test scores for this test.
        The Act 55 Wisconsin Civics Graduation Requirement presents many implications for students and schools.  A  major implication of this enactment is that it requires students to take yet another test within their K-12 educational career.  Given the yearly testing currently mandated in our schools with PALS, Forward, and ACT Aspire, this adds another test for students to endure and potentially impacts their ability to graduate due to the “passing” requirement.  For students with IEPs, they will need to take the test, but they do not need to pass the test to graduate.  Because there are no state funds provided to administer the tests, schools / districts will need to absorb any cost related to creating, proctoring, scoring, and documenting results within an already tight budget.  Because DPI is not involved with the procurement, grading, or collection of the test scores, individual schools / districts will need to create administration and proctoring guidelines, create the format of the test (print or digital), determine methods for scoring and providing feedback for students, and define documentation procedures for student transcripts.  Making these decisions and taking action to implement this testing requirement will cost time and money, will create additional tasks and responsibilities for educators and administrators, and will cause a loss in instructional time for preparation and administration of the test.
From a school operations perspective, the lack of involvement of DPI with this mandate provides for a large amount of local control as all schools / districts are able to determine procurement, administration, and scoring guidelines.  Students could take the test at home, individually, in small groups, in print, in digital form, or could have the test read to them or not read to them.  The possibilities and variations are endless to achieve a passing score as well as to administer and score the test.

Principal Job Description

The School District of X is seeking a visionary, strategic, dynamic, effective, and innovative leader to serve as the next Principal of the X Middle School.   We are searching for a candidate that can meet and exceed the high standards of working in a progressive district that is committed to continuous improvement efforts to increase student learning and close the achievement gap while building teacher capacity.  Our District is committed to ensuring that every student is college and career ready and can actively be successful in a global society.

DESCRIPTION:  Under the direction of the Superintendent, the Principal serves as the instructional leader of the X School and works collaboratively to achieve academic excellence, leading and developing all members of the school staff and communicating effectively with parents, students, members of the community, and colleagues.  The X Principal is responsible for planning, curriculum development, program evaluation, personnel management, financial management, emergency procedures, resource scheduling, and facilities operations.  The X Principal is responsible for implementing and managing the policies, regulations, and procedures of the District to ensure that all students are educated in a positive and safe learning environment.  

REQUIREMENTS: Candidate must possess a valid Wisconsin Administrative license #5051 and have a minimum of three years of successful teaching experience

Essential Core Beliefs and Values of X Principal:

• Believe that all students can grow and achieve at high levels and that achievement gaps are not insurmountable
• Believe that being active within the greater school community enriches all teaching and learning experiences
• Value a positive and inclusive climate and culture
• Value effective, consistent, transparent and thorough communication with students, staff, parents, and the community
• Value integrity, character and moral/ethical leadership

Essential Skills, Duties & Responsibilities of X Principal:

• Significant background in curriculum and researched based instruction for literacy and mathematics
• Communicate and lead a compelling and inspiring school mission and vision
• Collaboratively develop core beliefs and values to be commonly shared
• Implement and encourage distributive leadership among teachers and support staff
• Provide instructional leadership in curriculum, instruction, and assessment
• Engage in data driven school improvement efforts and set rigorous goals to achieve excellence
• Supervise and evaluate staff within the Wisconsin Educator Effectiveness System to assess classroom instruction and provide guidance for instructional improvement
• Establish and sustain a professional learning community
• Engage in skilled conflict resolution
• Promote PBIS / positive behavior expectations for students, staff and parents
• Advocate for, develop, nurture, and sustain a safe, positive, and academically engaging school climate
• Manage site-based budget and master scheduling of the building
• Possess advanced technology skills
• Utilize effective time management and team-building skills
• Engage families and work with the community to establish and sustain positive partnerships
• Recruit, select, hire, and retain high-quality employees
• Demonstrate behavior consistent with legal, ethical, and professional standards
• Engaging in continuous professional development to grow as a leader

Current Job Description - Literacy Coach/Literacy Coordinator

At the beginning of this year I switched positions from 1.0 FTE District Literacy Coach to 1.0 FTE Literacy Coach Literacy Coordinator.  The posting for this position was written as below.

Position Title: Literacy Coach/Literacy Coordinator

Requirements: Three to five years experience as a literacy coach; must possess a WDPI 5017 ­ Reading Specialist License; Trained in Comprehensive Literacy Model; Comprehensive Literacy Coach Training preferred; and demonstrated professional growth in literacy and coaching preferred.

Description: Under the direction of the Director of Instruction, the Literacy Coach / Literacy Coordinator will serve as a resource for instructional staff and administration, helping guide all facets of the district’s literacy programming and services. The primary role of this position is to provide leadership and coordination in the development and implementation of effective core literacy programming to ensure that all students are successfully meeting literacy benchmarks throughout their 4K­12 education.

Contract: 187 days + 20 Additional Days

Knowing the responsibilities of my position, I would post the position in the same way but add a list of essential job duties/functions after the description:

Essential Job Duties/Functions:

Literacy Coach

• Provide coach support for instructional staff in the intermediate elementary and middle grades
• Provide professional development for instructional staff in pedagogy and philosophy of literacy teaching and learning
• Serve with a team of professionals to visioning, guiding and planning for systemic literacy improvements
• Facilitate classroom, school-wide, and district-wide improvement through the systemic implementation of the Comprehensive Literacy Model to provide instructional literacy coaching to build certified staff teacher capacity and expertise aiding in the development of high-quality staff to accelerate student achievement
• Collaborate with school leaders (principals and Director of Instruction) to improve curriculum, systems, building level goals, and/or fidelity of implementation of literacy content and instructional frameworks
• Research best-practices to stay current with content and pedagogical knowledge related to curriculum, instruction, and assessment in order to train teachers

• Provide 1-1 literacy coaching as a means of job-embedded professional development to develop teacher expertise in an individualized, apprenticeship approach
• Provide professional development in small-group and whole-group settings related to the Comprehensive Literacy Model and other district literacy initiatives (during school year and at new teacher inservice)
• Facilitate large and small group meetings for professional development with an emphasis on literacy
• Preview and select professional teaching resources for teachers and student learning resources (mentor texts, shared reading/guided reading/LDG core texts, professional texts, classroom library texts)
• Provide leadership in the development, utilization and maintenance of the building’s reading and writing progress monitoring walls (coding, placement guides)
• Plan, coordinate, and facilitate summer curriculum teams focused on instruction and instructional resources

Literacy Coordinator Duties

• General Literacy Programming Leadership

• Collaborate with administration in annual strategic planning specific to District literacy programming and achievement
• Assist the Director of Instruction, the Director of Pupil Services and Building Principals in realization of District strategic plan goals in the area of literacy (see final page for specific goals for 2016-2017)
• Assist the Director of Instruction in coordination of and providing leadership for the curriculum renewal and evaluation process for literacy with alignment to Common Core State Standards and/or other appropriate national benchmarks and standards
• Assist the Director of Instruction in coordination of and providing leadership for the literacy coaching program
• Assist administration in further developing the district RtI framework as related to literacy as well as strategies for at-risk students
• New Staff Support in the Area of Literacy

• Responsibility for onboarding of new staff in the area of literacy
• Support and mentor new and developing coaches in their training and first years of implementation

• Support Continued Improvement Efforts in Literacy
• Coordination and shared leadership with the Director of Instruction and other administrators as applicable of of summer tasks, teams or curriculum work in the area of literacy
• Assessment, Reporting and Results-Driven Literacy Achievement
• Work with District Data Coordinator to establish data systems for collection, reporting and analysis of literacy achievement
• Provide leadership in local data analysis to monitor student learning and to help set goals in the area of literacy
• Assist in analyzing State Report Card data and Forward Exam data as it relates to literacy achievement, growth, and gap analysis
• Assist administration with implementation of literacy goals and support with the Educator Effectiveness system as related to literacy (principal SLOs as applicable and Teacher SLO banks as applicable)
• Assist administration in developing annual District metrics of student achievement to facilitate strong goal setting and quantification of initiative impact and ongoing program effectiveness
• Support administration in their use of literacy student achievement and growth data with their staffs
• Establish District and building-level annual ESAIL assessment and reporting structures and associated systems
• Assist with student preparation for State, district, and building-level assessments to ensure student preparation
• Literacy Service/Programming Alignment
• Support alignment of literacy services across programming including special education, ELL and literacy intervention
• Establish and support strong connection and integration of literacy interventionist and literacy coaching professionals and roles