a. School Vision, Mission and Strategic Goals: The school’s identity, in part, is derived from the vision, mission, values, beliefs and goals of the school, the processes used to establish these attributes, and the ways they are embodied in the life of the school community.
"The EMS community strives to prepare students to have a positive influence on society by providing a nurturing environment through quality education while fostering success through diverse, real-world experiences."
Mission Statement Activity: The statement above is Edwards Middle School's Mission Statement. I participated and helped facilitate the activity used to create the statement which can be seen by viewing the document to the right. Participants worked in groups to identify common values, beliefs, and outcomes for our school. Groups shared their ideas and a final Mission Statement was created. We completed this activity before the first day of school with students. This exercise helped me grow as a leader at EMS because it increased my understanding and knowledge of the school's direction and underlying beliefs. This exercise helped staff and stakeholders narrow their focus and purpose as we began our efforts for the year.
|
|
b. Leading Change: The principal articulates a vision, and implementation strategies, for improvements and changes which result in improved achievement for all students.
Parent Night Presentation: The presentation at right was shown at our opening Parent Night for the 2017-2018 school year. I was involved in the planning and presentation of this slideshow at Parent Night in September. The first portion of the presentation is devoted to communicating the Mission Statement we created with the activity in Element A. After my Mentor Principal introduced the Mission Statement, I described the connection of the statement with our student achievement data, school improvement plans, and Title I processes. This was my first experience speaking in front of a large group of parents as an administrator.
|
|
c. School Improvement Plan: The school improvement plan provides the structure for the vision, values, goals and changes necessary for improved achievement for all students.
School Improvement Plan: The document below is EMS' School Improvement Plan utilizing Indistar's NCSTAR program for school improvement. I have served as the Process Manager and School Improvement Team Member as both a teacher and administrator. My role is to update our tasks, assign team members to lead tasks, monitor our progress, and problem solve possible solutions with the team. Through developing this plan and serving on the School Improvement Team, I have improved my Strategic Leadership skills by solving problems and working as a team to drive the school's continuous improvement and set the direction for improved student outcomes.
d. Distributive Leadership: The principal creates and utilizes processes to distribute leadership and decision making throughout the school.
Delegation of Tasks: As a Principal Resident, I do not have the opportunity to delegate specific tasks to others often--rather, I most frequently have tasks delegated to me for completion by my Mentor Principal. While I have learned by watching my Mentor Principal that some tasks are better suited for the Principal to handle while others are best delegated, I was able to gain additional knowledge during Formative Assessment Day during a simulation called "In-Basket." The simulation consisted of a series of items, issues, and tasks that were waiting for the Principal (in this case, me) to complete upon returning to school after some time away. As you can see in the document below, I was able to identify appropriate items to delegate to my Assistant Principals, Counselors, or other personnel. Delegation is not only important for the Principal in order to avoid burning out, but it also builds capacity in the staff by allowing others to take on lead roles. Also, often times there is a person in the building who is more of an expert on a specific topic than the Principal might be, so it is wise show humility and ask for assistance to ensure the highest quality outcome.
|
|
"A leader with strong strategic leadership skills clearly articulates his or her vision for the
organization in a way that promotes buy-in and enthusiasm from stakeholders."
Distinguished Leadership in Practice: Component One | |
File Size: | 40 kb |
File Type: |