EDLD 5399- Week Three Assignment, Part 2 – Part C of the Comprehensive Final Report

Describing Recommendations and District/Campus Improvement Initiative/Action Research Lessons Learned

District improvement plans are put in place to tie district goals to budgets and personnel resources.  Additionally, they are the roadmap the district uses to attain it’s stated goals.  The more articulate and clearly stated the map is, the better the change that the road map is followed.  Campus and district improvement plans help each district articulate priorities and drive how monetary/professional resources are allocated.  These plans should never be stand-alone documents, produced once annually.  Instead, they should be used to drive all campus operations and referred to frequently to ensure progress.  Additionally, district/campus improvement plans should also link together from one year to the next, through a long-range strategic plan.  District improvement initiates must be clearly articulated and over-communicated.  Each entity within the organization must state how they will work to achieve district initiatives.   Close monitoring of campus goals should occur on an annual basis.  This close monitoring will work to ensure campus goals are aligned to campus goals and each campus goal contains objectives describing how the goal will be achieved.  A needs assessment tool must be published so that all members of the organization can determine their progress towards district/campus goals.  The needs assessment should also describe when the needs assessment process should occur and meetings should be held to discuss needs assessment findings.    I recommended that campus/district administrative appraisals are tied to the success of the campus/district improvement plan.  Additional professionals with key roles in the attainment of district/campus roles should also have appraisals tied to their ability to realize campus.  This will provide the necessary accountability to realize goal attainment.  A great deal of training needs to happen when moving to this type of system so that goals are properly stated and professionals are properly redirected when a needs assessment reveals corrective action is needed. My current superintendent has been in her current role less than a year.  It is apparent that her appraisal is directly linked to the achievement of district goals.  Through conversations with her, we are looking towards aligning additional appraisals to district/campus goals.  Additionally, while only goals and objectives are part of the district and campus improvement plans, we will work towards including monetary and personnel allocations to the plan for next year.  The main focus this year was the development of consistency between the campus and district goals.  A few campuses were less explicit in their statement of objectives tied to achieving these goals.  Retraining needs to be targeted for these campuses.  Overall, I am excited about the progress we have made in less than a year under the leadership of our new superintendent.  I look forward to being a part of the additional planned development of this process and the leadership experience that I will earn while doing so.

EDLD 5399 Week 3 Assignment, Part 1

Please review your intern plan. In the first course, students were encouraged to engage in some action research, or participate in district or campus improvement initiatives. Each of you has had some experiences with such initiatives or action plans. Please review those experiences and complete the following analysis:

Concerns – Review your participation in improvement initiatives or efforts to engage in action research, and list at least three concerns that you have identified from these experiences – a concern may be any matter that engages your attention or interest.

1. While more consistency between the campus and district goals has been achieved, the format of the form is very general and states only goals and objectives.
2. Increase the review and level of feedback for individual campus plans.  Some campuses objectives are very brief, while others go into great detail stating how they will work to achieve a given goal.
3. Each campus plan should focus on the use and evaluation of accommodations for English language learners and special education students.  This continues to be a problem and an increased focus will work to place an emphasis on this task.

Affirmations - Review your participation in improvement initiatives or efforts to engage in action research, and affirm or identify at least 3 actions that must be sustained and supported to achieve the District/ Campus improvement initiatives.

1. The continual review of local and state-mandated assessment data must be disaggregated and used to drive the revision of curriculum and instruction.
2. A focus on meeting AYP (Adequate Yearly Progress) at both the campus and district level.
3. Parent involvement must be a focus.  Additionally, ensuring all parents are able to receive important communications regarding their child’s education is paramount.

Recommendations - Review your participation in improvement initiatives or efforts to engage in action research and describe at least 3 recommendations you would make regarding the District/Campus Improvement plans or action research plans.

1. Initiate additional levels of review for each campus plan.  Create a model campus plan that campuses can work to mimic. 
2. Ensure all campuses create a plan for meeting AYP, especially their special education and limited English proficient subgroups of students.  Each campus and the district should focus on accommodations as well as ensuring these students are taking STAAR (and not STAAR-L, STAAR-M, or STAAR-Alt) unless these students truly meet the state-articulated participation requirements.
3. Have each central office department articulate their goals and how they will support campus and district goals.

Evaluate - Review your participation in improvement initiatives or efforts to engage in action research and identify at least 3 strategies for evaluating the improvement plans or recommendations.

1. Publish a needs analysis tool and place in the same location as the campus improvement plans.
2. Have each campus complete the needs analysis at multiple points in the year and communicate progress towards goals.
3. Conduct individual reviews of the needs assessment activities with campus principals.  Give feedback on this process and include as a portion of the campus principal’s evaluation.

EDLD 5399: Week One Assignment, Part 2 – Job Entry Plan

First Day-

Goal(s)- Build a team of practitioners who work together to achieve the goals of the district.

Objective(s)- Determine current working arrangements.

Activities addressing goals and objectives- I will meet with the office professional staff, asking them questions about their day to day role as well as getting to know them on a personnel level.  Additionally, I will have short meetings with the district leaders so I can begin to understand their role and get to know them as a person.

Resources needed to achieve goals and objectives

First Week-

Goal(s) Build a team of practitioners who work together to achieve the goals of the district.

Objective(s) Determine current working arrangements.

Activities addressing goals and objectives Continue meeting with district leaders, asking more in depth questions using prior meetings as a guide.  Set up a luncheon with the Board of Trustees.

Resources needed to achieve goals and objectives- funds to provide for Board of Trustee luncheon

First Month-

Goal(s) Build a team of practitioners who work together to achieve the goals of the district.

Objective(s)  Establish district goals.

Activities addressing goals and objectives  Create a plan of action to revise district goals.  Begin to reconfigure job responsibilities of Cabinet level members to realize district goals.  Work with the Board in reviewing and revising District goals.  Ensure they are in agreement, especially where changes/revisions are needed.  Continue meeting with Board members on a regular basis.  Set meetings with each Board member individually to establish relationships.  Meet with campus administration.

Resources needed to achieve goals and objectives

First Year-

Goal(s) Build a team of practitioners who work together to achieve the goals of the district.

Objective(s) Realize district goals

Activities addressing goals and objectives- Continue a needs analysis of district goals.  Begin planning for the following year.  Ensure that processes are in place to create district goals and a district improvement plan.  Ensure each campus has campus goals and a campus improvement plan that is aligned to the district.  Utilize the time spent working with campus and district leaders in the achievement of this task to build relationships.

Resources needed to achieve goals and objectives

EDLD 5399 Description of SBEC Superintendent Leadership Experiences by Domains and Competencies

Domain I—Leadership of the Educational Community – Competencies 1 - 4

Competency 1 Area:

The superintendent knows how to act with integrity, fairness, and in an ethical manner in order to promote the success of all students.

Summary of Activity - Describe the activity you plan on implementing or participating in during your internship – you may use any of the internship activities identified in the School Leader Internship, 2nd edition, pp. 19 – 68.	Summary of Findings
Following the completion of district test security procedures, consider the ethical beliefs that guided each of your actions.  Discuss these beliefs with others involved in the project.  Provide feedback and recommendations.	The ethical guidelines that guided my beliefs revolved around ensuring that every student has an equitable assessment process and also ensuring that test security and confidentiality measures were maintained.  While test security is extremely important and all TEA-articulated policies and procedures must be followed.  In my current district, we ensure that additional procedures are in place to further ensure test security is maintained; however, we must also ensure these measures do not also compromise a campuses ability to provide an equitable assessment process.  At first, central office directed our warehouse to hold all secure testing materials until a few days before testing.  As a test security revision committee, we decided it was more important to provide other measures at the campus level to ensure security instead of holding secure materials at the campus level.  We decided to certify all storage rooms, ensure two individuals present at all times, principals were never to administer tests, and testing rooms were to be located in an area of the building where the entrance was highly trafficked.  This revised policy provided the time campuses needed to allow a smooth testing process and ample time to prepare materials.
Develop the following interpersonal skills: Acknowledges the accomplishments of others Avoids interrupting others while speaking Seeks to know and understand others Shares responsibilities	Throughout this school year I have worked to acknowledge the positive works of others.  On three separate occasions I sent out a congratulatory email recognizing the accomplishment and stating their involvement.  I still need to work on interrupting others and I have begun to be the note taker in meetings to help avoid interrupting and begin the path to a better listener.  I do seek to get to know others by allowing them time to talk about themselves and facilitate the conversation through probing questions.  I have a colleague from another district who is very successful in this skill and I focus on modeling her style and learn when observing her.  I have begun sharing responsibilities.  This year I delegated the task of coordinating TELPAS, a state-mandated assessment for limited English proficient students.  While I supported my coordinator through this process, I continued to follow up and ensure that he felt competent in his role.  The process went smoothly and I have increased my department’s capacity to coordinate testing without my direct involvement.

Competency 2 Area:

The superintendent knows how to shape district culture by facilitating the development, articulation, implementation, and stewardship of a vision of learning that is shared and supported by the educational community.

Summary of Activity - Describe the activity you plan on implementing or participating in during your internship – you may use any of the internship activities identified in the School Leader Internship, 2nd edition, pp. 19 – 68.	Summary of Findings
Review the district vision of two separate districts, one urban poor and the other suburban, middle-class.  Note strengths and weaknesses of each, and make recommendations.	Humble ISD- VISION STATEMENT: We envision schools where students and staff are enthusiastically engaged in learning within local and virtual environments. We see schools that encourage collaboration and cultivate a sense of belonging. We see learning standards that are rigorous and relevant. We see learning standards that inspire creativity and problem solving. Ultimately, we see schools that prepare students for many paths and that empower them with skills to successfully live in a rapidly changing world. Galena Park ISD- Vision Statement: To prepare students to be life long learners. The two district vary quite greatly in the complexity of their statements.  Galena Park ISD’s vision is much more simplistic and thus much easier to comprehend and well as embody.  Although Humble’s is much more complex, a clearer vision describing the learning outcomes for students that will hopefully result in a district-wide effort to achieve this goal.  Additionally, the terms used in the vision are complex and are not suited for all members of the school community.  Because of the simplistic and easy to understand nature of the Galena Park ISD model, I believe this vision guides the district in a common direction all the while, allowing for change as student expectations and educational program goals evolve.
Review Board Policy regarding data collection, assessment, and evaluation.  Determine the degree to which the policies are being implemented.  Write a reflective statement describing ways to ensure compliance in this area.	The requirements regarding data collection, assessment, and evaluation are spelled out in EKB Legal.  Per this statue, all requirements are implemented as required.  Any time changes are made to Board Policy, notifications listing the policy are sent out to the key stakeholders who are instructed to review the policy and implement any new requirements.  My only concern revolves around compliance when reviewing Board Policy across the district.  I am not sure that all key stakeholders understand their responsibility when reviewing Board Policy.  There are not any articulated directions that accompany Board Policy.  We can certainly increase our effectiveness in this area by conveying detailed directions regarding review and implementation of Board Policy.
Observe a team of district administrators deciding on how the district will count STAAR End of Course assessments as 15% of a student’s final grade in a course.	CERTIFICATES OF COURSEWORK COMPLETION SEMESTER GRADES & EOC TESTS Certificates of coursework completion shall be issued to senior students who successfully complete state and local credit requirements for graduation, but who fail to meet all applicable exit-level testing requirements.  A student shall be required, however, to participate in the summer administration of any applicable state-mandated assessment prior to receipt of a certificate of coursework completion.  The student’s academic achievement record shall indicate the date on which the certificate was issued.  [See EIF, FMH] Courses that receive high school credit will receive a final grade for each semester and each semester will receive one-half credit towards graduation. The semester grade will be calculated as follows: 1st or 4th six-weeks grade – 28%                                                 2nd or 5th six-weeks grade – 28%                                           3rd or 6th six-weeks grade – 29%                                                          semester exam -                 15% Beginning with first-time ninth graders in 2011-12, the EOC exam, when required, will replace the semester exam for the second semester and will count as the 15% semester exam grade. The grade will be based on the level of achievement on the EOC:           Level                                                    Grade Level I, Unsatisfactory Performance                           69                            Level II, Satisfactory Performance                              89                              Level III, Advanced Academic Performance                100     high school credits If a student passes both semesters of a year-long course, the student shall receive one credit. If a student passes the fall semester of a year-long course, the student shall receive one-half credit, regardless of the spring semester grade. If a student fails the fall semester of a year-long course, but passes the spring semester, the two semesters shall be averaged together for a yearly average.  If the average is passing, the student shall receive one full credit. If a student who did not pass a course passes the state’s EOC exam for that course, the student will have shown mastery and shall receive one full credit. Passing the EOC exam after course completion will reward credit, but will not change the student’s original course grade. “Semester only” courses shall be counted as one-half credit if passed.
Utilizing a committee of district and campus leaders, revise current in-district procedures for ensuring the security of state-mandated assessments.  Use consensus building to guide the revision process.	Test Security Task Force November 30th , 2011 I.                 Items to further ensure the security of GPISD’s state-mandated testing program. a.     CBA and DA administration recommendation in AYP District Support Plan o   All students DA’s and CBA’s are scanned (STAAR, STAAR-L, STAAR-M, LAT, TAKS–M, TAKS –Acc) o   All students with accommodations must have their accommodations during the DA’s and CBA’s. Only use the ones that are allowed for that student during STAAR/TAKS. o   All students will start with the appropriate test – not all on STAAR/TAKS o   Do not provide time for re-teaching or correction before the DA’s and CBA’s are scanned o   Treat DA’s and CBA’s like TAKS – keep secure prior to the test administration o   No coaching for student strategies during testing   b.     Secure, state-mandated test materials will be stored at the district warehouse, under lock-and-key, approx. 20 feet above the ground, and monitored by cameras. c.     Secure, state-mandated test materials will be delivered to the campus at an appropriate time  before the state-articulated deadline to order additional materials for a specific state-mandated test.  d.     Handling/storing secure testing materials:                                                     i.     One person is never to be alone with secure materials.                                                    ii.     Campus administrators shall not administer tests to students.                                                  iii.     Secure test storage rooms shall be located in areas where the entrance is easily viewed and traveled by other campus professionals.                                                  iv.     A form has been created to aid in the distribution of secure materials between campuses.  This will only happen if one campus is short of the required materials and the state deadline to order new materials has passed.                                                   v.     All campuses will email Mary E. Flores to verify the completeness of their secure testing materials.  This email shall be sent within 24 hours of receipt at the campus. e.     Certify secure testing material storage                                                     i.     All campuses will have their secure materials storage room inspected and will be given a seal to display outside the room.                                                    ii.     All secure storage certificates will display the name(s) of the faculty and staff members allowed to enter the room. f.      We will have new incident reporting forms for additional consistency in reporting testing irregularities. g.     Adopt-A-Campus:                                                     i.     Team leaders will serve as campus monitors during state-mandated testing and will be required to turn in checklists each day testing occurs.                                                    ii.     Monitors will be trained on how to monitor and complete the checklist.                                                  iii.     A monitor will be assigned to each campus.  1.     The monitor must be present on testing days while state-mandated testing is in progress. 2.     Adopt-A-Campus monitors should check with the campus testing coordinator before releasing their team from the campus.                                                  iv.     All Adopt-A-Campus personnel assigned to a campus must receive the following types of training: 1.     Online module TA training (handout- Content of Modules) 2.     Face-to-face general TA training 3.     Face-to-face administration-specific training                                                   v.     Helping your Adopt-A-Campus team on testing days: 1.     Campuses must keep classroom doors unlocked on the days of testing.  2.     Place completed seating charts on the outside of all testing rooms each day of testing.   Start and end times will need to be indicated.  Ensure you check for this. 3.     Ensure Adopt-A-Campus monitors can peer into classroom windows while monitoring.  All students and test administrators in a room should be visible from these windows. 4.     Campus personnel should be placed outside portable buildings to ensure unauthorized entry does not occur.  5.     Campuses are strongly encouraged to place testing rooms inside the main portion of the building. h.     Reporting testing violations                                                     i.     Campus Testing Coordinator or Principal                                                    ii.     District Testing Director                                                  iii.     Adopt -A-Campus Monitor                                                  iv.     Cabinet Members                                                   v.     TEA
Develop a strategic plan to ensure all educators understand how to use accommodations to increase student learning.	As information arrives from TEA regarding accommodations, a team of special education and testing professionals will meet to discuss the information and plan the content of the information to be shared.  Secondly, a cross-curricular team, comprised of special education and curriculum team members, will meet to review the training content and ensure all areas of need are addressed.  The information will then be shared with campus administration and staff development notifications given at that point in time.  Principals will also be given tools to monitor the implementation of the various accommodations.  All accommodations will be recorded in Eduphoria via a district made form called the ITP (Individual Testing Plan) form.  This form also facilitates the recording of individual supplemental aids.  Additionally, the cross curricular team will calendar out dates to write lessons and include appropriate accommodations, especially supplemental aids, that will maximize student learning.

Competency 3 Area:

The superintendent knows how to communicate and collaborate with families and community members, respond to diverse community interests and needs, and mobilize community resources to ensure educational success for all students.

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Summary of Activity - Describe the activity you plan on implementing or participating in during your internship – you may use any of the internship activities identified in the School Leader Internship, 2nd edition, pp. 19 – 68.	Summary of Findings
Complete a presentation to colleagues communicating newly released information from TEA.   Survey persons receiving the memo, obtain advice on its organization, clarity, and intent as well as any recommendations for improvement	Principals really liked the one page format displaying state mandated assessments for special education and limited English proficient students.  The chart also gave a brief overview of the allowable assessment known to date.  Once more details were released from TEA, we created additional one page charts that described all of the allowable accommodations for special education and limited English proficient students.  Additionally, we gave each campus administrator a card stock copy of the one page chart we created for the presentation and followed up by posted a digital copy on a district testing web page.   This web page ended up being the “go to” point for all information for GPISD educator regarding testing.  Additionally, since much of the information was being rapidly updated by TEA, we linked the new information to the district testing web page.  We further communicated new testing details via a weekly accountability/testing update.
Assist the person responsible for school district communications in the preparation of a written statement to be sent out to the public.  Include a copy of the communication.	Galena Park ISD is a Texas Education Agency Recognized District                      On July 29, 2011, the Texas Education Agency released accountability ratings for all Texas schools. This includes over eight-thousand schools in over one-thousand school districts. According to the TEA Web site, “The ratings are based on high school completion rates, dropout rates and passing rates on the state [TAKS] test.”  Galena Park ISD uses the Texas State averages as a barometer for success, comparing scores and percentages of the state to those of GPISD. For example, 18% of GPISD schools are rated as exemplary, whereas 4.3% of Texas schools are rated exemplary. This gives GPISD four times the percentage of Exemplary schools than Texas. Likewise, 77% of GPISD schools are Recognized while 36.6% of Texas schools are recognized. GPISD more than doubles the number of Recognized schools. Another way of looking at it is this: 95% of GPISD schools are Exemplary or Recognized, while 40.9% of all Texas schools (including GPISD schools) are Exemplary or Recognized. Additionally, compared to Texas, GPISD has greater percentages of students meeting standards on all versions of the TAKS test in Math, Writing, Social Studies and Science. This comes in a year when standards were made more stringent in an effort to ready schools and students for the upcoming STAAR™ test coming later this year. Galena Park ISD is proud to have once again shown a steadfast dedication to the education of it’s students.
Write a short proposal for increasing or improving parent involvement and attitude towards the school.  Provide a copy of the proposal.	All parent involvement activities will work to achieve the following district goals: The district will increase parental involvement opportunities. o   All parent communication will be available in both English and Spanish, o   Each campus will post parental involvement opportunities on their campus web site. o   All school staff will be trained annually with “Family Friendly Schools” o   All campuses will annually update their Parental Involvement Policy and the Compact o   Middle schools and high schools will increase parent/counselor communication regarding the planning, scheduling and implementation of graduation plans for students. o   Parents will be surveyed annually with a Customer Satisfaction survey. The survey will cover: topics for parent meetings, time of parent meetings, counselors, administrators, feeling welcome at the school, Communication from teachers, and phone calls and emails are returned in a timely manner. The best way to get parents involved is allow them to know and understand the workings of the school.  Each campus will communicate to parents the availability of school volunteer activities so that they can be present while school takes place.  Each campus will appoint one person to serve as the volunteer coordinator.  Utilizing the GPISD Parent Involvement Policy, these coordinators will meet to discuss ways to involve parents in schools and create a list of volunteer positions through this meeting.  Additionally, activities for working parents will also be delineated to involve a maximum number of volunteers.   Each campus volunteer coordinator will then implement and oversee the volunteers on their campus and seek to ensure the volunteer opportunities are filled and maximize the number of parents who are able to volunteer.  At the end of each school year, the volunteer coordinators as well as appointed parent volunteers will meet to ensure the tenets of the Title I Parent Involvement Policy have been met and plan for future improvements by reflecting on objectives achieve/not achieved throughout the year.
Meet with the language arts program director and examine the literature used with regard to gender stereotyping.  Provide an analysis and recommendations.
Gather information on the resources available to the schools from community and business.  Analyze the extent of utilization, make recommendations for improved cooperation and mutual benefit.	Activity 28g School community partnerships make important contributions to student success.  The district utilizes community partnerships to achieve the following goals: Parent education, communication regarding school programs and student learning, volunteering, supporting learning at home, and involvement in decision-making and advocacy for the school district Businesses and community leaders are solicited to achieve the aforementioned goals.  Additionally, the community is solicited to provide funding through the Galena Park ISD Foundation.  Community members as well as school employees alike donate to this entity.  Below is the outline of a presentation used to begin engaging the community regarding the potential need for a tax rate increase. GPISD COMMUNITY RELATIONS • Our goal is to develop effective communications links between the district and the community. GPISD COMMUNITY RELATIONS • Presently we have established venues to facilitate communications between our school and larger community • Site Based Decision Making Meetings • Area Council PTA • Community Leadership Council • Two leaders assigned to foster community relationships: • Assistant to the Superintendent • Communications Director GPISD COMMUNITY RELATIONS • In addition: • Many campuses have parent volunteer programs • GPISD Education Foundation works with local businesses to provide scholarships and grants to parents and students. GPISD COMMUNITY RELATIONS • Two leaders assigned to foster community relationships: • Assistant to the Superintendent • Communications Director • These two individuals assist the Superintendent with foster positive community relationships. FUNDING GPISD IN THE NEAR FUTURE • As most of you are aware, decreased state funding has caused our district to dip into fund balance for the past two years. • In order to prevent drastic budget cuts, we will need our community to vote and pass a tax rate election. WHAT MUST BE DONE? • Town hall meetings will be held throughout the community. • We will develop a Wiki for community members to post opinions to carefully posed questions regarding the tax rate election. • Our communications department will respond to community concerns and our community relations program will evolve based on community feedback. WHERE CAN YOU HELP? • Attend Town Hall meetings. • Visit the Wiki to understand community concerns. WHAT TO TALK ABOUT • Our Business department will present at the next Principal’s meeting to explain how our district tax rate compares to area districts as well as explain the financial impact to our community leaders. WHAT TO TALK ABOUT NOW? • We have survived the past two years of decreased state funding by dipping into fund balance for the past two years. • We will need to raise taxes to prevent deep staff cuts. This will directly impact students because their class sizes will drastically increase. WHERE TO TALK ABOUT THESE ISSUES • SBDM (Site Based Decision Making Team) • Area Council PTA • Parents asking questions at your campus • Faculty meetings Be sure to communicate any community feedback to the Communications Department TIPS • Be positive and informative at the same time. • Help our community by helping them understand the need for a tax rate increase to support their children. GET YOUR PARENTS INVOLVED • One last item- get your parents involved in volunteer programs on your campus • Let parents directly observe where their students attend school while volunteering within your school. • Post the Tax Rate Election information around your schools for parents to see on a routine basis. • Know these facts and be sure to answer any questions you can or call the Business Office to determine an answer you do not know.

Competency 4 Area:

The superintendent knows how to respond to and influence the larger political, social, economic, legal, and cultural context, including working with the board of trustees, to achieve the district's educational vision.

Summary of Activity - Describe the activity you plan on implementing or participating in during your internship – you may use any of the internship activities identified in the School Leader Internship, 2nd edition, pp. 19 – 68.	Summary of Findings
Obtain a copy of the superintendent’s job description and evaluation instrument.  Analyze the correlation between the requirements listed in the job description and evaluation.  Provide an analysis.	Activity 29a The GPISD Superintendent job description and the evaluation instrument are highly aligned.  The two documents both state the superintendent competency domains from the Texas Examinations of Educator Standards Superintendent Exam Preparation Manual.  The evaluation instrument allows the Board of trustees to rate the superintendent in all domains relevant to the role of this particular position.  Additionally, the superintendent’s evaluation instrument also allows the superintendent an opportunity to state his/her specific goals and receive feedback on the goal attainment.  These goals are created in a collaborative effort between district leaders, the superintendent, and the Board.
Review the board training requirements and the role of the superintendent in this process.  Provide a summary of the requirements, process, and the superintendent’s role.	Activity 33c Board members are required by state-articulated school board policy to complete a number of required trainings.  This training is meant to ensure all Board members understand their role and act accordingly.  Below is a description of the required training of all Board members per School Board Policy, BBD Legal. Within 60 days: Each new member must participate in local orientation session to acquaint the new Board member with local Board policies and procedures as well as District goals and priorities. Within 90 days: ·       OPEN MEETINGS ACT TRAINING ·       PUBLIC INFORMATION ACT TRAINING Annual required training: ·       Team building training attended with the superintendent offered through an institution such as the regional educational service center.  This training is meant to enhance the effectiveness of the superintendent-Board team.  A needs assessment driven by State Board Policy, BBD (Exhibit) will be used to guide the training. ·       Additional annual training determined by BBD (Exhibit) must be used to determine additional assessed needs for Board training.  A registered provider, such as a regional education service center, must be used to conduct the training. SBOE required training: Each Board member must complete any training required by the SBOE.  The training requirement consists of orientation, team building, and annual continuing education.  To the extent possible, the entire Board shall participate in training programs together.  This training may not take place during a Board meeting but, may take place before or after a legally called Board meeting. During legislative sessions: After each state legislative session, Board members must receive an update to the Texas Education Code from a registered provider.  Training reporting: At the last Board meeting every year, the resident of the Board must announce the name of each Board member who completed the required training, who has exceeded the required hours of training, and who is deficient in the required training as of the date of the meeting.  The Board meeting minutes must reflect these items.

DOMAIN II—INSTRUCTIONAL LEADERSHIP – COMPETENCIES 5 - 7

Competency 5 Area:

The superintendent knows how to facilitate the planning and implementation of strategic plans that enhance teaching and learning; ensure alignment among curriculum, curriculum resources, and assessment; use the current accountability system; and promote the use of varied assessments to measure student performance.

Summary of Activity - Describe the activity you plan on implementing or participating in during your internship – you may use any of the internship activities identified in the School Leader Internship, 2nd edition, pp. 19 – 68.	Summary of Findings
Meet with administrators responsible for schedule changes at the high school level in preparation for STAAR EOC graduates.  Discuss the number of changes, rationale for changes, and ramifications of changes. Write a reflection examining ways to better meet student needs.	Student schedule plans were revised based on the needs of high school students who have either passed or failed to meet standard on a given EOC exam.  If a student does not meet standard on a given EOC exam and/or does not receive credit in the course due to course grade, student course schedules will be amended to provide adequate remediation.  High school principals were consulted in the process to ensure fidelity.  This course amendment will be communicated to counselors and registrars at the high school to ensure fidelity in then implementation.
Interview a district-level instructional supervisor.  Assess current needs, goals, and level of service provided by the central office instructional staff.  Make recommendations.	The current needs of the math department serving all secondary campuses is a revised curriculum, instruction and local assessments that are matched to the STAAR assessments.  While much of the curriculum in grades 6-8 and Algebra I has been revised, local assessment aligned to the STAAR assessments are set to be created throughout the 2011-12 school year.  Additionally, revisions to both the curriculum and local assessments will occur once results from the STAAR assessments are received.  Time will have to be calendared for these events to occur.  Another facet that must be considered is the delivery of the instruction.  Training will have to occur at frequent intervals throughout the school year.  A decision will have to be made determining when this will be done.  Lastly, revisions to the curriculum that are published on the district web page will have to be revised to include instructional strategies for special education and limited English proficient students.  A common format for all the departments will need to be established for all content areas, especially in elementary.  This will be important so that teachers receive information in the same format.
Interview individuals involved in implementing district curriculum.  Describe the implementation process, noting successes, concerns/problems with the process	Activity 7d This year, we have a great challenge with implementing the curriculum because of the change in the state-mandated assessment system.  Additionally, we have had problems meeting our federal accountability benchmarks for our special education and limited English proficient student groups.  Our curriculum will have to be revised in a manner that helps teachers meet the needs of all students and differentiate instruction.  We will have to allot time to re-write lessons showing teachers how to differentiate instruction as well as allot time for staff development to address this need.  During the past few years the curriculum department has revised the curriculum, especially in the core contact areas to ensure it meets the cognitive complexity of the STAAR assessment.  Some teachers have yet to believe in the difficulty level of STAAR and/or do not understand how to instruct at the required level of difficulty.  The curriculum department constantly discusses the need for campus administrators to monitor the implementation of the appropriate instruction; however, the training is lacking for the campus level administrators.  Presently, curriculum leaders are heavily involved in writing, re-writing, and revising the curriculum to engage in additional tasks.  Additionally, the curriculum department lost a great deal of instructional specialists and now they are required to teach part of the day.  No longer are instructional specialists able to spend their entire day working with teachers to improve instruction and are heavily involved in making district assessments during this first year of STAAR in addition to re-writing the curriculum.  These concerns will take several years to work themselves out because additional revisions will have to be made as we receive assessment results from STAAR.
Interview one professional with experience writing grants.  Review one grant, highlighting the requirements and procedures for writing and submitting the grant, and include it in the notebook.	Activity 34f Grant:  College Readiness Initiative for Middle School Students This grant provides funding providing for college readiness programs at all middle schools serving 7th and 8th grade students within GPISD.  This is a TEA competitive grant.  The district grants officer applies for the grant and once the grant is awarded, a Notice of Grant Award (NOGA) is received from TEA.  The district then sets up a budget that matches the proposal.  Once the opening of the window for the grant occurs, grant funds may be encumbered to pay for endeavors related to achieving the goals of the grant.  Evidence of proper use of funds and any other requirements are submitted regularly to the district grants office.  The grants office, in turn, submits any required reports (program or expenditure reports) on a timeline required by the grant.
Work collaboratively with one teacher in the planning and supervising of a co-curricular activity.  A critique of the learning experience will be written and included in the intern notebook.	Oversight of a co-curricular activity has a great many components.  Not only is a supervisor concerned with the quality of his/her team, they are concerned with budgets, parent involvement, equipment, upkeep of their facilities, scheduling performances, ensuring security, managing the possible intake of money if tickets are sold, transportation of students (along with equipment), and UIL eligibility rules.  I was actually overwhelmed by the number of components that must be considered when overseeing a co-curricular activity.  Even a detail that can appear as nebulous as ensuring facilities are prepared in advance of a performance/competition are a critical component.  Establishing standardized policies and procedures for co-curricular endeavors is a must for every district large and small to manage the various aspects that must be considered to ensure a successful program.

Competency 6 Area:

The superintendent knows how to advocate, promote, and sustain an instructional program and a district culture that are conducive to student learning and staff professional growth.

Summary of Activity - Describe the activity you plan on implementing or participating in during your internship – you may use any of the internship activities identified in the School Leader Internship, 2nd edition, pp. 19 – 68.	Summary of Findings
Interview persons responsible for assessing technology software.  Describe the process used.  Evaluate the process used, and discuss concerns and give recommendations for improvement	Activity 11c: The district has an established, well-vetted process for reviewing technology software.  If a need is determined, a request for proposal is sent out and companies with a product respond.  A committee of well-informed members is tasked with reviewing the software.  Generally the last few finalist are asked to provide a “proof of concept”.  For example, our district is considering moving to a virtual desktop interface.  This will work to extend the life of all our PCs.  In order to have a proof of concept, we required the finalists set up their product in a lab to test that their product performs as required.  Additionally, we often meet with other districts who use the software product already.  We inquire about the strengths as well as the pitfalls and use this endeavor to establish best practices for utilizing the software.  We typically never try to solicit software programs that other school districts have never used.
Reviewed methods to encourage motivation in the classroom.  Read two articles from refereed journals on motivation strategies, and discuss readings with selected administrators and faculty.	Channeling student motivation is like controlling the flow of the Mississippi river.  While the process is possible, it takes a great deal of knowledge in understanding how to do so and a lot of man power. I sat with two of my colleagues form the curriculum department and we reviewed two articles regarding student motivation.  We saw that there are multiple factors that can increase student motivation.  School districts who study student motivation and all the factors that play into student motivation see the positive effects of increased student learning.  Engaging parents and community members who can work to reinforce the importance of an education is but one facet.  Interesting lessons, helping students to see they are in control of their own learning, ensuring students understand their teachers care that they learn are all additional motivators.  I have seen districts that rely too heavily on influencing only one component that influences student motivation while, in order to maximize motivation, as many motivating factors must be considered.  We are human beings, after all.
Review the distribution of scores for the Algebra I EOC district assessments.  Devise, distribute, and collect a brief needs assessment related to the strengths and concerns of the testing procedures and grading policy used.	Activity 12b Individual student Algebra I local assessment scores were used as a grade for each student participating in the exam.  A committee of campus and curriculum leaders met to review a couple of models used to convert the percent correct on the exam to a score that would give some ability to correct for mis-instruction as well as the use of a non-validated test.  We decided upon a model that would give students a passing grade if they got at least half of the items correct.  Additionally, we agreed to a quick review of the scores after the test was taken to ensure the model worked as intended.  A percentile rank of all converted scores was calculated to ensure that the students at the 50th percentile had at least a passing grade.  Further discussions occurred regarding students taking modified assessments as well as assessments for limited English proficient students.  Many campus administrators felt strongly about whether or not to use student scores for a grade depending on the programs on their campus.  We left the decision to each campus-level administrator; however, we did require the submission of a plan on how each campus was addressing these students.  A meeting held after the scores were created allowed us to tweak our plan in time for the next meeting.  This process was made very robust through the involvement of campus and curriculum leaders in evaluating the use of an internal mathematical model use to convert local assessment scores.
Review discipline data over a two year period.  Compile the data to show PEIMS data elements that could contribute to misinterpretations of district discipline data.  Report a summary of the findings and recommendations for improvements.	Activity 16c All student discipline infractions are recorded through an online system.  Assistant principals then record a PEIMS discipline code that matches the level of the discipline infraction.  One of the biggest problem with assistant principals assigning PEIMS discipline data codes to student discipline infractions is that there is a persistent mis-interpretation about the meaning of the PEIMS data discipline codes.  In GPISD, we have two Central Office professionals assigned to monitor discipline codes and specifically ask questions when inconsistencies are observed.  These professionals are also the ones who offer all training, including re-training, over how to interpret the PEIMS data discipline codes.  It is recommended that this team create a plan of how and when to offer retraining when inconsistencies are noted. The GPISD team that monitors student discipline data also monitors to ensure PEIMS discipline codes that could lead to a school being labeled as a persistently dangerous school are accurately entered.  One of the most surprising features of the student discipline recording system is the ability to record the specific location (room, hallway, etc.) where a discipline infraction occurred.  This team looks at the location of certain types of incidents and works with campus administration to determine if additional support is needed in a specific area of a campus building.

Competency 7 Area:

The superintendent knows how to implement a staff evaluation and development system and select appropriate models for supervision and staff development to improve the performance of all staff members.

Summary of Activity - Describe the activity you plan on implementing or participating in during your internship – you may use any of the internship activities identified in the School Leader Internship, 2nd edition, pp. 19 – 68.	Summary of Findings
Gather the yearly district staff development plan.  Analyze the plan with respect to the district mission, student achievement, and teacher evaluations.  Provide a copy or overview of the plan and it’s relationship to the above variables.	The GPISD staff development plan is not explicitly aligned to the district mission.  The yearly staff development plan is created via a meeting where all individuals who must conduct training are required to attend.  All mandatory training sessions are noted and scheduled to minimize conflict.  Content areas with the highest need, generally determined via state and local assessment scores, are scheduled with to maximize attendance of the required teachers.  The content of the training sessions are based on needs determine through collaborative efforts between central office and campus staff.  The timing is spread out to occur either during pre-scheduled staff development days or before, during, or after school.  Each content area is allocated a certain number of substitutes to conduct training.  The areas with the greatest need hare allocated more substitutes to achieve the task.  Teachers with poor performance evaluations will have specialized training based on their individual needs.  Often our local education service center is utilized to conduct this type of training.
Gather information from two administrators on relevant and legal questioning/assessment strategies used in interviewing.  Compile a list of questions to be used in hiring teachers or administrators.	Activity 14b Interview questions first and foremost ensure that we do not ask questions leding the interviewee to believe our district might discriminate based on any of the following characteristics noted in School Board Policy DAA (Legal): 1.         Race, color, or national origin; 2.         Sex; 3.         Religion; 4.         Age (applies to individuals who are 40 years of age or older); 5.         Disability; or 6.         Genetic information Additionally, the questions asked work to find the most qualified candidate for the task.  Based on the description of the position, interview questions are created and stored in the Human Resources department.  All questions posed are asked of all candidates interviewed for the same position.  Additionally, superintendent goals are often weaved into the sample questions to ensure employee candidates have the skill set to realize the attainment of these goals. Sample questions: Assistant Principal Interview Questions Briefly tell us about yourself. Are you Bilingual? After looking at our previous TAKS scores, what do you see as the school’s strengths and weaknesses? A first year teacher is having significant problems with classroom management and discipline. As the assistant principal, describe how you would help this teacher improve her performance. A student is brought to the office for refusing to work in class, running around the room and not going to time out. How would you handle this discipline problem? Will you please discuss your ideas on corporal punishment from the point of view of the assistant principal? How do you resolve parental complaints when you know that the teacher is in error? An assistant principal’s schedule is not 7:30 to 3:30. How do you go about juggling school responsibilities and family/personal needs to ensure that all needs are met? A teacher is not happy with her appraisal. She feels that her scores should be higher. What would you do about this request for higher scores? A parent is always unavailable and refuses to come to school. The child has had numerous office referrals.  What would you do?  What are your strengths?  What are areas that you would like to improve? On a scale of 1 to 10, how flexible are you…with 10 being “extremely flexible”? Describe a time where you had to demonstrate your flexibility. Is there anything else about yourself that you would like to share but that our questions did not address?  Do you have any questions? What would be your three top priorities for our campus? What do you foresee as being the most challenging aspects of moving from a classroom teacher to an assistant principalship? How effective are you in resolving conflicts between people? Could you give an example of how you have done this? A first year teacher is having significant trouble with classroom management. Describe how you would go about helping her improve. Discuss your organizational skills. How do you assure that multiple tasks are completed on time? Describe your strengths and how these strengths will contribute to performing your role as an assistant principal. Describe the ideal school leader.

DOMAIN III—ADMINISTRATIVE LEADERSHIP – COMPETENCIES 8 – 10

Competency 8 Area:

The superintendent knows how to apply principles of effective leadership and management in relation to district budgeting, personnel, resource utilization, financial management, and technology application.

Summary of Activity - Describe the activity you plan on implementing or participating in during your internship – you may use any of the internship activities identified in the School Leader Internship, 2nd edition, pp. 19 – 68.	Summary of Findings
Observe the office secretary for a period of time in order to assess the needs and demands of her position.  Following the observation, substitute for the administrative secretary in duties agreeable with the secretary and administration for a set period of time.  Write a brief summary of the needs and demands of this position, along with any recommendations for improvement.	Secretary observation and activity: Secretaries are the individuals who are the first person an individual interacts with when requiring assistance.  Administrative professionals must have pleasant attitudes as well as deal with constant interruptions as well as completing tasks with accuracy and on schedule.  Additionally, they must be proficient communicators to the professionals they support.  If a problem exists, it is often the secretarial staff that becomes aware first.  Communication in a timely manner is critical to allow supervisors time to take appropriate action(s).   Often, secretaries have the least amount of job security; therefore, supervisors must make up for this in other methods if the secretary performs her job as expected.
Meet with the district attendance officer.  Discuss the rules, procedures, and ramifications of attendance on law, finance, and general school/district operations.  Write a brief summary.	School districts are required to record average daily student attendance.  Policies and procedures for doing so are described in the TEA-produced Student Attendance Accounting Handbook.  The primary purpose for the collection of student attendance data is to ensure that FSP funds can be allocated to fund the district.  Attendance data must be stored and must be available in the event of an audit.
Compile a list of books, publications, training manuals, and district or state procedures used or recommended for the superintendent.	Read to lead coupled with Webinars through the TASA web site: http://www.tasanet.org/servicessubscriptions/read-to-lead Books: Instructional leadership: Rick DuFour’s work on PLCs Leadership- Harris, Edmonson, & Combs. (2010). Examining What We Do To Improve Our Schools: Eight Steps from Analysis to Action. Larchmont, NY: Eye of Education. Harris, S. (2009). Most effective practices of award-winning superintendents. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press/AASA. Harris, S. (2006). Best Practices of Award-Winning Secondary School Principals. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press. Harris, S. (2005). BRAVO Teacher: Building relationships with actions that value others. New York: Eye on Education Harris, S. (2005). Best practices of Award-Winning Elementary School Principals. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press. School finance: Education Finance for School Leaders: Strategic Planning and Administration C. William Garner School Budgets 101 http://www.aasa.org/uploadedFiles/Policy_and_Advocacy/files/SchoolBudgetBriefFINAL.pdf Physical Plant: NCEF web site
Complete a requisition for a service or supply item  from a budgeted account.  A copy of the requisition and a brief description of the path it follows for approval will be included in the intern notebook.	Activity 24b The life cycle of a requisition for a supply item from a budgeted account: ·       Input requisition ·       Purchasing approves requisition ·       Purchasing issues purchase order ·       Purchasing faxes purchasing order ·       Department ordering receives item ·       Once product is received, department indicates materials received
Submit a brief professional development plan.  Include deficiencies cited in the internship in the various learning areas.  The plan should include ongoing development with the membership and service to pertinent organizations.	This plan addresses all domains to ensure a through and current understanding of all superintendent responsibilities.  Two of the largest endeavors are to attend a budget boot camp as well as a 1st time superintendent’s academy to build strength in my knowledge of the budgeting process.  Additionally, this staff development will provide me with the support of a group of colleagues new to their career as well as a group of mentors (experienced superintendents) to call upon for advice.  I did not find a great deal of staff development regarding supporting the physical plant; therefore, I will continue to study the NCEF web site to increase my understanding in this area.

Competency 9 Area:

The superintendent knows how to apply principles of leadership and management to the district's physical plant and support systems to ensure a safe and effective learning environment.

Summary of Activity - Describe the activity you plan on implementing or participating in during your internship – you may use any of the internship activities identified in the School Leader Internship, 2nd edition, pp. 19 – 68.	Summary of Findings
Review the district policies for student transportation.  Evaluate the extent to which the district is in compliance.  Be sure to consider home-to-school, school-to-home, and co-curricular procedures.  Write a brief summary of your findings.	The GPISD goes above and beyond the student policy for transportation to ensure student safety and maximize attendance during the regular school day as well as after school activities such as tutorials.  School districts must transport students who live over two miles from the school they attend.  In my district, students are provided bus transportation to and from school if they live greater than 1 mile from the school they attend or if they must cross a dangerous road to travel to school.  Buses are also provided for after school activities.   Most elementary age children do not ride busses because they attend a neighborhood school.  This likely changes once the student attends middle school.  The vast majority of secondary level students are eligible for district bus transportation.  The district has implemented several cost-saving measures such as spreading out bus stops (ex. stopping at every other block instead of every block). All school buses are owned by the district and the vast majority have seat belts.  They are equipped with live video monitoring to increase surveillance of all occupants and have GPS locating devices.  The location of all buses are monitored centrally.  Additionally, GPISD is currently testing a RFID (Radio Frequency Identification Device) tag system to record the when a student enters a bus and when they leave the bus.  This system increases the ability to re-create the last known location of a student riding a district bus.
Interview the district food services manager to discuss the current requirements, concerns, and issues of the program.  Write a summary of the findings from the interview.	Activity 35a In GPISD, the food services department is financially independent from other departments.  The money this department receives from payment of school meals must remain within their department.  GPSID’s central office has a cafeteria.  Many community members eat here and it allows increased profitability of this department as well as an opportunity to reach out to individuals in the community.  The student nutrition department is concerned about several items:  (a) meeting health code, (b) maintaining equipment/supplies (this includes vans used to transport food throughout the district), (c) maintaining and proper usage of perishable items, (d) personnel management, (e) free and reduced meal applications, and (f) proper management of funds.  In GPISD, we provide breakfast and lunch during the school year and also provide a free lunch program at designated schools throughout the district.  There is always a great deal of thought given to accessibility of certain neighborhoods to the free summer lunch sites.  Additionally, a great deal of thought goes into making thee meals desirable for all students so that a maximum audience can be reached with food prepared to meet nutritional guidelines.  One of the additional benefits of having a cafeteria at Central Office is that serves a lab for new recipes and allows for an audience where feedback on meals can be obtained.  Overall, this department has a very successful track record in GPISD of providing desirable food and working with other departments to meet the needs of the students in GPISD.

Competency 10 Area:

The superintendent knows how to apply organizational, decision-making, and problem-solving skills to comply with federal and state requirements and facilitate positive change in varied contexts.

Summary of Activity - Describe the activity you plan on implementing or participating in during your internship – you may use any of the internship activities identified in the School Leader Internship, 2nd edition, pp. 19 – 68.	Summary of Findings
Engage the curriculum department and help them devise a method of examining district assessment scores without creating a standard cut score before examining data for a given assessment.  Meet with individuals whose opinions vary.  Ensure each side understands the goals of the opposing side.  Develop a list of concerns that each opposing side has about the other.  Devise a resolution that helps both sides achieve their goals.  Include a list of the goals, concerns, and consensus goals.	The spreadsheet 35a shows an example of the final product that is the result of the resolution reached. I met with two Curriculum Senior Directors to establish a plan to display local assessment scores so that campuses scores could be compared to one another and the district as a whole.  One Senior Director wanted to set 70% as the passing standard while the other was unsure.  The focus of the meeting was to demonstrate several formats and explain the meaning of each.  Through a visual explanation, both Senior Directors chose a consistent format to use with reporting.  We decided to compare the students against one another to display the results in a manner that would demonstrate how to intervene with the students based on the percent correct.  Results were then displayed using percentiles.  Student performing below the 50th percentile were targeted for intervention and campuses with lower percentiles than the district average were targeted for additional assistance.
Meet with a current leader who changed the way the district communicated information to principals.  Find out why we moved from paper folders and multiple emails to online documents delivered monthly.  Following the meeting, survey several people affected by the change to assess the support or non-support for the change.	Based on feedback from principals, we decided to move to a paperless environment.  This environment is housed within our district email client desktop.  Principals can access the online documents from any online device (i.e. computer, iPad, iPhone).  We established dates for central office staff to upload documents and ensured all campus principals were reminded to check the folders once they were complete.  As the year progressed, certain documents were moved to a district Intranet site.  This site allowed a larger audience to view the posted information.
Interview a school nurse to discuss the major requirements, concerns, and goals for the health program.  Address issues such as AIDS, abuse, sex education, and any other current issues.	Activity 17c Upon talking with the Senior Director over nurses in GPISD, I was able to learn that student immunizations are the largest concern for students.  School districts are acutely concerned about student attendance rates because of average daily attendance rates which are used to allocate state funding of schools.  Because of this, we have chosen not to keep students at home who have not yet received their vaccinations.  Additionally, we have free clinics in close proximity to neighborhood elementary schools where there is a high incidence of students without vaccinations.  These clinics also help the students and their families by offering additional vaccinations, such as the flu vaccine.  At the middle school, nurses also help educate students regarding hygiene issues that arise as they reach puberty.

Blog Follow-Up: We encourage you to post reflections on your above Competency Review and Description to your blog, and to read the postings of your fellow students. This will be a very valuable experience as you reflect on lessons learned du