Kathleen M.

Niebuhr
EdLD Internship/May 2014-April 2015

Minnesota K-12 Principal Competencies

A. Leadership August, 2014, Appointed ALC Lead Teacher
1. Demonstrate leadership by collaboratively assessing and improving culture and climate; Focused the student
on learning/credits, coursework and diploma attainment throughout the day and semester. Focused on
activities that allowed students to earn credits; eliminated activities that did not focus on that goal
2. Demonstrate leadership by providing purpose and direction for individuals and groups; Focused the program
on the mission of diploma attainment through conversations with parents, staff and students; weekly posting
of the student goal of earning a diploma through daily message boards and credit tree at door C.
3. Model shared leadership and decision-making strategies; Worked with school counselor to develop an
improved CLP (Continual Learning Plan) that is now used by students to identify their progress towards
their diploma
4. Demonstrate an understanding of issues affecting education; Participated in discussion around credit
recovery, targeted services and the balanced calendar
5. Through a visioning process, formulate strategic plans and goals with staff and community; Worked with
ALC teachers to identify where the programs strengths and challenges currently existed. Developed a fourpage document outlining those strengths, challenges and possible strategies to employ in the future to move
the program and students forward.
6. Set priorities in the context of stakeholder needs; Identified events that were drawing students away from
coursework and looked to rework student activities that would bring them learning, course credit and
diploma attainment focusing all ALC activities on that goal.
7. Serve as a spokesperson for the welfare of all learners in a multicultural context; Identified students in the
Targeted Services program by ethnicity and gender and compared to MDE districtwide statistics.
8. Understand how education is impacted by local, state, national, and international events;
9. Demonstrate the ability to facilitate and motivate others; Worked with students and staff to identify credits
earned in a positive manner supporting the work of the counselor and the credit tree as well as
encouraging students to focus on the credits earned towards their diploma.
10. Demonstrate the ability to implement change or educational reform. Revised structure of day 2nd quarter by
moving advisory to the end of the school day and combined with access to math teacher and science teacher
for academic support.
B. Organizational Management
1. Demonstrate an understanding of organizational systems; Worked to understand and document all aspects
of work by office in Synergy. Created documentation of work in Synergy.
2. Define and use processes for gathering, analyzing, managing and using data to plan and make decisions for
program evaluation; Prepared documentation about student enrollment numbers in the ALC and provided
to superintendent and deputy superintendent.
3. Plan and schedule personal and organizational work, establish procedures to regulate activities and projects,
and delegate and empower others at appropriate levels; Worked to complete administrative work before and
after school in order to assist hall monitor and success coach working with students during the school day. As
these staff became better adept at handling their job duties during the day, I was freed up to complete other
work in the office are and with individual students and staff rather than deal with disciplinary and
supervision duties.

4. Demonstrate the ability to analyze need and allocate personnel and material resources; Identified student
enrollment throughout the semester and updated district office staff on need for additional staff; revised
building budgets in area of supplies and travel to meet the needs of the ALC
5. Develop and manage budgets and maintain accurate fiscal records; Worked with finance director and ALC
secretary to order, purchase and approve items for the ALC
6. Demonstrate an understanding of facilities development, planning and management; Worked with facilities
director to identify and repair doors that were unable to be locked easily when a school lock-down drill
occurred; served to sweep upstairs during evacuation and lockdown drills.
7. Understand and use technology as a management tool. Use iPad and AdminVue app to manage course
sections; use Google Forms to enroll TS students

C. Diversity Leadership
1. Demonstrate an understanding and recognition of the significance of diversity, and respond to the needs of
diverse learners; Identified TS students by ethnicity and gender and shared with appropriate staff.
2. Create and monitor a positive learning environment for all students; Worked to ensure that our students of
color were welcomed into our building. Worked to enable black student had access to SRO after he was
charged with a disorderly conduct charge.
3. Create and monitor a positive working environment for all staff; Encouraged my paraeducator who has a
four-year degree and is Hispanic to consider applying for a substitute teacher position and get her teaching
license.
4. Promote sensitivity of diversity throughout the school community; Gathered statistics on student attainment
of credits to prepare for court for black student.
5. Demonstrate the ability to adapt educational programming to the needs of diverse constituencies. Worked
with art teacher to develop an Independent Study art course that would allow students to focus on different
art standards that would help students share their art via coffee shops or local art shows.
D. Policy and Law
1. Develop, adjust and implement policy to meet local, state and federal requirements and constitutional
provisions, standards and regulatory applications; Reviewed schools bullying policy with new law. Attended
administrative retreat and participated in discussions regarding the bullying policy. Worked on new Teacher
Development and Evaluation law with district administration and union to come to agreement on a process.
2. Recognize and apply standards of care involving civil and criminal liability for negligence, harassment and
intentional torts; Participated in discussion and training regarding new bullying legislation and
implementation in schools.
3. Demonstrate an understanding of state, federal and case law governing general education, special education
and community education. Working with director of special education to develop protocols for intakes for
students with special education services via case facilitators at the high school.
E. Political Influence and Governance
1. Exhibit an understanding of school districts as a political system, including governance models; Participated
in school board meeting presentation on credit recovery and targeted services and the balanced calendar.
2. Demonstrate the ability to involve stakeholders in the development of educational policy; Participated in the
review of the current harassment, violence and bullying policy with new legislation. Used newly created
reporting system for bullying incidents.
3. Understand the role and coordination of social agencies and human services; Work with Freeborn County
Truancy Officers in providing services for students who are identified as truants; invited truancy officer in to
participate in student intake meetings as they are enrolling in the ALC.

4. Demonstrate the ability to align constituencies in support of priorities and build coalitions for programmatic
and financial support. Worked with Freeborn County Truancy officers to identify the need for additional
truancy staff in order to identify 16 year old and younger students, but also to engage 17 year olds in the
process as the law for compulsory attendance changed this past year and now includes 17 year olds under
the truancy statutes.
F. Communication
1. Formulate and carry out plans for internal and external communications; Provide weekly updates to the
ALC staff on important information for the week via email
2. Demonstrate facilitation skills; Facilitate and organize intake meetings for students the the ALC
3. Recognize and apply an understanding of individual and group behavior in normal and stressful situations;
Increased time in the hallway and classrooms after significant fighting incident that involved suspensions,
re-entries, social media bullying incident and eventual altered educational assignment for a student. The
increased time in the hallway as well as working with support staff to work at preventing incidents rather
than waiting for and catching students engaged in misbehavior.
4. Facilitate teamwork; Prepared the ATPPS paperwork for staff to engage in PLC work as well as curriculum
work
5. Demonstrate an understanding of conflict resolution and problem solving strategies; Worked with student
and SRO to resolve issues with students as well as parents after school fight
6. Make presentations that are clear and easy to understand; Revised status of ALC document after initial
presentation that sought staff input to identify strengths, weaknesses and solutions.
7. Respond, review, and summarize information for groups; Prepared ALC program brochure to send to ALHS
as well as give to parents or students who are interested in attending the ALC. The brochure described
intake procedures as well as current curriculum options at the Albert Lea ALC.
8. Communicate appropriately (speaking, listening and writing) for different audiencesstudents, teachers,
parents, community and other stakeholders; Prepared postcards and documents for ALC
student/parent/teacher conferences. Presented at December 29 board meeting regarding the TS and CR
program options
9. Understand and utilize appropriate communication technology. Encourage staff to use Synergy to document
student/parent communications via log; Worked with DO staff to incorporate automated attendance calling
via SchoolReach for the first time with ALC students and parents/guardians each day.
G. Community Relations
1. Articulate organizational purpose and priorities to the community and media; Prepared ALC programming
brochure to share with ALHS as well as other students interested in attending ALC
2. Request and respond to community feedback; Attended school board forums on the balanced calendar and
provided TS attendance statistics to superintendent
3. Demonstrate the ability to build community consensus; Worked with county staff to bring Minnesota Teen
Challenge to the ALC for a local presentation regarding chemical use and addiction; several county staff also
attended this presentation
4. Relate political initiatives to stakeholders, including parental involvement programs;
5. Identify and interact with internal and external publics; Worked with neighboring districts to provide
information on credit recovery for students.
6. Understand and respond to the news media; Prepared fall registration information to be published in local
newspaper under education matters as well as on school district website.
7. Promote a positive image of schools and the school district; Prepared RampUp materials for ALHS
distribution to parents

8. Monitor and address perceptions about school-community issues; Developed statistics on current class of
2015 on track ALC students.
9. Demonstrate the ability to identify and articulate critical community issues which may impact local
education. Secondary programs coordinator work (2013-14) identified a working document on student
pathways for our district.
H. Curriculum Planning and Development for the Success of All Learners
1. Demonstrate the ability to enhance teaching and learning through curriculum assessment and strategic
planning for all learners, including pre-k-elementary, middle/junior high school, high school, special
education and adult levels; Assessing the value of using digital curriculum for ALC students; assessing
whether Odysseyware is the best curriculum for our students; worked with staff to provided Schoology
Training so that staff could build their own curriculum using a different platform to present to students.
2. Demonstrate the ability to provide planning and methods to anticipate trends and educational implications;
Identifying digital curriculum access for students and aligning outcomes via PLC work
3. Demonstrate the ability to develop, implement and monitor procedures to align, sequence and articulate
curriculum and validate curricular procedures; working to align EO and LT work in ALC curriculum
4. Demonstrate the ability to identify instructional objectives and use valid and reliable performance indicators
and evaluative procedures to measure performance outcomes; Working with OW to identify CTE courses that
align with Algebra II outcomes to offer students a different course to obtain those credits.
5. Appropriately use learning technologies; Used media tech dollars to purchase another Chromebook for
students to use in the new Academic Support Center as well as move desktops around so students have
multiple areas outside of the classroom to work on their coursework.
6. Demonstrate an understanding of alternative instructional designs, curriculum, behavior management and
assessment accommodations and modifications; Working with teachers to devise alternative assessments
and documentation for students to earn credits in their coursework; visited ISD 287 to discuss alternative
methods used there.
7. Demonstrate an understanding of the urgency of global competitiveness. We are working locally to
understand the urgency of getting their coursework completed. Worked with secondary programs
administrator to develop a document with multiple paths for students to access education for lifelong
learning.

I. Instructional Management for the Success of All Learners

1. Demonstrate an understanding of research of learning and instructional strategies; Attended the PLC
Institute the past two summers which guides our PLC work around essential outcomes, learning targets,
assessments and grading
2. Describe and apply research and best practices on integrating curriculum and resources to help all learners
achieve at high levels; Working on the Discovery Team and through ATPPS this past year, we were able to
look at the research around Mindset, the research around the 4 critical questions, helping teachers identify
essential outcomes and aligning their work with the assessments. Working at the ALC, this has meant to
look at the science curriculum this year and help provide resources for the new science teacher to develop
either print or online curriculum to assist students in passing their chemistry coursework which many have
struggled with and avoided taking.
3. Demonstrate the ability to utilize data for instructional decision making; Assisted teachers in
disaggregating the math and reading MCA data to determine building goals even with a very transient
population such as the ALCs. In my role at ALHS as the ATPPS building coordinator, we evaluated all of the
MCA data and compared it with the growth standards from MDE and created charts identifying which

students made growth and which made standards and multiple variations of that data for end of the year
staff data time.
4. Demonstrate the ability to design appropriate assessment strategies for measuring learner outcomes;
Visited ISD 287 W-ALT School to discuss alternative programming, schedules, curriculum and assessment.
Discussed with teachers what some of those alternative assessments might look like.
5. Demonstrate the ability to implement alternative instructional designs, curriculum, behavior management,
and assessment accommodations and modifications; Much of the work at the ALC this semester has been
looking at alternative scheduling, alternative assessments, less punitive behavior management strategies
and helping accommodate students through altered days, places to study and even working with teachers to
adopt some alternative assessments and document those alternatives for students to demonstrate learning.
6. Demonstrate the ability to appropriately use technology to support instruction; Arranged for the Google
Apps and Schoology to be presented to staff as supplements or alternatives to use when digitizing the
curriculum for student access from outside of the school walls.
7. Demonstrate the ability to meet the enrichment, remediation, and special education needs of all students;
Working with the new Director of Special Services, we are looking at alternative ways to offer Target with
the paraeducator, utilization of a second SPED licensed staff member, and begin discussions with ALHS staff
about recommending services at the ALC for students on IEP. Researched the use of Skills Tutor at the ALC
and how we can enable its use at ALHS for past grad students on IEPs for credit recovery as well as for
current students. Worked with new counselor and success coach to provide college day opportunities for ALC
students as well as PSEO possibilities.
J. Human Resource Management
1. Demonstrate knowledge of effective personnel recruitment, selection and retention; Worked with high school
principal, director of human resources and director of teaching and learning to hire a math teacher, science
teacher, ALC secretary, success coach and hall monitor; also posted for a TS teacher for elementary.
2. Demonstrate an understanding of staff development to improve the performance of all staff members;
Participated on district teaching and learning team for staff development and PLC work via ATPPS
3. Demonstrate the ability to select and apply appropriate models for supervision and evaluation; Worked with
teachers union and administrative team in the development of the new TDE model
4. Describe and demonstrate the ability to apply the legal requirements for personnel selection, development,
retention, and dismissal; Working with director of human resources on issues regarding hiring paperwork as
well as processes for support staff probationary periods.
5. Demonstrate understanding of management responsibilities to act in accordance with federal and state
constitutional provisions, statutory and case law, regulatory applications toward education, local rules,
procedures and directives governing human resource management; Reviewed information regarding
information for probationary periods of support staff
6. Demonstrate understanding of labor relations and collective bargaining; Involved as a negotiator for the
teachers union for 12 years and have sat on district committee regarding the new TDE process
7. Demonstrate understanding of the administration of employee contracts, benefits and financial accounts.
Reviewed budget information with director of finance on ALC staffing; prepared document regarding
collection of TS and CR revenue for MARSS reporting with Deputy Superintendent; prepared report for
MDE and submitted on 2013-14 ALC hours.

K. Values and Ethics of Leadership

1. Demonstrate understanding of the role of education in a democratic society; Attended the administrator
retreat to discuss the current mission, goals, policies and procedures of the district in providing education to
the community for the 2014-15 school year; Attended MDE training for alternative programming and our

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role in providing educational opportunities for local school district and surrounding school district students
who meet the graduation incentives criteria.
Demonstrate understanding of and model democratic value systems, ethics and moral leadership;
Recognizing and acknowledging student concerns about missing credits and courses from their transcripts,
an effort was made to contact past teachers, printout past gradebooks and contact past administrators to
grant those credits.
Demonstrate the ability to balance complex community demands in the best interest of learners; and Worked
with individual student who was interested in a student activities and group work, I helped her organize a
food drive for the Salvation Army to align with her work in a human services course; in addition, she helped
me create a system for Targeted Services to gain an understanding of working with public entities and
requirements.
Help learners grow and develop as caring, informed citizens; Organized and/or approved student
participation in a local Food Drive as well as served as guides at the local Rendezvous for younger students.
Demonstrate understanding and application of the Minnesota Board of School Administrators Code of Ethics
for Administrators. Identified and corrected student data and credits to assist them in moving forward
towards their diploma; reported discrepancies to supervisors regarding credits before corrections were made
to obtain appropriate documentation and approval of credits.

L. Judgment and Problem Analysis

1. Identify the elements of a problem situation by analyzing relevant information, framing issues, identifying
possible causes and reframing possible solutions; Student attendance and participation in academic advisory
was limited to approximately 15 students or less than 10% by October. In addition, those who attended the
after lunch advisory did not attend enough morning advisory to earn credit and were often disruptive for 30
minutes after lunch. Second Quarter schedules moved both advisories to the end of the day, criteria for earn
credit were clearly defined, academic support teachers were added into advisory to allow for credit recovery
opportunities and further one-to-one support in math, chemistry and online electives during the academic
advisory time. Decreased disciplinary issues were a result as well as increased academic opportunities.
2. Demonstrate adaptability and conceptual flexibility; 3rd/4th Quarter courses will move to block scheduling for
core subjects, a new hybrid IS art course, and .5 courses becoming part of the students afternoon schedule to
further support students academically and allow students to focus on only two core courses per quarter, but
extend the time to allow completion of the core course in one quarter 100-minute class.
3. Assist others in forming opinions about problems and issues; As the secondary programs coordinator, I
participated and helped the administrator organize Discovery Team work to begin to discuss student failures
and how the work by Dweck and Mindset can shape an improved learning environment at the high school. In
addition, we were able to incorporate AP training as part of the SD training for implementation in the 201516 school year.
4. Reach logical conclusions by making quality, timely decisions based on available information; Helped with
the middle school summer programming as well as provide the funding through the ALC for the middle
school field trips first semester and social-emotional opportunitiesFeed My Starving Children, rock wall
and bowling trips
5. Identify and give priority to significant issues; It was clear that a different day schedule was needed to
further reduce disciplinary incidents as well as engage students in the priority of earning credits. Past
graduation students are being worked with more diligently to offer independent study credits and altered
days to increase their attainment of credits and meet their different needs during the day. Use of the
Academic Support Center was better defined this year. Some students are assigned work there to provide
more structure for them; other students are assigned intermittently to give them a quiet workspace and
remove them from sometimes distracting classrooms.

6. Demonstrate understanding of and utilize appropriate technology in problem analysis; Using the AdminVue
app on the iPad has allowed a very quick analysis of class sizes for providing information to district office, reassigning students to different sections to balance class sizes, and for registering new students to see quickly
how many and who might be in different sections. This app provides a much quicker and complete look than
can be found using the desktop version.
7. Demonstrate understanding of different leadership and decision-making strategies, including but not limited
to collaborative models, and model appropriately their implementation. Being able to attend the
administrative meetings each month allows me to see what and how different administrators are
approaching similar problems dependent upon their facility, grade levels and students/staff involved.
M. Safety and Security
1. Demonstrate the ability to develop and implement policies and procedures for safe and secure educational
environments; Developed ALC procedure for contacting district office and SRO during crisis situations.
2. Demonstrate the ability to formulate safety and security plans to implement security procedures including
an articulated emergency chain of command, safety procedures required by law, law enforcement assistance,
communication with the public, and evacuation procedures; Participated in update of Brookside Emergency
Procedures with district facilities director.
3. Demonstrate the ability to identify areas of vulnerability associated with school buses, buildings and
grounds and formulate a plan to take corrective action; Developed plan for students leaving the program
during the school day and appropriate dismissal from school for the day; relayed that information repeatedly
to students that are currently in program as well as part of intake for new students.
4. Demonstrate understanding of procedural predictabilities and plan variations where possible; Establish staff
supervision schedule to monitor lunch room and building when I am unavailable due to meetings.
5. Demonstrate the ability to develop plans that connect every student with a school adult, eliminate bullying
and profiling and implement recommended threat assessment procedures. Work with success coach, hall
monitor, secretary and licensed staff to regularly interact with students in an appropriate manner and focus
on positive behaviors of students. Worked to discuss with staff to stop engaging in negative expectation talk
regarding students during meetings.
Subp. 3. Principal Competencies
A person who serves as a Principal will demonstrate all core competencies as described in Subpart 1 as well as
competence in the following specific areas:
A. Instructional Leadership
1. Demonstrate the ability to understand and apply school-wide literacy and numeracy systems;
2. Demonstrate the ability to understand and apply district-wide literacy and numeracy systems.
1&2: Working with the Targeted Services program K-8, Ive revised the CLP (Continual Learning Plan) to
identify the student data in math, reading and social skills in alignment with the student work during the
school day across the four elementary buildings as well as at the middle school.
B. Monitor Student Learning
1. Demonstrate the ability to create a culture that fosters a community of learners; Redesign of ALC day,
expectations and less punitive disciplinary measures
2. Demonstrate an understanding of student guidance systems and auxiliary services; Working alongside new
ALC counselor to develop a comprehensive system of monitoring student credit attainment, grades and
transcripts along with developing a thorough understanding of documentation in Synergy.
3. Demonstrate the ability to implement a positive and effective student management system; I have
documented the use of the student management system using Synergy from developing sections, registering

students, documenting disciplinary incidents, automated attendance calling, printing report cards and
making recommendations to improving the system for an ALC. In addition, we were able to go back and
correct ALC ADM Membership and Attendance hours in summer school records as well as for current credit
recovery and independent study hours.
4. Demonstrate the ability to develop and implement effective student discipline plans; By using early
dismissal and work with students through one-on-one conversations as well as altered days and placement
within classrooms, I believe weve created a calmer environment for students and less day-by-day
disciplinary issues. Comments from staff that we share the building with have led me to believe that there is
less stress in our program as perceived by others. In addition, this has led to teachers commenting on the
increased number of credits students have earned this semester.
5. Demonstrate the ability to develop a master instructional schedule; Ive developed 3 different master
schedules this semester for each quarter; Ive also worked with the middle school to assist creating a
workable and different schedule for two shared and traveling teachers within the confines of the teacher
contract and as a benefit to both schools, students and the teacher.
6. Demonstrate the ability to understand and support a comprehensive program of student activities. At the
ALC, the comprehensive program of student activities should directly correlate with the work students do
during the day to move towards graduation. Ive encouraged staff to align any extra opportunities with an
outcome or standard assigned to the coursework the students are working on.
C. K-12 Leadership
1. Demonstrate understanding of the articulation and alignment of curriculum from pre-school through grade
12; In my work as the secondary programs coordinator, I was able to provide research and input on the
pathway document that was developed by the administrator in charge.
2. Demonstrate understanding of different organizational systems and structures at pre-K, elementary, middle
or junior high and high school levels; Targeted Services K-8 as well as credit recovery has allowed me to see
how the programming from outcomes, assessment and even bussing and food services work.
3. Demonstrate the ability to work with children of all ages; My current work with TS, CR and ALC is
supported by my licensure and work in the area of being a former high school business teacher, a former
middle school dean of students, and a former K12 Library Media Specialist and Technology Integrationist
where I worked with all grade levels.
4. Demonstrate the ability to work with parents, teachers and other staff in all levels of schooling; ; My current
work with TS, CR and ALC is supported by my licensure and work in the area of being a former high school
business teacher, a former middle school dean of students, and a former K12 Library Media Specialist and
Technology Integrationist where I worked with all grade levels.
5. Demonstrate understanding of the characteristics of effective transitions from one level of schooling to the
next; Students at the ALC range from age 14-21. Some are working on 9 th grade credits as seniors. As we
look at their work, we need to ensure that they have the supportive high school work, for instance in math, to
effectively complete the chemistry work.
6. Demonstrate understanding of developmental needs of children of all ages. ; My current work with TS, CR
and ALC is supported by my licensure and work in the area of being a former high school business teacher, a
former middle school dean of students, and a former K12 Library Media Specialist and Technology
Integrationist where I worked with all grade levels.