Anna Price

EDUC 6331
Spring 2014
Competency Reflections
Competency 001: The principal knows how to shape campus culture by
facilitating the development, articulation, implementation, and stewardship
of a vision of learning that is shared and supported by the school community.
One activity lead me to grow was conducting a data-based needs assessment to
create a campus action plan to address the needs. I believe it lead my growth because
before I did this, Im not sure I would have known how to go about creating a campus
action plan. I had served on my campus committee before, which worked on our campus
improvement plan. This had been several years ago, and my principal did most of the
work. Now, we have a new principal and the plan is written differently than when I
served on the committee. In this activity, I learned to mine data and look for areas of
weakness. There were various aspects of creating a campus action plan such as
professional development, budget allocation, defining resources to support the plan, and
tools needed for improvement. This activity required a lot of time and creative thinking
of how to address the needs. When developing such a plan, you also must be
knowledgeable of professional development needed and available in your region. This
activity made an impression on me because I know how important a campus action plan
is. Its not something that is taken lightly; it drives and designates specific goals and
strategies to accomplish the goals for the school year. I would really like to learn more
about how to make sure that plan is implemented and to keep that campus driven to keep
the vision going.
Competency 002: The principal knows how to communicate and collaborate
with all members of the school community, respond to diverse interests and
During my internship I was able to see how the principal collaborates
with all the members on the school campus. There are team leader meetings
on a weekly basis, where all issues are discussed and many important
decisions are made as a team. Then the rest of the faculty is able to see what
has been discussed through team leader notes that are emailed to each staff
member. There are also various kid talk meetings, on a weekly basis, with
each team and an administrator to discuss kids that are at risk or if there
may be any other concerns. There are also administration meetings (ACT)
once a week, the ACT goes over the schedule for the week and upcoming
week, as well as any issues they may be facing. This allows all the
administrators, counselor, and curriculum specialists to make sure that they
know what is coming and to all be on the same page. I was able to attend all
the meetings to see the great teamwork and collaboration on our campus. I
also had the opportunity to take part in the meetings, to problem solve or
give suggestions to teachers that were struggling with a student. I learned
how important it is to always find the time to communicate with the staff,
meet on a regular basis and to problem solve as a team. I really need to learn
more about communicating and collaborating with parents, they are a large
part of the school community. Having a strong and positive communication
with parents is very important, but I know that it can be very difficult. I
would like to learn more about the best way to communicate with parents,
about a variety of issues, whether it be positive or negative.
Competency 003: The principal knows how to act with integrity, fairness, and
in an ethical and legal manner.
Principals acting with integrity, fairness, and in ethical ways are how you must be
at all times. This competency is overarching to all of them. "Do unto others as you would
have them do unto you". Most people learn ethical norms at home, at school, in church,
or in other social settings. As educational administrators mastering the ethical pedagogy
that is necessary to make sound and appropriate decisions is of great importance in a
public school setting. n order to have a staff that can depend, trust, and learn from you,
principals must understand this competency well. My principal treats everyone in the
same manner, and has created a more calm and team developing campus community. t
often times is difficult to be the leader because decision have to be made, that affect
many people, but that decision is the best for the school. really would like to learn more
about the ethics for teachers that really do need to improve in the classroom or the best
interest of the school would be to let them go.
Competency 004: The principal knows how to facilitate the design and
implementation of curricula and strategic plans that enhance teaching and
learning; ensure alignment of curriculum, instruction, resources, and
assessment; and promote the use of varied assessments to measure student
performance.
nstructional leaders must monitor progress of student!s learning, the "uality of
the student!s work, and the degree of implementation of teaching and learning strategies
through multiple data sources. The use of a variety of assessment and the observation
approach to collect evidence of learning is an important factor. #eflect should be given
to the curricular and strategic plan. f the strategic plan is not working, than ad$ustments
should be made based on evidence of successful learning and teaching. Professional
Development should be implemented on a continuous basis. %urround the teaching with a
supportive learning environment that honor and respect individualism. This is where
have grown the most as a graduate student headed towards a future administrative role.
&onducting a needs assessment is the first step in facilitating the design and
implementation of any curriculum plan to enhance teaching at your school. 'nce you
understand what is needed, you can then collaboratively develop a plan. %ometimes this
plan may involve having leaders at your campus other than yourself implementing the
plan while you monitor it. As administrators you must go inside the classrooms to hold
accountability with your teachers. f they do not see you as part of the plan it will not
happen. t is important to know your own
Competency 005: The principal knows how to advocate, nurture, and sustain
an instructional program and a campus culture that are conducive to student
learning and staff professional growth.
This competency is linked directly to number four. 'nce you have created or
adopted a new program or policy it is important that you continually monitor it. Through
meeting with your campus teams on a routine basis, faculty meetings, or meeting with
your nstructional team will help you be able to sustain an instructional program well. As
principal, it is difficult to be everywhere at the same time. (aving these support systems
at your campus will help promote growth of teachers and achieve success for students.
Principals must make sure staff receives ongoing professional development. n this area
need to learn more about making sure that teachers are being able to go to development
that really will help them in the classroom, and they apply what they have learned on a
regular basis.
Competency 006: The principal knows how to implement a staff evaluation
and development system to improve the performance of all staff members,
select and implement appropriate models for supervision and staff
development, and apply the legal requirements for personnel management
There were so many activities that brought about great learning, it was hard to
pick just one. I would have to say the most difficult one was to develop my internship
plan alongside my supervisors to address the needs of the school. It took a lot of
collaboration and communication to figure out how we would address the needs of the
plan and the school. I also think having two supervisors allowed the needs to be
addressed in a clearer fashion. One supervisor guided me through the principal/leadership
part, and the other on the technology side. My supervisors had different things to offer as
far as creating activities. The plan that we came up with has helped our school and
district in so many ways that I never dreamed. When I started, I knew what the plan said.
Now that I am done, I am able to look back and see the impact the plan has made in
improving our school by meeting both my needs and the schools needs.
Competency 007: The principal knows how to apply organizational, decision-
making, and problem-solving skills to ensure an effective learning
environment.
Throughout my internship I really saw that a leader is expected to get
the job done. To do so, he or she must learn to plan, analyze situations,
identify and solve problems (or potential problems), make decisions, and set
realistic and attainable goals for the unit. These are the thinking or creative
requirements of leadership and they set direction. There must be a vision,
purpose, and goal definition. A leader is expected to get the job done. To do so
the principal most analyze situations, identify and solve problems (or
potential problems), make decisions, and set realistic and attainable goals for
the school. These are the thinking or creative requirements of leadership and
they set direction. I was not able to really help in solving problems or fixing
situations for the whole entire school, which I would really like to learn more
about. I saw that this competency is one of the most important the principal
needs to be a strong problem solver and have a team to help find a situation.
Competency 008: The principal knows how to apply principles of effective
leadership and management in relation to campus budgeting, personnel,
resource utilization, financial management, and technology use.
With a budget set into place, our school secretary manages the budget
and allows the principal and teams to know what funding we do have. It is
important to make sure that we have all the funding that we need, especially
from Title One. I learned how the principal allocates all the money, the most
important to her was what can help the students improve, which is the tutors
that are at our school. Technology is really needed on our campus so we are
working on what technology we can receive on our campus. The goals for next
year will be to receive more technology for classrooms, tablets and SMART
boards. Be able to talk to the secretary and look over the budget was a great
way for me to learn how and where the money goes. This competency feel am
the weakest on, and hope to grow when placed into an administrative role. understand
the concept of budgeting and how important it is to have checks and balances systems set
up. know that every district handles the money allocation differently, so it will be my
$ob to ask lots of "uestions and learn these systems as am trained. Technology is
constantly changing, revising, or improving from year to year. As a principal, it is my $ob
to attend trainings and do my best to stay current with technology. f you e)pect your
teachers to dive into it, it is important that you model using it through a faculty meeting
or training. I would really like to learn more on how the money is given to the
school and what the guidelines are for purchasing.
Competency 009: The principal knows how to apply principles of leadership
and management to the campus physical plant and support systems to ensure
a safe and effective learning environment.
*ith a safety committee at our school we are able to work together to make sure
that every safety procedure is set into place. +ach team has a member that is on the
committees, that way the whole campus is able to be aware of all the safety procedures.
%afety and security is the foundation in which a school is ran. t is the $ob of the principal
to develop and implement policies and procedures that promote a safe, orderly
environment. %tudents must abide by the code of conduct to ensure safety. Principals
must make sure the teachers have received this code of conduct page back from the
parents in case a rule was violated. ,othing is official unless you have it in writing.
Principals must train their teachers on safety precautions in case of an emergency. know
that even if these policies and procedures are set in place, it does not mean that they will
not have to be revised as it occurs. The evaluation process is continual as different safety
issues arise in our world today. 'ne important thing that learned is how important it is
to practice the safety drills, the staff and students. This year we really took the time
during staff in-service and the school day to practice each drill, several times. This helped
the students to learn what to do in each situation and also the teachers being able to keep
the students as safe as possible. *hat really would have liked to learn is how the safety
procedures or drills are created.