EDLD+5333+Reflections

EDLD 5333 Reflections
The Texas Education Code 11.253 states, “Each school year the principal of each school campus, with the assistance of the campus-level committee, must develop, review and revise the Campus Improvement Plan (CIP). The campus-level committee is a site-based decision making committee (SBDM). Many benefits arise from SBDM. An important benefit is goals and objectives are supported more readily because the group is involved in making decisions. Likewise, a diverse committee brings different perspectives and ideas. J. Jay Marino (2007) states, “By establishing a community of leaders, administrators can collectively harness the talent of a diverse group of individuals and benefit from their multiple perspectives” (p. 10). Creating an agenda for a professional development day incorporating a establishing an online learning community as one of the activities helped me connect the purpose of online professional learning communities covered in the previous course.

School vision is the mental image of what a person or group of people want the school to become in the future. According to Peterson (1995), Bennis and Nanus (1986) wrote that a vision is a “mental image of a possible and desirable future state of the organization” (para. 2).

Peterson (1995, para. 11) lists the following components of a school vision:
 * A vision features a compelling picture or image of what the school can become in the future.
 * A vision is feasible and attainable.
 * A vision is connected to and articulates deeper values and hopes for the future.
 * A vision needs to be translated into actions and plans that can be and are implemented.
 * A vision will die if it is not regularly communicated. Putting a mission statement into a drawer will achieve nothing and might be counterproductive.

As reported by Peterson (1995), Bennis & Nanus (1986) determined a shared vision is developed by the school leader in collaboration with major stakeholders which may include teachers, parents, and community members. The vision is articulated in a written statement as part of a document, mission statement, or beliefs statement (Sashkin, 1988). Sashkin (1988) and Deal and Peterson (1995) suggest communicating and articulating a school vision by modeling consistent behavior and expressing through words and deeds. The shared vision is implemented through verbal and nonverbal expression. A clear well-developed vision that is consistently articulated, communicated, and expressed in a variety of ways, will be implemented by determining “how people spend their time, what problems they solve, and how resources are distributed” (Peterson, 1995, para. 9).

Alvin High School articulates the vision through verbal expression, words, actions, behaviors, deeds, decision-making centered on accomplishment of the vision, responsibility, accountability, professional development and display of school spirit.

The material from the recommended Web sites has helped me understand the importance of creating a vision as a tool for achievement of goals. The information learned will be utilized as a tool to guide in the creation of a personal vision for leadership by focusing on establishment of a clear, achievable, and realistic vision.

It is important for a principal to have a personal vision of leadership to ensure actions and decisions regarding the campus improvement process are focused, based on outcomes, and relevant to the improvement of the campus; therefore, making it easier to achieve long-term goals by developing a plan and ensuring consistent actions (Dyer, n.d.).

An important role of the SBDM committee is to ensure two-way communication. Although this student previously participated in such a committee, she was not aware of this particular responsibility. SBDM in public schools was new and everyone including the principal was learning how to initiate the process; therefore, the role of communicators may not have been stressed.

SBDM is a powerful tool for the campus principal. Although under the No Child Left Behing Act of 2001 (NCLB) the principal is responsible for student achievement, the SBDM committee will help ensure the CIP goals and objectives are established, supported, followed, and achieved.

The continuous campus improvement cycle involves setting goals and timelines and procedures for monitoring progress towards achieving the goals. Once the Academic Excellence Indicator System (AEIS) reports which are used as the summative evaluation for the school year are received and clear evidence of increased student performance is demonstrated, the campus improvement cycle begins again. The Site Based Decision Making Committee (SBDM) will meet to discuss the performance of the campus and the campus performance objectives. The Campus Improvement Plan (CIP) is adjusted to clarify the vision and set new goals and objectives. The SBDM determines how much improvement is needed to move the campus to the next target or level and which student populations will need interventions. Data will be shared with community members, parents and staff to provide opportunity for input. Professional Development will be scheduled to align with the campus needs as revealed by the data. Determine which programs, processes, or procedures will be discontinued or modified to make room new campus priorities. New benchmarks and assessments will be set for the following school year. With the new CIP come new goals and objectives, the campus improvement cycle begins again immediately.

References

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Dyer, W. (n.d.). Retrieved from []

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Marino, J. (2007). A new paradigm for organizational change: Involving customers and stakeholders in the improvement process. //The Journal for Quality and Partipation, 10-12.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Peterson, K. (1995). Critical Issue: Building a collective vision. Retrieved from <span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">[]