Shauna Catalano

ELCC Standard 1.0: A building-level education leader applies knowledge that promotes

the success of every student by collaboratively facilitating the development, articulation,

implementation, and stewardship of a shared school vision of learning through the

collection and use of data to identify school goals, assess organizational effectiveness, and

implement school plans to achieve school goals; promotion of continual and sustainable

school improvement; and evaluation of school progress and revision of school plans

supported by school-based stakeholders.

ELCC STANDARD ELEMENTS:

ELCC 1.1: Candidates understand and can collaboratively develop, articulate, implement,

and steward a shared vision of learning for a school.

ELCC 1.2: Candidates understand and can collect and use data to identify school goals,

assess organizational effectiveness, and implement plans to achieve school goals.

ELCC 1.3: Candidates understand and can promote continual and sustainable school

improvement.

ELCC 1.4: Candidates understand and can evaluate school progress and revise school

plans supported by school stakeholders.

Benchmark – Reviewing the Professional Culture Shauna Catalano Grand Canyon University: EAD 513

Brief Summary

In this case study the public high school includes grades 9-12 with 1,450 students in total. The school has a total of 45 full-time teachers and the school budget has included room for nine teachers to be hired for fall. The administration team includes three administrators, and two have resigned including the head principal and one assistant principal that resigned in winter. Transitional administrators were assigned to finish off the school year until these positions can be filled for the upcoming school year. Along with the loss of these administration positions, seven teachers said they will not be returning in fall including elective and core content teachers. The office support includes a receptionist, an attendance clerk, and three administrative assistants to support the administrators. Teacher observations were not consistent the prior year and many did not receive evaluations. Not all the teachers used a standard curriculum, and the principal was made aware of that. Professional development has been inconsistent, and on teacher development days many teachers are left on their own with no support in the professional developments. Collaboration is an issue and needs to be addressed for the fall. The new principal has been hired in July for the upcoming school year.

Vision and mission

Vision Statement: Committed to serving every student every day.

Mission Statement: In collaboration with educators, parents, and the community, will prepare all students academically, socially, and emotionally for college, careers, global citizenship, leadership, and 21 century lifelong learners.

The outcome is to put the vision and mission statement into effect in the upcoming school year immediately. It will focus on collaboration with the community

and prepare students for academic success as well as supporting them emotionally. The goal will be to prepare them to be successful adults with citizenship and leadership skills to become lifelong learners in our global society. Short term goals will be to put up the vision and mission statement on the school’s website and have it posted around campus. The principal will also have the teachers post it on the top of each of their Google Classrooms. Long term goals will be to use the vision and mission statement to set goals in the SIP and school’s budget. The principal will create a school site council team, an ILT or leadership team, and lay down a calendar for professional developments. The vision and mission will be used in all capacities of these committees and collaboration.

Collaborating for Data B

“Scholars predict that 21st century schools will depend on the professional capacities of their members, their dedication to innovation, and their commitment to professional collaboration” (Krasniqi, 2021). The collaboration will start with the teacher’s professional development days prior to the new school year. The teachers need to become dedicated to the commitment in supporting the vison and mission for the upcoming year, including newly hired teachers. The SIP plan was created in July with the school site council committee consisting of administration, parents, teachers, and a district representative. The school site council includes community support in its creation and will be visible on the Parent Connect and Parent Square site online. During the professional development days, the teachers will become familiar with the goals in the SIP that align with the vision and mission for the high school in which will lead in their teaching. The principal will then set up a calendar for teacher collaboration throughout the school year in grade level, department, and one professional day each month with the

whole staff. Data such as test scores or benchmarks will be used to identify what professional development is needed to support the SIP and see growth with students’ academic success.

Productive Family Relationship (B)

The principal will use a district wide program called Parent connect which can be accessed through the school website. The principal will also use a program called Parent Square to communicate weekly information on the school’s activities and events. Parent Square can also be used to directly connect with their students’ teachers and administrators. Parent Square is an app that can be added on any smartphone for quick announcements and text messages. By using these applications, the principal can connect with parents, families, and the community to support the school culture of academic success and positive relations for the school. A PTA will also be offered for parents to join and to gain additional support in planning community events and supporting school programs throughout the year. The principal, ASB, and the PTA will be utilized to set a calendar of school and community events that will then go out on Parent Square and Parent Connect.

Productive Community Partnerships (B)

When planning events at the high school the community will be able to support in a variety of ways. Some of the elective classes will use local business for internships such as in the human development or medical classes. There will be business invited as local vendors during sports games or in fundraising for various clubs and programs that the high school offers. Events like college and career days will be provided with local college representatives, military representatives, and various local professionals and business to

promote future opportunities for the students after and during high school. Weekend events may be scheduled such as a car show that will be on the high school campus, but it will be a community event with local food trucks and vendors attending. The arts programs will connect with the local art museum for displays and shows. Any school productions will be open to the public using the school’s theater. During the holidays the high school band will have scheduled parades and events in the downtown area for the community. Each of these events will build, and sustain a productive school environment with ongoing community support.

Public Advocacy (B)

In using the ILT team and school site council the principal will monitor the goals in the SIP plan and adjust if necessary. Since the school budget cannot be changed, then the focus will be to use data to see if the students are meeting the goals set forth in the plan. Professional developments will be created to teach strategies for the teachers to have ongoing support for their student’s success. The principal will include the school district in support of these professional development days. If the Language arts department or math department need additional support, the district will use a TOSA (Teacher on Special Assignment) that can lead a Professional Development and co-teach strategies in classrooms for implementation. Public Advocacy will also be in the form of having the assistant principals follow and track attendance and behavior according to the educational codes. This will include monthly SARB (School Attendance Review Board) meetings at the district office, with the district attorney for attendance and behavior problems in accordance with the law.

Rationale

The purpose of the principal will be to develop a new school vison and mission that collaborates effectively with the community including parents, students, and teachers. With the support of the district, the administrators, staff, and office personal, all will be able to promote a school culture for student success in academics, leadership, and engages in 21 century learning. According to Shaping School Culture, “Student achievement was related to a shared set of core beliefs, a focused and clear sense of purpose, recognition of staff member and student accomplishments, intellectual engagement, and celebrations of success” (Deal & Peterson, 2016). The core beliefs of the school’s vision and mission will be shared and embedded in all aspects of the school’s culture and include the staff, teachers, and students on what the focus of the learning environment will be. By beginning with a new vision and mission plan the implementation will begin with the professional development of the teachers in summer. Having the teachers then promote them in Google classrooms, and the principal making it visible on the parent connect applications, will set the tone of the school culture. Discipline plans will be updated to meet the needs of the school culture, everyone is trained in the school’s code of conduct that is needed to achieve this environment. The assistant principals and school counselors will be able to monitor this with the support of SARB, and district support with promoting attendance and avoiding behavioral issues. “Students perform better academically and engage in fewer problem behaviors in school settings where there are clear expectations and where they feel connected and cared for” (Mallory et al., 2018). With a set of discipline and rules at the high school the students will be able to focus on learning with as little distractions as possible. The expectations will be taught and reinforced throughout the school year with the support of teachers, administrators, and school counselors. If outside resources are needed the

school will use the help of the SRO (School Resource Officer) as needed for individual student cases. Outreach coordinators and SARB will support student attendance for additional support in meeting student’s educational goals. Collaboration will be a key use in the day-to-day service of the principal and administration team. Teachers will have a calendar for the year with a collaboration schedule. This will ensure each teacher is engaged in supporting one another and has the goal of students’ success and support in a variety of areas. The principal will collaborate with the administration team weekly, and with the leadership team monthly, for the purpose of reviewing data and adjusting goals to support the school climate. The principal’s communication and collaboration with the parents and community will add an additional layer of support for students’ success. With implementation of a new vision and mission, and making it a priority for collaboration, the community, parents, teachers, staff, and students will have a successful year.

References

Kransiniqi, R. (2021). Principal’s Role in Supporting Teacher Collaborative

Learning. Research in Educational Administration and Leadership,

6(4), 903-941.

https://doi.org/10.30828/real/2021.4.5

Deal, T. E., & Preterson, K. D. (2016). Shaping school culture. Jossey-Bass.

Malloy, J. M., Bohanon, H., & Francoeur, K. (2018). Positive Behavioral

Interventions and Supports in High Schools: A Case Study From

New Hampshire. Journal of Educational and Psychological

Consultation, 28(2), 219-247.

https://doi.org/10.1080/104774412.2017.1385398

The benchmark on Reviewing Professional Culture was an important assignment that aligns with ELCC 1.0-1.3. In ELCC  1.3 the candidate understands and can promote continual and sustainable school improvement. This paper put myself in the shoes of a principal in a school that needed improvement in a variety of areas. Principals and teachers were leaving the school and the school had no vision and mission plan to set the stage with how to fix the many issues. Being able to design a vision, mission and how to join a community to support the school and help it grow in a variety of ways, is something that will be required as a future administrator. The paper has ideas on how to develop a school culture that will allow for teacher collaboration and ways to involve the community for the success of the high school students. As an administrator it will often be the case that promotion of continual and sustainable school improvement will be an ongoing task to develop throughout the year. If a plan is set in place and the stakeholders and the schools teams use the mission with attainable goals throughout the year, then the school's success and student achievement will only get stronger. The school culture will be evident if this plan can be followed to strengthen the school community.

 For this artifact I thought it really helped to realize that as a leader you are the one that is responsible for your schools curriculum. In ELCC 1.1 and 1.2 having a vison and mission for the school is vital for student success. We will be working with teachers to help them design and support the implementation of our school vision, which will hopefully be for higher student academic achievement. The SIP or CIP plan should have the goals set for the year and the alignment of the curriculums should organized for effectiveness. Data needs to be used to plan and evaluate which standards need implementation that aligns with the goals created for school improvement. This also relates to the budget and where the money is going and coming from and what curriculum guides will give us our most success. 

My rationale on why I chose this artifact is because it was my first attempt at creating a professional development presentation. My learnings on this topic helped in my ability to see what I did correctly and what modifications I needed. I was very unsure when creating this and was not clear on what direction to go in. Therefore, I made a few changes in the final one I created and took the advice of those I presented it to on how to make better ones in the future.  If the slides are too detailed with too much information, a lot can get lost in the retention of the topics being presented. In the PD's we have at my school, my administration has not used speaker notes, but I did find these helpful when presenting as it kept my thoughts on track. In presentations, if new topics are being taught, then it is good to have some breaks or activities in between like a pair share so there is time for participants to discuss what they are learning, and if they have any questions. Having the parking lot wall, some sort of ticket out, then a follow up with department collaboration, also helps in the participants digesting what was being taught using strategies. In the future I will feel more confident in creating professional developments, as a future administrator I would use support from my ILT and assistant admins to help plan one together as well. ELCC 1.1 wants us to collaboratively develop, articulate, implement the shared learning for our school. That is why it is key to design professional developments with others, where a shared vision can be communicated in the PD. The vision and mission statement should be supported in the programs that are chosen to be presented to the staff. The content needs to be relevant to the school and the district to maximize instruction for student achievement.

Induction Plans for Beginning Teachers

Agenda Item 1-6

Topic Title:

We will be welcoming new teachers to our welcome session called “Condors Soar”. The goal will be to get the new teachers excited about our school community.

Facilitators:

The Leadership team will be present, which consists of 8 teachers, along with the three administrators at the middle school, and district representatives.

Session Description: Room set up is in the Literacy Center with tables for 4 adults to sit at. Seating will be two new teachers, an ILT member, and a district member or administrator.

8:00-9:00 Introductions

• The new teachers will be given name tags and have time to meet some of the other teachers, and the ILT, while serving morning refreshments.
• The new members will introduce themselves to the group and share what positions they were hired for.
• A quick ice breaker game will open the orientation.

9:00-10:00 Review of resources

• Administration will go over the teacher’s handbook which is a google classroom at our school. They will also be shown how to get resources from the shared google drive.
• The new teachers will be showed where to go to find all the resources in the google classroom in categories such as; Safety, Project Based Learning Resources, Book Return, Promotion, State Testing, Professional Developments for the year, Grading, Substitute info, Collaboration, Behavior and Discipline Policies, and the School Site council, etc.
• Time should be given in this hour for them to explore the sections and get comfortable with the resources.

10:00-10:15 Break

10:15- 10:45 Materials

• The teachers will be shown how to order supplies, where to make purchase orders, and be introduced to the administrative assistant that does these in the office.

10:45- 11:30 School Tour

• Teachers will get a tour of the campus so they can be familiar with the school.
• Going over our vision and mission would be great at this time, as they are both displayed in our quad and in the front of the school.
• During the tour, safety issues can also be addressed on how we do fire, earthquake and active shooting drills.

11:20-12:30 Lunch

• Lunch will be provided by the PTA, district representatives have also been invited, along with the ILT, so new teachers are given a chance to see the school and districts culture.

12:30-1:30 Technology

• Teachers will be trained on how to use QIS which is the program used to take attendance and submit grades.
• They will also be trained on how to use Parent Connect which is where all announcements go out, and teachers can communicate to parents about their students at any time.

1:30-2:30 Curriculum

• If possible, teachers will be able to go to their assigned classes and spend sometime going over the curriculum they are teaching, and any pacing or mapping guides they need to know for teaching. If they have been paired with a mentor then it would be beneficial if the mentor is with them for support if questions arise.

2:30-3:00 Debrief

• A quick close to the day where teachers are able to have a Q and A for anything else they may need clarification on.

Purpose and Criteria

A Criteria is a set of standards that the new teachers need to understand so they can support student achievement. The new teacher induction program in our county is based around an ILP, Individualized Learning Plan, that they have to complete this over the course of each semester. The ILP is based off professional goals the mentor and teacher set for themselves with several activities, evaluations, and personal reflections. The mentors should come from our school so they can meet with their new teacher weekly, and hopefully paired ahead during the teacher orientation. The mentor should have been trained by the district, and is a highly effective teacher with at least 5 years of teaching experience. The mentor teacher should commit to continuous learning and supporting the new teacher with effective feedback, collaboration, and strategies to help the new teachers.

Timeline

Mentor teachers need to be trained for a year in our district. They also need to have 5 years of teaching experience, and many times these teachers will also be on the leadership team or department head. Both the mentor and the new teacher have to meet at least once a week for an hour for two years of induction for the new teacher. The new teacher will be going to meetings monthly at the county office to go over their ILP’s. Expectations for the mentor would be to be with their new teachers during the orientation, if unable to do so then during classroom set up they need to check in with their mentee to see how they are doing. Induction mentors will also have professional developments or trainings from the county every other month. Even though the mentor and the new teacher are to meet once a week, the mentor should also be available anytime to support with informal meetings. The relationship between the two should have an effective relationship where learning and professional development will grow.

Induction Activities

Once the teacher orientation is over and new teachers have been teamed up with mentors for induction, the principal should allow them time to meet and talk about the framework of the program. They should review the responsibilities of each of them and set up meetings and any trainings on a google calendar. The mentor should set up teacher observations where the mentee can go observe expert teachers in their subject area. They can observe their mentor, an ILT member, or a veteran teacher in their department. The observations would allow the new teacher to see best practices, strategies, objectives, and classroom management techniques. The more opportunities the mentee has to observe, the better they can get an insight to the school’s community.

The next activity would be to have the mentor do observations in the new teacher’s class. They can focus on a few things like a particular strategy, standard, or if the classroom management, etc. One area that new teachers struggle with is classroom management and just using their time efficiently can help support them with ideas and tips. The mentor would be able to see any struggles and provide feedback when necessary. “Teachers who do not have sufficient preparation to adequately organize their classroom and instruction to meet your adolescents’ unique needs are at a disadvantage as they begin their careers” (Martin et al., 2016).

Professional Development Topics

In our state of California, the new teachers would be going to monthly professional developments at the county office for two years. These professional developments would each have a different topic, and provide support for them as they move through their ILP’s and TPE, the California Teaching Performance Expectations. The new teachers would also be going to the regular professional developments with the whole staff when these are given. If the induction program is not supporting them enough, then other options for PD’s can be offered if extra support is needed. Collaboration with their department and team are other professional opportunities that make sure the new teachers are pacing with the others in their department. “Regular collegial conversation about instruction and trust in colleagues is a key indicator of high achievement for students” (Desravines et. al., 2016) Giving new teachers as many resources as possible will ensure that they can feel welcomed and supported as they go through their year.

Budgetary Implications

Those who mentor the new teachers will receive a stipend for their time and effort. This does not affect the school budget as the stipend money is provided by the district. To be an induction mentor you also have to apply through the district. We have a TOSA, teachers on special assignment who is in charge of the program from the district office. The only budget concerns for the school would be if extra teachers are hired then more money might need to be allocated for them.

Servant Leadership

Administrators who lead with this philosophy can increase teacher effectiveness in their schools. It is a style of leading where the administration is the one that allows the teachers to grow by encouraging them to increase their professional growth and take charge of many aspects of the school. Servant leaders are there to model and support the teachers as they grow and develop their craft. This type of leadership puts the leader and the teacher on more common grounds to build the school community. “Servant leaders are able to imagine what it is like to be in another person’s situation, and strive to understand and appreciate where someone is coming from, even when their perspective is different” (Stewart, 2017). The induction program should try to find mentors that have a similar leadership style where they can empress these values with the ones they are mentoring.

References

Martin, K. L., Buelow, S. M., & Hoffman, J. T. (2016). New teacher

Induction: Support that impacts beginning middle-level educators.

Middle School Journal, 47(1), 4-12

https://doi.org/10.1080/00940771.2016.1059725

Desravines, J., Aquino, J., & Fenton, B. (2016). Breakthrough Principals: A

Step-by-Step Guide to Building Stronger Schools. John Wiley & Sons.

Stewart, J. (2017). The importance of Servant Leadership in Schools.

International Journal of Business Management and Commerce,

2(5). https://www.ijbmcnet.com/images/Vol2No5/1.pdf

For this artifact I chose the teacher induction plan. In education we often see teachers come and go. Hiring teachers can be a yearly event. The induction program is for non-tenured teachers, beginning teachers and is an important program for new teachers. When I was in induction, the principal I had never gave us support with that program. Once we had a mentor then there was no additional administration support. I have learned that this program should include the principal from the day the teachers are hired until they finish their program. New teachers should feel welcome and feel like they can become part of the school community and get support from various places. I also think that mentoring teachers is also important as a leader. We have been in the classrooms, we have kept up on research and we know what works. Mentoring new teachers on classroom management and strategies for student success is important for a leader to take part in.