Individual competency reviews
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.
During my internship, I have had the opportunity to witness decision making, participate in policy review committees and interact with the community in a professional and ethical manner in an effort to develop in the first competency area of leadership of the educational community. I have observed our superintendent and other members of leadership acting with integrity, fairness and high ethics to promote the success of all students as the district embarked upon a new strategic plan. I have been a part of human relations conversations with teachers who have walked a very fine line of complying with The Code of Ethics and Standard Practices for Texas Educators. As a member of the policy review committee and budget committee, my internship has provided an opportunity for me to understand, discuss, and design policy at the local level to help develop fair and reasonable guidelines for students.
I have intentionally sought opportunities to develop my skills in these areas as well. Part of my internship plan included the development of the Sister City Program with Scotland. In this program, we exchanged students for a week at a time. One week, Scotland sent over 15 students to stay with host families and experience a typical Texas high school week. They reciprocated by providing for 10 of our students. During this experience, I had the opportunity to illustrate advocating for all students by securing a scholarship for a student, providing learning opportunities for these students, securing appropriate and legally provided activities, and modeling strong ethics for all. This modeling also became a part of my internship plan of serving as receptionist for a day at the front desk of the high school. In both of these situations, the importance of serving as a superintendent with strong ethics was emphasized in my learning.
Lastly, as our district moved from an AB block at the high schools, where students had a four period 90- minute class, to a traditional eight period, 50-minute class, I learned the importance of modeling appropriate and ethical decision making. As the principal of the other high school and I planned together about making this change, we accepted the importance of monitoring and addressing the ethical issues and interacting with district staff in a professional and ethical manner. Because of the ground work that the two of us provided and the strong communication and transparency of that communication, the transition to the 50 minute classes was seamless and widely accepted as the only option with our staff and community.
In conclusion, my internship and planned activities helped strengthen an area that I felt was already a strength. I did have the opportunity to expand my experiences in interacting with district, staff, students, school board, and community in a professional manner. These opportunities are critical in providing transfer theory learning. By working with the Sister City program, I was able to help develop the opportunity to serve as an advocate for all children by working with the City of Grapevine to develop guidelines, selection process, and follow-up activities for students who would never have had this opportunity to experience another culture. This was an enjoyable competency to develop.
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.
As our district embraced a new strategic plan called LEAD 2021, I have been able to witness the shaping of a district culture that has moved from a teaching platform to a learning platform. Through my membership on the facility sub-committee as well as principal meetings, my knowledge of facilitating the development of all available resources toward realization of the district vision has expanded. The formal and informal techniques used to help monitor and assess the climate included community survey as well as employee survey. The data from these surveys was available to me and was a part of my discussions with the superintendent.
As a part of competency 2, the expectation is that the superintendent institutes procedures for facilitating the development, use and allocation of all available resources, including human resources, to support implementation of the district’s vision and goals. Through the use of assessment data, our superintendent encouraged campus leaders to develop master schedules to support high expectations and implementation of a schedule that supported success of all students. We were able to place specific students in classes with strong support for high rigor, and align specifically trained teachers with identified students for maximum learning opportunities.
My internship plan indicated that I would use the change for our two high schools from utilization of an AB block to an eight period, 50 minute class day as part of the formal and informal techniques to monitor and assess district/ school climate for effective responsible decision making. By working with the principal of the other high school, we held meetings with campus leaders, district leadership and our administrative teams to gather data, problem solve and provide feedback opportunities for our students, staff and community. This transition provided excellent opportunities for me to learn more about the importance of shaping district culture by facilitating this vision.
This competency also expects superintendents to recognize and celebrate contributions of staff and community toward realization of the district’s vision. In implementing LEAD 2021, I selected two teachers to model to the staff some of the instructional strategies to model the philosophy of a learning platform vs. teaching platform. They provided learning opportunities to the staff, follow-up activities and feedback. We celebrated their contributions to our Professional Learning Community and held them both as models for the district vision in innovative thinking, risk taking, and creative instruction. In addition, by nominating two teachers who eventually won state recognitions with prestigious awards, I understood the importance of a superintendent reaching out to recognize teachers as part of the celebration process and affirmation of their contributions to the community.
Lastly, as an avid journal reader, I continued with my learning by maintaining my awareness of emerging issues and trends affecting public education. As a participant on the march on Austin in March as well as reading journals such as Journal of Staff Development (JSD), Educational Leadership and several books, I learned the importance of communicating the significance of learning to the local educational community. These types of activities serve to gather teacher support as well as serving to model life-long learning as part of the vision and culture of the district.
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.
Through the length of my internship, our district, as well as the state, was challenged by a new legislative session. This session provided outstanding opportunities for me to witness the importance of communicating to and collaborating with families and community members. The district budget discussions that were held at various locations allowed me to witness the articulation of a district vision and prioritization of issues to the community. In addition, I realized the importance of influencing and utilizing various mediums to communicate effectively about district positions on educational issues. Through my interactions with the GCISD Education Foundation as well as with the Sister City Committee, these opportunities reinforced the importance of establishing partnerships and identifying resources for instructional support.
I witnessed the superintendent implementing and mobilizing community resources for several educational success stories during my internship. He worked collaboratively with the City of Grapevine in developing and implementing a new smart phone application which allows state of the art technology to work in tandem with the police to help ensure the safety of all students. He, and other members of the administrative team, secured community input to help pass a bond election by mobilizing community resources and communicating effectively with parents to ensure the bond success. His effective and articulate communication skills truly made the difference in strengthening district goals.
Through my observations during my internship of the use of formal and informal techniques to gather an accurate view of the perceptions of district staff, families and community members, I understood the importance of using this data to reinforce district supports. The district used a community/parent survey as well as an employee survey during my internship. I had conversations with the superintendent about the interpretation of these results, the use of the results, and the programs we were to develop or improve as a result of these findings. I truly gathered an appreciation for the strategic use of this data to reinforce the diverse community interests and needs.
Lastly, in an effort to work effectively with diverse groups in the district and community, I witnessed the district support for Camp CommUNITY and Global Extravaganza. The strategic support of these seemingly small activities made a tremendous statement to our community about the importance of celebrating our diversity as well as supporting activities that encourage diversity. These activities made me appreciate the importance of even the smallest details and seemingly insignificant activities having a huge impact on building the relationships and resources for success for all students.
In closing, our superintendent illustrated to me that his knowledge of how to communicate to and mobilize community resources to advocate success for all students was critical in this area. He made me realize that no event is insignificant and that the political statement involved in the event can have a tremendous effect on community support and perspective.
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.
This competency allowed me the opportunity for most growth because it emphasized the political, social, economic, legal and cultural context of working with the board. After attending every board meeting, observing a board work session and interviewing the superintendent, I am amazed at the importance of establishing a positive working relation with the board. The constant need for developing the strong communication, promoting positive relations, and defining roles provided a perspective about the job of a superintendent that I did not expect.
Part of my job as a high school principal which aligned with my internship plan is that of serving on the policy review committee. As updates come forward from TASB, our committee meets and reviews the recommended changes to legal and local policy. This has been an invaluable learning opportunity for me because it provided me a PreK-16 perspective, allowed me to see the interactions among the superintendent and many members of his cabinet, and reinforced the importance of knowing the legal guidelines in protecting the rights of students and staff in improving learning opportunities. This committee has done more to provide me with superintendent-like problem solving and critical thinking than almost any other activity. It helps me understand the importance of knowing those superintendent-board relations, understanding the impact of timing, and weighing the political perspective of some decisions.
During this internship, our district went through the implementation of and voting for a bond proposal as well as reducing a budget due to legislative decisions. As this competency challenges superintendents to analyze and respond to political, social, economic and cultural factors affecting students and education, I can think of no better illustration of this skill than the passage of a bond and a reduction of the budget. I was able to serve on the bond recommendation committee and witness the many community bond presentations. The superintendent and members of his administrative team provided over 20 community meetings to help educate the voters on the importance of the bond and legislative decisions. I gained a whole new perspective for the importance of responding to the larger political context during this time.
Lastly, I attended the political rally in March during this internship. My attendance at this march was truly a culminating activity for the influence my superintendent yeilded during the early spring. At the time, I did not truly appreciate the leadership he provided in presenting critical educational issues not only to the principals and administrative team, but also to the board members and teaching staff. His influence in helping over 30 people rally to defend the district vision and respond to the political factors was a vastly different experience for me, and one in which I gained a much greater understanding of the power of the superintendent position in the community.
In conclusion, since I underestimated the importance of a good working relationship between the superintendent and the board, I truly had much to learn from this competency activities. To be honest, I am not certain I will ever feel comfortable with the political nature of a superintendent job. It seems very awkward to be training and trying to respond to the very people who decide on your salary and continued employment. Perhaps this is why I still have much to learn in this area.
OMAIN 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.
If any one activity could be written for a competency, the superintendent’s implementation of our district strategic plan, LEAD 2021, is it! I was fortunate enough to watch this plan develop, help create and refine the action steps, and observe the importance of the superintendent leadership in the process. It is as if every criteria for this domain was strategically completed by our superintendent.
The entire premise of our strategic plan is about enhancing teaching and learning and ensuring curriculum alignment by using assessment data. In my internship plan, I cited my service on the LEAD 2021 sub committee for development of facilities that support the LEAD 2021 vision. This provided service to me in many areas. First of all, I was able to collaborate with members of the community to determine our vision for the facilities. I was also able to develop strong problem solving skills and help reach consensus on many of the items we were challenged to implement. In addition, I was exposed to some of the details and concerns that are faced by operating physical plants in the building. This was not an area of comfort for me, so I gained a great deal of respect and knowledge for having great people providing support in that area of expertise. Most of all, I was able to witness the careful planning and facilitation that our superintendent used in setting up this plan to promote teaching and learning.
My internship also provided me with an opportunity to view how assessments were used to measure student learning, diagnose student needs and determine effectiveness of the curriculum to ensure educational accountability. Again, serving as one of the two high school principals, I had the unique opportunity to discuss and address the importance of accountability. Our district hosts two Data Days. During this time, a team from each campus reviews AEIS data, Advanced Placement scores, End of Course data, special education information, attendance data and disciplinary data. In addition, the two high school principals meet with their administrative team to review this same data. This provides a wonderful opportunity for the campus administrative teams to learn from each other and then work with their home campus to address trends and concerns and provide intervention options in the development of campus improvement plans. This activity embodies the importance of a comprehensive district program of student assessment, diagnosing student needs and determining the effectiveness of curriculum to ensure educational accountability and improvement in student learning. I would want to continue this type of collaboration and organizational structure to encompass high student engagement and learning with academic rigor through these effective planning sessions.
I was also fortunate to be involved in technology research as a part of the bond as well as observing the facilitation of creative thinking, critical thinking and problem solving by individuals involved in curriculum design and delivery. As the superintendent and his administrative team rolled out different components of LEAD 2021, the use of technology, engagement of critical thinking strategies and best practices helped us all gain a clearer understanding of the pedagogy, design and expectations of LEAD 2021.
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.
My internship plan activities probably provided the most insight into this competency. While I believe I have a strong understanding of instructional planning, once again, I am struck by the importance of strategic and intentional design by the superintendent to advocate, promote and sustain this for the district culture. I at one time assumed the sustaining of a district culture would happen with intentional design, I realize now it does not. I continue to learn in this area.
The secondary principals met on a regular basis to analyze the implications of various organizational factors such as schedules, student discipline practices and staffing. With the budget reductions, we had to be strategic in our planning and staffing to help utilize our resources efficiently and effectively. I was fortunate that this occurred during my internship because I was able to gain a global perspective on the importance of this analysis and responsiveness to the diverse needs of our district. As we moved from the AB schedule at the high schools to the 50- minute period, we had to collaborate and work with middle schools and transportation to ensure that our school environments were conducive to learning and that the programs addressed the developmental, scholastic, social, cultural, emotional , physical and leadership needs of our students. We had to apply our knowledge of special programs to make sure the flexible instructional programs and services met student needs. This was a very helpful part of my internship.
I also interviewed district personnel involved in curricular decisions and in providing instructional resources to our secondary schools. This interview provided great insight into the challenges of providing instructional coaches to the schools and potential issues for superintendents to consider when implementing this type of resource for teachers. I better understood the activities involved and techniques utilized to help provide a rigorous and rich environment for students. I also provided an appreciation of the appropriate change processes necessary to improve adult learning.
My internship plan also provided encouragement for me to research other resources to enhance student learning. I searched several websites that provide resources for teachers to address student engagement, student success, and best practices. This research provided new venues for me to use with my staff in encouraging them to use technology to help support our LEAD 2021 vision and address student learning. Without this deliberate activity, I do not know that I would have carved the time out to pursue this research and learn new technology strategies.
My internship plan also encouraged me to promote the ongoing study of current best practices and relevant research. I selected two teachers who provided training to teachers on Assessment For Learning. This helped facilitate the development of a learning organization using sound, research-based theory and techniques that are conducive to student learning. The safe harbor and environment created by our superintendent that allowed me to encourage my teachers in this type of collaborating collegiate learning is invaluable.
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.
This is the area of competency in which I feel most comfortable and have the most fun implementing. There were many parts of my internship plan which helped facilitate my learning in this area.
I was fortunate to work with two experienced staff development presenters in designing relevant, rigorous and quality professional development activities for the staff. We utilized current professional literature and research to provide adult learning which increased the expertise and skills of the staff in understanding and implementing LEAD 2021 strategies which moved our campus from a teaching platform to a learning platform. The superintendent and his team modeled some of the same strategies which we implemented on our campus to address stronger use of technology, stronger student engagement, and more assessment for learning in both small and large groups.
I was also able to review the comprehensive counseling evaluation model from a formative and summative assessment and appraisal strategy. I had conversations with the counselors about the alignment, or, in this case, misalignment, of their evaluation instrument and their job description. I provided this information with the director who oversees the counselors for review and possible revision.
I also used our district walk-through form to discuss alignment of this instrument to the activities in a PE class. Many of the criteria on the walk-through did not relate to the activities in a PE class. As a result, the data provided for the campus do not accurately reflect the various instructional strategies used or student data provided for every PE class. This was helpful to me in that it reinforced the importance of a superintendent understanding comprehensive staff evaluation models that include formative and summative assessment.
Lastly, our district utilized an employee satisfaction survey. In my meetings with the superintendent, we reviewed the data for the campus and discussed the importance of organizational health and climate. I appreciated the insight he provided in suggesting strategies to improve performance of all staff members. I also reflected upon the video from our coursework where Dr. Bob Thompson was interviewed. I recall him talking about the importance of balancing the treatment of your faculty like family and like employees. This made an impression on me as I struggle with the appropriate relations between the superintendent and members of the teaching community.
In all, the activities from my internship plan aligned quite well in providing me with strong learning opportunities in competency seven.
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.
This spring provided a unique opportunity for school districts to evaluate their resource allocations differently than any other spring. As a result, my learning curve was greatly enhanced. I was fortunate enough to be able to work with human resources, district leadership and other secondary principals to consider the allocation of our personnel, the reduction of budgets in all areas, and make recommendations for saving and spending that were very creative.
The two high schools had to find a way to reduce $750,000 over the next two years. By viewing our budgets, we realized very quickly that the only way to make that happen was to reduce staff. As a result, we had to go to our campus leaders and work with them on developing a schedule that allowed us to absorb those positions. This required many meetings reviewing our current reality, researching possible alternatives, and leading the charge for changing from an AB block to a traditional seven or eight period day. Not only did we have to reach consensus on the best schedule, but we then had to consider certifications, selection processes, evaluations, reassignment and possible dismissal of personnel to help us reach our financial target reduction. We met several times with the middle school principals as well to determine ways we could share our personnel to help meet the needs of their students. This included meeting with human resources to make sure we were using proper transfer procedures as well as meeting with transportation to determine if the costs gained by sharing teachers would be undermined by the costs of transporting students for this gain. We also had to include nutritional services to make sure we met the daily time schedules as well as allowing enough time for nutritional services to provide for the students. During this process, I gained a much greater perspective of the global picture, which I believe will help in my advancement toward a superintendent position.
My learning was also enhanced by serving on the district bond committee. This is a committee of over 30 community members which met almost every two weeks for nine months. We divided into sub committees to allow us to research options and make recommendations to the board. I served on the technology sub-committee in order to learn more about the development and implementation of plans for using technology and information systems to enhance efficiency and effectiveness of school district operations. This committee also allowed me to use revenue forecasting and enrollment forecasting to address needs accurately . I came to realize that this process is never completed. Technology changes so rapidly and includes ideas that are beyond the knowledge we have even today. As a result, our committee made best guess efforts in determining appropriate bond recommendations. We learned to broaden our understanding of personal computing devices by visiting other school districts, listening to experts in the field, and researching cutting edge technology options.
Enrolling in this certification program also allowed me to develop my skills in technology applications. I had never experienced on-line learning before. As our students enter schools with such advanced technology exposure, I felt it pertinent to experience the harnessing of this exposure to develop learning opportunities. By using technology forecasting of this nature, I felt I would be better prepared as a superintendent to address these options in learning.
Activity #19 also allowed me to use “district and staff evaluation data for personnel policy development and decision making.” I used the data from our employee satisfaction survey, parent satisfaction survey, and senior student satisfaction survey to review our programs and make changes to address the concerns expressed in these surveys. As a result, I hired new para-profressionals and met with them to establish a new culture and protocols. I’ve also used the data to help our counseling department consider different ways of doing things to address community concerns on career and college counseling. I believe this exercise is the type of review I would use as a superintendent in making recommendations for change.
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.
The intention of my internship plan was to allow me opportunities to learn about areas that I typically would not have exposure to. Through my involvement with the LEAD sub committee involving facilities as well as my meetings with nutritional services, my school bus ride, and my interviews with the custodians, I have a much greater understanding of the importance of managing the district’s physical plant and support systems to ensure a safe and effective learning environment.
Truth be told, I enjoyed the portion of our classes that provided information on air quality, safety of the physical plant, and operations. Perhaps it is because I typically don’t have an opportunity to work in this area that I enjoyed it as much as I did.
As I rode the bus with our special education students, I gained a much greater appreciation for the support personnel and systems we have in place. These people truly make such a difference not only in the lives of the children, but also in the families of these special need students. The bus driver knew the family members, including the animals! They could tell by the way the students entered the bus whether it was a good day or a challenging day. The bus monitor knew exactly what some of the non-verbal students were communicating and responded to that need. The transportation personnel knew the teachers and knew the little nuances of the situations to help make sure there were success supports in place for the students. I cannot imagine what a district would do without the support of these people.
My interview with the director of nutritional services also provided insight I did not have previous to this exercise. She reminded me that school nutrition is a business and that a competent nutritional services director can provide great support to the district. I learned about the governmental regulations that districts must comply with and the value that nutritional services can add to a district. An efficient nutrition department can be of most importance to the district in not only providing tasty, quality and healthy food for students, but also in meeting nutritional guidelines and providing an income opportunity of marginal scale to the district.
My greatest learning opportunity in this area came from my involvement in the LEAD facility sub-committee. I learned about facility issues that I never even considered. This included, but was not limited to: types of waste management, lighting options for a building, cleaning supplies, water supply, and air quality options. I learned of government regulations, grants available for utility options, and construction considerations. Serving on this committee provided me with tremendous insight that would be helpful for a superintendent. This also made me appreciate the importance of having a reliable and capable operations manager for the district..
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.
This final competency encompasses all the skills that a great superintendent should use. In observing my superintendent and having conversations with him, I realize the importance of facilitation skills in a variety of contexts because of the monumental nature of the job. I realihey can help implement the positive change and district vision. The management of this requires a superintendent with organizational skills, decision making and leadership.
While I do not profess to have all the skills ready to move into the role of superintendent yet, I do believe that my ability to lead a large and competitive 5A high school is an asset. The nature of my role expects me to be able to apply organizational skills to comply with federal and state requirements. In addition, through the changes we have implemented for this year alone, I have had to experience decision making moments as well as facilitate the change from an AB block to eight 50-minute periods. I have had to lead the campus in embracing the district strategic plan, LEAD 2021, and the campus strategic plan, REACH. I believe these activities have helped prepare me for my next organizational challenge.
Serving on the many committees throughout this internship have also helped develop my skills in working with others, promoting collaborative decision making and developing consensus. The bond committee has made me very aware of group processes skills, effective delegation, and accountability for goal attainment. I have used my abilities to analyze and use political influences to benefit the educational organization. These are skills that I know will be of value as a leader of any organization.
Working through the shrinking allocation of resources has also been of value. While a superintendent should be able to allocate resources that are available, one should also be aware of how to make do without those resources. Unfortunately, this seems to be the current reality for more and more districts. Working with the different schools and departments in allocating personnel and resources has helped me develop a stronger understanding of the importance of a global perspective.
Lastly, I believe observing the delivery of the same and consistent message by the superintendent made an impact on me. The overarching theme of all his messages was the same: we need to change the way we do business because our resources are changing and our kids are changing. While he never specifically stated this theme, as I reflect upon my meetings with him, the speeches I have heard and the activities he has challenged the district to embrace, I realize this is his message. His facilitation of positive change in the varied contexts, venues, and opportunities helped rally people to march on the state capital to challenge our funding, embrace a drastic change in the high school structures, and accept the importance of technology and progressive teaching methods. That is truly the type of leadership that a superintendent hopes to display.
