Monday, February 28, 2011

EDLD 5364 Teaching w/ Technology Week 1 Discussion

According to one of this week’s readings, teachers should use tools and resources that match student learning styles. “Technology makes it possible to target the right approaches for each student in order to provide individualized and differentiated instruction.”(Solomon, & Schrum, 2007) This week’s videos and readings expressed that technology should be used with instruction because computer and internet use are growing and students are sophisticated users. Computers lend themselves easily to differing learning styles simply because of the huge number of software tools and “gadgets” available to today’s educators. Teaching practices employing the uses of questioning what the students already know coupled with activities such as planning a trip and budget, journaling about a topic and studying details. This all combines with the creation of a final presentation to make thoughtful student centered learning. Technology can be used to assist students with research about a topic of study and in the presentation of the findings. The research and all the multimedia artifacts used can also be stored in an eportfolio for use in the future. The strategies for using technology in education mentioned here, are constructive in nature, but some teachers feel that constructivism is not teaching. These opponents do not think that student-centered and student-led learning is meaningful since the teacher has only a leadership role with a classroom manager-like presence. They think that teachers must be the ones to deliver all information.

Schools today are being forced to change and incorporate more technology due to the sophistication of today’s students who do not consider technology an “extra”. Technology for these kids is a way of life and a major source of communication. Technology has changed the way today’s youth approach life. This is the way they communicate, research, learn, play and are challenged. Simply sitting in a classroom taking notes everyday doesn’t help them learn, it makes them resist. I've been thinking about constructivism vs Cyborg learning theories as after reading this week's information. The two theories seem to be opposite processes. Constructivism states that learners tie new learning to previous knowledge and that it is an internal personal event. Current beliefs and knowledge are a framework to which learners assimilate new learning. Cyborg theory, on the other hand, states that new learning will happen so fast that we, as learners, will not be able to connect it with any background, or prior, knowledge because there will not be any. The things we are about to be exposed to are unknown and do not currently exist. The knowledge that we now have will become less and less important. Cyborg theory asserts that we must learn how to learn in order to be ready for an unknown future.

Solomon, G., & Schrum, L. (2007). Web 2.0 new tools, new schools. Eugene, OR: International Society for Technology in Education.

Comments:
Jeron Ricks
2/23/2011 1:51 PM - Edited(2/23/2011 2:22 PM)

ReplyMy brother and I have had a few students say we aren't very good teachers because when they ask questions we don't answer them, we direct them to where to find the answer. With Google and other massive search engines combined with the ease of net connected cell phones and i-pods makes access to facts quite easy for students. We have to help them learn how to use those facts to create thoughts and ideas. In this way we are helping them figure out how to learn instead of just feeding them information and facts.

Sharron Bills
2/24/2011 8:48 PM

Cyborg theory asserts that knowledge will arrive a
Cyborg theory asserts that knowledge will arrive at such a rapid pace there will no time for humans to connect prior knowledge to the new information. While I understand that the new knowledge will be overwhelming at times, I can’t believe that existing knowledge will not color what humans do with the rapidly developing cyborg type information. In fact, technology will begin to merge with human identity, and become part of the human experience (Dallas, 2009).
Dallas. (2009, November 2). Re: Cyborg learning theory in education…[Web log comment]. Retrieved from http://greenbananablog.org/2009/11/cyborg-learning-theory-in-education/

EDLD 5364 Teaching w/ Technology Week 1 Final Word

Final word
To both Sharron’s and Jeron’s comments about technology in the classroom, I would say that this phenomenon is creeping more and more into our students’ lives both in and out of school. Jeron mentioned the use of iPods and cellphones to access information through the internet. I have had students ask me of they could use their phone to show me information that they’ve found online. Martel describes several technologies that can be used in the classroom to help special education and general education students. There are text to speech programs that can help students compose essays by speaking into a microphone and even pen scanners that allow students to scan information directly into their computers which can then be read to them.
I agree with Sharron’s comment that human knowledge must color what we learn when and if the Cyborg learning theory comes to pass. I find it difficult to grasp a time when knowledge comes so fast that we will not be able to connect it with any prior learning or understanding.

Martel, J. (2011, February 27). Technology integration in the special education classroom. Retrieved from http://www.brighthub.com/education/special/articles/108419.aspx

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

EDLD 5364 Teaching w/ Technology Week 1

According to one of this week’s readings, teachers should use tools and resources that match student learning styles. “Technology makes it possible to target the right approaches for each student in order to provide individualized and differentiated instruction.” (Solomon, & Schrum, 2007)
This week’s videos and readings expressed that technology should be used with instruction because computer and internet use are growing and students are sophisticated users. Computers lend themselves easily to differing learning styles simply because of the huge number of software tools and “gadgets” available to today’s educators. Teaching practices employing the uses of questioning what the students already know coupled with activities such as planning a trip and budget, journaling about a topic and studying details. This all combines with the creation of a final presentation to make thoughtful student centered learning. Technology can be used to assist students with research about a topic of study and in the presentation of the findings. The research and all the multimedia artifacts used can also be stored in an eportfolio for use in the future.
The strategies for using technology in education mentioned above, are constructive in nature, but some teachers feel that constructivism is not teaching. These opponents do not think that student-centered and student-led learning is meaningful since the teacher has only a leadership role with a classroom manager-like presence. They think that teachers must be the ones to deliver all information.
Schools today are being forced to change and incorporate more technology due to the sophistication of today’s students who do not consider technology an “extra”. Technology for these kids is a way of life and a major source of communication. Technology has changed the way today’s youth approach life. This is the way they communicate, research, learn, play and are challenged. Simply sitting in a classroom taking notes everyday doesn’t help them learn, it makes them resist.
Solomon, G., & Schrum, L. (2007). Web 2.0 new tools, new schools. Eugene, OR: International Society for Technology in Education.

I've been thinking about constructivism vs Cyborg learning theories as I read this week's readings. The two theories seem to be opposite processes. Constructivism states that learners tie new learning to previous knowledge and that it is an internal personal event. Current beliefs and knowledge are a framework to which learners assimilate new learning. Cyborg theory, on the other hand, states that new learning will happen so fast that we, as learners, will not be able to connect it with any background, or prior, knowledge because there will not be any. The things we are about to be exposed to are unknown and do not currently exist. The knowledge that we now have will become less and less important. Cyborg theory says that we must learn how to learn.

I talked to my Sp ed. Coop about assistive technologies that are being used in our schools. I was told that there are low tech such as pencil grips, large print, sentence strip and story manipulatives and high tech such as hearing aids, specialized wheelchairs and Kurzweil readers being used as assistive technologies. The representative I spoke with said that there was no cutting edge stuff being used. Some other high tech devices being used to augment communication are electronic speech synthesizers, and communication devices. Manual communication boards and programs like boardmaker are being used to create a communication boards based on a child's daily routine.

Saturday, February 19, 2011

EDLD 5364 Week 1 Web Conference

Wed., Feb. 23 5pm and Sat., Feb. 26 @11am

Sunday, February 13, 2011

EDLD 5345 Human Resource Management Course (Not based on Roadmap)

Human Resource Management addressed a couple of things that weren't in the Ed Leadership Roadmap. One in particular was teacher evaluations. I plan to go back through the 5 week course and address what activities were assigned.





Performance outcomes listed are:


o Examine, conduct interviews and document personnel and human resource conflicts on campuses and identify choices and consequences evolving from these day to day conflicts.

o Review a campus improvement plan and identify any and all aspects of the plan that focuses on human resources, personnel, professional development and appraisal.

o Through readings and interviews, Identify and discuss the importance of acknowledging and celebrating the contributions of school personnel in achieving the campus vision and goals.

o Analyze campus communication especially as it addresses implementation of the campus improvement plan.

o Review the Texas Administrative Code of Ethics for Educators and through interviews and observations analyze the application of the code of ethics on their campus and district.

o Find district local and legal policies and procedures regarding Personnel and Human Resource Development.

o Identify and describe appropriate and inappropriate questions that may be asked while recruiting and interviewing personnel.

o Conduct interviews with school leaders to explore strategies to recruit and retain highly qualified teachers and/or administrators.

o Describe the types of teacher contracts in Texas public schools.

o Examine and analyze campus and/or district mentoring programs for teachers and share this information on the discussion board.

o Review and report on how technology is used in Human Resources and professional development on your campus and district.

o Conduct and analyze a Cultural Proficiency survey examining how campuses respond to issues of diversity.

o Conduct interview(s) with campus administrators regarding implantation of the Professional Development and Appraisal System (PDAS).

o Examine the pros and cons of merit pay for professional personnel.

o Identify the multiple roles of principals in managing personnel and human resource issues.

o Apply conflict management skills to attempt to resolve human resource or personnel issues.

o Review research examining the role of change and reform on human resource management.

o Analyze and apply insights gathered from the interview with Ms. Cannon, a former campus leader.

o Identify the most effective steps principals should take in formative and summative evaluations of teachers.

o Examine and analyze the impact of natural or man-made disasters on personnel issues.

o Review the campus improvement plan and leadership interviews to determine the use of data and needs assessment to address human resource and professional development needs.

o Compare and contrast national and state leadership standards.

o Complete sample TExES Principal Exam items related to personnel and human resources.

o Identify goals for an ongoing self-improvement professional development plan.

Saturday, February 12, 2011

EDLD 5345 Human Resource Management Course Reflection

For my Final Course Reflections for 5345, I plan to address as many of the following course embedded activities from the principal roadmap as it is possible for me to address at this time. As I scanned this list, I found that we've covered almost all of them and the ones not yet addressed are activities that I am already responsible for in my current position.
THESE ARE COURSE YET TO BE TAKEN:
4-11-11 WSLD 5362 information systems
5-23-11 edld 5333 leadership for accountability
the april course should be edld also
7-8-11 EDLD 5397 internship in supervision
8-24-11 EDLD 5326 school community relations
10-3-11 internship for Ed Tech Leadership

Domain I Competency 001 EDLD 5339
Log 1 4hrs

Interview two school leaders regarding campus organization and management and Site-Based Decision-Making (SBDM) policies and procedures, which include issues of campus vision and mission.
I interviewed the HS principal and the superintentent for this assignment. We have a new administration that is trying to improve many years of a district floundering and not expecting anything except passing scores on state assessments. We settled for mediocrity and that's what we got. We are currently trying to organize and manage staff to align with other districts our size. We have too many employees in some areas and not enough elsewhere.
I have been on the campus and district Site-Based Decision-Making Committees for as long as they've been in operation. We developed them back in the day of TIFF.
Goal 5 of our CIP states that AISD will implement procedures to enhance staffing patterns. The HS principal and counselor will be responsible for recruiting, developing and retaining highly qualified (HQ) personnel be attending job fairs and surveying job applicants. They will also assigning staff in such a way that student needs will be met. The CIP also states that professional development will be offered to retain HQ personnel and that an induction period for new teachers is offered.This same goal also mentions that professional development will be continued to be offered to teachers in order to continue offering special programs to underserved students.

Domain 1 Competency 001 EDLD 5333
Log 2 2hrs
Create a personal vision of leadership.

I wish to be a leader that can provide ethical guidance and direction to my teachers while helping shape instruction and curriculum to produce quality 21st century learners.
Creating a personal vision of leadership is something that develops with time and experience. A leader must have strong ethics and compassion for others, teachers and students alike. A leader must also have an idea or vision of the direction he/she wants their campus to go. Curriculum development, staffing patterns, needs assessments and collaboration among stakeholders are huge tasks for one person to try to implement and articulate. A good leader must also, as referred to in one of the standards, be able to distribute, or delegate authority. I don't think that I'm at a point to where my vision is entirely clear, but the experiences that I've gained over the last 20 years definitely color my perceptions about all these aspects and I feel like I'm beginning to pull all these perceptions together into a plan.
I believe that a vision is a shared, cohesive sense of purpose based on the belief that all students can learn and be successful, with a community-wide mission for excellence and high-quality learning. School and community must work together to strive for that goal for the benefit of all students, which in turn leads to an overall sense of progress and accomplishment for the whole school and community. There must be “buy-in” by everyone and a continued drive to stay motivated and to keep improving. There must be a sense of pride and a definite direction. I believe the components of a shared vision to be: achievement, success, connection, challenge, purpose, focus, motivation, improvement, direction, effort, planning, and values.
The above components of a shared vision are my own, but additionally, the http://www.leading-learning.co.nz/creating-vision.html website resource also lists:

• Values
• Leadership
• Clear Expectations
• Teamwork
• Continual Quality Improvement
• Initiated by Leaders
• Shared by all
• Comprehensive and detailed
• Positive and inspiring
A shared vision must begin by being introduced to and embraced by all stakeholders. The main focus is the students and their success and a main goal should be to pave the way for increased parent and community support and involvement to achieve something for all stakeholders to be proud of. Possible steps outlined by the “Building a Collective Vision” website are:

• Study the importance of vision in successful organizations
• Seek help from others familiar with the importance of a vision
• Learn about the components of vision
• Review examples of vision statements from other schools
• Listen to leaders talk about their vision
• Observe how others respond to shared vision

My campus is currently without vision. We have a new superintendent who is in the process of creating teams to begin this vision process. This course could not have come at a better time for me to learn the steps, components and implementation of school vision. I am creating a training for the beginning of the year for the teachers in my district to begin this entire process.
The principal must be able to shape campus culture with leadership, guidance and direction and to collaborate with staff to ensure student learning and also to be aware of any potential problems that may be headed off. The campus improvement process includes many areas for evaluation and action. Domain I – School Community Leadership outlines the competencies that principal’s need to base their person vision on. Principals need to have personal vision to help them act with fairness and integrity. They must be able to work collaboratively with inside and outside entities to garner resources for their campuses and they must know how to advocate, nurture, and sustain an instructional program and a campus culture that are conducive to student learning and staff professional growth.
I see a personal vision of leadership as something completely separate from the school vision or mission. A great leader can take their own personal vision anywhere they go if it is based on sound, fair ethics and pledged to facilitating high-quality learning for students.
Schools should teach students to be life-long collaborative learners and the importance of being an ethical individual with drive, motivation and initiative
A good school is one that teaches, nurtures and respects all students.
An effective classroom is one in which the teacher leads the students to be independent, inquisitive and ethical.

A good principal is one who supports his/her teachers, never assumes anything, is there before anyone else, is the last one to leave and attends concerts and plays, not just ball games.

An effective school faculty is one that is a mix of new and veteran teachers with a mix of student-centered core values.

A quality instructional program includes data-driven, curriculum with defined measurable goals that increases student outcomes whether the goals be social, physical or academic.





Domain 1 Competency 001 EDLD 5388
Log 3 6hrs
Study your school's history, traditions, shared beliefs and values; method of inducting new teachers; identity of stakeholders; acculturation factors; and affiliation factors and then construct a School Culture Factors Summary with suggestions to strengthen each area of the culture.

Domain 1 Competency 001 EDLD 5352
Log 4 6hrs
Look at the strengths and weaknesses of your campus as you examine and apply data from the Texas Campus STaR Chart, a technology data-gathering tool provided by the state. Complete a three year comparison of the Texas Campus STaR Chart data from your campus with statewide summary data.
1) What did the STaR Chart show as your campus’ greatest strength? Do you agree with that assessment? Explain.
I agree with the assessment that infrastructure is our greatest strength. We have 100% of our rooms connected, but don’t have one-to-one access yet. We have laptop computers for every senior and every student taking ITV classes. Also, wireless access points have been installed throughout the school for our wireless labs
2) What did the STaR Chart show as your campus’ greatest weakness? Do you agree with that assessment? Explain.
Educator Preparation and Development is shown as our biggest weakness. I do agree with this assessment due to the large amount of TAKS staff development our district has had most of the staff attending.and leaving technology inservices behind.
3) In an online learning community interaction, which STaR Chart area would you choose to introduce to the other members? What data supports your choice?
I would choose to introduce Infrastructure for Technology. We began our network with a good plan and have continued to fund technology at a level that has kept it current. We have updated our servers several times, purchased 3 wireless laptop labs, added wireless access points throughout the school and have kept computers as up to date as possible in a school system with budget constraints.
"Teaching and Learning" From 06-07 to 07-08, instruction seems to be becoming less teacher-centered and more student-centered with students and teachers making use of technology in the classroom, but disturbingly, it seems to have moved backward in 08-09 to Dev Tech, using less technology and becoming more teacher-centered again. I blame these changes on overwhelming teacher-centered TAKS instruction.

"Educator Preparation & Development" This is a dismal trend showing that our HS actually moved from Adv to Early in one year. Again, TAKS inservices are the priority in our school and it seems that technology professional development is down to almost none.

"Leadership, Administration, & Instructional Support" Leadership is trending up to indicate good support and local funding for new technologies, such as Elmos, Promethean boards, and digital projectors for most teachers’ classrooms.

"Infrastructure for Technology" Our school has had a good infrastructure from the beginning and seems to be indicated here. On demand access for every student is holding us back from Target Tech here.

Domain 1 Competency 002 EDLD 5326
Log 1 6hrs
Develop a plan for a family-school-community partnership(s) to increase student achievement.
Goal 6: AISD will actively involve parents, and community to benefit the education of students.
Objective:1 Provide opportunities for parent and community to actively participate in the educational processStrategy 1 states that AISD will strive to ensure that the community is informed and notified of campus information. The community, including internal and external participants, is kept informed by a number of outlets. The school maintains a facebook account, a twitter account and a school website. In addition, I assist the superintendent in publishing a newsletter every 6 weeks that is distributed around town, as well as, on the school website. Also, a staff newsletter is circulated monthly with information about the latest school board meeting. Many student accomplishments are published in the local newspaper and on the school website. Our counselor created her own counseling facebook page to keep parents informed of scholarship opportunities. we've developed a VIP program for parents to come to the school and volunteer to help students and teachers.


Domain 1 Competency 002 EDLD 5326
Log 2 6hrs
Develop a presentation to be given to key stakeholders in your school that emphasizes the
importance of parental-community involvement to student achievement.
I addressed the District SBDM on January 11, 2011 with a presentation indicating all the activities we are doing at the school to keep the community involved and informed about the events at school. I reviewed the goal in our DIP that descibes the school's efforts to involve community.
Describe how the communication systems provide for contributions from stakeholders, such as teachers, administrators, parents and students.
Goal 6: AISD will actively involve parents, and community to benefit the education of students.
Objective:1 Provide opportunities for parent and community to actively participate in the educational process
Strategy 1 states that AISD will strive to ensure that the community is informed and notified of campus information. The community, including internal and external participants, is kept informed by a number of outlets. The school maintains a facebook account, a twitter account and a school website. In addition, the superintendent publishes a newsletter every 6 weeks that is distributed around town, as well as, on the school website. Also, a staff newsletter is circulated monthly with information about the latest school board meeting. Many student accomplishments are published in the local newspaper and on the school website. Our counselor created her own counseling facebook page to keep parents informed of scholarship opportunities.

Domain 1 Competency 003 EDLD 5333
Log 1 7hrs
Attend a Site-Based Decision-Making (SBDM) meeting, record reflections, and interview the principal and one other staff member regarding collaboration, consensus-building strategies, ethical relationships, typical agenda items, etc.

I learned from my interview with a SBDM committee member that our team is comprised of the high school and elementary principals, the superintendent, two high school teachers, two elementry teachers, the mayor, three high school parents and two elementary parents. Also on the committee are the technology coordinator, TAKS coordinator. counselor and the school nurse. The superintendent serves as chairperson and uses a formal agenda that has been e-mailed to all members prior to the meeting. I was surprised to learn that procedural protocol is used to call the meeting to order, recognize speakers, vote on decisions and close the meetings. Several members of the committee have roles and titles and the recorder keeps the minutes.
I did already have an idea of what topics were usually discussed in the meetings due to faculty meetings that I've attended that outline decisions voted on by the committee. According to the superintendent, topics discussed include the following: school calendar ideas, the emergency notification system, school social networks (Facebook and Twitter), campus plans, AYP and AEIS reports that include our schools ratings and assessment data, CSCOPE, classroom technologies, including the Promethean boards and document cameras, staffing patterns, budget and school health issues.
I asked about the perceived teamwork on the committe and got a mostly positive response. However, as with any group of people, members have their own ideas about some things that sometimes point to a hidden agenda. There are a few members who insist on reiterating the desire for policy changes on certain campuses. I've found that this is usually not the member's idea, but someone elses.
I asked the committee member that I interviewed if there has ever been an issue that escalated into a conflict on the committee and was told that there had not been any actual conflicts arise, but that some members must be continually reminded to remain on topic.

Domain 1 Competency 003 EDLD 5345
Log 2 5hrs
Review Chapter 247 of the Texas Administrative Code, "Educators' Code of Ethics," conduct observations and/or interviews in your school, and use the results of those observations/interviews to complete the "Code of Ethics Mindwalk."
SBEC eliminated the code of ethics complaint forms as of December 17, 2007. If would like to file a complaint please check TEA website:
http://www.tea.state.tx.us/Complaints/index_AllComplaints.html
TEA Correspondence and Complaints Management
TEA encourages and supports the early resolution of complaints at the lowest level possible. Complaints about campus staff are first addressed by the school's administration. The board of trustees of a school district has primary responsibility for ensuring that the district or school complies with all applicable requirements of state educational programs. The local board of trustees has the exclusive power and duty to govern and oversee the management of its district and staff. and the TEA may not substitute its judgment for the lawful exercise of those powers and duties by the trustees.
Local complaint policies typically require individuals to present complaints, in writing, at the lowest appropriate level, such as the principal. If a person is not satisfied with the campus decision, further review may be requested from the Superintendent's level. A person may request to appeal the superintendent's decision to the district's board of trustees. It is very important to follow the steps and the timelines required by local policies and procedures. If after completing the complaint process at the district level, a person believes he or she is aggrieved by the actions or decisions of the district's board of trustees that violate the school laws, the person may appeal the board of trustees’ written decision to the commissioner of education. The process for requesting TEA Hearings and Appeals under §7.057 of the Texas Education Code is described in §157.1073 of the Texas Administrative Code
What must a complaint include?
To adequately review and address a complaint, certain information is needed. TEA must be able to identify a clear violation of a school law and determine whether TEA has authority to act upon the allegation.
Checklist of information to include in a complaint:
complainant’s full name, mailing address and signature
local written decisions
detail description of the actions or decisions that violate a school law (do not include identifying information of a person who is a minor)
documentation and facts that give reason to believe that a school law was violated
name of the school staff members who were notified of the complaint
complaints filed with other agencies and responses from other agencies
the resolution requested
full and accurate name of involved educators
Correspondence and Complaints are sent to the TEA main address. Correspondence and Complaints ManagementOffice of the Commissioner of Education Texas Education Agency 1701 N. Congress Avenue Austin, TX 78701-1494 Fax (512) 463-9008 or Email complaintsmanagement@tea.state.tx.us

Who can file an ethical complaint with the SBEC?

No one. SBEC doesn’t receive complaints any longer, but in order to file a complaint with the TEA, you must be a certified educator, parent or other legal guardian of a student… according to the online complaint form.

Review each of the ethical standards under each of the three main areas of Chapter 247 of the TAC, and identify at least one ethical conflict in each of the three areas of the Code:
Overall professional ethical conduct, practices and performance that may result in a complaint:
CHAPTER 247 EDUCATORS’ CODE OF ETHICS

(1) Professional Ethical Conduct, Practices and Performance
*Tax assessor stealing tax payer money and covering the crime by depositing student activity moneies to cover the theft.
*School board openly allowing one administrator to live out of district against local policy while requiring one to live in district.
*Teacher knowlngly changing a student’s educational record and lying about it.
*Board protecting a teacher whose father was board president’s boss
*PEIMs person changing transcripts and giving her and her friends’ kids higher GPA’s
*Teacher picking and choosing scholarship candidates depending on who they were
*Office employee purging an employee file of all written reprimands found there.
Unethical conduct toward professional colleagues:
(2) Ethical Conduct Toward Professional Colleagues
*Principal telling one teacher about writing up another teacher
*Teachers verbally and physically abusing another teacher because she refused to side with them in a stand against the administration
Unethical conduct toward students:

(3) Ethical Conduct Toward Students
* Coach conducting inappropriate texting with a female student
*Teachers treating students with contempt if the parents aren’t liked


Describe the possible consequences of personnel engaging in any of the above ethical conflicts.

The penalties for ethics violations differ depending on the judgment of the authoritative body and the nature of the violation. Ethical misconduct can result in disciplinary action from the school board, or legal action if the misconduct is criminal in nature.

Using one of the above conflicts as an example, describe how you would respond to the conflict as a campus principal.

(3) Ethical Conduct Toward Students
* Coach conducting inappropriate texting with a female student
As the campus principal, I would immediately ascertain whether or not the coach had any previous complaints involving a student or co-worker. I would then interview the student and the coach separately. I would also interview her friends separately to see if she’s complained to them about the texting. In School Law, we learned that even if a principal didn’t know about abuse and should have, that he/she can be held responsible. If enough information was gathered to warrant further investigation, I would contact the parents and ask for the students cell phone records to either exonerate the coach or to implicate him depending on whether or not the parents were sympathetic to the coach. If the parents will not help and there is enough evidence, the student’s phone records can be subpoenaed.
Domain II Competency 004 EDLD 5333
Log 1 10hrs
Conduct a data-driven, comprehensive needs assessment using the latest AYP and AEIS data, a multi-year history of this data, and a comparable improvement report.

Week 2 -- I began my comparison by analyzing 2010 met standard categories for all grades with and without TPM application. It is immediately apparent why Texas wants to use TPM. Although all of my campus data shows to be well above academically acceptable (while still below recognized) without TPM, we gained many percentage points with TPM being applied. In fact, with TPM, our district was recognized. In the reading/ELA categories the HS campus was 98% in both 2009 and 2010 and math also showed the identical percentage of 88% in both years. I did see a drop in writing between the two year comparison with 96% in 2009 and 92% in 2010. We saw a dramatic increase in the science scores going from 71% in 2009 to 93% in 2010. Social studies have shown historically high results with greater than 99% in 2009 in 98% in 2010. As I mentioned earlier, TPM gives inflated scores on which to base campus ratings. If I compare met standard without TPM, all of these scores except social studies are significantly lower. Campus ratings are also based on Completion Rate I and on dropout rates. Our campus and district completion rate was over 95% in 2009 and only 84.4% in 2008. I noted that our district dropout rate for seventh and eighth grades was 0% in both years while our district dropout rate for 2007-2008 was 3.3% and 3.8% for 2008-2009. The district dropout rate is higher than the campus dropout rate due to our at-risk campus that typically has more students quit.
Comparable Improvement Navigate to http://www.tea.state.tx.us/perfreport/aeis Our position at 20th of 40 places puts us in the second quartile. I looked at 2007-2008, 2008-2009 and 2009 2010 for information on how my school has performed historically against comparable schools in Texas. We placed 20th, 21st and 20th out of 40 schools respectively. The data used to compare my school with the other schools is as follows: economically disadvantaged 62.8%, Hispanic 47.9%, White 43.8%, Mobility 20.3%, African-American 6.6% and LEP is 0.0: Our places for the last three years seem to indicate that we are almost exactly statistically average, being neither high nor low in the comparisons.
Multi year: Schools http://www.tea.state.tx.us/perfreport/aeis. After reviewing this report, a cohort member and I were discussing that even though we both have a lot of experience analyzing AEIS that we've never seen this report. I chose the year span 2003-2010 and began tracking improvement over time. The most glaring aspect of this data to me was the low passing rate for TAKS in 2003. However, all subject areas made significant jumps from 2003 to 2004 after the teachers seem to have gotten a handle on the increased rigor of the test. I also noticed that in some years improvement declined instead of increasing and I attribute this to the rising passing standards that were applied to the assessments throughout the years. I would have to print off the passing standards increase chart and compare them side by side to positively attribute the decrease in scores to that. Some of the decline could also be due to a particularly weak class passing through that grade.
After reviewing the passing rates of all the subjects, I then looked at the last three columns that depict campus district and state changes. From the years 2003-2010, both our campus and district scores outperform the state as they do in Social Studies scores. In math, the state passing percentage increased 27% and our campus also beat that with an increase of 39%. This shows that we made good strides in that area. Writing was also a big increase for us with a 36% increase versus the 15% change by the state. Science is our weakest area with only a 26% increase in relation to a 41% increase by the state.



Domain II Competency 004 EDLD 5335
Log 2 3hrs
Describe Curriculum Management Audit standards, compare the audit standards to the campus curriculum program, and make suggestions for improvement of academic performance through use of the audit standards.

Domain II Competency 005 EDLD 5335
Log 1 4hrs
Use set criteria to evaluate a teacher's edition of a textbook or a curriculum guide for a content area or a campus objective selected for a learner-centered staff development experience.

Domain II Competency 005 EDLD 5388
Log 2 4hrs
Complete and submit the Survey of School Context and then meet with at least one, or preferable more, faculty members from your campus (or district) to compare results. In this meeting, discuss whether any items should be added to or deleted from the Survey to make it a better fit for your campus (or district). Write a report on the results of the meeting and summarize your learning about the culture and climate of your school based on the School Context Survey.

Domain II Competency 006 EDLD 5388
Log1 6hrs
Conduct a teacher quality survey which looks at factors such as the years of teaching experience of campus teachers, degrees held (bachelor or master), teacher ethnicity, compared with ethnicity of students and community demographics and prepare a report of your findings.

Domain II Competency 006 EDLD 5345
Log2 2hrs
Conduct an interview with an administrator at your school regarding strategies for recruiting and retaining high-quality teachers and administrators.
In the space below, describe what you learned in your interview regarding the recruitment and retention of quality staff at your school.
Make sure that you have incentives to offer such as sign-on bonuses for hard to fill positions. I believe that the veteran teachers need incentives too. Current teachers could, for instance be paid to mentor first year teachers. All teachers in a district could be paid $100 for every sick day they do not use in a year. That has a two-fold advantage for the districts. First the teacher will not be out as frequently, leaving students with a substitute and secondly, the faculty will have an incentive to work towards during the year to make more money.
A principal should make sure that he/she doesn’t miss a local job fair in order to gather applicants for future hire and should note that recruiting has to do with issues around working conditions and salaries,
While recruiting and hiring teachers primarily is done at the local level, in the past the state has provided some salary incentives. Schools should advertise both the local, as well as, the state incentives. Texas will forgive some student loans if a teacher teaches in a low socioeconomic school for 5 years.
Smaller schools should emphasize their proximity to larger towns and the incentives they may pay.
Some schools have two year induction programs for new teachers that help with recruitment and retention at the same time if sufficient workload reductions and mentor pay is offered.
Principals should write a job description of their school that speaks directly to the mission of the school.
Increase your employee pool by using online tools. There are online job boards that schools can use to stay in contact with prospective employees
If there are colleges or universities in the area schools should reach out to the alumni lists, job fairs, and departmental list-servs because they have lots of teachers looking for jobs.

“Have an interview process that is designed to ask teachers to think about the things that matter most to you. A lot of schools design the interview process to find the "best" teacher, but I think that's a mistake -- I think you want to find the "best fit" teachers. So design an interview process that allows teachers to show you how their vision of education fits with your school's vision of education -- and include teachers, students, parents in that process.
And then, of course, walk the walk of the vision of your school so that the teachers you recruit feel validated and excited by their choice. That's the hardest part.” (Lehmann, 2008)
Lehmann, C. (2008, September 30). Recruiting teachers. Retrieved from http://practicaltheory.org/serendipity/index.php?/archives/1038-Recruiting-Teachers.html


As a prospective principal, what did you find out about recruiting high-quality teachers that might impact your recruitment activities?
I learned that principals must be at job fairs and have an interview process that will help match a prospective employee with a school that will “fit”. Schools should also prominently advertise their school’s incentives and mentoring programs, as well as, use online tools offered by local colleges and universities to stay in touch with the type of educational graduates the school is seeking. In my interview with my principal, I found that he uses the Education Service Center for our region to look for applicants. He was really dismayed this August with the shortage of dual certified prospects. We discussed that the universities weren’t turning out students that could be useful in a small district. With small enrollments, a minimum number of highly qualified teachers must be employed to teach all the graduation requirements.


Domain II Competency 006 EDLD 5345
Log 3 2hrs
Assess the policies and procedures in place in your district related to teacher mentoring programs by assessing the district's webpage or contacting the district Human Resources Office and reflect on the policies in place for mentoring/induction.
Education Code Ch. 21, Subch. O; 19 TAC 102.1073 The District may assign a mentor teacher to each classroom teacher who has less than two years of teaching experience in the subject or grade level to which the teacher is assigned. A teacher assigned as a mentor must: 1. To the extent practicable, teach in the same school; 2. To the extent practicable, teach the same subject or grade level, as applicable; and 3. Meet the qualifications prescribed by Commissioner’s rules. The Commissioner’s rules must require that a mentor teacher: 1. Complete a research-based mentor and induction training program approved by the Commissioner; 2. Complete a training program provided by the District; and 3. Have at least three complete years of teaching experience with a superior record of assisting students, as a whole, in achieving improvement in student performance. The District may apply to the Commissioner for funds for a mentor teacher program. The District may use the funds only for providing: 1. Mentor teacher stipends; 2. Scheduled time for mentor teachers to provide mentoring to assigned classroom teachers; and 3. Mentoring support through providers of mentor training.

The legal policy states that my district may assign a mentor teacher to each new teacher, but there is nothing in our local policy enhancing the practice. We have a high turnover rate in our HS and I believe it’s due to the lack of support for new teachers. I didn’t have a good mentorship when I began teaching and considered changing careers many times. We have a first year science teacher who is drowning in all the responsibilities she has. She drives 20 miles to work every day and I believe, based on what I’ve seen this year, that she’ll be one who finds another career in the next five years.

Domain II Competency 006 EDLD 5345
Log4 4hrs
Complete the Cultural Proficiency Receptivity Scale, use the Cultural Proficiency Professional Development Rubric to assess the level of professional development at your campus or workplace, and identify and describe where and how your campus has responded to each of the elements of Cultural Proficiency.
Assessing cultural knowledge – Where on the CP Continuum does your campus or workplace fall? Give example(s) to support this identification.
My school is in the cultural pre-competence phase of this continuum. We recognize special ed and ethnic difference and have had training by our special coop and the ESC to further our knowledge about how to meet the needs of these children in the classroom in the form of Sp Ed law and inclusion training and poverty for general ed teachers.


Valuing diversity – Where on the CP Continuum does your campus or workplace professional development fall? Give example(s) to support your answer.
We also fall in the cultural pre-competence column when it comes to valuing diversity. Our school and administration recognize that there are students of diverse cultures in the community and teachers are assigned to professional development targeting these differences.
Managing the dynamics of difference? – Where on the CP Continuum does your campus or workplace professional development fall? Give example(s) to support your answer.
Managing the dynamics of differences puts us in the cultural blindness column. We rarely assign or promote the need for understanding of cultural differences until there is a need or a directive by the state. Many times we are entirely reactive rather than proactive in obtaining this professional development.

Adapting to diversity – Where on the CP Continuum does your campus or workplace professional development fall? Give example(s) to support your answer.
My district is, again, in the cultural blindness column when it comes to adapting to diversity. My current principal and the one before him have always thought that we are serving all the needs of the diverse groups on our campus and rely solely on the programs sanctioned by the local, state and federal agencies to meet these needs. We do not consult outside professionals or experts to help us integrate the diverse students more fully. In the district’s defense, I will say that we have such a small campus that there are not an abundance of difference cultures here and our staff is so thin that we don’t have a lot of extra time to research what other schools are doing in the field of cultural diversity.

Institutionalizing cultural knowledge – Where on the CP Continuum does your campus or workplace professional development fall? Give example(s) to support your answer.
In the final area of cultural diversity on the CP Continuum, my district falls in the cultural incapacity column. Again, I believe it’s because we do not consult outside professionals or experts to help us integrate the diverse students more fully. In the district’s defense, I will say that we have such a small campus that there are not an abundance of difference cultures here and our staff is so thin that we don’t have a lot of extra time to research what other schools are doing in the field of cultural diversity. We do not have policies or procedures that would lead to improving our community welfare or interdependence.

Review your score on the Cultural Proficiency Receptivity Scale and describe what areas, if any, you need to address in order to be a more culturally proficient leader.
Based on my receptivity scale, I should address the areas of being committed to creating both an educational environment and learning experiences for our students that honor and respect who they are, believing that all students benefit from educational practices that engage them in learning about their cultural heritage and understanding their cultural background, knowing the importance of how well our district serves the various cultural and ethnic communities, understanding how students feel represented in our schools, and it is also important to understand how well served they feel by the educational practices in our schools, and understanding more about cultural discomfort and disagreements are normal occurrences in a diverse society such as ours and are parts of everyday interactions

Domain II Competency 006 EDLD 5311
Log5 4hrs
Create a professional vita that highlights your leadership accomplishments and serves as a motivational tool to seek new opportunities for improvement and professional growth.
This is posted on my wiki from EDLD 5306


Domain II Competency 006 EDLD 5311
Log6 5hrs
Collaborate with the school supervisor and develop the 18-month internship plan. Plans will be based on self-assessment findings, professional goals, and the unique needs of the intern and school.

Domain II Competency 006 EDLD 5344
Log7 15 hrs
Design a remediation to a situation you would like to improve in your school. In your School-Based Analysis, you familiarized yourself with special education policies in your state and school district. For your Application, you will use this knowledge as you follow a fictional student, Julia, who has just enrolled in your school. You will develop and Individualized Education Program for "Julia," monitor how her program is implemented in the classroom, and use your knowledge of student rights and school management to make sound decisions when she engages in behavior that calls for disciplinary action. This assignment will require you to use knowledge gained from lectures and readings, and from communication with leaders at your school, including your principal, special edcuation coordinator, and classroom teachers. Your final step will be to make suggestions about how management policies and procedures for special education students at your school can be improved. In all instances, you are expected to cite relevant law and/or policy that you used to formulate your answers.

Domain II Competency 007 EDLD 5388
Log1 5hrs
Discuss state and federal legal requirements for Response-to-Intervnetion (RTI) plicy and make application of RTI through a case study process.

Domain II Competency 007 EDLD 5333
Log 2 4hrs
Demonstrate leadership for accountability by researching best practices, including specific professional development to address a target area and list the strategies and rationale for using each strategy.

After disaggregating the AYP/AEIS reports in Week 2, Week 3 led me through pinpointing the weakest area, which turned out to be HS math, and researching several articles and websites that had remediation activities.
1. Learn NC, . (n.d.). Transforming, teaching and learning through data. Retrieved from http://dww.ed.gov/media/overview_player.cfm?fID=1694 This activity represents the importance of being a data-driven school to teachers and administrators. They can access all the data using our disaggregation software (AWARE). This is the professional development article.
2. Herrera, T. (2007). Teaching strategies for middle school math. Retrieved from http://msteacher.org/epubs/math/math11/math.aspx http://illuminations.nctm.org/ActivityDetail.aspx?ID=18
This applet allows students to individually practice working with relationships among fractions and ways of combining fractions.
3. Wright, J. (2007). Intervention central: response to intervention. Retrieved from http://www.interventioncentral.org/ Math Computation & Math Concepts and Applications Measures: Find assessments to track proficiency in computation skills and higher-level math skills.
In addition to the websites and activities in the table below, Dr. Mixon listed several other examples of scientifically-based resources:
Proquest
digital dissertations research database with contemporary info
Kilgo training
SIOP training
Sheltered instruction
Rigor and relevance
Differentiated instruction vaugh gross center at UT
Quantam learning
Capturing kids hearts
Number talks and number sense
Whole brain teaching
Ruby payne
Key component of leadership is having prof development


Domain II Competency 007 EDLD 5311
Log 3 6hrs
Interview two administrators using the assigned questions. Reflect in this log what you learned from those questions and how this activity helped you master the domains and competencies.
I do not know what the assigned question were to answer this,

Domain III Competency 008 EDLD 5339
Log1 10hrs
Analyze the processes in place for campus budgeting and the alignment of the budget with the Campus Impreovement Plan (CIP).

Domain III Competency 008 EDLD 5333
Log 2 10 hrs
Conduct a data-based needs assessment. Based on the areas of need identified, create a campus action plan to address the needs identified including professional development plans, allocation of resources to support the plan, and any tools needed for school improvement efforts.

I began this needs assessment by analyzing my 7-12 grade campus. After noting the strengths and weaknesses, I used math as the area in most need of intervention. I recorded that every subpop except White was below the base standard. The overall campus passing standard was 73% with White being the only group that passed the base standard with an 88%.

I created an action plan that began with applying for and getting an Algebra Readiness grant that funded the employment of a Math Coach, the purchase of classroom sets of iPads to integrate technology and professional development administered by our regional service center, our Technology Coordinator, TAKS Coordinator and the newly hired Math Coach. The Algebra Readiness grant paid the Math Coach salary for two years and I used the $6000 budget to buy iPads and Apple app vouchers.
The people responsible for strategies outlined under the goal and objective are the ESC17, TAKS and Technology Coordinators, HS principal and the Math Coach. All of these people are actively part of the initial and follow-up professional development. This data-based needs assessment and professional development can be found in Week 4 of 5333


Domain III Competency 009 EDLD 5339
Log 1 5hrs
Analyze the scheduling process in place on campuse, cite course material and personnel interview to justify conclusions, and weight the effects of the schedule on campus goals and objectives, student needs, and effective and efficient use of time, personnel, and resources to ensure a safe and productive environment.

Domain III Competency 009 EDLD 5339
Log2 5hrs
Analyze campus goals and objective and the use of resources such as time and personnel to address the issues of a safe and productive school environment.