A school administrator is an educational leader who promotes the success of all students by advocating, nurturing and sustaining a school culture and instructional program conducive to student learning and staff professional growth.
Case Study: A Change in Philosophy
Key Questions
Does the administrator value professional development as an integral part of the school community?
Does the school exhibit a culture of high expectations for students and staff?
The Situation
During the past eight years this educator’s elementary school has been led by administrators who value professional development. Therefore, most of the faculty has a strong background in the most current instructional practices and positive behavior management strategies. However, this year there are several new teachers and a few experienced teachers who are not fully implementing effective teaching strategies. These teachers have not received as much professional learning and/or they choose to “teach the way they have always taught”. As the Instructional Coach and an administrator in the school, this is a problem which one must address.
Answers to Questions
Does the administrator value professional development as an integral part of the school community?
Yes. The current administrative team believes professional development is essential to student success. Trend data and current benchmark assessment results verify that when teachers implement best instructional practices, students show growth. In this elementary school, data over the past five years has shown growth in most academic areas. This instructional coach attributes the positive growth to professional learning opportunities which have been implemented on a monthly basis.
Does the school exhibit a culture of high expectations for students and staff?
Yes. The administration and faculty members hold high expectations for all students and for their peers. The teachers work together the plan creative, challenging lessons for the students. The teachers also encourage each other to “rise to the occasion” when teaching students. The administration visits in classrooms weekly to ensure that teachers are engaging students in the learning process and that individual student needs are being met. Although teachers implement differentiated instructional strategies with all lessons, all students are held to high expectations, not just the higher level students. The at-risk students have the same high expectations. The at-risk students may just take a different route or extended time to master a concept.
Evaluation
This educator would rate this standard as proficient at this time. In the school most teachers exhibit successful teaching strategies which have been taught during professional learning. A rating of accomplished will only be accomplished when all teachers in the school are implementing best practices into lessons on a daily basis.
