A school administrator is an educational leader who promotes the success of all students by acting with integrity, fairness, and in an ethical manner.
Case Study: High Expectations
Key Questions
How should the administrator handle teachers who are not effective with classroom management and/or instruction?
How should an administrator address conflict between team members?
The Situations
Most of the teachers in this educator’s school are effective with classroom instruction and behavior management. However, there are a select few who need close guidance with these areas.
In this educator’s school, most grade-level teams get along well. They complete lesson planning, data assessment and work towards the same goals. However, there are two teams that have team members with strong personalities who often do not get along and do not plan well together.
Answers to Questions
How should the administrator handle teachers who are not effective with classroom management and/or instruction?
The principal begins the school year identifying the teachers who need the most help and these teachers are assigned a peer mentor. The Instructional Coach also works with these teachers weekly to assist in lesson planning and modeling lessons. The administrator requires teachers who have difficulty with instruction and/or classroom management to participate in professional development classes which provide hands-on ideas to implement into the classroom. The principal holds conferences with the teacher and documents areas where improvement is necessary. If the teacher does not show improvement, the teacher is placed on a Professional Development Plan (PDP).
How should an administrator address conflict between team members?
This situation was a learning experience for an upcoming administrator. The school presently has two teams who do not collaborate well. Often, personality differences get in the way of the professional working relationship. The current administrator held separate meetings with each team. The meetings had the same agenda. The meeting began with the administrator stating positive attributes about each team member aloud. She also made sure to acknowledge good ideas that each member has brought to the grade-level. Then she moved to discuss the issues the teams were experiencing. In a positive way, the principal addressed letting personality differences interfere with what is best for students. She reminded the team members that our number one focus are the students and their success. She then laid out the expectations for the remainder of the school year. The teams were very receptive to the conference.
Evaluation
When evaluating the first question concerning teacher effectiveness, the principal earned an accomplished score. The principal is very proactive and tries to stop classroom issues before they progress to larger, more serious issues. The teachers who were selected to participate in professional learning have shown progress in the areas of instruction and classroom management. The road will be challenging to make certain these teachers continue to show improvement. However, the support pieces and staff are in place to assist with the journey. The principal handled the situation with integrity.
The second question concerning conflict between team members earned the principal an accomplishedscore as well. I was blown away by the change of attitude and new found cohesiveness of the teams. The “conference” worked! The teachers felt valued by the principal for their individual efforts and they also saw the need for their relationships to be more positive in order for students to learn. The teams seemed to get along well for the remainder of the school year. In fact, one team ended up having the one of the highest CRCT averages in our county.
