Understanding ISLLC Standards
Understanding the ISLLC Standards
Michelle L. Wilson
Grand Canyon University: EDA-534
8/10/2014
Standard 1: An educational leader promotes the success of every student by facilitating the development, articulation, implementation, and stewardship of a vision of learning that is shared and supported by all stakeholders.
Knowledge
Skills
Enduring Understandings
Essential Questions
Administrators will know…
Administrators will be able to …
Administrators will understand that…
The importance of using data to drive the vision and mission (CCSSO 2008: 1B).
Use data to further the progress of every student (ISLLC 2008: 1B).
Stakeholder consensus and agreement will move a mission and vision forward …show more content…
(CCSSO, 2008).
How will data be used to affect positive change?
Is the data validly addressing the mission?
Are the climate and culture reflecting the mission and vision?
Does the mission promote high standards for learning?
Am I using flexible thinking?
Is the vision sustainable?
Is everyone sharing in the leadership role, does everyone understand the shared leadership role?
Stakeholder’s predilection reflecting the vision and mission (CCSSO 2008: 1A).
Work collaboratively to implement a vision and mission (ISLLC 2008: 1A).
A working mission within the school reflective of culture (CCSSO 2008: 1C).
Create plans based upon data that allow goals to be met (ISLLC 2008: 1C).
The value of resources (CCSSO 2008: 1D).
Create an environment which values resources, both human and tangible. (ISLLC 2008: 1D).
Negotiation techniques for stakeholder consensus (CCSSO 2008: 1A).
Use open communication with all stakeholders. ISLLC 2008: 1A).
A student centered, diverse, safe learning environment (CCSSO 2008: 1D).
Promote learning environments that have continuous and sustainable growth (ISLLC 2008: 1D).
Site based decision making team including all stakeholders (CCSSO 2008: 1E).
Monitor and evaluate the progress of the vision, making revisions as necessary (ISLLC 2008: 1E).
Standard: 2: An education leader promotes the success of every student by advocating, nurturing, and sustaining a school culture and instructional program conducive to student learning and staff professional growth.
Knowledge
Skills
Enduring Understandings
Essential Questions
Administrators will know…
Administrators will be able to …
Administrators will understand that…
A learning environment where there are high expectations and all stakeholders are valued.
(CCSSO 2008: 2A).
Promote and nurture a school culture that is positive and cohesive for all stakeholders (CCSSO 2008: 2A).
They must model and encourage life-long learning (CCSSO 2008).
The establishment of a culture of high expectations for everyone in the school community is a necessity (CCSSO 2008).
They must assess culture and climate on a regular basis (CCSSO 2008).
Supervision is important and staff and teacher performance must be evaluated in a variety of ways (CCSSO 2008).
Is every student experiencing success?
Are the culture and climate fostering student leaning and professional growth?
What can I do to enhance the culture and climate?
How do I sustain and nurture the culture and climate?
Do I need to explore other theories or practices to promote the vision?
Is the evaluation process fostering positive culture and climate and addressing pertinent professional development?
Rigorous, comprehensive, coherent curricular program in place. (CCSSO 2008:2B).
Provide a rigorous and effective instructional program based upon needs from school’s data (CCSSO …show more content…
2008:2B).
Diversified, specialized, student-centered, motivating learning environment. (CCSSO 2008:2C).
Creates a personalized and motivating learning environment for students (CCSSO 2008:2C).
Proactive, objective, observatory supervision program for instructors. (CCSSO 2008:2D).
Supervise both instruction and instructional practices within the school (CCSSO 2008:2D).
Accountability and assessment system that monitors student progress at the campus and district level. (CCSSO 2008:2E).
Discover and implement accredited testing materials and systems (CCSSO 2008:2E).
Professional development and leadership training program for all staff, including mentorship. (CCSSO 2008:2F).
Encourage staff members instructionally, while building up their leadership skills (CCSSO 2008:2F).
Instruction that is based on essential knowledge and skills standards of expectations. (CCSSO 2008:2G).
Implement a schedule that allows for quality education while using maximum instructional time (CCSSO 2008:2G).
Technology systems, technology competencies, and training for all instructors and support staff. (CCSSO 2008:2H).
Promote use of technologies that enhance learning (CCSSO 2008:2H).
Evaluation process of all vital components of the school and the learning process. (CCSSO 2008:2I).
Evaluate effectiveness of instructional programs, if necessary changing and adjusting based on data and need (CCSSO 2008:2I).
Standard 3: An education leader promotes the success of every student by ensuring effective management of the organization, operation and resources for a safe, efficient and effective learning environment.
Knowledge
Skills
Enduring Understandings
Essential Questions
Administrators will know…
Administrators will be able to …
Administrators will understand that…
Strategies to monitor and evaluate the management and operational systems (ISLLC 2008: 3A).
Continuously inspect and assess management and operational (infrastructure) systems to ensure safe, effective learning environment (ISLLC 2008: 3A
Procedures to obtain, allocate, align, and efficiently utilize human, fiscal, and technological resources (ISLLC 2008: 3B).
Create an efficient framework for stakeholder, financial, and technological assets (ISLLC 2008: 3B).
Responsibility measures for welfare and safety of students and staff (ISLLC 2008: 3C).
Develop and sustain safety systems to enhance the security of all stakeholders (ISLLC 2008: 3C).
Capacity building processes for distributed leadership (ISLLC 2008: 3D).
Cultivate stakeholder resources for shared guidance (ISLLC 2008: 3D).
Time management processes to support quality instruction and student learning (ISLLC 2008: 3E).
Establish individual and organizational teacher preparation time to promote superior teaching and enhanced student learning (ISLLC 2008: 3E).
Standard 4: An education leader promotes the success of every student by collaborating with faculty and community members, responding to diverse community interests and needs, and mobilizing community resources.
Knowledge
Skills
Enduring Understandings
Essential Questions
Administrators will know…
Administrators will be able to …
Administrators will understand that…
The school’s data, thus understanding what needs to be done to create a collaborative learning environment (CCSSO 2008:4A).
Conduct formal and informal research of the educational environment and analyze the data for proactive community collaboration (ISLLC S4A).
Constant compilation and evaluation of pertinent data will promote the success of each student (ISLLC 2008).
A community’s pluralistic resources provide a platform for relationships at all levels: family, caregiver, and community partners, and these relationships foster student success (ISLLC 2008).
Is the data being used to continuously foster a positive educational environment?
Are we using the diversity of the school community to promote global learning?
Are stakeholder relationships being properly sustained?
The positive benefits of pluralistic community collaboration (CCSSO 2008:4B).
Promote understanding and cultural diversity within the community and maximize the intellectual resources that all stakeholders possess (ISLLC S4B).
The critical nature of relational collaboration at all levels (CCSSO 2008:4C).
Build positive relationships with the families and caregivers of the students and maintain the relationships by fostering respect and accountability (ISLLC S4C).
The triggers for active community investment (CCSSO 2008:4D).
Promote the school’s mission and vision within the community by facilitating meetings with community leaders to connect all stakeholders in the educational process (ISLLC S4D).
Standard 5: An education leader promotes the success of every student by acting with integrity, fairness, and in an ethical manner.
Knowledge
Skills
Enduring Understandings
Essential Questions
Administrators will know…
Administrators will be able to …
Administrators will understand that…
Equitable organizational accountability schema (CCSSO 2008:5A).
Engage in confidential interactions that produce equitable outcomes (ISLLC 2008: 5A).
Non-bias systems must be in place to train, direct, and oversee the administration, instructors and staff at the local campus; with clear and defined mechanisms in place for correction and reform when necessary (ISLLC, 2008).
Personal ethics and accountability are equally important to organizational accountability in ensuring that there is a fair and equitable learning environment for all students (ISLLC, 2008).
Are we demonstrating and promoting honest respectful interactions in cooperation with conducting business and procedures with integrity?
Are decisions made with neutrality and sensitivity and in the best interest of stakeholders?
Are leaders able to use personal and professional introspection into their code of ethics?
Is everyone acting within the confines of the law?
Personal ethics platform (CCSSO 2008:5B).
Show sensitivity to the diversity of students and stakeholders by modeling ethical conduct (ISLLC 2008: 5B).
Tenets of equity, diversity and social justice (CCSSO 2008:5C).
Become sound decision makers based upon their own person code of ethics and knowledge (ISLLC 2008:
5C).
Sound strategies for complex resolutions (CCSSO 2008:5D, E).
Standard 6: An education leader promotes the success of every student by understanding, responding to, and influencing the political, social, economic, legal, and cultural context.
Knowledge
Skills
Enduring Understandings
Essential Questions
Administrators will know…
Administrators will be able to …
Administrators will understand that…
Advocacy parameters for stakeholders served (ISLLC 2008: 6A).
Make recommendations and provide support to their students as well as parents and caregivers of their students (CCSSO 2008:6A).
Educational leaders must influence the larger political, social, economic, and cultural context in order to affect opportunities for all students (CCSSO, 2008).
Educational leaders must participate in policy making using the legal system to protect student rights and improve student opportunities (CCSSO, 2008).
What new laws and trends will affect my constituency and the success of my students?
What is the best, most viable venue for increased/improved student achievement?
Are our policies valid, viable, and valuable and serving the needs of students?
Influential scope of decision-making at the local, district, and state level for the education process (ISLLC 2008: 6B).
Work to positively affect each student’s learning through influencing decisions and policies at local, district, state and national levels (CCSSO 2008:6B).
Emerging data and trends drive assessments and analysis for adapting leadership strategies (ISLLC 2008: 6C).
Understand and remain ahead of current trends and leadership practices (CCSSO 2008:6C).
© 2010. Grand Canyon University. All Rights Reserved.
Essay
The ISLLC Standards are designed to help create and set norms that can be followed by principals and administrators. There purpose is to unify the job descriptions and duties for administrators regardless of the school, district or state that one works for. The entire field of education is moving to this idea of unified job descriptions; this is evident in the shift to teaching by the state and common core standards, to the yearly extensive evaluations that principals and teaching staff are now using. My school’s administration is currently utilizing and following the standards set by the district, rather than the actual ISLLC Standards. Upon looking into what standards they were actually following and evaluated on; it is apparent that they are essentially the same, and only slightly tailored to the needs of our population. One of the areas of focus this year for our administration is our school’s culture, which is a focus in the ISLLC Standard 2. This is my principal’s second year working at our school as well as her second year in the role of a principal. She stepped into this position last year and implemented new norms and rules all of which were overdue and necessary. However, this was not highly appreciated or accepted by all staff members, resulting in an extremely high turnover rate. Some of the works focus required teachers to reflect upon themselves and their own mindsets. This was done in order to facilitate the development of teachers in becoming more insightful and thoughtful about how their actions affect students, some of these actions may even be subconscious. Many of the teachers did not like that they were asked to take that look at themselves, as it was easier to blame the shortcomings and scores solely on students. Many of those teachers left last year, as they just could not get on board with this new way of thinking. This year this work is still continuing, with the added piece of taking the time to truly explain the purpose behind doing so. Thus helping to gain more acceptance from the teachers involved in this learning process.
Within that same Standard, my principal is also working on the relationships and the community that we are creating and building within the school. Now there if a large focus on the importance of first truly knowing each of our students and their unique stories, in order to best understand and teach them. Along that same idea, we are working on the importance of taking the time to build those safe, predictable, trusting, and loving communities in our own classrooms. This idea of building those strong relationships is not just for our students, it is also what we are being asked to do with our families. One example of this is where they are asking us to try and get out of the habit of only calling or speaking to parents with negative news. Rather we should build relationships with each family by sharing the positive happenings we are observing in the beginning, thus making the occasions of those difficult conversations easier to have. When the time is taken to get to know students and their families, the likelihood of them supporting teachers and their children in a healthy positive way increases.
One of the other standards that is getting a strong focus this year is Standard 4, specifically creating collaboration among staff. As I referenced earlier, our school has a fairly new staff this year with over half of our teachers being new hires. There have been several procedures put in place to help make this transition for all staff members a little easier. One of the first items is a Mentor Teacher and Mentee Teacher partnership. Each new staff member has a teacher that has been in their position and at the school for more than 2 years working with them. I am currently working as a Mentor Teacher, and before we could even start working with our mentee we were asked to take a course to help us best serve them. Mentor teachers also have a set schedule that follows an agenda and schedule of pertinent information throughout the year. One final thing that has been asked of us, is that we keep a log of all additional times we are meeting with our partner. This log should specifically prove and show what is being covered, and how we are doing so. This program is an enormous support for new staff; I recall being a new teacher and wishing that I had something similar.
Our school is also taking the time to demonstrate how co-planning should look with our team members, as there are several new teams this year. In addition to how they are supporting our new staff, they are also placing a large focus on building personal and professional relationships. This is not just for teachers as it has been in the past, but rather building relationships with teachers, administrators, coaches, specialists and paraprofessionals. They have realized the importance of taking the time to build that community, in order to get that cohesiveness and collaboration to the level it needs to be. Some of this has been as simple as team building activities at the beginning of our professional developments and out of school staff activities. In a short amount of time, I have already noticed a difference in the school and the environment due to this.
The deconstructing of the standards was extremely helpful, as it allowed for a much better understanding of what they stated. Standards, more often than not are written in such official language that trying to make sense of what they are trying to say can prove difficult, at least for myself. Having the opportunity to identify and understand all of the different components that made up each standard was immensely helpful. I feel confident in what the ISLLC Standards are stating, as well as the purpose they serve to complete. It is also refreshing to know that I can take this knowledge and my understanding of the ISLLC Standards with me into my career regardless of where I end up. They are not just designed to fit the needs of one specific school, district, or state which I appreciate. Having this experience of truly knowing what these standards seek to do can, helps to open doors all over the country.
Reflection 6
This past week’s work on Standard 6 really honed in on the political and legal aspects of running a school. It was helpful to breakdown the standards this week and rebuild them in my own words as it expanded my understanding of what the standard was actually saying. Mostly because the legal and political side of this career is what I am the most unsure about; so being able to really understand what this standard was saying helped provide a clearer picture. Handling of the day to day operations, the behavior, understanding data, staff relationships all seems manageable, but when it comes to the legal and political stuff I am extremely unsure about that.
This was our last week working together as the yellow group. While it has not been the best experience with one member it has been pretty great with the other two. Our one member missed another conference call this week and failed to let anyone know that he would not be making it again. It has been extremely frustrating to have to work with someone that you cannot rely on at all. On the other hand it has brought the rest of us closer together. The rest of the group has made certain that regardless of that member, it will not affect our work or our grades. In our final scheduled meeting yesterday we talked about how the three of us have really enjoyed working together, and are currently looking into the possibility of continuing to have the opportunity to do so in future classes. A goal I have made in both my personal and professional life is trying to find the positive in things, even when it is not easy to find.
Reflection 5
This week’s group work on Standard 5 brought up an issue that had it not been caught, could have come with some very serious ramifications for all of our group members. This week it was my turn for submission and final editing. As I was putting all of our work into the outline, I noticed that the skills portion of the assignment had been taken directly out of the standards. While in the past we have based our interpretation of the skills fairly closely to how they are actually written out, however this was just plain plagiarism. I did not know how best to handle this, so after thinking about it for a few hours I decided it would be best if I made a response post in the group’s forum to the member about how I felt we would lose points if we left them as they were. I also told him I added in his citations, making it so all he would need to do was the rewording. I checked the forum throughout the day as I had hoped he would be able to see it before we met that evening. He did not get a chance to see them or if he did he did not respond, and then missed the group’s meeting.
I was extremely frustrated at this point as this marks over half of our meetings that he has missed, not to mention I really wanted the opportunity to talk with him “face to face”. I thought in doing that it would make the situation a little less awkward, and help him to realize that I was not trying to call him out but rather trying to help all of us out of a potentially serious situation. That did not happen, but he did do a great job of reworking his portion of the assignment today. In the chance that he had not done that, we reworked them as a group last night. I am relieved that we do not have to use those, and that it all worked out. I know that group work comes with challenges and that it brings together people who all have very different work habits and ideas. However, we must all learn to collaborate and complete our tasks to the best of our abilities. Through proper communication and working through the challenges we get to test our leadership skills. Learning how to work with this group member has not been easy for me, but it has taught me ways to approach and deal with it.
Reflection 4
This week’s group work was the hardest for me to let go of my control on, in order to put faith into one of my group members. We broke up the assignments into our prospective parts, but also into who would be responsible for posting each week. This week’s posting and final editing responsibilities landed on the group member who I have the most concern about. When we have met online he has missed over half of our meetings, and only been on time for the rest of them twice. Of those two times; one consisted of him laying in bed and watching Seinfeld, and the other he had a big comforter wrapped around his body. When we are meeting and discussing the work and assignments, he does not seem overly invested and rarely makes contributions to the group’s conversation beyond simple agreements or short statements.
I do not think I was alone in this feeling, as I picked up some nervousness from my other group members as well. In fact, he was asked to please post the final copy as well as email it to us before submitting. It was a good think that happened, because citations were incorrect and the formatting and font were all incorrect. While this was definitely not an ideal situation, it did teach me a political way to interact and deal with someone who has a very different work ethic then I do. I know that this will be an area I will be met with often in my career. Working with this member is teaching me how to practice patience and gain an understanding that not everything is going to go exactly how I want it to, and that is okay.
Reflection 3
This week’s group work was by far the most challenging of all, three of our four group members were travelling. We had been using the go to a meeting to get together which is the best way to meet and get everyone involved; however that mode of communication requires a strong internet connection. Due to the fact that I was going to be at the airport during the meeting time we decided to change the face to face meeting to a conference call. I text the group letting them know that we would be meeting at 6:30 Mountain Time. This was where most of the group’s disconnect occurred, as one of the members was in Las Vegas and thought that she was also on Mountain Time. I also thought that one of the other group members was back on the east coast time zone, when actually he was still in California on Pacific Time. The group member who had set up the conference call was on Central Time, and thought that I meant 6:30 his time. My flight ended up extremely delayed, and I was still in the air when the conference call begun. I tried calling in as soon as I landed but it was too late at that point.
Luckily we were all prepared and had done our portions of the assignment ahead of time. The meeting was really just more of a formality in order to make sure that we were all in agreement. As we had all posted our portion of the work and had been commenting on each other’s work within our group forum, we knew that all of the assignment was done well. Today I spoke with the group member responsible for this week’s submittal, and we just made a few changes and corrections to citations. Despite the fact that coordinating and communicating was not as easy as it had been in the previous weeks, I feel confident that our work turned out well.
Reflection 2
For Standard 2 I was more certain in what my group and I were supposed to do. Working on Standard 1 I was not overly confident in knowing and understanding what was expected in each part. This time I had a better understanding on how to unwrap and reword the standard. I was able to move away from my previous mindset of unwrapping with the end result being the creation of I can statements. I also had an easier time with locating and using pertinent information. For example, I was responsible for the skills this week. I was able to quickly locate and determine which document I wanted to use for that. I decided upon using the Council of Chief State School Officers ISLLC standards (CCSSO, 2008), as the skills were broken apart into nine specific functions versus the other which had the broader four elements.
Another reason this standard was easier was due to how I set up this week’s group communication. I wanted to find a way that allowed us to work collaboratively just like what would happen in a face-to-face group. I found a program that allowed us to do just that! It allowed the entire group to see and hear one another, while also giving each of us the ability to see the working document that was on my screen at the same time. Allowing us to see and read what was being done when we had all of us there, made the editing and work much easier. This type of communication made for easy and efficient collaboration; it can be difficult to follow along and really understand on a conference call, especially when this is new learning and information being covered. I felt we were able to get to know one another a little better in this format.
I believe this was an example of taking a leadership role within the group. I noticed there were some weaknesses and issues within how we were working together, so I found and presented a solution. This is definitely something I will be doing as an administrator, finding ways to make learning and collaboration of teachers and students more efficient. Additionally, this video conference call allowed us the ability to connect with all of the group members, as there had been some difficulty getting one of the members involved. When we were all connected and able to see one another, it made that difficult conversation about participation and responsibilities easier and more natural. Thus avoiding any unnecessary confrontation, another skill I will be using in my career.
Reflection 1
This was my first experience with unpacking a standard in such detail. For the first standard and assignment, we decided as a group that we should each complete our own so that when we all truly understood the process for the rest of the standards. With the ultimate goal being that once we each had a handle on how to do each of the pieces of the unwrapping process we would be able to break it up into our perspective parts with ease. I learned that what I did on my own was adding more details and language then I should have. Once I collaborated with my group and discussed the outcomes in comparison to the rubric and example, I realized I was beginning to get a little off of the subject in some areas. Actually, I made the assignment more difficult then it needed to be and used more I can statements then unpacking language. That way of working was what I was used to doing when reframing standards; as I typically turn them into kid friendly language. Once I was able to get out of that preconceived mindset it became easier to work on. This was an excellent way to dissect and grow a deeper understanding of what the standard was stating. Often standards are written in such unfriendly language and terminology, and really can be quite confusing to truly know what they mean. Through this process I was able to break it apart, and really dissect what it was stating. As an educator leader this will be something we will need to be proficient and skilled at doing, as we are required to be the leaders and experts in our schools. Working as a group was slightly challenging as not everyone seemed comfortable participating as much as they could have. We are trying to work out a better way to communicate in a way that works around different schedules and time zones. I know that this is just an adjustment and learning process for this way of working collaboratively; and that working together will get easier and more efficient as we continue into the next weeks.
References
Administration, N. P. (2002, January). ncate.org. Retrieved from Standards for Advanced Programs in Educational Leadership: http://www.ncate.org/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=jz0BsFs7A80%3D&tabid=676
Council of Chief State School Officers. (2008). Educational Leadership Policy Standards: ISLLC 2008. Retrieved from ccsso.org: http://www.ccsso.org/Documents/2008/Educational_Leadership_Policy_Standards_2008.pdf
Michelle L. Wilson
Grand Canyon University: EDA-534
8/10/2014
Standard 1: An educational leader promotes the success of every student by facilitating the development, articulation, implementation, and stewardship of a vision of learning that is shared and supported by all stakeholders.
Knowledge
Skills
Enduring Understandings
Essential Questions
Administrators will know…
Administrators will be able to …
Administrators will understand that…
The importance of using data to drive the vision and mission (CCSSO 2008: 1B).
Use data to further the progress of every student (ISLLC 2008: 1B).
Stakeholder consensus and agreement will move a mission and vision forward …show more content…
(CCSSO, 2008).
How will data be used to affect positive change?
Is the data validly addressing the mission?
Are the climate and culture reflecting the mission and vision?
Does the mission promote high standards for learning?
Am I using flexible thinking?
Is the vision sustainable?
Is everyone sharing in the leadership role, does everyone understand the shared leadership role?
Stakeholder’s predilection reflecting the vision and mission (CCSSO 2008: 1A).
Work collaboratively to implement a vision and mission (ISLLC 2008: 1A).
A working mission within the school reflective of culture (CCSSO 2008: 1C).
Create plans based upon data that allow goals to be met (ISLLC 2008: 1C).
The value of resources (CCSSO 2008: 1D).
Create an environment which values resources, both human and tangible. (ISLLC 2008: 1D).
Negotiation techniques for stakeholder consensus (CCSSO 2008: 1A).
Use open communication with all stakeholders. ISLLC 2008: 1A).
A student centered, diverse, safe learning environment (CCSSO 2008: 1D).
Promote learning environments that have continuous and sustainable growth (ISLLC 2008: 1D).
Site based decision making team including all stakeholders (CCSSO 2008: 1E).
Monitor and evaluate the progress of the vision, making revisions as necessary (ISLLC 2008: 1E).
Standard: 2: An education leader promotes the success of every student by advocating, nurturing, and sustaining a school culture and instructional program conducive to student learning and staff professional growth.
Knowledge
Skills
Enduring Understandings
Essential Questions
Administrators will know…
Administrators will be able to …
Administrators will understand that…
A learning environment where there are high expectations and all stakeholders are valued.
(CCSSO 2008: 2A).
Promote and nurture a school culture that is positive and cohesive for all stakeholders (CCSSO 2008: 2A).
They must model and encourage life-long learning (CCSSO 2008).
The establishment of a culture of high expectations for everyone in the school community is a necessity (CCSSO 2008).
They must assess culture and climate on a regular basis (CCSSO 2008).
Supervision is important and staff and teacher performance must be evaluated in a variety of ways (CCSSO 2008).
Is every student experiencing success?
Are the culture and climate fostering student leaning and professional growth?
What can I do to enhance the culture and climate?
How do I sustain and nurture the culture and climate?
Do I need to explore other theories or practices to promote the vision?
Is the evaluation process fostering positive culture and climate and addressing pertinent professional development?
Rigorous, comprehensive, coherent curricular program in place. (CCSSO 2008:2B).
Provide a rigorous and effective instructional program based upon needs from school’s data (CCSSO …show more content…
2008:2B).
Diversified, specialized, student-centered, motivating learning environment. (CCSSO 2008:2C).
Creates a personalized and motivating learning environment for students (CCSSO 2008:2C).
Proactive, objective, observatory supervision program for instructors. (CCSSO 2008:2D).
Supervise both instruction and instructional practices within the school (CCSSO 2008:2D).
Accountability and assessment system that monitors student progress at the campus and district level. (CCSSO 2008:2E).
Discover and implement accredited testing materials and systems (CCSSO 2008:2E).
Professional development and leadership training program for all staff, including mentorship. (CCSSO 2008:2F).
Encourage staff members instructionally, while building up their leadership skills (CCSSO 2008:2F).
Instruction that is based on essential knowledge and skills standards of expectations. (CCSSO 2008:2G).
Implement a schedule that allows for quality education while using maximum instructional time (CCSSO 2008:2G).
Technology systems, technology competencies, and training for all instructors and support staff. (CCSSO 2008:2H).
Promote use of technologies that enhance learning (CCSSO 2008:2H).
Evaluation process of all vital components of the school and the learning process. (CCSSO 2008:2I).
Evaluate effectiveness of instructional programs, if necessary changing and adjusting based on data and need (CCSSO 2008:2I).
Standard 3: An education leader promotes the success of every student by ensuring effective management of the organization, operation and resources for a safe, efficient and effective learning environment.
Knowledge
Skills
Enduring Understandings
Essential Questions
Administrators will know…
Administrators will be able to …
Administrators will understand that…
Strategies to monitor and evaluate the management and operational systems (ISLLC 2008: 3A).
Continuously inspect and assess management and operational (infrastructure) systems to ensure safe, effective learning environment (ISLLC 2008: 3A
Procedures to obtain, allocate, align, and efficiently utilize human, fiscal, and technological resources (ISLLC 2008: 3B).
Create an efficient framework for stakeholder, financial, and technological assets (ISLLC 2008: 3B).
Responsibility measures for welfare and safety of students and staff (ISLLC 2008: 3C).
Develop and sustain safety systems to enhance the security of all stakeholders (ISLLC 2008: 3C).
Capacity building processes for distributed leadership (ISLLC 2008: 3D).
Cultivate stakeholder resources for shared guidance (ISLLC 2008: 3D).
Time management processes to support quality instruction and student learning (ISLLC 2008: 3E).
Establish individual and organizational teacher preparation time to promote superior teaching and enhanced student learning (ISLLC 2008: 3E).
Standard 4: An education leader promotes the success of every student by collaborating with faculty and community members, responding to diverse community interests and needs, and mobilizing community resources.
Knowledge
Skills
Enduring Understandings
Essential Questions
Administrators will know…
Administrators will be able to …
Administrators will understand that…
The school’s data, thus understanding what needs to be done to create a collaborative learning environment (CCSSO 2008:4A).
Conduct formal and informal research of the educational environment and analyze the data for proactive community collaboration (ISLLC S4A).
Constant compilation and evaluation of pertinent data will promote the success of each student (ISLLC 2008).
A community’s pluralistic resources provide a platform for relationships at all levels: family, caregiver, and community partners, and these relationships foster student success (ISLLC 2008).
Is the data being used to continuously foster a positive educational environment?
Are we using the diversity of the school community to promote global learning?
Are stakeholder relationships being properly sustained?
The positive benefits of pluralistic community collaboration (CCSSO 2008:4B).
Promote understanding and cultural diversity within the community and maximize the intellectual resources that all stakeholders possess (ISLLC S4B).
The critical nature of relational collaboration at all levels (CCSSO 2008:4C).
Build positive relationships with the families and caregivers of the students and maintain the relationships by fostering respect and accountability (ISLLC S4C).
The triggers for active community investment (CCSSO 2008:4D).
Promote the school’s mission and vision within the community by facilitating meetings with community leaders to connect all stakeholders in the educational process (ISLLC S4D).
Standard 5: An education leader promotes the success of every student by acting with integrity, fairness, and in an ethical manner.
Knowledge
Skills
Enduring Understandings
Essential Questions
Administrators will know…
Administrators will be able to …
Administrators will understand that…
Equitable organizational accountability schema (CCSSO 2008:5A).
Engage in confidential interactions that produce equitable outcomes (ISLLC 2008: 5A).
Non-bias systems must be in place to train, direct, and oversee the administration, instructors and staff at the local campus; with clear and defined mechanisms in place for correction and reform when necessary (ISLLC, 2008).
Personal ethics and accountability are equally important to organizational accountability in ensuring that there is a fair and equitable learning environment for all students (ISLLC, 2008).
Are we demonstrating and promoting honest respectful interactions in cooperation with conducting business and procedures with integrity?
Are decisions made with neutrality and sensitivity and in the best interest of stakeholders?
Are leaders able to use personal and professional introspection into their code of ethics?
Is everyone acting within the confines of the law?
Personal ethics platform (CCSSO 2008:5B).
Show sensitivity to the diversity of students and stakeholders by modeling ethical conduct (ISLLC 2008: 5B).
Tenets of equity, diversity and social justice (CCSSO 2008:5C).
Become sound decision makers based upon their own person code of ethics and knowledge (ISLLC 2008:
5C).
Sound strategies for complex resolutions (CCSSO 2008:5D, E).
Standard 6: An education leader promotes the success of every student by understanding, responding to, and influencing the political, social, economic, legal, and cultural context.
Knowledge
Skills
Enduring Understandings
Essential Questions
Administrators will know…
Administrators will be able to …
Administrators will understand that…
Advocacy parameters for stakeholders served (ISLLC 2008: 6A).
Make recommendations and provide support to their students as well as parents and caregivers of their students (CCSSO 2008:6A).
Educational leaders must influence the larger political, social, economic, and cultural context in order to affect opportunities for all students (CCSSO, 2008).
Educational leaders must participate in policy making using the legal system to protect student rights and improve student opportunities (CCSSO, 2008).
What new laws and trends will affect my constituency and the success of my students?
What is the best, most viable venue for increased/improved student achievement?
Are our policies valid, viable, and valuable and serving the needs of students?
Influential scope of decision-making at the local, district, and state level for the education process (ISLLC 2008: 6B).
Work to positively affect each student’s learning through influencing decisions and policies at local, district, state and national levels (CCSSO 2008:6B).
Emerging data and trends drive assessments and analysis for adapting leadership strategies (ISLLC 2008: 6C).
Understand and remain ahead of current trends and leadership practices (CCSSO 2008:6C).
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Essay
The ISLLC Standards are designed to help create and set norms that can be followed by principals and administrators. There purpose is to unify the job descriptions and duties for administrators regardless of the school, district or state that one works for. The entire field of education is moving to this idea of unified job descriptions; this is evident in the shift to teaching by the state and common core standards, to the yearly extensive evaluations that principals and teaching staff are now using. My school’s administration is currently utilizing and following the standards set by the district, rather than the actual ISLLC Standards. Upon looking into what standards they were actually following and evaluated on; it is apparent that they are essentially the same, and only slightly tailored to the needs of our population. One of the areas of focus this year for our administration is our school’s culture, which is a focus in the ISLLC Standard 2. This is my principal’s second year working at our school as well as her second year in the role of a principal. She stepped into this position last year and implemented new norms and rules all of which were overdue and necessary. However, this was not highly appreciated or accepted by all staff members, resulting in an extremely high turnover rate. Some of the works focus required teachers to reflect upon themselves and their own mindsets. This was done in order to facilitate the development of teachers in becoming more insightful and thoughtful about how their actions affect students, some of these actions may even be subconscious. Many of the teachers did not like that they were asked to take that look at themselves, as it was easier to blame the shortcomings and scores solely on students. Many of those teachers left last year, as they just could not get on board with this new way of thinking. This year this work is still continuing, with the added piece of taking the time to truly explain the purpose behind doing so. Thus helping to gain more acceptance from the teachers involved in this learning process.
Within that same Standard, my principal is also working on the relationships and the community that we are creating and building within the school. Now there if a large focus on the importance of first truly knowing each of our students and their unique stories, in order to best understand and teach them. Along that same idea, we are working on the importance of taking the time to build those safe, predictable, trusting, and loving communities in our own classrooms. This idea of building those strong relationships is not just for our students, it is also what we are being asked to do with our families. One example of this is where they are asking us to try and get out of the habit of only calling or speaking to parents with negative news. Rather we should build relationships with each family by sharing the positive happenings we are observing in the beginning, thus making the occasions of those difficult conversations easier to have. When the time is taken to get to know students and their families, the likelihood of them supporting teachers and their children in a healthy positive way increases.
One of the other standards that is getting a strong focus this year is Standard 4, specifically creating collaboration among staff. As I referenced earlier, our school has a fairly new staff this year with over half of our teachers being new hires. There have been several procedures put in place to help make this transition for all staff members a little easier. One of the first items is a Mentor Teacher and Mentee Teacher partnership. Each new staff member has a teacher that has been in their position and at the school for more than 2 years working with them. I am currently working as a Mentor Teacher, and before we could even start working with our mentee we were asked to take a course to help us best serve them. Mentor teachers also have a set schedule that follows an agenda and schedule of pertinent information throughout the year. One final thing that has been asked of us, is that we keep a log of all additional times we are meeting with our partner. This log should specifically prove and show what is being covered, and how we are doing so. This program is an enormous support for new staff; I recall being a new teacher and wishing that I had something similar.
Our school is also taking the time to demonstrate how co-planning should look with our team members, as there are several new teams this year. In addition to how they are supporting our new staff, they are also placing a large focus on building personal and professional relationships. This is not just for teachers as it has been in the past, but rather building relationships with teachers, administrators, coaches, specialists and paraprofessionals. They have realized the importance of taking the time to build that community, in order to get that cohesiveness and collaboration to the level it needs to be. Some of this has been as simple as team building activities at the beginning of our professional developments and out of school staff activities. In a short amount of time, I have already noticed a difference in the school and the environment due to this.
The deconstructing of the standards was extremely helpful, as it allowed for a much better understanding of what they stated. Standards, more often than not are written in such official language that trying to make sense of what they are trying to say can prove difficult, at least for myself. Having the opportunity to identify and understand all of the different components that made up each standard was immensely helpful. I feel confident in what the ISLLC Standards are stating, as well as the purpose they serve to complete. It is also refreshing to know that I can take this knowledge and my understanding of the ISLLC Standards with me into my career regardless of where I end up. They are not just designed to fit the needs of one specific school, district, or state which I appreciate. Having this experience of truly knowing what these standards seek to do can, helps to open doors all over the country.
Reflection 6
This past week’s work on Standard 6 really honed in on the political and legal aspects of running a school. It was helpful to breakdown the standards this week and rebuild them in my own words as it expanded my understanding of what the standard was actually saying. Mostly because the legal and political side of this career is what I am the most unsure about; so being able to really understand what this standard was saying helped provide a clearer picture. Handling of the day to day operations, the behavior, understanding data, staff relationships all seems manageable, but when it comes to the legal and political stuff I am extremely unsure about that.
This was our last week working together as the yellow group. While it has not been the best experience with one member it has been pretty great with the other two. Our one member missed another conference call this week and failed to let anyone know that he would not be making it again. It has been extremely frustrating to have to work with someone that you cannot rely on at all. On the other hand it has brought the rest of us closer together. The rest of the group has made certain that regardless of that member, it will not affect our work or our grades. In our final scheduled meeting yesterday we talked about how the three of us have really enjoyed working together, and are currently looking into the possibility of continuing to have the opportunity to do so in future classes. A goal I have made in both my personal and professional life is trying to find the positive in things, even when it is not easy to find.
Reflection 5
This week’s group work on Standard 5 brought up an issue that had it not been caught, could have come with some very serious ramifications for all of our group members. This week it was my turn for submission and final editing. As I was putting all of our work into the outline, I noticed that the skills portion of the assignment had been taken directly out of the standards. While in the past we have based our interpretation of the skills fairly closely to how they are actually written out, however this was just plain plagiarism. I did not know how best to handle this, so after thinking about it for a few hours I decided it would be best if I made a response post in the group’s forum to the member about how I felt we would lose points if we left them as they were. I also told him I added in his citations, making it so all he would need to do was the rewording. I checked the forum throughout the day as I had hoped he would be able to see it before we met that evening. He did not get a chance to see them or if he did he did not respond, and then missed the group’s meeting.
I was extremely frustrated at this point as this marks over half of our meetings that he has missed, not to mention I really wanted the opportunity to talk with him “face to face”. I thought in doing that it would make the situation a little less awkward, and help him to realize that I was not trying to call him out but rather trying to help all of us out of a potentially serious situation. That did not happen, but he did do a great job of reworking his portion of the assignment today. In the chance that he had not done that, we reworked them as a group last night. I am relieved that we do not have to use those, and that it all worked out. I know that group work comes with challenges and that it brings together people who all have very different work habits and ideas. However, we must all learn to collaborate and complete our tasks to the best of our abilities. Through proper communication and working through the challenges we get to test our leadership skills. Learning how to work with this group member has not been easy for me, but it has taught me ways to approach and deal with it.
Reflection 4
This week’s group work was the hardest for me to let go of my control on, in order to put faith into one of my group members. We broke up the assignments into our prospective parts, but also into who would be responsible for posting each week. This week’s posting and final editing responsibilities landed on the group member who I have the most concern about. When we have met online he has missed over half of our meetings, and only been on time for the rest of them twice. Of those two times; one consisted of him laying in bed and watching Seinfeld, and the other he had a big comforter wrapped around his body. When we are meeting and discussing the work and assignments, he does not seem overly invested and rarely makes contributions to the group’s conversation beyond simple agreements or short statements.
I do not think I was alone in this feeling, as I picked up some nervousness from my other group members as well. In fact, he was asked to please post the final copy as well as email it to us before submitting. It was a good think that happened, because citations were incorrect and the formatting and font were all incorrect. While this was definitely not an ideal situation, it did teach me a political way to interact and deal with someone who has a very different work ethic then I do. I know that this will be an area I will be met with often in my career. Working with this member is teaching me how to practice patience and gain an understanding that not everything is going to go exactly how I want it to, and that is okay.
Reflection 3
This week’s group work was by far the most challenging of all, three of our four group members were travelling. We had been using the go to a meeting to get together which is the best way to meet and get everyone involved; however that mode of communication requires a strong internet connection. Due to the fact that I was going to be at the airport during the meeting time we decided to change the face to face meeting to a conference call. I text the group letting them know that we would be meeting at 6:30 Mountain Time. This was where most of the group’s disconnect occurred, as one of the members was in Las Vegas and thought that she was also on Mountain Time. I also thought that one of the other group members was back on the east coast time zone, when actually he was still in California on Pacific Time. The group member who had set up the conference call was on Central Time, and thought that I meant 6:30 his time. My flight ended up extremely delayed, and I was still in the air when the conference call begun. I tried calling in as soon as I landed but it was too late at that point.
Luckily we were all prepared and had done our portions of the assignment ahead of time. The meeting was really just more of a formality in order to make sure that we were all in agreement. As we had all posted our portion of the work and had been commenting on each other’s work within our group forum, we knew that all of the assignment was done well. Today I spoke with the group member responsible for this week’s submittal, and we just made a few changes and corrections to citations. Despite the fact that coordinating and communicating was not as easy as it had been in the previous weeks, I feel confident that our work turned out well.
Reflection 2
For Standard 2 I was more certain in what my group and I were supposed to do. Working on Standard 1 I was not overly confident in knowing and understanding what was expected in each part. This time I had a better understanding on how to unwrap and reword the standard. I was able to move away from my previous mindset of unwrapping with the end result being the creation of I can statements. I also had an easier time with locating and using pertinent information. For example, I was responsible for the skills this week. I was able to quickly locate and determine which document I wanted to use for that. I decided upon using the Council of Chief State School Officers ISLLC standards (CCSSO, 2008), as the skills were broken apart into nine specific functions versus the other which had the broader four elements.
Another reason this standard was easier was due to how I set up this week’s group communication. I wanted to find a way that allowed us to work collaboratively just like what would happen in a face-to-face group. I found a program that allowed us to do just that! It allowed the entire group to see and hear one another, while also giving each of us the ability to see the working document that was on my screen at the same time. Allowing us to see and read what was being done when we had all of us there, made the editing and work much easier. This type of communication made for easy and efficient collaboration; it can be difficult to follow along and really understand on a conference call, especially when this is new learning and information being covered. I felt we were able to get to know one another a little better in this format.
I believe this was an example of taking a leadership role within the group. I noticed there were some weaknesses and issues within how we were working together, so I found and presented a solution. This is definitely something I will be doing as an administrator, finding ways to make learning and collaboration of teachers and students more efficient. Additionally, this video conference call allowed us the ability to connect with all of the group members, as there had been some difficulty getting one of the members involved. When we were all connected and able to see one another, it made that difficult conversation about participation and responsibilities easier and more natural. Thus avoiding any unnecessary confrontation, another skill I will be using in my career.
Reflection 1
This was my first experience with unpacking a standard in such detail. For the first standard and assignment, we decided as a group that we should each complete our own so that when we all truly understood the process for the rest of the standards. With the ultimate goal being that once we each had a handle on how to do each of the pieces of the unwrapping process we would be able to break it up into our perspective parts with ease. I learned that what I did on my own was adding more details and language then I should have. Once I collaborated with my group and discussed the outcomes in comparison to the rubric and example, I realized I was beginning to get a little off of the subject in some areas. Actually, I made the assignment more difficult then it needed to be and used more I can statements then unpacking language. That way of working was what I was used to doing when reframing standards; as I typically turn them into kid friendly language. Once I was able to get out of that preconceived mindset it became easier to work on. This was an excellent way to dissect and grow a deeper understanding of what the standard was stating. Often standards are written in such unfriendly language and terminology, and really can be quite confusing to truly know what they mean. Through this process I was able to break it apart, and really dissect what it was stating. As an educator leader this will be something we will need to be proficient and skilled at doing, as we are required to be the leaders and experts in our schools. Working as a group was slightly challenging as not everyone seemed comfortable participating as much as they could have. We are trying to work out a better way to communicate in a way that works around different schedules and time zones. I know that this is just an adjustment and learning process for this way of working collaboratively; and that working together will get easier and more efficient as we continue into the next weeks.
References
Administration, N. P. (2002, January). ncate.org. Retrieved from Standards for Advanced Programs in Educational Leadership: http://www.ncate.org/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=jz0BsFs7A80%3D&tabid=676
Council of Chief State School Officers. (2008). Educational Leadership Policy Standards: ISLLC 2008. Retrieved from ccsso.org: http://www.ccsso.org/Documents/2008/Educational_Leadership_Policy_Standards_2008.pdf