Develop a Team and Conduct an Environmental Scan

Develop a Team and Conduct an Environmental Scan The leadership team that a principal assembles to guide the development and oversight of improvement planning is of utmost importance. Patrick Lencioni (2012) asserts that, "A leadership team is a small group of people who are collectively responsible for achieving a common objective for their organization" (p. 21). In addition, effective leaders should be purposeful in their selection of who is on their team, with a primary consideration of the knowledge, expertise, and influence, both formal and informal, each individual brings to the leadership team. A leader must always be aware of the influences—internal and external —on current practices and the desired change and improvement, continually working with staff to effectively position the school for success, now and in the future. As you gather information for this assignment, keep in mind the hidden rules or the unspoken culture that is observable, but never written down, in the school and the larger community. For this assignment and the others that make up the course project, you will need to communicate with your educational stakeholders to gather information, glean insights, and solicit input on what is currently happening in your chosen school. Assignment Deliverables First, in no more than two paragraphs or a table, briefly describe the school you are leading as principal. Include information such as grade configuration, locale (rural, urban, or suburban), and enrollment numbers. You will share additional information in the environmental scan section. Part 1 – School Improvement Team Development In the first part of this assignment, apply what you have learned in the course and in your interactions with school stakeholders to describe how you would lead improvement planning in your school. Remember, you can use your current school's context and data but you must develop your paper with you in the role of principal. Construct a list of those individuals who will participate on this team, identify the positions they hold, and describe why you are selecting each of them to participate. Your descriptions should also include, but not be limited to: What knowledge or expertise do they bring to the team? What level of influence, formal or informal, do they hold? Why have you selected the number of people you have? Part 2 – Environmental Scan of the School It is important that the principal regularly (at least annually) conduct an environmental scan of the school. Your scan will include an analysis of student achievement and learning needs, as well as the educational context of the school you are leading to establish a body of knowledge that will help drive the development of your SIP. Create a brief description for each of the areas below, providing actual data where appropriate. You may utilize brief narrative descriptions (in this assignment, a paragraph or two is appropriate for each section), and charts or graphs as appropriate. You are not limited to only responding to the areas listed if there are additional important data to consider. If actual data are not available, describe how you would facilitate gathering necessary information for that area. Include responses to the following: What is the context of the surrounding school community? Describe the physical area. Describe the economic factors that have shaped the community. Describe the cultural diversity of the school community. State the community norms and values. How do they relate to promoting social justice? Discuss how the community supports education and the school. Does it offer fiscal resources? Volunteer resources? What is leveraged and what opportunities exist? What is the political context for your school? What policies, laws, and regulations affect the school? What political systems have shaped the community? How would you describe any other political factors that impact the school? What are the characteristics of your students and staff? Students: Enrollment overall and by race, socioeconomic status, and mobility. Family and parent involvement with the school. Parent and family education levels. Any other relevant characteristics. Staff: Levels of experience. Years in the school. Levels of education. Demographics. Any other relevant characteristics. What are the student learning results and needs? Collect and analyze data from various areas. Utilize charts, tables, or narrative as appropriate to provide a profile of student learning and assessments. Include responses to the following: What student assessment data are available? What are the primary assessments you will utilize as key measures of student learning? What methods do teachers use to gather daily evidence of student learning? What areas of student performance are meeting or exceeding expectations? What areas of student performance are below expectations? What patterns exist in the data? How are results or data similar across grade levels or content areas? What do you know about student attendance? What, if any, differences are there among student groups? What patterns do you see in student discipline data? What, if any, differences are there among groups of students? What are the school factors? District initiatives: What district initiatives do you need to implement and consider in your planning? School use of time and space: What type of schedule is in place at the school? (For example, length of school day or holiday schedules.) How is instructional time determined? (This will differ between elementary and secondary schools.) What is effective with the use of time and space? How are time and space utilized flexibly? How would you describe any alternative instructional settings? (For example, night school, block, modified block, or alternative schedules.) What kinds of technologies are being used? What instructional technologies are being utilized across the school? What is the purpose of each? What technologies are being utilized for internal and external communications? What technologies are being utilized to improve effectiveness with school operations? Are there any other technology being used? What types of professional learning happen in the school? What type and nature of professional learning takes place? Who leads professional learning? How is adult learning currently determined? What should improve related to professional learning? Are professional learning communities embedded in the work of staff? How? What are the other relevant areas in this context? Are there other areas of your school that you must consider that are important in your context, for school improvement? What are the accomplishments, current reality, and emerging influences? What are the important recent accomplishments (in the past 6–12 months) that should be documented? What is currently in place that will help the principal to facilitate change and improvement? What are current obstacles that will need to be mitigated to facilitate change and improvement? What emerging influences, both internal and external, need to be considered and designed for you to effectively position the school for success in the future? Part 3 – Assembling Data and Communicating to Staff How might you work with your school improvement team to assemble the data, as well as communicate it to staff? Collaborate with the committee to determine the collaboration strategies that will be used to collect, analyze, and interpret school, student, faculty, and community information. Then, plan how the committee will communicate information about the school with the faculty and community members to achieve the goals outlined in the SIP. Using the plan, set up meetings to collaborate with faculty and community members to share information about the SIP. Document the outcome of all meetings. (ELCC 4.1, NCATE Principle 1, 4). Articulate how you would model distributed leadership and involve faculty and staff in decision-making processes. (ELCC 3.4, NCATE Principle 1, 3). Note: Remember that you should be communicating and engaging with your educational stakeholders to obtain the information you need for this assignment. Assignment Requirements Your assignment should meet the following requirements: Written communication: Communicate in a manner that is scholarly, professional, and consistent with expectations of members of the education professions. APA format: Conform to current APA style and formatting guidelines. Length of paper: 3 pages. Refer to the SIP: Develop a Team and Conduct an Environmental Scan Scoring - Rubric CRITERIA NON-PERFORMANCE BASIC PROFICIENT DISTINGUISHED Describe the makeup of a school improvement team and indicate why each participant is vital to the process. 14% SIP demonstrates the candidate has no ability to describe the makeup of a school improvement team and indicate why each participant is vital to the process. SIP demonstrates the candidate's limited ability to describe the makeup of a school improvement team and indicate why each participant is vital to the process. SIP demonstrates the candidate's strong ability to describe the makeup of a school improvement team and indicate why each participant is vital to the process. SIP demonstrates the candidate's superior ability to describe the makeup of a school improvement team and indicate why each participant is vital to the process. Conduct an environmental scan of the educational context of a school and community to establish a body of knowledge that will help drive the development of a school improvement plan. 15% SIP demonstrates the candidate has no ability to conduct an environmental scan of the educational context of a school and community to establish a body of knowledge that will help drive the development of a school improvement plan. SIP demonstrates the candidate's limited ability to conduct an environmental scan of the educational context of a school and community to establish a body of knowledge that will help drive the development of a school improvement plan. SIP demonstrates the candidate's strong ability to conduct an environmental scan of the educational context of a school and community to establish a body of knowledge that will help drive the development of a school improvement plan. SIP demonstrates the candidate's superior ability to conduct an environmental scan of the educational context of a school and community to establish a body of knowledge that will help drive the development of a school improvement plan. Analyze data related to student learning results and needs. 14% SIP demonstrates candidate has no ability to analyze data related to student learning results and needs. SIP demonstrates the candidate's limited ability to analyze data related to student learning results and needs. SIP demonstrates the candidate's strong ability to analyze data related to student learning results and needs. SIP demonstrates the candidate's superior ability to analyze data related to student learning results and needs. Describe the instructional technologies used in the school. 14% SIP demonstrates the candidate has no ability to describe the instructional technologies used in the school. SIP demonstrates candidate's limited ability to describe the instructional technologies used in the school. SIP demonstrates candidate's strong ability to describe the instructional technologies used in the school. SIP demonstrates candidate's superior ability to describe the instructional technologies used in the school. Collaborate with the committee to determine the collaboration strategies that will be used to collect, analyze, and interpret school, student, faculty, and community information. Then, plan how the committee will communicate information about the school with the faculty and community members to achieve the goals outlined in the school improvement plan. Using the plan, set up meeting(s) to collaborate with faculty and community members to share information about the school improvement plan. Document the outcome of all meetings. (ELCC 4.1, NCATE Principle 1, 4). 17% SIP demonstrates candidate has no ability to collaborate with the committee to determine the collaboration strategies that will be used to collect, analyze, and interpret school, student, faculty, and community information. SIP demonstrates candidate has no understanding as to how the committee will communicate information about the school with the faculty and community members to achieve the goals outlined in the school improvement plan, and document meetings to collaborate with faculty and community members to share information about the school improvement plan. SIP demonstrates candidate's limited ability to collaborate with the committee to determine the collaboration strategies that will be used to collect, analyze, and interpret school, student, faculty, and community information. SIP demonstrates candidate's limited understanding as to how the committee will communicate information about the school with the faculty and community members to achieve the goals outlined in the school improvement plan, and document meetings to collaborate with faculty and community members to share information about the school improvement plan. SIP demonstrates candidate's strong ability to collaborate with the committee to determine the collaboration strategies that will be used to collect, analyze, and interpret school, student, faculty, and community information. SIP demonstrates candidate's strong understanding as to how the committee will communicate information about the school with the faculty and community members to achieve the goals outlined in the school improvement plan, and document meetings to collaborate with faculty and community members to share information about the school improvement plan. SIP demonstrates candidate's superior ability to collaborate with the committee to determine the collaboration strategies that will be used to collect, analyze, and interpret school, student, faculty, and community information. SIP demonstrates candidate's superior understanding as to how the committee will communicate information about the school with the faculty and community members to achieve the goals outlined in the school improvement plan, and document meetings to collaborate with faculty and community members to share information about the school improvement plan. Articulate how distributed leadership would be modeled and faculty and staff would be involved in decision-making processes. (ELCC 3.4, NCATE Principle 1, 3). 16% SIP demonstrates candidate has no ability to articulate how distributed leadership would be modeled and faculty and staff would be involved in decision-making processes. SIP demonstrates candidate's limited ability to articulate how distributed leadership would be modeled and faculty and staff would be involved in decision-making processes. SIP demonstrates candidate's strong ability to articulate how distributed leadership would be modeled and faculty and staff would be involved in decision-making processes. SIP demonstrates candidate's superior ability to articulate how distributed leadership would be modeled and faculty and staff would be involved in decision-making processes. Communicate in a manner that is scholarly, professional, and consistent with expectations for members of the education professions. 10% SIP demonstrates the candidate has no ability to communicate in a manner that is scholarly, professional, and consistent with expectations for members of the education professions. SIP demonstrates the candidate's limited ability to communicate in a manner that is scholarly, professional, and consistent with expectations for members of the education professions. SIP demonstrates the candidate's strong ability to communicate in a manner that is scholarly, professional, and consistent with expectations for members of the education professions. SIP demonstrates the candidate's superior ability to communicate in a manner that is scholarly, professional, and consistent with expectations for members of the education professions.