EDLD 5344 - Improving Professional Practice

As far as my own professional growth goes, I am always on a quest for information.  If I am not formally in school, then I am teaching myself, and if I am not teaching myself I am taking a seminar somewhere on some topic of interest.   Beyond that there is a bounty of professional development activities to choose from.  I think I am pretty much covered as far as being a lifelong learner.

However, as far as this course goes the week four lecture was the most interesting and enlightening.  I love the Establishment Clause, The Free Exercise Clause, and The Equal Access Act along with the Lemon Test and the Five Pronged Super Test.  I know a lot of people including people in my school who really need to learn these things along with the Constitution.  Since I will not be returning to that particular school and maybe not even the district when I do return to work, I am in no position to present them with this information. 

The Establishment Clause

• “Congress shall make no law respecting the establishment of religion…”

The Free Exercise Clause

• “…or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” (Hopson, nd, slide 1)

The Equal Access Act (1984)

• “Schools that establish a limited open forum cannot discriminate against student groups based on the religious, political, philosophical or other content of their speech.” (Hopson, nd, slide 8)

My school has been in violation of the First Amendment and all of these things that go along with it for years.  However, now that we have a principal who must be in control of everyone and everything the school might be in compliance with the law now.

We have had a Christian Bible study group on campus with a teacher leading the group for years.  It was still active last year, but as I have said our new principal might have put a stop to it.  Since I have been out on disability, I am cannot say for certain that it still exists or maybe it has a student leader now but there is no way that the particular teacher could be a silent observer.

Our principal seems to be up on the laws but I am not sure when it comes to the Constitution, First Amendment, and Religion.  The only laws I hear him talking about are in regard to NCLB, IDEA, RTI and anything else that has to do with meeting AYP.  So maybe he doesn’t realize it.

Our entire district really could use some professional development on school law, especially when it comes to the Constitution, religion and a limited open forum. I wonder if the Equal Access Act has ever been defied.  I know that I worked in the school for five years and never knew we were breaking the law until now.

A final note on all of the laws that effect schools; I think it would be in my best interest to make myself a notebook, a large poster, or something to that effect that would enable me to have easy access to all of the laws.  I would not want to be caught in any situation where I was unwittingly disobeying the law.

Hopson, M., (nd). School law: Week four lecture, slides 1and 8.

EDLD 5344 - Personnel Management

I learned a lot about this in Human Resource Management, with the exception of the case law examples nothing was new.  I preferred hearing what Dr. Cannon had to say about teacher evaluation and remediation.  It was fair for all parties involved and very detailed.

As a leader who has worked with many administrators during my career, I think the best way to emphasize the importance of stakeholders is to lead by example. If you demonstrate fairness, and sensitivity to all stakeholders’ beliefs, and ethical treatment of all employees, you will be leading by example. (Cannon, nd, slide 12) The evaluation process must be honest if participants are to view it with credibility. (Cannon, nd, slide 13)

 

In response to a question about terminating a teacher she responded:

That is a difficult decision, Steve, and it has to be done appropriately or the principal will get himself or herself in trouble. Each principal should understand case law, which is the court decisions, and statute law, which are the legislated mandates, and know school district policy relevant to personnel. A clear understanding of the differences between contract non-renewal, suspension, and termination is a must before any principal begins a process that may result in really adversely affecting the employment status of a professional or support staff employee. (Cannon, nd, slides 14 and 15)

 

She followed up with steps that should be taken in order to maintain fairness and objectivity.

1. Begin the evaluation process early in the school year. If you are not in the classrooms observing the teachers informally during the first month of school, you are running late! Also, it helps set the climate and establish your role as being involved instructionally if teachers and students see you in classrooms early on. Set the stage so that you are checking on what students are doing so that students don’t just see it as a time when their teacher is ‘on trial.’ After all, watching what students are doing --- how engaged and successful they are in the learning --- is one of the best indicators of teacher effectiveness. Then, if there are problem areas with a teacher's performance, the principal and the teacher have plenty of time to work on the problems before a final decision by the principal must be made.

2. Utilize classroom walk-throughs often enough to ensure validity to what you see in the designated observation, or in the formal evaluation visit. Teachers and students begin to somewhat get used to administrators in the room if it happens often enough, and the atmosphere becomes less threatening and more authentic.

3. If there are any problem areas, schedule a conference with the teacher to lay out your concerns and discuss the issues, and put a synopsis of the conference in writing. The teacher should sign a copy of the synopsis before they leave the room indicating that they have received a copy.

4. In that conference, ask the teacher what he or she needs in terms of support in order to meet performance expectations you’ve set. Brainstorm with the teacher and consider all options: maybe mentoring, maybe professional development opportunities, observing another teacher, and so on. Be sure to follow up with any facilitation you need to do for those activities.

5. Then, if problems continue, establish a reasonable timeline for the teacher to demonstrate improvement and for you to conduct a follow-up evaluation. Conduct another conference following the follow-up evaluation visit.

6. Complete a third and final evaluation visit prior to making a contract status recommendation to the superintendent. Now keep in mind, this recommendation is usually required prior to the March school district board meeting. In order to proceed, the legally required action 45 (now 10) days prior to the last instructional day of the school year.

While these steps will exceed the legal requirements for evaluation, I think the process is fair, and it ensures that the teacher sees you as being fair, and that other professionals get a sense of fairness and professional behavior on the part of the principal. (Cannon, nd, slide 16)

 

In this course with all of the legalities and lack of humanity I realized that things are the same all over.  It really does not take much to terminate the contract of a teacher.  Even with documentation principals can easily be less than honorable and manage to get the job of terminating the employee done.  Let’s face it, we can cite case law but really what it comes down to is whether or not the teacher can afford an attorney.  So things are the same all over.  The teachers have to resign in order to save themselves and their reputations.  That is unfortunate because there really are teachers out there who should not be teaching.

 

I would prefer to live in Debra Cannon’s world where the administrators lead by example and demonstrate fairness.  I have seen the unethical behaviors of principals in action.

 

Cannon, D., (nd). Human resources management: Week four lecture, slides 12-16.

 

 

EDLD 5344 - Student Management

Everything that we have learned is important and has relevance.  However, I believe the issues that I will deal with on a daily basis such as RTI, IDEA, FERPA, and due process are the ones that will take up most of the time when it comes to student management.  These are all things that cannot be avoided and a day won’t go by when issues involving these items won’t occur.  Other things like Equal Access will pop up here and there but will not require the same attention.

As I am writing this I realize that RTI and IDEA, while they are seriously important to the success of students they are also interconnected with managing teachers because they all walk hand in hand.

The impetus behind the surge of current RTI initiatives stems from (a) needed improvements in the traditional general and special education systems and (b) the widespread accessibility of instructional methods with proven effectiveness (National Association of State Directors of Special Education [NASDSE], 2005). (Martinez, Nellis, and Prendergast, 2006, p2)

 Interventions, IEPs, and 504s are not only important for the overall success of success in determining the needs of students so that they are placed appropriately, but that everything is carried out consistently by all teachers to ensure the greatest benefit by the students.

With the lack of systemic guidelines for selecting and implementing allowable accommodations, it follows that decisions about accommodations for instruction and about assessments are based on inconsistent and often unreliable sources of information, including but not limited to (a) teacher’s prior experience, (b) parent preference, (c) ease of providing the accommodation, and (d) inferences about student performance (Fuchs & Fuchs, 1999). The Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing (American Educational Research Association, American Psychological Association, & National Council on Measurement in Education, 1999) have recognized that educators’ “professional judgment necessarily plays a significant role in decisions about test accommodations” (p. 102). Therefore, the assumption that the IEP provides the best reflection of students’ justifiable accommodations may be more imagined than actual. Even if the team responsible for writing a student’s IEP has followed the procedural requirements mandated by IDEIA, it is conceivable that they will not arrive at an appropriate accommodation decision. (Ketterlin-Geller, et al, 2007, p196)

 

It is absolutely imperative that the principal mandates and makes certain that the teachers carry out IEPs as written and in a systematic way.  Only then will it be possible to accurately measure what works and what does not, thereby enabling the team to make accurate and worthwhile adjustments when necessary.

FERPA is another hot button that has relevance to student management even if it does pertain to records and other information.  However, it is more relevant when managing teachers because they have to deal with parents and students on a daily basis and must keep in mind what they may and may not say when discussing children with other people.  Where student speech is concerned they go ahead and blurt out everything that they want. In my school we weren’t even allow to say the other student’s name when talking to parents about an issue that occurred between their children.

I realize now that they way we do things might be with good intentions but they are not by the letter of the law.  I find that to be true with several things at my school.

Directory Information

Can be released:

• Name

• Address

• Phone/email

• Attendance dates

 

Can’t be released:

• SSN

• Student ID number

• Race/gender/ethnicity

• School transcripts

• Grades

(Hopson, nd, slide 26)

Finally, due process is a bit easier to manage.  In my school every time a student gets a reprimand or a write-up it is mandatory that the teacher places a phone call home.  The student is also notified by the teacher that this is happening.  Therefore, there are no surprises.  Once the behavior becomes a referral and the teacher notifies the student and makes the phone call home, her role is complete.  Then once it is in the system the principal and or designee follows up with an investigation before issuing a formal punishment for the offense.  I have found that in my school, once a write-up occurs the designee or principal simply blames the teacher for the behavior of the student saving themselves a lot of effort.

 

Martinez, R. S., Nellis, L. M., & Prendergast, K. A., (2006). Closing the achievement gap series,

part II: Response to intervention (RTI) - Basic elements, practical application, and policy recommendations. Education Policy Brief, 4(8), Center for Evaluation and Education Policy, Indiana University. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED 495749).

 

Ketterlin-Geller, L. R., Alonso, J., Brown-Monegan, J., & Tindal, G. (2007). Recommendations

for accommodations: Implications of (in)consistency. Remedial and Special Education, 28(4), 194-206.

 

Hopson, M., (nd)., School law: Week four lecture, slide 26

 

EDLD 5326 - Action Research Update

My action research project is complete and I am almost finished writing the report.   Going through the research and finding relevant information to what I was trying to do was the most time consuming.  I have to revisit that literature to get the statistics I need that will support my conclusions since the research itself was so badly sabotaged. Since, the research did not go as planned, but the results still showed that there is a need for this kind of technological support; I will need the literature to really make that point.  Originally it was supposed to be a mandatory part of the mentoring process and then at the last minute I was told that I was not allowed to do that.  Therefore, it was done on a voluntary basis and either fortunately or unfortunately I had different teachers answering the questionnaires from beginning to end.  The reason I say that it might have been fortunate is because what all of this told me is that the teachers think that they don’t need help in implementing the use of technology in the classroom but they really do.  The numbers clearly showed that even veteran teachers who are new to the district need to learn about implementing the use of technology.  So a research project gone horribly awry still yielded some good information.  Therefore I am not totally disappointed with the project or the outcome, because it did somewhat prove what I was saying all along, just from the opposite direction.

EDLD 5326 - Web Conferences

I don't really find the web conferences as helpful as I used to.  I think that is because the sizes of the classes and there are so many people either in different programs or at different levels of the programs.  People in their second course are going to have a lot more general questions and I understand that but those of us who are in our ninth course have already been there and done that.

I think having them as an optional part of the course is good.  I am happy when I get my course related questions answered but I can get them answered by email just as easily.  The web conferences are very helpful when they are course specific.

EDLD5345 - Week One

I have enjoyed the video lectures and readings and have learned that the principal cannot be the one going around creating the drama and conflict.  In the end he/she should/will be out of a job.  The principal needs to remain open-minded and be the voice of reason whenever conflicts occur.  The principal must be able to fix the problems by finding solutions that are equitable for everyone involved.  The principal must have personal values that will enable all parties involved in a conflict to save face so that they will still be valued members of the school community.

EDLD 5397 - Week Five Web Conference

I am happy to learn that I have understood everything for the week correctly and was able to complete the work on time. 

I did not look at any of the PD Plan examples until after I wrote my plan.  I believe that I did include all of the necessary information, but when I saw that someone else had a plan written similarly to mine I was okay with what I had done.

I am planning to use at least some of the break to get caught up on writing the campus based and course embedded reflections.