The CARE plan review

Going through the activities this year and working collaboratively on a campus improvement initiative has allowed me to gain knowledge and confidence in leading such activities.  In order for the two middle school campuses to improve academically, I believe that providing teachers with ample time to collaborate will pay off with some big rewards in the end.

In this time of budget crunches and higher expectations, providing this extra time will have a great impact on student achievement if implemented and monitored correctly. For this reason, I recommend the development of a master schedule where teachers are provided with a conference period as designated by law and a team period where they meet with teachers from different fields of study.  First of all, providing this time will allow administrators the flexibility to meet with either departments or cross-curricular teams depending on what goal you are trying to reach.  Secondly, this additional time will allow teachers to truly disaggregate data related to academics and behavior and fully develop RTI plans which will help students.  This will be much better than the drive-by sessions that are becoming more common due to limited time.  Next, I believe that the communication with parents will become so much better because instead of the responsibility falling on one teacher, there will now be a team of teachers that will share the responsibility.  Finally, with the big push for project based learning and PLC’s, this additional time will allow for that type of planning and in the end, the big winners will be the students.

The lessons I learned from this initiative is simple.  If you want teachers to perform at their highest level and implement quality lessons for your students, you need to provide them with the best resource that you can.  While being able to pay teachers more would be great, it is not a reality.  Therefore, if it is possible to provide them the time, you will see that lessons will be better, teacher morale will be better, and overall you will have helped create a positive campus culture where everyone looks forward to coming to work.

The CARE plan EDLD 5399

Concerns – 

1. Not enough time in the current master schedule to allow teachers to fully implement strategies which will increase student achievement (data teams, RTI teams, student conferencing)
2. Current advisory/lunch time takes away time that can be incorporated back into class time.
3. No time for teachers to grow professionally by doing book studies, interdisciplinary studies, project based learning studies, etc.

Affirmations -

1.    Clearly defined goals and expectations for the additional time along with agendas.

2.    Evidence of implementation of activities through walkthroughs, lesson plans, etc.

3.  Written reports/minutes of discussions and topics covered during the time for accountability purposes.

Recommendations - 

1. Create an additional planning time for teachers to participate in the specified activities.
2. Designate a leader for each group in order to share leadership responsibilities.
3. Create a system of checks and balances for accountability purposes to insure time is used wisely in order to positively affect student achievement.

Evaluate - 

1. Student success determined by factors decided on by the teachers and administration.
2. Evidence of professional growth and implementation of strategies based on agreed upon rubrics for the groups.
3. Survey for feedback on teacher morale, campus culture, etc.

EDLD 5399 Job Entry Plan

First Day

Goal(s): To provide strong, stable, collaborative leadership so that the diverse needs of students can be met in an efficient and engaging manner and in turn all stakeholders within the district will reap the benefits.

Objective(s):

1.    To familiarize myself with my surroundings in a new position.

2.    To meet people that will be vital to my survival in my new endeavor.

Activities addressing goals and objectives:

1.     Spend time setting up my office in order to create a safe haven for myself before moving into the storm of being a superintendent.

2.    Meet with my secretary and discuss expectations and get briefed on deadlines, meetings, and functions that have been scheduled that I must attend or need to be a part of.

3.    Introduce myself to different constituents located within the central office.

Resources needed to achieve goals and objectives:

1.    Time

2.    Personnel

First Week

Goal(s): To provide strong, stable, collaborative leadership so that the diverse needs of students can be met in an efficient and engaging manner and in turn all stakeholders within the district will reap the benefits.

Objective(s):

1.    Review current goals, objectives, and priorities in order to begin strategic planning to initiate needed changes.

Activities addressing goals and objectives:

1.    Meet with the board members to review and revise board priorities if needed.

2.    Meet with the administrative cabinet to review current goals and objectives and how those correlate to the board priorities.

3.    Meet with each assistant superintendent individually to gain insight to strengths, concerns, and areas of needed improvement within each area they oversee.

4.    Meet with directors from special programs and gauge our compliance with regulations fro these areas.

Resources needed to achieve goals and objectives:

1.    Copy of board priorities, district improvement plan, strategic plan

2.    Time

3.    Personnel

First Month

Goal(s): To provide strong, stable, collaborative leadership so that the diverse needs of students can be met in an efficient and engaging manner and in turn all stakeholders within the district will reap the benefits.  

Objective(s):

1.    Evaluate strengths, concerns, and areas of needed improvement at the campus level.

2.    Begin building relationships with stakeholders from the campus level.

Activities addressing goals and objectives:

1.    Meet individually with the principals of each campus to gain insight on their areas of strengths, concerns, and areas of needed improvement.

2.    Conduct meet and greets with members of the various campuses in order to open the lines of communication and begin building relationships.  

Resources needed to achieve goals and objectives

1.    Scheduled meetings with principals

2.    Scheduled meet and greets at the various campuses.

First Year

Goal(s): To provide strong, stable, collaborative leadership so that the diverse needs of students can be met in an efficient and engaging manner and in turn all stakeholders within the district will reap the benefits.

Objective(s):

1.    Conduct all district business within all the set regulations and mandates.

2.    Build a budget which reflects needs of the strategic plan and district improvement plan.

3.    Begin school transformation in any needed areas.

4.    Conduct needs assessments in order to validate areas of need and change

Activities addressing goals and objectives:

1.    Conduct needs assessments in different areas.

2.    Work collaboratively with the CFO, members of the administrative cabinet, and directors in order to create budget for the next year.

3.    Implement steps needed to begin school change.

Resources needed to achieve goals and objectives

1.    Needs assessments

2.    Copy of year-to-date expenditures

3.    Copy of district improvement plan