Standard 2: Instructional Leadership
School executives set high standards for the professional practice of 21st century instruction and assessment that result in a no-nonsense accountable environment. The school executive must be knowledgeable of best instructional and school practices and must use this knowledge to cause the creation of collaborative structures within the school for the design of highly engaging schoolwork for students, the on-going peer review of this work, and the sharing of this work throughout the professional community.
School executives set high standards for the professional practice of 21st century instruction and assessment that result in a no-nonsense accountable environment. The school executive must be knowledgeable of best instructional and school practices and must use this knowledge to cause the creation of collaborative structures within the school for the design of highly engaging schoolwork for students, the on-going peer review of this work, and the sharing of this work throughout the professional community.
Element 2a. Focus on Learning and Teaching, Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment: The school executive leads the discussion about standards for curriculum, instruction and assessment based on research and best practices in order to establish and achieve high expectations for students.
As part of our course entitled Principles of Educational Leadership and Empowerment, I had the opportunity to complete the ILGP under the valuable guidance of Dr. Monica Headen. I chose to focus on instructional leadership. As such, I shaped my SMART Goal around the examination of 4th Grade math instructional practices at Greene County Intermediate School to gather baseline data to inform the following:
- What 4th grade math instruction looks like (Present)
- I-Instruction
- C-Curriculum
- E-Environment
- What we want 4th grade math instruction to look like ( Future )
SMART Goal:
In order to facilitate consistent classroom routines (learning/behavioral goals), I will work through May, 2017, to develop a Core Math Matrix, fostering a multi-tiered system of support with clear guidelines for effective behavioral and academic instruction in math. I will conduct short classroom observations to establish baseline data of what math instruction looks like. I will look for consistency in classroom instruction utilizing the classroom observation protocol that looks for three components:
I-Instruction,
C-Curriculum;
E-Environment.
In order to facilitate consistent classroom routines (learning/behavioral goals), I will work through May, 2017, to develop a Core Math Matrix, fostering a multi-tiered system of support with clear guidelines for effective behavioral and academic instruction in math. I will conduct short classroom observations to establish baseline data of what math instruction looks like. I will look for consistency in classroom instruction utilizing the classroom observation protocol that looks for three components:
I-Instruction,
C-Curriculum;
E-Environment.
The artifacts below illustrate a snapshot of the Google Form and subsequent data that I gathered by surveying fourth grade math teachers. The survey was formulated utilizing the Eight Essential Math Practices to guide questioning in my data collection tool.
The artifacts below detail the 4th Grade Core Math Matrix that I created in accordance with the data collected from the survey and observations I conducted. This information can be utilized to outline norms for core math instruction (strategies/common assessments), the curriculum (pacing guides) and the classroom environment (behavior plan) for all students at our school--establishing high expectations and achievement in every classroom.
MTSS Data Review Meetings
|
The MTSS process establishes the guidelines by which we ensure that all students' learning needs are met. At West Greene, the tiers are defined as follows:
Tier 1: Core Instruction-Differentiated to meet the needs of ALL students. If students make progress at an appropriate rate (defined by the school MTSS Team), they remain in Tier 1 even if below grade level. Tier 2: Most done in the classrooms; may be iReady and mClass to supplement core instruction. Tier 3: HillRap or other "intense" intervention in addition to supplemental materials will be utilized. I had the opportunity to serve as the admin alongside the MTSS Coordinator and regular classroom teacher for MTSS Data Review updates on students and the services they receive based upon which Tier they are placed in. The artifact to the left outlines the data that we examined for each student. We discussed and documented each student's progress (growth) or lack thereof and the need to intensify intervention(s), change intervention(s), or continue the intervention(s) that are in place. The data gathered in these sessions gives a big picture of whether current interventions are working or if the school-wide MTSS plan needs to be improved upon to positively affect achievement data. Since it is key to keep parents informed as partners to our students' academic success, next steps should include scheduling follow-up meetings (calls) with the parents/caregivers of all students to explain how interventions will be changed or as a positive check-in for those who will continue current services. |
Element 2b. Focus on Instructional Time: The school executive creates processes and schedules which protect teachers from disruption of instructional or preparation time.
The artifact below depicts the schedule that I created so that our 2nd and third grade teachers could participate in a half day training session. On the morning of our PD sessions, several subs called out sick. As not to disrupt our original plan, my principal mentor, our head custodian and I pitched in to cover some classes so that the teachers could attend their assigned sessions.
|
The artifact below is an email that I sent to teachers to remind them of their half-day training sessions and the lunch that would be provided. I coined the PD lunch-n-learn as "SPUD Thursday." It was a great opportunity to treat the teachers while they learn best practices of how to impact student achievement through implementing key instructional practices.
|
In order to maintain consistency in when and how much we impact teachers' planning periods, we try to schedule PD and other meetings during their regular PLT times. The artifact below is an email that I sent to teachers to let them know that we would be utilizing their PLT times to conduct "Can-Do" Maps training on September 20, 2017.