Reflection Piece:  Standard 5.0: Ethical Leadership

Describe

To demonstrate competency for Standard 5.0: Ethical Leadership, I used three projects—Two Elements of a School Vision, the S.A.V.E. Action Plan, and the Diverse Populations Professional Development Plan.  On 12 November 2012, I wrote considerations for the development of two of the six elements of a vision for a new school.  For that piece, I looked at how to develop and evaluate the systems to foster academic culture and to govern the school that met the ethical imperatives of today’s public schools.  This was not a group project. 

The S.A.V.E. Action Plan was created for EDL 706 in June 2013.  I chose to develop this S.A.V.E. Action Plan because my school has lacked consistency in its discipline policies over the years and the periodic call to incorporate a S.A.V.E. room into the school’s operations.  I worked with my principal, our UFT chapter leader, our dean, and the Grade 9 Team Leader to develop a workable plan that met the constraints of our school’s staffing, physical space, contractual obligations, and student needs. 

The Professional Development Project was an integrated series of workshops that addressed the needs of a diverse population at my school.  I created a plan for a semester-long series of workshops on ESL literacy strategies for content teachers in math, science, and social studies.  This was a not a group project, so I cannot comment on the group dynamics.  I did, however, need to collaborate with the ESL coordinator at my school, who proved quite helpful in pointing me to both teaching resources and research articles that supported my work.  One problem that I encountered was in accessing relevant data for my needs assessment.  While I have easy access to the Regents scores for any given administration of the exam, finding cumulative pass rate data, especially for subpopulations, was difficult.  In the end, I had to do much of the number-crunching by hand, across multiple spreadsheets; close to 40% of the time I spent on this project was in the data analysis.  Although I am satisfied with the results, I feel that I should have spent more time researching effective ESL strategies rather than manipulating Excel spreadsheets.

Analyze

Collectively, these assignments address Standard: 5.0: Ethical Leadership.  The paper developing the two elements of a vision and the professional development plan addressed all three substandards. Standard 5.1 states that the “candidate demonstrates a respect for the rights of others with regard to confidentiality and dignity and engage in honest interactions.”  The governance of the school as outlined in vision paper is based in democratic processes.  Each constituency of the school has a voice in school governance, from students, to teachers, to parents and community partners.  This PD plan is teacher-centered, not facilitator-centered, and as such respects the professionalism of the teachers.  The plan addressed the needs of the ELL population in the general education classroom, and thus extends supports to this diverse population beyond the ESL classroom while keeping their academic isolation to a minimum.

Standard 5.2 states that the “candidate demonstrates the ability to combine impartiality, sensitivity to student diversity, and ethical considerations in their interactions with others.”  Again, the democratic values imbued in the school governance plan, especially those that recognize and empower student voice and encourage the development of student leadership capacity, allow for diverse groups of students to take an active role in the decision making process.  By using research-supported academic interventions for a target group of underperforming students, the PD plan supports an at-risk population whose improvement is critical for a school to achieve its larger goal.  Furthermore, even though this subpopulation is too small to be included in NCLB accountability measures, all student subgroups need to be a priority of any school that wishes to act fairly.  This PD plan supports that priority.

Finally, Standard 5.3, which states that “candidates make and explain decisions based upon ethical and legal principles” is also reflected in the democratic school governance as advocated for in the vision paper, as well as in the systems to allow teachers the time to work as professionals to develop curricula and evaluate student learning.   A just school is one in which each school constituency has a part in decision making; teachers should be treated as professionals, thus allowing for them to act with professional freedom and fulfill their professional duties.  The PD plan addresses a notable area of student underachievement in the school.  The graduation rate of ELLs lags that of the student population as a whole, and thus the additional supports given to the ELLs in the content-area classes promotes both fairness and equity of results.  The improvement in student achievement for this subpopulation is both an educational and an ethical issue, and this plan addresses these issues.  Furthermore, the S.A.V.E. Action Plan addresses both the legal mandates set by New York State, but also the ethical charge that all school leaders have in creating a safe, nurturing space in which all students can learn.

Appraise

These papers helped me grow both professionally and personally.  This vision paper, in outlining systems for school governance and for fostering academic culture, helped me to be more thorough in my consideration of the ethical aspects of a school vision.  While issues of justice and equity have been at the core of my choice of career and my decision to teach in public schools in communities of high need, I have never taken the opportunity to articulate my thoughts about educational philosophy.  This assignment forced me to do just that for two key areas of a school.  In doing so, I was forced to grapple with my thoughts about the dichotomous relationship between democratic decision making and efficiency; about my priorities concerning teacher planning time and time spent on instruction; and the value of incorporating the voices of each part of the school community.   I had leanings on each of these issues before this assignment, but in writing this paper I was able to articulate my stance and require to think about systems that could be implemented to ensure that my vision of a just and equity school could be fulfilled.

The professional development plan demonstrated how I could collect relevant student achievement data, analyze it and connect it to larger school goals, collaborate with a colleague to identify teaching strategies to address the identified need, and create an integrated professional development plan that will enhance teacher practice.  If implemented well and then used effectively and in a sustained manner by teachers, this professional development could have an impact on student learning for a diverse subpopulation that is currently underachieving at my school.

In the S.A.V.E. Action Plan, I learned some of the intricacies of state law, and I had to think of a creative way to align school policy, state mandates, and student needs.  This Plan addresses a situation that school leaders must grapple with often: unfunded mandates.  I had to look at existing school resources in new ways in order to create this alignment.

Transform

Upon reflection of these issues, I will work towards several goals in any school of which I am a leader.  Even though I tend towards quick and efficient models of decision making, I will argue for more deliberative processes that allow for input from more groups—democratic values must at the core of decision making models.   I can also better defend the use of teacher time in working in professional teams.  Issues of equity demand that we push ourselves to provide the best instruction we can; time spent outside the classroom, if structured properly, can allow for better instruction across the school.  Finally, I will work to ensure that systems are in place to allow for the voices of all affected constituencies—students, parents, community members, teachers—to be heard and to influence school decision making.  A just school should model the democratic process of our society.  Each of these will allow me to be a better, and more ethical, school leader.

I will also use these experiences to refine how I think of supporting teacher practice.  Professional development, to be effective and have an impact on achievement, needs to directly inform classroom teaching.  In addition, PD must be systematic and allow for teacher reflection.  This project made me consider these issues, and forced me to think of establishing long-term PD goals and strategies to achieve those goals.