Description of SBEC Superintendent Leadership Experiences by Domains and Competencies

Domain I—Leadership of the Educational Community – Competencies 1 - 4

Competency 1 Area:

The superintendent knows how to act with integrity, fairness, and in an ethical manner in order to promote the success of all students.

In order to promote integrity, fairness, and ethics, a superintendent must model these attributes. I first reviewed the district vision and then analyzed my school vision.  Through this process, I determined that the current school vision needed to be re-visited with the staff and that a new vision should be developed.  The process utilized was a David Langford tool called “Purpose Statement.”   Each staff member wrote on a form what they thought the vision should be.  Everyone’s vision was passed around (through 6 rotations), and others underlined what they determined were the most important words or phrases in the vision they were reading.  These were then written on a large flip chart and the staff “hot-dotted” what they thought were the top five most important things to have in a school vision. From these top five things, our vision was developed.  Utilizing this same process we developed a Social Contract that included how we wanted to be treated by others and how we would treat others in times of conflict. All of these processes were then completed with grade-level teams, the leadership team and in the classrooms.  This creates a clear focus that is aligned from the district level all the way to the students we serve. The staff clearly values student input.  I actually began this process two years when I started as principal and we revisit our statements and re-write the social contract each year.  I know that the staff utilizes the social contract because conflict does arise during the year.  If a staff member comes to me complaining about someone else, I will listen, and then in most instances, encourage them to follow the social contract by returning to the person whom they are in conflict.  It was uncomfortable for them in the beginning, but now it is very effective and maintains clear and open communication.  We review these expectations a few times throughout the year.  An interesting thing that came out of this is that the staff is also very comfortable in telling me just how they feel about decisions I make, or even times when I may have hurt their feelings. Often, this puts me on the spot, but as I stated in the beginning, a great leader will model integrity, fairness and ethics.

Competency 2 Area:

The superintendent knows how to shape district culture by facilitating the development, articulation, implementation, and stewardship of a vision of learning that is shared and supported by the educational community.

Sharing knowledge is the greatest way to create and shape a culture and vision.  In most cases the superintendent has the greatest knowledge, or resources, regarding the district as a whole.  By sharing this knowledge, whether it is student data, demographics, budget information, etc., all stakeholders can be educated as the culture and vision of the district shapes.  I believe a great way to begin this development is through learning communities that consists of representatives throughout the district and community.  One example is through the Site-Based Decision Making Teams.  I found that through sharing  information, even on a basic level, it helps the community understand why educators and educational leaders make certain decisions. In all of my beginning of the year meetings with the campus and community, I carefully include the district goals and how our campus is aligned with them and how this effects the education of their students and keeps the focus on learning and continuous improvement. 

Competency 3 Area:

The superintendent knows how to communicate and collaborate with families and community members, respond to diverse community interests and needs, and mobilize community resources to ensure educational success for all students.

Building relationships and establishing a culture of trust is vital to a superintendent’s success. The superintendent should provide opportunities for all stakeholders to have input in the district’s processes.  It is crucial that the superintendent be acutely aware of the diversity of the district, be supportive and understanding of the different cultures, and address the concerns of each part of the community.  As the superintendent studies the economic needs, educational needs,  and demographics, he or she should develop programs that support these needs.  For example a student support services team should be available to support parents and students and help guide district staff in making informed decisions.  Students come to our schools with varying back grounds and barriers that impede their successful learning.  The schools now much provide interventions and opportunities to overcome these barriers.  It should not matter what a child brings from home – poor language, poor behavior, emotional baggage, learning disabilities – we as educators should set goals to break down the barriers, bridge the gaps that keeps learning from occurring and pave pathways to success.  This may be parent education classes, evening tutorials, transportation and more.  School hours should not just be 8:00 AM to 3:00 PM, we must adapt to the needs of our community.  The face of education is changing and we must change and rise to the challenge of educating our community, no matter what it takes.

Competency 4 Area:

The superintendent knows how to respond to and influence the larger political, social, economic, legal, and cultural context, including working with the board of trustees, to achieve the district's educational vision.

This is one area that I have personally seen the most growth.  It is easy as a campus principal to hibernate and stay in my own world and still be successful.  However, to continue to grow and improve my campus, or in a superintendent’s case, the district, it is vital to make connections and gain the support of the greater influential realm. Building trust and relationships with the school board is a natural occurrence for the superintendent and can be improved by simply spending quality time with each board member. However, building relationships with larger political, social, economic, legal, and cultural contexts, is a bit more challenging.  In smaller districts where I have worked, these relationships were built by spending time at district activities and interacting with various groups of people, being a part of the Lion’s Club, or local community club, attending community functions, etc.  Because the majority of the influential community is involved in all of these events, you get them all at once.  It is a bit more challenging in a larger district.  I began by inviting board members to my school.  Showing what we are doing and how what we are doing aligns with the board goals for the district. I also participated in the “Principal for a Day” activities and had a prominent citizen following me around for a day.  I volunteered for press interviews, participated in large community events which included the mayor, and other activities of such.  It is a change from the comfort of my campus, where people know me and I know if I blunder, I will be forgiven – enough in that emotional bank account.  Stepping out of this comfort zone made me acutely aware of every word that came out of my mouth and every facial and body reaction I made!

DOMAIN II—INSTRUCTIONAL LEADERSHIP – COMPETENCIES 5 - 7

Competency 5 Area:

The superintendent knows how to facilitate the planning and implementation of strategic plans that enhance teaching and learning; ensure alignment among curriculum, curriculum resources, and assessment; use the current accountability system; and promote the use of varied assessments to measure student performance.

This is an area in which I feel very competent and confident.  Alignment of goals is what leads to success in all of these areas.  A sense of urgency must be created and the focus must be clear.  The state provides districts with a clear curriculum through the TEKS.  This is our curricular building block.  A superintendent must surround herself with knowledgeable and competent people, who are aboard this exciting train that educates the staff, community and students we serve. In order to continuously improve the district must utilize and analyze a variety of sources of data. This is not only limited to student performance data.  To best meet the needs of the learning community, data sources must be vast.  For example, what are the demographics and how does this affect our curriculum?   Are we looking at and evaluating how our students are learning?  Are the students aware of what they are supposed to be learning?  Are our classrooms engaging and exciting?  Do we need a curriculum that address our parents too?  Decisions regarding curriculum and instruction need to  be made collaboratively with a variety of representatives.

Throughout my internship, I have met with the various curriculum directors, instructional coaches, facilitators, and teachers in order to evaluate how we are serving our students and the processes that are used.  Some outcomes included the addition of a “flex-time” in our schedule and considering after school education.  It is time to think outside of the traditional scheduling.  In order to meet the needs of all students, at their level and current situation, we must differential our curriculum and instruction.  This summer on my campus, we focused on differentiation in the classroom.

Competency 6 Area:

The superintendent knows how to advocate, promote, and sustain an instructional program and a district culture that are conducive to student learning and staff professional growth.

Budget cuts created a huge challenge for districts in maintaining an instructional program and culture conducive to student learning.  Districts had to scale down to the bare necessities which resulted in a great deal of data, system and process review.  Basically how districts did everything was under the microscope.  Superintendents were forced to educate and advocate regarding programs that were vital to student success. I involved myself in as many of these processes as possible.  There were many community and staff meetings as various programs were promoted and advocated for by community members and staff members.  Keeping in mind that the majority of the public does not truly understand the processes and systems in education, the community does not always advocate for the “learning” programs, and often look towards the visible things in the district.  For example, athletic and extra curricular programs.  While these programs are certainly supportive of academics in many ways, the bare necessities are in the classroom.  Do we cut programs vital to ELL students or other smaller groups of learners in order to save tennis? How does a superintendent explain this to  the community? These were the processes I learned most from as I observed our superintendent and upper level administrators in action.  

Staff development and professional growth has also been streamlined and become focused on the individual needs of each campus culture and diversity.  Support of district and campus culture is even more important during times of challenge and change.  This is a great responsibility of the superintendent and successful change relies on how she communicates the importance of maintaining the vision throughout this change.   She must keep the campus and district leaders focused and positive.  Shared responsibility is also vital and helps create a culture of trust and leadership opportunities.

Competency 7 Area:

The superintendent knows how to implement a staff evaluation and development system and select appropriate models for supervision and staff development to improve the performance of all staff members.

Again, modeling is a critical key.  A superintendent must model life-long learning and set this expectation for all staff.  In our district we do not utilize PDAS.  I think PDAS serves a purpose, and offers teacher feedback, but does not truly have teachers self-reflect.  I believe honest self reflection is the key to continuous improvement.  Campus leaders have a responsibility of guiding others to become intrinsically motivated to improve. In our district we utilize portfolios that include personal goals and professional goals which have processes and action plans for reaching these goals as well as reflection.  Education is not stagnant and our leaders and teachers must remain vigilant in constant new learning.  When you have teachers stuck in front of the overhead projector, lecturing constantly, this teacher is stuck in the past.  We have got to involve learners in their education.  This goes for teacher learners as well as student learners.  Anyone teaching must become a facilitator of learning, sharing knowledge, encouraging, and teaching that failure is a key to learning. Failure produces opportunities.  People learn best when they are actively learning, regardless of age or educational level they.  For example, we are looking at student behaviors and how students learn best – what are the students doing in the classroom to learn and self-advocate? Do they feel safe?  I did an activity with the leadership team that took them through their personal learning styles and a reflection regarding these learning styles. We completed an affinity and labeled their learning styles based on the seven student learning behaviors that we have been observing and aiming for in our students.  We next did an Imagineering activity as to what teachers need to do to address the seven behaviors and learning styles for their classroom.  What does this look like? Sound like? Etc.  These were added to the affinity.  AH HA!  It was a great learning experience for the team.  They then collaborated with their groups within the leadership team and adjusted, improved on my lesson plan, and presented it to their individual grade-level teams.  It was an excellent growth opportunity for all involved. I have seen this already in the classrooms.

DOMAIN III—ADMINISTRATIVE LEADERSHIP – COMPETENCIES 8 – 10

Competency 8 Area:

The superintendent knows how to apply principles of effective leadership and management in relation to district budgeting, personnel, resource utilization, financial management, and technology application.

I have always considered myself resourceful.  Growing up in poverty taught me many lessons in being creative in reaching my goals.  Leadership and management is a strength I posses, however, budgeting for a district has created new learning opportunities for me!  I am beginning to see how little I know about school requirements and legal guidelines in preparing governmental-type budgets.  I spent significant time with our Assistant Superintendent of Finance and observing the processes and staff she utilizes in creating a budget.  I have decided, I want to work in a district that has a CFO!  I am very grateful for the region service centers and other organizations that have produced spreadsheets and guidelines which assist in developing budgets based on state and federal guidelines.  Also grateful for the guidelines TEA and SBEC provide regarding legal policies. As a superintendent, I will surround myself with knowledgeable and competent people whom I trust to provide me with accurate information and will make collaborative decisions.

I feel confident in personnel and determining funding that supports personnel required to appropriately staff a district.

Competency 9 Area:

The superintendent knows how to apply principles of leadership and management to the district's physical plant and support systems to ensure a safe and effective learning environment.

This is another area I have grown significantly.  Duct tape and band aids are not answers for all physical plan problems!  I say that with a bit of honesty and sarcasm.  I have seen many band aids and duct tape solutions.  But they are only temporary solutions.  A superintendent must lead the creation of a long-term strategic plan to address and manage physical plant systems in order to maintain a safe and effective learning environment.  I have met with many district representatives regarding our facilities and improvement processes.  This is also an area where the superintendent must surround herself with knowledgeable and competent personnel who can provide guidance in making decisions.  This staff must be reliable and trustworthy.  I was actually involved in a situation that arose at the beginning of last year.  One of my campus custodians came to me with fear and concerns regarding the district director of custodial services.  Our first barrier was language as she was primarily a Spanish speaker.  I obtained a translator and was able to hear her concerns.  They were significant and she was in fear of retaliation and her job.  The people involved were her supervisors.  I called and visited with our Assistant Superintendent of Finance and District Operations.  It ended up in a significant investigation and four people being arrested.  For me, this re-enforced the importance of creating a culture of trust.  I have always given the maintenance and custodial staff a feeling of great appreciation and belonging.  They are a part of our campus team.  We share meals on staff development days, make sure they get campus t-shirts, and involve them in as much as possible.  I felt honored that she trusted me with all she had at stake.

Competency 10 Area:

The superintendent knows how to apply organizational, decision-making, and problem-solving skills to comply with federal and state requirements and facilitate positive change in varied contexts.

Competency 10 I feel is also an area of strength.  I am very organized and am a planner.  I love problem-solving challenges and excel in thinking out of the box in coming up with solutions.  A district should provide support services at many levels to assist all personnel in decision making and provide education on guiding policies and legal updates.

This past year I have been involved in conflict resolution on various levels.  Working through and finding the best solution for all involved can become quite challenging.  At the campus level, I found that I inherited some ineffective teachers.  One particular teacher truly needs to retire.  She has a great heart, but is not what is best for students or a campus culture. I provided a multitude of supports over a year and a half and gave her many opportunities to grow and improve.  She just couldn’t or wouldn’t do it.  She blatantly ignored directives that were written in a growth plan and simply stated that she didn’t agree with what I was asking her to complete.  She struggled with curriculum, discipline and communication, but clearly loved the students.  These are significant concerns for any classroom teacher.  When I notified her that I was recommending non renewal to the board, she asked me why I was doing this to her, she was one year away from retirement with full benefits.  Honestly, I had not considered that as it would then become an age issue, not a discrimination case I wanted to become involved with.  Of course, this created problems.  She was clearly not good for kids, but was it really fair to do this to her?  Here is where district support is vital.  Throughout the process, I was working closely with the district HR department, ensuring compliance.  I was certain that I could proceed and that the board would be supportive.  But ethically, I was challenged in doing what is “good and right by all.”  After collaborating with HR, I suggested that if she would resign after the first semester which sufficiently meets the requirements of a full year for TRS, we would not push for non-renewal.  HR felt this was a very fair option and that the board would be pleased with the compromise.  The teacher then made it clear that she did not want to retire.  However, with the prospect of non-renewal and a career that might end with that, she chose to resign at the semester end.  HR was very supportive of the campus and me, and is utilizing this teacher as a long term sub throughout the first semester at different campuses.  My point here, is that it is important for a superintendent to provide support to campus level employees as they strive to make decisions that will affect the lives of others.  Whether it is discipline or human resources, this support is vital.