Skills for Powerful Leadership

Skills for Powerful School and Program Leadership

May 1st and 2nd

Day 3

Table Talk

What qualities will you be looking for when hiring a teacher? Consider: Personal qualities Mindset Particular skills

Interviewing/Hiring Strategies

How do we assess whether or not a candidate has the qualities we are looking for?

Jigsaw reading

The Process (will vary by district):

Resume screen Initial interview (with department chair) Sample lesson Interview with principal Reference checking Interview someone in Central Office (e.g.

Superintendent, Asst. Superintendent, Personnel Director)

What I’m looking for in the interview and when checking references: Passion! Articulate, good communication skills Strong content knowledge Someone who likes working with kids – and with all

kids A sense of efficacy Someone who will be a good colleague –

collaborative, flexible Someone who wants to be part of a community A sense of humor A willingness and ability to be self-reflective

What I look for in a sample lesson:

Introductions Authoritative, but not authoritarian, presence Warm and relaxed, good rapport with kids Clearly articulated objective or a good framing

question Good questioning techniques Makes good instructional adjustments A strategy for assessing if students are “getting it.’ Doesn’t try to do too much When talking after the lesson, is reflective Appropriately dressed

Supporting New Teachers

How do we develop an effective and

meaningful induction program to support, develop, and retain teachers?

What is teacher induction?

“New teachers long for opportunities to learn from their experienced colleagues and want more than social support and instructions for using the copying machines . . . Providing emotional support is not as valuable as helping new teachers learn to create safe classroom environments, engage all students in worthwhile learning, work effectively with parents, and base instructional decisions on assessment data.”

Source: Feiman-Nemser, S. (2003). What new teachers need to learn?

Educational Leadership, 60 (8), 25-29.


“Induction is actually more a PROCESS than a PROGRAM, but induction programs are created in order to structure the process. The process entails systematic training and on-going support for all new teachers commencing BEFORE the first day of school and continuing for several years.”

Breaux and Wong (2003)


Mentoring is only one piece of induction support, and it can vary greatly in its implementation.

New teachers benefit from a variety of opportunities to

work with more experienced teachers. In particular, they want to observe other teachers in their classrooms.

Time pressures, paperwork, and non-instructional meetings

are a major source of stress and frustration for beginning teachers.

Source: Gilbert, L.(2005). What helps beginning teachers? Educational Leadership, 62 (8), 36-39.

Research tells us . . .

“Induction experiences have the potential to frame the future of the teaching profession.”

“The large numbers of beginning teachers in

America’s classrooms offer the professional community a unique opportunity to create induction programs that challenge the educational status quo.”

Source: Moir & Gless, The New Teacher Center (www.newteachercenter.org)

Objectives for Teacher Induction

Retention Help to be successful/Promote

continual professional learning Build a professional culture Increase student achievement

MA DESE Requirement:

Essential Components of Quality Induction (Johnson and Kardos, 2004)

Deliberately school-based Not confined to one-to-one mentoring relationships Created and implemented by experienced teachers with

teaching expertise and knowledge about the particular school and how it operates

A central focus on classroom teaching and student

learning Integrated into the professional life and practice of the

school

A question…

What are the strengths or successes of your current teacher induction program?

What areas would you like to change or enhance?

What are the challenges/obstacles you would face to make these enhancements? Do you have ideas about how to overcome them?

Leadership Implications

Resources/Time School culture

Shared vision Shared responsibility Trust

Instructional leadership Developing leadership capacity among

teachers Administrative priority

Incident Management

Incident Management

What do people need from a leader in times of crisis?

Table-Top Simulation

Part 1: An IMT meeting Part 2: Shaping the longer-term response and recovery

Day 4

Things That Make Us Hesitant to Be a School Administrator

Concerns about Work/Life Balance (7) Leaving the classroom (6) Fear of making mistakes, losing my job/litigation (6) Do I have the knowledge base? (3) Developing continued relationships with students (3) Dealing with difficult situations/difficult conversations (3) Dealing appropriately with student issues (2) Feeling lonely, without colleagues (2) Politics, outside influences (2) The need to multitask to such a great degree, so many demands (2) Evaluating colleagues (2) Stress/Everything on my shoulders (2) Gaining the respect of faculty given relatively little experience Increased accountability/mandates Making tough decision (and not being able to please everyone) Fear of being a mediocre leader, can’t galvanize support Succeeding in a new role immediately Facilities management Whimsical budgets

School Law

Introduction to School Law

What is required? What is prohibited? What guidance does the law provided?

What is my objective? How is that objective related to my mission? What would I consider a good outcome?

What responsibilities do I have to the individual and to the community? How do I balance competing interests?

What is the culture of my school? What values are important to me?

Intro to School Law

Statutes, regulations, Constitution

Case law

School Law

Mandated Reporting Student Records Student Due Process

Special authority granted to principals in MA

School Safety and Discipline

In Massachusetts, educators are mandated reporters who are required by law to file a 51a report with the Dept. of Children and Families (DCF) if he or she has “reasonable cause to believe” that a child under the age of 18 is suffering physical or emotional injury as a result of abuse or neglect.


What protocols exist in your school when a 51a is required (ie. Who files? How is it documented? What is communicated to families?)

Student due process

The law has changed in Massachusetts. Goss v Lopez is no longer the standard

in MA. Students in MA are afforded more due

process protections than outlined by the U.S. Supreme Court.

Student Due Process

What was the impetus for the change in the law in Massachusetts?

“Big Ideas” Alternatives to suspension The right to a continued education Ten-day threshold

Student Due Process

Definition Notes In-School Suspension 1-10 days, served in

building After 10 days, it becomes a long-term suspension, even if served in building

Short-Term Suspension 1-10 days, served outside of school

Long-Term Suspension 11-90 days, either consecutively or cumulatively in a school year

Exclusion More than 90 days Only permitted for offenses outlined in 37H (drugs, weapons, assault on staff) and 37H1/2 (felony conviction)

A sample continuum…

A perfect vacation is about “down time,” for example relaxing on the beach or reading a book while occasionally gazing at the view.

A perfect vacation is about being active, for example visiting historical sites or exploring a new city or hiking, kayaking, etc.

A continuum…

Students should be allowed to exercise their constitutional rights at school, even if that means relinquishing some order and control. The school environment should be orderly and safe, even if that means exercising control at the expense of students’ rights.

Case Law

Understand the case law Analyze the facts of the specific situation Seek additional counsel, if necessary Determine possible courses of action Consider your options in light of the law,

school policy, school culture, and core values.


Fourth Amendment: Search and Seizure

New Jersey v TLO

Facts of the case Ruling Application

Is this a legal search?

A teacher reports to the assistant principal that a student distinctly smells of marijuana. The AP also smells the odor and decides to search the student’s backpack and ask the student to empty his pockets.


School administrators receive a report that a member of the cheerleading squad is selling drugs. They confront her and tell her they are going to check her locker and then do so.


Concerned over recent school shootings, the school board installs metal detectors in all local high schools and required that all students walk through them in order to enter the building.


Two students cut their math class during the lunch block. They are observed walking back into the school from the student parking lot. The assistant principal confronts them and smells alcohol. He decides to search the driver’s car.


Concerned about alcohol use at the school dance, school officials search the vehicles of all students who attend the prom.


After one second grader complains of having lost the $5.00 she got from the tooth fairy, the teacher asks all of the students in her class to go into the locker room and remove their clothing so they may be strip-searched.


After receiving a report of stolen items, the assistant principal interviewed several students and focused her attention on 4 who were alone in the locker room at the time of the theft. The AP searched the 4 students, in the presence of the school resource officer, and recovered some of the items. After some items were discovered, the police officer participated in the search by “patting down” one girl.


A school official observed a student getting a pack of cigarettes out of his locker and giving one of the cigarettes to another student. The AP took the cigarette and the pack away and then searched the locker, finding marijuana in the student’s jacket pocket. The student was suspended for drug possession.


Administrators receive a tip that members of two rival gangs plan to fight after school and that many of the members have brought knives and other weapons to school. The principal calls the police, who conduct a search of the suspicious students.


After receiving a report that a student has brought a gun to school, the principal and security guard bring the student to the office, frisk him, and ask to search his bag.


A teacher confiscates a cell phone from a student who is using the phone in class in violation of school rules. As per school policy, he turns the phone in to the office. The principal knows that the student is rumored to be a drug dealer; she decides to examine the texts on the phone.

“Any departure from absolute regimentation may cause trouble. Any variation from the majority’s opinion may inspire fear. Any word spoken, in class, in the lunchroom, or on the campus, that deviates from the views of another person may start an argument or cause a disturbance. But our Constitution says we must take this risk … and our history says that it is this sort of hazardous freedom — this kind of openness — that is the basis of our national strength and of the independence and vigor of Americans who grow up and live in this relatively permissive, often disputatious, [argumentative] society.”

Justice Abe Fortas

1st Amendment: Students’ right to free expression

Tinker v DesMoines

Facts of the case Ruling Application

Limitations on free expression

Libel/Slander True threats (a reasonable person would

interpret the statement as a “serious expression of an intent to cause harm”

“Fighting Words” (words “which by their very utterance inflict injury”)

“offensively lewd and indecent speech” in school-sponsored educational activities (MA?)

Time, manner, and place

Activity:

Do students have the right to….? Can a principal…?

Activity:

How disruptive is too disruptive?

Discussion:

Disorder at Rankled Memorial School

Incident Management

2 final scenarios

Incident Management

We’ve done 5 scenarios….Where has the focus been in each? Mitigation & Prevention Preparedness Response Recovery

GoGoMo

Take a few minutes to reflect on the incident scenarios we have practiced. What leadership lessons were revealed one or more of these scenarios that could be broadly applied?

Something you feel even more strongly about?

Something that has been revealed that hadn’t occurred to you before?

Something that you feel more confident about in April than you did in September?

Documents

Skills for Powerful Leadership