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Mastery of Policy 5310

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Introduction to the Portfolio
Philosophy Statement
Mastery of Policy 5310
Mastery of ISLLC Standards
Mastery of Praxis Elements
Mastery of ISTE Standards
Mastery of Leadership Dispositions
Reflective Entries/Explanation
Influence on Student Achievement/School Improvement
Resume

TRUST: The highest form of human motivation.

Research

History shows great leaders in light of their great accomplishments, or the wake of destruction left behind them. This weekend at the WVCPD ELI workshop, I learned that TRUST is the difference in great leaders and those who leave a wake. Friday afternoon listening to great lectures and examples from Phil Brown, Joyce Chapman and Woody Yoder, I realized their demeanor, actions, and message; both verbal and non-verbal, inspired me. I thought to myself “why do I feel a great empowerment in their presence?” I brought my thoughts back to the word TRUST! The ability to speak to groups and improve their very consciousness is all based on gaining the trust of your audience. People will eagerly follow a great leader based on trust.

One goal I had set at the beginning of this 580 course was to clarify my vision of a great leader. The ELI workshop opened my eyes to the true meaning and responsibility of becoming a great leader. Great plans only become reality when the idea springs from within the head of the individuals designated to carry out and implement the goals. The leader of a school should “plant the seed” of inspiration into the minds of teachers and students. Great leaders lead by example and trust not fear and subordination. I received a powerful message this weekend about relationship building among teachers and administration.

I would highly recommend the ELI workshop to anyone seeking great skill building experiences in the area of communication and negotiation, positive relations, situation analysis, and trust building. Honestly I was a bit unexcited about 16 hours of policy lectures this weekend but pleasantly surprised to have gained so much knowledge in policy 5310 and many other aspects of becoming a true inspiration to the people I work with in education.

It was a great experience meeting some of the current and former members of WJU’s MEL program. I sat near Camille Evans, Joe Kolb, and Michelle Dietrich, so we could discuss our experiences in the program during our breaks. I feel honored to be a part of an organization filled with great talent and professional people. All in attendance were great students, teachers, and leaders. We did some role playing at our table where we took turns being the principal in a meeting with a teacher, practicing and evaluating strategies to provide positive feedback, discuss deficiencies, deescalate situations, and implement plans for professional growth. I enjoyed working (face to face) and now have a greater vision of the administrator role thanks to my experiences at ELI.

Practice

Staff Evaluations

One of the most important responsibilities of any school leader is to build a team of dedicated, knowledgeable, compassionate, effective, and engaging individuals to educate and inspire the entire student body. Each school system has its own policies and procedures related to hiring and evaluation of both professionals and service employees. Monongalia County Schools’ personnel policies are located on their website where 38 different documents are available to view. The human resources department completes much of the initial legwork in the hiring process. Potential employees must complete an initial application through this department. The human resources staff performs an initial assessment of the candidate’s credentials including certification status, references, and educational history. Interviews are then granted to those applicants who are seen as viable for the position. School administration officials then have the opportunity to conduct interviews and make hiring decisions in conjunction with the human resources department’s recommendations. Evaluation policies are more difficult to obtain from the website. The outline for service employee’s evaluations can be easily located with information related to observations, improvement plans, and probationary employment status. School leaders must be aware of existing county policies and enforce them in a fair and open manner. Employees should know what expectations are for their performance in the classroom and how those abilities will be judged by supervisors.

I have met with the head custodian many times over the last month concerning materials needed for general operations around the school, and regarding issues with the custodial staff. As I mentioned in a general post for this class I reported one of the evening janitors for accessing inappropriate sites, and using my log-in in my personal office. My principal and I have been working on other issues with PERSON- X, therefore we decided a plan of improvement would be necessary and beneficial to increase the potential work output for this person. The building has been getting increasingly filthy and PERSON-X has been caught nightly watching TV for hours at a time, on the phone for hours, on my computer and others in the building, so the job is going undone and teachers are sacrificing instruction/prep. time to clean their own areas. Idle time is the devils playground. We devised a daily check-sheet for the morning head custodian to fill-out at 5:30 before any students enter the building. We copy the report and review the findings with PERSON-X each day to improve the cleanliness of the school. The Plan includes a two week period for PERSON-X to get caught back up to his duties and the improvements are already noticeable throughout the building.

Reflection

Policy 5310 is to be viewed as a great tool useful in improving the quality of education through the educator. Most personnel dread or fear the observation and evaluation process due to its improper use by administration. Observations and Evaluations are used to identify deficiencies, promote growth, and develop plans to improve the overall quality of education. Great leaders always remain positive in the implementation of policy 5310, thus allowing teachers to accept and become involved in the evaluation process. All tools are designed to do a specific job. The job of Policy 5310 is to be the means of professionally managing staff. The goal is to change a persons’ direction before heading to a plan of improvement. Poor administrators use the policy and evaluations as a scare tactic, causing panic during observations and a negative connotation associated with the process.