Texas Principal Competency Reflection. By Corey C. Cornett UST-HISD Cohort 1 Member Dr. Leiker Internship II 6331 April 2014

Transcription

1 Texas Principal Competency Reflection By Corey C. Cornett UST-HISD Cohort 1 Member Dr. Leiker Internship II 6331 April 2014

2 Competency 01: The principal knows how to shape campus culture by facilitating the development, articulation, implementation, and stewardship of a vision of learning that is shared and supported by the school community. During the internship semester I was fortunate enough to experience this competency at my department level and also at a campus level. Within the Family and Community Engagement (FACE) department, I was able to support and articulate the FACE mission to several key stakeholders within HISD. And, at the campus level, I was able to share and help grow the vision of APTT; Academic Parent Teacher Teams at two pilot schools in HISD (with administrators, teachers and parents). The next step towards growth in this category is to apply the financial, human and material resources to implement a campus vision. Becoming a magnet coordinator, assistant principal or principal of a campus will allow me to broaden my experiences further for competency one.

3 Competency 02: The principal knows how to communicate and collaborate with all members of the school community, respond to diverse interests and needs, and mobilize resources to promote student success. Communication has and continues to be one of my strongest assets. During the course of the internship I was supported by supervisor and mentor to lead multiple training, professional development, department, campus and community meetings throughout HISD. Examples include Microsoft Excel, HISD AP Cohort 1 and AP Cohort 2 training, FACE Department Staff Meetings, two campus APTT meetings and three community meetings. To grow further and to be specific to the principalship my area of growth here, again, will be to apply this competency to an administrative level on a campus to strengthen a program and/or support a campus/department goal.

4 Competency 03: The principal knows how to act with integrity, fairness, and in an ethical and legal manner. My supervisor and mentor also ranked competency three as one of my stronger assets. In almost everything I do, I am a voice for children. During the course of both semesters of the internship, I have been able to support the district s APTT pilot that will profoundly impact reading and math abilities of the impacted children. Additionally, I have assisted my department in implementing fair practices (such as flex, comp and vacation time) that support the goals of the department and follow applicable HISD guidelines. To grow in this area will mean the implementation of a policy or procedure in the future. As an example, FACE will be implementing a Parent University for HISD in the Fall of That endeavor will require specific use of Race-To-The-Top (RTTT) funds and appropriate data measures. As part of the Parent University team, I will be able to expand on my understanding of RTTT and grow in competency three accordingly.

5 Competency 04: The principal knows how to facilitate the design and implementation of curricula and strategic plans that enhance teaching and learning; ensure alignment of curriculum, instruction, resources, and assessment; and promote the use of varied assessments to measure student performance. Competency four is the area in which I experienced the least exposure (for both internship semesters). Also, I scored lower on competency four on the Texas Principal Exam (068) than I did any other area. During Internship 1 (6330) I was able to assist two schools with launching APTT; Academic Parent Teacher Teams. For me, this was my first exposure to beginning a new curricula in HISD. With the assistance of my supervisor, I was able to create an organizational system to keep track of all of the moving parts of the new pilot and also participated in several professional development opportunities (with staff) for the support of the new system. Looking into the future, any exposure to HISD s CLEAR curriculum and all new and adopted programs to support it will mean repeated exposure to competency four.

6 Competency 05: The principal knows how to advocate, nurture, and sustain an instructional program and a campus culture that are conducive to student learning and staff professional growth. Throughout the Fall and Spring internship semesters, I have been fortunate enough to be exposed to several aspects of competency five. First, I was allowed to facilitate the learning and growth of seven 3 rd grade teachers on one HISD campus for the new vision of HISD s APTT Year 1 pilot program. Additionally, I was able to use technology in a professional learning environment. However, these experiences were limited in scope and duration. During the mentormentee evaluation process, my HISD mentor did provide meaningful feedback about the need for more exposure to aspects of competency five; including using formative assessment, refinement of student services and programs and analyzing instructional needs and allocating resources effectively.

7 Competency 06: The principal knows how to implement a staff evaluation and development system to improve the performance of all staff members, select and implement appropriate models for supervision and staff development, and apply the legal requirements for personnel management. Parts of competency six I have experienced repeatedly in the last 7 years. For example as part of the Human Resources group called Teacher Recruitment, I was trained to evaluate teacher demonstration lessons for HISD applicability. In this regard, I have prior to the internship semester been repeatedly exposed to these components. During the internship semester I was also able to evaluate professional development opportunities and modify curriculum to support the training needs of HISD s leadership cohorts and two of HISD s Assistant Principal cohorts. Despite those experiences, I am still deficit for experiences related to funding allocations (for professional development plans) and using formative and summative evaluation procedures. I am hopeful that moving into a leadership role within my department (for the new Parent University) will allow direct experience for these two components of competency six.

8 Competency 07: The principal knows how to apply organizational, decisionmaking, and problem-solving skills to ensure an effective learning environment. During my mentor-mentee evaluation, my HISD mentor shared that I have strengths for applying skills, monitoring and adjusting myself or a program to fit the needs of the district (or program) as needed. The APTT implementation at Patterson Elementary required repeated collaboration between seven 3 rd grade teachers and multiple administrators. However, despite the wealth of experiences in these areas, I still lack exposure (or experience) for some aspects, including; gathering and analyzing data to inform decision making, resolving problems using problem solving and implementing appropriate management techniques for goal achievement. The Fall 2014 roll-out of FACE s new Parent University will allow me to gain much experience in the areas of competency seven.

9 Competency 08: The principal knows how to apply principles of effective leadership and management in relation to campus budgeting, personnel, resource utilization, financial management, and technology use. Prior to and during my internship semesters I have gained much leadership experience within HISD. This includes being a team leader, grade level chair, program leader, department supervisor and lead facilitator. To be effective at leadership also means being an effective collaborator, manager and supporter. These are roles which, during Fall 2013 and Spring 2014, I have lead or supported. The area of deficit for competency eight is the collaboration and building of a campus (or department) budget. I did not experience this practice during my internship and look forward to working with my supervisor to establish a program budget for the upcoming Parent University in HISD in Fall 2014.

10 Competency 09: The principal knows how to apply principles of leadership and management to the campus physical plant and support systems to ensure a safe and effective learning environment. While I have been a teacher, department chair, district specialist, department manager and standardized testing proctor, I have not yet been responsible for a department building or campus physical plant. I have, in HISD, had exposure to creating a campus-wide disaster response plan and committee. However, I have not been able to experience that in conjunction to leadership in my existing role. Looking into the future, I foresee exposure in this regard to be extensive when moving into the role of magnet coordinator, assistant principal or principal.