Student Reflection And Analysis

What are the three most critical things you would do in a school to accelerate school growth and ensure that every child is learning? I believe three of the most critical elements of a successful school, one where students have accelerated achievement and growth, are centered around: (1) Teachers who continually challenge themselves, are supported by administration and engage in professional development (2) A culture of collaboration and acceptance where all children are “known and grown”, and (3) The effective use of data to promote continual improvement.

Tell us about your current school. What were particular challenges the school faced? What direct impact have you had on your school’s results? How has your school improved in terms

Teachers who are provided with frequent observations and feedback grow and develop their craft at a far greater rate than teachers left to work in autonomous environments. Through scheduled walkthroughs I will have a better understanding of the professional development opportunities that my staff need to match our vision and mission at this school. Ultimately, positive student growth and development are the indicators of success. I believe that developing the Unified Improvement Plan and using it to drive instruction is an excellent first step for performance accountability. By pinpointing a specific area of need and writing a collaborative goal around it, the staff will be involved in the improvement. Monitoring growth and being able to graphically show progress to my staff will help to keep everyone on board. When an individual teacher first starts to show that he or she needs some help, it is important to address the concern directly and quickly. Paul Bambrick-Santoyo so aptly stated that desire alone will not help a principal improve a struggling teachers performance. We need effective systems and approaches that can be put into place immediately for teachers who need them (Bambrick-Santoyo,

I knew that this was an area of relative weakness for me, and I took steps to fill-in my learning gaps. I spent a year working with my principal, our office manager, and the school board looking at the budget and allocating funds to best meet the needs of our building. As the teacher volunteer on the budgeting committee, I had direct input on several budgeting issues. One of the key priorities at our school was to develop an internal writing assessment and writing curriculum that would encompass kindergarten through eighth grade. With the help of a collaborative team, I was able to demonstrate the need for a common scope and sequence. The data supported the need and matched our mission statement. Spending the right money on the right program ultimately saved money. Rather than have grade level teams work autonomously, we were able to work collaboratively to find a program that met multiple needs. In addition to curricular needs, I spent time working with our fundraising team, PTO, and architectural committee. We are in need of more space at my last school. Through a refinancing program, we were able to save $500,000 which is halfway to our funding needs for an adequate addition. Space is a key priority, but waiting rather than jumping at a partial solution became the evident solution after an extensive investigation into the different addition possibilities. In this case,