SISE Conference

    I have been meeting with site supervisor throughout the internship. So, our last meeting did not last too long. She has helped with completing activities and pointing me the right direction for whom to contact on certain activities. It was nice to have our one last conference to discuss my internship experiences. It really did feel like the culminating event of my internship experience. We discussed what areas I needed more experience in before I apply for superintendent or assistant superintendent positions and what I could to do to gain those experiences.  We also discussed other leadership roles I could move to in the next couple of years.

Three Year Professional Development Plan

Developing a three year Professional Development Plan is an important step in becoming a superintendent in the future. Developing a plan for how I am going to improve areas I need to gain knowledge in to become the most effective and knowledgeable superintendent and district employee I can become is especially important for my growth. I developed my plan by reviewing and examining a variety of assessments, especially the SBEC Superintendent Competencies Post Self-Assessment and Supervisor Internship Summative Evaluation. According the SBEC Superintendent Competencies Post Self- Assessment and my Supervisor Internship Summative Evaluation it was evident I needed to focus my professional development plan on Competency Areas 4, 5, 8 and 9.

Competency areas 4 and 5 are all areas that are need of improved knowledge and skills for me to become an effective superintendent. I put this competency as an area of needing knowledge and skills because at this time I have had little exposure to working with a board of trustees. I have attended several school board meetings this school year and I will continue to attend these meetings. By attending these meetings I have gained much more knowledge of the working relationship of the superintendent and the board. 

Competencies 8 and 9 are areas I consider fields of need. In both of these areas, I had the highest number of need to gain knowledge and skills to be a strong superintendent. Competency 8 is an area where I do not have a lot of experience. As an assistant principal and in my current position, I have only had a small exposure to leadership and management in relation to district budgeting, personnel, resource utilization, financial management and technology application. As an assistant principal, I did aide my principal in hiring and doing the campus budget. However, I do not believe I have enough knowledge to apply procedures for effective budget planning and management or how to facilitate and evaluate effective account auditing and monitoring that complies with legal requirements and local district policy. I would like to gain more knowledge on the whole process on developing a budget.

Another area I need to gain more knowledge and skills is applying procedures for planning, funding, renovating and/or constructing school facilities to support the district’s mission and goals.  Also, I would like to learn how to apply procedures for ensuring the effective operation and maintenance of district facilities. It is extremely important for students and staff to be safe to ensure effective learning environment for all. Lastly, in Competency Area 9 I would like to learn how to implement an evaluation process for appropriate procedures to ensure efficient, effective district transportation, food and health services. This competency is extremely important. Students cannot learn if the facilities are not safe, transportation is not running efficiently or not receiving proper nutrition. The superintendent needs to provide a safe and effective learning environment for all.

By completing my professional development plan it will allow me improve my knowledge and skills in areas I do not consider myself competent yet. From analyzing the data, I needed to focus my professional plan on competencies 4, 5, 8 and 9. Area 9 is where I wanted to especially focus my plan. I believe by completing my three year professional development plan it will allow for me to become the most effective and knowledgeable superintendent and district employee I can become.

Year One

Goal Increase the use of technology	TExES Competency and Domain Competency 5 Domain 2	Objective (What do you want to improve?) Improve my integration of technology into my current position and to learn of technology to improve student learning.	Course Work/Book/ Workshops (How do you want to improve?) Workshops on technology applications such as Google Docs, IPads and apps for student learning. -Seeking Education Blogs on the use of technology in schools	Mentor Professional Support (Who will help you improve?) -Director of Technology Learning. -Lead of Assistive Technology	Date of Completion May, 2013	Evaluations (How will you know you have improved?) -Certification of Attendance - Being able to suggest use of technology for special education students -Joining Education Blogs - Developing a Google Docs site for my team.
Goal Increase my knowledge of the health service program in schools	TExES Competency and Domain Competency 9 Domain 3	Objective (What do you want to improve?) Improve my understanding of how to implement and evaluate appropriate procedures to ensure an efficient, effective district health services.	Course Work/Book/ Workshops (How do you want to improve?) -Texas Education Code -Texas Administrative Code -Workshops on health services	Mentor Professional Support (Who will help you improve?) -Lead Nurse	Date of Completion May, 2013	Evaluations (How will you know you have improved?) Self Report Certification of Attendance Completed report (binder) of codes related to school health

Year Two

Goal Increase my knowledge in the area of school facilities and school bonds.	TExES Competency and Domain Competency 9 Domain 3	Objective (What do you want to improve?) Be able to apply procedures for planning, funding, renovating and/or constructing school facilities to support the district’s mission and goals.	Course Work/Book/ Workshops (How do you want to improve?) Texas Education Code Texas Administrative Code Bond Workshops Community Input Sessions	Mentor Professional Support (Who will help you improve?) Facilities Manager Deputy Superintendent of Business & Support Services	Date of Completion May, 2014	Evaluations (How will you know you have improved?) Self-Report and Reflection Certification of Attendance Reference Binder of Codes that relate to bonds.
Goal Increase my knowledge in the area of the school food service programs.	TExES Competency and Domain Competency 9 Domain 3	Objective (What do you want to improve?) Increase my knowledge in the area of regulations and codes to be able to implement and evaluate appropriate procedures to ensure effective and efficient food service program	Course Work/Book/ Workshops (How do you want to improve?) Texas Education Code Texas Administrative Code Child Nutrition Workshops Observation of food service and director of child nutrition.	Mentor Professional Support (Who will help you improve?) Director of Child Nutrition	Date of Completion January, 2014	Evaluations (How will you know you have improved?) Self-Reflection and Report Certification of Attendance of workshops

Year Three

Goal Increase my knowledge of building and maintaining board relations.	TExES Competency and Domain Competency 4 Domain 1	Objective (What do you want to improve?) Improve my skills with communicating and working effectively with board members in a variety of contexts, including problem solving and decision making.	Course Work/Book/ Workshops (How do you want to improve?) -Continue to attend monthly school board meetings -Attend the TASA/TASB Annual Convention -Attend Board workshops in my district	Mentor Professional Support (Who will help you improve?) Superintendent of Schools	Date of Completion September, 2015	Evaluations (How will you know you have improved?) -Self-Report -Certifications of attendance -Reflection after activities
Goal Increase my knowledge in the area of developing a district budget.	TExES Competency and Domain Competency 8 Domain 3	Objective (What do you want to improve?) Be able to apply procedures for effective budget planning and management and work with board to develop district budget.	Course Work/Book/ Workshops (How do you want to improve?) Garner, C. William (2003). Education finance for school leaders: Strategic planning and administration. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall Texas Association of School Boards, ( 2010). A Guide to Texas School Finance. Austin, Texas. Local Board Workshop on Budget	Mentor Professional Support (Who will help you improve?) Deputy Superintendent of Business & Support Services Director of Financial Services	Date of Completion May, 2015	Evaluations (How will you know you have improved?) Completion of Report (binder) of codes related to school budgets Attendance of board workshops Self-reflection of books read

 

Reflective Practices

Without reflection you cannot grow as an individual or as professional. Reflection allows us learn from our experiences. This is an extremely important skill in leadership. As a leader every situation will be different because there are different conditions, but we can still apply things from other situations to new situations. That is the skill of reflection. It allows us as leaders to step back and look at a problem more globally and understand the different parts of the problem before and after a decision is made. It allows for adjustments in our leadership and decision making skills. The greatest gain from reflection is learning from our mistakes and prior actions. For me personally, reflection has allowed me as leader to grow, especially in the area of recognizing the perspective of others and how my decisions impact others.

Throughout the superintendent program I have had many opportunities to reflect and use reflection to grow as a leader. I was able to reflect throughout the program through course assignment activities, blogs, course and campus supervised logs, assessments and other intern reflection experiences. I truly believe without reflection a person cannot grow personally or professional. So, I always take some time each day to reflect on decisions or discussions I have had throughout my day.

With the use of the course assignment activities I was able to use reflection to grow as a leader. Being able to read comments from my other cohort classmates allowed me to recognize the perspective of others, which to me is an important part of reflection. Even though each of us in the class did the same assignment each of us walked about with different experiences and knowledge. By reflecting on my own assignment and then reading others in my class allowed for me to gain even more knowledge in that skill set.

I also had the opportunity to reflect though the use of our blogs. Prior to this class, I had heard of blogs, but never used a blog. The use of a blog has become a very helpful tool in allowing for reflection. It gives us an outlet to share our ideas and experiences. We are able to communicate with our classmates in an informal setting, which allows for more open communication. By being able to share ideas with each other it allowed me to grow as a leader.

The course and supervised logs was probably the area where I reflected the most. After each internship activity I took some time to write a reflection on each activity. I would reflect on the actual activity, what I learned and how I could use this experience in the future. I also would reflect on how I could apply these skills to my current position.

After each assessment during my coursework I would take some time after the test to review the items I missed. I would then research each test item I missed so, that I could learn from my mistakes and apply it to future. This is a skill of reflection. Part of reflection is to learn from our mistakes and prior actions and apply it to future decisions. The assessment in our coursework allowed me to do this.

There were numerous other times I reflected during my coursework. To be honest there were times I just reflected on why I was doing this coursework and why I wanted this certification. I truly needed to understand why I wanted to be a superintendent to move forward on my coursework, blogs and internship activities. With a better understanding of why I wanted to be a leader the more knowledge I was able to gain in this program.  

I will continue to use reflective practices to improve my leadership skills by stepping back and taking a few moments to reflect on the possible outcomes of a decision before a making a decision. Also, after a decision has been made take some time to reflect on that decision and is there something I could have done differently in that situation. Also, I believe in reflecting in conversations with people, especially ones you are leading. Did I listen to everything they said? Did I take into account their emotions, suggestions, etc? I truly believe reflection is one of the most important skills to have as a leader and will continue to use that skill set to grow as a leader.

Lessons Learned from Recommendations and District Improvement Initiativ

           By being involved with improvement initiatives it gave me valuable lessons I can apply in any future position I have in education. I learned there are important steps to take to developing improvement initiatives in the district. The first step is to start with the concerns of the district by examining trends. Then develop recommendations that are aligned with district goals. Then have a way of evaluating progress on those initiatives.

            The first step the district improvement committee took was examining current trends in our district. This allowed the committee to understand the true needs of the district. In the past few years, due to the lay-offs at NASA and the general economy, there has been an increase in the number of students who are economically disadvantaged. This year the district went from having three Title I campuses to nine. In addition to the increase of students who are economically disadvantaged we have also had in an increase in students who are Limited English Proficient. One of the other trends the committee noticed was decrease in parent participation at some of the campuses.

Based on the current trends and needs of the district the District Improvement Committee then  developed recommendations to address the needs of district that were aligned with the district mission and goals. The first recommendation was to develop, lead and implement a robust parent and community involvement program which will provide opportunities for all parents to participate in activities as a partner in their child’s educational process. The next recommendation after analyzing the current trends was to ensure that staff will be members of a professional learning community and will continue to improve and reflect on their practice.  Then based on the increase in special populations in the district the next recommendation was to provide students identified as needing support through Limited English Proficient, At-Risk, or Dyslexia, Special Education Programs with research-based instructional strategies, intervention, programs and services that are designed to accelerate their language acquisition and improve their academic achievement.

Then the next step in developing improvement initiatives is to develop evaluation methods to evaluate progress and improvement of the initiatives. For the three recommended initiatives the committee developed the following recommendations for evaluation criteria: Use the results of Parent Involvement Survey and parent attendance logs at each activity, agendas of professional learning community meetings, surveys after professional development, records of book studies, work products and lesson plans. Also, the committee recommended using student assessment results.

CARE Model Analysis of District/Campus Improvement Initiatives

Concerns – Review your participation in improvement initiatives or efforts to engage in action research, and list at least three concerns that you have identified from these experiences – a concern may be any matter that engages your attention or interest.

1. Communication among parents across the district.
2. Meaningful professional development.
3. Increase in Economically Disadvantaged and LEP students in our district.

Affirmations - Review your participation in improvement initiatives or efforts to engage in action research, and affirm or identify at least 3 actions that must be sustained and supported to achieve the District/Campus improvement initiatives.

1. Parents will be full partners with educators in the education of their child.
2. Professional development needs to address a well-balanced and appropriate curriculum for all students and keep educators abreast of creative and innovative techniques to improve student learning.
3. Create a more culturally proficient district.

Recommendations - Review your participation in improvement initiatives or efforts to engage in action research and describe at least 3 recommendations you would make regarding the District/Campus Improvement plans or action research plans.

1. Develop, lead and implement a robust parent and community involvement program which will provide opportunities for all parents to participate in activities as a partner in their child’s educational process.
2. Ensure that staff will be a member of a professional learning community and will continue to improve and reflect on their practice.
3. Provide students identified as needing support through Limited English Proficient, At-Risk, or Dyslexia, Special Education Programs with research-based instructional strategies, intervention, programs and services that are designed to accelerate their language acquisition and improve their academic achievement.

Evaluate - Review your participation in improvement initiatives or efforts to engage in action research and identify at least 3 strategies for evaluating the improvement plans or recommendations.

1. Use the results of Parent Involvement Survey and parent attendance logs at each activity.
2. Agendas of professional learning community meetings, surveys after professional development, records of book studies, work products and lesson plans.
3. Student assessment results.

Goals for the First Day, Week, Month and Year

First Day

First Day Goal:

Become as familiar with as many people as possible, especially in the central office.

Objective:

Introduce myself to as many people as possible in the district.

Activities addressing goals and objectives:

Meet with the administrative team first to become familiar with those individuals and positions.

Resources needed to achieve goals and objectives:

Meeting space

First Week

First Week Goal

Become as familiar with campuses and the staff on those campuses.

Objective(s):

Introduce myself to as many staff members as possible on campuses.

Introduce myself to as many students as possible on campuses.

Become familiar with campus’ vision and missions.  

Activities addressing goals and objectives:

Meet with each principal and assistant principal on the campuses to discuss the campus.

Attend as many staff meetings on each campus to meet the staff.

Conduct walk-throughs into classrooms.

Review campus handbooks.

Resources needed to achieve goals and objectives:

Meeting space

Campus maps

Campus directories

Campus handbooks

First Month

First Month Goal

Become as familiar with community culture and access needs of the community, including the schools.

Objective(s):

Introduce myself to as many parents as possible.

Introduce myself to as many community members as possible.

Become familiar needs of the community.  

Activities addressing goals and objectives:

Meet with parents by conducting meetings on each campus.

Meet with community members by attending as many social events as possible. For instance, attending the Rotary Club, Lion’s Club, Retired Teacher Association, Town Hall Meeting, City Council, etc.

Examining demographics of the area.

Resources needed to achieve goals and objectives:

Meeting space

Event Calendar

Demographic information from County Courthouse

First Year

First Year Goal

Have a well, articulated vision for the district.

Objective(s):

Revise vision and mission of the district.

Revise vision and mission of campuses in the district.

Establish goals for the next school year to meet our vision

Activities addressing goals and objectives:

Meet with administrative team.

Meet with District and Campus Improvement Teams to revise vision of district and campus.

Access the needs of the district by examining AEIS, PBMAS and demographics of the schools.

Resources needed to achieve goals and objectives:

AEIS Report

PBMAS Report

Meeting Space

Current Vision and Mission statements

Internship Activities

Competency 1

           During my internship, I completed two activities that improved my administrative skills and abilities in the competency area one. The first activity I completed was I meet with five secretaries in the Office of Special Education to discuss ethical and unethical behaviors observed by certified personnel in our office. We also discussed recommendations for policy changes and consequences to ensure increased ethical practices by certified personnel. I found this activity to be extremely eye opening because in many ways I think all employees of the school district are treated in the same manner, but they are not. I learned that there needs to be some policy changes so, all employees feel treated fairly.

          By completing this activity, I learned a valuable lesson about treating all employees fairly. I understand why the secretaries feel the way they do. Since they have to clock in and out and every minute of their day as to be accounted for, but the certified personnel can come and go as they please. As a leader in schools, I believe this is area that we can examine more and make some policy changes to make the work place for effective.

            The next activity I completed under competency one was working on my interpersonal relationships. I have always considered interpersonal relationships as an area of strength for myself. I strive to build relationships with all coworkers and especially individuals I oversee. I promptly get back to others with concerns or needs. I have a twenty-four turn around on all e-mails and phone calls. However, as a reflected on how I could improve my interpersonal relationships I looked at my monthly meetings with my team and decided I needed to encourage others to participate and acknowledge feelings and values within the group.

            When I started examining and reflecting on those monthly meetings I started to think about how it is mostly me talking, little questions being asked and that I did not always acknowledge feelings with the group. So, I thought the best place to start on improving my interpersonal relationships in my meetings was to send an anonymous survey through Google Docs. I allowed the survey to be open for three weeks. I asked questions about how they thought the meetings were going. What could be improved? What is the purpose of these meetings? Can the speakers do something different to enhance your learning? Is there something we can do to encourage participation from the group? I then collected the results. I had 32 individuals out of 48 respond.  I went through every response and grouped the responses to patterns I saw.

            After grouping the responses I created questions to be discussed at the next team meeting. I took about one hour out the next meeting and we discussed the patterns using the guided questions I provided. This was an extremely valuable activity to complete with my team. I learned several new ways to improve communication among the group. Several even commented on how much they appreciated even being asked on we could encourage participation among the group.  Out of this conversation we created a group blog where team members can comment and ask questions to each other. We also created a wiki where they can share documents to each other. Lastly, we even created a hospitality committee to create more sense of belonging to a group.

            Lastly, I learned with this activity that interpersonal relationships are something I will keep working on throughout my career as a leader. This activity taught me even when I thought this was a strength of mine that it could still be improved. Through encouraging others to participate and acknowledging other feeling and values with the group it made us a stronger team. I look forward to continuing to strengthen my interpersonal relationships skills.

Competency 2 Area:

            During my internship there were five internship activities I completed to develop my administrative skills in the area of shaping district culture and developing a vision of learning that is shared and supported by the educational community. To me this was an extremely important competency area to develop my skills.

The first activity I completed was comparing two vision statements from two different districts. While comparing the two district’s vision statements it allowed me to see what a vision statement should include. What a truly, shared vision looks like and how essential a well articulated vision statement is to the success of a school district.

       As a superintendent of a school district it is important to establish a shared vision that must be used to guide the daily operations and the important initiatives of the district. It must not just be a statement that is on the district improvement plan and no one ever looks at the vision. It must be communicated daily. Truly having a clear, shared vision of a district can have numerous benefits to a school district. An effective vision statement can motivate and energize people. It helps the district focus on the goals of the district. It helps the district develop policies, procedures and programs and guide the district to what it wants to become in the future.

            The next activity I completed was reviewing the strategic plan for my district. While reviewing the strategic plan for my district I learned without a doubt, the most important part of the planning and, consequently, of the plan itself is the list of strategies. The strategies after all, are what make the plan “strategic”. They are, in particular, the articulation of bold commitments to deploy the organization’s resources toward the stated objectives and reach the district’s vision. A strategy is not a strategy unless it represents a significant investment toward an excepted return. Essentially, the strategies tell how the organization will accomplish the objectives, therefore realizing the mission of the district. Each strategy must be broad enough to support and realize each and all objectives. 

            The next activity I completed to improve my skills in competency 2 was reviewing ways in which assessment data is used by different stakeholders in the district. As a former special education teacher, I understand the importance of data. Every decision we make for a student in special education is driven by data. We must know where the student is performing both academically and functionally. We also assess how we are preparing students for the transition from high school to post secondary life. We live and breathe data. However, I learned while completing this internship activity how many different purposes there are to using assessment data. The board of education, superintendent, faculty, staff and Office of Public Relations uses the assessment data for different reasons. Also, the amount of data that is received is very different. For instance, the board of education uses the data to learn about the district, while the superintendent uses the data to allocate funds and staff.

        I also learned that not every teacher understands the importance of data and assessment data and looking at the whole student. The assessment data in terms for faculty and staff drives teaching and learning. What students are going to be assessed on and how they are currently performing drives the curriculum in the classroom. Also, assessment data is an evolving process right now. It is becoming a much more detailed process for teachers. It is not just as easy as saying the student made commended, not commend but an analysis of each question, student expectations and objectives. Having teachers understand how to analyze the data will in turn inform instruction.

            The next activity I completed was examining steps to find a resolution to a current problem.     Through this internship activity I learned how to deal with a current issue that is district wide and use steps for issue resolution to resolve the issue.  I learned the first step is to meet with the concerned parties and really get to the root of the problem.  Until we truly understood the issue we could begin to resolve it. So, we met with several small groups to discuss the issues with the program. I also learned that sometimes there is more than one resolution to an issue.

            The last and final internship activity in this competency area was an important one and that was developing my skills in the area of collaborative decision making. While observing a special education administrator meeting I learned how to accomplish collaborative decision making during meetings.  During the meeting, I observed the executive director of special education outlying the goals, seeking information, providing information, clarifying/elaborating, challenging viewpoints, diagnosing progress and then summarizing the meeting.

Also, I learned to have a more collaborative decision making process there must be ground rules set with the group. This school year the group agreed to be impeccable with their words, only discuss items on topic and do not take anything personal.

            The meeting for the most part ran smoothly because there was a process to place to seek collaboration on decisions. The executive director followed the same sequence for each agenda item. She started the discussion about why the item was on the agenda and provided any background information about the item. Then she opened the item up for discussion to the group. She only allowed one person to talk at a time. She also had a recorder who posted the big ideas on to a poster board that was hanging in the conference room. The executive director also asked clarifying questions if the group or she was not clear. The final step the executive director took during the meeting was to summarize each agenda item and discussion the decisions that were made during the meeting.

Competency 3 Area:

            I completed five internship activities to develop my skills on competency three. Competency three is extremely important area to develop, especially in my current district as the community of Clear Lake is changing. The first activity I completed in this area was developing my presentation skills.   In my current position, I conduct numerous professional development activities. However, I rarely ask for feedback. So, I decided to ask for evaluation on one of the first few professional development activities for this school year. I chose to do it early in the school year so, I could learn what was working and what not working during my presentations. I developed the survey in hopes I could elicit feedback on my strengths and areas in need of improvement as a presenter.

There were several areas the participants considered as strengths in my presenting style. However, there were areas I needed to improve such as the speaker answered questions effectively. Some participants felt I did not answer the questions thoroughly or I let too many individuals ask questions that were off-task. By asking for feedback it allows for more effective communication and for me to grow as a presenter and a professional.

            The next internship activity I completed was learning about our current community/public relationship program.   Through my interview with the Director of Communications I learned all efforts and strategies used in Clear Creek ISD are geared towards encouraging parental participation in their child’s education, promote volunteerism and actively recruit support from business partnerships. When looking at effective strategies, the first step the Office of Communication took was defining parent involvement. Since, CCISD is a large, urban school district parental involvement looks different at each school. The Office of Communication has defined three definitions of parental involvement: parents as learners, parents as advocates and parents as leaders.

         The Office Communication believes by educating the parents and the public on what is happening in the schools we create an active volunteerism program. Our district pushes whether you have just 60 minutes to spare or hours to share with a child, we welcome and encourage the community to become a “life changer”. The district expresses that by volunteering in the schools it can provide our community with the educational excellence it deserves. CCISD offers a myriad of opportunities for parents, businesses, community organizations and civic groups to have a direct impact on the success of our students.

        Based on my interview with the Director of Communication I do believe my school district has an effective school-community relations program. As I discovered the different strategies utilized by my district’s school-community relations program what I most was impressed by was that the Office of Communication has moved completely away from passive communication to engaged communication. Instead of just sending the same message to every audience the district has created an extensive database that indicates the age of each resident, the age of children in the house and if the resident is new to the Clear Lake Area. This allows the district to tailor the needs of each resident and hence developing an effective school-community relations program.

            The next internship activity I completed was examining the current policy and procedures for parent involvement in the district.  The district has numerous efforts and strategies in place to encourage parental participation in their child’s education. When looking at effective strategies and initiatives, the first step the district took was defining parent involvement. Since, CCISD is a large, urban school district parental involvement looks different at each of the 43 campuses.

       I learned at some of the campuses the priority of parental involvement is just trying to get parents not to be afraid of the school system. However, we have other campuses where the district has to teach their parents boundaries within the school system. Ultimately, I learned no matter where each of the parent’s level of involvement is in the schools; the school district has a responsibility to encourage parental involvement.

            The next activity was developing a plan to promote cultural diversity in the district.    I learned developing a plan to promote cultural diversity in the district is essential to the success of the district in producing high-achieving students. If educators are well prepared and culturally proficient they will be able to meet the needs of each student. Without an understanding of different cultures, educators will not be able to provide the most rigorous learning opportunities and curriculum that transcend state and national standards to improve the achievement of each student while meeting their individual needs and aspirations. A district must be culturally proficient for it to change.

       I also learned currently, the demographics of Clear Creek ISD are changing due to the economics of the area, especially the lay-offs at NASA. Currently, in our district there has been an increase of economically disadvantaged students and the number of Hispanic students continues to increase at a faster rate than other student groups. With all of changes in demographics in the area it is essential to develop a plan to increase cultural proficiency.

        Lastly I learned, with an understanding of the school’s community, a shared common language and understanding of cultural proficiency, stereotypes and how those beliefs affect our students and an understanding of the elements of cultural proficiency a school can have an approach for educators dealing with the challenges of diversity.  For Clear Creek ISD, it essential to develop culturally proficient educators so, the educators can produce high-achieving students and meet the needs of all students in our district.

            The last and final internship activity I completed was a list of social agencies that are available to help and support students in our area. I learned there are numerous social agencies that are available to help and support students, faculty and administration in the Gulf Coast Area. There are state and federal agencies, day activities, assisted living facilities, advocacy groups, service providers, post secondary education, employment connections, transportation support and numerous additional resources in the area. Each of these resources is connected to a social agency the supports students and adults, especially individuals with disabilities.

            Some of the agencies connect students with employment opportunities after high school and even internship activities while they are still in high school. One social agency helps parents file for guardianship of their child with disabilities once they turn 18 so, parents can maintain guardianship.

            I also learned there is resource guide produced in the area to assist students, parents and faculty to understand what major services each social agency provides. This guide is to assist the Houston and surrounding areas understand the different services for children with disabilities.  

Competency 4 Area:

            Competency four was an area I had little exposure to before the superintendent internship. While completing my internship I completed three activities to develop my skills in this area. I believe this is one of the areas I grew the most in while completing my internship.

The first activity I completed was attending as many board meetings as I could. I had the opportunity to attend three school board meetings this school year and this gave me a chance to the see the team of eight at work. Attending the board meetings gave me a greater understanding of how the superintendent responds to and influences the larger political, social, economic, legal and cultural context, including working with the board of trustees, to achieve the district’s educational vision. Attending the board meetings also gave me a better understanding of how the superintendent communicates and works effectively with board members in varies contexts, including problem solving and decision making.

            Every board meeting I attended covered different issues and topics. However, each meeting gave me the opportunity to see a functional board. Every item that went to vote was 7-0. There was discussion to every issue, but in the end the board was in full agreement. It was evident by attending these board meetings our superintendent had done an outstanding job building and establishing mutual respect between the board and the superintendent. It also allowed to me to learn how to communicate and work effectively to assist with problem solving and decision making with the board of trustees. I learned numerous things by attending these boards meetings and plan on attending more to continue to my learning in this area.

            The next activity I completed to improve my skills in this area was to review the last six months of school board agendas and minutes. By studying the board minutes and agenda it truly gave me an idea of how every board meeting affects the district today. While reviewing the previous six months (September, 2011- March, 2012) of board agendas and minutes I was able to note significant events, policy changes and recurring themes that affect the district. By examining the board agendas and minutes it gave me a better understanding of how the district and the superintendent are able to analyze and respond to political, social, economic and cultural factors affecting students and education.

            The last internship activity I completed was to analyze the correlation between the requirements listed in the job description and the evaluation used to evaluate this position. While investigating the evaluation instrument used to evaluate special education team leaders I learned all employees who are not hired as a teacher are evaluated under the same evaluation methods. Teachers are appraised under the PDAS system while all Education Support Center staff is appraised under an alternative method.

            For everyone who is not apprised under PDAS, including the special education team leaders, we use an appraisal scoring sheet in which the appraiser takes the employee’s job description and fills in each item listed on the job description onto the appraisal scoring sheet. The actual number of major responsibilities and duty indicators will vary with the job description. Then the appraiser rates the employee on a scale from 0-4. 4 = Clearly outstanding, 3 = Exceeds expectations, 2 = Proficient, 1 = Below expectations and 0 = Unsatisfactory. There then is a section next to each descriptor for appraiser comments.

     I believe this appraisal system is more fair then other alternative evaluation methods because it is based on the actual job description of the employee. So, the performance standards actually match what the employee in doing in their job.

Competency 5 Area:

            I completed five activities to build and improve my leadership skills in the area of enhancing teaching and learning. This is an area I still have to gain more skills in, but the internship activities I completed did help build my knowledge base on curriculum and curriculum resources.

            One activity I completed in this competency area was interviewing the person with experience in the textbook selection process. I actually learned the selection of textbooks is in the processing of changing due to the new way the State is providing funds for instructional materials. The new way the State is funding instructional materials is due to Senate Bill 6. She explained there use to be two different funds for technology and textbooks and now there is just one fund. The Instructional Material Allotment now allows districts to use this fund to purchase either one with this fund as long as it meets curriculum standards. She said this allows for the movement towards more technology then actual textbooks.

            Another activity that helped me gain a better understanding of curriculum resources was meeting with a high school counselor who was responsible for changes in student class schedules. I met with one of the high school counselors from Clear Creek High School to discuss the number of student class schedules changes, rational for changes and ramifications of the changes. We also examined some ways to reduce the number of changes and how to better meet students’ needs. I was surprised by the amount of changes and reasons they occur.

          I learned numerous things by examining student class schedules changes. This issue has a much more global effect on schools than I ever realized. This is area that even as an administrator I need to pay more attention to and examine current policies of my school. For instance, I had never really thought of the emotional side of changing a student’s schedule. A class becomes a family and it forms its own norms and then when someone is put into or taken out of a class it changes the dynamics of the family. This can have a direct impact on instructional and the learning that occurs in a classroom.

            Another internship activity I completed was observing an instructional assistant. The experience of observing an instructional assist in the Alternative Academics classroom was an enlightening experience. It was amazing to see how much employees would do to ensure students’ needs were met at all times. Safety and health concerns were the priority of the instructional assistant. After those needs were cared to, the instructional assistant helped reinforce instruction and behavior.

            Another activity I completed that gave me a more global perspective of not only the importance of academics in a student’s school life, but how important cocurricular activities can be in a student’s life was assisting in planning and supervising a golf tournament.  By completing with internship activity I learned firsthand the importance of cocurricular education.  While assisting and supervising the golf tournament it was evident that athletic programs, as well as any cocurricular activity, are extremely important to the overall development of students. I learned that cocurricular education complements the general curriculum by increasing student motivation, decreasing student discipline and increasing the general performance of students.

Through studying cocurricular activities in my district I learned there are numerous cocurricular activities students can join to find an outlet for their passion. Having a place to share your passion with others and have an educator foster your passion is extremely important to students in hence increasing their overall motivation in school. There are just some skills that cannot be taught the general classroom and cocurricular education helps fill in those gaps to help students be better prepared for post-secondary life.

            The last activity I completed in competency area five was attending one special education meeting involving annual review. I learned what should be happening in ARDs is not really happening. We are just really going through the motions and not having meaningful participation of members of the ARD Committee.

            I have attended many Admission, Review and Dismissal meetings over the years. First as a special education teacher, then as an administrator and now as the lead ARD facilitator for Clear Creek ISD. However, I have never attended a meeting in which I did not play a role in the meeting. This time I just went to observe the meeting.

After witnessing this ARD, I started to question other campuses on how they were conducting ARDs and the answers were very similar. There was no meaningful, active participation going in ARDs. I took this information back to my executive director and we are working on a presentation and proposal to improve this in our district. We also will be presenting this information at a summer conference together.

Competency 6 Area:

            I completed four activities in Competency 6 which helped me gain knowledge in the areas of advocating, promoting and sustaining an instructional program and district culture. Though my internship activities I was able to examine student motivation, student discipline, student recommendations on how to prepare students for test and current issues that affect teaching learning.

            The first internship activity that assisted in developing my leadership skills in this area was examining student motivation.  While disusing the topic of student motivation and the two referred journal articles on student motivation with the Director of Psychological Services and several Licensed Specialist in School Psychologist (LSSP) they agreed how important student motivation is on the overall success for students in school. I learned our goal is have child be intrinsically motivated. We discussed how intrinsically motivated activities are more rewarding in and of itself and how children learn more from  intrinsic activities and they retain that learning better. Intrinsically motivated children are more involved in their own learning and development.

          I also learned parents play an important role in a student’s academic motivation. For instance, if a parent has standards that are unrealistic can discourage their children’s effort, but a parent who fosters a child’s academic success by placing importance on doing their best in school are more likely to develop academic motivation. There are several things parents can do to increase academic motivation such as increasing motivation to learn, teaching habits that encourage learning and working with their child’s teacher. Lastly, I learned most importantly as teachers and parents we need to provide and environment that allows children to freely explore and to see the effect of their actions.

            Another activity I completed that gave me a better understanding of how to promote student learning was electing feedback from students on how to better prepare them for testing. I learned from this activity that what we consider best practices for teaching and learning is what students consider best practice too.  I randomly selected a group of high school students from Clear Creek High School and elicited their recommendations for how to improve preparation for tests.  We discussed what teachers could do to help improve students in preparing for all test including unit tests, benchmarks, nine week test and statewide assessment. The students ranged from freshman to seniors.  We also discussed the issue of student input into this process. The students’ answers were both interesting and enlightening.

            Most importantly the students said teachers need to make learning fun and test scores would improve. The students felt the teachers could be more enthusiastic and take more time to answer student’s questions. They also suggested more group work would allow for more fun in class.

            The next activity I completed was examining the district’s discipline policy. While analyzing my district student discipline policy I learned the district believes discipline will be designed to correct misconduct and to encourage all students to adhere to their responsibilities as citizens of the school community and, when necessary, to protect students, school employees or property, and to maintain essential order and discipline. The district believes disciplinary action will draw on the professional judgment of teachers and administrators and on a range of discipline management techniques. While examining Clear Creek ISD’s discipline policy I noticed it is well-written document with a wide range of consequences. It fully explains discipline in CCISD.  The only recommendation I would make to the policy it does allow for some double punishment, such as double discipline for academic dishonesty.

            The last activity I completed to develop my skills in competency area 6 was to compile a list of current issues that affect teaching and learning. As I started to discuss current issues that affect teaching and learning with teachers, students and parents I learned this is a passionate subject for everyone and every stakeholder in a school has an interest in the topic. Everyone had some input on the issues that affecting teaching and learning. By completing this internship activity, I was able to see the importance of different issues from the perspective of students to administrators. I was able to make a list of each issue and then assessed the degree of importance and urgency for each issue based on the number of times it was mentioned during the discussions. What was interesting is parents and students had similar answers, while teachers and administrators had similar answers.  But in the end I learned that we all have similar interests in the school and everyone just wants to see students be successful and for students to be successful we need to address these issues.

Competency 7 Area:

            Competency Area 7 is an area I considered myself strong in before I started my internship, but through the internship I was able to hone in and develop my skills further in the area of staff supervision and staff development. I completed two internship activities in this area that allowed me to develop my leadership skills further.

            The first internship activity I completed was developing a district wide staff development activity. In collaboration with the Director of Special Education Services I helped plan a district-wide professional development for over six hundred special education staff members. I assisted in the planning, implementation, instruction and evaluation of this professional development activity. I learned several things while completing this internship activity and found this to be one of the most important activities I have completed.

            The most important thing I learned was the amount of time it takes to plan a district-wide professional development activity. First we had to figure out the needs of the district so, the professional development day would be meaningful to our staff. Then develop a way to meet those needs and make sure all eighteen trainers felt comfortable with the material. Then we had to figure out groupings and a location for all of the staff. We decided we wanted to keep the groups small. We believed this would make people feel more comfortable asking questions and have an opportunity to participate in the group activities. However, keeping the groups small meant we needed a large amount of rooms for this day. I learned when needing this many rooms you have to book the locations months in advance and even at the last minute be prepared for changes.

            Most importantly I learned how important it is to prepare the trainers all the same in hopes everyone hears the same information across the district. We created a PowerPoint with notes at the bottom of each slide that the director and I created. We also had four days of training for the trainer of trainers. However, we still discovered through the evaluation process that not everyone heard the same thing. We have come back together as a group and discussed how we can improve a district-wide training next time. One of the items we decided was having presenters who were more knowledgeable in the area present. Even though we had a script we cannot predict the questions the audience is going to ask.

            The second activity I completed to help understand staff performance was complete interviews for a special education team leader position. On November 16, 2011, I conducted interviews with the assistant principal and principal of Weber Elementary to replace the special education team leader who had recently taken a position in the private sector. We interviewed five individuals using a variety of questions and one essay question. I learned the importance of effective questioning. Without proper questions, we would not be able to hire the proper person to meet the needs of the campus the position.

            The role of the special education team leader is to lead the special education department and facilitate the ARD/IEP meetings. The position requires outstanding organization and communication skills, as well as, knowledge of the special education procedures and policies.  So, we had to ask questions that would allow us to hire someone with those qualities. The questions that were asked varied from knowledge of special education to organization questions. Each person on the committee had their role for being there. The principal’s questions were more based on the individual needs of the campus. The assistant principal asked the majority of questions on statewide assessment and I asked questions dealing with special education procedures.

         The interview team used a rubric to score each question and the essay. After the interviews were conducted we compared our overall score and discussed each applicant. Most individuals had some strengths and some challenges.  In the end, there was one clear applicant that stood out from the rest of the other interviewees. The principal then submitted the committee’s recommendation for hiring.

Competency 8 Area:

            I completed the most internship activities in Competency 8 because when I completed the SBEC Superintendent Competencies Self- Assessment area 8 had the most areas I needed to improve my knowledge and skills to become a successful superintendent. I completed six internship activities in this area to improve my leadership skills in this area.

            The first internship activity I completed in this area was assessing the process used for selecting technology software in our district so, I could gain more knowledge in the area of technology applications.   I had the pleasure of interviewing the Director of Learning Technology for Clear Creek ISD. During the interview, I learned the process for assessing technology software. I also learned about concerns and recommendations for improving this process in our district.

            I learned the process for assessing technology software starts with a committee. This committee is comprised of technical and instructional staff. The committee evaluates the software for the following items: technical specifications, instructional value, does it work on the network or is it stand alone, licensing available for one machine or multiples, network compatibility - OS and is the software web-based. I also learned how this process is effective because it provides an overview from all technical perspectives, as well as, instructional.

          

            The next activity I did to gain a better understanding of personnel in our district was observing the office receptionist for special education. I decided to observe and substitute for what I consider one of the most important positions in our office, the front office receptionist.  This position is the voice of the department, as well as, the first person you will see when you walk into our office.

        I truly got a feel of how busy this position was by observing and subbing. Between answering phones and greeting people she was making eligibility folders, stocking the copiers, shredding paper and barcoding equipment that came into the office. She never stopped moving in all of the time I observed her.

       What I discovered while subbing for the receptionist is her position is a very necessary position and she has an extremely busy, demanding position. This was a very rewarding experience for me. I knew how important the office staff is to our department, but truly I know understand they make our office function.  

            The next activity I completed to increase my knowledge base in this area was understanding how to complete a purchase requisition and understand the path a requisition takes to be approved. While reviewing a completed requisition for a contract service I learned the purchasing process is a complicated one. There are several steps a completed purchase order must go through before the service or supply is purchased. There are numerous budget codes and local procedures when purchasing items for a school system. For instance, I learned one local procedure is since this purchase order was for over $10,000 it must be signed and cleared by the Executive Director of Special Education. Also, I learned there are two different budget accounts used for purchasing. The first account is local funds which begin with a 199Y code and second federal funds, which begin with code 224Y. The local funds are broke into different function codes depending on what account the item will be purchased through.  For instance, materials and supplies have the function code of 639900.

       Lastly, I also learned there are stricter guidelines put on federal funds. Federal funds have some rules regarding what can and cannot be purchased with those funds. The particular purchase order I looked at was a coded with a federal funding and had to follow the federal guidelines.

            The next internship activity I completed was compiling a list of books, publications and websites to use when I become a superintendent.   Compiling a list of books, publications, training manuals, and state publications that I can use when I secure a position of superintendent is an extremely important step to being a successful superintendent. There is no way one person can remember all the procedures and policies for developing a district budget, effective purchasing and financial record keeping and reporting, knowledge of certification requirements and human resource legal requirements just to name a few of the things a superintendent has to know every day. Having a library and resources to refer to will allow me as a superintendent to apply principals of effective leadership and management in relation to district budgeting, personnel, resource utilization, financial management and technology use. Also, having websites and publications to refer to on a regular basis will allow me to keep growing as a professional and keeping current with information will allow me to be the educational and instructional leader I want to be.

The next activity I completed to have a better understanding of financial management for the district was to meet with the school attendance officer. Meeting with one of the district attendance officer gave me a better understanding of how attendance rates affect the district budget, resources, accountability ratings and high school credits for students. We currently employ five attendance officers. Each officer is placed on one of the high schools and then they handle all attendance issues for the campuses that feed to that high school. The attendance officers handle K-12^th grade students. We discussed the rules, procedures and ramifications of attendance on law, finance and general school/district operations.

I even learned the attendance procedures change depending on what county the student resides in. The attendance officer did discuss since our district spans over two countries there are different services available depending on which county the student resides in. For instance, if a student resides in Harris County as compared to Galveston County they can receive many different services. Harris County tries to be more proactive to prevent absences from occurring. There are parenting classes, truancy boot camp, social worker who is assigned to cases. However, in Galveston County there are not as many services available. Instead they take a more reactive approach. They discipline the student with community service and fines.

The final activity I completed in the area of competency 8 was developing a professional development. I developed this plan by using the SBEC Superintendent Competencies Assessment and including areas I cited as deficient areas even after completing the internship. According the SBEC Superintendent Competencies Post Self- Assessment I have many more areas that are strengths, areas where I consider myself competent and less areas where I need to build my knowledge and skills to become a successful superintendent than when I completed this assessment at the beginning of this program. While analyzing the data by competency area, I noticed there are now only a few areas I need to improve my knowledge as compared to when I started the program. Through the class work and internship activities I have gained much more areas of strength and areas I consider myself to be competent in.  As examining the results in the chart below, I feel Competency 1 and 10 are my greatest areas of strength and Competency 2, 3, 6 and 7 are all areas I feel competent in my skills and knowledge.  It is evident I need to focus my professional development plan on Competency Areas 4, 5, 8 and 9, which will still develop my skills in various learning areas.

Competency 9 Area:

            I completed two internship activities to build my knowledge base in Competency Area 9. I am able to apply some of the knowledge I learned during the internship to make management decisions dealing with the district’s physical plan and support systems to ensure a safe and effective learning environment for all students. However, this is still an area I need to build my knowledge base and will focus my professional plan.

            The first activity I completed was observing a bus driver on a special education route.   I had the pleasure of observing a bus driver and monitor on the morning route of a special education bus. I was glad I had opportunity to observe a bus driver, especially a special education route. This experience showed me how important bus drivers are to the daily function of a school district. If students cannot get to school then there is no learning happening. The bus drivers also play important role because they are the first and last employees students see every day. It also gave me a better understanding of the appropriate procedures to put in place to ensure efficient and effective district transportation services.

        This bus driver and monitor understood their important role in a child’s day. The bus monitor and bus driver greeted every student with a smile and ensured safety measures for all students on the bus. The bus driver and monitor also played another important role and that was putting the parents at ease. I learned it is extremely important that the parents feel comfortable with the bus driver and know their child is going to safely arrive at school. Several of these students were nonverbal and extremely young. The bus driver and monitor greeted every parent as well and did not leave the house until the students were properly secured in the bus.

The next activity I completed was meeting was the director of maintenance and operations. It was evident within a few minutes of meeting and observing the Director of Maintenance and Operations for Clear Creek ISD he has an extremely important role in the everyday operations of the school district. We first discussed what his responsibilities are in the district and then I observed the director for about an hour.

            While discussing the director’s job responsibilities he discussed there are six main areas he is responsible for in our district: building maintenance and repair, policy, reports and law, budget and inventory, personnel management, safety and other. He said he spends the majority of time dealing with personnel management.

By completing this internship activity it gave me a better understanding of 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 for all students. I thoroughly enjoyed my interview and look forward to continuing to grow in this area.

Competency 10 Area:

            I completed three internship activities that gave me a greater understanding of organizational, decision-making and problem-solving skills to comply with federal and state requirements and facilitate positive change in a district. This is an area I consider a strength in because of my past leadership experiences. However, problem solving skills is an area we can always grow in as an educational leader.   

            The first internship activity that gave me a better understanding of how to facilitate positive change in a district was meeting with an elementary counselor and parent to discuss the roles of schools in a child’s life. I met with the counselor at Bay Elementary and a parent and I learned the current role of the school in regard to children responding to their parents’ divorce, single parents’ needs and after-school care. I also learned about the parent and counselor concerns and recommendations to the school’s role in these situations.         

         I learned during this internship activity how much the school does to support not only students, but their parents too. For instance, when discussing a child’s divorce the counselor will meet with the parents. The counselor said she does spend some time with the parents listening to them and providing some handouts about discussing divorce with their child. Both the parent and counselor agreed numerous parents do not know where to even begin on this topic with their young child.

         I also learned that the school does a lot to assist families in need. For instance, if the school becomes aware of a homeless family they will contact the at-risk coordinator who will put the family in contact with services that will assist them in finding housing and employment.

The next activity I completed was meeting with a current leader in implementing a district change. Improving my skills on how to apply organizational, decision-making, and problem-solving skills to comply with federal and state requirements and facilitate positive change in varied contexts is an essential skill I must possess to be a successful educational leader and superintendent. As a leader change is always going to happen. Change has to happen to move the organization forward. However, as an educational leader change is happening every day due to the nature our business, children. As I sat down with the Executive Director of Special Education to discuss implementing a district wide change we discussed why the change was made and what steps were taken to make the change. After meeting with the director I meet with several people affected by the change to assess the support or nonsupport of the change.

This internship activity allowed me to gain more skills in dealing with change, especially a change dealing with state requirements. In special education we are always dealing with change that comes from both the federal and state requirements and I know as I move in the role of superintendent I will be dealing with change every day of my career.

While discussing and analyzing the steps to changing a procedure district wide I was able to implement issue and conflict t resolution into this internship activity as well. While making this change I discovered there were individuals on different sides of the issue. Before the Office of Special Education Services made the change to writing subject based standard based goals and objectives we met with groups to develop a list of concerns that each side to the issue. We actually met several times to reach a consensus in our office and to address all concerns. The special education office wanted to make sure we were a united front before we trained the entire district staff.

The first step our office took to reach consensus on a new plan on training the staff was breaking into smaller groups and making a list of our concerns. Then we came back as a large group and grouped our concerns into categories. Then the concerns were taken to the administrative meeting and then the administrative team took the concerns and researched the legal policies and what other districts were doing. Then we came back as group along with the consultant and addressed each concern. Approaching an issue in this manner allowed every individual in our group to have a voice and every concern was addressed in a fair way.