Part 4 Blog Comments following SISE Conference

My SISE Conference was held with Superintendent-Elect, Dr. Timothy Chargois.  He reviewed each domain with me, and asked questions to ensure that I was familiar with each competency.  He stated that I needed to study the competencies and make them my own.  He shared that I needed to make sure that I had experience within each competency.  He is a very educated and well-rounded individual.  He encouraged me to become exemplary in the areas where I was ranked as proficient. 

Part 3 Review and Submission of all Reports

District Supervised Summary Report:
I have submitted this report.  I didn't realize the number of hours that I had worked on the intern plan.  It also gave me a chance to work on areas that I was weak in.  I will post this into my TK20 and blog as well.

Superintendent/Supervisor Internship Summative Evaluation:
I will post this evaluation into my blog.

Revised Intern Plan:
I didn't have to make any changes to my intern plan.  It is posted on my personal blog and in TK20.

Completiion of Comprehensive Final Reports- Parts A-E:
I have posted final reports- parts A-E on the discussion blog and my personal blog.

Part 2 Update Vita

I have made minimal changes to my Vita.  Most were grammatical changes. 

Part 1 of the Three Year Professional Development Plan

Year One

Goal To be able to interact with district staff, students, school board, and community in a professional and ethical manner.	TExES Competency and Domain Domain I Competency 1	Objective (What do you want to improve?) I want to be able to be fair and consistent with all employees and school board members.	Course Work/Book/ Workshops (How do you want to improve?) Attend TEPSA (Texas Elementary Principals and Supervisors Association conferences, Parent Involvement Meetings, and all Board Retreats.	Mentor Professional Support (Who will help you improve?) Dr. Timothy Chargois, Dr. Shirley Bonton Michelle Kibbles	Date of Completion May 2013	Evaluations (How will you know you have improved?) I will be able to interact with district staff, students, school board, and community in a professional and ethical manner.
Goal Implement effective strategies for systematically communicating with and gathering input from all stakeholders in the district.	TExES Competency and Domain Domain I Competency 3	Objective (What do you want to improve?) I want to become more familiar with how stakeholders play a key role in supporting the district.	Course Work/Book/ Workshops (How do you want to improve?) Attend meetings with stakeholders that interested in the district.	Mentor Professional Support (Who will help you improve?) Dr. Timothy Chargois, Jessie Haynes, Craig Eichhorn, and Joy James	Date of Completion April 2013	Evaluations (How will you know you have improved?) I will understand the role that stakeholders play in the district and the process of getting them involved.

Year Two

Goal Implement planning procedures to develop curricula that achieve optimal student learning and that anticipate and respond to occupational and economic trends.	TExES Competency and Domain Domain II Competency 5	Objective (What do you want to improve?) I want to learn how and why curriculum is selected.  Our region is also having another company to come in and revamp our current curriculum.  I would like to be involved in the process.	Course Work/Book/ Workshops (How do you want to improve?) Attend Region V meetings and CSCOPE workshops	Mentor Professional Support (Who will help you improve?) Dr. Shirley Bonton, Region V	Date of Completion March 2014	Evaluations (How will you know you have improved?) I will be able to explain CSCOPE in its entirety and discuss why and how is was implemented.
Goal Implement strategies to enhance the expertise and skill of staff at the district and campus levels	TExES Competency and Domain Domain II Competency 7	Objective (What do you want to improve?) I want each staff member to be well aware of what is going on academically in the district.  Each staff member should play a key part in helping students to excel.	Course Work/Book/ Workshops (How do you want to improve?) Talentkeepers.com	Mentor Professional Support (Who will help you improve?) Rachel Jones	Date of Completion August 2014	Evaluations (How will you know you have improved?) Each staff member will be aware of what is going on in the district academically.  They will understand their role and the importance of it in educating students.

 Year Three

Goal To be able to work collaboratively with board of trustees and appropriate personnel to develop district budgets.	TExES Competency and Domain Domain III Competency 8	Objective (What do you want to improve?) I want to improve my familiarity with the school board so that I can work collaboratively with them.	Course Work/Book/ Workshops (How do you want to improve?) Attend as many board meetings as possible and board retreats	Mentor Professional Support (Who will help you improve?) Gwen Ambres, Zenobia Bush, Terry Williams, and Mike Neil	Date of Completion January 2015	Evaluations (How will you know you have improved?) I will have a better professional relationship with the Board of Trustees.
Goal To be able to apply legal concepts, regulations, and codes as required.	TExES Competency and Domain Domain III Competency 9	Objective (What do you want to improve?) I want to be familiar with board and state policies.	Course Work/Book/ Workshops (How do you want to improve?) Attend Board Meetings and study Beaumont ISD board policies.	Mentor Professional Support (Who will help you improve?) Dr. Shirley Bonton and Timothy Chargois	Date of Completion August 2015	Evaluations (How will you know you have improved?) I will be able to apply legal concepts, regulations, and codes.

Reflection: 

Throughout this endeavor, I have learned so much.  At the beginning of this tedious journey, I also became the Early Childhood and Elementary Language Arts Supervisor.  Gosh, talk about an eye opener.  I realized how critical my job as a supervisor was and how valuable my counterparts are.  There is so much more to learn.  During this course, I learned what areas I needed to grow if I was going to pursue the career of a superintendent.

Review of Reflection

Doing a reflection allows me to analyze and dissect situations that have occurred.  Looking back over previous reflections, I have realized how much I have learned and grown during this experience.  Reflections are important because it allows you to look back over what you have learned.  It also permits me to see how I have grown as a leader. 

My first reflection was based on action research.    It allowed me give my interpretation of what action research meant to me.  I applied how I would utilize action research.  ”As a superintendent, I could use action research to promote collaboration between administrators and teachers. For example, Beaumont ISD has recently adopted a new curriculum called CSCOPE. Teachers are trying to adjust to the new state mandated test, STAAR, and CSCOPE. There have been a slew of questions. Utilizing action research, teachers can study CSCOPE and come up with a plan of action. After acting upon it, all participants can collect and analyze evidence.”   The reflection helped me to understand why this practice could be an advantage for a superintendent. It would give school districts with the same demographics to collaborate and share ideas and practices.

I also interviewed Carrol A. Thomas of Beaumont ISD. He has been the Superintendent for 15+ years. He invited the Deputy Superintendent of BISD to sit in on the interview. He is a very knowledgeable and caring individual. He was very informative. Despite how he is portrayed by the media, he is an enjoyable and informative individual. Throughout the interview, I placed an asterisk by responses that were intriguing to me.   While completing my reflection, I realized what makes a good superintendent.    I realized that he/she needs to be supportive, encouraging, and data driven.

I learned that Budgeting and Finance has proven itself to be one of the most difficult parts of the certification for me. There is so much information to attain. Through this, however, I have learned that my district is doing an outstanding job in following TEA guidelines. It also gives me the opportunity to compare my district with other districts.

I didn’t realize that the Superintendent played such a major role in the budget process. I was also shocked to learn that he did not have the last say in the process. The Superintendent must be conscious of the budget and the needs of the community. The budget and budgeting process allows us to use available resources for students while remaining within guidelines.

While completing the post SBEC self-assessment and reflection, I realized that Domains I and II, were my most “comfortable” domains, and Domain III is where I still lack the most knowledge. I didn’t respond to a lot of the competencies with an “I”, but I guess that was to be expected; however, I would like to reflect on the competencies that I considered as strengths. I am nowhere near an expert, but I do have quite a bit of understanding of the following competencies.

I plan to use reflective practice as a superintendent to encourage the faculty and staff to reevaluate their jobs and decisions.  At the end of the year, I would like for each individual to reflect upon what they liked about the school year and what they didn’t like.  They would also have to provide reasons and suggestions that are appropriate to their field of expertise.    This is a very effective practice that needs to be in place.  It would help each individual, campus, and district to grow. 

CARE Reflection

Ensure that staff development is providing training for CSCOPE and TEKS in each content area.  CSCOPE is entirely new to our district.  It has been proven to be effective to teach the TEKS properly and has the rigor that is needed to master STAAR.  Teacher/Stakeholders have been trained to utilize CSCOPE correctly and efficiently. 

Properly identify students and monitor students that are special needs.  BISD has a thorough Special Education Department that provides clarity to all involved.  However, we do have students that are not monitored and are identified incorrectly.  I believe that more training needs to be in place for teachers and others working with students. 

Raise district AYP standards.  If students and educators are held to a higher standard, then the required standard will be met.  In BISD, students and teachers are always held to a higher standard than the state.  This almost guarantees success for all involved. 

This assignment has helped me to identify areas in my district that may need reinforcement.  I also like the fact that I learned about the four CARE elements.  This process can be used in many areas. 

CARE

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. The curriculum (TEKS) used in BISD (CSCOPE) is aligned with the state curriculum and accessible to all teachers/ stakeholders.
2. Special needs students are properly identified, instructed, and included at their enrolled grade levels.
3.  We meet Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) standards or growth for Reading (SpEd) and monitor West Brook (AA-Math), Smith/King (Reading), Caldwood (LEP-Reading) and Pietzsch-MacArthur (AA-Math.  AYP standards for 2011-12: Reading-87% and Math 83%.

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. Provide ongoing professional development activities that include, but are not limited to: Study of TEKS aligned curriculum  and TEKS aligned curriculum.

1.  Closely monitor inclusion practices for effectiveness through the following: Student Support Team, benchmark assessments, state assessments, report card grades, and professional development programs.
2.  Identify and characterize student needs.

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. Ensure that staff development is providing training for CSCOPE and TEKS in each content area.
2. Properly identify students and monitor students that are special needs.
3. Raise district AYP standards.

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. Provide teachers/stakeholders with an evaluation to ensure that goal was attained.
2. Monitor modified STAAR tests given to special needs students.
3. Make sure that district AYP standard is met so that state mandated AYP standards can be met.