A. School Resources and Budget: The school executive establishes budget processes and systems which are focused on, and result, in improved student achievement.
Learning about Budget During my residency experience I was able to sit down with the Director of Operations for the middle school and learn how she allocates the school's budget and how she adjusts course throughout the year to accommodate supplements or deficits for the various buckets the budget is divided into. I was also able to sit down with the Director of Operations for the Henderson Collegiate network and discuss how the budget at a charter school differs from the budget of a traditional public school. |
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Creating a Budget
As a part of a class assignment, we were asked create a budget for a school. We were given a real school's budget, their school improvement plan, historical EOG performance data, and their teacher working conditions surveys. Based on this information, we were asked to submit a budget proposal with clear reasoning and rationale as to why we chose to allocate money to the items and programs we proposed.
As a part of a class assignment, we were asked create a budget for a school. We were given a real school's budget, their school improvement plan, historical EOG performance data, and their teacher working conditions surveys. Based on this information, we were asked to submit a budget proposal with clear reasoning and rationale as to why we chose to allocate money to the items and programs we proposed.
B. Conflict Management and Resolution: The school executive effectively and efficiently manages the complexity of human interaction so that the focus of the school can be on improved student achievement.
Conflict Resolution As the leader of a grade level, I was able to experience many opportunties for conflict resolution with both students, staff, and parents. This is a skill set I got the opportunity to grow in every day during my residency. The text message on the right shows how teachers communicate with myself and our Dean of Students regarding student discipline challenges. Depending on our schedules and the nature of the issue, myself or the Dean provides advice to the teacher on how to respond to the student or one of us comes to handle the situation if it is more egregious. In this particular incident, I pulled both students individually to get their sides of the story. Then, because it seemed like a misunderstanding between these two boys, I was able to facilitate a restorative conversation with the gentlemen together. I spoke to them about the importance of reflecting on how their actions can be perceived. The boys left the discussion positively and did not have any further incidents. |
C. Systematic Communication: The school executive designs and utilizes various forms of formal and informal communication so that the focus of the school can be on improved student achievement.
Weekly Email: As the leader of a grade level, I was able to gain a lot of valuable experience in systematic communication. Each week I communicated all updates to my team of teachers through a weekly email. Each email contained the weekly shout out, the school's weekly focus for the week, and an attached document outlining all details the team needed to know for the upcoming week. Often a lot of the information contained in the weekly email was reviewed in our Friday team meetings, however, this was not always the case and often the weekly email would also serve to communicate new information as well. |
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Event Details In addition to ensuring my team was informed and prepared for the upcoming week, I also used systematic communication to create a plan for all events and trips. The event "details" served as an outline of the plan for the day and what role everyone would play in executing that event. Teachers were asked to internalize their role in the plan and bring questions to our meeting where we would review (and modify if necessary) the plan. |
D. School Expectations for Student and Staff: The school executive develops and enforces expectations, structures, rules and procedures for students and staff.
Follow Up on Expectations
Similar to my experiences in conflict resolution, my role as a grade level chair also afforded me many opportunities to develop and enforce expectations for both staff and students. I developed a mechanism to help me account for deadlines and deliverables needed from teachers and a mechanism for me to help remind teachers of these expectations before the deadline arrived. I also got a lot of practice in following up with teachers after missed deadlines and was able to practice the art of crucial conversations when more severe breaches to culture occurred. In addition to these staff expectations, I also practiced holding reflective conversations with students before earning consequences to help students learn and grow throughout the year.
Similar to my experiences in conflict resolution, my role as a grade level chair also afforded me many opportunities to develop and enforce expectations for both staff and students. I developed a mechanism to help me account for deadlines and deliverables needed from teachers and a mechanism for me to help remind teachers of these expectations before the deadline arrived. I also got a lot of practice in following up with teachers after missed deadlines and was able to practice the art of crucial conversations when more severe breaches to culture occurred. In addition to these staff expectations, I also practiced holding reflective conversations with students before earning consequences to help students learn and grow throughout the year.