21 COMPENTENCIES
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For School Administrators |
1. COMMUNICATION: Effectively listens to others; clearly and effectively presents and understands information orally and in writing; acquires, organizes, analyzes, interprets, maintains information needed to achieve school or team 21st century objectives.
Communication between all stakeholders is a vital component of effective leadership. During my internship I communicated with staff, students, and the community in person, through social media, and through electronic means. During the absence of my principal mentor, I maintained the weekly newsletter. The Pirate's Log informed the staff of weekly events and updates, and included motivational images to encourage and promote a positive school culture.
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2. CHANGE MANAGEMENT: Effectively engages staff and community in the change process in a manner that ensures their support of the change and its successful implementation
Effective change occurs when stakeholders have input in the planning, design, and implementation of new initiatives. The school improvement team made the decision to rotate the morning and afternoon duties of teachers. Each quarter, I empowered the staff in creating this schedule. Some grade levels preferred to maintain consistency of duties throughout the year while others chose to rotate duties. Based on grade level input, I compiled this information into a duty schedule.
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3. CONFLICT MANAGEMENT: Anticipates or seeks to resolve confrontations, disagreements, or complaints in a constructive manner.
Words matter, what we say matters, and the way that we say it matters. As a leader there will be many high-stakes conversations when opinions differ and emotions run high. As part of my residency I participated in a crucial conversations training. This training provided me tools to have these potentially difficult conversations. During my residency, I successfully used STATE skills to have crucial conversations with both staff and parents.
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4. CREATIVE THINKING: Engages in and fosters an environment for others to engage in innovative thinking
Problems are opportunities to learn and grow. As I was monitoring the cafeteria during lunch, I noticed a large amount of unopened food being discarded into the trash by students. I also noticed that many of our older students were asking each other for more food. I researched share carts and collaborated with the cafeteria manager to create a process to eliminate food waste and provide additional food to some of our students who might need a little bit more.
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5. CUSTOMER FOCUS: Understands the students as customers of the work of schooling and the servant nature of leadership and acts accordingly
Students are at the heart of the school and decisions are based on what is best for them. During my residency, I assisted with a movie reward day. With the amount of students participating, every adult in the building was needed to ensure the success of this day. As a servant leader, it is my privilege to help out where I am needed, and in this case, it was serving popcorn. There is no job too big or too little. Everything I do as an administrator is to serve the students and staff at CHES.
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6. DELEGATION: Effectively assigns work tasks to others in ways that provide learning experiences for them and in ways that ensure the efficient operation of the school
A school is a community where all stakeholders do their part to ensure the success of their students. During my residency, I delegated tasks to both certified and classified employees. At CHES, all teachers participate in school improvement committees. I assisted in the creation of the committees based on teacher preferences and strengths. During the monthly meetings, I assisted and monitored the committees as they created and implemented school improvement tasks.
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7. DIALOGUE/INQUIRY: Is skilled in creating a risk free environment for engaging people in conversations that explore issues, challenges or bad relationships that are hindering school performance
The MTSS framework of instruction has often been viewed as a pathway to EC identification rather than a means to improve instruction for all students. A goal at CHES this year is to strengthen core instruction and use the MTSS framework as a means to identify and support students with different learning needs. In rebooting the framework, I invited teachers to discuss and provide suggestions on how to build upon the existing model through a google survey. The survey provided a low risk environment for teachers to share their thoughts on a sensitive topic.
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8. EMOTIONAL AWARENESS: Is able to manage oneself through self awareness and self management and is able to manage relationships through empathy, social awareness and relationship management. This competency is critical to building strong, transparent, trusting relationships throughout the school community
A healthy school culture is collaborative, supportive, and has a positive influence on staff, students, and community. Prior to joining the staff at CHES, I introduced myself to the staff, students, and families by sending each an introduction letter. The letters shared my vision and commitment to the school, and laid the foundation for a trusting relationship with all stakeholders.
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9. ENVIRONMENTAL AWARENESS: Becomes aware and remains informed of external and internal trends, interests and issues with potential impacts on school policies, practices, procedures and positions
A school leader must be aware of the needs of the school and community. During my principal residency, I worked with the PTO to address school and community needs. Events were planned to support local businesses and fundraisers held to support the needs of our teachers.
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10. GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE: Understands the competitive nature of the new global economy and is clear about the knowledge and skills students will need to be successful in this economy
Career day offers students an opportunity to explore their interests and learn about careers in their community. In order to prepare for this event, I collaborated with the guidance counselor to contact potential speakers and help organize the daily schedule.
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11. JUDGEMENT: Effectively reaching logical conclusions and making high quality decisions based on available information. Giving priority and caution to significant issues. Analyzing and interpreting complex information
Successful schools require having the right people in the right places. As a member of the hiring committee, I interviewed and participated in the recommendation of new personnel, including teachers, instructional assistants, a school secretary, and custodial staff. Planning for the interview requires knowing which questions to ask. For each set of interviews, I created a set of questions to allow equity and fairness when interviewing each candidate.
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12. ORGANIZATIONAL ABILITY: Effectively plans and schedules one’s own and the work of others so that resources are used appropriately, such as scheduling the flow of activities and establishing procedures to monitor projects
As testing coordinator, I organized testing sessions that worked within the daily school schedule. The testing plan allowed for state mandated assessments to be completed in a manner that was conducive to teachers, specialists, and students.
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13. PERSONAL ETHICS AND VALUES: Consistently exhibits high standards in the areas of honesty, integrity, fairness, stewardship, trust, respect, and confidentiality
A school community provides more than just academic support; they are invested in the well-being of the whole child. In the absence of a guidance counselor at the start of the year, I organized a backpack buddies and silent partner program at CHES. Each program provided students in need with weekend meals and financial assistance to pay for field trips.
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14. PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY FOR PERFORMANCE: Proactively and continuously improves performance by focusing on needed areas of improvement and enhancement of strengths; actively seeks and effectively applies feedback from others; takes full responsibility for one's own achievements
Effective school leaders are reflective in nature. They continually work to assess areas of strength and work on areas of improvement. Seeking feedback from others is an essential component of this process. During my principal residency, I reflected on my weekly activities and sought feedback from my executive coach and cohort director. Their guidance allowed me to consider alternate viewpoints and guided me in making future decisions.
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15. RESPONSIVENESS: Does not leave issues, inquiries or requirements for information go unattended. Creates a clearly delineated structure for responding to requests/ situations in an expedient manner
A healthy school climate includes good communication. Communication takes place in many forms. When possible, I prefer to communicate in person when the stakes are high or emotional. As a practice, I respond to emails within 24 hours if not sooner. I believe that prompt responses honor the time of the recipient and demonstrate my respect for them.
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16. RESULTS ORIENTATION: Effectively assumes responsibility. Recognizes when a decision is required. Takes prompt action as issues emerge. Resolves short-term issues while balancing them against long-term goals
School leaders use data to identify trends and look for academic patterns. When an issue emerges, it is important for the need to be addressed in a prompt and strategic manner. As part of my residency, I analyzed CHES school data and determined a course of action to increase the reading achievement of our fifth-grade students. I worked with the fifth-grade ELA teachers to implement this plan.
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17. SENSITIVITY: Effectively perceives the needs and concerns of others; deal tactfully with others in emotionally stressful situations or in conflict. Knows what information to communicate and to whom. Relates to people of varying ethnic, cultural, and religious backgrounds
School communities are unique and therefore have different needs. CHES is located in a rural area and resources are not always easily accessible. As part of my residency, I created this asset map to increase staff awareness of additional resources that can be used to serve and assist our students outside of the classroom.
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18. SYSTEMS THINKING: Understands the Interrelationships and impacts of school and district influences, systems and external stakeholders, and applies that understanding to advancing the achievement of the school or team
System alignment allows schools and school districts to work together to achieve a common goal. The district provided information about changes to the MTSS framework that would begin this school year. I facilitated a training session on this information during the teacher workdays at the start of the year. The new MTSS process has provided CHES with guidance on how to improve student achievement through the use of targeted intervention and supplemental support.
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19. TECHNOLOGY: Effectively utilizes the latest technologies to continuously improve the management of the school and enhance student instruction
Technology allows us to work smarter not harder. CHES CENTRAL is a hyperlinked document providing resources and school information to teachers. During my residency, I maintained this document to allow teachers easy access to information that might be difficult to find on their google drives.
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20. TIME MANAGEMENT: Effectively uses available time to complete work tasks and activities that lead to the achievement of desired work or school results. Runs effective meetings
As an educational leader, it is necessary to make time for the important things. Schedules and task lists assist in getting urgent work completed. During my residency, I kept a log of the areas in which I worked each day. This log enabled me to reflect on how I spent my time and helped me prioritize areas of focus for my growth as a leader.
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21. VISIONARY: Encourages Imagineering by creating an environment and structure to capture stakeholders dreams of what the school could become for all the students
CHES 2025 is both a short-term and long-term vision for school improvement. The 20 portion of 2025 refers to what we will accomplish by the end of the 2020 school year. The 25 portion refers to where we want to be when our current kindergarteners leave us in 2025. I co-facilitated this presentation with the leadership team prior to the start of the school year.
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