STANDARD ONE
Strategic Leadership:
Principals will create conditions that result in strategically re-imaging the school’s vision, mission, and goals in the 21st century. Understanding that schools ideally prepare students for an unseen but not altogether unpredictable future, the leader creates a climate of inquiry that challenges the school community to continually re-purpose itself by building on its core values and beliefs about its preferred future and then developing a pathway to reach it.
Principals will create conditions that result in strategically re-imaging the school’s vision, mission, and goals in the 21st century. Understanding that schools ideally prepare students for an unseen but not altogether unpredictable future, the leader creates a climate of inquiry that challenges the school community to continually re-purpose itself by building on its core values and beliefs about its preferred future and then developing a pathway to reach it.
Element 1a. School Vision, Mission and Strategic Goals:
The school’s identity, in part, is derived from the vision, mission, values, beliefs, and goals of the school, the processes used to establish these attributes, and the ways they are embodied in the life of the school community.
The school’s identity, in part, is derived from the vision, mission, values, beliefs, and goals of the school, the processes used to establish these attributes, and the ways they are embodied in the life of the school community.
Riverside High School believes the mission and vision is the foundation of a successful school. Halfway throughout the year, I was tasked with leading a few monthly School Improvement meetings to review the mission and vision statement. Due to the importance of our mission and vision, we reviewed, reflected, and revised the mission and vision statement for the SIT team to vote before presenting the information to the entire school body. Some parents and teachers on the committee expressed some concerns about the use of “self-reliant” in the vision statement. For the following meeting, I sent a form entitled "Share your school's vision" with the members of the team to explore possible vision statements that will align with the beliefs and core values of our school. As a team, we decided the vision was clear and aligned with the core values of the school, but believed adding the adjective “supportive” would indicate the school’s dedication to supporting students beyond graduation. The review and revision of both the mission and vision statement required three meetings to come to a consensus. Throughout this process, I learned the importance of identifying a clear vision to develop a strategic plan of action step to meet the goals set by the school.
Element 1b. Leading Change:
The principal articulates a vision, and implementation strategies, for improvements and changes which result in improved achievement for all students.
The principal articulates a vision, and implementation strategies, for improvements and changes which result in improved achievement for all students.
I researched, designed, and implemented a year-long Problem of Practice focusing on ACT prep sessions for all juniors. The focus of Riverside’s problem of practice is ACT testing. The ACT is a test that all 11th graders are required to take. It serves as a component to universities and colleges. In previous years preparation for testing has been limited to select students. The sessions were offered after school, which reduced the number of students able to attend due to transportation barriers. In an attempt to increase the accessibility to all students, we systematically incorporated prep-sessions for all 11th-grade students during the school day. All 442 students participated in the prep-session. Students were grouped in their prep-sessions based on their pre-ACT test results. The groups consisted of one below mastery group, six near mastery groups, four mastery groups, and two above mastery groups. The remaining groups were students who did not have a pre-ACT score from the school. Students completed the ACT test in February, but due to the recent events due to COVID-19, we are currently awaiting results.
Element 1c. School Improvement Plan:
The school improvement plan provides the structure for the vision, values, goals, and changes necessary for improved achievement for all students.
The school improvement plan provides the structure for the vision, values, goals, and changes necessary for improved achievement for all students.
The School improvement Plan provides the structure for the vision, values, goals, and changes necessary for improved achievement for all students. Once a month I attended the School Improvement Team (SIT) meetings. During the SIT team reviewed the schools’ data revised and clarified our schools’ goals for the year. The key indicators acted as the foundation for the year and had an expected achievement date. Based on the data reviewed at the beginning of the year, Riverside implemented 3 school-wide initiatives to enhance student performance. This included but is not limited to the implementation of literacy in all subject areas, collaborative learning groups, and the use of higher-ordered thinking questions. Through my experience serving on Riverside’s School Improvement Team, I learned the importance of establishing a clear vision that aligns with the schools’ core values and beliefs and receiving the input of other stakeholders within the school.
Element 1d. Distributive Leadership:
The principal creates and utilizes processes to distribute leadership and decision making throughout the school.
The principal creates and utilizes processes to distribute leadership and decision making throughout the school.
Professional Learning Teams play a significant role in student academic success. The teams take shared responsibility for students learning while holding each other professionally accountable for students’ education experiences. As the principal resident, I attended the PLT meetings for the Biology, English II, and Math II departments. During these meetings, we discussed student performance data, common assessments, upcoming units, instructional planning, and a number of other professional learning opportunities. As a team, we identified trends and commonalities within the data to determine the best instructional practices to implement in order to maximize student learning. Through these various learning teams, I learned the importance of teams establishing norms, gracious space, an organized agenda to guide the meeting, roles and responsibility, and trust among the team to maximize their planning time.
Riverside High School encourages students to be proactive with their academics and to be active members of their school community. Students are on a homeroom schedule every Monday, which incorporates 20 extra minutes in their second-period class. The extra time allotted for homeroom each Monday is to ensure our students take advantage of the hour-long lunch built into their daily schedule. At the beginning of the year, I was tasked with creating the above artifact as a guide for teachers to use during homeroom sessions. Students were responsible for reviewing their grades and creating a schedule for the current week. This model allows students to have autonomy as well as be held accountable for how they choose to spend their time during the school day. I learned the importance of allowing student choice as a way of encouraging students to be productive, relevant, and fun.