Leadership+for+Teaching+and+Learning+Candidate+Program+Manual

=// The dogmas of the quiet past are inadequate to the stormy present. The occasion is piled high with difficulty and we must rise with the occasion. As our case is new, so we must think anew and act anew. We must disenthrall ourselves and then we shall save our country. //= = = = ~President Abraham Lincoln, December 1862 =

=**Portfolio Development:**=

//**Each candidate must assemble a portfolio that demonstrates mastery of the following competency statements. The candidate must have a reflective essay followed by artifacts that demonstrate mastery for each competency. Each of the following Standards and corresponding Elements are required by the Educational Leadership Constituent Council.**//

=Vision= =Elements for Building School Leadership=

Standard 1
==Candidates who complete the program are educational leaders who have the knowledge and ability to promote the success of all students by facilitating the development, articulation, and stewardship of a school or district vision of learning supported by the school community.==

Develop a Vision
A. Candidates develop a vision of learning for a school that promotes the success of all students. (610, 603)

Summary: The complex nature of the role of a principal requires a successful school leader to have a clear vision of the convictions that are important to the vision and mission of the school. A clear and developed vision provides all the individuals in the organization with a defined direction in which everyone is headed and striving to achieve a singular purpose. During the 610 course, //Leadership Theory and Organizational Behavior//, our assigned final was to create a vision statement and present the vision to the class in a manner that would simulate delivery of the vision to staff by a principal new to the school. Since I am working in an intermediate unit instead of a traditional school setting, my vision presentation was delivered as if to the nonpublic schools program staff for Lincoln Intermediate Unit #12.

I chose to present my vision using a hands-on activity to accompany my explanation to the group. My intention was to create a visual representation of the program, a celebration of the program's strengths and an acknowledgement of areas for improvement. I began by building a solid base with life-size Jenga blocks to represent the strong existing foundation of the nonpublic schools program. (Act 89 was instituted forty years ago and there have only been two different directors of the program at LIU#12 during that time. One staff member has been with the program since its inception and a few have been working thirty plus years in Act 89.) Each staff member was given two Jenga blocks on which to write a program strength and a program area of improvement. "Staff" members took turns adding their Jenga blocks to the tower, carefully placing the strengths blocks in a manner that added to the stability of the structure. The areas for improvement blocks were added less carefully, off-center or on the narrow side of the block to represent the uncertainly and instability created by each. The result was a life-size tower of Jenga blocks that echoed the praise for the strong foundation of the program and honored the contributions of staff to the strength of the formation while making visible the areas which could be addressed to work to bolster the weaker points.

Artifact: The artifacts included below are the vision statement I wrote, as well as a graphic showing only the vision statement. The longer, narrative version of my vision statement discusses the importance of having a vision statement and gives more detailed background information about the Act 89 program. The narrative also reviews each part of the vision, by phrases, in an explanation of why I chose the wording that I did and what each section means to me as a leader.



B. Candidates base this vision on relevant knowledge and theories, including but not limited to an understanding of learning goals in a pluralistic society, the diversity of learners and learners' needs, schools as interactive social and cultural systems, and social and organizational change. (610, 545, 603, 700, 710, 703, 799)

Summary: No single school district in Pennsylvania can rival the diversity found within the expansive area in the jurisdiction of the Lincoln Intermediate Unit. The largest school district in the tri-county area of the LIU is Chambersburg School District, with approximately 9,000 students. The smallest public school district s Fannett-Metal, a small, rural district in Franklin county serving about 580 students. Included in the LIU #12 area are approximately eighty nonpuplic schools. All told, this variance of districts and schools includes rural, suburban, urban, public, private and charter. I feel immensely fortunate to have had the working experiences that I have had at LIU#12 as I have had an opportunity to work with almost all of the public school districts as well as all of the nonpublic schools who opt in to auxiliary services and some of the charter schools. These opportunities have provided me with an expansiveness of experiences that have provided tremendous learning experiences. Coupled with the leadership courses that I have taken at Millersville University, I feel my educational experiences and training have truly prepared me for the pluralistic society in which I work. The diversity does not stop at the types of the schools in the LIU#12 area. Every type of student subgroup is present and being served by LIU#12 teachers: general education, ELLs, economically disadvantaged, homeless, early intervention, MDS, autistic, gifted, etc.

Artifact: Within an organization as large and diverse as the LIU and one that serves so many stakeholder groups, a clearly defined vision and mission are critical to guide everyday operations. Just prior to the August 2014 inservice days, considerable changes in LIU leadership had occurred. The leadership team met to rewrite the organization's vision and mission statement. Individual LIU programs were tasked with communicating the new ideals to staff in the opening days of the new school year. As the Program Coordinator for Nonpublic School Services and responsible for professional development for Act 89 staff, I designed a series of activities to introduce the newly formulated vision and give the staff a chance to parse out the statement and begin to identify with the outlined values. One thing that I have taken to heart from reading Todd Whitaker's several books is that we cannot change beliefs as easily as we can change behaviors. Thus, we must start with behaviors and hope the beliefs will follow. It is important that leaders secure enough mobilize the majority of a staff to support the leadership vision. In the images below, Act 89 staff members are engaged in taking phrases from the LIU vision and placing them on a continuum on the wall that represents, on one end, "We're already there" and on the opposite end, "We're pretty far away". After all the post-it notes were placed, a somewhat surprising visual emerged. There was a balloon of post-it notes at the end closest to "We're already there" and a long tail of post-its reaching to the other end of the continuum. The result was that we determined, as a group, that the farthest part of the vision from where we were was "helping learners to navigate a connected world". This knowledge gave us a valuable starting point for embarking on achieving the vision as it had been entrusted to us as a program by the LIU management.





Articulate a Vision
A. Candidates demonstrate the ability to articulate the components of this vision for a school and the leadership processes necessary to implement and support the vision. (610, 603)

Summary: "I have always had an enthusiastic interest in history. Indeed, I began my career in education as a high school social studies teacher. I have read with interest the biographies of many individuals who stand out in American history as strong, successful leaders. Long before envisioning myself in a leadership position, I marveled at the characteristics evident in each of these individuals and the very different paths to leadership that are possible. Reading __Blink__ by Malcolm Gladwell, however, caused me to reconsider the attributes of a leader and ponder the idea of a leader who is born, not made. I do not possess the kinds of characteristics that Gladwell describes in natural-born leaders when physicality provides the parameters. I do not have the tall physical stature and commanding presence that Gladwell describes as common among leaders. Think George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, and a disproportionate number of CEOs of American companies. It is an interesting perspective that he provides, but there are many other important qualities in a lead that can be developed and perfected regardless of physical stature." (Eleven American presidents have been over 6'0". The average height of American presidents from the twentieth century is six feet.)

The above paragraph was written by me and included in a reflection that I wrote following reading __Blink__. It is the beginning of a section in that reflection that I talk about shared leadership and leaders from history who have inspired my own emerging leadership style. I believe in the principal as an instructional leader of the school. A close second or third focus should be for the principal to grow teacher leaders among his/her ranks. As Franklin Delano Roosevelt was coming into office for his first of four unprecedented, presidential terms, he expressed that he did not believe himself fit to lead the country on his own. He was referring to the fact that he was cognizant of the fact that his own knowledge and expertise were lacking in capacity to lead an entire nation on his own. He knew he could not be the preeminent source of knowledge and leadership in all the areas that fall under presidential authority. He was fully aware and accepting of sharing his leadership role with others who had the necessary expertise. He surrounded himself with expert minds and trusted them in a shared leadership model wherein he became the guide to a diverse group of minds, even appointing the first female to serve in a presidential cabinet. I am not so pretentious or proud to share leadership and credit with whomever the staff are who I have the good fortune to guide.

Artifact: I have posted both my vision statement and the __Blink__ reflection below as artifacts for this element. Both highlight my thoughts and beliefs about leadership in very different ways. The vision statement is a formally written commentary about leadership as I see it and the vision statement that epitomizes my thoughts about leading a group of educators. The __Blink__ reflection is an informally written essay in which my writing style and personality peek through a bit more. One thing I will say about both (and all the artifacts included in this program manual) is that they represent a level of writing that may not be of professional quality, but do represent accuracy is spelling, grammar, and conventions. There is no place in this program manual that speaks to quality in communication but it is something that I believe in wholeheartedly. Part of the description of the Common Core State Standards Writing Standards description highlights the need for students to deliver quality, first draft writing. As a principal in a school, email is a default means of communication. I believe it is imperative that school leaders be able to deliver quality, first draft writing and be able to effectively communicate a message in writing. Communication that is full of errors can be interpreted, content-wise, with lesser respect if the person reading it is tripped up by writing mistakes whether deserved or not. Certainly there will be writing errors in this program manual and in the artifacts submitted but I try to exemplify an attention to detail in all written communication.



B. Candidates demonstrate the ability to use data-based research strategies and strategic planning processes that focus on student learning to inform the development of a vision, drawing on relevant information sources such as student assessment results, student and family demographic data, and an analysis of community needs. (614, 610, 601)

Summary: Considerable thought goes into the formulation of a leader's vision. It is no small task to walk into a new building/district and quickly gather all the varied information needed to get an accurate idea of the strengths and needs of the building/district and then turn all that data into a vision for the future. One of the projects assigned in EDLD 614 was a project-based learning project intended to simulate that exact experience. The expectation was to choose a school, research all relevant information about the school, and identify strengths and weaknesses of the school and district. The final project needed to include a three year plan to increase student achievement in the chosen school. I chose the Littlestown Area School District, a small, rural district with a student population of about 1,950 students. I chose the district as I thought it would be interesting and a good learning experience to choose a district which is already performing well and to dig into their assessment results and data available in order to determine very targeted areas that could be improved. This is not a district in need of a complete overhaul, but rather more precise fine-tuning. Basic curriculum and assessments currently in use are sound and research-based. The areas determined from the evaluation to be in need of focus are very specific.

Artifact: The Project-based Learning Project included as this artifact is an examination of the Littlestown Area School District. A number of different sources of qualitative and quantitative data were gathered and analyzed in the process of designing three one-year plans for moving the district forward in raising student achievement. The three years of plans are year by year suggestions for reform in the district in order to work towards the universal goal I drafted for the district which consists of raising the percentage of students engaged in school through engagement strategies, technology, and more comprehensive educational programming. The goal was arrived at after careful consideration of the all of the information available and inclusion of the ideals espoused in the district vision and mission statements.



C. Candidates demonstrate the ability to communicate the vision to staff, parents, students, and community members through the use of symbols, ceremonies, stories, and other activities. (614, 610, 603)

Summary: Whenever an individual is hired for a leadership position, thinking about facilitating a smooth transition and how he/she will communicate his/her vision becomes central to the preparation to begin the job. I am currently spending time thinking and planning exactly that as I have been hired for the position of Director of Nonpublic School Services and begin the position in a few weeks. In the approximately forty year history of the program, there have only been two directors and there is one staff member who has been employed by the program since it was instituted. A number of other staff members have thirty five plus years in the program. That is a lot of history to inherit along with the position. Communication of a vision that is congruent with the values of the program and long-time employees while at the same time balancing advances in technology and educational pedagogy will be a priority and will take place over time.

Artifact: The artifacts included below are from the most recent staff meeting in which we began the leadership transition with the nonpublic schools staff. In preparation for the change in leadership, we explored the history of the program and celebrated the people and experiences that have brought us all to where we are in our professional lives within the program. There was a positiveness in the room, though at the same time there was trepidation in the room. The powerpoint outlines the activities that were focused around the theme of navigating the winds of change (after some necessary program business and updates were addressed). The pictures are the final product following a timeline activity of highlights from the history of the program, things we have all learned together over the years as well as what has changed. The activity ended with contemplating the future and sharing everyone's hopes and ideas.



Implement a Vision
A. Candidates can formulate the initiatives necessary to motivate staff, students, and families to achieve the school's vision. (614, 610, 545)

Summary: I created the following staff development plan to outline the progression of content and activities to be utilized in presenting the concept of close reading and writing to the Hanover High School staff during the coming school year. Cognizant of my background as a reading specialist and extensive experience in planning and delivering professional development, the principal of Hanover High School requested that I create a plan for introducing and delivering the essentials of close reading to the high school staff. As a whole, the district is focusing on improving the writing skills of students so it was important that I provide a meaningful connection between the district-wide professional development and the training the high school teachers will be experiencing during staff meetings. To that end, I suggested the intentional integration of the two initiatives into a single philosophy for the school: **Every //student reads, writes, thinks, and talks in// every //classroom,// every** //**day.**//

Artifact: Close Reading and Writing Professional Development for Staff Meetings Throughout the 2015-2016 School Year The plan is divided within the powerpoint into separate staff meeting topics to be spaced throughout the school year. The Professional Development Learning Map listed first below provides an overall outline for the plan. All of the following documents were compiled by me as the administrative candidate and presented to the cooperating principal for her to use in delivery of the content.





Accompanying Resources/Copies:







Common Core State Standards Reading and Writing Progressions can be printed at the following links:

Reading:

[]

Writing:

[]

B. Candidates develop plans and processes for implementing the vision (e.g., articulating the vision and related goals, encouraging challenging standards, facilitating collegiality and teamwork, structuring significant work, ensuring appropriate use of student assessments, providing autonomy, supporting innovation, delegating responsibility, developing leadership in others, and securing needed resources). (610)

Summary: This element, perhaps more than any of the others, is comprehensive of the many varied tasks, talents, and responsibilities that comprise the vocation of a person in a position of educational leadership. There are many hats to be worn, countless situations with which one must deal, and numerous stakeholder groups that must be considered on a daily basis. Thus, finding one artifact or one course that encapsulates all of that in a single piece of evidence is not easy. However, one of the assignments in the program was to review the research in teaching, learning, evaluation, and supervision in order to develop a model of instructional supervision. We were instructed to present our model design in the form of a graphic. When I envision in my mind the role of a principal or other educational administrator, I see a picture of a musical conductor. This is the graphic I presented, albeit in several different iterations to represent the varied functions of the role. There are many parallels that can be drawn between the conductor of an orchestra and my views on educational leadership. Additionally, the visual of a conductor leading an orchestra can be applied effectively on several levels, from the superintendent leading the administration and staff of a school district, to a principal heading up all the staff in a school, to a teacher guiding students in his/her classroom.

Artifact: The powerpoint below consists of eight images of a musical conductor demonstrating variances of the role of a conductor throughout the performance of a piece. The conductor (like a school leader) goes through a number of transformations to shape the sound of the ensemble (guide all stakeholders in achieving the vision). I included the similarities between the two as falling into the following characteristics:
 * Precise attention to the finest details
 * Ability to see the big picture
 * Directing by way of visible gesture
 * Acting as a guide
 * Backbone and broad shoulders needed
 * Energy, enthusiasm, and passion required
 * Keystone of collegiality and community



Steward a Vision
A. Candidates demonstrate an understanding of the role effective communication skills play in building a shared commitment to the vision.

Summary: Fulfillment of a vision must begin with a shared pursuit of what the vision should encompass. The creation of the vision is then followed by clear communication of that vision with all stakeholders. But the process does not stop there. Ongoing communication is necessary to the continued attempt to execute the ideals outlined in the vision. Communication within an organization includes many forms from the informal hallway conversations to formal communication of newly adopted board policy. I had not heard of a communication audit prior to the School and Community Relations course I am currently taking (EDLD 614). Consequently, the process of completing a communication audit was a valuable learning experience for me.

Artifact: I have included below the summary of the communication audit I conducted. I have also included a scanned version of samples of the many physical documents I gathered as part of the audit. I decided to audit the program in which I am working at the Lincoln Intermediate Unit for reasons of being able to be aware of the many channels by which information flows into and out of the program and also to determine where and how that communication could be improved.



B. Candidates design or adopt a system for using data-based research strategies to regularly monitor, evaluate, and revise the vision.

Summary: In my role as Program Coordinator for Nonpublic Schools, professional development and coaching of teachers has been an integral part of what I do. In all endeavors, we are encouraged to keep the LIU vision and mission in mind and be consistent with what is espoused in those statements. A project that I completed for EDSU 700 involved designing a professional development model related to the differentiated supervision process. This task highlighted for me the experience school leaders have when they must incorporate state and federal mandates into their schools. State and federal mandates do not necessarily consider or euitably address the many, many school types and constructs across the state and nation. Thus, the school leader must find the means by which to fit mandates, like Educator Effectiveness, into their schools in a manner that honors an existing vision and mission. In designing professional development around differentiated supervision, I considered alignment to the LIU vision and mission which are as stated below:

// To be the indispensable leaders, experts, and innovators who provide the skills and solutions learners need to successfully navigate a connected world. //
 *  LIU Vision: **

// Empowering our customers to solve their most challenging problems that impact learning and quality of life. //
 *  LIU Mission: **

Artifact: There are high expectations articulated in the LIU vision and mission. “To be the indispensable leaders” and “to solve their most challenging problems” are admirable expectations but will not be achieved without all the members of the organization working towards those expectations and intent on improving their own knowledge and competence along the way. A differentiated supervision plan with the purpose of supporting and developing teachers and educational staff professionally can be one path towards exemplifying the vision and mission of the LIU. The artifacts below include a narrative defining the rationale for the endeavor in addition to a strategy for teacher buy-in and a timeline for implementation. Finally, I included the two powerpoints I actually used to communicate the mandates in congruence with the LIU vision and mission.



C. Candidates assume stewardship of the vision through various methods. (610)

Summary: There are a couple of books (out of the many that I have read through the course of my leadership studies) which stand out in my mind as being most critical in helping me formulate a vision and how to be steward of that vision. One of these books that I feel has been most beneficial to my learning is __Prophet of Management__ by Mary Parker Follett. Her description of integrative thinking is an idea I have returned to again and again since having read her book. It's intriguing to me that I consider this book to be so integral to me in helping to formulate a vision and the book was not even written by a expert in education. While the book's target audience is not educational leaders, her advice and analysis of leadership in business circles is relevant and applicable for educators nonetheless. Knowing that not everyone who I will be tasked to lead will necessarily agree with the vision that I have embraced, Follett's advice on the use of integrative thinking encourages seeking a solution which may be very different from the ways that things have always been done. Additionally, Follett advances the idea that a solution to a dilemma between opposing opinions can be sought that does not necessarily side with one or the other, but within which a solution is imagined that contains elements of each.

Artifact: The artifact below is the reflection I wrote about __Prophet of Management__ after having read the book. In it, I more extensively define the idea of integrative thinking and power-with vs. power-over. I see Follett's thoughts about integration, power-with, and horizontal authority as all part of the collaborative school environment that I envision. The reflection identifies three principles that began to emerge during my reading of the book as the beginning of the formulation of my own vision. These ideas are collaboration, technology, and research. My reflection details each category and how the Mary Parker Follett readings have assisted me in more succinctly defining my own vision as a school leader.



Promote Community Involvement in the Vision
A. Candidates demonstrate the ability to involve community members in the realization of the vision and in related school improvement efforts. (614, 545, 700, 710, 703, 798, 799)

Summary: Community members are a key component to the successful functioning of a school district in many ways. In one of the presentations I facilitated during my coursework, we read an article about community involvement and discussed the role of a group of stakeholders that, to that point in the class, we had largely ignored. School districts are often hyper-focused on parent involvement and communication with immediate stakeholders. The ghost stakeholders, so to speak, are community members who are tax-paying citizens but have no immediate contact in the school, no children of their own enrolled, no means by which to offer their strengths and services to the school. These groups may range from newly married couples with hopes of having children someday to senior citizens who have long ago see their own children graduate from the school system. I will not get into the equity of the tax system in this forum but will, instead, focus on the imperativeness of school districts to engage all the valuable voices represented by the community in which individual school are located.

Artifact: Several times a year, the principal of Hanover Senior High School holds a Parent Advisory Council meeting which isn't as aptly named as it could be. Of course, parents are the core participants in this advisory group but any community members who wish to attend are welcomed to do so. The meetings are an opportunity for the principal to update the group on the goings on of the school from students to teachers to district-wide initiatives. At the request of the principal during my practicum experience, I began attending the meetings and offering input both during the meetings and during the planning process and debrief of the meetings. The experience has helped me to understand the trenchant difference that community involvement makes in the functioning of a school. School leaders can never act independently of public opinion. The artifact included herein is my own summary of the first Parent Advisory Council meeting of the current school year.



B. Candidates acquire and demonstrate the skills needed to communicate effectively with all stakeholders about implementation of the vision. (610, 614, 603, 700, 701, 701, 798, 799)

Summary: My involvement in the Hanover Public School District as both a parent and in completion of the requirements of EDLD 799 have allowed me the time and unique experiences of being able to see the school system from the perspective of a superintendent...even if that is a long way off from my current aspirations! I wrote in an earlier artifact explanation (Articulate a Vision, Component A) of the importance of being able to communicate effectively in written form. In my experiences participating in the Superintendent Advisory Committee meetings, the gravity of needing to be able to communicate orally was accentuated. The meetings are typically attended by the superintendent, assistant superintendent, board member on the Superintendent's Advisory Council committee, and two parent representatives from each of the respective school levels (elementary, middle, and high schools). The parents are expected to have attended the PTO meetings and/or principal level advisory committee meetings prior to the scheduled superintendent meetings. The superintendent begins each meeting with an overview of recent progress and highlights in the district and the assistant superintendent adds to the discussion in regards to curriculum and professional development. Each of the parents lends to the discussion with highlights from each of the schools. The meetings are not simply a celebration of all that is going well in the district. The superintendent is always open to hearing the negatives as well. The meetings are a unique opportunity to speak directly with district leadership and provide parental input on any topic school-related.

Artifact: As I mentioned, both written and oral communication skills are critical in a leadership position. This artifact is an example of the minutes from the superintendent's meetings. The content is limited and brief. One is challenged to get a true sense of what is discussed at the meetings based solely on the minutes. The quality of the conversations between parents and school leadership is lost in the brief synopsis of the meeting that is recorded on paper. Thus, the ability to communicate effectively, as defined in this element of the program manual, as it relates to a school's vision is a two way street - from superintendent to parent stakeholders and from parents to school leadership.



Acts with Integrity
A. Candidates demonstrate a respect for the rights of others with regard to confidentiality and dignity and engage in honest interactions. (614, 610, 545, 601, 603, 700, 701, 703, 798, 799)

Summary: In the Functions of Supervision course, I was required to perform two cycles of clinical supervision. This process included a pre-conference discussion regarding each teacher's definition of teaching, learning, supervision, and evaluation. The observation itself included a focus that was determined with the cooperating teacher and centered on how each teacher's actions in the classroom impact student learning and achievement. Finally, the post-conferences occurred as discussion between the observer and the observed about possible changes the observed teacher can make to positively impact student learning. These kinds of discussions between an observer and a teacher are situations in which trust and respect must be present in order for interactions to be successful. The clinical supervision process illustrates all of the elements in Standard 5 due to the delicateness of the situation that is inherent in the process. The tenuous nature of the process requires a "regard to confidentiality and dignity" as stated above.

Artifact: This artifact consists of the clinical forms and post-observation reflection rubric utilized during the clinical supervision of a speech and language pathologist during both a one-on-one and small group instructional sessions. The teacher was instructing students on articulation of several individual sounds of letters. What made the situation particularly appropriate as demonstration of this element and component is that I did not know the teacher and was only just meeting her on the occasion of the interactions required by the clinical observation process. It was necessary then to quickly convey that my intentions of confidentiality and honesty in my intentions.



Acts Fairly
A. Candidates demonstrate the ability to combine impartiality, sensitivity to student diversity, and ethical considerations in their interactions with others. (545, 603, 610, 614, 620, 700, 701, 703, 798, 799)

Summary: The clinical supervision process is a prime example of a situation in which there must be a demonstration of "impartiality, sensitivity to student diversity, and ethical considerations in interactions with others". In addition, trust and respect are essential. Throughout the Leadership for Teaching and Learning program, I have experienced instances when it was necessary to exhibit all of the aforementioned qualities but during clinical supervision, stakes can be particularly high. I believe the practice I had in conducting the cycles of clinical supervision have helped me to become more mindful of the manner in which a school leader must conduct himself/herself in order to demonstrate impartiality and sensitivity.

Artifact: The below artifacts are an example of the manner in which a school leader must act fairly in interactions with teachers and also an indication of teachers acting fairly in their interactions with students. One of the clinical observations conducted as a part of EDSU 700 was my observation of a preschool teacher in a classroom of a summer Head Start program. I had the opportunity to interact with the teacher, teacher's aide, and the students in order to gain an understanding of the nuances of program and that particular classroom. The teacher graciously spent a lot of time with me explaining her instructional methods even beyond the observed lessons so that I would develop a comprehensive understanding of the challenges of instruction for this unique group of students.



Acts Ethically
A. Candidates make and explain decisions based upon ethical and legal principles. (601, 603, 620)

Summary: In the U.S. Constitution, education is conspicuously unmentioned. This was not an oversight, but intentional on the part of the Framers who intended state and local governments to oversee educational matters. The result is an educational system that varies greatly in all fifty states as well as within the states themselves. That is not to say that the federal government has remained completely uninvolved. We need only to look at the No Child Left Behind Act as proof of the manner in which the federal government has put its mark on education even without having been granted that right by the Constitution. Another way that the federal government has significantly affected the course of education in the United States is through Supreme Court decisions that set educational procedure and law. EDLD 620 provided me with an opportunity to delve deeply into the Supreme Court decisions relevant to education, learning how to consult landmark cases on the matters facing educational leaders today and keeping schools in compliance with the law.

Artifact: During the class, students were tasked with choosing a Supreme Court case to research, examining the argument and the opinions rendered. The requirements included an investigation into how the popular press at the time reacted to the decision. The artifact included here is a summary of my research of the case brought by Alton Touissaint Lemon, a taxpayer and resident of Pennsylvania, to the courts as a result of his belief that the Nonpublic Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1968 violated the United States Constitution. The case was filed against the acting Superintendent of the Department of Public Instruction in the State of Pennsylvania (a predecessor of the Pennsylvania Department of Education).



Standard 4
==Candidates who complete the program are educational leaders who have the knowledge and ability to promote the success of all students by collaborating with families and other community members, responding to diverse community interests and needs, and mobilizing community resources.==

Collaborate with Families and Other Community Members
A. Candidates demonstrate an ability to bring together the resources of family members and the community to positively affect student learning. (614, 700, 701, 703, 799)

Summary: Throughout the summer of 2015, I was logging hours for EDLD 799, the Applied Supervision Practicum, a clinical experience and one of the last steps on my way to principal certification. One of the ongoing projects at the time was final preparations of the complete transformation of the former high school library into a state-of-the-art learning hub. Hanover Senior High School fairly vibrated with excitement about the grand opening of the Integrated Learning Center (ILC). Made possible by a $130,000 gift from the Hanover Shoe Farms Corporation, the ILC houses a variety of new technologies (see artifact) for student use, in addition to the traditional resources expected to be found in a school library. The ILC has been highlighted in the local newspapers and on local news channels. The district has constructed what they believe is a cutting edge facility and students have been busily familiarizing themselves with all that the ILC has to offer, even using the laser engravers to delicately engrave a Reese's peanut butter cup and gifted it to the assistant superintendent (highlighted on the district website)!

Artifact: This artifact is a summary of my summer experience helping to prepare the ILC for the final reveal. The resources available in the ILC are outlined in specific detail. I don't know if this is a positive or not, but my oldest son, a junior at Hanover High School, has taken the opportunity to taste coffee as a result of the student-run coffee bar installed as a part of the ILC extras. The ILC coffee bar serves various coffees and snacks for a purchase price. The FCS classes, business department, and National Honor Society join forces to operate the snack bar. (My grandmother introduced me to black coffee at the young age of eight or nine and I have survived so far, so I guess sixteen isn't so bad.) Regardless, the ILC has opened up experiences and opportunities to Hanover Senior High School students that is unmatched in other local schools.



B. Candidates demonstrate an ability to involve families in the education of their children based on the belief that families have the best interests of their children in mind. (614, 545)

Summary: Within the Act 89 program at the Lincoln Intermediate Unit, family involvement is a significant piece of what we strive to accomplish on a daily basis. For the program, that translates into the specialists acting independently for the most part, but there are times when Act 89 staff engages in program-wide endeavors aimed at maximizing impact on parents in an organized fashion. One of my responsibilities as the Program Coordinator of Nonpublic School Services is the coordination of parent engagement activities in compliance with Title I expectations and simply as a matter of course for Act 89 students and parents. Due to the itinerant nature of Act 89 reading specialists and the vast geography covered by the Act 89 program, concerted and collective efforts to engage parents can be a significant challenge. Creativity is a must when attempting to plan events that will motivate parents to bring their children to a reading-related event. Fortunately, Title I regulations still allow for purchase of food as an allowable expenditure of funds. Purchase of food has been nixed in nearly every other program, but providing pizza has a surprisingly positive effect on getting parents to come out to a school-sponsored event.

Artifact: The following artifacts are flyers that were sent to all the parents/guardians of all Title I students enrolled in nonpublic schools in Adams and York counties. These flyers went out in late spring of the school year as invitations to a Title I sponsored event at regional libraries. The activities of the evenings were planned by Act 89 Reading Specialists and designed to engage both children and adults. The evenings began with a brief introduction of the Act 89 program followed by activities aimed at engaging the range of ages in the room. The evening was designed around the oral reading of a book to the children and modeling of strategies that parents could use while reading aloud to their own children. The book chosen for the read-aloud was __Mousetronaut__ (written by real astronaut Mark Kelly), a partially true story about a small mouse chosen to fly along on the space shuttle //Endeavour// in 2001. The story is about perseverance and courage (admirable qualities in all individuals, regardless of the chosen career path). The students in attendance also got to read to therapy dogs brought in for the event and even got to take home astronaut ice cream in the spirit of the theme of the evening!





C. Candidates demonstrate the ability to use public information and research-based knowledge of issues and trends to collaborate with families and community members. (614)

Summary: The amount of student information, as far as test scores go, that is released to the public has multiplied in recent years by quantum amounts. There is an awful lot of legislation about what //can// be released and what //can't// be released. Still, data has become dominant. Generally, school administrators try to mitigate the impact on students, staff, and the public at large, but the truth is that data has become the yardstick by the way teacher competency is measured, overall school performance is rated, and individual students are put on a trajectory for success or failure. This is not a use of data of which I am entirely supportive. I do adhere to the notion that there should be more accountability on the part of teachers and school districts than when there was zero accountability. However, the very best teachers should be working with the very neediest students and we have not cultivated a school system in which this kind of structure is encouraged. In other countries (more highly performing countries), there is a prestigious nature associated with the students to which a teacher is assigned. Being assigned to needy students is a clear indication that the teacher is considered highly competent, accomplished and proven to be effective in delivering extraordinary learning experiences to students. The PA PVAAS Public Site and PA School Performance Profile websites can be intimidating for parents to access and attempt to make any sense of the content there. What does it mean for his/her individual child? Whether a district is high-performing or low-performing, individual student performance is most important to a given family. This information is not able to be gleaned from the sites unless you have a private log-in with special accessibility rights. If parents cannot access specific information about his/her son/daughter, is it fair for individual teachers (who may see that child for thirty minutes per day) to receive evaluative scores based on student performance on standardized tests? There has to be a more equitable answer.

Artifact: The Keystone Exams are a subject of legislative argument as this commentary is being written. Should the PA legislature support use of the Keystone Exam as a pre-requisite for graduation during the 2016-17 school year as initially specified? The latest iteration of the budget negotiations put off the use of Keystone Exam scores for another year. One of the tasks I engaged in during my practicum experience at Hanover Senior High School was the scheduling of students for Keystone Remediation instruction. Approximately thirty four students did not pass the Keystone Exam on the first try. (To put these numbers in perspective, HHS is a relatively small district, graduating approximately 120 students per graduating class. Translated mathematically, that means that about 40% of a given class requires Keystone Exam remediation.) In addition, the administration was brainstorming methods of supporting students who needed to complete the project-based assessment as an alternate means of Keystone compliance. The artifact included here outlines the details of the Keystone Exam remediation and Project-Based Assessment questions that Hanover High School was concerned with during the time I spent there for my practicum experience.



D. Candidates apply an understanding of community relations models, marketing strategies and processes, data-based decision making, and communications theory to create frameworks for school, family, business, community, government, and higher education partnerships. (614)

Summary: The culminating project for EDLD 614, the Project-based Learning assignment, is the singular project I completed in 614 that is comprehensive enough to include all of the items listed in this component. The assignment was choose a school, research all relevant information about the school, and identify strengths and weaknesses of the school district. The final project needed to include a three year plan to increase student achievement in the school district. All of the above listed ideas, community relations models, marketing strategies and processes, data-based decision making, and communications theory, are necessary pieces to create enough understanding about the functioning of a district in order to be able to make recommendations for improvement.

Artifact: The Project-based Learning Project included as this artifact is an examination of the Littlestown Area School District. A number of different sources of qualitative and quantitative data were gathered and analyzed in the process of designing three one-year plans for moving the district forward in raising student achievement. The three years of plans are year by year suggestions for reform in the district in order to work towards the universal goal I drafted for the district which consists of raising the percentage of students engaged in school through engagement strategies, technology, and more comprehensive educational programming. The goal was arrived at after careful consideration of the all of the information available and inclusion of the ideals espoused in the district vision and mission statements.



E. Candidates develop various methods of outreach aimed at business, religious, political, and service organizations. (614)

Summary: Principals in public schools cannot operate in a space that excludes business, religious, political, and service organizations. The African proverb, It takes a village to raise a child, may not be politically popular but is true from a principal's perspective. Schools need the involvement of all of these types of organizations to enhance what schools can offer students and serve as a support system for all kinds of student issues. Nonpublic schools are no different, though they are a bit more exclusive about which groups from whom they will take help. The LIU, therefore, is proactive about contacting and connecting with the nonpublic schools to be aware of the schools' needs in order to best serve them. The nonpublic schools rely on the LIU as its connection to the public school world in many ways, for assistance complying with federal and state mandates as they apply to nonpublic schools, best practices, and keeping current with education, in general. The LIU utilizes a number of methods for maintaining these connections and supports to the nonpublic schools, including emails, flyers, phone calls, and personal visits to the schools. In addition, meetings are held at least twice a year at the LIU to which all the nonpublic school principals are invited.

Artifact: The powerpoint included here was used at the most recent meeting which I ran along with the director of the program. Since it was the director's last meeting, most of the responsibility for planning and delivery of the meeting was mine. The agenda gives a quick look at the plan for the meeting and the range of organizations and individuals who were invited to this particular meeting with the goal of getting as much information as possible to the principals while we had them all together. Not all of the presentation slides are included in this powerpoint as some of the presenters brought their own saved presentations to the meeting. The Lunch & Learn information was delivered by webinar (slides are separate below).



F. Candidates demonstrate the ability to involve families and other stakeholders in school decision-making processes, reflecting an understanding that schools are an integral part of the larger community. (614)

Summary: One of the projects I was tasked with during my principal practicum experience at Hanover Senior High School was development of a new course. As such, the principal asked me to be involved in an initiative with her that had been requested of her by the district superintendent. The project involved researching and recommending a newly proposed STEAM class for the high school. The Hanover Public School District has experienced a reincarnation of sorts with a complete change of administration in the past couple of years. This turnover of superintendent, assistant superintendent, high school principal, addition of the position of a high school assistant principal, and changes in middle school and elementary principals as well, has resulted in a revised vision and mission for the district. Part of the new vision and mission is a reliance on community business entities to provide guidance on the skills needed by graduating seniors to be career ready for jobs in the immediate area. Not to be dismissed is the influence and proven competence of the district technology director who has been an essential leader in guiding the district towards innovative solutions to past problems, while at the same time being a beacon for guiding the district in a direction that helps them stay ahead of the technology curve and assists all students in maximizing their daily experiences and skills with technology as a part of the curriculum experiences of all students.

I began my research for the proposal by determining what a STEAM curriculum might entail when being newly implemented at the high school level. The high school principal did not ask for the curriculum necessarily, but rather for research of the possibilities and for me to provide recommendations based on that research. My research included an examination of curriculum frameworks for STEAM programs and I sought pricing and professional development information to assist the principal in formulating the STEAM proposal that she would present to the superintendent by the end of October. The process began with the creation of a Google doc on which the high school principal, the assistant superintendent, and the administrative candidate could collaborate and brainstorm. I shared the following resources/research with the high school principal, to be utilized at her discretion. The information below regarding Engineering by Design resources are limited in what can be provided in this medium, but what I was able to obtain and share with the planning group is extensive and will likely be helpful for them in designing their own STEAM curriculum.

Collaborative Brainstorming Document:

Example Four Year Implementation Plan:

iTunes U Steam Activities and Resources:

STEAM Education Network Trainings and Contracts Pricing:

International Technology and Engineering Educators Association (ITEEA) Pennsylvania, STEM Center for Teaching and Learning EbD products:





G. Candidates demonstrate the ability to collaborate with community agencies to integrate health, social, and other services. (614, 700, 701, 703, 799)

Summary: About midway through this past school year, I was assigned to a small, Catholic school to provide reading remediation services in place of an Act 89 reading specialist who was retiring. The role of a reading specialist can be a conglomerate of various tasks in a day from direct instruction, to professional development, to advising curriculum and assessment. As I shadowed the retiring teacher for a couple of days prior to her last day in the school, I began to discover that my role as a reading specialist in that school was going to require me to add another hat. She had a first grade student, Dylan, who had been struggling mightily since the beginning of the school year and had been recently diagnosed with epilepsy. As would be expected, his parents were worried about the possibility of him having a seizure at school. Would the teachers know how to react? Would the other students make fun of him? What if the seizure couldn't be stopped and an ambulance needed to be called? And so many other questions and worries...

I could feel the parents' pain. My youngest son also has epilepsy and has had many seizures at school that were severe enough to require an ambulance response and trip to the emergency room. I knew all too well what they were going through and what Dylan was battling to be able to focus on his learning each day. Dylan's parents were immensely relieved to know that I would be teaching in the school and would have Dylan as a student. The principal and teachers were relieved as well since they did not have experience with reacting to a seizure, not to mention how to administer Dylan's emergency medication in the event of a seizure. Dylan carried a bag with his emergency medication in it to each of his classes and his classroom teacher took it along when they had outdoor recess. All of his teachers knew to call me quickly if he had a seizure and to start timing the seizure as soon as it began. I would be the one to administer the emergency medication and help him through the seizure.

I was comfortable with that plan...to an extent. What if I wasn't there when he had a seizure? (I was not assigned to his school all day, every day.) So, I put on a hat I usually don't wear and initiated some contacts to see if there were any community agencies that could provide assistance. There was someone at the Epilepsy Foundation out of Harrisburg form whom I had received some assistance for my own son. I spoke to her and was able to arrange professional development for the staff at Dylan's school so that everyone would be prepared in case of emergency. Dylan's parents also attended and were able to lend specifics to the conversation since epilepsy can present in many forms and require different responses. The training was extremely helpful for the staff and was all provided free of charge.

Fortunately, Dylan had a great school year. His doctor was able to control his epilepsy with medication and Dylan never did have a seizure at school during the remainder of the school year. Dylan worked hard on his reading once the treatment of his seizures allowed him to be more focused in school. He tested out of remediation and is reading above grade level. He's now a happy, kind, well-adjusted, and witty second grader!

Artifact: The artifacts below are two of the resources used during the professional development session at the school. The first is a pdf version of one of the powerpoints used during the Epilepsy Foundation training. The second is a handout outlining the various types of seizures that a person with epilepsy may have. The presenter was very engaging and knowledgeable. She showed a number of short, powerful videos that helped participants deepen their understanding of the medical challenges patients with epilepsy face. She and I collaborated to present the portion of the training that focused on the academic struggles and barriers to learning that can occur with individuals with epilepsy.





H. Candidates develop a comprehensive program of community relations and demonstrate the ability to work with the media. (614)

Summary: I must admit, this element is the one with which I have the least amount of experience. Coursework in 614 did not focus on working with the media from the standpoint of any of our projects. There was certainly class discussion on the topic but I did not produce an artifact of my own that is evidence of this element.

Artifact: I maintained all class quick-writes, notes from speakers' presentations, and notes from books and articles read for EDLD 614 on a separate page on this wikispace. Use the left-hand navigation options to view that page.

Respond to Community Interests and Needs
A. Candidates demonstrate active involvement within the community, including interactions with individuals and groups with conflicting perspectives. (614)

Summary: As the provider of a variety of services to over forty nonpublic schools throughout a tri-county area, the LIU Act 89 program is tasked with meeting the needs of a diverse group of schools, principals, staff, and students. Some of the schools are connected in ideology under the umbrella of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Harrisburg, but a majority of the schools are all stand-alone entities with a wide range of parochial connections. At any given meeting of the nonpublic school administrators at the LIU, any of the more than 40 schools served by the LIU auxiliary services program could be in the room together, representing a multitude of differing perspectives. Roman Catholic schools represent a majority of the schools with other religions like Seventh Day Adventist, Baptist, Lutheran, and Christian academies to name a few. There are also schools like York Country Day School, a college preparatory school and Montessori schools included in the group who are not necessarily affiliated with a religion. Amish and Mennonite schools fall under the purview of the Act 89 program, but only rarely participate in taking services from the LIU.

Artifact: The artifact included for his component is the powerpoint and agenda from the most recent nonpublic schools administrator meeting held at the LIU. With such a mixed group of administrators, it can be challenging keeping everyone engaged in the meeting as not all topics apply to all of the schools. For example, federal programs like Title I and Title II are not initiatives in which all of the schools participate. However, there is often information about such programs that need to be communicated during the meetings. All attempts are made to provide a variety of topics at the meetings that will meet the wide-ranging needs of all the attendees. All of the school leaders attending are participating in some form of Act 89 services in their schools so that is the common thread among the divers group of individuals attending each meeting.



B. Candidates demonstrate the ability to use appropriate assessment strategies and research methods to understand and accommodate diverse school and community conditions and dynamics. (614, 545, 601)

Summary: As the provider of a variety of services to over forty nonpublic schools throughout a tri-county area, the LIU Act 89 program is tasked with meeting the needs of a diverse group of schools, principals, staff, and students. Some of the schools are connected in ideology under the umbrella of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Harrisburg, but a majority of the schools are all stand-alone entities with a wide range of parochial connections. In an effort to garner input from each of these schools regarding satisfaction with services and needs for the coming school year, I created a needs assessment that could be completed electronically or in paper/pencil format so as to elicit feedback from as many users as possible. Slightly more than half of the schools responded, many including detailed comments that proved to be very helpful in evaluation of the program and has informed program revisions for the current school year.

Artifact: The artifact below is a sampling of the needs assessment survey and an excerpt from the summary of responses that can be generated using the Google Forms feature. The ease of use with Google Forms makes creating surveys to garner input uncomplicated and presents the results in a professional coherent manner. The results can be exported into an Excel document to be manipulated and sorted as desired.







C. Candidates provide leadership to programs serving students with special and exceptional needs. (545, 703, 799)

Summary: The Act 89 program is designed to serve students in nonpublic schools who have special and exceptional needs. The services provided do not necessarily rise to the level of services that a student of similar needs would receive in a public school district, however. The level of service assigned to each nonpublic school varies widely across the state and is dependent of a line item in the state budget each year. It is not an unusual occurrence for funds to be budgeted for a school year and then cuts are made during the same school year. That fluctuation and uncertainty makes planning for steady instruction for students a significant challenge and constant juggling act.

My role in the Act 89 program has allowed me the opportunity to keep a foot in the world of direct instruction with one firmly planted in a leadership role as well. I am thankful to go to a job everyday that I enjoy and that touches the lives of many, many students in various capacities. The program serves K-12 students in need of remedial reading instruction, remedial math instruction, speech and language acquisition, enrichment, language intervention for ELLs, counseling, and psychological services. Parents choose to send their children to nonpublic schools for any number of reasons. Nonpublic schools are experiencing a steady rise in the number of students who are coming to their doors for a private education and who possess increasingly significant academic assistance. Some of the schools are better prepared than others to deal with this population of students. Act 89, Title I, and Equitable Participation services provided by intermediate units across the state assist nonpublic schools in meeting the needs of these students.

Artifact: The brochure below was drafted in an effort to better communicate to parents, schools, and LIU cabinet and board members the role of the Act 89 program and the vast number of students served on limited resources. Educational entities in general have been tasked with doing more and more with less and less. The Act 89 program is no exception. With the budget impasse (November 2015) currently strangling every nonprofit group and school in the Commonwealth, Act 89 teachers are aware they may be the first to be furloughed. The numbers outlined in this brochure speak to the large numbers of students who would be negatively affected by the first round of furloughs. The brochure was not designed with that purpose in mind but rather to celebrate and summarize the services from which nonpublic school students benefited during the 2014-15 school year.



D. Candidates demonstrate the ability to capitalize on the diversity (cultural, ethnic, racial, economic, and special interest groups) of the school community to improve school programs and meet the diverse needs of all students. (545, 603, 614, 703, 700)

Summary: Until the recent past, English Language Learners in the nonpublic school world, have constituted a minuscule percentage of the total student population. That trend is in a state of flux, however. As Catholic parishes engage in outreach programs, the numbers of Hispanic students attending private, Catholic schools has also increased significantly. English as a Second Language services are provided to nonpublic schools as a part of the Act 89 auxiliary services that intermediate units in Pennsylvania deliver to nonpublic schools.

Prior to any nonpublic student receiving auxiliary services (with the exception, there's always at least one, of classroom guidance lessons), parents/guardians must sign a permission form giving consent for their son/daughter to receive auxiliary services from an Act 89 staff member. At the beginning of the past school year, the program revised all the permission forms for remedial reading, remedial math, speech-language services, English as a Second Language services, Enrichment, and individual counseling services. The forms were used by all specialists at the beginning of the school year to secure parent/guardian permission prior to a student being assigned to Act 89 and/or Title I services. What had been overlooked initially was the need to have these forms translated into Spanish for students referred for ESL services. As we realized the oversight, we also realized that sending the forms out to be translated would cause a significant delay in services for those students who were sons/daughters of Spanish language speaking parents. Admittedly, my Spanish was a bit rusty. However, at that point, I had taken about 8 years of formal instruction in Spanish and had been chosen to do my student teaching in New Mexico (a requirement being conversational Spanish capabilities, among other stipulations). I translated the forms into Spanish rather than delaying the process for all the students whose parents did not speak Spanish and we were able to send those forms out by that day or the next.

Artifact: I have included an English and Spanish version language example of the permission forms that the Act 89 program distributes at the beginning of the year to have parents/guardians sign for their consent of services.



Mobilize Community Resources
A. Candidates demonstrate an understanding of and ability to use community resources, including youth services, to support student achievement, solve school problems, and achieve school goals. (614, 701, 703, 799)

Summary: School leaders are faced with decisions daily that affect a number of people. Often, there are multiple stakeholders involved and strong opinions. Compromise is not always the most desirable outcome when the welfare of the school and students are at stake. Integrative thinking, as discussed by Roger Martin in __The Opposable Mind__, suggests creative resolutions to problems by thinking in a innovative manner to come up with a solution that is better than compromise and not always the most obvious choice. Integrative thinking can be illustrated by a story about a princess in ancient China. // "Her father depended on his chief counselor, a man who used his power to have access to beautiful young women. It seems this counselor decided that his next concubine would be the princess. He approached the king with a proposal: // // "'At dawn, I will meet with you and the princess by the sea. There, I will present her with a bowl with two small round stones: one black and one white. If the princess chooses the white stone, she can reject my offer, but if she chooses the black stone, she must become my concubine.' Torn between his love for his daughter and his need for his counselor's advice and strategies, her father reluctantly agreed. // // "The next morning, they all met by the shore. The counselor held the bowl over the princess's head and demanded, 'Choose.' The princess reached into the bowl and chose a stone—but instead of showing it to her eager audience, she cast it into the sea. Reaching into the bowl, she plucked out the remaining stone, a black one. 'Ah, I cast the white stone I chose into the sea. I therefore reject your offer.' // // "Just as the princess had expected, the counselor had placed two black stones in the bowl. Her bold decision to reject 'the only two choices' she was offered and instead choose a third course of action had preserved her freedom." Integrative thinking is choosing a bold third course of action. With the many challenges facing educational leaders today, integrative thinking presents a bold third course of action if creative and innovative enough to seek it out." //

Artifact: __The Opposable Mind__ is mostly a book about integrative thinking in private industry, but educational leaders can take away some valuable advice from the book. The artifact included here is a reflection I wrote after reading the book, __The Opposable Mind__ and a collection of writings by Mary Parker Follett, that demonstrate the effectiveness of integrative thinking. Education provides many opportunities for decision-making. While there may be limited time to make a decision and two obvious choices, there may also be a third, less obvious choice that we haven't thought of that can be the best option without having to reach a compromise between the involved parties.



B. Candidates demonstrate how to use school resources and social service agencies to serve the community. (614, 701, 703, 799)

Summary: In Standard 4, Element G above, I recounted the story of one of my students, Dylan, who was newly diagnosed with epilepsy when I became his teacher. My youngest son also suffers from epilepsy, unfortunately, and his is a fairly extreme case, one that is not entirely responsive to the medications currently available. The medications certainly help, but he is on a very strict diet to help control the seizures as well. The experiences I had advocating for my own son academically and then assisting Dylan's parents in getting accustomed to the idea of epilepsy in their family and what that meant for Dylan academically, set me firmly on a path of being an advocate for all individuals who suffer from seizure disorders. At the same time as I was organizing professional development for the teachers at Dylan's school, I was also engaged in a series of meetings at my son's school that involved special education testing and a battle to get him the services that he needed.

My son, Alex, is an extremely bright child. His epilepsy sometimes slows his ability to organize his thoughts in a manner that allows him to respond orally and especially in writing. However, his hesitation should not be confused with not knowing an answer. Sometimes, it just takes him more think time to be able to process and speak. Teachers know about adequate wait time but they do not always practice it. In Alex's case, he was taking longer at school to do his work and was falling behind. I did not necessarily want special education for him. His doctor told me early on that epilepsy patients were often assigned to special education classes. Alex had a 504 Plan written as a beginning step in the process, but he was OK academically for about the first nine months. Then his school performance tanked quickly. He was admitted to the hospital for five days while he was hooked up to an EEG machine 24 hours a day. The result was shocking. He was having seizures every 5-10 seconds. No wonder he was struggling in school!! At that point, I put his school work aside and concentrated on getting him well enough to function successfully in the school setting.

Fast forward to about the time that Dylan and his family came into my life. In connecting with community resources to advocate for Dylan, I also suggested to the principal at Alex's school that the middle school staff could receive free professional development from the Epilepsy Foundation and that might help the teachers to begin to understand Alex's (and other students with seizure disorders) daily struggles. Additionally, I asked the presenter from the Epilepsy Foundation to come and talk to the Act 89 staff and one of their inservice sessions. I knew that a number of them had contact with students with epilepsy. The presenter from the Epilepsy Foundation was incredibly gracious in collaborating with me to do three separate professional development sessions on epilepsy awareness. The Act 89 staff evaluations corroborated my belief that the session would be worthwhile for them. One evaluation read, "That was the singular most useful professional development session I have ever had. Please provide us with more trainings like these so we can best serve our students!"

Artifact: These are the same artifacts that were included in Standard 4, Element G. There were a host of other resources that the Epilepsy Foundation advocate shared with me but these are the two most pertinent to a group of teachers. She even provided me with a box full of items to share with the staff including epilepsy awareness bracelets, pen and pads, water bottles, lanyards, etc.



C. Candidates demonstrate an understanding of ways to use public resources and funds appropriately and effectively to encourage communities to provide new resources to address emerging student problems. (614, 700, 701, 703, 799)

Summary: Act 89 funds are provided to intermediate units annually by a line item in the PA state budget. As such, auxiliary services for nonpublic school students are dependent yearly on monies allocated by the state government. Thus, the amount of services that can be provided for individual schools can fluctuate year to year. All efforts are made by the program to keep the level of services as consistent as possible from year to year despite the possible variation in funding. Intermediate units are expected to use Act 89 funds equitably and responsibly to maximize services to students in the nonpublic schools who request services. The LIU Act 89 program, therefore, makes all efforts to reserve funds for the delivery of services. When funds need to be set aside for resources or supplies, the program makes sure that the resources are a necessity and that funds are being spent wisely. The curriculum that I created as part of the requirements for EDSU 703, is intended to assist the LIU Act 89 math specialists in improving their math instruction with students. The Act 89 program has heretofore operated without a coherent, written curriculum. Specifically, the specialist need a method for more precisely targeting individual instructional needs and aligning their instruction with standards, be it the Common Core State Standards or the Pennsylvania Core Standards. The curriculum proposal outlines instructional strategies, assessments, and resources that are currently lacking in the program. These elements are critical for enabling the math specialists to standardize the curriculum across the program and better align their instruction to reflect the shifts going on in the classrooms as the diocesan schools move to a Common Core State Standards framework.

Artifact: Within the LIU Act 89 program, there was an obvious need for some attention to be paid to the math program. As a result, I chose to take a close look at the existing Act 89 math program. I examined the curriculum, assessments, and available resources and drafted a plan for purchase of a new intervention program and math assessment for use by the Act 89 specialists. I presented the proposal to the class using the board presentation powerpoint below. The plan included a timeline spanning a full year from research to purchase to professional development to implementation. I also determined a budget for the program, delineating all the necessary funds needed for revising the math program.



Standard 6
==Candidates who complete the program are educational leaders who have the knowledge and ability to promote the success of all students by understanding, responding to, and influencing the larger political, social, economic, legal, and cultural context.==

Understand the Larger Context
A. Candidates act as informed consumers of educational theory and concepts appropriate to school context and can demonstrate the ability to apply appropriate research methods to a school context. (601, 545, 610, 603, 700)

Summary: As part of my professional development responsibilities at the LIU, I attended courses to become a Trainer of Trainers for Learning-Focused Schools. The Learning-Focused instructional framework is a process of designing instruction after unpacking the standards, mapping the curriculum, and embedding research-based instructional practices into each lesson. At one time, the LFS model was the latest rend in educational initiatives with a large number of school districts in the LIU area requesting Learning Focused training. For some school district, the encouragement of the use of LFS lessons was a fleeting phase. For those schools that continue to utilize the LFS framework in their schools, they come to the LIU for training of new staff or for refresher-type trainings. I have collaborated with a colleague from Capital Area IU to provide trainings together so as to have one trainer experienced in math and the other trainer accomplished in literacy instruction. Together, we deliver the training to inform teachers of the foundation of the framework and then move on to a deeper understanding of elements of LFS like the lesson structure (KUD, Launch, Acquisition Lesson, Collaborative Pairs, Extending Thinking, Culminating Activity, EATS, EATES, Assessment Prompts, etc.), higher order thinking, acceleration, and strategy implementation.

Artifact: The artifact below is a powerpoint that outlines a training for LFS for a full staff of a high school. This training is not intended as an introduction to LFS but rather a training that is intended to deepen understanding of the LFS framework after teachers have had initial training and have had an opportunity to experiment with lessons in their own classrooms. The full day training exposes teachers to some review of lesson structure and fine-tuning and a mock-lesson written according to the LFS framework. There is room in the training to address any questions that the teachers have after implementing the LFS framework in their respective content areas and also to have some planning time to work on their own lessons and ask individual questions of the trainers. One has to know something

The Roman philosopher, Seneca, said, "While we teach, we learn." There's also a saying that goes, "If you want to become an expert at something, teach it to someone else." In many ways, each of those quotes is an accurate description of my experience with the LFS model. As I was designing trainings for other teachers, I was also learning and practicing the model myself. At times, it felt a bit like a first year teacher who is only operating about one day ahead of his or her students. I learned a lot from designing and delivering the LFS training.



B. Candidates demonstrate the ability to explain how the legal and political systems and institutional framework of schools have shaped a school and community, as well as the opportunities available to children and families in a particular school. (610, 620)

Summary: About three months ago, I was assigned a new responsibility as a part of my job following some restructuring at the LIU. The new task I received was to direct the Title IIA process as it relates to professional development funds coming from public school districts and being disseminated to nonpublic schools. Up to that point, I had been involved on the professional development end as far as designing and delivering professional development but had little knowledge about Title IIA law and regulations or the budgeting of such Title IIA funds. I quickly investigated the Title IIA law language, spoke to the former administrator of the funds, and contacted all the affected to schools to inform them of the changes in leadership of the program. Business could not continue as usual, as had been expected when the decision was made to restructure. What could not be foreseen at the time was the almost, (at least at the time of this writing) unprecedented state budget impasse. The impasse has meant that business can not proceed as usual. Instead of the difficult-enough task of learning a new federal program in's and out's, I have also had to deal with how to continue to look out for the best interest of the schools and their professional development needs while at the same time not having the benefit of the 2015-16 funds added to the coffers.

Artifact: The Title IIA program had previously been administrated by the assistant executive director's office at the LIU. The switch in responsibility did make a lot of sense since I am the individual responsible for professional development for the nonpublic school staff and the Act 89 staff. However, my experience with management of a budget has not been extensive. Learning all the particulars of how to manage a federal programs budget and the many nuances of Title IIA regulations has presented me with a significant learning curve. The artifacts below include the Title IIA approval forms and an example of the kind of professional development offerings that are approvable for nonpublic school staff using Title IIA funds.





C. Candidates demonstrate the ability to analyze the complex causes of poverty and other disadvantages and their effects on families, communities, children, and learning. (601, 610, 614)

Summary: I attended a Community Action Association of Pennsylvania presentation in September of 2015. This was not a mandatory event for my job or for my principalship coursework. I attended because I have a deep-rooted interest in the academic trials of students experiencing poverty. The numbers of children living in poverty in America are staggering. It is impossible to achieve the ideals espoused in legislation like the recently reauthorized Elementary and Secondary Education Act without first addressing the issue of poverty in America's schools and communities. The community action event that I attended was primarily focused on poverty in Adams County for the Pre-K population. Here is an example of a staggering statistic close to home: There are 2.334 children ages three and four in Adams County. Of those children, 1,398 or 60% live in families below 300% poverty! We cannot, as a school system or as a society, expect that these children will be successful in a traditional school setting without significant supports and action on the part of both schools and the larger community.

Artifact: The artifacts I have included are handouts from the poverty presentation by the Community Action Association of Pennsylvania. Look over the statistics and it is clear why the group is so aptly named, **//Community//** Action Association of Pennsylvania. As the saying goes, "It takes a village to raise a child." Poverty at the current levels is certainly a community problem and not one of individual families to remedy. Sadly, while the school district free and reduces lunch counts on the first handout are startling, the numbers for York and Lancaster counties are, sadly, worse. Poverty is an all-pervasive issue that obstructs the learning process of far too many of our students. Schools must play a leading role in helping families of students in poverty to eliminate as many of the obstacles to learning that they face as possible. Groups like the Community Action Association of Pennsylvania are doing good work but it takes more of the village that this small proportion to make the kind of difference that our children deserve and depend on us to provide. On that note and without expanding too much, I will say that I have spent periods of my own life in poverty. Education has been the key to my personal exodus from that standing.



D. Candidates demonstrate an understanding of the policies, laws, and regulations enacted by local, state, and federal authorities that affect schools, especially those that might improve educational and social opportunities. (620)

Summary: There have been occasions during my coursework in the Leadership for Teaching and Learning program that we have been encouraged for a certain projects to step outside our our comfort zone to choose to research and present a product that was not within our area of expertise. I have taken that advice to heart, as evidenced by this particular entry and all of the mathematics-related and budget scenarios that are included as artifacts in this manual. I have not regretted the additional work that researching these areas has necessitated because what I have learned has been invaluable and will, no doubt, come in handy during leadership situations. My higher education experiences have yielded a bachelor's degree in history, a bachelor's degree in secondary education, a master's degree as a reading specialist, a supervisory certificate and, hopefully soon, a master's degree in Leadership for Teaching and Learning and a principal certificate. All of those degrees, I believe, speak to my conviction of the importance of continual learning throughout our lives. While I think I may take a hiatus from formalized education for myself for awhile, I cannot emphasize enough the importance that I place on education. Thus, when I have been presented with challenges like course requirements that come with a suggestion to step outside my comfort zone, I have willingly done so even though submitting the same project within a subject area that I already had considerable experience would have been easier and quicker.

Artifact: I have had little exposure to special education legislation during my career as an educator. While I deal daily with students with significant learning needs in my job, nonpublic schools are not required to write or uphold traditional IEPs. Instead, nonpublic schools can choose to turn away students with significant learning needs or accept the students and draft a less-legally binding and less comprehensive learning plan. Since the majority of my time is currently spent with nonpublic schools, I decided to research special education law in public schools for my own information and professional knowledge. The result is the artifact below which summarizes the special education process in Pennsylvania. The first page outlines the steps in the process when an evaluation is requested. The second page summarizes that needs to happen and the timeline for a request for reevaluation.



E. Candidates demonstrate the ability to describe the economic factors shaping a local community and the effects economic factors have on local schools. (614, 620)

Summary: Economically speaking, the community of Hanover falls below the national and sate averages in a number of economic factors. Workers in Hanover earn an average yearly household income of $44,786, meaning a hefty majority earn less than the national average. Job distribution in the community is 57% blue collar and 42% white collar. Since 2014, the job growth rate in Hanover has been -6.91% ("Business in Pennsylvania - PA Department of Community & Economic Development"). These economic factors translate into 65% of students in the Hanover Public School District being classified as Economically Disadvantaged. Students coming from economically disadvantaged homes can be significantly negatively impacted in their ability to learn and achieve academic success. The economic factors shaping the community become evident in the school. Thus, HPSD has had to institute programs that go beyond the educational needs of students in order to make sure that all students have the basic necessities for survival. One such program, available at all the school sin the district, provides a backpack full of food for children to take home at the end of the week so they will not go hungry over the weekend.

Artifact: The artifact in Component F is being submitted as evidence for Elements E and F.

F. Candidates demonstrate the ability to analyze and describe the cultural diversity in a school community. (603, 614)

Summary: Hanover Public School District is smaller and less diverse than most of the surrounding school districts. In fact, the district is the smallest school district in both physical area and number of students. The district encompasses 3.7 square miles and has a student population of about 1,820 students. Fully 73% of the students in the district are white. The next highest percentage is Hispanic at 17%, followed by African American (3.65%), and multi-racial (4/51%). The history in the community involves racial tensions that became a community-wide concern and required a curfew and police involvement as recently as 1997. This is a community that is steeped in the past and is not usually open or accepting of change. Consequently, racial tensions have been a problem in an era long-removed from the civil rights movement. The community of Hanover has not yet evolved to reflect the diversity among Americans as a whole.

A project I completed for EDLD 614, School and Community Relations, involved a community culture scan and analysis. The assignment was to choose a school district and assess the school culture and conduct a demographic analysis. The information I researched informed me about the economic factors in the district and community as well as the level of cultural diversity of both. I have included the artifacts for this component as the fulfillment of requirements for Component 6, Elements E and F.

Artifact: The artifacts below are pieces that I submitted in completion of the cultural scan assignment. The first is a narrative description of Hanover Public School District in Hanover, PA. The paper discusses cultural background of both the town of Hanover and the school district. A range of statistics are provided from race distribution to teacher salaries to average expenditures per student. The document titled, Demographic Information Cultural Scan Project includes detailed statistics about race and gender distributions, median household incomes, and fiscal information about the school district. Finally, the document titled, HPSD School Performance Profile, is the printout about the district available on the publicly accessible, School Performance Profile website. The schools are detailed by level, high school, middle school, and elementary levels. Each school is given a building level academic score in addition to detailed academic performance data.





G. Candidates can describe community norms and values and how they relate to the role of the school in promoting social justice. (603, 614, 620)

Summary: Schools are charged and entrusted with the education of all students. It is a matter of social justice that all students are entitled to Free and Appropriate Public Education (FAPE). Whether a child has a learning disability or not, he/she is entitled to a quality education equal to that of children without a disability. Since the institution of the Individuals with Disabilities Act (IDEA), students with a disability are provided with an educational program that is individualized to their unique needs. This process has necessitated the issuing of a plethora of laws and regulations to ensure the rights of students with disabilities. In many instances, conflicts have been taken all the way to the Supreme Court so case law also defines special education regulations. In Pennsylvania, the special education laws are complicated and apply specific timelines for each step of the process. Since I do not have a special education background, I chose to research special education law in Pennsylvania (for EDLD 620) and develop a timeline summary that is visually engaging and accurate in content in order to make the process more understandable.

Artifact: I have had little exposure to special education legislation during my career as an educator. While I deal daily with students with significant learning needs in my job, nonpublic schools are not required to write or uphold traditional IEPs. Instead, nonpublic schools can choose to turn away students with significant learning needs or accept the students and draft a less-legally binding and less comprehensive learning plan. Since the majority of my time is currently spent with nonpublic schools, I decided to research special education law in public schools for my own information and professional knowledge. The result is the artifact below which summarizes the special education process in Pennsylvania. The first page outlines the steps in the process when an evaluation is requested. The second page summarizes that needs to happen and the timeline for a request for reevaluation.



H. Candidates demonstrate the ability to explain various theories of change and conflict resolution and the appropriate application of those models to specific communities. (610)

Summary: Teaching can be a lonely profession. Classroom teachers may spend a whole day or week (or more) closing their classroom door and teaching students without a fellow teacher or principal ever entering the classroom. There is an expectation of independence among teachers. In co-teaching situations, this scenario is turned on its head. Co-teaching partnerships among teachers require them to work together in ways that may never have been expected of them previously in their teaching careers. I have designed and delivered co-teaching workshops with this idea in mind. Of course, teachers need to be introduced to the nuts and bolts of co-teaching structures and how to share responsibility of delivery of content. But, teachers in these kinds of situations will experience conflict. How they work through that conflict will define their co-teaching partnership and allow them to capitalize on their partnership or let the union deteriorate into an ineffective, or worse, harmful relationship.

Artifact: The artifact cited as evidence for this component is a powerpoint of a training I designed and delivered for a group of teachers assigned to co-teaching circumstances. The first part of the powerpoint speaks to this component as the topic addressed is about relationships and conflict management and resolution. This portion of the training is based on the research of Bruce Tuckman who identified a model of group development with four phases known as forming, storming, norming, and performing. Tuckman maintains that each phase is necessary and inevitable for team growth and success. While Tuckman defined these stages in 1965, his work remains appropriate and relevant in helping teams and partnerships learning to work together more effectively in times of conflict and success.



Respond to the Larger Context
A. Candidates demonstrate the ability to communicate with members of a school community concerning trends, issues, and potential changes in the environment in which the school operates, including maintenance of an ongoing dialogue with representatives of diverse community groups. (614, 799)

Summary: During the past couple of years, Educator Effectiveness in Pennsylvania has presented school leaders with a new model for evaluation of school professionals. As a teacher and instructional advisor at an intermediate unit, I have been fully involved in experiencing the educator effectiveness model as it relates to both the evaluator and the evaluated. I have helped teachers in the Act 89 program to adjust to the new model and was asked to do a presentation at the state level on Danielson's Domain 3 specifically in relation to helping an evaluator distinguish between Proficient and Distinguished. We talked about common themes evident in the framework but not clearly articulated. We then looked at questioning as a skill that can demarcate between a proficient teacher and a distinguished teacher. We watched a video of a teacher using questioning techniques to simulate a classroom observation situation and then debriefed the lesson and evidence. Discussion then moved to the topic of a post-conference and the use of questioning by the observer and the effect of asking teachers reflective, higher order thinking questions about their own lessons.

Artifact: The following agenda outlines the activities and presentations for a bi-annual conference held in State College, PA. The conference is attended by Act 89 Directors from Pennsylvania Intermediate Units as well as representatives from nonpublic school entities such as Diocesan organizations. The U.S. Department of Education and the PA Department of Education provide updates and information in formal face-to-face meetings and/or virtual presentations. A variety of other presentations are also provided during the course of the Wednesday afternoon through Friday morning of the scheduled conference. The created and presented the powerpoint below on the afternoon of the second day of the conference after being asked by the conference organizer to provide information to the group about Domain 3 of the Teacher Effectiveness Model.

[[file:October 2014 Fall Conference Agenda.doc]] [[file:NPS Conference October 23 2014.pptx]]

 * [[image:Screen Shot 2015-11-28 at 8.46.29 PM.png width="381" align="center"]]

Influence the Larger Context
A. Candidates demonstrate the ability to engage students, parents, and other members of the community in advocating for adoption of improved policies and laws. (620)

Summary: Title I, Part A of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act is intended to provide a set of principles from which families and educators can work together to improve teaching and learning. Families play a major role in the shared accountability that schools, parents, and communities hold in the education of children. Title I law stipulates that programs, activities, and procedures must be in place for the involvement of parents. "LEAs must plan and implement these programs, activities, and procedures with meaningful consultation with parents of children in Title I, Part A programs." (Parental Involvement: Title I, Part A Non-Regulatory Guidance, NCLB). Title I, Part A is specifically intended to help disadvantaged and minority students to close the achievement gap between themselves and their peers.

Artifact: It is my responsibility to plan and implement Title I parent events for the parents/guardians of Title I students in the Act 89 program at Lincoln Intermediate Unit. Title I parent gatherings can take a number of different forms from regional events to smaller events occurring at individual schools. I try to take advantage of the regional events to gain the input from as many parents as possible about the Title I services their child(ren) receive. It is with their input that the following Title I Compact was drafted and is revised annually to summarize the available services and the role that each stakeholder, teacher, student, and parent, has in the learning process.



B. Candidates apply their understanding of the larger political, social, economic, legal, and cultural context to develop activities and policies that benefit students and their families. (620)

Summary: School principals are part of a larger context than the immediate school environment of students and staff. The larger context is that of the community of which the school is a certainly a valuable and essential part. Individual communities across the United States might share the singular purpose of educating the youth in their community to ensure those students are college and career-ready and prepared to be responsible citizens, whether they stay in that community or move to any other place. However, each of the communities that make up the United States can have differing values politically, socially, economically, legally, and culturally. A school leader must be cognizant of the values of the community and consider those values when advocating new activities and policies that affect students and their families.

Artifact: The following artifact is school board policy which had been drafted and adopted twelve years earlier but not revised at all in the interim. While school policy is often written with the intent of the policy goal remaining constant over time and not needing frequent tweaks and revisions, this policy on lesson plans had become outdated due to the structure of programs within the intermediate unit and the change in available technologies over that period of time.



C. Candidates advocate for policies and programs that promote equitable learning opportunities and success for all students, regardless of socioeconomic background, ethnicity, gender, disability, or other individual characteristics. (620, 703, 799)

Summary: Reading Apprenticeship provides teachers in all content areas with a means of using the Reading Apprenticeship framework to "regularly model disciplinary-specific literacy skills, help students build high-level comprehension strategies, engage students in building knowledge by making connections to background knowledge they already have, and provide ample guided, collaborative, and individual practice as an integral part of teaching their subject area curriculum". Reading Apprenticeship provides students of all ability levels with support to becoming competent readers of content in any subject area. The framework is appropriate for all types of learners from below-grade level readers and ELLs to advanced readers.

Artifact: The following entries are a brief sampling of the supervisory candidate's participation in providing professional development in Reading Apprenticeship to teachers in Pennsylvania, Michigan, Utah, Indiana, and California. The samples below are from a Reading Apprenticeship Writing Connections professional development series being delivered by the supervisory candidate through a blend of online and face-to-face professional development. The endeavor requires a considerable amount of collaboration and coordination with the other facilitators of the course.



Standard 2
==Candidates who complete the program are educational leaders who have the knowledge and ability to promote the success of all students by promoting a positive school culture, providing an effective instructional program, applying best practice to student learning, and designing comprehensive professional growth plans for staff.==

Promote Positive School Culture
A. Candidates assess school culture using multiple methods and implement context-appropriate strategies that capitalize on the diversity (e.g., population, language, disability, gender, race, socio-economic) of the school community to improve school programs and culture. (610, 614, 700, 701, 703, 799)

Summary: During the course of my employment at the Lincoln Intermediate Unit, I have had the opportunity to work in many, many schools. I always find the differences between the schools to be interesting. All of these entities have the same basic reason for functioning yet the culture of each place can be markedly different. It is fascinating how the culture of a school is quickly detected upon spending only a short amount of time in the building. It begins with the approach to the school from the outside and the initial greeting at the office doors. The school as a whole has a palpable culture and sub-cultures exist in each individual classroom. As part of an Act 89 inservice day, I presented a session on "grit", a word that refers to strength, resolve, and character. According to Angela Duckworth who brought the new buzzword to education, grit is having passion for a goal that you can stick with for a long time. The purpose was to introduce teachers to the idea of growth mindset and how applying the idea in their classrooms can change the classroom culture in a positive way.

Artifact: We can all think of students who look at a challenge and are excited, intrigued and motivated by it. However, there are also students who balk at and even shut down when a task is too challenging. What creates the difference between students with these varying mindsets. The following powerpoint is based on the premise that all children are capable of being gritty, if educators maintain a culture in their classrooms where a growth mindset is cool. I became interested in the research on grit after watching a Ted Talk in which Angela Duckworth discusses grit as a possible key to success. The powerpoint I used to share the Ted Talk and facilitate discussions about grit and growth mindset is included here. The sixth slide provides a link to Angela Duckworth's Ted Talk or can be accessed by clicking on the image below.



Provide Effective Instructional Programs
A. Candidates demonstrate the ability to facilitate activities that apply principles of effective instruction to improve instructional practices and curricular materials. (545, 700, 701, 703, 798, 799)

Summary: Differentiation is a term found in many school improvement plans and is a popular professional development topic. It is also a practice that should be happening in every classroom in order to best reach all students. My experience doing professional development in the K-12 school setting has been that differentiation, particularly in high school classrooms, is not happening enough. Indeed, it is surprising to me how infrequently differentiation is actually occurring. It is not enough to give students some choice about assignments from time to time. Differentiation, to be effective, needs to be a normal classroom routine used whenever the need arises. Teachers must be attentive to the needs of the learners in his/her classroom and flexible in delivery of lessons. Whole class instruction has its place, but students need to be given the opportunity for some independence and decision-making in regards to their own learning. When it comes to the real world, we all self-differentiate, gravitating towards the kinds of work and hobbies that we enjoy and in which we excel. School is a place where students can begin to learn how to become their own advocates for learning so when they experience situations in their worlds beyond school, they are prepared to know how to help themselves when the situation is not differentiated. Some believe the opposite, that individuals will have to do and learn things the way they are told in their jobs and so they should learn the way they are told in school as preparation for real-life situations. Such inflexibility in school does not have the desired effect of engaging students in their learning and in fact, alienates so many students who need alternate ways of taking in new information.

Artifact: The artifact below is from a training on Differentiation that I designed and facilitated for the high school staff at Fairfield High School. The presentation was based on the research and extensive work of Carol Ann Tomlinson (__The Differentiated Classroom__) and the books and work on the topic by Rick Wormeli (__Differentiation: From Planning to Practice Grades 6-12__). The training was centered around the following essential questions:
 * How do I define differentiation in my classroom?
 * How can we identify learning barriers in our classrooms and design lessons, delivery and content to address the needs of all our students?
 * How do assessment and differentiation work together to improve student learning and achievement?
 * What steps will i Take to incorporate differentiation techniques into my classroom instruction?



B. Candidates demonstrate the ability to make recommendations regarding the design, implementation, and evaluation of a curriculum that fully accommodates learners' diverse needs. (545, 700,701,703, 799)

Summary: I completed my principal practicum experience at Hanover High School this past summer. One of the projects I embarked on was an examination of the K-12 Writing Curriculum. As the principal has a stronger math background than literacy, she was eager to have my assistance with the project since it had been determined by district leadership that the 2015-16 school year would bring with it a district-wide emphasis on writing as a means to improve student performance across all levels and content areas. The administration had become concerned about the poor writing skills of the students and began training building level leadership in Collins Writing with the intention of passing that training along to the teachers in their own buildings. During my practicum experience at HHS, the principal and I spent many hour discussing writing and planning how to address professional development of teachers in a manner that would support the teachers' varied levels of competence and comfort with teaching writing in their content area. The principal wanted to go beyond the Collins Writing and look more towards a root cause of the lack of writing skills in district students. As part of that process, I examined all of the published curricula for the district with references to writing standards in them. The questions in mind as I studied the many units included:
 * 1) Were all of the writing standards being adequately taught and assessed?
 * 2) Was there consistency among the grades in how the standards were addressed?
 * 3) Were the standards being taught addressing the demands of the Common Core State Standards?

Artifact: The first document below is a narrative summary of the findings of my examination of the writing curricula at HPSD. The next three documents are tools I used in reaching the conclusions that I did regarding the writing the curriculum. As I examined each unit against the Pennsylvania Core Standards cited in the units, I tallied the number of times each standard was cited during the school year. K-5 standards are in one document below and grades 6-12 are computed on a separate document. Finally, the Excel spreadsheet took the information cumulated from the PA Core Standards documents and compared PA Core to Common Core State Standards. The conclusions drawn are explained in the narrative along with an explanation and legend to use to read and understand the curriculum review on the Excel spreadsheet.









C. Candidates demonstrate the ability to use and promote technology and information systems to enrich curriculum and instruction, to monitor instructional practices and provide staff the assistance needed for improvement. (610, 545, 700, 701, 703, 798, 799)

Summary: One of the assignments in EDLD 614 was to choose an article on school and community relations that would be presented in a mock staff meeting. We were also instructed to choose a discussion protocol to use with the article to facilitate discussion among the staff that was based on the content of the article. We had 20-25 minutes for the staff meeting which, while that may be a realistic amount of time for such meetings, isn't necessarily conducive to reading and discussing an article in its entirety. Thus, I used the website, Actively Learn, to facilitate the reading and discussion of just two parts of the article. My intention was twofold: to model the use of a new technology that teachers could use with students in their own classroom and to deliver the intended content to the teachers. When I use a new technology is staff meetings or professional development situations, I prefer to always have a Plan B in case the technology doesn't work as planned. Evidence of my Plan B is apparent on the powerpoint slides below. On each slide, instructions for the protocol are outlined to be used with the technology and there are also instructions for use of the paper copy. That way, there is no precious time wasted if the technology does not cooperate or someone comes to the session without a device.

Artifact: The artifacts below contain the article, //Wire Side Chats: School-Community Relations Is Great PR and Then Some//, and the powerpoint that I used during the staff meeting to display the directions for each step of the protocol. I've also included a screenshot of the student view of the article on Actively Learn. The website allows the administrator to upload an article and insert questions within the article that students will read and answer as they go along. Students cannot move on in the article or see others' responses until they have posted a response of their own. In the screenshot, you can see one of the questions I inserted and the student responses on the right hand side of the screen. The answers viewable in the screenshot correspond to an earlier question in the article as the user can scroll through separately on the two sides of the screen. Administrator (or teacher) rights include an ability to grade each response, view notes and/or questions summaries, number paragraphs, etc.





Apply Best Practice to Student Learning
A. Candidates demonstrate the ability to assist school personnel in understanding and applying best practices for student learning. (545, 610, 700, 701, 703, 798)

Summary: The following powerpoint is from a presentation delivered by the principal candidate during a meeting for principals of nonpublic schools in York, Adams, and Franklin counties. The supervisory candidate was asked by the Lincoln Intermediate Unit Act 89 Director to design and deliver the professional development based on a topic the supervisory candidate could determine would be relevant and appropriate to a K-12 audience of principals. Nonpublic schools operate within a financial budget that is not supported by tax dollars and relies instead on the voluntary enrollment and payment of tuition by parents who choose to opt out of free public education and instead choose to pay tuition to send their children to a private institution. These schools may be faith-based organizations, reflect a specific pedagogy, or may be specialized for a specific population of learners.

Artifact: The Act 89 programs in intermediate units throughout the state of Pennsylvania provide services to students in nonpublic schools such as remedial reading and math, speech and language therapy, counseling, and psycho-educational testing. As part of the administration of these services, Act 89 program directors at each IU hold periodic meetings with nonpublic school principals and administrators. It has been the practice at Lincoln Intermediate Unit 12 that these meetings serve as an opportunity to convey updates on information related to auxiliary services, provide a forum for questions schools may have, and also to provide the principals and administrators with professional development opportunities in an effort to keep them abreast of educational initiatives and advances in pedagogy. This artifact is a powerpoint that I prepared and presented at one of the meetings held for nonpublic school administrators.

B. Candidates apply human development theory, proven learning and motivational theories, and concern for diversity to the learning process. (610, 545)

Summary: Boys and girls develop differently and are often motivated if different ways. Teachers of literacy, in particular, need to understand the difference between girls and boys when it comes to learning to read. Schools are asking students to learn to read at a much earlier age these days than was once the expectation. In some instances, boys brains simply aren't ready to take on literacy tasks successfully. The language centers of boys brains develop more slowly than that of girls, so much so that a Kindergarten teacher could have five year old girls in the classroom whose capacity for language is higher than the five year old boys' brains. The difference could be as much as two years. It is no wonder then, that boys often struggle to meet early literacy demands at the same rate as girls. As the language centers of boys' brains develop, they are able to catch up quickly. Still, differences can persist throughout schooling experiences in what motivates boys to want to read and the topics they are interested in reading.

Artifact: The powerpoint and notetaker below were used to host a professional development session for teachers on the topic of boys and books and how technology can be incorporated to engage male readers. I had previously conducted a similar session, shorter in length, for a group of parents. Another reading specialist and I worked together to revise the presentation to better align with the needs of teachers and offered the session during two days of optional professional development opportunities scheduled during the summer. The session was well attended and the wikispace created for the teachers to have a continued reference resource is accessed often. The notetaker was intended to help teachers keep track of their learning and available resources as the session allowed time for whole group instruction, guided practice, and time for independent exploration of the wikispaces.





C. Candidates demonstrate an understanding of how to use appropriate research strategies to promote an environment for improved student achievement. (610, 601)

Summary: This past summer, changes in Title I classification of one of the LIU member school districts caused the need for a remedial reading program to be created in a nonpublic school which had never received remedial services of any kind in prior years. The district became district-wide for Title I, which meant that the nonpublic high school in the school district's physical boundaries, could then receive Title I services. The change necessitated a look at how remedial reading services could effectively be delivered at a high school level. I felt that a program needed to be drafted that was different than the way reading services are delivered at the elementary level. I did a good deal of research before coming to any conclusions about the structure of the program and presented my findings to the director of the program. I also worked with the reading specialist who would be assigned to the school to come up with a program of services for the school. The idea of a remedial program is not supported by research, particularly at the high school level. Thus, my intention was to create a program that would serve the reading needs of the students but not be in any way like tutoring or simply reteaching what had been taught in the regular classroom. For these reasons and because the instruction by an IU employee in a nonpublic school must be a pull-out situation, I settled on the idea of acceleration rather than remediation. I first learned about Acceleration years ago when going through training for Learning Focused Schools. The idea is also supported by the research of the likes of Robert Marzano and E.D. Hirsch. Acceleration involves getting students ready for new learning rather than constantly trying to fill in learning gaps as occurs with remediation. Key components of acceleration are the building of background knowledge and strengthening of vocabulary skills.

Artifact: As quoted in the article on Acceleration included below, "Although the acceleration model does revisit basic skills, these skills are laser-selected, applied right away with the new content, and never taught in isolation. To prepare for a new concept or lesson, students in an acceleration program receive both instruction in prior knowledge and remediation of prerequisite skills that, if missing, may create barriers to the learning process. This strategic approach of preparing for the future while plugging a few critical holes from the past yields strong results."



Design Comprehensive Professional Growth Plans
A. Candidates design and demonstrate an ability to implement well-planned, context-appropriate professional development programs based on reflective practice and research on student learning consistent with the school vision and goals. (610, 700, 701, 703, 799)

Summary: The administrative team at Hanover Public School District is committed to a school-wide focus on writing improvement. Some of the team members attended a Collins Writing training on June 8, 2015, as part of their preparation for supporting the district's efforts of a writing focus. I was fortunate to be able to attend that training as well and to follow up that experience with using what I learned to assist the high school principal (who had not attended the training) in designing the inservice presentation for August 17, 2015 during which she would be introducing Collins Writing to the entire high school staff. The principal and I created the following powerpoint together as a means of me teaching the types of writing to her so that she would be able to extend that learning to the staff at the school. The district administrative team is encouraging each of the school administrators in the district to revisit the concepts of Collins Writing with the staff in their schools throughout the school year. In addition, the district has hired John Collins to come to Hanover Public School District in January of 2016 to conduct a follow-up training with all the teachers in the district.

Artifact: The powerpoint below provides an introductory training of the Collins Writing approach. The training has the teachers jumping right into an active role in their own learning as they experience a Collins Writing assignment, practicing the task while also learning about what Collins Writing is. The Collins Writing program can be used K-12 and in any subject area. The approach is about helping teachers to improve students' thinking and writing skills at the same time. According to the Collins Writing website, the program is based on three essential principles:
 * 1) Thinking and writing skills develop with frequent, meaningful, practice.
 * 2) Most students develop writing and thinking skills incrementally through a variety of informal and formal writing experiences.
 * 3) Each of the Five Types of Writing SM serves a distinct instructional purpose that is easily adapted to student needs and differences between subject areas.

The training as written for the first day of inservice for the Hanover High School staff instructs them on the first two types of writing only. Type 1 and Type 2 Writing are both informal pieces of writing, writing to learn type activities. A Type 1 writing assignment gives a student an opportunity to record his/her thinking in a brainstorming or idea gathering kind of activity, free from the need to pay attention to writing conventions. Type 2 takes this task one step further by stipulating a minimum number of lines or items that must be included and grading is based on correct or incorrect content, not on writing conventions. In future professional development sessions, the Hanover High School staff will be exposed to Types 3, 4, and 5 of Collins Writing, moving from informal pieces to formal writing assignments.



B. Candidates demonstrate the ability to use strategies such as observations, collaborative reflection, and adult learning strategies to form comprehensive professional growth plans with teachers and other school personnel. (610, 700, 701, 703, 798)

Summary: Good teaching is characterized very specifically in the Framework for Teaching, created by Charlotte Danielson. Her framework defines a research-based synopsis of the components of quality instruction. Using the framework provided the observer and the observed with a shared vocabulary for discussing the complexities of teaching and devising next steps for teachers' professional growth so they are constantly refining their craft. Within the framework, teaching is divided into twenty-two components dispersed across four domains of teaching responsibilities: Domain 1: Planning and Preparation Domain 2: Classroom Environment Domain 3: Instruction Domain 4: Professional Responsibilities While the framework provides specific components, elements, domains, and vocabulary around best practices in teaching, quality instruction can be characterized more broadly as students who are engaged and want to attend, students who look forward to being in school and understand why they are there, students having high expectations placed on them with the teacher providing support and feedback, and students are offered a variety of methods in which they can demonstrate mastery of their learning. An observer will know that good teaching is occurring when students are observed in problem solving, inquiry-based learning, student voices are at the center, student engagement rather than discipline is most prevalent, and students have pride in their work. Teacher evaluation has to be a shared responsibility and commitment to teacher improvement and increased student achievement as the end goals in order to have the kind of enduring, positive impact on overall education that America's children deserve.

Artifact: I engaged in the observation process with three teachers at the elementary, middle, and high school levels as part of the requirements for EDSU 799. The teachers that I observed were a speech-language therapist (providing services at an elementary level), a middle-school reading specialist, and a high school remedial math teacher. The observations involved two full cycles of observation using the Charlotte Danielson framework (pre-conference, observation, and post-conference). The culmination of each observation cycle with the teachers was to draft a memo (as required in the EDSU 799 guidance) outlining a summary of the clinical observation and post-conference. Also included for each was a plan for continued professional growth.







C. Candidates develop and implement personal professional growth plans that reflect a commitment to life-long learning. (610, 700, 701, 703, 798)

Summary: I am a big advocate of continued personal professional growth that results from a commitment to life-long learning. My learning is never finished because there is always something new that I am excited to learn about. I do not need Act 48 requirements or formal professional growth plans to keep me engaged in learning something new. The intrinsic motivation I have is born out of a positive school experience and role models in my life who demonstrated the life-long learning ideal. I am fortunate to have had the experiences I have that drives me to **//want//** to keep learning. So, while I pursue new informal learning experiences regularly, I do also enjoy find myself in professional situations that require more formalized learning plans. I took part in a pilot of the Teachscape software during the 2014-15 school year at the Lincoln Intermediate Unit to assist in determining if the LIU would adopt that software or use Google docs as we had the previous year. Teachers in both the clinical and non-clinical cycles participated in the pilot. I participated in the pilot as a non-clinical staff member, necessitating an action plan project in addition to observation. The resulting learning was insights into both the various platforms available to schools to document the Educator Effectiveness process and what I learned in the action plan research.

Artifact: Evidence of the Teachscape pilot is only available by login into the Teachscape site. Therefore, I could not include that, but have included my action plan proposal below. The final product has also been included in this program manual under Standard 3, Manage the Operations. The action plan proposal demonstrates lifelong learning by way of a (school) year long research project, while the topic itself that I chose is further evidence of a commitment to learning. I have a bachelor's degree in education and a bachelor's degree in history. I also earned a master's degree as K-12 reading specialist. While I am capable at math, the subject has never been one I chose to pursue at a graduate level. However, knowing that I plan one day to supervise teachers in a range of content areas, I intentionally chose a topic that was in math and not my strongest area. I felt the experience would be important to helping me hone my expertise in researching and evaluating curriculum and assessments, regardless of the subject area.



Standard 3
==Candidates who complete the program are educational leaders who have the knowledge and ability to promote the success of all students by managing the organization, operations, and resources in a way that promotes a safe, efficient, and effective learning environment.==

Manage the Organization
A. Candidates demonstrate the ability to optimize the learning environment for all students by applying appropriate models and principles of organizational development and management, including research and data driven decision-making with attention to indicators of equity, effectiveness, and efficiency. (610, 700, 701, 703, 799)

Summary: I have had good teachers during my years as a student. I have had great teachers and I have had poor teachers. The optimal learning environment for a student is largely created by the teacher. Of course there are all sorts of extraneous factors that influence student's readiness to learn such as poverty, health conditions, learning disabilities, etc. However, the basic physical and emotional learning environment in a classroom is influenced by the teacher. There can be two physically identical classrooms side by side and in one is a teacher whose classroom environment is one of fear, students listening and doing as the teacher desires out of fear of his/her reaction. In the classroom next door could be a teacher whose students are listening and engaged in their work because their teacher has created an environment of mutual respect for others and for learning. Teachers are also the architects of the learning going on in the classroom. While guided by curricula, scope and sequence, and their own written lesson plans, teachers are the professionals in the room making near constant decisions based on formative assessment and monitoring of student understanding, the essential questions, and goals for the class. Watching a great teacher in action is deceiving. All of the moving parts together in harmony may appear to be effortless or at least much easier than it actually is. What is not evident is the extensive planning that went into making the lesson appear effortless. Not readily apparent is the hours of research and poring over data that the teacher has spent in preparation for the instruction going on in the classroom. What no one will notice of a great teacher is the attention paid to the learning needs of all students, that is not a result of "winging it", but can only be the result of taking the time to know one's students well, far beyond simply the scores on tests.

Artifact: See artifact (curriculum proposal and appendices) included in the next component. The curriculum proposal and appendices are evidence of the kind of preparation that goes into quality instruction in a classroom. The higher the quality of preparation, the more likely that quality instruction will follow. Reviewing curriculum to determine the degree of alignment both horizontally and vertically is one of the preparatory activities on which good teaching is based. Strong curriculum alignment K-12 between the written, taught, and tested curricula is prerequisite to good teaching and rigorous levels of learning. Having standards to reference is important also, but teachers need to examine curriculum thoroughly to be sure that most important topics are spiralled and that content is not inadvertently omitted. Teachers can work in grade-level groups or multi-levels to study curriculum for horizontal and vertical alignment. The curriculum proposal included below was finalized after this kind of extensive examination of curriculum documents and standards, albeit not in a collaborative manner with other teachers.

B. Candidates develop plans of action for focusing on effective organization and management of fiscal, human, and material resources, giving priority to student learning, safety, curriculum, and instruction. (700, 701, 703, 799)

Summary: The following K-12 curriculum review investigates the math curricula of a K-6 Catholic school and the math curricula of a grades 7-12 junior/senior parochial high school, both located in York, PA. As part of the requirements of the project, I examined the curricula and assessments in use in each school. Alignment between the curricula and content and performance standards were considered. The ultimate intended outcome of the curriculum review was to make recommendations for a revised math curriculum and purchase of curricular resources for the Act 89 math specialists to improve their instruction with students. Implementation of the Common Core State Standards in a majority of the schools served by the Act 89 program has required specialists in the program to work aggressively to keep pace with the revisions requisite to align with the new standards. Specifically, the specialists need a method for more precisely targeting individual instructional gaps and aligning their instruction with the Common Core State Standards. The proposed curriculum includes recommendations for Act 89 specialists as a starting point for meeting instructional demands at their individual schools, while leaving room for professional decisions individualized for each student.

Artifact: The narrative document and supplemental resources below propose instructional strategies, assessments, and resources that are currently lacking in the Act 89 program. These documents outline both the consistencies and incongruities between the school curricula and the Common Core State Standards. The purpose of the proposed curriculum is to provide guidance for Act 89 math specialists assigned to deliver math interventions for struggling students in grades one through twelve. The interventions are intended to assist Act 89 specialists in prioritizing mathematical concepts by grade level in order to best serve struggling students and get them to grade level mastery and success in a general education classroom.



Appendix A provides profile information for each school.



Appendix B contains curriculum documents for the elementary school.



Appendix C contains curriculum documents for the secondary school.



Appendix D contains curriculum assessment samples.



C. Candidates demonstrate an ability to manage time effectively and deploy financial and human resources in ways that promote student achievement. (700, 701, 703, 799))

Summary: Every spring, a survey is distributed to all nonpublic schools who have received Act 89 auxiliary services during that school year. The goal of the survey distribution is to determine satisfaction with each service and plan for professional development and auxiliary services for the following school year. The information is cross-referenced with other sources of information about Act 89 services and compiled into the brochure below to summarize the Act 89 services distributed by the Lincoln Intermediate Unit for a given school year. I distributed the survey and compiled the results into the format of the attached brochure. This brochure will be used to communicate with school administrators, LIU leadership, and parents about the functioning of the Act 89 program and its broad influence on students throughout a tri-county area.

Artifact: The Auxiliary Services at-a-Glance brochure includes a brief summary of the services offered by the Lincoln Intermediate Unit Act 89 program. A brief description of each of the services is inserted along with the approximate number of students and schools receiving the respective services during the 2014-15 school year. Contact information and the mission statement for the program and for the LIU can also be found in the brochure.



Manage the Operations
A. Candidates demonstrate the ability to involve staff in conducting operations and setting priorities using appropriate and effective needs assessment, research-based data, and group process skills to build consensus, communicate, and resolve conflicts in order to align resources with the organizational vision. (610, 700, 701, 703, 799)

Summary: The budget process at the Hanover Senior High School is an example of a group process of the kind outlined above. During my practicum experience at HHS, I had the opportunity to learn about how the budget process functions at the school and district level. The administrative assistant to the principal at the high school is a key organizer of the budget process and developed the color-coded form process that the school uses to elicit budget requests from staff. The requisition process begins in the fall of the school year. By the beginning of December, all forms are due back to the department chairs who are responsible for submitting them to the high school principal. The principal must defend the budget in discussion with the superintendent. While final budgetary decisions fall the the superintendent, business manager, and the school board, the process in inclusive of teachers and their individual needs/requests. Each person's role in the process is important to maintaining the integrity of sound purchasing and effectiveness of budgetary decisions.

Artifact: The documents below include a summary of how the budget process at HHS works. The additional documents are scanned copies of the actual documents used to construct the budget starting at the individual teacher level. Details about the purpose of each of the budget forms are included in the HHS Annual Budget Process summary document.



B. Candidates develop communications plans for staff that includes opportunities for staff to develop their family and community collaboration skills. (614)

Summary: Title I, Part A provisions of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act provide a framework for school, families and the community to collaborate for the educational benefit of children. Parents are considered key players in the process where Title I funds are concerned. I use the Title I Parent Involvement Guide (below) as my guide to the regulations of the Title I provisions. According to the guide, the provisions, "stress shared accountability between schools and parents for high student achievement, including expanded public school choice and supplemental educational services for eligible children in low-performing schools, local development of parental involvement plans with sufficient flexibility to address local needs, and building parents' capacity for using effective practices to improve their own children's academic achievement." As such, the Act 89 specialists, bound by administer auxiliary services to students in nonpublic schools and are funded inn part by the state Act 89 allocation and also through Title I funds. Districts contract with the LIU to provide those services in lieu of their own staff needing to travel to the nonpublic schools. The Act 89 specialists work together each year to design the parent involvement events that will be offered to parents/guardians and their children. While the specialists are spread out over three counties, they are committed to collaborating on the planning of larger events, while continuing to engage in other activities at their school level.

Artifact: The first document below is the meeting notes from the initial Title I parent involvement planning meeting that the specialists held this school year. At that meeting, the specialists outlined a tentative parent involvement plan for the current school year. The second artifact, a link to a Google survey that was used to gather information about planned events since everyone is so spread out. A follow-up meeting was held on November 11th in which it was determined that resources would be gathered by topic and specialists divided themselves by region to co-plan and amass the resources. I created a Google folder in which specialists are contributing their planning materials and have scheduled a follow-up meeting at the beginning of January so that final preparations can be made prior to Catholic Schools Week, when many of the specialists will piggy-back on school events to be able to meet with parents.



Click to access the Parent Involvement Google survey.



C. Candidates demonstrate an understanding of how to apply legal principles to promote educational equity and provide safe, effective, and efficient facilities. (620)

Summary: The official policies of school boards delineate administrative regulations for the functioning of the district. The intention is to provide direction to school staff and is the means by which school boards communicate board positions to the public. Employees of a district are expected to be familiar with board policy and to follow the regulations outlined therein. School boards receive their authority from state and must comply with state and federal laws. The policies and regulations written and adopted by the school boards determine how each school is governed. School boards should be reviewing and revising board policy on a regular basis in order to keep all policies up-to-date. Admittedly, some policies may require revision more often than others. For example, since technology changes at a rapid rate, it is necessary to be vigilant in keeping technology policies current to cover all emerging technology, such as social media.

Artifact: A policy on lesson plans may not have the same urgency for revision as one related to technology. However, the LIU Board policy related to lesson plans had not been revised since 2003. The wording of the policy was outdated and did not address all the teachers on the LIU staff, due to the varied assignments of the itinerant teachers and nuances of individual programs. The policy revision proposal I wrote considers the needs of the LIU teachers across programs and the changes in technology that have transpired since 2003, particularly concerning the writing, storing, and access of lesson plans by program supervisors and substitute teachers. The document titled, //Lesson Plan Policy Revision//, is a needs assessment, analysis, plan for implementation, and justification of the proposed changes. The second document is the revised version of the board policy.



Manage the Resources
A. Candidates use problem-solving skills and knowledge of strategic, long-range, and operational planning (including applications of technology) in the effective, legal, and equitable use of fiscal, human, and material resource allocation and alignment that focuses on teaching and learning. (620, 701, 799)

Summary: As I have been learning through my principal preparation courses, the construction of a budget for a school district is an extensive and complicated process, particularly during this era of close public scrutiny of all things education-related. With only a limited amount of funding (sometimes shrinking), schools are tasked with allocating resources to maximize the impact on teaching and learning. School budgets are anything but simple and the many stakeholders in the process provide further complications. It is also difficult to quantify an amount of spending that is necessary to positively affect student outcomes.

Artifact: The following document contains a description of the budget process in Chambersburg Area School District. I interviewed the CASD Director of Curriculum and Instruction during the research phase of the project with the purpose of investigating the budget process and learning about the various roles school leaders play in the building and execution of a school district's budget. Chambersburg Area School District is the largest school district in the tri-county area served by the LIU. In another budget project for my coursework, I investigated the budget process at one of the smallest districts in the LIU area. It was certainly interesting to learn the similarities and differences between the two procedures.



B. Candidates creatively seek new resources to facilitate learning. (701, 703, 799)

Summary: One of the assignments in EDLD 614 was to choose an article on school and community relations that would be presented in a mock staff meeting. We were also instructed to choose a discussion protocol to use with the article to facilitate discussion among the staff that was based on the content of the article. We had 20-25 minutes for the staff meeting which, while that may be a realistic amount of time for such meetings, isn't necessarily conducive to reading and discussing an article in its entirety. Thus, I used the website, Actively Learn, to facilitate the reading and discussion of just two parts of the article. My intention was twofold: to model the use of a new technology that teachers could use with students in their own classroom and to deliver the intended content to the teachers. When I use a new technology is staff meetings or professional development situations, I prefer to always have a Plan B in case the technology doesn't work as planned. Evidence of my Plan B is apparent on the powerpoint slides below. On each slide, instructions for the protocol are outlined to be used with the technology and there are also instructions for use of the paper copy. That way, there is no precious time wasted if the technology does not cooperate or someone comes to the session without a device.

Artifact: The artifacts below contain the article, //Wire Side Chats: School-Community Relations Is Great PR and Then Some//, and the powerpoint that I used during the staff meeting to display the directions for each step of the protocol. I've also included a screenshot of the student view of the article on Actively Learn. The website allows the administrator to upload an article and insert questions within the article that students will read and answer as they go along. Students cannot move on in the article or see others' responses until they have posted a response of their own. In the screenshot, you can see one of the questions I inserted and the student responses on the right hand side of the screen. The answers viewable in the screenshot correspond to an earlier question in the article as the user can scroll through separately on the two sides of the screen. Administrator (or teacher) rights include an ability to grade each response, view notes and/or questions summaries, number paragraphs, etc.





C. Candidates apply and assess current technologies for school management, business procedures, and scheduling. (701, 799)

Summary: With staff spread across three counties, the Act 89 program (and the LIU in general) is always on the look out for new technologies that will make communication easier. In close second is a desire to find ways to connect virtually rather than having to bring staff to a central location from the far reaches of the LIU#12 geographical area. We've even begun to offer virtual participation to principals in place of traveling to meetings at the LIU. As the Professional Development Consultant for the program, I was tasked with finding more efficient ways of connecting with staff and principals, minus a commute to the LIU offices in New Oxford. I was already accustomed to using Google Hangouts as a means of virtual connection (and it is free!) and liked the resource so that was one that I was initially drawn towards. The LIU also had access to GoTo Meeting and Zoom conferencing. I piloted the use of each to see which one would be most advantageous in terms of ease of use and reliability. Ultimately, I chose Zoom conferencing for professional use. On a personal level, Google Hangouts is quite reliable and the added benefits of the social media-like format of Google+ is a definite plus in my mind!

Artifact: During the process of checking out each of the three platforms (GoTo Meeting, Zoom conferencing, and Google Hangouts), I created a technology guide that was intended to help teachers to be easily able to access each of the sites and decide for themselves which was the one he/she preferred and shy. The degree of competency among the current LIU Act 89 staff varies greatly. Some have spent most of their careers with minimal technology prowess. Admittedly, some of the Act 89 specialists do not have internet access in some of the schools in which they teach. That is not a criticism of any nonpublic school but simply an admission of the facts. There are many successful people in the United States who were educated and moved on to successful careers before the internet was available! My intention for the creation of this document was to provide Act 89 staff with easy-to-follow how-to directions of how to use the virtual meeting technology tools that are available to the program. Some staff were resistant at first, but it only took one or two forced interactions with the resources to help them figure out how to use the tools and to reveal the relative ease with which each could be utilized.