Superintendent Competency Reflections

REFLECTION:

 

As I complete begin this program and prepare for the test to becoming a school superintendent I know I have developed some strengths and have some areas which I need to improve upon in order to become an effective leader of the entire organization.  One important thing I believe to remember as we lead children and adults is that leadership by example is critical. 

Competency 1 deals with the ability of a superintendent to act with integrity, fairness and ethically to promote student success.  For this domain I had I did not have an area I labeled as needing improvement in my original assessment as far as applying laws, policies and procedures in a fair manner.  During this program I have become more aware of the laws surrounding school leadership and have worked tirelessly at implementing them with fidelity in my district.  I identified advocacy for all students, high standards of conduct, monitoring ethics, and interaction with stakeholders as definite areas of strength for me, and they continue to be strengths in my opinion.  I feel I have accomplished these things every year in my educational career and believe it is a critical attribute that will help me succeed as a superintendent.  As far as areas of competence that I will continue to monitor I felt things such as understanding and implementing the code of ethics and applying laws, and policies in a fair manner were areas I would work on.  This focus has driven me to follow current events in education and monitor how things like House Bill 5 and other legislation is impacting school leaders.  To become an effective organizational leader I believe I need to continue to become more aware of the ethics for educators.  The most important thing I can do with this information is ensure all stakeholders are aware of them and implement them effectively on their campuses.  Too many times I have seen educators make careless mistakes in judgment and be unaware of how their actions conflict with the established code of ethics. 

 

Next, there is competency 2 which deals with the ability to shape the culture of the district and then represent the ideals in the form of a vision and mission that is shared and supported by all stakeholders.  The one item I originally identified as an area needing improvement for me personally was being aware of emerging issues and communicating with the local community.  To address these needs I coordinated and lead some parent and community events involving our district drug testing policy.  This has allowed me to open lines of communication with members of the community.  Although my previous experience in developing and monitoring a vision and mission have prepared me these endeavors this is something I feel requires my continual work as I move higher up the leadership ladder.  Strengths of competency 2 have continued to be strengths of mine include celebrating contributions of staff, encouraging innovation, promoting awareness, and supporting students with special needs.  My time in athletics has given me a vast amount of experience in dealing with others.  Education is a people business and we must be able to deal with, work with and lead others to success to lead effectively.  Also, I have a mild case of cerebral palsy and have been on the receiving end of special services.  This provides me a unique perspective and appreciation of these programs and services that I feel allows me to lead others to understand these programs and the benefits to our students and staff.

 

The third competency deals with communication and collaboration with families and communities to address needs and provide resources to help students succeed.  Since the majority of my time has been in athletics I had limited experience in mobilizing community resources and thus my areas needing improvement include developing a public relations program, identifying opinion leaders, establishing partnerships within the community, and gathering input from the community.  Therefore, I addressed those during my internship assisting in developing campus and district goals and working to ensure they were implemented with fidelity.  One of my areas of competence involves utilizing the media to advance the district.  Although I have gotten better at this I think this is a constant work in progress.  Dealing with the media is not a daily task, but it is extremely important in times of need.  Some strength’s in competency 3 that I feel continue to be strengths involve communicating effectively with diverse students, building consensus.  Once again I attribute these strengths to my time in athletics.  I have been at diverse campuses and had constant contact with students and stakeholders and have refined my skills in dealing with them and getting others to reach consensus. 

In the initial evaluation Competency 4 was my greatest area of needing improvement from Domain I because of lack of experience working with board members, protecting the rights of students and staff, as well as preparing and recommending policies to the district.  Since this time I have been given more responsibility in my district leading the AVID program as well as the drug testing program.  These assignments required me to work closely with the school board as we wrote policies and had them approved by TASBO and ultimately shared them with the community.  In addition, it allowed me to changes those areas identified as competent in the original questioning were now strengths.  Regarding some areas still needing improvement the one I feel requires the most work include responding to political factors affecting students, identifying board roles, working with the board and political systems on educational issues.  I feel this continues to be an area of need because the national and state political systems are in constant change and I do not want to get comfortable thinking I know more than I do I need to always learn about these things. 

The next the competencies deal with instructional leadership.  Since beginning this program I have accepted my first administrative position and it has always been a goal as an organizational leader to not lose touch with what it was like to be in the classroom dealing with students on a daily basis and be a resource for my teachers.   Competency 5 deals more specifically the planning and implementation of the curriculum and measuring performance.  Previously, I had served on curriculum committees and advanced my campuses in this area I feel I have a solid foundation to build upon.  However, once I began serving as an assistant principal I had to become a data expert in making educated decisions regarding teacher and students.  The interpretation and use of data has been one of my biggest areas of growth since beginning this program.  My identified strengths as a beginner included the integration of technology, the coordination of curricular and extra-curricular programs, and ensuring staff is knowledgeable of accountability.  As an expansion of this strength I have begun working on a technology expansion plan and presenting this information to the board.  In the short time I have been a campus administrator I have come to realize how important it is to staff are knowledgeable of how we are judged and providing support needed to lead our campus to success.  Considering areas I feel competent but need to continue to work on I identified facilitating and developing curriculum and monitoring these areas.  I feel this will develop into strengths as I continue to work on different campuses in helping devise curriculums across our district that involve more rigor and reporting the results to various stakeholders.

Next, competency 6 deals with promoting professional growth, is the domain I saw the least amount of change in my pre and post assessments.  It is important as a leader to model lifelong learning which I continue to do as I pursue my doctoral degree.  My strengths both times in this area involve motivation, using research based theories, and developing change.  I have been instrumental in my career in bringing about meaningful change within my school district.  There are things I am competent in but have not considered strengths at this time of the first assessment including encouraging rigor, facilitating the study of best practices, comprehensive assessment, and studying organizational factors.  I have made these strengths by becoming the district director of the AVID program for my school district.  Due to my lack of knowledge of all special programs needing flexible instruction I identified this as needing improvement originally and now.  I feel I have learned little about this and need to continue enhancing my knowledge int the areas of special population students. 

Competency 7 is the final component of Domain 2 and addresses supervision, evaluation and professional development.  As a leader I have always worked to help others improve and feel this is a competency I have a strong performance in, much as it was when I began this program.   Beginning my areas of competent success involved developing a professional development plan, applying adult learning principles, developing growth programs, and implementing strategies to improve performance of staff.  Since beginning this program I have taken over the professional development planning for the AVID program.  This experience has been tremendous in learning about planning, funding and reflection on professional learning.  All along my strengths in this area included participating in quality professional development, enhance the skills of others, deliver effective presentations, and have effective methods to evaluate staff.  One of the things I pride myself on is modeling lifelong learning. 

The final Domain addresses the need of the superintendent to be an administrative leader.  The first of these three is competency 8 which specifically revolves around budgetary items.  I have had experience with budgets and some financial rules and regulations on a small level of 42 accounts.  Since the time we began I have also taken portions of the high school allotment budget and Title I,II, and III funds.  As I identified originally, to be a financially responsible leader I need to work tirelessly to improve on my items of need including developing purchasing procedures, obtaining funding, developing personnel policy, plans for technology use and regulations regarding personnel discipline.  These areas of weakness are due in large part due to lack of experience addressed in my activities.

Competency 9 involves monitoring the district’s physical plant to ensure a safe learning environment.  These are individuals I have always tried to respect and show appreciation for.  I have long felt I had strengths in relation to applying strategies to ensure student safety, developing emergency plans, legal aspects, and efficiency.  Throughout my career I have been at the forefront of emergency preparation and being efficient.  I feel valued in that my input is sought in relation to these topics.  On the other hand I felt I needed to improve my knowledge of procedures around construction of facilities.  Interestingly enough I have worked to present a proposed existing facility remodel project to our school board.  This has opened my eyes to things such as selecting a contractor and approving a project depending on how much it costs.  Moving forward I need to continue studying the funding of bonds and facility improvement.

The final domain, domain 10, involves operating the district in a way that meets state and federal regulations and not much has changed on my feelings regarding this domain.  Since this information is mostly a need to know there are areas I have previously not needed to be aware of including the obstacles of change, and the political influences I feel they are the areas I need to improve upon significantly.  This can be done in my opinion by studying successful change and becoming more cognizant of the political structure of the community.  I have been able to build quality relationship with others and get along to achieve a common goal which I feel will continue due to my personality of involving and supporting others.  As far as strengths within this domain I feel my ability to lead a group and resolve problems are my main strengths within this domain.  With my increasing responsibilities in my district I feel these will serve me well and be areas I can continue to show strength in. 

Overall, I have a good mixture of areas of strength, competency and needing improvement in the first assessment.  I used the internship to work on my areas of need and continue refining my strengths.  What has contributed to my learning the most is to take on responsibilities to address my areas of need and continue to work my strengths to benefit others.  Therefore, I plan on continuing to expand my knowledge by taking on more responsibilities.