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Secondary
You are a school principal in a 9-12 grade high school. In preparation for a meeting with your ELA department chair, Mr. Wong, you have been analyzing the students’ ELA performance data. Including Mr. Wong, your school has eight ELA teachers. For seven of the ELA teachers, 70% or more of their students are demonstrating good to exceptional outcomes on their writing benchmark data. Four of the teachers have historically yielded student scores with above average state standardized test results in comparison to schools in your district with similar demographics. In previous discussions, Mr. Wong has cited the teachers’ efforts to plan together utilizing the pacing guide, core program, and assessment results as the primary reasons for their students’ positive outcomes.
One teacher, however, Mr. Blumenstock, has been identified as an outlier by the district’s assessment coordinator, relative to the results of his students, compared to the other two teachers. Additionally, you have observed evidence that suggests Mr. Blumenstock is behind on the pacing guide compared to his colleagues. You also have anecdotal information that he does not engage with his teammates during scheduled content team meetings, which leads you to believe that he is not making an effort to plan with them outside the scheduled meetings.
In 750-1,000 words, analyze your chosen case using the three-part guiding questions below.
Part 1: Analyze the Case
Consider the following questions to begin analyzing the situation:
What do you consider the responsibility of the team lead/department chair in assisting the outlier teacher?
What stakeholders should be included in the conversation relative to next steps? Are these individual conversations or a group discussion or both?
What questions should be considered when making a determination about next steps?
Part 2: Identify the Larger Issues
Consider the following questions to analyze the contextual issues present in the situation:
What school or district policies might affect your decisions?
What additional information do you need as part of your decision-making process?
What are the potentially positive and negative outcomes of doing nothing?
What are the potentially positive and negative outcomes of taking action?
Part 3: Create an Action Plan
Use the following questions to guide you in describing what approach you will take to assist the team lead/department chair to help the outlier teacher, including 3-5 specific action steps:
What is your plan moving forward?
How does your plan sustain a culture of collaboration, trust, learning, and high expectations?
How will you include the critical stakeholders in the decision-making process?
What challenges do you anticipate?
How will you provide ongoing support to your team lead/department chair?
How will you evaluate the results of your teacher leader’s efforts?
What does the timeline look like?
My plan moving forward is to have a meeting with Mr. Wong and the other members of the ELA department to discuss a plan for helping Mr. Blumenstock increase his student scores. It is important that this meeting takes places in an environment of collaboration, trust, learning, and high expectations so that everyone can come together in order to find a solution. Stakeholders who should be included in the conversation include Mr. Wong as department chair, all eight ELA teachers including Mr. Blumenstock, and myself as principal of the school. Questions we should consider when making our determination about next steps include: what are some possible strategies for improving students’ writing benchmark data? How can we provide additional support or resources to Mr. Blumenstock? What changes could he make to improve teaching practices?
When creating an action plan I must consider any relevant school or district policies that may affect my decisions such as teacher evaluation procedures or professional development standards set forth by the district office. Additionally I need additional information regarding what strategies have already been used with Mr. Blumenstok’s class, how often he meets with his colleagues during content team meetings and if there are any other factors impacting his ability to help students succeed such as lack of supplies or resources in general within the classroom setting that might be affecting their performance in general . The potentially positive outcomes of taking action would be providing more support for both Mr Webb and his students by coming up with effective solutions based on reliable data which will likely lead to increased student success within his class room while simultaneously encouraging collaboration amongst colleagues throughout future meetings concerning curriculum planning . The negative outcomes could involve stress among both teachers and administrators alike since it will require extra effort from all parties involved but these challenges can be surmounted through cooperation between staff .
My approach includes 3-5 specific steps : 1) Meet with stakeholders including upon completion written summaries addressing each individual’s input , 2) Analyze current data on student performance ,3) Establish a timeline for implementing new strategies 4 ) Develop assessment rubrics 5 ) Assign mentorships between ELA teachers & 6 ) Monitor results over next few months & adjust plan accordingly if needed . By following these actions ,lcourage dialogue around best teaching practices & promote collegiality amongst top notch educators at our school also promoting sustainable culture if collaboration trust learning & high expectations moving forward Ultimately this process should evaluate results achieved , providing ongoing feedback loop where necessary which will ensure that potential issues are addressed quickly when they do arise My hope is that this comprehensive approach provides adequate assistance for those involved allowing them due diligence required without feeling overwhelmed causing unnecessary tension