The Role Of School Boards And Superintendents In Public Schools

Great Essays
“School boards and Superintendents each have distinct roles, but they must be innovative and use common sense in all areas; however they must remember that it is all for the students.” This quote confirms that in order for students to compete they must be supported by a school district that is led by a Superintendent and School board that has the vision and know how to give students what they need to succeed. This is shown in a High School that Works report entitled Improving Schools Requires District Vision, District and State Support, and Principal Leadership. In a report from the Southern Regional Education Board (SREB), they oversaw a study of 35 superintendents and school board leaders. The study found in order for a school district …show more content…
This is why my district has started a problem based learning curricular program around engineering and biomedicine. Moreover, with reference to my vision statement students within district are already starting to develop the communication, collaboration, critical thinking, and creative skills need to compete in the 21st century. This is shown in the data, according to the ESEA data 69.9% of students within the district score exemplary or met on science assessments; however when it comes to mathematics we are lagging behind by .5% when compared with other districts within the state. This is why according to the article, “Superintendents were dependent on principals and teachers to carry out vision statements, and were most successful when they elicited commitment from the staff; providing them with the resources, buffering staff from outside meddling, and engaging them in conversations about instruction (Lashway, L., …show more content…
Similarly, this paper argues that while a standard based with approach is good for improving instruction for all students; it is as important that schools look to institute an opportunity to learn standards for all students; particularly for students from diverse backgrounds, and learning abilities. Furthermore, in order to fully fulfill my vision statement, “teachers are going to have to have in-depth staff development that encompasses the presentation, implementation, and refinement of teaching techniques and methodologies (Including At-Risk Students in Standards-Based Reform: A Report on McREL 's Diversity Roundtable II,

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    Todd Whitaker provides techniques for principals to evaluate their personal leadership style against highly effective principals in his book, What Great Principals Do Differently. Dr. Todd Whitaker states that this book is about what great principals do that sets them apart. Clarifying what the best leaders do, and then practicing it ourselves, can move us into their ranks (Whitaker, 2009). The goal of a great leader is to help teachers understand and improve their practices and to gauge the effectiveness of their instruction. Educational leadership is constructed with knowledge acquired from many sources, and self-evaluation and experience help solidify leadership.…

    • 1059 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    The distinctive knowledge gained through the shadowing experience and interview with my school 's principal is invaluable and I am grateful for the principal 's graciousness in allowing me the opportunity to explore the complexities of school leadership. I was able to observe the principal 's style of leadership, planning with the school 's leadership team, and collaborative processes. I was also able to indirectly observe, conflict management, application of state and district mandates, and parent and community involvement outreach.…

    • 1180 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Centering Instruction on High Expectations for Student Achievement Criterion one of the Teacher and Principal Evaluation Program is “Centering Instruction on High Expectations for Student Achievement” (CEL5D+, 2014, p. 1). Criterion one emphasizes the importance for teachers to execute lessons in which the objectives or learning targets are clear to students and connect to appropriate grade level standards. Students should also know exactly what they need to do in order to achieve those objectives. Criterion one also highlights the importance of engaging students in work of high cognitive demand. As teachers include all of these aspects into their lessons students benefit by becoming more independent learners, achieve greater academic success,…

    • 1318 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Summary: Chapter two of the book Educating Everybody’s Children is a great resource for educators. Throughout the reading, the author presents instructional strategies that have relevance for educators of diverse students. To begin, the author addresses the issue of gap closing and explains its importance. Through comparisons between urban and suburban districts, the author expands upon the topic of “facing the achievement gap.” After laying out the facts of the achievement gap, the author proposes a few strategies that school districts and communities could use to close this gap.…

    • 780 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Principal Shadowing Upon guidance and recommendations from the SPA internship team, three head building principals from the Wyoming Valley West School District were sensibly selected. Having an overwhelmingly extensive amount of time in public education, the three principals had a combined total of over 60 years in the school district and with nearly 30 years of that time in administration. Respectively so, they are all in charge of the three largest buildings in the school district, too.…

    • 394 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Diverse Learners

    • 675 Words
    • 3 Pages

    “82 percent of the approximate 3 and one half million school teachers are non-Hispanic white. 7 percent of teachers are non-Hispanic African American with the remaining 8 percent being Hispanic.” (Maxwell, 2014) In addition, 74 percent are female. Maxwell in his article, U.S. Schools Enrollment Hits Majority-Minority Milestone; claimed that “the lack of diversity among students creates cultural divides between students and teachers.…

    • 675 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Montgomery Education

    • 950 Words
    • 4 Pages

    If the Montgomery Public School System were a fiction novel, it could be called The Tale of Two School Systems. But it is Nonfiction. It is a true story and could be better called The Montgomery Public School System: The Dichotomy that Exists. Montgomery Public Schools is the only school system in the state that is in takeover.…

    • 950 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In today’s educational setting there are various major issues that constantly need to be addressed and dealt with. Often times these issues are so vast and so severe that the idea of even where to begin is almost unfathomable. These issues range from academic concerns, to financial concerns, and continue with personnel and staffing issues. Many school systems face such dire problems, that it is almost impossible to resurrect their institutions to get them on the right path to success. By possessing the ability to recognize the most pertinent issues facing a school system, administrators can develop a plan of action and then implement that plan to hopefully create positive change that can have a lasting positive impact on the school.…

    • 896 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    School Board Relations exposes future administrators to a broad spectrum of requirements, information and resources. Collaboration for school leaders, effects of systems on K-12 Education, and professional development plans will be the emphasis of this paper. Creating and connecting collaborative rapport between school board members and superintendent is one of the main and most important role for the superintendent. To build trust within the district, the superintendent must constantly focus on answering to board members’ needs along with providing each of them with the same up-to-date information. Board members were elected by their communities to form policies and make decisions for local public schools.…

    • 1845 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Standards-Based Reform

    • 228 Words
    • 1 Pages

    Notwithstanding a varied range of student differences—or perhaps because of it— there is a rising emphasis to have all students reach the same academic goals and standards. Some educators and administrators have noted this movement as "standards-based reform. " Many advocates of standards-based reform have disputed that expectations for students have been too low, especially for students with disabilities and students from minority groups and lower socioeconomic classes. This perspective has birthed the idea that whatever standards or educational goals are set should be uniformly applied to the vast majority of students and particular attention should be given to historically under-performing groups. This change in philosophy has been a challenge…

    • 228 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Over the course of my seven years teaching high school social studies, I have had the opportunity to learn about the evolving roles and responsibilities of a school administrator from three amazing principals. Henry Kluttz, Kelly Withers, and Angelo DelliSanti have been excellent models for anyone aspiring to be an administrator. Having recently started my own journey towards this leadership role, my knowledge of what makes a great principal has grown exponentially. Having the opportunity to interview a pair of veteran elementary school principals through this assignment has been an eye-opening experience. Having spent the entirety of my teaching career at the high school level has left me with a limited understanding of how an elementary school functions.…

    • 1066 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    To reflect on the many theories, strategies, and planning processes discussed throughout this course, one section particularly stood out to me. The 21 responsibilities of the school leader presented in the Marzano book provided some insights into frequently occurring responsibilities of the school leader. As stated in the book, the “wide array of behaviors explains why it is so difficult to be an effective school leader. (Marzano , Waters, & McNulty, 2005, pg. 41).…

    • 938 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    The Importance of Teachers as Leaders In today’s world, there is an ever-present need for restructuring our public school systems, particularly regarding leadership in our schools. “Teacher Leaders” is a term that is becoming more used in today’s educational setting. Teacher leaders, or leaders as teachers, are teachers “who aspire to stretch beyond their classrooms to engage in leadership roles that take many shapes and forms, both informal and formal” (Education Commission of the State, 2010, p.1). This is not a new concept but one that is being tweaked.…

    • 1403 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The Power of Leadership In every school that exhibits strength, one will see a leader that empowers the staff to achieve their goals. Strong leadership entails one who shares a vision with their staff in order to produce growth for the students. Without a leader, teachers will have to take on many other roles that distract their focus from their daily classroom routines. Furthermore, I believe that a successful school needs a principal to oversee the school culture, provide instructional leadership, and exemplify an understanding of state standards.…

    • 880 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Identifying low-performing schools has received a lot of attention since the late 1990s and early 2000s. Previously, student performance problems were undetectable because test scores were received in aggregate (Meeting the challenge, 1998). In 1997, North Carolina for the first time received student assessment data by school; making it apparent which schools were succeeding and which were not. The federal education legislation No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) of 2001 further increased a state’s awareness of high- and low-performing schools when it required annual assessments in grades 3 through 8.…

    • 1212 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays