EDLD 5399 W1 Post SBEC Self-Assessment Reflection

Post SBEC Reflection Avance 

Posted by Brenda Avance at Saturday, August 25, 2012 3:54:21 PM CDT

EDLD 5399 Week One Post SBEC Reflection Avance 8-25-2012 SU3003 Cohort 5

As I completed the Post SBEC Superintendent Competencies Self Assessment, reviewed my responses today and compare the post responses with my answers in the first course, EDLD 5396 I have gained great respect for good long tenure superintendents, like mine in my present district, that have all of the knowledge and skills defined in these competencies and indicators. I was excited to see how many areas I already had knowledge and skills in and how many need work but I truly believe that sitting in the hot seat would tell the real tale. Research states that superintendents’ average tenure is 3.6 years (Retrieved from internet, August 25, 2012,http://www.districtadministration.com/article/superintendent-staying-power). In January in Domain 1, Leadership of the Educational Community, I felt I was pretty strong with 12 areas that I could lead in and 16 areas that I felt competent with the knowledge base and skills but not comfortable to lead in the sixteen. In those sixteen categories I raised thirteen of those to strengths through this program teaching and learning process. I had seven categories in Domain that I needed the most work in  and they were as follows; (1) using formal and informal techniques to monitor and assess district/school climate for effective, responsive decision making; (2) facilitating the development, use, and allocation of all available resources, including human resources, to support implementation of the district's vision and goals; (3)articulate the district's vision and priorities to the community and to the media; (4) influencing the media by using proactive communication strategies that serve to enhance and promote the district's vision; (5) communicating effectively about positions on educational issues using effective writing, speaking, and active listening skills to ensure educational success for all students; and (6) analyze and respond to political, social, economic, and cultural factors affecting students and education; (7) access and work with local, state, and national political systems and organizations to elicit input on critical educational issues. (State Board of EducatorCertification, Certificate and Renewal Information, retrieved 12 30, 2008, from internetwww.sbec.state.tx.us:http://www.sbec.state.tx.us/SBECOnline/certinfo/certren.asp?width=1280&height=800) Of these seven categories I was able to raise my knowledge level to competent in five of the areas and in two of them, numbers three and four, they became strengths.

In Domain II, Instructional Leadership, out of the 30 knowledge and skills that a superintendent is expected to be accomplished in I have gained strength in twenty one of the areas from four in the first class. Out of the original 2 skills and knowledge areas, Competency 5 and 6, that I needed the most work on are the areas I still feel weakest in due to my lack of work in the general curriculum area with more emphasis in the special education area. The indicators I feel I need the most work in are two out of Competency 5 and they are as follows: 1. evaluating district curricula and provide direction for improving curricula based on sound, research-based practices and 2. ensuring that staff members have a working knowledge of the accountability system and are monitoring its components to increase student performance. In Competency 6 Area the indicator the superintendent knows how to establish a comprehensive school district program of student assessment, interpretation of data, and reporting of state and national data results for improvement of student learning. I consider my self strong in Competency 6 and 7 except for the one indicator mentioned above.

In Domain III, Administrative Leadership, there were twenty-four statements that a superintendent should know how to accomplish. Out of the twenty-four, I considered five of them strengths for me back in the first course but have through the studies gained confidence and strength in six more. Domain III was my biggest growth area of knowledge and still the area of greatest concern because of the enormity of the responsibility of these areas of skills and knowledge. One of my biggest strengths is “managing one's own time and the time of others to enhance district operations” in Competency 8 Area while at the same time the indicator budget planning and management, revenue forecasting and enrollment forecasting for needs seems heavy. (State Board of Educator Certification, Certificate and RenewalInformation, retrieved 12 30, 2008, from internetwww.sbec.state.tx.us:http://www.sbec.state.tx.us/SBECOnline/certinfo/certren.asp?width=1280&height=800). Two of my strengths are in the Competency 9 Area and they are applying strategies for ensuring the safety of students and personnel and for addressing emergencies and security concerns and developing and implementing procedures for emergency planning and for responding to crises. The other two strengths are in Competency 10 Area which are implementing appropriate leadership skills, techniques, and group process skills to define roles, assign functions, delegate effectively, and determining accountability for goal attainment and using strategies for working with others, including the board of trustees, to promote collaborative decision making and problem solving, facilitating team building, and developing consensus. All of these strengths along with my desire to learn and lead will continue to benefit my districts and me as a leader in my future roles.

EDLD 5342 W5 Assignment Part 3 Reflection 5/11/2012 Avance

EDLD 5342 W5 Assignment Part 3 Reflection 5/11/2012 Avance
In my responses to the self-assessment reflection of the Domain III—Administrative Leadership Competencies 8-10, I have gained knowledge in each of the eleven categories. I have focused on the  areas that I put an “I” on back at the beginning of this class in week one and have improved my knowledge and skill in all those areas to at least competent in five of the areas and in two of the areas I feel I have gained strength in them. I now have six areas I consider strengths when at the beginning of this course I only considered my ability to manage my own time and the time of others to enhance district operations as strength where I could lead. This course was a scary one to start out in but as our cohort worked through it together in our wiki groups I was able to see the need for a competent, ethical team of district employees that compliment each other with their knowledge and expertise to make the district school finance run smoothly and able to balance even a difficult budget.
As Dr. Arterbury said in the Week 5 Lecture that he believes reflection is a key to personal professional improvement and success, I also believe reflection is important and helps me to define my knowledge base and helps me expand that base into areas of need and action. 

EDLD 5342 W5 Assignment Part 1 Reflection

EDLD 5342 W5 Assignment Part 1 Reflection 5/11/2012 Avance
Using the lecture/interview from Week Five discussing the importance of school leaders modeling highest ethical behavior, and the Texas Administrative Code of Ethics, Section 1 and 2, I have completed Part 1 assignment and I see a disturbing trend of unethical behavior of leadership in our state and country. The examples I gave are too close to home and we as the upcoming educational leadership future need to band together and chose to do what is right all the time and lead our years of education into a more ethical and higher standard of behavior for the good of all students. We need to lead by example. 

EDLD 5342 Week 4 Part 5

Week Four Assignment, Part 5 – Interview with Superintendent and/or Business Manager on Financial Audits
After talking and emailing with the Assistant Superintendent over the Department of Business Operations of my district and reviewing the last two Comprehensive Annual Financial Reports for 2010-2011 and 2009-2010 (Retrieved from the internet, May 1, 2012 http://www.garlandisd.net/departments/business_operations/financialreport.asp ), I have a clearer understanding of the audit process for school finance from the 13^th largest district in Texas. The external auditor is selected by request of proposals and the boards of trustees evaluate the proposals and pick the finalist by a criterion that is established by law. The auditor is a firm of licensed certified public accountants that uses generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) and generally accepted auditing standards. In my district we have an internal auditor (differentiated staff member) that receives the external auditors request for procedures to follow and documents to be examined. The internal auditor is the “appropriate district personnel are available to the team to answer questions or clarify district procedures” (Dr. Stephens, EDLD 5342 Week 4 Lecture p30). The external auditor issues a report that is given to the school district in writing and the internal auditor presents it to the Board and public at a Board Meeting and then it is posted on the website (www.garlandisd.net) for all to see and a copy of the report is submitted to the Texas education Agency. 

EDLD 5342 Week 4 Part 4

EDLD 5342 Week 4 Part 4--Understanding Personnel Salaries in District Budget
I attended the board meeting on April 10, 2012 where Dr Baragas presented a power point presentation titled, General Fund Budget Transition, in which he stated the preliminary budget  total revenue for 2012-2013 as $371,282,383. He stated that the district’s total personnel salaries will comprise 86 percent to 89 percent of the budget with staffing levels essentially flat. This 86 percent to 89 percent of the budget is right in line with the state average which is 80 percent to 90 percent (Smith, M. (2010, December 8). The Texas Tribune. In Light of Budget Gap, Public Education Faces Cuts. Retrieved May 1, 2012 from http://www.texastribune.org/texas-education/public-education/in-light-of-budget-gap-public-education-faces-cuts/ . Dr Barajas stated that our district is considering a 2 percent raise (on base salary) which will cost the district approximately $5.7 million from the General Fund. Baragas, R. (2012, April 10). A 5 percent salary increase for all personnel is not feasible at this time and would be a negative impact to the district in light of the state budget cuts to districts at this time. 

EDLD 5342 Week 4 Part 3

EDLD 5342 W4 Part 3

Comment: My district has been using differentiated staffing for years. Some examples of differentiated staffing is our internal auditor, special education facilitators on all campuses that conduct the IEP meetings as an administrator instead of principals and assistants, special education helping teachers and the new position being created for next year, Response To Intervention (RTI) Director.

Differentiated staffing was defined in Week 4 Lecture as a concept that proposes specialized use of personnel. Even though teachers and administrators tend to not be that specialized differentiated staffing could bring about greater efficiency by analyzing and redefining essential teaching tasks and many teaching functions that would create a way to distribute new educational roles for teaching the students that could bring about a significant operational cost savings for the district. Barriers to differentiated staffing are commitment to status quo, loss of teaching jobs, and opposition to organizational change (Week 4 Lecture p2 Stephens).

Reflection/Comment EDLD 5342 Week 4 Part 1 Assignment

EDLD 5342 Week 4 Part 2 Reflection/Comment Using the lecture/interview from Week Four, the Glossary in the Resource Section, and information from Week Four Snapshot District 1 Example and Week Four Snapshot District 2 Example we will as a group (Wiki Group 5) have seen the contrast between a small district, Week Four Snapshot District 1 Example and a large district, Week Four Snapshot District 2 Example. The two districts look very similar until you dissect the information and consider “economy of scale” and how it relates to school finance. Economy of scale as stated by Dr Lu in the Week Four Lecture/Interview is a concept that indicates that increasing the size of an organization can result in a lower per unit production cost. This is shown when looking at the data for the two district’s snapshots the total revenue per pupil is close with District one having 10,529/pupil and the larger District two actually having less with 10,316/pupil. District 2 is larger with 45 campuses, 32,326 total students and 2,299 total teachers while District 1 has three campuses, 830 total students, and 70 teachers (EDLD 5342 Resources: Week Four Snapshot District 1 Example and Week Four Snapshot District 2 Example). In District 2 the overall infrastructure cost per pupil is less.
Comment: I enjoyed this comparison because coming from the 13th largest district but not one of the wealthiest districts but a frugal district this has broadens my perspective of the issues that each type of district has with school finance.