Month: December 2010

IA22 – Family Involvement

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Introduction

In order to complete this assignment, I met with AH, our Head of School, to discuss what strategies the school employs to involve families in our educational program. I also met with JS, our director of student activities, and IL, our director of advancement. I then met with the president of our parent/teacher organization and another, less involved parent in the school to talk about these issues.

Findings

Communication

Our school has a formal communication plan which includes news updates on our website, regular email updates, phone tree announcements for special events and emergencies, a monthly printed newsletter and online portal pages for students, parents, teachers and alumni. The only complaint we get regarding communications is that parents feel overwhelmed by the volume of email they receive and this year we are making a concerted effort to consolidate the messages into once-a-week emails sent out on Friday afternoon.

School Activities

Parents report that they do feel welcome at school activities, thanks to the way they are scheduled (never more than two in a week and always scheduled in the evening), the personal greeting they receive from teachers and staff when they arrive and the warm atmosphere created.

Home Activities

We post all homework assignments to the school’s website and many middle and upper school teachers use online tools that allow students to do their work via the internet. Parents report feeling supported and they appreciate the responsiveness the faculty demonstrates by often answering emails in the evening, sometimes only minutes after they are sent. We also run a popular series of parent education sessions on issues like bullying, internet safety and health. Students are encouraged during the day to return at night with their parents and families enjoy the sessions.

Lifelong Learning

We have no such programs in place now but, in response to a suggestion from a parent we are planning a parent education program which we will pilot this summer in conjunction with our first summer school session for students.

Advocacy and Shared Governance

Most parents get involved in PTA activities at least once a year and many take leadership roles. Additionally, a network of grade-level parents keep everyone abreast of goings-on and we get a lot of positive feedback from parents about how nice it is to feel involved beyond simply sending in supplies or money. For example, we recently had a day of guest speakers in our Early Childhood classes during which each class was visited by 4-5 parents who spoke about hobbies and jobs. There were sessions on astronomy, scuba diving and firefighting and the day was a big hit with students and their parents..

IA21 – IEP Meeting

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Note: see the previous assignment for introductory remarks about ours school’s private status in regard to IDEA and IEP regulations.

To complete this assignment, I attended two IEP meetings, one of my own (for my son) and one for another student to which I was invited by the parents for the purpose of this assignment.

Although not required to do so by law, our school creates Individual Educational Plans for all students in our special needs program and meets annually with teachers and parents to review the IEP, make any changes that are needed and evaluate the student’s progress. In the meeting which I observed, the parents, whose child was nine years old, had been involved in this process at this school for six years. They were comfortable and familiar with the process, though I can easily imagine that many parents are not.

For a parent new to the process, an IEP meeting can be overwhelming, since there are so many professionals there and the parent likely feels unprepared. It’s easy for parents to simply sit idly by and watch, so care must be taken to keep them informed and involved throughout. There was no conflict of any kind at either meeting I attended and the members of the IEP team conducted themselves professionally.

A danger which I am aware of as a faculty member is that, after a certain number of these meetings, the process can become monotonous and the team may begin to make the same recommendations for every child. This must be avoided and it is up to the IEP coordinator to make this clear at the start of every meeting. This was not an issue at the meetings I attended but I know from experience that it is possible..

IA20 – Inclusion

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Introduction

In order to complete this activity, I reviewed the Individuals with Disabilities Act and looked specifically at the concept of the least restrictive environment. I spoke with EL, the head of our on-campus school for students with special needs and MW, our lead special education teacher. I also spoke with AF, a middle school language arts teacher and considered my own experiences as the parent of an Asperger’s student in the school.

It is important to note that, as a private school, we’re not obligated to conform to IDEA the same way a public school is. Many schools like ours simply don’t have programs for students with learning disabilities, but we are proud of the fact that we do. We have a partner school on our campus which offers classes for exceptional students and, when appropriate, mainstreams their students into our classes. In this way, we offer an inclusion program for students for whom it is appropriate.

Findings

Our school professes to be an inclusive school and, for the most part, this is true. I have found, both as a teacher and a parent, that students with special needs get varying levels of support depending on the teacher of the class into which they are included and different teachers comply with the instructions of the special education team to varying degrees. That being said, we offer one of the better programs in our area for religious Jewish students with learning disabilities.

One point worth mentioning specifically is the remarkable way the school welcomes these students socially. Faculty and students alike go out of their way to make students in the inclusion program feel welcome and many of the mainstream students remark that having exceptional students in their classes impacts them and their learning in positive ways. The inclusion program may not comply fully with IDEA but it does offer a LRE option to families like mine and has in important moral benefit for our school as well..

IA43 – Federal Programs

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In order to complete this activity, I reviewed information on federal resources available to schools and spoke with AH, our Head of School, as well as RQ, our Chief Operating Office. Unfortunately (for this process), as a private institution, we don’t participate in any federal programs other than the tax benefits afforded to all non-profit organizations. Since there were no real-world examples to look into, I asked AH to describe what pitfalls an educational leader must be aware of and how to navigate them in the public school system to benefit from federal programs.

His response was characteristic of his style and essentially was that one must always take care to follow all guidelines and procedures carefully since the cost of an error is much too high to risk the institution and its reputation. I mentioned a summer camp at which I worked when I was younger which participated in a federal milk program and, I discovered, purposefully misrepresented the number of campers who drank the milk in order to collect more money than was deserved. This was the same institution which paid several employees in cash so as to allow them to avoid paying income tax (and to avoid the tax burden the camp should have assumed, presumably). AH wasn’t surprised but found it an unfortunate and all-too common characteristic of private organizations who figure that they won’t get caught, so why not play fast and loose?

Aside from the obvious risk of getting caught and the fact that the risk outweighs the benefits of cheating, AH pointed out the detrimental moral effect such behavior can have on an institution. “If you’re mission is to teach, you have to represent something worth learning,” he told me and nowhere is this more true than in the arena of organizational dishonesty. Such behavior can cause rot in a school..

IA42 – Due Process and Rights: Teachers

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Once again, our school, as a private school, has a unique place when it comes to this issue; there are no unions to which our faculty can belong and no collective bargaining exists. That being said, I’ve worked here for three years, as both a teacher and an administrator, and never once did I feel powerless in my negotiations. This is due to a top-down attitude of professionalism and respect which permeates all discussions of teacher evaluation, discipline, hiring and termination.

Teacher evaluations are a complex, formal and open process and both the teacher and administrator must sign off on evaluation documents before they become part of a permanent record. In the case of teacher behavior which requires immediate disciplinary action, such meetings are formal, professional, and take place in a group, including the teacher, his or her department head, a principal, the HR director, a senior administrator and any non-student advocates the teacher wishes to invite. Our Head of School takes very seriously the school’s obligations to due process rights for teachers and that posture permeates every step of the process..

IA41 – Due Process and Rights: Students

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In order to complete this activity, I met with AH, our Head of School, to discuss what procedures exist at our school to guarantee due process rights for students and how those procedures operate. I also sat in with JM, an assistant principal, as he conducted random drug testing and met with students about disciplinary issues and served as a member of a discipline hearing.

Our discipline plan is both formal and comprehensive and, at its heart, is most concerned with guaranteeing the rights of students. The process begins with the discipline refereral form which staff members use to report disciplinary issues to the principal’s office. When a referral is filled out, it reports the specifics of the incident, identifies the specific infraction on a checklist and recommends a number of disciplinary points. It also outlines what action, if any, the reporting teacher took vis a vis the student.

Once the referral reaches the principal’s office, he or she schedules an immediate meeting with the student to discuss the incident. If a resolution is reached, then the details are recorded on the form and a copy is sent home, a copy is given to the student, a copy is returned to the teacher and a copy if placed in the student’s file. If resolution is not reached, or if the incident triggers further action -if, for example, it is an infraction which carries more than one discipline point or brings the student’s total points above a specified minimum, then a hearing is scheduled.

It is important to note that in almost every case, a student’s parents are invited to participate, to speak on the student’s behalf. Once a hearing is scheduled, the parents are invited and the student is asked to select one or more faculty members and/or students to speak on his or her behalf. The hearing committee comprises a board member, a teacher and administrator from a division other than the student’s, a member of the student government, a counselor and a senior administrator. Once the principal presents the case as it was reported to him, he is excused and the student is asked to speak. His advocate students and teachers speak as well as do his parents. They all then depart, leaving the committee to deliberate the issue and, under the director of the senior administrator, make a recommendation. I was overwhelmed at how much care is taken to protect the student during this process.

I have said in other activity summaries that we don’t have many serious behavior issues at our school and I think this process is one reason why. When serious incidents do occur, they are taken care of discreetly and fairly, taking great care to protect the students involved. Once issues are resolved in this way, they rarely return..

IA40 – Ethical, Legal and Contractual Obligations

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In order to complete this activity, I had a lengthy philosopical discussion with AH, our Head of School, about the nature of contractual relationships in education. In a nutshell, I believe the entire issue boils down to one of the standards the Center for the Study of Ethics identifies for school administrators: “The educational leader  honors all contracts until fulfillment, release or dissolution mutually agreed upon by all parties.” It really is that simple.

One of the ideas AH shared with me is that, once teachers and administrators begin to talk in terms of specific contractual obligations, the battle is lost and one should seek a satisfactory conclusion as soon as possible. The kind of relationships that should exist between professional educators can not be defined contactually so, if that it what it comes to, the relationship is probably not salvageable. This is, of course, not a hard and fast rule, but a guideline that illustrates the idea that an administrator should be honor-bound to do right by his teachers.

Ethical considerations do crop up, of course, but, with this guideline in mind, they are simpler to navigate. For example, if a teacher is protected by a contract but behaves in a manner not in the best interests of the students, ethical questions arise about how to protect students while respecting the contractual obligations to the teacher. In such a case, one must work on the students’ behalf first while never compromising on what is due to the teacher.

In my personal vision statement, I said that a school leader should serve as the living embodiement of his or her school’s values. By following these guidelines and keeping this principal in mind, a leader can use the details of contractual obligations to further the goal of student learning by demonstrating the navigation of complex, real-world obligations in a moral way..

IA39 – District Policies and Regulations

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This was a difficult activity for me to complete since I work at a private school and we have no obligation to follow policies written by a school district. We are certified by the Association of Independent Schools of Florida, but their guidelines specify much less than most school district’s and we are on our own with regard to most issues controlled by school districts in public education.

The activity asks me to respond to a series of requests of situation reagding the policy which governs our response. I will do so using the established school handbook as a guideline.

  • The use of a classroom by religious students or religious organizations during their activity period or after school: Since we are a religious institution, we would have no issue with such a request; as a matter of fact, we encourage it. The obvious exception would be if the religious activity in question was not compatible with our mission. In such a case, we would refuse the request and, as a private, religious institution, we would be within our rights to do so.
  • A media request for information and names of students possessing illegal drugs and caught by school officials: As specified by our communications plan, we place the welfare of our students and institution first but would, of course, comply with any media request as required by law. If such a request were made, we would consult with the school’s legal counsel to determine such requirements and then respond as is appropriate.
  • A parent request to review his or her child’s student record file: Such requests are honored, and the file would be viewed during a meeting with the child’s principal.
  • A board member’s request to provide information on a teacher’s performance: This is a touchy issue, but our Board of Governors does not oversee faculty; that is the job of the professional staff. Such a request would have to be handled delicately, but would be refused.
  • A teacher’s request to review his/her personnel file: Such viewings occur in a meeting with the Human Resources director.
  • Student locker searches: Such searches take place with the student present.
  • Student drivers who drive their cars to and from school: Students must register their vehicle and receive a pass to park on school premises.
  • Student promotion policy—grade to grade: These decisions are made by the division principal with input from teachers as specified in the Handbook. Provided a student has fulfilled requirements for promotion, only extraordinary circumstances would be cause to hold him or her back.
  • Reference to religion or displays of religious symbols during holidays: Similar to the first request, this is not an issue for us.

If I were asked to deal with a request not anticipated by the Handbook, I would consult with the Head of School first and then, probably, with the Board or the school’s legal counsel, whichever is appropriate..

IA38 – Using Excel

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As part of my new position, I am responsible for creating and sending all of the school’s electronic communications. We send emails to our families, post news stories and other announcements to various portions of our website and, staring three years ago, send pre-recorded voice messages to family’s homes. Last year the school switched to a new vendor for this service and I was tasked with reassessing that relationship and determining if it was in the school’s best interest to continue or to search for another vendor.

I investigated by collecting results data for all of the calling campaigns we had made over the last two years. I analyzed how often we used the service, how many calls we made when we did and whether or not there was room for cost savings. I determined that there was, not by switching vendors, but by changing our subscription type. We had been enrolled in an unlimited-use account but not been using the service enough to warrant it. By changing to a charge-per-call account, we were able to save almost 20% of the cost.

I used Excel to chart the cost structures and historical data for presentation to the Director of Communications who made the decision.

This is only one example of how Excel can be used in a school and a prosaic one at that. I’ve also used Excel for budgeting on various projects, as a grade book, to crunch numbers on survey results and to chart students’ self-assessment against their teacher’s assessment of their performance to search for congruence of expectations. It’s often mis-used as a simple list-making tool but its capabilities are far broader. I’ve taught Excel for several years and used it for my entire career..

IA37 – Field Trips

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Introduction

In order to complete this activity, I reviewed the school’s Field Trip policies in the Handbook and spoke with NH and DA, two of our principals about the procedure for approving trips. I also spoke with JS, the director of student activities, about how trips are planned. I watched the development of a number of trips and planned and led one of my own, taking seven high school students to New York on a Performing Arts trip.

Findings

The first conclusion I reached is that, although our school offers a number of trips to our students in grades 5-12, these are mostly multi-day destination trips and we offer very few traditional field trips. In fact, students may go an entire year without ever taking a day trip to a local destination to expand upon something they’ve learned in class. I think that this is caused by a number of factors, including the accessibility of online resources, the relatively large size of our classes and the cost and other headaches of arranging student transportation. This is a shame and, in my opinion, should be rectified.

The majority of our middle and upper school trips are arranged by the student activities department and are religious retreats held over a weekend, by grade level, at some destination reachable by bus. These are popular programs, usually attended by every student in a grade, and feature social and educational programming, as well as team-building activities. Other trips include trips to athletic and academic competitions such as basketball tournaments and debates as well as special trips like the performing arts tour I led.

Access is arranged for all students and the logistics of bringing students with disabilities are simple to solve nowadays. We have a special staff to assist students with more severs physical and mental disabilities and they often accompany our trips. The only real barrier to everyone’s attendance is cost since trips like these can be unfortunately expensive. The school makes funds available for those who request it but there are always a few families who prefer not to ask and are therefor left out.

In the case of the grade-level weekend trips I observed, the goals were all achieved in appropriate ways. The trips were chaperoned by the students’ teachers and lessons learned in the classroom were often extended while away on the trip. The same phenomenon occurred on my performing arts trip since many of the students work with me in the school’s theater program.

The safety and legal issues of liability and permission are covered by standard forms and procedures the school requires; these have been ironed out for years and work very well. They must be taken care of but do not present a significant challenge..