Superintendent Internship Plan

Heberto Hinojosa, Jr

Draft Internship Plan – EDLD5396 – Cohort 3

June 2011

Activity # ___	TExES Comp.#	Summary of Activity	Resource Person	Projected Completion Date
1 – 33.C	1	Review board training requirements and the role of the superintendent in this process both at DISD and BISD.	Self	August 2011
2 – 31.C	1	Meet with a representative group of students. Solicit their beliefs about and experiences with ethical practices in the school or classroom. Using the student perspectives, make recommendations for ensuring greater ethical practices for all students.	Counselor	December 2011
3- 31.E	1	Provide evidence which demonstrates that you actually do what you tell others to do.	Self	December 2011
4 - 1.C	2	Review and compare two different district vision statements. (DISD, BISD) Note strengths and weaknesses of each, making recommendations for my district vision plan	Don Rhodes John Kelly	August 2011
5- 6.A	2	Attend cabinet and Board Meetings. Observe superintendent’s communication in outlining goals, seeking information, providing information, etc.	Kelly Rhodes	October 2011
6 – 16.C	2	Review discipline referrals for a specific period, and compile the data with regard to grade level, special education classification, race, and gender. Summarize findings.	Discipline Secretary	September 2011
7- 4.C	3	Conduct a faculty meeting. Survey a random sample of participants about the presentation’s strengths and weaknesses.	Self	August 2011
8- 28.D	3	Gather information on the resources available to the schools from community and business. Analyze the extent of utilization, make recommendations for improved cooperation and mutual benefit and include these in the notebook	Chamber of Commerce	December 2011
9- 25.C	3	Investigate through knowledgeable persons in the district to ascertain who are the leading groups and individuals in the community. Using brief phone interviews, discuss their assessment of communication with the district/school, issues and concerns and recommendations for improved relations.	Hungate Kelly Self	November 2011
10- 26.B	4	Review district’s parental involvement programs and current initiatives to increase their participation in campus and district events.	Communications Liaison Self Hungate	December 2011
11 – 26.A	4	Develop a general questionnaire addressing school policy instruction, homework, activities, discipline, and parent involvement. Distribute the questionnaire to a group of parents. A summary of the findings concerning parent attitudes about school will be included in the notebook.	Secretary Counselor	September 2011
12- 27.C	4	Develop and implement a plan to promote cultural diversity in the district/school or classroom.	Counselor Hungate	August 2011
13- 14.B	5	Gather and analyze AEIS data for grades 7-8. Assess student’s current progress.	Hungate Counselor	October 2011
14- 16.C	5	Interview person responsible for implementing district curriculum and describe how process is implemented. Note concerns and/or suggestions for improvement.	Curriculum Director Assistant Superintendant	February 2012
15- 12.C	5	Gather and analyze the campus testing results. Assess strengths and weaknesses and make recommendations for improvement of student achievement.	Hungate Counselor	August 2011
16 – 16.B	6	Participate in Class Scheduling at the Middle School level	Hungate Self	July 2011
17- 23.A	6	Be involved in campus wide Professional Development initiatives.	Kelly	September 2011
18- 33.E	6	Interview a board member about establishing a positive relationship with the superintendent. Interview the superintendent about relationships with the board members.	Board Member Kelly	December 2011
19- 11.A	6	Review board policy on technology. Study the district/school plan on use of technology. Review the degree of compliance between policy and the technology plan, as well as the legal aspects regarding the use of software.	Technology Director Kelly	September 2011
20- 9.D	7	Observe an instructional assistant. Note duties, time and expertise in academic assistance to the students.	Hungate	November 2011
21- 23.F	7	Meet with administrators at the district/school level to gather information on placement and promotion policy and procedures. Discuss numbers of teachers teaching outside of their certification areas and the extent to which the district/school promotes and develops from within. Include a summary of the major goals, concerns, and recommendations in the notebook	Kelly Hungate	November 2011
22-23.C	7	Gather information from two or more administrators on relevant and legal questioning /assessment strategies uses in interviewing new hires. Compile a list of questions to be used to interview new teachers.	Hungate HS Principal	July 2011
23- 23.D	7	Meet with Human Resources to discuss the role of personnel department in creating PD plan for the district	HR Director	December 2011
24- 14.C	7	Collaborate with an experienced staff developer in one staff development activity. This activity should include planning, implementing, instructing, and evaluating. A copy of the agenda, relevant materials, and the evaluation will be included in the notebook.	Hungate Counselor	July 2011
25- 14.D	7	Survey a broad spectrum of teachers to elicit recommendations for more effective and relevant professional development and to assess the degree of importance that professional development should have in teacher evaluation. Include the survey results and recommendations for effective professional development and its use in teacher evaluation.	Rhodes Harris	July 2011
26- 9.G	8	Select one class to complete a student evaluation of the instruction and learning in their class. Summarize the data, and meet with a group of students to discuss the strengths, weaknesses, and recommendations for using the process. Copies of the instrument, an overview of the student meeting, and recommendations for student input in the process will be included in the notebook	Hungate Self Classroom Teacher	December 2011
27- 38.A	8	Compile a list of books, publications, etc. used or recommended for the position of superintendent.	Kelly Rhodes	July 2011
28- 24.C	8	Participate in the budget planning process for a campus and department.	Hungate Department Chairs	July 2011
29- 11.D	8	Observe the use of technology in the library and/or computer lab. Discuss strengths and weaknesses of technology use in these areas with the librarian and/or computer lab manager and several students.	Technology Director	September 2011
30- 24.D	8	Student will complete requisition for services and supply items from a budgeted account.	Hungate Kelly	August 2011
31- 22.A	9	Interview the district/school food service manager to discuss the current requirements, concerns, and issues of the program. A summary of findings from the interview will be included in the notebook.	FSM	September 2011
32- 17.C	9	Interview the school nurse to discuss the major requirements, concerns, and goals.	School Nurse	September 2011
33- 20.B	9	Meet with the director of maintenance to review job responsibilities and schedules of staff. Shadow one custodial or maintenance person and provide a brief report and summary of the meeting and shadowing experience.	Maintenance Department	October 2011
34- 21.A	9	Interview the director of transportation to discuss current issues and needs for transportation. This discussion should include costs, maintenance, personnel issues, training and safety, and student problems.	Transportation Department	December 2011
35- 37.B	10	Compile a list of all services and information available to the principal from NASSP. Join and read periodicals to keep up with advances and concerns of the principals across the nation.	Self	December 2011
36- 17.C	10	Interview the Director of Health Services. Discuss the major goals, requirements and concerns of the student health program.	DHS	April 2012
37- 36.A	10	Compile a list of current issues that affect teaching and learning. Use research literature and perspectives from administrators, teachers, students, and parents in compiling the list.	Self Harris	December 2011
38- 16.A	10	Will analyze and synthesize discipline referral data and report findings to campus.	Discipline Secretary	August 2011

Interview with the Superintendent

In the past two years I have worked very closely with our superintendent. Being a small school allowed us to meet daily and handle tasks together. With the exception of school board and finance issues we worked together on most school tasks. Our leadership styles are very different. I like to call him “progressive old school.” He is close to retirement so he is stuck in his ways, however he is very open to changes and to allowing new ideas from others to flourish on campus. In our interview the superintendent talked about the positive aspects of being a school superintendent. His number one motivator is the children. He talked about working very hard to build a new school as the current one is very outdated. Three years of hard work culminated with him walking down the newly poured slab and him reflecting on his job. He stated to me that when he walked the new building he was overrun with emotion as it will serve not only our current students but future generations. That in itself makes it all worth it he said. There are many positive aspects of this leadership position but above all, having the influence to make a difference it what matters most and what keeps him going. We did not cover negative aspects much, however discussions throughout the interview did highlight some things about the job he does not like such as unfunded state mandates, budget, etc etc. His definition of leadership was to have the ability to empower others to perform, to be knowledgeable, and to promote positive relationships. I am moving districts and will surely miss working with him.

The amounts of information I learned not only by interviewing him, but by working alongside him these past two years were immense and that knowledge will transfer over to any new job I have. Aside from the highlights of the interview stated above there were a few additional questions discussed in the interview that are worth reflecting on:

What does ethical leadership look like?

Asking the Superintendent this interview question also answered the one dealing with board relationships. Ethical leadership is something that is challenged much in schools. In small schools in particular a Superintendent is under the magnifying glass and can be influenced much by the school board. In our conversation the Superintendent spoke about various confidential situations in which his ethical principals were challenged. He was faced with a difficult decision that could cost him his job, but in the end always made the ethical choice. He did talk about maintaining a positive relationship with the school board to avoid all issues. He also stressed the importance of being fully aware of the law. “You see this right here?” as he pointed to the big blue school law book on his desk. “This is always on my desk and I refer to it a few times a week.” He mentioned that if you follow the law and remember the number one rule of taking the students interest into account every decision would be easier and you could sleep at night. This was one of the most interesting questions as we could’ve talked for hours about different situations he has been through with the board as well as with other people in the schools he has been in.

How do you work to develop a shared vision?

Here he actually asked me to answer this question. “Tell me what you have done here in two years?” After I briefly answered he took over and talked about the importance of a site based team, involving all stakeholders in decision making, etc. From hiring of new staff to a revamp of the dress code we have done a lot to develop a shared vision. He talked about how communication is very important with both English and Spanish speaking parents and that schools needed to try all avenues to reach out to the parents and community.

How should a superintendent evaluate the effectiveness of communication strategies in the school district and encourage the engagement of the community to benefit all students?

Schools must make extra effort to communicate with the community. Although traditional methods do work, he talked about a number of ideas ranging from making one of our soon to be vacant wings into a head start program and another area of the school as a community health center. The superintendent is very good at attaining grants so he thinks these ideas would be possible. I applaud him for having such grand vision. By implementing those programs, the school would not only be serving the students but the community as well thus engaging and creating a relationship that will ultimately be beneficial for all.

How does a Superintendent promote and sustain a district culture that emphasizes student learning and professional development?

A superintendent should promote a collegial district culture that has high expectations for all including students and staff. I feel that the response to this question was not quite there. Although professional development is important and should be continuous he admits that it is very difficult to make it happen. With limited resources teachers get only a few professional development opportunities a year and when it is it is usually a one and done type of training. Setting high expectations begins early and having a pk-8th grade campus allows a great opportunity to change mentalities towards achievement. If you start them young, and work with your staff to teach higher order thinking skills once they reach the upper levels, they will be better prepared.

More than anything this interview helped me ask questions that I otherwise wouldn’t have asked. When talking to an educational leader with close to 30 years experience it doesn’t take one interview, it takes a long mentorship relationship in which I feel I have. As I move districts I hope that my relationship with the superintendent will stay strong and that he a can be a resource for my new job as well as for this course.

2 Years Later.....

When I began as an Assistant Principal two years ago I started a blog attempting to record my experiences in school. Since much of what is learned in this position comes from experience, is situational, and varies from day to day I felt that to fully utilize my opportunity for growth I had to document, reflect, and receive peer input. As the blog began I wrote some personal blogs about my move as well as the transition from teacher to Principal. I started strong, recording my experiences the first few days of school, however once the school year began, I stopped. Time was somewhat of a factor but that was not the biggest deterrent. The biggest contributor to me not continuing to record my experiences was because my job was in a small school in which the staff and community are very close. As soon as someone read it, the entire community would know, and this might have caused some conflict even though I never stated names or where I worked. “The first grade teacher” is not hard to figure out when there is only one. Moving forward, two years after my last post I have collected over 30 notepads full of information. When talking to students about discipline issues, to parents about their concerns, and when meeting with teachers about their growth I would always write notes down. I am very happy to say that this blog has come back to life and will highlight my continuing educational journey. My blog will serve several purposes. I am currently working on my Doctorate in Educational leadership, am beginning my Superintendent certification courses, and was recently hired at a new school, significantly bigger than my previous one. I feel this blog will be a great tool that will allow me to reflect and to receive feedback from my cohort peers as well as from my colleagues. Whether it be to discuss action research plans, dissertation proposals, or simply to share an interesting story, this blog is full of promise.