Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Dispositions
I believe in, value and am committed to:
Skills
Throughout my internship experience and coursework at FGCU I have
learned and evidenced through integrated essays and artifacts the following
list. As an administrator I will facilitate processes and engage in activities
ensuring that:
School leaders will take part in two separate types of decision making;
individual and organizational. Organizational leaders are expected to be
decisive, be able to make decisions in that are well informed and ethically
acceptable in a timely manner without delay. However, school
administrators are also part of a larger organization which involves working
with and through other people to reach the goals of the organization.
Therefore, organizational decision making, in which stakeholders are
involved in determining the behavior of the organization, are necessary to
maintain an organizational culture that is founded on a shared vision for the
organization (Owens & Valesky, 2007).
Historically, decision making has been believed to be a scientific process
that is orderly, rational, logical, and sequential. Western culture has
continually supported the perception that large complex systems can be
broken down into parts of a whole to explain problems within the
organization and systematically organize a solution. Rational decision
making models have stemmed from this way of thinking. Two notable
contributors to the science of decision-making models are Herbert Simon and
Peter. F. Drucker.
Simon identified three major phases in the process of making decision;
intelligence activity, in which a search of the environment reveals
circumstances that require a decision; design activity, where alternative
is recorded as
There are many reasons for needing methods for decision making. A
school community has many different interest groups that will be affected by
complex organizational decisions, using a process will assist those involved if
there are a number of different ways in which the decision could be made.
Another reason for using a method of decision making is that often times we
will utilize a past solution when faced with a new similar problem, even
though that may not be the best approach. Additionally, while effective
school organizations are considered flexible, having constantly changing
expectations can be damaging to the organization. Standard policies and
procedures help to guide our day-to-day operations. Methods for creating
and modifying these policies are needed. Furthermore, simple and complex
problems often arise in a learning environment because people with diverse
goals, objectives, and expectations are involved. Lastly, decision making
can take considerable time if not managed effectively. Time which may be
module.
Identifying the problem to be solved or issue to be decided is the second
factor to consider when implementing participative decision making. The
nature of the problem or issue will lend itself to a better model of decision
making. Discrete problems are characterized as being clear-cut, having
the problem, if not then their efforts may simply lead to frustration (Owens &
Valesky, 2007).
In all Florida public schools, the school advisory council (SAC), represents
one form of participative decision making. The SAC committee is comprised
of administrators, teachers, parents, non-instructional staff, and community
member not employed by the school district. The SAC committee makes
decisions regarding the school improvement plan and school budget
(Beckham & Raiford, 2003). A record of the 2008-2009 SAC committee
enrollment is
10
Artifact 5-4
CurriculumWriting.doc
district must create processes for and assign resources to: hypothesis
generation, evaluating the links between instructional and operational inputs
11
and student performance goals; data collection, ensuring that relevant data
is available and accessible; data analysis, to develop hypotheses about
appropriate interventions; and intervention, choosing those that are deemed
appropriate based on an analysis of results.
Data-based decision making is certainly at the top of the priority list in
Collier County where I completed my educational leadership practicum. At
Osceola Elementary, all staff member are a part of two professional learning
communities (PLC). Each staff member belongs to their own grade level PLC,
and is also a member of a vertical PLC which specializes in one particular
content area. Each PLC is required to develop a SMART (specific,
measurable, attainable, realistic, and timely) goal that is developed through
the use of assessment data collected and provided by Collier County. During
my educational leadership practicum this summer I compiles school
performance report from the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test, as well
as data on Adequate Yearly Progress. I developed and designed a template
that could be used to gain a visual representation of areas of progress and
challenges for each school and grade level in the county based on FCAT data.
This was an immense project, this artifact is an example of one schools
report
12
References
Beckham, J.C. & Raiford, S.A. (2003). The Florida school administrators legal
guide. Bulverde, TX: Omni Publishers, Inc.
13