Objective of the Course Assessment of Student Performance
Objective of the Course: This seminar is designed to enable students engaged in a practicum to reflect on their roles as educational leaders during their practicum experience. The practicum will allow the student to begin to develop an effective leadership style as an administrator in a school setting. The seminar provides the opportunity for the student to reflect on that practical experience, in order to gain greater insight into his/her behavior as an administrator. This reflection and interaction with others, should lead to an increased range of leadership strategies which the student could then use to be a successful administrator . During both the practicum and the seminar, the student should pay particular attention to the school culture in which he/she is working and how that impacts on the operation of the school and works to improve teaching and learning for all students. The student should continually reflect on changes that he/she might want to make to the school culture in order to reflect the values which the student would like to see in the school if he/she were the administrator and the leadership that would be needed to bring that change about. Each week students will receive an assignment to observe a particular aspect of school administration. The student is expected to focus on that topic during the week and to have an in depth discussion with his/her mentor about the topic. What happens in the school or system around that topic? What does the administator do and why? How would the student behave differently, if at all? Students will then bring to class a one page reflective paper, which combines the relevant practice of the administrators at their practicum site and more importantly, the student's thoughts about those practices. How did this impact your thinking about yourself and your leadership style? Remember that the paper is not a description of what you observed in the intern site. Rather it is an opportunity for you to reflect on what you have learned about the topic and how this has influenced your own leadership style. In order to remain within the one page limit, the papers will need to reflect clear and concise thinking and writing. In addition, on the second page, the students will be expected to list the values which they believe are being practiced in the practicum site around the assignment and define a brief question, topic or a case which they would like seminar participants to react to during class. At the next to the last class, (April 28th) students will submit a two-page reflective paper, which describes the administrative leadership project in which they have been engaged during the practicum and relects how what they learned from that project affected their leadership style. At the last class, each student will submit a two-page paper, which will also be reflective in nature. The purpose of this paper is to provide students with an opportunity to describe, in a general way, how the practicum experience affected you. What did you learn about yourself and and what it means to be an effective leader? Also at the last class each student will pass in a case study based on a real issue experienced during the practicum. In writing the case the student will need to do the following:
Textbooks: M. Fullan and A. Hargreaves, What's Worth Fighting for in Your School? Teacher College Press, 1996 The above texts are required reading for the course. They should be read as soon into the semester as possible, because the content will affect your thinking about being an effective administrator. Course Outline: January 21: Orientation to Seminar and Practicum Review of Leadership and School Culture January 28: Budget, Finances and Facilities February 4: School Culture/Core Values February11: Joint Observation of a Staff Member February 25: Supervision/Evaluation of Staff March 3: Decision-Making Process and Long Range Planning for Technology March 10: Staff Development March 17: Analysis of MCAS-Impact on Instruction March 24: Instructional Leadership March 31: School Improvement Councils, Parents and PTOs - Involvement & Communication April 7: Special Education and Community Resources April 14: Crisis Management April 21: Confronting Racism and Celebrating Diversity - Keeping the Focus on High Learning Expectations for All Students. April 28: Practicum Leadership Project May 5: Final Paper- Theory and Practice; How Do They Tie Together? What did you learn about yourself and what it means to be an effective leader. Case study
1. Participation: Students are expected to do their required field work, class readings and participate in class discussions. As a result, attendance at all classes is mandatory. Unexcused absences will be considered when tabulating a final grade. 2. Written Assignments: Students are expected to submit the written assignments described above, on the dates when they are due. In order to be fair to colleagues, those who hand in papers late will receive a lowergrade, unless there is a very unusual situation, which must be explained to the instructor, in advance, if possible. All papers must be typed, double-spaced and paginated and, where appropriate, stapled. Word limits will be strictly enforced. Clear, concise thinking is the goal of all written assignments. Assessment of Student Performance: Twelve, one-page papers around assigned topics and a two-page description of practicum project - These papers will be grades pass/fail and will count 50% toward your grade. Two-page final paper , graded on regular scale --- 20% Class participation --- 30% As you can see, class participation is an important component of your final grade. Please let the instructor know how he can assist you in participating, if this is difficult for you. The full practicum consists of two major areas. First is shadowing the principal or superintendent and then having the opportunity to talk with him/her in a reflective way about what you observed. Why did your mentor do what s/he did? What other options were available? What was his/her thinking about the issue? Second, each student will assume responsibility for a major leadership project in the school or district. Leadership requires working with other adults to bring about some type of change. The project itself may not be completed by the time you leave and that is fine. What is important is that you assume responsibility for carrying it out and your principal/superintendent agrees to mentor you through the project. Also, since most of you have already established a relationship with your cooperating principal/superintendent, the more responsibilities s/he is willing to give you, the better the experience. Remember, the principal's/superintendent's job does not stop at the end of the school day. You are expected to attend evening meetings and to use those opportunities as a learning experience as well. Journal entries must document that you have spent a minimum of 300 hours of supervised fieldwork (150 in the fall, 150 in the spring) and that you have met all of the standards defined by the state for certification. Journal entries need not be excessively long. Rather, they must demonstrate what you have learned about the job, leadership and yourself as a result of the practicum experience. To that end, a journal entry should briefly summarize what you observed/did and then, what you learned from it about your leadership style after discussing it with your mentor. The end of each entry should document the amount of time you spent and the specific standard(s) you addressed. Artifacts associated with your experiences should be included in a way that allows the reader to connect the journal entry with the artifact involved. While daily entries are easier for the purposes of reflection, students have the option of reflecting on their experiences over a week's time. The journal should be handed in to the practicum supervisor during the last site meeting. |