4. Judgment:
1. reach logical conclusions by making quality, timely decisions based on the available information;
2. demonstrate adaptability;
3. give priority to significant issues.
Decisions are a part of daily, monthly and yearly dealings as an administrator. It is important for an administrator to be able to be flexible when it comes to navigating a building through the year. Problems will arise and the leader will need to be able to discern which issues are of importance, needing immediate attention and which are either inconsequential or will solve themselves. The leader should avoid being too rigid on a single path toward solving problems or meeting the goals of the building, as it eliminates the opportunity to find a better way and can leave others feeling left out of the process. When the process seems to be bogged down in tangents, the leader needs to continue to re-direct the process back to the mission and vision of the school and district. If there is an element or issue within the school (or district) that is truly significant, it needs to be part of the mission. Conversely, if something is part of the mission, it should have significant attention.
I experienced the importance of incorporating a significant issue into a mission during my experiences at one of my schools. Part of the school district’s mission is to provide “Quality Teaching and Learning For All.” In part by “implementing the district’s equity vision to ensure that our school community provides an equitable learning environment for all.” The district won a grant to fund the equity office in this endeavor. This is a district that has undergone a great deal of change in the past 20 years in the area of equity and diversity and there are teachers in buildings that are unwilling to adapt their practices to accommodate the changes. By incorporating equity directly into the goals to support the vision, it keeps equity and race on the table.
On my first day at one of my field hour schools, the principal asked me to observe the classroom of a teacher who had been in her office when I arrived. My focus was to be one specific student with whom the teacher was having trouble – possible issues with EBD and/or LD. That afternoon, I met with the principal, district Special Ed department rep, and two members of the district’s Equity Office. After hearing my report, the group concluded that there was, indeed something going on with the student’s learning. The group also concluded that the relationship was irrevocably damaged. In fact the comment was made almost immediately that considering the teacher and ethnic background of the student, the student probably wouldn’t have been able to succeed, with or without a learning disability.
The decision was made to move the student to another class for the remainder of the school year, with permission from that teacher, and the parents. This would count as one of the interventions before moving on to Child Study. The student was moved with only 10 weeks remaining in the school year, yet all parties (including me) thought it was the best move for the student. To me, the really important part of this whole process was the technique that the principal used to orchestrate the information collection, analysis and use for decision-making, and how she used her relationships with school staff, district staff, and parents to carry out this seemingly counter-intuitive decision in a streamlined fashion. There was no doubt that there were several factors involved in the case of this student, and that the layers of confrontation on the part of the student, racism, and dysfunction within the relationship of the student with that particular class needed to be removed before a clear picture of what was going on with the student could be seen.
From this experience, I am reminded that when the choices are to either make a change or stay with the current model, postponing a decision is, in fact a default decision to stay with the current model. With issues that are truly important and lead to impeding the progress of learning, it is wise to incorporate them into the mission, and then use the mission to keep the issues in the forefront. When a decision needs to be made, it is wise to use one’s head, heart, and gut. It is prudent to gather as much information as possible and gather knowledgeable others to give input to the process. From that point, the leader needs to make the decision that feels right, and monitor that decision. It is not possible to make fully informed decisions in a timely manner (if at all), and mistakes will be made. Making a decision that is informed by data and relationships that feels right, rather than stalling to wait for more information, is an important part of leading and the core of judgment.
1. reach logical conclusions by making quality, timely decisions based on the available information;
2. demonstrate adaptability;
3. give priority to significant issues.
Decisions are a part of daily, monthly and yearly dealings as an administrator. It is important for an administrator to be able to be flexible when it comes to navigating a building through the year. Problems will arise and the leader will need to be able to discern which issues are of importance, needing immediate attention and which are either inconsequential or will solve themselves. The leader should avoid being too rigid on a single path toward solving problems or meeting the goals of the building, as it eliminates the opportunity to find a better way and can leave others feeling left out of the process. When the process seems to be bogged down in tangents, the leader needs to continue to re-direct the process back to the mission and vision of the school and district. If there is an element or issue within the school (or district) that is truly significant, it needs to be part of the mission. Conversely, if something is part of the mission, it should have significant attention.
I experienced the importance of incorporating a significant issue into a mission during my experiences at one of my schools. Part of the school district’s mission is to provide “Quality Teaching and Learning For All.” In part by “implementing the district’s equity vision to ensure that our school community provides an equitable learning environment for all.” The district won a grant to fund the equity office in this endeavor. This is a district that has undergone a great deal of change in the past 20 years in the area of equity and diversity and there are teachers in buildings that are unwilling to adapt their practices to accommodate the changes. By incorporating equity directly into the goals to support the vision, it keeps equity and race on the table.
On my first day at one of my field hour schools, the principal asked me to observe the classroom of a teacher who had been in her office when I arrived. My focus was to be one specific student with whom the teacher was having trouble – possible issues with EBD and/or LD. That afternoon, I met with the principal, district Special Ed department rep, and two members of the district’s Equity Office. After hearing my report, the group concluded that there was, indeed something going on with the student’s learning. The group also concluded that the relationship was irrevocably damaged. In fact the comment was made almost immediately that considering the teacher and ethnic background of the student, the student probably wouldn’t have been able to succeed, with or without a learning disability.
The decision was made to move the student to another class for the remainder of the school year, with permission from that teacher, and the parents. This would count as one of the interventions before moving on to Child Study. The student was moved with only 10 weeks remaining in the school year, yet all parties (including me) thought it was the best move for the student. To me, the really important part of this whole process was the technique that the principal used to orchestrate the information collection, analysis and use for decision-making, and how she used her relationships with school staff, district staff, and parents to carry out this seemingly counter-intuitive decision in a streamlined fashion. There was no doubt that there were several factors involved in the case of this student, and that the layers of confrontation on the part of the student, racism, and dysfunction within the relationship of the student with that particular class needed to be removed before a clear picture of what was going on with the student could be seen.
From this experience, I am reminded that when the choices are to either make a change or stay with the current model, postponing a decision is, in fact a default decision to stay with the current model. With issues that are truly important and lead to impeding the progress of learning, it is wise to incorporate them into the mission, and then use the mission to keep the issues in the forefront. When a decision needs to be made, it is wise to use one’s head, heart, and gut. It is prudent to gather as much information as possible and gather knowledgeable others to give input to the process. From that point, the leader needs to make the decision that feels right, and monitor that decision. It is not possible to make fully informed decisions in a timely manner (if at all), and mistakes will be made. Making a decision that is informed by data and relationships that feels right, rather than stalling to wait for more information, is an important part of leading and the core of judgment.
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Excerpts from Student Observation.doc Size : 0.026 Kb Type : doc |
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Pilot time one-month matirx.doc Size : 0.04 Kb Type : doc |
