Ethics & Professional Norms

Candidates who successfully complete a district-level educational leadership preparation program understand and demonstrate the capacity to promote the current and future success and well-being of each student and adult by applying the knowledge, skills, and commitments necessary to understand and demonstrate the capacity to advocate for ethical decisions and cultivate professional norms and culture.

STANDARD 2 COMPONENTS

Component 2.1 - Program completers understand and demonstrate the capacity to reflect on, communicate about, and cultivate professional dispositions and norms (i.e., equity, fairness, integrity, transparency, trust, collaboration, perseverance, reflection, lifelong learning, digital citizenship) and professional district and school cultures.

Component 2.2 - Program completers understand and demonstrate the capacity to evaluate and advocate for ethical and legal decisions.

Component 2.3 - Program completers understand and demonstrate the capacity to model ethical behavior in their personal conduct and relationships and to cultivate ethical behavior in others.

As part of the coursework in the fall of 2018, I was challenged to complete an equity audit of the district I worked in (NELP 2.1). An audit of all things "equity, fairness, integrity, transparency, trust, collaboration, perseverance, reflection, lifelong learning, digital citizenship" and much more. Our task was that of deep investigation into the inner workings of a school district, and a look behind the curtains of school - what lies beneath, and in some terms, holds up and supports the pillars of instruction and student achievement.

Part of the process involved creating and inviting partners to an equity team that would investigate issues of equity by collecting and analyzing data, identifying gaps, and propose research-based solutions and implementations.

In addition, this project offered a close look at the district itself, exploring key data points that made up the population (and still do), its core strengths, challenges, and opportunities for growth.

During the stakeholder discussions that were held as part of the project, three key questions were formed to help guide research-based interventions:

1. How do we increase the overall performance and achievement of all students?

2. How do we provide the support needed for our teachers to be able to raise their instructional performance?

3. How do we engage the greater community in our mission as a school district?

These questions still remain today and have not been resolved (NELP 2.2). The research-based solutions proposed at the time, and shared with the Superintendent, were:

1. Establish a systematic process of continued and sustained teacher training.

2. Invest in the community, and partner with parents to raise student achievement in the schools.

Some work in this area is ongoing and will take time to fully explore, design, and implement. Stalled progress is due to a lack of funding, time, and other resources. Establishing a systematic approach for teacher training, for example, needs guidance, and a level of expertise from the central office that is currently not available.

At the time of the audit below, the district was on track to implement a few of these suggestions, but personnel changes, new directions, and overall district focus (and a pandemic) made this more difficult, and the process has stalled.

In addition to the artifact below, I offer this leadership reflection as additional evidence of my ability to reflect and communicate about school culture and professional norms (NELP 2.3).

An Equity Audit, created using PowerPoint and converted to Google Slides, and serving as a final project in EDLE 76529 Leading for Social Justice with Dr. Gornik, fall semester of 2018.

Here are two pieces I wrote around the same time as the Leading for Social Justice course with Dr. Gornik. I have since reignited the efforts of weekly reflection by writing on my blog to discover more, to revisit, to think, and to assimilate. Here are two snippets that [still] reflect my thinking well on the subjects of equity, values, professional norms, and overall growth.