Strategies and Procedures

Sustaining School Improvement Through the School Improvement Plan: School improvement happens when the instructional leader sets goals, supports and evaluates progress toward those goals.

Best practices for effective instructional programs and using dis-aggregated school data: Data is only as good as what the user does with it. While a math specialist, I began Guided Math in my building. We used data to not only provide remediation, but also to determine small groups for instruction, and determine what to do in small groups. We saw gains in our math scores as Guided Math was implemented because we were using the data to meet each student's needs. We presented at the Virginia Council of Teachers of Mathematics Conference for several years and we had educators from across the Commonwealth coming to do learning walks at our school to learn how to implement guided math and see the gains we saw in the data.

Supervising Instruction: The instructional leader supervises instruction through having a presence in the school and especially in classrooms. As part of the leader's presence in classrooms, observing and offering feedback to teachers towards there goal is powerful. Administrators and specialists become coaches work for what's best for teachers and students.

Managing School Resources: Leaders must manage resources whether human, fiscal, or material. In my experience, I have managed the remediation budget at my school as the Academic Coordinator. I also managed the Title I Inventory in my building. A leader must always keep close tabs on spending and must also know where the items purchased are located in the building. Taking inventory needs to be scheduled and conducted at least at the beginning and end of the school year.

Protecting the welfare and safety of students: Student safety comes first - both physical and emotional. Most schools have procedures in place for drills and emergencies and administrators review these often. But just as important is the emotional safety of students. Students need a safe place and person to go to in the building. They need to feel supported through their academics. As a parent, I expect my children's school to look out for my children's welfare and safety physically and emotionally.