Requirements:

• A minimum of two (2) pieces of evidence/artifacts

• Supporting evidence, artifacts and/or research (not included in word counts) for questions 1-5 may include—but are not limited to—the following:

  • A list of people, needs assessments, research, and other resources used to understand and identify the instructional supports and/or opportunities for diverse stakeholders

  • Consensus building and negotiation tools and protocols

  • A communications plan, list of allies or influencers, and strategies for engaging with diverse stakeholders

  • A narrative of a practice or program describing your role in its advancement

  • Overview of process, identifying strengths and weaknesses of your and diverse stakeholder participation, data analysis, and evidence of the extent to which that data produces changes in practice/programs

  • Qualitative (to what extent) and quantitative (how many and how often) evidence of growth in instructional leadership

  • Documentation of the role of technology

  • Agendas, presentations, publications, collaboratively designed plans, etc.

  • Correspondence, speeches, blogs, articles, press releases, social media, etc.

1. Describe your plan of action and how each of your four chosen competencies will influence its design and implementation.

   • My plan of action is to develop a relationship with my administrators and school board to develop a system of support for teachers who are highly criticized. This has been an issue throughout our district, and through conversations with other educators I have discovered that a number of teachers have quit, moved positions, or suffered the effects of this damaging criticism. Instead of having an opportunity to grow and improve, and building the trust and respect of our community, teachers have experienced disregard and disrespect.

   • Interpersonal Effectiveness: I will work to effectively communicate with other educators and my advisors to gain their trust and respect through organized meetings, preparedness, and providing research.

   • Personal Effectiveness: Tapping into my strength as a big-picture thinker and an active learner will allow me to demonstrate willingness to be criticized in a manner that leads to growth rather than punitive action.

   • Explore and Challenge Inequality: Looking at the variety of teachers and students in our school I will address what groups are affected by this system more than others.

   • Coaching/Mentoring: By looking for support from educators I trust and providing support for other educators experiencing the same frustrations I will integrate the importance of a strong system of coaching and mentoring for our educators that is less performative and based more on effective feedback.

2. How will your leadership leverage the strengths and address the needs of diverse stakeholders to support the plan of action, develop capacity, broaden decision-making, and learn collaboratively?

   • My leadership comes from a place of experience as an Early-Career educator, giving me a unique perspective on where my personal needs are being met. In this way, I will leverage the experience of my administrators who have worked in this community for years to analyze and develop a plan for working with our diverse student body. Working with my mentor, who has been an educator for over 20 years, I will be able to identify key issues of criticism that are common themes and therefore be able to focus my energy upon how to effectively address them as a young or new educator to our district. Finally, including parents in this discussion will offer the opportunity to not only gather the perspective of people outside the school walls but also make them a part of the process in developing a stronger bond between our school and the community that is student/child focused rather than hyper-critical of teachers. This perspective, though I anticipate some uncomfortable conversations, is essential in moving forward.

3. How will you use collaboration, questioning, data, and reflection during the implementation of your action plan?

   • Essential to my plan is questioning and collaborating with stakeholders to gain their insight and perspective. I will record and analyze their responses to qualitative questions and quantitative questions in order to better understand where the disconnect in communication between school and community lies. Reflecting on their responses will drive how I move forward with meetings, surveys, and possible solutions.

4. How will you address obstacles that you may encounter in implementing your plan?

   • Inevitably there will be obstacles, and one of the most important things is to have a strong guide in place to ensure that the origin and goal of the project are at the forefront. I will work with fellow educators to develop responses to adversity that acknowledge the culture of our community and school without isolating myself.

5. How will you know if your action plan is successful? What evidence would support your claim?

   • I will know my action plan is successful if I am able to receive forms of feedback in a productive manner, if the critical student's parents are willing to keep the student in my class, and if other educators are able to use/emulate the system to self-advocate. This means it must be an action plan that is easily adjusted, includes all stakeholders, and provides opportunities for feedback from each stakeholder.

Evidence

Needs Assessment