The superintendent has hired you to be an impactful leader at this school (as the new Instructional Coach, Assistant Principal or Principal) effective July 1. The Oak Grove School is in a low-income, diverse community that includes a small

The student will apply learning from across all modules of EDLE 7000 to respond to a scenario of a troubled school where he or she has recently been named as Leader (the new Instructional Coach, Assistant Principal or Principal). The charge from the superintendent and board is to "turn the school around."

The key assessment allows the student to reflect on and synthesize learning from the entire semester to navigate a difficult but not unusual situation in a troubled K-12 school. The scenario is one that any school leader may encounter.

Learning Goals

1. Understand "self as leader," to include articulating one's core values and leadership style.

2. Integrate leadership theory, core values, leadership style/s, and communication skills to achieve desired outcomes.

3. Deepen your personal leadership growth and development by meeting with your Sponsor to discuss your written document, the Key Assessment: The Leadership Foundation.

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Read the Oak Grove School scenario.

2. Write Part 1, The Reflective Analysis.

3. Write Part 2, The Challenging Conversations.

4. Write Part 3, Summary of Sponsor's Feedback

5. Submit the Key Assessment: The Leadership Foundation to CourseDen.

You have two options for this assignment.  You can choose to complete the narrative template that has been prepared for you or design a presentation using the shared template and video introducing yourself as a new leader to the faculty of the school.

SCENARIO – THE OAK GROVE SCHOOL

 The superintendent has hired you to be an impactful leader at this school (as the new Instructional Coach, Assistant Principal or Principal) effective July 1. The Oak Grove School is in a low-income, diverse community that includes a small but vocal activist group that is working hard to improve their citizens' living conditions and opportunities, despite the usual social problems that accompany poverty. These activists are sincere, although some community members – to include many educators at Oak Grove – perceive them as strident and difficult. The student body is characterized by high absenteeism, lower than expected achievement, and excessive discipline problems. Parents don't want to send their children to Oak Grove but have few options to do otherwise. You are replacing a laissez-faire leader who mostly kept the operations side of the school running smoothly (e.g., buses ran on time, facilities were well-maintained, basic supplies were stocked, paperwork was submitted to the system office on time, teacher evaluations were completed in a perfunctory manner). The principal claimed to have an open-door policy, but few teachers sought help because the message when they tried was, "The principal is busy right now, but can see you later." The assistant principal handled all discipline problems, which consumed far too much time. When not addressing behavior issues directly, the assistant principal walked the halls and campus grounds, trying to provide a sense of safety for teachers, staff, and students. In truth, the former principal focused on managerial functions, neglecting responsible leadership to create a culture to support learning. As a result, teachers gravitated toward "like" groups:

● The Stars. These teachers try to maintain a positive outlook. Their students achieve academically despite the non-existent instructional leadership.

● The Mediocre Middle. These teachers attempt to see sparks of hope, but are overwhelmed with the non-supportive environment. They go through the motions daily to help students learn, but produce unsatisfactory results.

● The Downhearted. This group makes up a significant proportion of the faculty. They mostly have given up on their students, describing them as "ignorant, lazy, and too poor to learn." These teachers put little effort into instruction, their students likewise put little effort into learning, and achievement is abysmal.

During the interview process, you shared your core beliefs and attitudes about school leadership. Indeed, the hiring committee openly declared that Oak Grove needs a strong leader to "turn this school around."

The Superintendent's Charge

You are aware that your new job (as instructional coach, assistant principal, or principal) will be challenging because of Oak Grove's negative history, division among the faculty, and dissatisfaction among parents and the community. However, you are encouraged by Superintendent Foster's words when you accepted the job. She bluntly declared, "We hired you, because we believe you are the 'best fit' leader to turn this school around. Most everyone thinks that your values mesh well with the community. Our parents and best teachers appreciate your commitment to learning and teaching. You know who you are as a person and leader.

Throughout the interview process, we heard about your core values and liked how those values stabilize and influence your decision-making. You handled tough questions smoothly, which makes us think that you'll have a calming presence with our more 'passionate' stakeholders. We're convinced that you will stand firm when push-back comes your way, which it will from some quarters. But this school and its community are filled with good people who want to see you succeed. You can count on their support. So, here's your mandate: Turn this school around."

Early Conversations with the Three Teacher Groups

The three teacher groups talked with you during your first week on the job. The Stars met you for coffee. The Mediocre Middle caught you in the hallway. The Downhearted arranged for a representative to schedule a face-to-face appointment with you in your office.

·       The Stars:   These teachers met you for coffee to warn you about potential divisions among the faculty. They also wanted to encourage you to stand strong. One teacher said it for the group, "We've tried to work with the other teachers, but they've never been much interested in changing things for the better. So we stick together and do what's best for our students. We enjoy working together and are very glad you're here. We'll stand with you."

·       The Mediocre Middle:   Several teachers from this group caught you in the hallway to give you a heads-up. "Oak Grove is a hard place to be. We really want to make a difference for our students, but we just haven't gotten support. It's so discouraging. Most of us feel isolated and alone."

·       The Downhearted:  One teacher made an appointment to deliver the following message to you personally, face-to-face. "We teachers care about your success as our new principal and don't want you to be caught off-guard. You need to know what's really going on here. These students don't have what it takes to learn at the level that the system is pushing for. They're missing chunks of critical background skills. They ditch school all the time. We can't teach because they constantly disrupt instruction. Some of us heard you talk about your values and ideas during your interview, but new people are always idealistic. We just don't want you to come in here all inspired and then be devastated when things don't work out."

Points to consider...

As you write, keep in mind:

·       Throughout the key assessment as noted in the instructions and rubric, cite leadership theories and mindframes that resonate with you (e.g., Hersey- Blanchard Situational Leadership, Blake and Mouton's Managerial Grid, Transactional Leadership, Transformational Leadership).

·       Refer to the one or two leadership style/s that best fit you (i.e., Daniel Goleman's six leadership styles).

·       Refer to other readings on leadership from this semester (e.g., Chaleff's work on Followership, Schein's work on culture, Lassiter, Fisher, Frey & Smith’s text on How Leadership Works) as it makes sense to do so. 

·       Follow the APA Style Guide (American Psychological Association) to cite sources that support your analysis.

·       Refer to both the instructions below and rubric as you write your key assessment.

INSTRUCTIONS: Key Assessment – The Leadership Foundation  USING SLIDES AND VIDEO RECORDING

The slides presentation is a summary of your first faculty meeting with your new staff.  You will use the suggested layout listed below (you may adjust the design but not the content expected for each slide) to describe yourself as leader, core values, and leadership style and how your personality, core values, and leadership style will guide your work with three groups of teachers in your school.

Be sure to review the rubric and include the appropriate number of citations to reference connections to course work that support your statements and approach. After you develop the slides, you will record a brief summary taking the viewer through the slides presentation. This recording should be between 7 and 10 minutes. Use this opportunity to introduce yourself as the new leader (instructional coach, assistant principal, or principal depending on your current role) to help connect with teachers, share your vision as a leader, and build collaboration and relationships with your new team. 

Suggested layout of slides:

1.     Intro slide

2.     Discuss your strengths as noted through the different self-analyses that you have conducted.  Remember to cite the tool that you are discussing.

3.     Discuss how these connect to you as a leader and to at least two leadership theories (see Module 1 reading material)

4.     Share your core values and what you deeply believe in

5.     Share your personal goal for leadership

6.     Discuss your leadership styles per Daniel Goleman’s work and the work from our text. 

7.     Share how you will leverage your leadership style  (Goleman) and mindframes to improve the school

8.     Address the needs of the school based on three types of teachers:

a.     Stars

b.     Mediocre Middle

c.     The Downhearted

Include words that you will say to them using what you have learned about effective communication, feedback and coaching, your core values and leadership theories.

9.      Incorporate your Mentor/Sponsor’s feedback into the slides.    Share your slides presentation with your mentor and discuss how your values, mindframes and leadership styles (and theories) would work at a school like Oak Grove.  An example of how to incorporate it into the slides presentation is “A close mentor once told me...” )

10. References - Cite references following the APA Style Guide (American Psychological Association).

INSTRUCTIONS: Key Assessment – The Leadership Foundation for the NARRATIVE Reflection

PART 1. THE REFLECTIVE ANALYSIS

Each of these three sections should be approximately 400 words.

Organize Part 1 using the italicized subheaders below.

1a. "Self as Leader." (Approximately 400 words).

Write one paragraph that discusses your results from two leadership assessments  completed in EDLE 7000. They are: 

·       Myers-Briggs Type Inventory (MBTI). Name your 4-letter type (e.g., ENTP, The Visionary), the two-letter functional pair (i.e., NT), and associated strengths and blind spots.

·       Leadership Goals Based on Leadership Practices -  Include strengths and areas for growth. 

·       In the second paragraph, discuss what you've learned about yourself from the MBTI and Goleman’s style analysis within the context of at least two leadership theories that resonate with you. The leadership theories must be ones learned in EDLE 7000, Modules 1.1 through 1.4, with in-text citations that refer to readings from the course only. Your discussion should NAME the theories (and possibly the theorists themselves) and explain briefly why they resonate with you, based on what you know about yourself per the MBTI and Leadership Goals. 

1b. Core Values (Approximately 400 words).

The Core Values section should begin by listing your 5-6 core values identified in the Core Values Exercise completed this term. Follow the core values with your Personal Leadership Statement completed in the Core Values assignment. Format both as follows, using italics and underlining where noted:

·       Core Values: determination, gratitude, insightfulness, optimism, sustainability, responsibility

·       Personal Leadership Statement: To be an insightful and responsible leader who shows determination and gratitude, and inspires optimism in teachers and students to sustain high academic achievement. [Student exemplar provided with permission from Adam Gagliotti]

·       Follow these with a discussion of at least two leadership theories that most closely resonate with your core values, making explicit the connections between them. You may use the same two theories noted in section 1a - "Self as Leader," provided that the discussion expands what you wrote in 1a. In-text citations are required. Only use leadership theories learned in EDLE 7000 and cite only readings from this semester's course.

·       Explain briefly how your understanding of these connections will help you navigate your new position as  a leader of the Oak Grove School.

1c. Leadership Style. (Approximately 400 words).

In what ways will your leadership style support this challenging situation (i.e., "turn the school around")?

·       Using Daniel Goleman's six leadership styles, discuss your leadership style, its strengths and weaknesses. His six styles are Coercive (or Commanding), Pace-Setting, Authoritative, Affiliative, Democratic, and Coaching.

·       Explain how you will leverage your leadership strengths – per Goleman - to tackle turning around the Oak Grove School.

PART 2. THE CHALLENGING CONVERSATIONS

Part 2 is based on the Oak Grove School scenario. Develop three sections, one each for the three groups of teachers. Organize Part 2 by using three sub-headers: (1) The Stars, (2) The Mediocre Middle, and (3) the Downhearted.

Begin each section with a Conversation Table, followed by a 300-word paragraph (approximately). The table addresses the explicit use of communication techniques. The paragraph discusses how you will apply your knowledge of leadership theories (at least two), relevant core values from the Core Values assignment, and what you have learned about yourself through other course materials as applicable to the conversation with the group of teachers. Apply only those leadership theories studied in this course and reference those readings appropriately. 

Consider how you will approach each group of teachers. Anticipate their concerns and give thought to how you might respond when they share their thoughts, hopes and fears, and likely their frustrations, as well. You should expect that each meeting will be challenging in its own way; however, these initial meetings will be the first of your efforts to build relationships with each group. Your short-term goal is to get them to engage with you willingly and – to some extent – with each other.

The Conversation Tables allow you to apply effective communication skills/techniques with each group of teachers as appropriate. An example of a table is shown below. Use this exact template in your key assessment, i.e., four columns with the four headers in all caps: (1) Teacher Comments, Leader's Comments, Linguistic Skills Employed, and Leader's Thinking. 

Note:

·       Enter examples of comments the teachers may say and examples of how you might respond. 

·       Include three rows of remarks. Each row might address a different thought or issue. 

·       Enter specific cognitive coaching techniques into the Linguistic Skills Employed column. Examples may include presuppositions; the language of inquiry by asking mediational questions and avoiding "why" questions; probing and clarifying vague nouns, pronouns, or universal quantifiers; avoiding modal operators such as "should, must, necessary, can't, have to, ought," etc., as they imply there is a certain way to do things. 

·       In the Leader's Thinking column, enter what guided your choice of remarks, questions, and linguistic tools. Include your thoughts about the teachers' comments, but thoughts you won't voice out loud yet.

·       Conversation Table: The Stars

PART 3. THE SPONSOR'S FEEDBACK.  (Approximately 400 words)

Schedule a face-to-face meeting with your Sponsor/Supervisor/Mentor. Before the meeting, provide him or her the scenario and copies of your drafts for Part 1: The Reflective Analysis and Part 2: The Challenging Conversations. During your face-to-face meeting, ask for their feedback on what you have written. 

Questions to discuss with your Sponsor might include:

·       What are your thoughts on a leader who holds the core values that I do?

·       There are many different leadership theories and styles. To what extent do you think my leadership style is a "good fit" for  Oak Grove School? Or any other type of school?

After your meeting, summarize the conversation. Attend to the following points:

·       Describe the key ideas that emerge from the meeting.

·       Include the Sponsor's recommendations for your ongoing leadership development.