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Benchmark – Reviving the Professional Culture

Aaron Mckee

Grand Canyon University College of Education

EAD-513: Shaping School Culture

Dr. Carol Lippert

Due: June 8, 2022

Introduction:

As the new school principal at this school, I have the opportunity to impact a culture that

has seemingly lost sight of its primary purpose. It is my goal to enhance the quality of the student

and staff experience by meeting needs for professional rigor and community. I desire to partner

with the stakeholders in a way that lightens the load for all by increasing the collective efficacy

of the school community. I seek to renew a positive culture through a community of

collaboration. These improvements will sweep throughout the school by way of outlook,

renovated purpose, a sense of legacy, as well as ownership and expectation for efficacious

impact.

Scenario Summary:

This is a new high school that has only had three grades but will have four this next year

for a total of 1,450 as well as 45 teachers for a 27:1 student to adult ratio. Morale seems low as

seven teachers have just recently given their resignations. The school has also been without a

principal and only 2 assistant principals for 3 months. To fill the void, a transition principal and

assistant principal from the district office were assigned to the school until the end of the current

school year. There is one school counselor for every grade which makes access to resources thin.

There has been some sloppiness administratively, as not all of the teachers received an

evaluation this last school year, and a few evaluations were written without a formal observation,

and not everyone is using the same language, focused on the same standards, which is an issue

that seems to have had no guidance since the approved curriculum is currently available.

Administration has a published professional development plan but has not offered sessions

consistently. Teacher development days are not collaborative and Professional learning

communities or collaborative learning communities are nearly non-existent.

Mission, Vision, and Outcomes:

Our vision is to forge strong, positive connections with students and their families so the

students can gain academic knowledge, achieve independence, and build personal confidence.

Our mission while doing so, is to provide a haven of rest where everyone is valued and

respected. Students are empowered to meet current and future challenges to develop social

awareness, personal responsibility, and individual growth. Staff members work in partnership

and are fully committed to ensuring students’ college and career readiness as a team of

professionals.

Collaborating for Data:

As we analyze pertinent data there is a sense that in the short term, Student outcomes will

be positively enhanced by community well-being as well as finding ways to make sure that their

families are also engaged in their child’s development and education. In the long term, as we

continue to aggregate information from all sources possible, our students will be more healthy

socially, physically, and emotionally. They will also be ready for college, a career, and

citizenship in general (Castrechini & London, 2012). Though it is difficult to know where input

from stakeholders will go in a process like this, the pedagogy of community-based research

yields extraordinary results because of the intellectual honesty that surfaces in the findings

(Community-Based Research and Student Learning.: GCU Library Resources - All Subjects,

2016). Involving stakeholders through collaborating is relationship-focused work that instigates,

leads the conversations that evolve by being available for reflection. This practice involves

becoming a learning partner who facilitates deep dives through interviews, coaching, seminars,

and illustrating the findings. Out of these learning events, emerging patterns and social theories

start to come to the surface which can help a new paradigm take shape (New Development: The
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Emerging Role of a “Learning Partner” Relationship in Supporting Public Service Reform,

2021).

Productive Family Relationships:

To manage the students' needs and interests as school leaders, we need to first seek to

understand what they are, and then be willing to respond to them by taking action to refine their

skills and abilities, as well as ours. To do this we must maintain effective communication

between the school and the families/caregivers through ongoing dialog in order to build effective

and positive relationships with them (“The Relationship between School Leaders’ Ability to

Manage Underprivileged Students’ Needs and the Level of Achievement of These Students |

Emerald Insight,” 2019).

Productive Community Partnerships:

I will respond to the interests of community partners by designing an environment at the

school that encourages deeper connections. In order to do that, I want to make the community

partners aware of our needs and how we may be a solution to their particular interest. To let them

know about needs, I will email organizational and community leaders to promote various events

and opportunities. I will attend local community meetings where I will talk with neighbors.

There are organizations that are regularly in search of community projects or looking for meeting

spaces. There may also be organizations who are connected with a populace of retirees such as

churches who are looking to give back to the community. In any case, when their interest is

triggered, I want to support developing that partnership and creating a mutually beneficial

relationship (Lewalter et al., 2021).

Public Advocacy:
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To make sure that the individual student needs guide all aspects of schooling, the priority

is to advocate for human rights, which will be a feature in our continuing professional

development courses. This will ensure that the staff themselves will know how to be advocates

for changes needed to meet the ever-changing landscape of the student populace. In fact, anyone

serving as teachers, or as parent activists, or social workers will all be encouraged to counter

inequalities through due process. This process involves speaking up, asking questions about extra

help for certain student groups, and writing down formal requests (Teachers, Parents, and

Family-School Partnerships: Emotions, Experiences, and Advocacy, 2022).

Rationale:

Because of the current scenario the staff needs positive guidance and direction. I hope to

establish sustainable relationships and processes that are both intentional and effective. These

decisions that I have made are a result of collaboration and evaluation that will be ongoing

throughout the course of the school year. Through these partnerships and initiatives, students will

be able to have a safe haven of rest that seeks to develop them. This will ensure that the student

experience is the center of gravity in our school environment. Our system promotes social justice

by advocating for students and families who have historically felt left behind or do not have the

same resources from their family support structures.

Conclusion:

As the new school administrator, I realize that I have the potential to make a difference in

a school that seems to have strayed from its original vision and mission. My focus is to improve

the quality of the student and staff experience by collaborating to reach our greatest potential. I

want to work with the stakeholders to reduce the load for everyone by boosting the school

community's collective efficacy and getting some wins early and often. Partnerships within the
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community are necessary to create powerful kinds of knowledge and capabilities. Through a

collaborative community, we can obtain a synergy that is sure to move our school closer to the

restoration of a good culture through each of the previous important steps. The broader outcomes

can be measured, the short-term wins can be celebrated. Even partners with quite distinct levels

of resources can have equal seats at the table. With time to understand the objectives and build

consensus, we can have sustainable and continuous improvements to our structures and systems.
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References

Castrechini, S., & London, R. (2012). Positive Student Outcomes in Community Schools.

https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED535614.pdf

Community-Based Research and Student Learning.: GCU Library Resources - All Subjects.

(2016). Oclc.org.

https://eds-p-ebscohost-com.lopes.idm.oclc.org/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?

vid=9&sid=9481f912-0d74-40d3-97a7-d6f2381303f0%40redis

‌Lewalter, D., Gegenfurtner, A., & Renninger, K. A. (2021). Out-of-school programs and interest:

Design considerations based on a meta-analysis. Educational Research Review, 34,

100406. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.edurev.2021.100406

New development: The emerging role of a “learning partner” relationship in supporting public

service reform. (2021). Public Money & Management. https://www-tandfonline-

com.lopes.idm.oclc.org/doi/full/10.1080/09540962.2021.1909274

‌Teachers, parents, and family-school partnerships: emotions, experiences, and advocacy. (2022).

Journal of Education for Teaching.

https://www-tandfonline-com.lopes.idm.oclc.org/doi/full/10.1080/02607476.2021.19899

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The relationship between school leaders’ ability to manage underprivileged students’ needs and

the level of achievement of these students | Emerald Insight. (2019). International Journal

of Educational Management, 36(1), 95–109. https://doi.org/10.1108\/IJEM