EDLD 5333 Leadership for Accountability
Syllabus
Preparing Educators for a Changing World
The CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK of the Lamar University Educator Preparation Program illuminates the vision of the faculty as they are engaged in teaching, research and service. The undergraduate and graduate programs utilize a variety of delivery systems to prepare educators and leaders for a changing world by requiring them to demonstrate core knowledge, content proficiency, pedagogical techniques and strategies, communication and leadership skills, technological and analytical abilities, and professional dispositions. Lamar University educator preparation candidates develop habits of mind needed for “lifelong learning” and respond to the ever changing diverse needs of EC-12 students and the schools that serve them.
Department: Educational Leadership
Course Number: EDLD 5333
Course Title: Leadership for Accountability
Faculty: Dr. Johnny O’Connor
joconnorjr@lamar.edu
Dr. Nancy Adams
Department Address:
Department of Educational Leadership Phone: (409) 880-8689
Lamar University FAX: (409) 880-8685
Dr. Cynthia Cummings, Director
P O Box 10034
Beaumont, TX 77710
Website: See the Ed Leadership Department Web Site for latest certification and internship informationhttp://sites.google.com/site/luedlead/
Read weekly overviews &check your Lamar e-mail account regularly.
Virtual Office Hours and Web Conference dates/times:To be announced in Weekly Overviews in the Announcements section of Blackboard. ** It is the responsibility of the student to read the announcements and weekly overviews for information and updates to the course and/or syllabus.
Most answers to your questions about the Lamar Educational Leadership program, including internship forms and the intern handbook, can be found at this website:http://sites.google.com/site/luedlead/
Scholarly Writing : Assignment submissions should adhere to standards of scholarly writing and academic honesty. Cite references using APA formatting guidelines. For more information please visit:http://thewritesource.com/apa/apa.htm.
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Course Description
Leadership for Accountability
This course is a study of both short and long-range planning and problem solving techniques of effective school leaders. Special emphasis will be given to an individual campus and its relationship to district planning process. This course is required for the master’s of school administration and principal certification.
Instructional Associates
This information will be provided through an e-mail.Course activities, assignments, questions, and correspondence are to be e-mailed to the Instructional Associate.
Prerequisites
Admission to the Lamar Academic Partnership Program.Remember, if you have been provisionally admitted, you must submit transcripts and GRE scores before the end of your second course (within the first 6 hours of coursework) to move from provisional admission to full admission. Provisionally admitted students may take only 6 hours (two courses).
Course Texts
The required readings for this course are provided in the Course Content Outline section of the Syllabus. Actual readings can be found in the Resources section of the on-line course.
Course Outcomes
Learning Outcomes
Trace the evolutionary milestones of the accountability standards movement from the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) through passage of NCLB to the present.
· Identify the responsibilities of states with regard to standards and assessment systems.
· Describe the significance of a shared vision and healthy school culture to the campus improvement process.
· Describe the uses of the Public Education Information Management System (PEIMS) snapshot data in the Texas Academic Performance (TAPR) process.
· Identify the scope of information and performance indicators addressed on Texas Accountability reports.
· Identify the basic steps in the data-driven comprehensive needs assessment process.
· Describe how to apply four types of data in the comprehensive needs assessment process.
· Articulate the importance of measurable goals and objectives to the comprehensive needs assessment process.
· Define the principal’s role in campus planning and problem solving as a part of the continuous improvement process.
· Describe the steps in developing a campus-wide improvement plan and the critical components of a campus plan.
· Explain the importance of communication and formative assessment in continuous school improvement and campus planning.
· Identify the 10 components of school-wide planning as defined by Title I guidelines.
· Cite strategies to ensure that a Campus Improvement Plan is inclusive and addresses the needs of all learners.
· Describe the purpose and functions of the site-based decision-making (SBDM) team with regard to the change process and campus planning.
· Articulate the characteristics of schools that are successful in sustaining continuous improvement.
· Define the roles of the campus principal, staff members, parents, community members, and business representatives with regard to the SBDM team.
· Identify techniques for planning and facilitating productive SBDM meetings and for use in problem solving and decision making.
Performance Outcomes
· Create a statement of a personal vision of leadership after exploring assigned Web sites and readings on the topic of school visioning.
· Navigate the Texas Education Agency (TEA) Web site to access, analyze, and summarizecampus data from the most recent 2013 Accountability Summary.
· Analyze accountability data reports disaggregated by ethnicity, special education, low-income status, limited English proficient status, and a school district’s staged status as one tool in the needs assessment process to determine areas of strength and need and patterns and trends.
· Use assessment data as one tool in the needs assessment process.
· Narrow the focus of the needs assessment to one target area of weakness, and write a S.M.A.R.T. goal and one measurable objective for the target area.
· Research appropriate strategies/activities, including specific professional development, to address the target area, and list the strategies and rationale for using each strategy.
· Create a campus action plan to address the areas of need based on data from the needs assessment, including professional development plans and resources and tools for school improvement efforts.
· Complete an agenda for one professional development day, match training to teacher and student learning needs, and develop a timeline for follow-up professional development activities to address the targeted need area.
· Outline the next action planning steps to ensure continuing growth in student performance toward campus goals.
· Conduct interviews with a principal and an SBDM team member to obtain information regarding campus planning and SBDM dynamics.
· Complete a three-year comparison of Texas STaR Chart data of a selected campus to state-wide data. Determine strengths and weaknesses for the purpose of professional development.
Course Standards
Great care has been taken to include the content required by the Texas State Board of Educator Certification (SBEC), recommended by national specialty organizations (e.g. NCATE, CEC), and supplemented by Lamar University faculty members. The TExES examinations, where required for certification, reflect standards of this course.
Texas State Board of Educator Certification (SBEC) Principal Standards:
(c) Learner-Centered Leadership and Campus Culture: A principal is an educational leader who promotes the success of all students and shapes campus culture by facilitating the development, articulation, implementation, and stewardship of a vision of learning that is shared and supported by the school community. At the campus level, a principal understands, values, and is able to:
5) utilize emerging issues, trends, demographic data, knowledge of systems, campus climate inventories, student learning data, and other information to develop a campus vision and plan to implement the vision.
7) facilitate the collaborative development of a plan in which objectives and strategies to implement the campus vision are clearly articulated.
9) establish processes to assess and modify the plan of implementation to ensure achievement of the campus vision.
(f) Learner-centered Organizational Leadership and Management: A principal is an educational leader who promotes the success of all students through leadership and management of the organization, operations, and resources for a safe, efficient, and effective learning environment. At the campus level, a principal understands, values, and is able to:
3) frame, analyze, and creatively resolve campus problems using effective problem solving techniques to make timely, high quality decision.
8) collaboratively plan and effectively manage the campus budget.
(h) Learner Instructional Leadership and Management: A principal is an educational leader who promotes the success of all students by advocating, nurturing, and sustaining a campus culture and instructional program conducive to student learning and staff professional growth. At the campus level, a principal understands, values, and is able to:
8) acquire and allocate sufficient instructional resources on the campus in the most equitable manner to support and enhance student learning.
Educational Leadership Constituent Council (ELCC) Standards:
Standard 1.0: Candidates who complete the program are educational leaders who have the knowledge and ability to promote the success of all students by facilitating the development, articulation, implementation, and stewardship of a district vision of learning supported by the school community.
Standard 2.0: Candidates who complete the program are educational leaders who have the knowledge and ability to promote the success of all students by promoting a positive school culture, providing an effective instructional program, applying best practice to student learning, and designing comprehensive professional growth plans for staff.
Standard 3.0: Candidates who complete the program are educational leaders who have the knowledge and ability to promote the success of all students by managing the organization, operations, and resources in a way that promotes a safe, efficient, and effective learning environment.
State Certification Examination:
The Texas Examinations of Educator Standards (TexES). Certification examinations are based on competencies within the test framework. The framework is located in the Test Preparation Manual of the SBEC Principal Study Guide and may be found on the SBEC Web site: http://www.sbec.state.tx.us/. The following TExES Competencies are addressed: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8.
Classroom Management Policies
Academic Honesty
Based upon the West Point Honor Code, Lamar University students will not cheat, lie, plagiarize, or tolerate those who do. Academic dishonesty will not be tolerated on tests or any class assignments. Should you be found responsible for a dishonest incident, the course instructor will assign a reasonable penalty. If you do not consent to the findings and/or penalty, you must file an appeal with the department chairperson within five days as specified in the student handbook.
Sexual Harassment
Lamar University provides reasonable accommodations for all qualified individuals with disabilities in accordance with federal, state, and local guidelines affording equal educational opportunity. Remember this is a distance learning class, and the format is different from traditional face-to-face instruction. It is the student’s responsibility to register with Lamar’s Disability Support Services if needed, so contact your academic advisor about this.
Class Participation
Participation in the discussion forum is expected as a required weekly assignment. Students are expected to keep current with the course schedule, all assignment due dates, and assigned reading. All work submitted must be your own work. When referring to someone else’s work, clearly cite references using the American Psychological Association (APA) Publication Manual. Students are expected to spend a minimum of eight (8) hours per week on preparation for this course.
Note: It is important to cover the reading assignments and be prepared for participation in the online discussion each week. It is also important to read and follow the directions for completion of your assignments each week.
Special Accommodations:
Any student who feels s/he may need an accommodation based on the impact of a disability should contact me privately to discuss your specific needs. Please contact the office of Services for Students with Disabilities at 409-880-8347 or in person in 101A Wimberley Building to coordinate reasonable accommodations for students with documented disabilities.
Students requiring communication access for audio components of this course must contact the Communication Access Coordinator in order to schedule captioning or sign language interpreters. Students are solely responsible for submitting communication access service requests by e-mailing or calling 409-880-8905 V, 409-299-5886 VP.
Drop
Drops after the course begins may carry financial penalty in that reimbursement may not be possible. See posted drop dates.
Graduate Admissions Contact Information:
For answers to general questions regarding your program, contact Graduate Admissions at (409) 880-8888, or e-mail .
Grading and Evaluation
Weights for Assignments
15 %Week 1 Analyzing Campus Needand Personal Vision
15 % Week 2 Mining for Data
15 % Week 3 Targeting and Addressing a Need
20% Week 4 Action Planning and Professional Growth
10 % Week 5 Reflections
10% Week 5 STaR Chart technology activity
15 %Weekly Discussion Boards: 3 % weekly
All weekly discussion board responses should be complete and elaborated to receive full credit. Initial response to prompts due by 4th class day (Thursday) @11:59 p.m. and respond to two (2) colleagues in the discussion group by 7th day (Sunday) @ 11:59 p.m. to receive full credit.Cite references using APA formatting guidelines. It is the responsibility of the student to check Announcements for any changes to due dates that may be required.
For more information on APA, please visit: http://thewritesource.com/apa/apa.htm
Grading Scale
90 – 100 % = A 70 – 79% = C
80 – 89% = B 60 – 69% = D 0 – 59% = F
Extensions:Extensions (48 hours) may be granted with no penalty only for emergencies and extenuating circumstances by contacting the assigned Instructional Associate via e-mail or phone “prior” to the due date with the request if at all possible.