3 Year PD Plan Reflection

As I have stated too many times, as an Athletic Director, I do not get to deal with Curriculum and Instruction that often. With this being my central area of needing improvement, I have crafted a plan that keeps engaged in Curriculum and Instruction. The major aspect of my plan is to continue working towards my Doctorate at Lamar. Maybe some of y'all can join me and continue this journey? My reasoning behind continuing my education is two-fold, one this allows me to speak with my Superintendent and relate to him better. I can use the terminology that he expects and put Athletic analogies into Academic situations. I truly believe that starting the Superintendent Certification courses helped me obtain this new job opportunity. The lessons that we were learning fit right into many of the questions that were asked during the interview. Two, education is something nobody can take away. This education will allow me to pursue my long term goal of being a Superintendent. I do realize that I have taken a non-traditional path. This is why my education will be vital to making up for any percieved weakness I may or may not have. In conclusion, the biggest step I can take on my three year PD plan is to continue growing and build relationships as I go along. When we reflect, we see we did not get here alone. We all have had help along the way. That is where life's journey can split into many path's. The one constant in everybody'd path is growth. Fellow classmates, keep on growing and I hope to see you again soon!

Week 5 Final Reflection

This journey even though it had some mistakes (on my part) and some pitfalls, has been a wonderful one. As an Athletic Director, these courses have opened up my eyes to the world outside of Athletics and the many hats that a Superintendent must wear. While I have had a narrow focus, I am working on becoming a larger part of Goose Creek CISD. This was the main focus that we discussed with my site Supervisor Randy O'Brien. I met with Mr. O'brien on Monday September 23, 2013. Coming to a new district, he was excellent in helping me transition to my new role. On Monday, we talked about the last few months of my internship and I felt is was like yesterday that we started. We talked about what what I did at an exceptional level. Mr. O'Brien felt that I was tremendous at working with people. My people skills were on target for what a Superintendent needs to be like. He gave some examples of the way I have reached out to parents and how I have gotten "buy-in" from groups of people who were dissapointed with Athletics in the past. Throughout all of the competencies he felt that I was on target to be successful. This meeting was not all perfect. We had the tough conversation about Curriculum and Instruction. In what I do, I am not exposed to Curriculum and Instruction. I have to seek out opportunities. Mr. O'Brien complemented on seeking these opportunities out. He advised me that if I truly want to be a Superintendent someday that I need a stronger background in this as School Boards will demand this of their Instructional Leader. I agreed and said that Scool Boards are looking for people who can get them out of "testing jail." I do feel that by continuing to work with Mr. O'Brien I will continue to build our relationship> I suspect that he would like to see me go on and become a Superintendent someday. I know he will be a huge supporter. I know that after this conversation, he will continue to push and challenge me to be better and expand my role as a district leader. This is truly all that I can ask for and I thank him for being an exceptional supervisor!

EDLD Week 4 Reflection

Some Ideas may have been borrowed...most educational thoughts have been recycled..... If I touch a hot stove and burn my hand, I immediately learn that touching a hot stove results in a burned hand. My brain makes the connection almost simultaneously. There’s little need for reflection because the “hot stove=burn” connection is one that my mind makes almost immediately. Similarly, suppose I’m driving in bad weather and going extremely fast for the conditions. If my car spins out and I find myself stuck in a ditch, I’ve learned a lesson about driving in bad weather, which happens quite a bit in Houston Texas. Again, the connection is almost instantaneous. Academic learning however is seldom that obvious. That is why taking these courses have been instrumental in my development as an instructional leader. Let’s pretend I’m a fourth grade student, distracted by everything from cafeteria food to the playground outside my classroom window. If I fail an English test, am I immediately able to tell you why? Not likely. Most kids aren’t self-aware enough or mature enough to tell you why they failed at something (or in some cases, why they got in trouble). The younger the student, the more difficult this is. If we break it down to this level we can start to see why reflection is important. More than likely, since I’m not sure exactly WHY I failed a test, the only connection my brain makes is “English = F”. Since most kids really do want to be successful, students also equate “F=Failure” and “Failure=Bad”. They don’t understand that failure is a part of the learning process, largely because we as teachers don’t allow students to re-do work and learn from mistakes. As a result, they come to hate the subject or the teacher, never really knowing why other than “I am no good in English.” This is precisely why reflection is so important and an ongoing process. Although it’s a cumbersome and time-consuming practice to teach to kids or adults, without reflection it is almost impossible for actual “learning” to occur. Faced with increasing demands to “cover” as much material as possible to prepare for state tests, teachers often forego teaching students to reflect on their work, electing to instead “cover” the material. We often accuse kids of having “forgotten” material they “learned” the year before, but in reality, they never really learned it at all. The teacher “covered” it; perhaps the students memorized it for the short term before being lost forever. Reflection is a key ingredient to move knowledge from short-term to long-term memory. Consider John Dewey’s famous quote “We don’t learn from experience. We learn from reflecting on experience.” Reformers like Mr. Dewey have been talking about the importance of reflection in the learning process since the 1930’s. For a more contemporary spin, consider the work of Dr. Bobb Darnell and his website AchievementStrategies.org. Darnell describes the learning process as “Input-Process-Output-Reflect” and notes that without reflection, it is very difficult to have genuine learning. If the goal is not merely coverage but actual learning, than reflection is no longer optional – it’s an essential piece to transition a classroom from “covering material” to being “focused on learning”. After all, if I touch a hot stove and burn my hand, but never make the connection that the hot stove is what burned my hand, I’m likely to repeat that mistake. This is an absurd example - of course it’s the stove that burned my hand - but often times in life “What went wrong?” is a question without an obvious answer. And unfortunately, it’s a question that the vast majority of our students never even think to ask. And while many colleges talk about the importance of being a “reflective practitioner” in their teacher training programs, there seems to be little “reflection” taught in the classroom…probably because teachers are so bad at it themselves. For some silly reason it’s not cool to talk about “reflecting”. It’s difficult for teachers, who as a result of their position as the “distributor of knowledge” in the mind of most students and parents, feel obligated to be “right” all the time. This is of course, absurd. However, because of this need to be right we get very defensive and struggle to admit when we’re wrong. There’s something about the word “reflection” that seems to make teachers uncomfortable. Maybe because it’s too “touchy, feely” for some. Maybe it’s because it requires adults to show humility, and admit they can improve. Regardless, if we’re not willing to practice it ourselves and model it for our students, how can we ever hope to see them reflect on their own mistakes? Reflection is an integral part of the learning process. It allows us to learn more about ourselves and how we learn, but it also aids us in improving academic skills. Consider sports teams that watch film of the previous night’s game. They’re able to identify mistakes and correct them at practice. Looking at a failed math test can have the same result if we help students to notice “Oh! I forget to carry the one every time I borrow!” Then, we can look back on the learning process as well, and help students discern which activities worked for well for them and which ones didn’t. Teaching students to reflect on their work by noticing and correcting their own mistakes as well as which activities and behaviors allowed them to be successful is a vital part of the learning experience that far too many classrooms leave out of the equation. As teachers, we should model this expectation by reflecting ourselves and involving students in our own reflections. Only then can we help students understand not to touch a hot stove, as opposed to simply making them afraid of all stoves forever. These EDLD courses have lead to me to some deep reflection. I have learned many lessons. The first of these is that we must constantly keep evolving. This is a concept that people forget. People experience success and then get complacent, instead of working to achieve more. This is unacceptable in my book. This again is why reflection is needed to help us grow. The second thing I reflected on, “is how did I get here?” I got here by building relationships. These relationships have made me a better person. These relationships have helped me grow. These relationships have propelled me to success. The take away from this is that no man is an island. We all will need help at some point. Finally, the last reflection I had was do not let failure bog you down. Learn from it and move on. This is easier said than done. It is a great reflection and true. I just need to work within my personality to achieve this.

Finishing EDLD 5399 Competencies

Bernard Mulvaney EDLD 5399 When we look at the 10 Superintendent competencies we must break down each one to see where our strengths are and where we need improvement. I feel pretty confident that I can step into the role of a Superintendent today. I know that there will be trials and tribulations and that I will have to learn on the fly. I would argue that will happen with any position or district change. In Competency I, The superintendent knows how to act with integrity, fairness, and in an ethical manner in order to promote the success of all students. This is my biggest strength. I am known in my current job for this. I act with integrity at all times. Various district personnel ask me questions because I am open and honest. One of my coaches sent an e-mail to the Aldine ISD Superintendent about how I would be the perfect fit for the Assistant AD job that’s open. He stated that I am firm and fair and considerate to all sports. I am those things and it was nice to see my coaches recognize that fact. This also leads to being ethical. I believe integrity and ethics go hand in hand. You cannot have on without the other. In every dealing I have, I stay ethical. In life there are always shortcuts to success. If we take those shortcuts we shortchange ourselves, or school our students and our community. The only place where success comes before work is in the dictionary. I truly feel Competency I, is my biggest strength and selling point when I interview for a Superintendent position. (Education Testing Service. 2010) I decided to look at board policy and see what is not aligned. I was fortunate to work with my Deputy Superintendent at GCCISD as we are both new to GCCISD. We noticed that all in all the Superintendents vision and Board’s vision is in line with the policy that GCCISD has set. We were able to interview members of the Superintendents cabinet and we could tell that the vision for GCCISD is a solid one. We felt that most people are on aboard with the districts goals. I was glad I chose this competency. Sometimes we just need to dive into Board Policy to understand why decisions are made. This was an excellent way to start my internship considering it was right as my job changed. In Competency II, The superintendent knows how to shape district culture by facilitating the development, articulation, implementation, and stewardship of a vision of learning that is shared and supported by the educational community. I feel good here as well. I believe I can articulate a vision and get students, staff and community on board. I have done this in my current job and it has been a success. Taking over a program that has been poor, the first thing I did was sell the stakeholders into my vision. I used what the community goals were and shaped the football program so that we could be a reflection of the communities’ ideals and aspirations. We took calculated risks and are a success. Changing the climate of a losing program is not easy and it did not happen overnight. Culture and climate are the keys to building a successful business, school or team. My experience at Macarthur has given me insight on how shape things as I walk into a new Superintendent position. This is a competency that I feel strong and competent in. (Education Testing Service. 2010) In this competency, I was in charge of starting a project that to strategically increase literacy. I word hand in hand with the Superintendent of Curriculum and Instruction to phase in phonics at our elementary level. Prior to this we look at using sight words. Phonics has given our students an opportunity to sound out words. This becomes beneficial when a student comes up against words that they have never seen before. This is an ongoing project and one that I am proud that I helped introduce to GCCISD. This may be one of my weaker areas. I have addressed this by looking at this competency in many ways. I truly feel this is where a Superintendent makes their money. A Superintendent must be a salesman of the vision. They must get people on board so that they are willing participants to get the job done. In Competency III, The superintendent knows how to communicate and collaborate with families and community members, respond to diverse community interests and needs, and mobilize community resources to ensure educational success for all students. I feel at home with this one as well. MacArthur High School is 89% Hispanic and 95% Free and Reduced Lunch. I have worked with diverse groups from low-socioeconomic groups to community members who have some money and want to see the school succeed. I have worked with resources within the Community like the East Aldine Improvement District and have built solid contacts. These groups have made MacArthur a success. While I feel confident in this competency, I still need work dealing with the media. That may be my biggest downfall in this area. I have not had many opportunities to deal with the media. I feel if I had some practice I would be good at. I do feel that I need some improvement but again this is where some of my strength lies. (Education Testing Service. 2010) I have been fortunate that I have become the Director of Athletics and this has given me an opportunity to be involved in high level cabinet meetings and district administrative meetings. I have been able to watch Dr. Salvador Cavazos first hand. He does a tremendous job leading the district and is not afraid to make a decision. He wants what is best for GCCISD and will go above and beyond to make that happen. In meetings he quick to get collaboration and quick to lend support to other administrators ideas. He is good at making everybody feel like they are a part of the solution. This is hard when others to do not always want to agree. In Competency IV, The superintendent knows how to respond to and influence the larger political, social, economic, legal, and cultural context, including working with the board of trustees, to achieve the district's educational vision. I am confident in this competency as well. I enjoy knowing rules and using them to my advantage. I like looking at trends and find ways to use these trends to my/schools advantage. I feel confident that I can work with the board of trusties to achieve our vision. Influence comes with the prior competencies. If you are a moral ethical person, people will believe you because of your track record. If you feel something is not “right” and can explain yourself to the board, the board more than likely will listen to your suggestion. As son of a lawyer, the law has always fascinated me. The case in Kountze with the cheerleaders is interesting but there is a clear cut answer to this case. As a Superintendent one must know and follow the law that has been set. I also feel that one of my strengths is putting together and implementing a plan for student success. I feel you must have a set plan in place to succeed. (Education Testing Service. 2010) In Competency IV, I chose to analyze our current staff development and compare it to our mission and teacher evaluations. What I learned was absolutely fascinating. I found that we truly had no correlation. It seemed that the right hand did not know what the left hand was doing. This was a problem. I then brought my concerns to our Superintendent. One thing I have learned in these courses is to be pro-active. If you see an issue, have away to fix it. That is how I challenge my people. If they see a problem, what are we going to do to fix it? I saw the problem of not aligning our staff development and suggested that we look at trying the “Trainer of Trainer” methods. We started that process at the beginning of school. So far the evaluation by the staff has been positive. We took our administration and formed groups to disseminate information on topics that will help our district. They were “Rigor, Relevance & Relationships,” “Mission Impossible: Breaking down TEKS to the essential elements” and “Sequence TEKS vertically.” The feedback has been positive. GCCISD took my recommendation and ran with it. We decided to put together people in the content area. As the director of Physical Education, I took the PE and Health teachers and went through the training we did/sat through. I thought this “Training of Trainer” model was excellent because it modeled what we need to do in order to disseminate information. At the beginning of the year this was beneficial because teachers needed to hear the same thing from GCCISD across the board. It did not matter if they taught a core class or if they taught an elective. They were getting the same information. In Competency V, The superintendent knows how to facilitate the planning and implementation of strategic plans that enhance teaching and learning; ensure alignment among curriculum, curriculum resources, and assessment; use the current accountability system; and promote the use of varied assessments to measure student performance. This is where I can use some improvement. I know quality teaching when I see it. I know how to motivate people to do a better job. Where I fall short is in the total knowledge of the strategic plans and resources. I am a huge supporter of data and disaggregating it. When I look at the data, I can tell where to proceed. Being out of the classroom for the past 5 years has not helped. I have attended the in-services and became a member of ASCD to help me minimize my weakness. This is something that I must work on as most districts want somebody who is fluent in this competency with all of the high stakes testing. Even with that being said, in my current position I use different assessments to help my program improve. I have a feeling this is where I will spend the majority of my time. (Education Testing Service. 2010) I had the pleasure of compiling all of the staff development done within the district and compared that to teacher certifications. I did this while looking at ways to improve and streamline the training. The whole point of this exercise was to see it we could find patterns and to see where there can be improvement. If we are not improving we are losing ground. That is not good for our students. I first thought about how can I go and do this. We have a Director of staff development. They were able to breakdown where teachers went for staff development as well as what staff developments we offered at GCCISD. I found that we were excellent at giving core teachers an opportunity for staff development. I found that the budget for this was rather large. I also came to find that the budget for elective teachers was none existent. I knew this need to change. I proposed to the Superintendent of Curriculum and Instruction that we add to the budget in order to meet the needs of these teachers. I also commented on our lack of technology training. Teachers need to catch up to where their students are at. I suggested that students are way ahead of the teachers and we must narrow that gap in order to be successful. I received agreement on these issues. We would have missed a huge opportunity to get better if we did not put all of these trainings in an Excel and break it down. That was truly the difference, just a little time. It proved to be an excellent point. That point was we can always improve what we are doing. What we were doing was adequate; however, it was not as streamlined as it should have been. Without having this course to take a fine look at our staff development, there is no telling how long we would have continued a practice that was not working. It is this lesson that I will follow as a leader from here on out. Always strive to get better. In Competency VI, The superintendent knows how to advocate, promote, and sustain an instructional program and a district culture that are conducive to student learning and staff professional growth. I am good at a few things in this competency. I am excellent at analyzing things and making adjustments. My football background has made me adapt quickly to the data around me. This would carry over into staffing, class formats etc. I am also good at facilitating an instructional program. Where I will need work is establishing programs or creating programs to build professional growth. I have never had the opportunity to work on these things. With my current position, I feel I have similar experiences. I believe they may correlate. I understand how to move students from point A to point B and have a few strategies. Again, without having the exact experience, I will be learning on the fly. Good thing I am quick study. (Education Testing Service. 2010) My project for Competency VI was to inventory all of the administrator technology and make suggestions if there are concerns. I also met with the Attendance officer for Goose Creek Memorial. I will start with the technology inventory. Goose Creek is way ahead on technology from where I came from in Aldine. All School personnel have scanners. The days of faxing information is obsolete. To send documents it takes seconds. That is not the only reason we are ahead of the curve. GCCISD also make sure their administrators have a smart phone whether that is the galaxy S4 or the iphone. On these phones you can do just about everything you can do on the computer. Like most of our administrators, we also have a laptop and an IPAD. I could not ask for anything better. I can do work from anywhere in the district. We are truly ahead of the curve. I can say that from this standpoint GCCISD is truly blessed. I am allowed to handle every situation all day long. There are some drawbacks to having all of this technology. It means that everybody can get a hold you at all hours of the day. That is a negative. If my Superintendent needs to reach me at 10 pm, he has the capability to be able to do that. This another useful lesson that we need to be able to draw a line at where is enough technology. I also talked with the attendance clerk at Goose Creek Memorial to discuss attendance and finance. I asked how much money we lose when we have a low day of attendance. Does our ADA affect us and what is the cost? At GCM they average about 98% student attendance. That puts them in excellent shape when it comes to money. They mentioned that they have a few incentives to get students into school every day. This was a key. Give students a reason to be there. I certainly agree with this concept. We need to find a reason for the students to come to school. Maybe that reason is sports or maybe it is technology. Whatever the reason, we need to continue to push it. In Competency VII, The superintendent knows how to implement a staff evaluation and development system and select appropriate models for supervision and staff development to improve the performance of all staff members. I feel good about this competency as I already give presentations and have put together process maps. I also evaluate all my athletic personnel. My coaches know that I am fair and firm. It goes back to competency I where there is integrity and ethics. I can spot an area for improvement and offer suggestions on how to work on it. I feel that have a quality climate helps here. I am a huge believer in hiring the best staff possible and let them do their jobs. I also want to promote from within. I believe this leads to increased performance when staff is treated well and have an opportunity to “move up the ladder.” This competency plays into my strength of understanding how to critique people without belittling them. I also am solid in making adjustments as we go. This flexibility gives me an opportunity to improve performance. (Education Testing Service. 2010) I am currently in the process of reviewing and revising job descriptions. I feel this is the single biggest thing that we can do to streamline this competency. Many times job descriptions have not been updated in many years. This becomes a problem when you have redundancies and overlapping job descriptions. From an athletic standpoint, I want all of my coaches to know what is required of them. They need to feel comfortable in their job. One way to promote this is by having them know exactly what their job entails. I have had the opportunity to revise my athletic coordinator’s job descriptions. All three of them were relieved as I simplified their jobs and raised a level of expectation. I have heard positive feedback. I am also in the process of creating a job description from scratch. I am adding an Assistant Director of Athletics. This has been a unique undertaking as Human Resources is allowing me and only me to create this job description. I wanted to be successful with this so I am researching other school districts and their job descriptions on this position. Having moved into the Director of Athletics position for GCCISD has helped me in my internship as I was exposed to things that I never would have as a Head Football Coach. Create a job description is one such example. In Competency VIII, The superintendent knows how to apply principles of effective leadership and management in relation to district budgeting, personnel, resource utilization, financial management, and technology application. There is work to be done in this competency. Where I stand out is in resource utilization. I have found ways to make things work more efficiently. This is an excellent asset I have in seeing how things work and finding ways to streamline the process. This is why I was put in charge of creating process maps for the Athletic department. I can see a process and be effective. I have a great credit score and have a balanced checkbook. I believe if you can do this in your personal life you can do this for your district. I also believe I am ahead of the curve when it comes to technology. This will give me an advantage to be on the forefront of change and not playing from behind. Technology is ever changing and by staying with the times you apply policy before you are behind. Playing from behind hurts student achievement. I need some work on overall district budgeting as I am only within my little bubble. This is where I will spend a majority of my time. (Education Testing Service. 2010) I had the pleasure of meeting with the Director of Maintenance, Rick Walterscheid, to go over responsibilities for their people and athletics. We met eight or more times in this regard. Maintenance and Athletics go hand in hand in GCCISD. Maintenance takes care of our fields, gets our stadiums ready, cuts the grass, and locks up the facilities. I had the pleasure of getting to know the people that work each venue and let them know that they are a valued member of our team. These people are tireless worker who are willing to go above and beyond for our students. While meeting with Mr. Walterscheid, I learned their process and how to put in work requests. This is where there is a streamline. Once a work order gets sent, a number is created and sent to the next available worker. It is one large data base. I truly appreciate how Mr. Walterscheid walked me through his job as Director of Maintenance. My overall assessment is that we in Goose Creek CISD run a tight ship and there are always concerns but when you spend time getting to know the process you head off most mistakes before they happen. I also had the opportunity to complete many requisitions. In my new job as Director of Athletics, I am shuffling paperwork all day. One of the main responsibilities is to provide my coaches with a budget and to then create a purchase order and requisition. I have approved in my short time here many requisitions. I have also followed our Goose Creek CISD purchasing guidelines. I have sent out bids, I have bought from a co-op and I have used a sole source. This is an area where I feel confident. In Competency IX, The superintendent knows how to apply principles of leadership and management to the district's physical plant and support systems to ensure a safe and effective learning environment. I am excellent with most of the support systems since extra-curricular activities such as football is the main part of my job. I do need work on the food services aspect with all of the laws on what can and cannot be served and pupil transportation. I have a CDL but I still need to know how the whole operation works. I also will need to be briefed on how to keep the infrastructure up to date. In Aldine ISD, this is constant struggle as most of the buildings were built in the late 60”s and early 70’s. This has led to issues. I have also created emergency plans for our athletic teams in terms of lockdowns, injuries etc. This is a competency that I would play up my experience in an interview. (Education Testing Service. 2010) The ninth competency I deal with on a daily basis as the Director of Athletics. I have to maintain pools, gyms and stadiums every day. For my internship I had the opportunity to interview Richard Delgado about Transportation. He shared many stories about his position. He talked about training that goes with buying new buses and how that needs to be negotiated with the sales company. He also went on to say that he has learned plenty on the job. He also talked about the trend of trying to find bus drivers. He mentioned that every year the pool of applicants get smaller and smaller. He could not understand why. This was the biggest issue he was dealing with. He also mentioned that having enough quality buses was a concern because there is a fine line between having enough that are in working order and having a quality asset sitting. I also had the opportunity in Competency IX to sit down with Aramark and watch them feed our students at Gentry Junior School. I have a new found respect for the cafeteria people. They have to deal with more than I could ever imagine. Their day starts before 5 am to make meals for our students. They have a process that is strict do to local, state and national guidelines. I would have to say that they have one of the more difficult jobs in the school district. I did have some concerns. The first concern was do we have enough people to staff these cafeteria’s. From my perspective they look like they are short. If they are short, does this run us into any safety concerns? I addressed this concern with Aramark. They stated that they have enough people working to maintain the most efficient process they can. If they do error, the error on the side of caution and have more people working. In Competency X, The superintendent knows how to apply organizational, decision-making, and problem-solving skills to comply with federal and state requirements and facilitate positive change in varied contexts. I am excellent at facilitating and building consensus. I work hard at bring people together to make it a win-win for everybody. I think great leaders have strength in this. I believe that they are also organized. Being organized is something I take pride in. I believe that organized shows that you can set up a plan and follow through to create change. As a football coach I always have to think on my feet and these problem solving skills will help me meet all state and federal requirements. My one area for improvement in this competency is using political influences to create positive change. I have not had the opportunity to lobby Austin for change. I do believe I would be prepared and do an excellent job. I will spend time researching this and talking with my Superintendent who is lobbying Austin about the STAAR test. (Education Testing Service. 2010) Competency X gave me the opportunity review our Special Education requirements. I have become good friends with Dr. Thomas Kelcher the Director of Special Education in Goose Creek CISD. Dr. Kelcher has walked me through our special education process as many of our athletes receive various types of services. It was an excellent opportunity for me to see the inner workings of the special education office. My largest take away was how much paperwork there is and how to file and store it. Dr. Kelchner has bought special conveyors that are alphabetized and color collated. This has helped the organization of these files. Dr. Kelcher told me that they hose files for over 6,000 students. That is absolutely amazing. What I would tell Principal’s is that they need to follow the letter of the law. Special Education is the one area that a Principal can get into hot water for not following an Individualized Education Plan or an IEP. Dr. Kelcher said being organized is the key. My overall take away from the Special Education is that being meticulous will be beneficial to any leader. In conclusion, I feel confident about the competencies. I have areas to focus on. I will focus on these areas of improvement so I can be a better Superintendent candidate. I ultimately believe that my people skills and team building will be skills that would be ideal in an inspiring Superintendent. After going through my internship I feel confident that I am in great position to pass my test and to lead a district in the very near future.

School Improvement

Austin ISD: 

In the Austin ISD plan, the committee has clearly met and dug through the data.  This data was then placed in the comprehensive needs assessment to keep them at the center of all future discussions.  When you are looking at making improvements, you must disaggregate the data.  The data is like a road map to Exemplary.

The group then took this data and formulated a plan.  Within this plan, the district has embedded funding sources.  The use of state compensatory funds is clearly defined within the appendix, and the districts PBMAS plan is integrated into the district plan so that duplication of efforts is held to a minimum.  This is key.  If we “waste” money, time and effort we do not maximize our efficiency and in essence double our work.  We must limit how much of this happens.

The lists within the appendix go beyond just SCE and PBMAS.  They also touch on state and local funds, thus, creating the desire to help employees see how certain funds support specific activities while still meeting the intent of the fund source.  Being transparent not only helps the staff but the community can see that their educational dollars are being spent wisely.

Within the Aldine ISD plan, the comprehensive needs assessment is also conducted, and those needs align with not only the goals, but also the objectives.  Within the plan, broad fund terms are listed.  For example, instead of giving details as to which fund source and dollar amount are going to be used, more general terms such as “state funds” is selected or Aldine ISD general fund..  Specific names are listed for programs in need of additional documentation.  For example, state compensatory education funds are broken out to show exactly how much is spent toward meeting the objectives of this program.

In comparing both plans, they both have a process of data review, goal setting, etc.  Each district appears to be striving to improve student achievement, while ensuring proper documentation is present.  As well as looking to improve the efficiency of the documentation and spending.

Group 5’s Response to “District Plan Alignments”  Group 2

Good post and one that echoed with our group. The notion that every district is different and the needs of a district is essential to the District Improvement Plan (DIP) correlates to student achievement. AISD stresses continuous improvement and strategic plan to guide the process, what our districts emphasis is the use of a “Sticky” or “Skinny” plans that people know and implement. Many times one will look at a district plan or campus plan and it will be so fat that no one knows the direction of the document. With a “sticky” plan, everyone always has their hands on it and can truly use it to guide decision making on a campus and district level. Very well done.

Equality, Equity and Adequacy

Equality: Equal opportunity to participate in program. Equality occurs when all students are given a like education. Equality in Education has many examples such as Department Planning Period which makes teaches work together to build lesson together.  For example, ensuring that all grade levels have science curriculum materials is an equality issue. Title IX is another equality issue. Ensuring that girls have just as many opportunities as boys helps prove that all students are expected to learn at their full capacity.  We see this mostly in the Athletic arena.

Equity: Fair or equal distribution of resources for schooling, taking into account student differences and school district characteristics. In reading others’ responses on the discussion board, it is clear that most participants see equity as fair, but not always exactly equal. Compensatory education is a prime example of helping provide equity to students who may have contributing factors explaining why he/she does/does not necessarily receive services. Another factor that limits equity is the inverse funding system. The concept is that all schools will be equally funded; however, target revenue and hold harmless keep some level of disparity in the system.

Adequacy: Need for just enough funding to allow students to achieve. Adequacy does not maximize a program’s benefits to students, but instead proves its existence. There is a great deal of debate has centered around adequacy, even though the Supreme Court ruled the current system is adequate (at least for now). Adequacy deals with issues such as textbooks for all students. Another example could be scheduling (which students are allowed to take certain courses).  Adequacy is just doing the bare minimum.  One such example of this is unfunded mandates like Steroid Testing for athletes.  The State Legislature makes these decisions but does not fund these.  School districts scramble to fulfill state law while not breaking the bank.

Overall, many people lump these three terms together.  As the definitions above show they are nothing alike.  As future Superintendents we must educate our staff on the true meanings of Equality, Equity, and Adequacy.

Group 5’s Response to IMA, Group 3:

Roy, I agree with the flexibility that the new requirements allow, but I’m not sure districts have thought through the long term allocation of resources. In addition to the strategic planning related to IMA, one has to remember that the state combined both technology allotment and textbook allotment, then reduced the fund by half. So, unless a district is very efficient, resources are/will be essential in the future. I have spoken to many publishers looking for aligned materials and they are not out there. The publishing companies are allocating all of their own human capital to develop Common Core Curriculum that 48 states have adopted. Texas and Alaska have their own, and are tasked with creating their own resources…. without an understanding of what the assessment looks like (Sorry to splice in assessment).

School Finance

The History of Texas School Finance:
We cannot consider Texas public education without turning back the clock to our first constitution. The call for free public education for all set the tone for our current system. This tone has been the impetus in serving the needs of all students in Texas.  Setting aside 1/10th of state revenue for this purpose, the statement was made that education was to be a priority in our state. Through the work of Mirabeau B. Lamar, the Father of Texas Education, land was set aside for both county school districts, as well as what is now Texas A&M and the University of Texas.  All of this from a belief that education is an important priority in Texas.

We reached another milestone with the new state constitution in 1869. We mandated school attendance put in place, but a poll tax and an ad valorem tax were created as the foundation for public school funding.  This new requirement of attendance has been the downfall of many schools.  Being Created in 1869, some would probably like to revist this.

Finally, Edgewood vs. Kirby, the court battle that began in 1989, has played an important role in defining school finance in current times. Because of the ongoing battle that ensued, followed by the enactment of Senate Bill 1 in 1995, redistribution of wealth, commonly known as "Robin Hood" was implemented. Over time, this system has been questioned and tweaked, but it remains the foundational concept of our current system.
Current Situation:

The state school finance funding formula is susceptible to many variables. Recent lawsuits, court cases, and rulings have caused the issue to be in the spotlight.
One issue in the current system is the inverse nature of state funding. Which we are in another cycle of funding from the state legislature.  When local wealth is present, state funding is supposedly on a sliding scale downward, whereas when local wealth is absent, state funds kick in and provide more of a balance to the system; however, caveats to the system make this a complicated issue. Target revenue and hold harmless are two such issues. Districts held at a high target revenue are receiving more state funds than they would in a purely inverse system. This causes dissatisfaction and belief that the current system is inadequate and inequitable.  Also, we are seeing a decrease in Educational Funding as we are not using our rainy day funds which is in excess of 8 Billion dollars.
Another issue is the ongoing string of litigation. In West Orange Cove vs. Neely, districts held that the school finance system had, in essence, created a de facto statewide property tax. The Texas Supreme Court agreed.
Finally, the complication of the system creates criticism. The current system is complex and nobody in the legislature is eager to change it.  This has opened the door for dissent.  This dissent comes from everybody, rich or poor, urban or country.  Everybody would like a more equitable system.  Nobody can agree what that system is.

By raising academic standards and cutting school funding at the same time, the question should be asked if this method unconstitutional by Texas lawmakers.  Two-thirds of Texas’ school districts had sued the state, claiming that the Legislature failed to live up to its constitutional obligation to provide an “efficient system of public free schools.” With  state assessments of Academic Readiness, the overall passing rates on the new, tougher end-of-course exams in high school ranged from 72 percent on the writing test to 90 percent on biology test.  We are being asked to educate more with less.

Group 5’s Response to Group 2, Part 1:

The opportunity for Texas to constitutional require fiscal support for its public educational system was essential in the development of several districts across the state. In addition to the financial requirement, the constitution of 1876 ensured that equitable and adequate funding for all stakeholders that attended public school. These selections for the top three events were spot on. In fact, your assessment is the foundation on not only school finance, but also “FAPE” or Free and Public Education. Moreover, your group did an outstanding job at bridging the Gilmer-Aiken act that built weighted funding in order to ensure adequate funding.

Group 5’s Response to Group 3, Part 1: 

Thanks for your group’s comments related back to “A New Constitution”, specifically compulsory attendance laws that stated the need to attend school from age 8 to 14. This is a big step for the state as it went up against the farmers and fair labor laws pre industrial revolution. Why is this important? I solidify the need for a child to attend school and continue their education through the age of 14.

Group 5’s Response to Group 2, Part 2:

When looking at the funding of school districts across the state is the most everyone has an opinion. In fact, as your assignment indicates, there was only an attempt of equitable funding with Chapter 41 or “Robin Hood”. When looking at the levels of recapture that some schools send is compounded when other programs are cut. Based on initial decision, it has been deemed unconstutional and a likely adjustment will occur in late summer, early fall. Great job at acknowledging the complex issue of school funding with a simplistic explanation that does not lose the intent.