1. 1 st Case Study Kevin Ritter UNE – Educational Leadership Carolyn Marcotte 11/23/13

2.  My first step would be to gather data on the discipline issues that have occurred in the past 3 years in order to provide a baseline of data and assess the biggest areas of concern.  I will break the data down into 3 categories: Skipping/tardiness, assault/harassment, and disrespect/insubordination; giving a statistical snapshot of the schools discipline problems.  I will also interview a diverse group of administrators, teachers, and faculty to identify areas in need of improvement around school culture.

3.  In addition to gathering information, from staff and faculty I will also administer a survey of the students.  This will assess the school culture from their perspective in terms of, harmful behaviors, bullying, student support, and school spirit; their opinion on what can be done to improve school culture will be welcomed and encouraged.

4.  Improving school culture and addressing discipline problems will take a team effort from the entire staff; therefore staff should have involvement in helping the school reach a solution.  When it comes to decision making, there are two aspects to keep it mind; quality and acceptance.

5.  One of the first steps to involving the staff in this process would be to form and head a “Culture Committee” that has teachers from each department and with varying levels of experience, as well as other administrators and staff.  This committee will be able to raise concerns that the faculty has and then be able to report back to their departments about discussions that take place within the committee. This allows for collaboration but yet is efficient since not all faculty members are directly involved.

6.  By involving the “Culture committee” in this process I will be taking more of a participatory decision making approach.  The Committee will have consultation with their departments (so the whole staff will have input), and the committee itself will make a joint decision over policies and points of emphasis.  By creating a committee I will enhance not only the quality of the decision but, also the acceptance of the decision from those who will be relied upon to enforce it.

7.  Teachers will need to hold students accountable in the areas of behavior and discipline, and administration will follow through, in order to create a culture of accountability.  This will inevitable cause a spike in referrals to the main office at first, but will decrease as new expectations and accountability are accepted.  These expectations will be set forth for teachers during meetings before the school year and will be reinforced at faculty meetings throughout the year, providing data and reasoning to support our efforts.

8.  No movement or change should happen without thoroughly researching it, and thinking about it.  In order to gather as much information as possible I would speak with other respected colleagues/mentors.  I will research and analyze scholarly journals around the topics of student discipline and school culture.

9.  School speakers can have a great effect during school assemblies; I will investigate potential candidates that support positive school culture, such as:  Dr. Malcom Smith (Anti-Bullying)  Ed Gerety (http://www.edgerety.com/)http://www.edgerety.com/  Jeff Yalden (http://www.jeffyalden.com/)http://www.jeffyalden.com/

10.  As part of my research I will review the possibility of hiring a school resource officer (SRO); who would oversee crimes, violence and substance abuse committed on school grounds, and provide mediation when needed.  If a SRO is not wanted by the school board or is not budget feasible, I will pursue the hiring of a “culture monitor”; which will be a para professional position and will assist in discipline issues and work with at-risk students to help mold better behaviors.

11.  I will implement a school kindness week. Where there will be presentations and discussions on topics such as:  Respect  Diversity  Tolerance  Acceptance  Overcoming adversity  Kindness  This will culminate with an all school assembly with one of the aforementioned guest speakers.

12.  School culture needs to change from top to bottom, staff and administration included; so there needs to an emphasis not only on communication paths, but also how we communicate.  As an administrator I will model this behavior and work with the culture committee to come up with a set of communication norms regarding emails, phone calls, communication with community members, and face to face conversations.

13.  In addition to having a culture committee made up of staff and faculty; I will also have a Parent-Principal advisory, and a Student Principal advisory, to take into account concerns of all stakeholders. These advisories will meet once a month.  It is important in these circumstances to be transparent so that the community can see the school’s intentions and that we encourage two way communication and input.

14.  Communication with staff will happen a number of ways:  Before the start of the year, a faculty meeting will be called and administration will share a plan for changing school culture. Teachers will be given a handout with points of emphasis around changing culture  Faculty meetings will always begin with a reporting out of data around school culture, and teacher feedback on the topic (not just negative reports, but positive to celebrate the change that we see).  Department meetings – Since one teacher from each department is on the culture committee it will be that members responsibility to be the line of communication between the two parties and a portion of each department meeting will be used to address this topic.

15.  Communication is crucial in any organization, not only what we say, but also how we say it.  As a principal and a leader, it is my responsibility to model this behavior and make myself visible/approachable about all issues; not just for students but for faculty as well.  It is also important to keep in mind that my actions communicate a message to the school as well, and that this is often more powerful than any words.

16.  Collect Data on student behavior/discipline  Hold Students and teachers accountable.  Form a “culture committee” and both a Parent and Student Principal Advisory.  Administer a student Survey on school culture.  Involve stakeholders in the decision making process to improve decision quality and acceptance.  Create a “kindness week” with a renowned guest speaker.  Create a SRO, or culture monitor position.  Create communication Norms and model them.  Communicate the schools plan to change culture clearly and consistently.

17. Green, R. L. (2013). Practicing the art of leadership: A problem-based approach to implementing the ISLLC standards. Boston: Pearson. The Jossey-Bass reader on educational leadership. (2007). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.