edu 701 - leadership challenge

7/31/2019 EDU 701 - Leadership Challenge

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Leadership Challenge 1

Leadership Challenge

Michael Rollins

EDU 701 - University of New England


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As the new principal of an elementary school in a small coastal town in Maine, I have a great deal

to attend to. The top priorities on my list at this point is getting acquainted with the professional staff that

I will be working with and putting into action a school-wide behavior management plan. Student

behavior has been getting worse and worse over the past few years and is beginning to put a strain on

student learning. As the new principal, I must get these behaviors under control and I will use all of my

resources available to ensure my students are in a healthy learning environment.

During the interview process it was made clear that there was not any sort of school-wide

management system in place. Each classroom had its own set of rules and consequences. This caused

much conflict between students and staff alike because students were allowed to behave a certain way in

one classroom but was not able to behave the same way in the classroom right next door. Consequences

varied greatly as well. Students in one class would not get punished for the very same action a student in

another class lost recess for. Due to this, students were losing respect for rules and teachers. Also during

this time, there was turmoil between teachers disagreeing on various rules and consequences, or lack

there of, that were being used with students.

Even before hearing the word that I was the new principal, I knew the innovation of a school-wide

behavior management plan was crucial to getting this school back on track. When a student's learning

environment is in jeopardy, drastic measures need to be taken. A school-wide behavior management plan

will bring back respect of rules and teachers and make for a more predictable school environment.

School-wide plans are designed to promote positive behavior by having students knowing exactly what is

expected from them and the consequences that will ensue when such expectations are broken.

There are many challenges that this innovation presents. The first of which is I was hired at the

end of the school year and it is now summer break and teachers are on vacation. I am new to the school

and district so people do not know me. This presents a huge challenge in itself. The school-wide


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behavior management plan can only be truly effective when everyone is on board and understands the

system.

There is a great deal of steps to take before implementing such a plan and it will take a great effort

from all. This will be completely new to the school so collaboration is vital and as a new leader I have no

idea how collaborative the teachers in this school really are with one another. Furthermore is timing, it

will take a great deal of planning to establish all the details of a school-wide behavior management plan.

With summer in the way, communication will present its problems and make collaborating that much

more challenging.

There is a great deal of data that needs to be collected to start generating such a school-wide plan.

I will initiate this research by creating a survey for teachers to complete about their thoughts on behavior

management within the school. Google Apps is used within the school district and that is the tool that I

will use to begin this process. An email sent to all teachers within the school will be used to introduce

myself to my new colleagues as well as address the first major change that will take place in the school. I

will provide the reasons why I feel a school-wide behavior management plan would be successful in the

school. The survey would include questions pertaining to behavior management including:

What has worked well for you when it comes to behavior management? What not so well?

What consequences do you feel are fair when breaking rules? What not so fair and why?

What would you do when you have repeat offenders?

How do reward students for good behavior?

How important is collaboration in this process?

In your mind, what would the new school-wide behavior plan look like?

Over the next few weeks, when data is gathered and analyzed, I will schedule two to three meet

and greets during the summer months for teachers to come together for food and drink in a non-school

setting. This will also be a great opportunity to get to know their new principal as well. These meetings


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will be very informal, but I will pass out information about the data collected from the survey results for

teachers to look over and formulate opinions/suggestions. For those teachers interested, I will also begin

to assemble a committee of teachers to begin the preliminary steps of this process.

The committee will work with one another to formulate a desired plan as well as give feedback

and reformulate the plan according to member input. The committee will be made up of a variety of

different people including administration like myself, classroom teachers new and old, volunteers from

the community, para-professionals and support staff. As this committee grows we will set our sights on

developing a statement of purpose stating we are dedicated to a safe, predictable and supportive school

environment. The committee will also create a list of valued beliefs and values that all will uphold:

students, staff and parents alike. Time permitting, we will also generate a list of clear expectations for

behavior that all will abide by. The use of Google Apps will make it far easier for committee members to

share ideas and make comments whenever they would like throughout the summer months.

I will then take it upon myself to present all of the work the committee has done during the

summer to the entire school during our first in-service day before school begins. Thanks to the meet and

greets I had over the summer as well as the people working on the committee with me, I will not have to

spend nearly as much time with introductions. We will spend a good deal of the morning presenting the

management plan, familiarizing everyone with its components, answering questions and taking feedback.

Once an agreement on expectations are set, with an understanding that we will be able to add

expectations as needed, we will move on to consequences. Using data collected over the summer we will

construct a list of consequences and work collaboratively as a team to decide on which ones will be fair

and consistent. A daunting task for one day but with the preparation work that was done during the

summer, it is certainly obtainable.

On the second of three in-service days, we will focus ourselves on developing a program that

we will implement the first week of school to help students understand how the behavior system works.


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As grade level teams we will develop lesson plans and activities to do to help students know exactly what

is expected from them and what WILL happen if they break such expectations. Consistency will be a

main focus throughout the day, week, and year! We will then join back together as an entire collaborative

group to share our ideas with the other grade levels. Units will be constructed from the material each

grade level created. With our time remaining we will develop a schedule for school assemblies to be held

to further educate our students and even parents on how this management plan works, especially during

the first few weeks of school.

On our third and final in-service day, we will spend the morning answering questions and working

through various scenarios that may be faced when the students are finally back at school. We will try to

cover a wide variety of situations that could happen and discuss as a team what would happen if

something similar was to occur. We will work through as many scenarios as possible until lunchtime.

From that point forward, teachers will be able to work in their classrooms and prepare whatever they

have not done previously.

As the first day begins, all staff will focus on educating all students on the new expectations and

consequences that everyone is held accountable for. As the first day progresses rules will be strictly

enforced and consequences WILL be used. We will hold our first school-wide assembly making sure

everyone knows it is our top priority. As the first few weeks go by teachers will complete more lesson

plans out of the created unit and more informative assemblies will be held. During this time, the behavior

plan committee will also meet to discuss pros and cons of the management plan to this point. A school-

wide behavior management plan is a huge innovation to take on but if, as a school, we remain consistent I

believe this plan will be very successful.

This innovation in my eyes applies to almost all of the ISLLC performance standards. The first

standard a school-wide behavior management plan would apply to would be standard 1: A school

administrator is an educational leader who promotes the success of all students by facilitating the


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development, articulation, implementation, and stewardship of a vision of learning that is shared and

supported by the school community (Green, p. 6). This management plan allows for a vision of learning

by getting rid of unwanted disruptions and being able to focus on the curriculum being taught. Standard

2: A school administrator is an educational leader who promotes the success of all students by

advocating, nurturing, and sustaining a school culture and instructional program conducive to student

learning and staff professional growth (Green, p. 6) also applies to this innovation. Holding high

expectations and paying attention to valued beliefs allows for a school culture that is conducive to student

learning.

Standard 3: A school administrator is an educational leader who promotes the success of all

students by ensuring management of the organization, operations, and resources for a safe, efficient, and

effective learning environment (Green, p. 6) is where this innovation really applies. A school-wide

behavior management plan allows for a school to be much more organized and efficient because

everyone is held to the same expectations and receive the same consequences. With consistency in

carrying out consequences this allows for a safe and effective learning environment.

By creating student and parent contracts, as well holding assemblies where families are welcome

to attend to educate everyone on how the behavior plan will work applies to standard 4. Standard 4

states: A school administrator is an educational leader who promotes the success of all students by

collaborating with families and community members, responding to diverse community

interests and needs, and mobilizing community resources (Green, p.6). Standard 5: A school

administrator is an educational leader who promotes the success of all students by acting with integrity,

fairness, and in an ethical manner (Green, p. 6) applies to this plan by allowing for fairness in the school.

Again, everyone is held to the same expectations.

A school-wide behavior management plan is a hearty task to take on as a new school leader but in

my eyes is top on the priority list. A classroom that is constantly being interrupted by unwanted


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behaviors is not conducive to student learning. Students who do not respect rules or authority are also

being taught the wrong lesson. Students must be in an environment that is predictable and fair. With this

schools can focus on education, making them much more effective.

References

Green, R. (2009). Practicing the art of leadership: A problem-based approach to implementing the

ISLLC standards. Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.

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