The superintendent has hired you to be an impactful leader at this school (as the new Instructional Coach, Assistant Principal or Principal) effective July 1. The Oak Grove School is in a low-income, diverse community that includes a small

The student will apply learning from across all modules of EDLE 7000
to respond to a scenario of a troubled school where he or she has recently
been named as Leader (the new Instructional Coach, Assistant Principal or
Principal). The charge from the superintendent and board is to “turn the
school around.”

The key assessment allows the student to reflect on and synthesize
learning from the entire semester to navigate a difficult but not unusual
situation in a troubled K-12 school. The scenario is one that any school leader
may encounter.

Learning Goals

1. Understand “self as leader,” to include articulating
one’s core values and leadership style.

2. Integrate leadership theory, core values, leadership style/s, and
communication skills to achieve desired outcomes.

3. Deepen your personal leadership growth and development by meeting
with your Sponsor to discuss your written document, the Key Assessment: The
Leadership Foundation.

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Read the Oak Grove School scenario.

2. Write Part 1, The Reflective Analysis.

3. Write Part 2, The Challenging Conversations.

4. Write Part 3, Summary of Sponsor’s Feedback

5. Submit the Key Assessment: The Leadership Foundation to CourseDen.

You have two options for this assignment.  You can choose to complete the narrative
template that has been prepared for you or design a presentation using the
shared template and video introducing yourself as a new leader to the faculty
of the school.

SCENARIO – THE OAK GROVE SCHOOL

 The superintendent has hired
you to be an impactful leader at this school (as the new Instructional Coach,
Assistant Principal or Principal) effective July 1. The Oak Grove School is
in a low-income, diverse community that includes a small but vocal activist
group that is working hard to improve their citizens’ living conditions and
opportunities, despite the usual social problems that accompany poverty.
These activists are sincere, although some community members – to include
many educators at Oak Grove – perceive them as strident and difficult. The
student body is characterized by high absenteeism, lower than expected
achievement, and excessive discipline problems. Parents don’t want to send
their children to Oak Grove but have few options to do otherwise. You are
replacing a laissez-faire leader who mostly kept the operations side of the
school running smoothly (e.g., buses ran on time, facilities were
well-maintained, basic supplies were stocked, paperwork was submitted to the
system office on time, teacher evaluations were completed in a perfunctory
manner). The principal claimed to have an open-door policy, but few teachers
sought help because the message when they tried was, “The principal is
busy right now, but can see you later.” The assistant principal handled
all discipline problems, which consumed far too much time. When not
addressing behavior issues directly, the assistant principal walked the halls
and campus grounds, trying to provide a sense of safety for teachers, staff,
and students. In truth, the former principal focused on managerial functions,
neglecting responsible leadership to create a culture to support learning. As
a result, teachers gravitated toward “like” groups:

● The Stars. These teachers try to maintain a positive outlook. Their
students achieve academically despite the non-existent instructional
leadership.

● The Mediocre Middle. These teachers attempt to see sparks of hope,
but are overwhelmed with the non-supportive environment. They go through the
motions daily to help students learn, but produce unsatisfactory results.

● The Downhearted. This group makes up a significant proportion of
the faculty. They mostly have given up on their students, describing them as
“ignorant, lazy, and too poor to learn.” These teachers put little
effort into instruction, their students likewise put little effort into
learning, and achievement is abysmal.

During the interview process, you shared your core beliefs and
attitudes about school leadership. Indeed, the hiring committee openly
declared that Oak Grove needs a strong leader to “turn this school
around.”

The Superintendent’s Charge

You are aware that your new job (as instructional coach, assistant
principal, or principal) will be challenging because of Oak Grove’s negative
history, division among the faculty, and dissatisfaction among parents and
the community. However, you are encouraged by Superintendent Foster’s words
when you accepted the job. She bluntly declared, “We hired you, because
we believe you are the ‘best fit’ leader to turn this school around. Most
everyone thinks that your values mesh well with the community. Our parents
and best teachers appreciate your commitment to learning and teaching. You
know who you are as a person and leader.

Throughout the interview process, we heard about your core values and
liked how those values stabilize and influence your decision-making. You
handled tough questions smoothly, which makes us think that you’ll have a
calming presence with our more ‘passionate’ stakeholders. We’re convinced
that you will stand firm when push-back comes your way, which it will from
some quarters. But this school and its community are filled with good people
who want to see you succeed. You can count on their support. So, here’s your
mandate: Turn this school around.”

Early Conversations with the Three Teacher Groups

The three teacher groups talked with you during your first week on
the job. The Stars met you for coffee. The Mediocre Middle caught you in the
hallway. The Downhearted arranged for a representative to schedule a
face-to-face appointment with you in your office.

·      
The Stars:   These teachers met you for coffee to warn
you about potential divisions among the faculty. They also wanted to
encourage you to stand strong. One teacher said it for the group, “We’ve
tried to work with the other teachers, but they’ve never been much interested
in changing things for the better. So we stick together and do what’s best
for our students. We enjoy working together and are very glad you’re here.
We’ll stand with you.”

·      
The Mediocre Middle:   Several teachers from this group caught you
in the hallway to give you a heads-up. “Oak Grove is a hard place to be.
We really want to make a difference for our students, but we just haven’t
gotten support. It’s so discouraging. Most of us feel isolated and
alone.”

·      
The Downhearted:  One teacher made an appointment to
deliver the following message to you personally, face-to-face. “We
teachers care about your success as our new principal and don’t want you to
be caught off-guard. You need to know what’s really going on here. These
students don’t have what it takes to learn at the level that the system is
pushing for. They’re missing chunks of critical background skills. They ditch
school all the time. We can’t teach because they constantly disrupt
instruction. Some of us heard you talk about your values and ideas during
your interview, but new people are always idealistic. We just don’t want you
to come in here all inspired and then be devastated when things don’t work
out.”

Points to consider…

As you write, keep in mind:

·      
Throughout the key assessment as noted in the
instructions and rubric, cite leadership theories and mindframes that
resonate with you (e.g., Hersey- Blanchard Situational Leadership, Blake and
Mouton’s Managerial Grid, Transactional Leadership, Transformational
Leadership).

·      
Refer to the one or two leadership style/s that
best fit you (i.e., Daniel Goleman’s six leadership styles).

·      
Refer to other readings on leadership from
this semester (e.g., Chaleff’s work on Followership, Schein’s work on
culture, Lassiter, Fisher, Frey & Smith’s text on How Leadership Works)
as it makes sense to do so. 

·      
Follow the APA Style Guide (American
Psychological Association) to cite sources that support your analysis.

·      
Refer to both the instructions below and
rubric as you write your key assessment.

INSTRUCTIONS: Key Assessment – The Leadership Foundation  USING
SLIDES AND VIDEO RECORDING

The slides presentation is a summary of your first faculty meeting
with your new staff.  You will use the suggested
layout listed below (you may adjust the design but not the content expected
for each slide) to describe yourself as leader, core values, and leadership
style and how your personality, core values, and leadership style will guide your
work with three groups of teachers in your school.

Be sure to review the rubric and include the appropriate number of
citations to reference connections to course work that support your
statements and approach. After you develop the slides, you will record a
brief summary taking the viewer through the slides presentation. This
recording should be between 7 and 10 minutes. Use this opportunity to
introduce yourself as the new leader (instructional coach, assistant
principal, or principal depending on your current role) to help connect with
teachers, share your vision as a leader, and build collaboration and
relationships with your new team. 

Suggested layout of slides:

1.     Intro
slide

2.     Discuss
your strengths as noted through the different self-analyses that you have
conducted.  Remember to cite the tool
that you are discussing.

3.     Discuss
how these connect to you as a leader and to at least two leadership theories
(see Module 1 reading material)

4.     Share
your core values and what you deeply believe in

5.     Share
your personal goal for leadership

6.     Discuss
your leadership styles per Daniel Goleman’s work and the work from our
text. 

7.     Share
how you will leverage your leadership style 
(Goleman) and mindframes to improve the school

8.     Address
the needs of the school based on three types of teachers:

a.    
Stars

b.    
Mediocre Middle

c.    
The Downhearted

Include words that
you will say to them using what you have learned about effective
communication, feedback and coaching, your core values and leadership
theories.

9.      Incorporate your Mentor/Sponsor’s feedback
into the slides.    Share
your slides presentation with your mentor and discuss how your values,
mindframes and leadership styles (and theories) would work at a school like Oak
Grove.  An example of how to
incorporate it into the slides presentation is “A close mentor once told
me…” )

10. References
– Cite references following the APA Style Guide (American Psychological
Association).

INSTRUCTIONS: Key Assessment – The Leadership Foundation for the
NARRATIVE Reflection

PART 1. THE REFLECTIVE ANALYSIS

Each of these three sections should be approximately 400 words.

Organize Part 1 using the italicized subheaders below.

1a. “Self as Leader.” (Approximately 400 words).

Write one paragraph that discusses your results from two leadership
assessments  completed in EDLE 7000.
They are: 

·      
Myers-Briggs Type Inventory (MBTI). Name your
4-letter type (e.g., ENTP, The Visionary), the two-letter functional pair
(i.e., NT), and associated strengths and blind spots.

·      
Leadership Goals Based on Leadership Practices
–  Include strengths and areas for
growth. 

·      
In the second paragraph, discuss what you’ve
learned about yourself from the MBTI and Goleman’s style analysis within the
context of at least two leadership theories that resonate with you. The
leadership theories must be ones learned in EDLE 7000, Modules 1.1 through
1.4, with in-text citations that refer to readings from the course only. Your
discussion should NAME the theories (and possibly the theorists themselves)
and explain briefly why they resonate with you, based on what you know about
yourself per the MBTI and Leadership Goals. 

1b. Core Values (Approximately 400 words).

The Core Values section should begin by listing your 5-6 core values
identified in the Core Values Exercise completed this term. Follow the core
values with your Personal Leadership Statement completed in the Core Values
assignment. Format both as follows, using italics and underlining where
noted:

·      
Core Values: determination, gratitude,
insightfulness, optimism, sustainability, responsibility

·      
Personal Leadership Statement: To be an insightful
and responsible leader who shows determination and gratitude,
and inspires optimism in teachers and students to sustain high
academic achievement. [Student exemplar provided with permission from
Adam Gagliotti]

·      
Follow these with a discussion of at least two
leadership theories that most closely resonate with your core values, making
explicit the connections between them. You may use the same two theories
noted in section 1a – “Self as Leader,” provided that the
discussion expands what you wrote in 1a. In-text citations are required. Only
use leadership theories learned in EDLE 7000 and cite only readings from this
semester’s course.

·      
Explain briefly how your understanding of
these connections will help you navigate your new position as  a leader of the Oak Grove School.

1c. Leadership Style. (Approximately 400 words).

In what ways will your leadership style support this challenging
situation (i.e., “turn the school around”)?

·      
Using Daniel Goleman’s six leadership styles,
discuss your leadership style, its strengths and weaknesses. His six
styles are Coercive (or Commanding), Pace-Setting, Authoritative, Affiliative,
Democratic, and Coaching.

·      
Explain how you will leverage your leadership
strengths – per Goleman – to tackle turning around the Oak Grove School.

PART 2. THE CHALLENGING CONVERSATIONS

Part 2 is based on the Oak Grove School scenario. Develop three
sections, one each for the three groups of teachers. Organize Part 2 by using
three sub-headers: (1) The Stars, (2) The Mediocre Middle, and (3) the
Downhearted.

Begin each section with a Conversation Table, followed by a 300-word
paragraph (approximately). The table addresses the explicit use of
communication techniques. The paragraph discusses how you will apply your
knowledge of leadership theories (at least two), relevant core values from
the Core Values assignment, and what you have learned about yourself through other
course materials as applicable to the conversation with the group of
teachers. Apply only those leadership theories studied in this course and
reference those readings appropriately. 

Consider how you will approach each group of teachers. Anticipate
their concerns and give thought to how you might respond when they share
their thoughts, hopes and fears, and likely their frustrations, as well. You
should expect that each meeting will be challenging in its own way; however,
these initial meetings will be the first of your efforts to build
relationships with each group. Your short-term goal is to get them to engage
with you willingly and – to some extent – with each other.

The Conversation Tables allow you to apply effective communication
skills/techniques with each group of teachers as appropriate. An example of a
table is shown below. Use this exact template in your key assessment, i.e.,
four columns with the four headers in all caps: (1) Teacher Comments, Leader’s
Comments, Linguistic Skills Employed, and Leader’s Thinking. 

Note:

·      
Enter examples of comments the teachers may
say and examples of how you might respond. 

·      
Include three rows of remarks. Each row might
address a different thought or issue. 

·      
Enter specific cognitive coaching techniques
into the Linguistic Skills Employed column. Examples may include
presuppositions; the language of inquiry by asking mediational questions and
avoiding “why” questions; probing and clarifying vague nouns,
pronouns, or universal quantifiers; avoiding modal operators such as
“should, must, necessary, can’t, have to, ought,” etc., as they
imply there is a certain way to do things. 

·      
In the Leader’s Thinking column, enter what
guided your choice of remarks, questions, and linguistic tools. Include your
thoughts about the teachers’ comments, but thoughts you won’t voice out loud
yet.

·      
Conversation Table: The Stars

PART 3. THE SPONSOR’S FEEDBACK.  (Approximately 400 words)

Schedule a face-to-face meeting with your Sponsor/Supervisor/Mentor.
Before the meeting, provide him or her the scenario and copies of your drafts
for Part 1: The Reflective Analysis and Part 2: The Challenging
Conversations. During your face-to-face meeting, ask for their feedback on
what you have written. 

Questions to discuss with your Sponsor might include:

·      
What are your thoughts on a leader who holds
the core values that I do?

·      
There are many different leadership theories
and styles. To what extent do you think my leadership style is a “good
fit” for  Oak Grove School? Or any
other type of school?

After your meeting, summarize the conversation. Attend to the
following points:

·      
Describe the key ideas that emerge from the
meeting.

·      
Include the Sponsor’s recommendations for your
ongoing leadership development.