[Ous-lp-rp13] EDAD 6020, Response to Answer for Question #2

[Brittany Holsinger]

Mary,

I believe this is the only response that stated their school resembled that
of an authoritarian structure. It makes me wonder how long your new
principal taught in the classroom. Usually teachers have a good sense of
what makes a good leader- which as we all know isn’t an authoritarian.
Although I believe in structure within the school, from what you described
doesn’t sound like he recognizes his staff as professionals. The example
you provided about the reading series was an interesting one. It is
thought-provoking the superintendent decided to give all buildings the
series they wanted. I see benefit in letting the buildings decide- making
staff feel like professionals that can make the best decisions for what
their kids need. However, I see a disadvantage- there will not be a flow as
children progress through the buildings. Given the way your principal
governs the school, having the superintendent recognize staff
professionally, probably made a lot of teachers in your building feel
appreciated. Thanks for sharing your experience; it was eye-opening to read
of a structure opposite than what I’ve experienced.

_____________________________________________________________________________
*From:* Matney, Mary
*Sent:* Thursday, June 14, 2018 10:59:41 PM
*To:* ous-lp-rp13 at listserv.ohio.edu
*Subject:* EDAD 6020, Answer to Question # 2


My school is currently an authoritarian, loosely coupled with a
professional structure within the district. We have an administrator who is
in his first year as principal, and the transition has been interesting, to
say the least. Power most certainly flows from the top to bottom, and the
superior has the last say always—and we are reminded quite frequently of
this. There are rules and regulations in place, and they are followed very
closely. There are not many special considerations when it comes to these
rules and regulations. Everything from lesson planning to communication
with parents is logged or collected in some manner. However, with that
said, we are given certain professional consideration, by the district and
superintendent(s), when making substantial decisions.



For example, we have two elementary buildings, one middle school, and one
high school in our district. This year our reading series was up for
renewal, and literally none of our schools could come to an agreement on
which series we wanted. We had several sit-down, town-hall type meetings
which were open to all staff in the district to attend where we could
professionally address our concerns. We met with reps from each of the
publishing companies to personally view and experience the program. Once
all the meetings were held, and we felt we were given enough evidence for
each program, we could vote for which series we liked best. We thought,
naturally, that the highest vote would win—however, our superintendent
decided to give us, each school, what we voted for; this means each school
is using a different reading series. This impacted how I viewed him because
I felt heard and appreciated, as I know teachers from each building felt.
It made me feel, as a professional educator, that I was being given the
respect I have worked so hard for as the classroom teacher who uses these
resources day in and day out. It is not lost on me that this could backfire
on one of our schools: inevitably whichever school scores poorly on the
report card is going to of course be blamed for choosing the wrong reading
series. However, my hope is that it works in each of our favors and we will
be given more professional courtesies such as this small victory.


Another way my school, and the rest of the schools in my district, function
as a professional structure is the way we approach academics and behavior.
We have committees, comprised of teachers and administrators, which are
committed to making data driven decisions to improve performance and
behavior. The grade-level representatives collect data from their team and
report it to the committee for a monthly review. The committee then uses
the data collected to make joint decisions about school-wide behavior
plans, and academic goals. For the most part, we make the decisions
together, and our professional opinions are accepted.


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