May 2015
Capstone Year 3
Statement
INTRODUCTION
My third year in the Leadership for Learning program turned out to be my most
transformative year. I took on a new position in a new district. This gave me lots of new
challenges all by itself, but experiencing these challenges through the frame of my L4L
work made it a year of intense, practical learning.
Through all three years of my coursework, including readings, projects, and written
assignments, as well as my interactions with colleagues, I have learned an enormous
amount about who I am as a leader and how far I have come. This portfolio describes, and
uses artifacts to illustrate, the growth I attained over the course of the past three years,
and sets forth a plan for continued growth in coming years.
This has been a landmark year for me, with more growth in the course of this year than
probably the last five years of my career. Although the Director of Special Programs has
always held a place in the Cabinet, I dont think the rest of the cabinet members expected
that I would take such a comprehensive leadership role, especially in my first year in the
district.
MY GROWTH IN THE STANDA RDS
1. Equity & Excellence
When leaders demonstrate leadership along this standard they are able to:
a) Identify how practices, policies, and systems, both presently and historically,
have created disparities in the quality of learning environments and student
success, particularly for traditionally marginalized students
b) Build policies and systems that support every student in success and learning to
high standards
c) Foster the collective responsibility, growth and capacity of others to reflect on
and enact equitable practice
d) Engage and empower multiple voicesboth professional and communityin
key deliberations and decision-making
e) Facilitate explicit discussions about race, class, language, ability, and other
group-based disparities in the service of collective action to decrease them
With respect to Standard 1a, I have grown in m y ability to identify how
practices, policies, and systems both presently and historically, have created
disparities in the quality of learning environments and student success,
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I invited our school counselors to meet with me twice to decide how we wanted to
spend a grant I had obtained from the county for homeless students. They told me
this was the first time they had been consulted for this
I have written three Board policies (for Response to Intervention, LAP, and homeless
students). I conducted a series of meetings with the Instructional Facilitators (one
for each building) and with principals to get input on these policies
I have been newly appointed to facilitate a team of twin district administrators and
special education teachers to make curriculum decisions that affect our twin district
cooperative
I am forming a committee of administrators, teachers, paraeducators, and parents to
design a new program for ELL. This committee will meet over the course of the
school year next year to design and implement a comprehensive ELL program
about race, class, language, ability, and other group-based disparities in the collective action
to decrease them. I have worked all year to lay the groundwork for making significant
changes to our ELL program over the course of next year, and I have already hired two ELL
certificated teachers who can help me in this effort.
Making this happen has required me to engage district and building administrators,
principals, teachers and paraeducators in discussions about these topics. From these
discussions, I have surmised that many teachers, while expressing concern that ELL and
Hispanic students are not achieving as they should be, nonetheless do not take ownership of
their achievement. I have also been told that some teachers dont respect the Hispanic
culture of English Language Learners in general.
As part of my work with the ELL program, I have prepared a presentation for the
school board, which outlines next steps for improving our program. One of the
topics I will cover in this presentation is our need to follow our districts
Strategic Plan, which contains two sections that address the need to attend to
ELL students, Hispanic students, and the achievement gap, as well as the need to
develop cultural competency.
Evidence of my growth in this standard: Cycle of Inquiry Year 3, Capstone
project (board meeting presentation), numerous conversations with district
educators (unable to document)
2. Inquiry-focused Practice
When leaders demonstrate leadership along this standard they are able to:
a) Engage in cycles of inquiry processes in the moment and over time, including:
i.
Using evidence to understand problems of practice and specifically the
student, teaching/other adult, and leadership dimensions of those problems
ii.
Constructing theories of action that: Rest on a solid evidence-based
rationale for how pursuing those actions may shift adult practice and
ultimately student learning and show a clear through-ine from changes in
adult practice and other conditions to improvements in student learning
iii.
Acting in ways that reflect engagement with the theory of action or
strategic deviations from it
iv. Continuously assessing progress
b) Support the learning of other adults to continuously strengthen their practice in
ways that promise to improve results for all students
c) Communicate from a teaching and learning stancein ways that help other adults
deepen the extent to which they are engaged with and value strengthening their
practice
Regarding Standard 2a, I am able to engage in cycles-of-inquiry processes in the
moment and over time; construct theories of action that rest on solid evidence, and
show a clear through- line from changes in adult practice and other conditions to
improvements in student learning; act in ways that reflect engagement with the
theory of action; and continuously assess progress.
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This is my third year working with cycles of inquiry. For this year, I worked on the
ELL issue in my district. In the past I have had difficulty figuring out what kind of data
I needed. This time I was able to decide very quickly what kinds of data I should
analyze.
Sometimes I wasnt able to acquire the data I needed, due to some systems problems
that I discovered. For example, an important piece of data that I needed in order to
determine the problem of teacher practice was a record of which students had been
taught by which teachers over the years. However, this data is not tracked in my
district. This makes no sense to me and is something I will need to pursue as I continue
working on improving ELL. Besides, this teacher data would be important for any
investigation about student learning.
An interesting aspect to my cycle of inquiry this year was just how much I actually
uncovered in terms of problems of professional practice, especially in terms of
leadership practice. Here are some examples of other systems problems that I
discovered:
The ELL coordinator and the HiCap coordinator both operate without oversight
from an administrator
The three primary schools (K-3) have 30 minutes of instruction per day LESS
than the other schools in the district, including the intermediate schools. This
only became known to the district office folks just a month ago
All principals do their own thing in terms of virtually everything, except for a
district-mandated reading curriculum. There is no sense of everyone pulling
together
These issues have been in place for a long time; in fact longer than the current
administrators (all but two principals) have been working there. However, now that
theyve been uncovered, there is plenty of work to do! Im looking forward to tackling
them as I continue in my role.
With so many issues popping up during my Cycle of Inquiry, it was challenging to
remember to keep the focus on a clear through-line. In the end, I decided to keep my
focus (for now) on the theory that we need to provide good instruction for our ELLs by
changing the culture to one of high achievement for ELL, teacher training on ELL
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more systematic special education program across the two twin districts.
Evidence of my growth in this standard: ELL menu, discussions with the Cabinet,
principals, teachers and paraeducators
For Standard 3f, I am able to analyze assessment practice and use assessment data of
various kinds to improve instruction. I gathered, analyzed, and used many different types
of data throughout my three years of cycles of inquiry. In addition, as Director of
Assessment for my district, I work with our Director of Teaching and Learning to analyze
our data in order to make recommendations to the administration team and to the School
Board.
I have been surprised this year by my ability to recognize possible sources of data that I
never would have thought of before beginning this program. Before, I tended to think of
data strictly in terms of test data. Now, I quickly think of forms of qualitative data such
as student interviews. In fact, this kind of data is even more interesting to me because I
think it more often gets to the heart of what were looking for when were investigating
student learning and the causes for why they might not be learning.
Evidence of my growth in this standard: Cycle of Inquiry Year 3, Subgroups in greatest
need
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paraeducator hours and, occasionally, resources. Meanwhile, the principals have very little
communication with the ELL coordinator while they bemoan that the ELLs arent getting
enough support.
My goal is to help everyone in the system to build a culture of educators who take
responsibility for ensuring that every student gets what they need. We need to work together
to develop a school system that considers every program (special education, CTE, Highly
Capable, ELL, etc.) to be aspects of one coordinated school system. Each specialty needs to
be integrated with, and communicate with, every other part of the larger organization, so
that each student has what essentially amounts to a multi-disciplinary team on their side.
This will require some grounding work with teachers, principals, and other administrators
who are accustomed to thinking of themselves as independent units. They are not used to
thinking of themselves as part of a systemic whole with equity as a central focus. We will
need to work together to build a culture that looks at everything through the lens of equity.
The Witherspoon article (1997) describes this process: In the process of culture creation, a
leaders major responsibilities are to embed values and beliefs, much as one would plant a
bulb in winter, anticipating the bloom of a flower in spring. When leaders pay attention to
something, the rest of the organization pays attention to it, too. Until now, my district has
not paid enough attention to issues of equity, and Im working to change that.
In my position as a member of the Cabinet, I have the ability to significantly influence
district initiatives, and so far the Cabinet has been very enthusiastic about my taking the lead
with transforming ELL. I plan to use this influence to help direct our effort (professional
development, resources, and the Strategic Plan) toward forming a cohesive, equity-based
philosophy.s
Evidence of my growth in this standard: Cycle of Inquiry, Capstone presentation, ELL
evaluation memo, Supplementary Educational Services (SES) provider fair,
Data/Instructional Coach proposal
Regarding Standard 4b, I have become proficient in generating, allocating, and managing
resources in alignment with improvement and equity goals.
One approach that I have used this year to build policies and systems that support every
student is through my funding decisions with Title I, LAP, and the bilingual budgets. The
standard practice in previous years has been to evenly allocate Title I and LAP dollars to
each building based on FTE, and to distribute the same number of ELL hours to each
building regardless of population. This felt fair and equal to everyone.
However, in my investigations of how things are done in my district, Ive learned that there
are some schools that although dollars are evenly distributed, the quantity and quality of
staffing at each building is not equitable. For example, each primary school has been
allocated 5 hours of ELL paraeducator time, regardless of how many ELLs there are at the
building or what their needs are. Yet, one primary school in particular has far more ELL
students than one of the others, and more of them have tested at Proficiency Level 1.
Now that I have taken this position, it is my responsibility to ensure that each building has
what its students need. This will mean using a different formula for determining funding
allocations based on the needs of the students in that building. Additionally, I contracted an
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ELL consultant to help me work with my district to decide how ELL personnel will be
assigned to buildings. This will require a shift in staffing allocations. As Marge Plecki, et al.
(2014) explain, What is equal is not always equitable.
I have been looking at student achievement data, classroom observation data, and other data
such as interviews with staff and students, to be able to make informed decisions about
where achievement gaps are and what might be causing them. I plan to bring this data back
to my team, so that we can organize our Title I, LAP, and ELL programs in a way that
enables alignment of resources. From there, we will use professional development to ensure
that all staff are adequately trained and distributed.
Evidence of my growth in this standard: ELL budget planning, ELL evaluation memo,
ELL email to principals
For Standard 4c, I have dramatically improved in my ability to identify, engage, and
influence the broader policy, legal, and political environment to strengthen supports that
matter the most for learning improvement.
I have moved to a whole new city, met new people, and learned a new job. Ive even
worked a little bit with the nearby private Christian school. I have already had
experiences where I was able to influence the School Board, such as writing board
policies, making changes to how we spend our homeless grant, and adding new staffing
(something my board is generally loathe to do). I am also making changes to the ELL
program. None of this can be successful without a recognition that I need to reach out and
include stakeholders.
In addition, partnered with Cascade Mental Health, a local clinic, to write a proposal for a
county tax grant for a part-time mental health counselor to work in our middle school and
high school. I didnt get the grant (this time) due to some political issues that have been
simmering for some time. At this point, I am reaching out to some of those constituents
to develop a relationship with them so that when they think of whether to grant to CSD,
they think of me and not a past bitter relationship.
Aside: Another lesson Ive always heard but am now learning first hand: In a small town,
everyone has a past with everyone!
Evidence of my growth in this standard: PowerPoint presentation for county health grant,
Friday mailer communications with the board, Chronicle article-Hispanic, Chronicle
article--interpreter (Im quoted in these articles)
Regarding Standard 4d, I have grown in my ability to build the capacity of educators
and community members to collaborate in ongoing systemic improvement to ensure a
high-quality education for every student.
I am intentional about frequently broaching the subject of systemic improvement with the
Cabinet and with principals, and sometimes with teachers and paraeducators. An
important element in building capacity is to include them in committees that can educate
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them about important issues (such as ELL) and can give them ownership of our
instructional program.
Another piece of building this capacity is through working with the School Board and
educating them about the urgency of our equity issues. Last year they approved the new
Strategic Plan, which was an important first step. Now it is time to act on the values
professed in the Strategic Plan by making personnel and fiscal decisions that move us
forward in that direction. For my capstone project, I have put together a presentation for
them to educate them about what its like to be an English Language Learner our school
district, and important next steps that need to be taken.
Evidence of my growth in this standard: ELL memo, Capstone presentation, ELL email to
principals
In reference to Standard 4e, I am proficient in developing and guiding decision processes
that maximize collaborative problem solving and continuous improvement.
I had a lot of experience with this as a principal. In my current position, I have had fewer
opportunities to be the leader in charge of decision processes. However, I did guide the
assessment tech purchasing committee, I am leading a new Special Service Workgroup (coop between two twin districts), and I am about to begin program revisions for ELL. In
addition, I have led the principals and instructional facilitators in decisions about whether to
pursue a grant through UW Tacoma, and finalizing three Board policies.
Evidence of my growth in this standard: UW Tacoma grant email to principals, RTI board
policy draft TWO
Finally, regarding Standard 4f, I am proficient in modeling transparent and ethical
leadership and address sources of conflict productively and equitably.
I am a transparent, ethical leader and my staff have always told me they know this about me.
I clarify reasons for why Im thinking the way I do and ask for their input. This year, I have
heard comments from a couple of principals that indicate that they trust me and they can tell
that I have the needs of our students in mind. In addition, my Superintendent described me
(in his evaluation of my internship) thus: Shelley is laser focused on student learning. Her
words and actions clearly convey that student learning is at the heart of our existence.
Evidence of my growth in this standard: Comment from Superintendent (quoted above),
Well done email to me from a principal
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Superintendent to agree to the new expense involved in hiring new certificated staff.
As a result of my leadership, the following changes have happened, or are about to happen
in ELL:
Overhaul of a very ineffective classroom
Bimonthly meetings of ELL staff
Hiring two new ESL-certificated teachers for next year, to directly teach students
and train classroom teachers, principals, and paraeducators
Committee for planning comprehensive ELL program next year
New emphasis on the Strategic Plan and its emphasis on equity and cultural
competency
In addition to the many other accomplishments I mentioned in the standards above, I led the
technology committee in purchasing 300 Chromebooks for preparation for the new State
tests. This is something probably any leader could do, but for some reason the committee
seemed hesitant to make decisions and I put myself forward and took the initiative to push it
through so we could get them in time for preparation. This is something that in the past I
would not have done so vehemently, but would probably have stood back when I was first
rebuffed. This is a big growth area for me.
I have been an important force for change in another important way: I am a newcomer from
out of town with a lot of new ideas. While in some systems this is unwelcome, in my
district it has been warmly welcomed. People seemed to want new ideas and new ways to
do things. While these are mostly little things like ways to staff supervision of the
lunchroom or how to put together a budget spreadsheet, they are nonetheless important.
(And sometimes theyre big things like re-designing ELL!). Most important in terms of my
leadership, they are an example of a new voice I have this year: a new confidence in my
ability to lead and to make a difference.
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Another resource I plan to tap into a free resource that Jenny Parker told me about, the
Equity Resource Center. They have a program that provides training and assistance to
districts that want to engage in issues of equity.
These are important goals for me because they will enable me to act upon my core beliefs
and embody the leadership standards. And most transformative for me, I finally find myself
learning to reach out to community members and resources to improve the system. This has
been my most challenging goal in terms of the standards. Although I still have room to
grow, I have a clear plan for where to go next.
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