EDUC 590

Decision Makers

Laurie Wangerin

Decision Makers Interview:

Becky Spengler - Principal, Oconto Elementary School
Ben Bourassa - Director of Curriculum and Instruction. Reading Specialist/District Assessment
Coordinator/Title 1 Coordinator
After Interviewing Becky, I had a few more questions I wanted to ask her so I emailed them to
her since she was on an extended vacation. She was not sure how to answer them so she referred
me to Ben. I do not believe that Ben is part of the Administration team she meets with. I asked
him all the questions plus the extra ones via e-mail:
1. How are staff development needs determined for the district?
Becky: Administration had a retreat this summer to make a plan. Staff development has been
built into the calendar once a month for the upcoming school year. The plan is to create staff
surveys to guide the district in deciding what to provide. Next school year we will be starting
PLCs but administration wants to call it something else. Staff development will be broken into
two areas, school (literacy focused) and state (initiatives/mandates like Teachscape).
Ben: Had nothing more to add.
2. How do you go about finding resources for implementing staff development?
Becky: Money is very tight in our district so beyond CESA and our Literacy Consultant, we
need to take initiative to discover and tap into our resources within the school. We have some
very good teachers who would be great leaders for some staff development.
Ben: We try to determine which funding source would be most appropriate for an activity. We
then see whether there is adequate funding in that source. District staff is always a good first
choice, if we have someone knowledgeable in the needed area.
3. How do you determine if the staff development is truly what is the best of the best for
your needs?
Becky: It really seems to be data driven or mandated initiatives like Teachscape.
Ben: A needs assessment of some kind should inform our staff development. There are also
areas where the need of development is obvious and no special assessments need to be done to
see the need, such as Teachscape, Educator Effectiveness, etc.

EDUC 590

Decision Makers

Laurie Wangerin

4. How do you evaluate the effectiveness of the staff development sessions? And their
impact down the road?
Becky: This may be done through formal and informal Google Surveys and general feedback
from the staff.
Ben: It depends on what the staff development is covering. If were hoping to see an
improvement in student proficiency in an area, then an assessment of some kind should show
whether that area is improving. If were working towards having teachers use a certain teaching
strategy, then surveys and/or informal observations might be in order.
5. How do you evaluate the outcomes of the implemented staff development?
Becky: Looking at it objectively, the data should reflect this. Teacher moral and student
engagement would also play a role.
Ben: Assessment data, both formative and summative.
6. What qualifies you (the decision maker) to be part of the decision making team?
Becky: Degree, role, responsibility to make sure school/district needs are met.
Done as an administration team.
Ben: Certifications and experience.
Additional Questions I pursued:
1. What role do you see the District Reading Specialist contributing for staff development?
Ben: We need a consistent focus on our reading professional development. That requires
certain staff, such as the reading specialist, to help ensure that what were doing on Monday
makes sense for where we want to be on Tuesday.
2. What role do you see the Reading interventionists contributing for staff development?
Ben: The reading interventionists, by nature of their jobs, are usually the people with the most
experience delivering interventions. We need the interventionists help in training the core
teachers in the delivery of Tier 2 interventions and in improving universal instruction.
3. Do you see my role changing this year for staff development?
Ben: We hope to see more of day-to-day training and support for core teachers in the area of
reading instruction, and less waiting for the next big full staff get together. We need to get all
elementary teachers on board with using research-based instructional strategies that work.

EDUC 590

Decision Makers

Laurie Wangerin

REFLECTION
There is evidence that student achievement in schools is enhanced when leadership is shared (p.
17). I would like to see happen in our district.
As I have stated before, our school is going through a major change, the leadership does not have
strong literacy based background. I was happy to hear that the Administration Team was
meeting to figure out staff development for next year. I do not believe that Ben is part of the
Administration Team and think he should be. Because of this, I believe that the leadership is not
quite ready to share responsibility. I believe that Ben has the right ideas and hope that he will be
able to get involved directly with our school this year with his new role change.
My reading intervention position has been changing and will continue to change this coming
year. The two other teachers that I worked with have left so I will be training the new
interventionists coming in. I will be supporting and working with the Literacy Consultant to
assist the teachers in implementing guided reading in the classroom. Last year, I recreated our
bookroom with the new guided reading materials and am hoping to expand it some more this
coming year with more guided reading materials and resources for the teachers. I am also
completing my Masters and will be working closely with the Kindergarten team in creating
literacy centers during the intervention block. This was a request from my principal and literacy
consultant, knowing that Kindergarten is a challenge and needs the most support. I am looking
forward to this challenge.
Although Supovitz et al. found that principal leadership was critical, they also found that peers
had a great deal of influence on each other through collaboration discussions about teaching and
learning, peer coaching and instructional advice networks (p. 12). In reflecting on this, I see
myself becoming a leader and spending more time collaborating with the teachers in hopes that
our principal will see the importance of collaboration and working together for a common goal.
Overall from my interviews, I see our district having the reading interventionists be more like
reading specialists even though the interventionists do not have their 17, so I am glad that I am
working towards the getting my 17.
References
Bean, R. M., & Dagen, A. S. (2012). Best practices of literacy leaders. New York: The Guilford
Press.