Reflection on Standards
Throughout my graduate program I developed a variety of artifacts, all aligned to the PSEL Standards for educational leadership. My reflection on each standard, including strengths and areas for further development are included on this page.
Growth & Strengths
Standard 1: Effective educational leaders develop, advocate, and enact a shared mission,
vision, and core values of high-quality education and academic success and
well-being of each student.
Determining an asset-based strength and vision for a building and district is a key component of my work as a program coordinator and advocate. Collaborative refinement of the vision has been an important component of my learning during my program and throughout my leadership experiences, as evidenced in the long-term Spanish Program Plan.
Standard 2: Effective educational leaders act ethically and according to professional norms to promote each student’s academic success and well-being.
In addition to learning the current laws and policies important to consider as an educational leader, coursework provided avenues of inquiry to further explore ways to lead and promote social justice and equity. This is especially evident in work around equity in special education, including the Steve Gill Process
Standard 3: Effective educational leaders strive for equity of educational opportunity and culturally responsive practices to promote each student’s academic success and well-being.
Considering the perspective and values of each stakeholder in the community is a cornerstone of reflective work. Leading to minimize and remove the predictability of a label on student success is a strength of mine through data interpretation and sharing. Using strategic questioning and resource curation and guidance supports all staff to champion equity for all students, both within the school and in the greater community.
Standard 4: Effective educational leaders develop and support intellectually rigorous and coherent systems of curriculum, instruction, and assessment to promote each student’s academic success and well-being.
Through collaborative efforts across the district and elementary school, a triad specialist model has been introduced and supported through data, professional learning, curriculum implementation, and peer-to-peer learning that has measurable impacts on students and is regularly evaluated during student success meetings.
Standard 5: Effective educational leaders cultivate an inclusive, caring, and supportive school community that promotes the academic success and well-being of each student.
By maintaining a laser-like focus on traditionally marginalized groups, including students of color, language learners, and teen moms, my artifacts demonstrate a passion for a creation of inclusive spaces for all students.
Standard 6: Effective educational leaders develop the professional capacity and practice of school personnel to promote each student’s academic success and well-being.
Using the lens of instructional coaching keeps each interaction with staff centered on core beliefs. Each professional development opportunity, both in and out of classrooms, is centered on students and based on on open-ended questions to support teachers in understanding their positionality and actions in each current situation and in how they'd like to elevate their work moving forward.
Standard 7: Effective educational leaders foster a professional community of teachers and other professional staff to promote each student’s academic success and well-being.
Creating collaborative teams and departments across buildings through shared learning and goals promotes professional communities of learning, like featured in my work in Dual Language, Spanish, Elementary Specialists, and the ELL department. These collaborative communities include not only classroom educators but also various levels of leadership.
Standard 8: Effective educational leaders engage families and the community in meaningful, reciprocal, and mutually beneficial ways to promote each student’s academic success and well-being.
By employing low-burden channels of feedback for various stakeholder groups, including families from traditionally excluded linguistic groups, all programs and plans are strengthened. This is accomplished through stakeholder feedback and listening campaigns that seek to understand rather than be understood.
Standard 9:Effective educational leaders manage school operations and resources to promote each student’s academic success and well-being.
An entire course focused on school finance as well as simulations and internship experiences centered on school operations has created a foundational knowledge for this topic. Moreover, it has it helped to foster a sense of inquiry around school finance that leads my learning, along with a variety of resources and contacts to support my learning.
Standard 10: Effective educational leaders act as agents of continuous improvement to promote each student’s academic success and well-being.
A passion for improving learning outcomes for students coupled with a focus on community assets has developed strengths in identifying areas of improvement in projects. Using this data in a way that inspires those in my sphere of influence to impact change has been a significant portion of my course work throughout the program and is evident in my artifacts, especially the comprehensive improvement plan.
Seeking Future Career Experiences That Include:
School Finance
Creating, evaluating, and following budgets that maximize resources, including time, financial, and human, to cultivate collaborative learning communities that maximize student achievement.