Program artifacts and outcomes in educational leadership development

Artifacts and Outcomes

Teacher Monthly Data Report - Visionary Leadership

The program outcome "Visionary Leadership" addresses the development of visions of learning that directly promotes the social successes of all students and gives purpose and meaning to the school's strategic overview. This program outcome is helpful in addressing the major ideas behind organizational leadership and places the building of teams and learning from mistakes through individual self-reflection and assessment.

The artifact associated with this program outcome is the Teacher Monthly Data Report for the SEEALL Academy in Brooklyn, NY where I serve as a teacher. This report is used by my school to identify progress and problems within the school. As a leadership tool, it provides the principal with a means to both quantify and qualify the teachers performance through assessments and class room data. This supports the idea of visionary leadership by explicitly identifying with the ability to " monitor through periodic evaluation the effective operations of the vision and mission," of the school itself. The reports themselves are simple and yet very effective in its ability to measure monitor and provide a leadership lens into each classroom.

Test Handbook - Instructional Leadership

The program outcome " Instructional Leadership" is included in this course of study because it assists in solving potential problems in instructional deficiencies. Instructional leadership is designed as a program outcome to deliver and enhance the ability of the teachers and faculty within a school environment and to engage them in the strategies that will impact the overall performance of a school organization Instructional leadership is important because it sets boundaries and models to determine acceptable and unacceptable programs and principles to be included within a curriculum.

The artifact " Test Handbook" applies to this program outcome in many ways that help demonstrate the importance and significance of the outcome itself and how it can be best applied in a continuing educational program. The handbook itself serves as a model for conducting important and highly regulated events that will pronounce the performance of the schools themselves. The Handbook offers explicit instruction on how to conduct such testing events and provides a fair playing ground for all students. This is a method of demonstrating instructional leadership in a more subtle way that is not practiced everyday in this method. Since testing does not occur every day, this form of leadership should be practiced at a very high level to demonstrate its best and most important qualities.

Campus Safety Procedures - Administrative and Ethical Leadership

The program outcome " Administrative and Ethical Leadership" is used in this course to help the students implement skills and practices in an ethical and fair and balanced manner. This program outcome addresses the need to promote the use of tools and strategies to help deliver the school's message and mission in a fair manner that addresses the needs of stakeholders in the surrounding communities. Another key component of this program outcome suggests that school leaders " serve as an advocate for all children and promote their continuous development and practice and model ethical behavior at all times."

The artifact that represents this program outcome is the Campus Safety Procedures from our school. The plan itself is certified and endorsed by the New York City Police Department (NYPD) and provides some of the unique and complex issues of ensuring safety for our school in a large urban area. The plan is divided into 12 chapters and addresses many concerns and requirements that are inherent within any such plan. This plan demonstrates administrative and ethical leadership because it represents the care and effort that is required to be successful at this level of leadership. Such plans must be derived with important issues in mind that transcend the problems of the student and the teacher. Real leadership is demonstrated by the strength of such safety plans.

Discipline Referral - Social, Political, Legal Leadership

The program outcome "Social, Political and Legal Leadership" tests the ability of the leader to extend his or her reach beyond the scope of the immediate school and community, into the larger arena of politics and the law. Understanding the role of school and education as a political tool and social control mechanism is necessary for future school leaders as their resource is valued very highly within the larger framework of society. This program outcome suggests that students establish partnerships with the leaders of social and political factions to help integrate and use their power to help the school.

Discipline has become mostly a legal issue within my school and it is necessary for leaders to protect themselves and their schools from unwanted legal pressures that may result in the necessary function of the school of disciplining students. The artifact of the GROWTH discipline referral plan at our school, provides ample documentation and purpose to simultaneously provide the necessary discipline to troublesome students and cover all the legal bases that would cause future problems that ultimately distract the school from achieving our objectives and goals. This form of leadership is important for these reasons but also to help create a sense of fairness and equity within the larger political and social spectrum.