This essay documents the author's synthesis of five key competencies in the Master's of Education in Educational Leadership program. Through practical artifacts—including progress monitoring, curriculum mapping, discipline referral case studies, community attendance initiatives, and Relay for Life fundraising—the paper illustrates how each program outcome translates from theory to real-world educational administration. The work emphasizes that effective school leadership requires vision, instructional expertise, ethical judgment, community partnership, and engagement with broader social and political systems.
The program outcome Visionary Leadership is based on the principle that school administrators drive the processes behind the educational system. Creating a goal or overarching objective that resonates with the entire school and community is the essence of this program outcome. Developing visionary leadership skills requires school administrators to develop plans and models that allow the vision to materialize and succeed. Additionally, this program outcome aims to assist this process through self-reflection and monitoring of the efficiency and effectiveness of the mission and vision as it is carried out.
The concepts behind this program outcome are deliberately broad, which makes many of the projects and investigations involved in this course applicable to this outcome. Essentially, this is the most important aspect of educational leadership because everything begins at the top and flows downstream. The importance of leaders performing in an honest and ideal fashion is critical in executing any mission or vision. Words themselves are meaningless without action, and visionary leadership must create tangible results.
This program outcome was represented through an artifact created in a progress monitoring program designed to address the enhancement of academic outcomes—the very purpose of education itself. This activity was technology-driven and based on finding trends within recorded data. Using standardized test scores in accordance with statistical inference allows student progress to be objectively attained and measured.
This activity represents a directed and concerted effort to address the key component in the educational system. Assessment performed in this fashion demonstrates a leadership emphasis on academic achievement and the importance of success in reaching goals. Progress monitoring also can include parents and families in a new way, strengthening the bond between family and school that is necessary to create an effective learning environment.
The program outcome Instructional Leadership suggests that administrators need to be proficient at the actual art of teaching. Problem-solving skills are tested in this program outcome, as discrete and approachable problems are solved with appropriate leadership skills and activities. This program outcome intends that students become more involved in the decision-making and strategic formulation of curriculum and lesson planning to best enhance the educational experience. Other key components of this outcome include the ability to formulate teams to address instructional issues and to fairly and competently assess student performance.
The activity of curriculum mapping was chosen to align with the program outcome of instructional leadership. As a seventh-grade ELA teacher, the author participates in the formulation and development of curriculum at the school. This participation includes work with other ELA teachers and the assistant principal. This process is designed to create a curriculum map that assists in formulating appropriate lessons aligned with school objectives. This is the essence of instructional leadership.
These mapping sessions are strategic in nature and form the base work of all lessons taught in the ELA program at the school. This team effort approach allows individuals within the mapping group to apply their own special skills. It takes instructional leadership, however, to synthesize and compose these elements into a practical force that can be used effectively and efficiently.
To illuminate the importance of this process, the curriculum maps themselves demonstrate the skill and care dedicated to these efforts. These maps are based on seventh-grade reading standards and show the detail that went into the planning processes associated with this activity. In order to fulfill the outcomes, the maps themselves allow teachers to insert their own subjective and personal insights into their own classes while still maintaining organizational standards. The most important aspect of this activity is striking a balanced approach that represents the total qualities of the faculty involved in the mapping planning and process itself.
The program outcome Administrative and Ethical Leadership demonstrated the need for leadership outside the classroom. This master's program, by applying the concepts contained in this outcome, attempts to demonstrate the idea of total leadership—both in and outside the classroom. The ethical qualities associated with this outcome also provide unique challenges to the student, as many personal ideals and attitudes must be challenged and discovered to determine the best courses of action.
This program outcome is based on the principles of culture and environment. Ultimately, a strong school leader must be able to create a learning environment that promotes fairness, safety, and encouragement. School leaders must remember that one of the most important aspects of education is being an advocate for students. This means that teachers must often make sacrifices in personal judgment to do the right thing.
To address this program outcome, the artifact applied to this area involved discipline referral. The sensitive subject of administering discipline in today's school system exposes many risks and problems if this process is not performed in a fair and ethical manner. The rights of students are important and need to be recognized; however, an undisciplined environment serves no one in any complete way. School leaders must apply reason and sound judgment learned through experience and wisdom to master this outcome.
To demonstrate the importance of this subject, a case study was used to help promote the ideals of discipline referral. This exercise chronicled the typical problems that school leaders may face when dealing with discipline issues in a modern age. The study examined the problems of undisciplined students acting out and causing major problems, including threatening violence. This case study represented many instances of discipline problems at the school and provided a very realistic training tool to explore the issues behind administrative and ethical leadership.
The case study required the creation of a discipline referral process that could be applied in real life if necessary. By integrating the actual district and city policies that applied to the school, it was possible to develop a plan that met the unique circumstances of the problem depicted in the case study. This guiding influence led to the creation of a referral program based on qualitative levels of behavior that depict the intensity of the problems. This program directly supported the ideas behind the program outcome by creating "a learning culture inclusive of operations and resources for an efficient and effective learning experience to enhance academic achievement for all students."
The case study also introduced the idea of culture and race as important concepts within the ethical considerations of a discipline referral program. The current state of race relations within the culture has not impacted educational experiences in any dramatic manner; however, the risk of such problems is very great. To understand the importance of ethical and racial diversity within the classroom is necessary for school leaders to reasonably approach problems that deal with such issues.
The program outcome School and Community Leadership asks students to explore the environment outside the school and into the general community. The impact of the community on the educational system is very strong, and in order to achieve at the highest levels, it is necessary for school leaders to build and foster strong relationships within the general community. By addressing school issues at the community level, school leaders promote the ideas of respect and fairness throughout the school by demonstrating the collective needs and wants of a strong school system. We are only as strong as the weakest among us, and the community can only be as strong as the schools that educate their children within that given environment.
School and community leadership also requires master's students to develop stronger communication skills that use a wide variety of methods and techniques. The unique atmosphere of a middle school requires a different sort of communication skills than those working within the general culture or society. It is important for school leaders to step out of their comfort zone and address others in a non-school-like fashion. This is helpful for both the individual and the school itself due to the demands that such leadership efforts require.
To accomplish this outcome, an attendance reward initiative was created to illuminate the program outcome objectives. This program required making purchases of trophies to award to students with high attendance percentages. The community involvement portion of this activity required the school leader to go out into the community and find appropriate rewards for the students.
Three vendors in the community were selected to bid on the trophies. This action allowed the community to become directly involved in the educational processes of the local school. The formation of these types of bonds—business-related or not—are key to developing strong connections with the local environment. The effort behind such an activity creates a team atmosphere between individuals and businesses within the general environment and the school leaders directed to teach the children of that community.
The true benefits of this program are that when student attendance improves, it reflects on the general community itself. Research on classroom attendance demonstrates the connection between presence and performance. Chou and Kou (2012) suggested that "course attendance is an important part of learning and many studies have confirmed a correlation between class attendance and academic performance, having generally found that a student's class attendance has a positive effect on exam performance" (p. 194). Epstein and Sheldon (2002) also explicitly remarked on this relationship. Their research concluded that "Results indicate that several family-school-community partnership practices predict an increase in daily attendance, a decrease in chronic absenteeism, or both. The data suggest that schools may be able to increase student attendance in elementary school by implementing specific family and community involvement activities. Attendance improves when schools take comprehensive approaches to family and community involvement. This means conducting a variety of activities that involve students, parents, and community partners in support of good attendance" (p. 317).
The program outcome Social, Political and Legal Leadership asks master's students to truly take a leading role within society. This course outcome mandated that students establish partnerships with social, political, and community leaders to garner resources and create strong relationships that foster the growth and performance of the school. This outcome tests the student's ability to synthesize ideas about politics, social and economic issues that transcend the school environment itself. This course outcome requires the student to promote visionary leadership outside the classroom into realms of influence and power.
To demonstrate this course outcome, the school served as a fundraising vehicle for Relay for Life, a nationwide event sponsored by the American Cancer Society. This activity raised money by selling representative "feet" for the relay event. The fundraising effort lasted one month. The school was designated by the event to assist in providing space for the race and the administrative duties that accompanied this relay event.
School personnel and faculty, including the author, also helped organize the race and performed duties in support of the event. Other fundraising efforts were also coordinated with a direct asking campaign that the author was part of and helped administer. The day of the race was very rewarding, and after a long and arduous three months, the school demonstrated many of the key qualities noted in the program outcome related to social and political events.
By serving the community in a different way and providing direct economic resources to other social problems, the school in general fosters the stewardship of the school vision by incorporating other important stakeholders within the social and political community. The Relay for Life involved several strategic partnerships in the community, including partnerships with local businesses. Politicians also were present at this event. The school served essentially as a political platform for these politicians to do their job and outreach with the community. Nearly five hundred people from the neighborhood and the local schools attended the Relay for Life, demonstrating the strong impact a school with ample leadership may accomplish when directed with correct principles and guidance.
"How five competencies work together in school leadership"
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