Administrator Panel

Next Thursday, we will hear from two assistant principals: Tamera Moore from North Chatham K-8 in Chatham County, and Lutashia Dove from Ballentine Elementary in Wake County. Both Tamera and Lutashia completed their MSA last year at UNC. They will be joining us to speak about school improvement, the internship experience, the transition into administration, the job application process, and anything else you're interested in discussing.

Prior to next Thursday's class, please post any questions that you have for Tamera and Lutashia so that they can prepare to focus on your interests. After we are done with the panel discussion, the remainder of class will be a work session for you to prepare your school improvement plan presentations. Please bring any materials or resources you will need, and I will be available to answer any questions as you work on your presentations.

Teacher Working Conditions

There was recently an article in the N&O about the Teacher Working Conditions survey, suggesting that principals' evaluations (and, potentially, employment) are tied to TWC results.

Do you believe that principals should be evaluated on their TWC results? Why or why not?

PLCs

You are a teacher working in a school, and your principal just got back from a two-day DuFour workshop. She is fired up to create a PLC at your school, and she tells the staff that you are going to start working in collaborative teams, creating common assessments, analyzing student data, and differentiating based on assessment results. You are skeptical.

What are all of the concerns that you have about this new initiative? If the principal were to ask you "Why shouldn't we do this?", what would you tell her?

School Improvement Planning and Data

"The real strength in using a data driven decision making process for school improvement is that numbers are objective. The data just don't lie."

Do you agree or disagree with the statement above? Why or why not?

The Impact of Technology

Districts throughout the country spend billions of dollars each year on technology: hardware, software, network infrastructure, Web-based services, professional development. Is the expenditure worth it? Why or why not?

School Choice?

In the past 2 decades, public demand and interest in "school choice" in the form of charter schools, magnet schools, schools within a school, academies, and vouchers for private schools has increased. Many believe that our educational system should mirror the business model of free enterprise, therefore with "competition" public schools would not take tax support for granted and provide better services to students. Please share your professional experiences as an "insider" of a non-traditional school model and its effectiveness, or share your opinions about how you anticipate these models will positively or negatively affect your reform efforts as a public school principal. Would you view school choice options differently as a parent than as a school administrator?

Quotes about Vision

As educational leaders, quotes are excellent sources of motivation and inspiration to our staff, community, and students. These words help "frame" and give purpose to our efforts. Please share at least 1 quote (and source) that best captures your beliefs about the importance of vision for effective change and briefly explain why you chose the quote. Please comment on at least 1 one other colleague's shared quote.