Developing Professional Capacity 1

Case Study Developing Professional Capacity

Raymond Barton

Grand Canyon University: EAD 529: Clinical Internship

11/30/2020
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Developing Professional Capacity

Brief Summary of the case

I am the principal of a K-8 school with a very diverse student population with over 1,400

students and 100 certified staff members. I am in my third year as the principal. During the

second year as principal at the school, the district revamped the teacher evaluation and

observation system based on a grant. Working with the staff members, we were able to develop

an evaluation tool. The tool for observations gave teachers feedback on their professionalism and

instruction. During the current year at the school, it was found by the instructional team and

myself that there was a drop in evaluation scores of teachers. The falls were identified through

the collection of data that showed student scores dropping. It was determined the declines were

caused by instructional methods, monitoring and adjusting lessons, and the level of student

engagement. The findings show that there needs to be an improvement in professional

development opportunities to support positive instructional change.

Issues to be resolved

What needs to be resolved is determining what type and how much professional

development is required to improve instruction. It will be essential to figure out what

instructional changes do we want to make and what are the desired outcomes of those changes. I

would also like to look at our evaluation system to ensure all teachers understand what the

administration is looking for when conducting the evaluations.

Stockholders Involved

1) Teachers

2) Administration

3) Students
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4) Parents

One or two existing laws or court cases that relate to the issue

One existing law is related to this issue is Arizona Revised Statutes § 15-241. The law

gives every public school in the state a grade based on an A through F scale. It measures

students' academic growth, proficiency in English language arts, math, science, and academic

development of English language learners. It also shows the school's ability to have an

elementary student ready for high school success. High school students are prepared to succeed

in a career or higher education and high school graduation rates.

District Policies that relate to the issue

I found three district policies that are relevant to this situation:

IGA CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT

It shall be the Superintendent's responsibility to develop proposals concerning curriculum

modifications and additions that, in the opinion of the professional staff and consultants, are

essential to maintaining a high-quality program of education from prekindergarten (PK) through

grade twelve (12).

GCI PROFESSIONAL STAFF DEVELOPMENT

The Board recognizes its particular responsibility to provide an opportunity for its

certificated staff's continual professional growth. Such options include budgetary limitations,

special in-service training courses, workshops, school or district visitations, conferences,

professional library, and supervisors' assistance.

GBEA STAFF ETHICS

Maintains the standards and seeks to improve the effectiveness of the profession through

research and continuing professional development.
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Possible solutions to the issues

There are a few possible solutions to the problem the school is facing. One solution

would be to work with the leadership team to determine what professional development will help

staff improve instruction and test scores. A second solution would be to look at the observation

method and make sure it is an effective system and meets its needs. A third solution would be to

keep doing what we have been doing and see what the test scores say next year. Lastly, I would

work with the leadership team to evaluate the programs we are using to determine if changes

need to be made to them, provide adequate professional development, and monitor the evaluation

system.

Solutions Chosen to resolve the issues.

As the principal, I would work with the leadership team to determine what professional

development is needed to help our teachers meet our students' needs. I will also work with the

staff to see what changes could be made to programs that could benefit instruction.

Action steps (2-5) for implementing each solution, including a timeline for each step

1. Immediately share results and concerns from the evaluations with staff. 

2. Determine what professional development would be beneficial to the staff and how we can

provide it. I would want this would happen within the month.

3. Implement professional development throughout the year.   

4. Continue monitoring and observing scores and staff throughout the year.

Potential moral and legal consequences of each solution

Legally, I do not see any issues. Everything we do will be documented and available for

examination if need be. Plus, everything the school is doing is to increase the letter grade of the

school. Morally, we use best practices supporting teacher capacity and aligns with the school's
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mission/vision statement. By assessing the teacher's instructional practices and providing them

with professional development, we are supporting the needs of all involved.

Rationale

The first thing I would want to do as an educational leader is to use the data we have to

inform our decisions. Data helps address teaching practice and is an effective way to improve

student success (Bambrick-Santoyo, 2010). The information I have from this case shows that we

need more professional development to enhance our instruction. Providing professional

development (PD) is not enough. The PD we provided must be focused, meaningful, rewarding,

and time well spent (Briggs, 2018). It must provide teachers opportunities to learn new material

and skills or improve on skills they already possess. One way to make sure that happens is to

have the teachers involved in the professional development process (Briggs, 2018). That might

be to have the staff help decide what PD to attend or create and lead the professional

development we are implementing. McCullough (2020) says when teachers have buy-in into

the professional development programs, it increases engagement and growth. To get

the buy-in, we need to improve the school's instructional practice is to programs that

are researched based and promote best practices. Therefore, any professional developments

teachers take part in will be done by other educators, national organizations, and experts in their

fields. Teachers who learn from experts become actively engaged in the practice of skills,

strategies, and techniques that will be beneficial and give them the valuable practice of the new

skills, methods, and processes before implementing them in their classroom.

My decisions also allow the school to meet our vision and mission. The school vision

statement is: "Do what's right, do your best, and treat others the way you would want to be

treated." The Mission Statement is: "To Challenge and empower all students for success." By
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incorporating a new PD program that focuses on instruction, I help the staff meet both the

school's vision and mission. If we need to send teachers elsewhere to go to training, we will. By

doing so, I am empowering the teachers to improve their skills, which will, in return, help our

students to become successful.

The PD's staff will take part in will help create a more student-centered classroom. By

giving the teachers new ways to present material to their students. That will focus on a hands-on

and inquiry approach. This will create a better relationship and more trust between students and

staff by meeting our students' needs allowing them to be more successful in the future.
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References

Bambrick-Santoyo, P. (2010). Driven by Data: A Practical Guide to Improve instruction (1st

ed.). Jossey-Bass.

Briggs, L. L. (2018). 7 ways to maximize professional learning: Take advantage of technology to

help teachers advance. District Administration, 54(9), 84.

McCullough, L. (2020, July 1). Creating a Teacher-Driven Professional Development Program.

Edutopia. https://www.edutopia.org/article/creating-teacher-driven-professional-

development-program