POWERED BY REVOLUTION SLIDER

Section 3 - General School Administration

Date

 

SECTION 3 – gENERAL SCHOOL ADMINISTRATION

 

3:10Goals and Objectives. 1

3:30 Chain of Command. 1

3:40 Superintendent2

3:50 Administrative Personnel Other Than the Superintendent3

3:60 Administrative Responsibility of the Building Principal4

3:70 Succession of Authority. 4

 


June 20113:10

 

Goals and Objectives

The Superintendent directs the administration in order to manage the School District and to facilitate the implementation of a quality educational program in alignment with School Board policy 1:30, School District Philosophy. Specific goals and objectives are to:

<![if !supportLists]>1.      <![endif]>Provide educational expertise.

<![if !supportLists]>2.      <![endif]>Plan, organize, implement, and evaluate educational programs that will provide for students’ mastery of the Illinois Learning Standards.

<![if !supportLists]>3.      <![endif]>Meet or exceed student performance and academic improvement goals established by the Board.

<![if !supportLists]>4.      <![endif]>Develop and maintain channels for communication between the school and community.

<![if !supportLists]>5.      <![endif]>Develop an administrative procedures manual and handbooks for personnel and students that are in alignment with Board policy.

<![if !supportLists]>6.      <![endif]>Manage the District’s fiscal and business activities to ensure financial health, cost-effectiveness, and protection of the District’s assets.

<![if !supportLists]>7.      <![endif]>Provide for the proper use, reasonable care, and appropriate maintenance of the District’s real and personal property, including buildings, equipment, and supplies.

LEGAL REF.:105 ILCS 5/10-16.7, 5/10-21.4, and 5/10-21.4a.

CROSS REF.:1:30 (School District Philosophy), 2:20 (Powers and Duties of the School Board; Indemnification), 2:130 (Board Superintendent Relationship), 3:40 (Superintendent), 3:50 (Administrative Personnel Other Than the Superintendent), 3:60 (Administrative Responsibility of the Building Principal), 6:10 (Educational Philosophy and Objectives)

 

 

June 20113:30

 

Chain of Command

The Superintendent shall develop an organizational chart indicating the channels of authority and reporting relationships for school personnel. These channels should be followed, and no level should be bypassed except in unusual situations.

All personnel should refer matters requiring administrative action to the responsible administrator, and may appeal a decision to a higher administrative officer. Whenever possible, each employee should be responsible to only one immediate supervisor. When this is not possible, the division of responsibility must be clear.

 

CROSS REF.:1:20 (District Organization, Operations, and Cooperative Agreements), 2:140 (Communications To and From the Board), 3:70 (Succession of Authority), 8:110 (Public Suggestions and Concerns)

May 20153:40

 

Superintendent

Duties and Authority

The Superintendent is the District’s executive officer and is responsible for the administration and management of the District schools in accordance with School Board policies and directives, and State and federal law. District management duties include, without limitation, preparing, submitting, publishing, and posting reports and notifications as required by State and federal law. The Superintendent is authorized to develop administrative procedures and take other action as needed to implement Board policy and otherwise fulfill his or her responsibilities. The Superintendent may delegate to other District staff members the exercise of any powers and the discharge of any duties imposed upon the Superintendent by Board policies or by Board vote. The delegation of power or duty, however, shall not relieve the Superintendent of responsibility for the action that was delegated. 

Qualifications

The Superintendent must be of good character and of unquestionable morals and integrity. The Superintendent shall have the experience and the skills necessary to work effectively with the Board, District employees, students, and the community. The Superintendent must have and maintain a Professional Educator License with a superintendent endorsement issued by the Illinois State Educator Preparation and Licensure Board.

Evaluation

The Board will evaluate, at least annually, the Superintendent’s performance and effectiveness, using standards and objectives developed by the Superintendent and Board that are consistent with the Board’s policies and the Superintendent’s contract. A specific time should be designated for a formal evaluation session with all Board members present. The evaluation should include a discussion of professional strengths as well as performance areas needing improvement.

The Superintendent shall annually present evidence of professional growth through attendance at educational conferences, in-service training, or similar continuing education pursuits.

Compensation and Benefits

The Board and the Superintendent shall enter into an employment agreement that conforms to Board policy and State law. This contract shall govern the employment relationship between the Board and the Superintendent. The terms of the Superintendent’s employment agreement, when in conflict with this policy, will control.

 

LEGAL REF.:105 ILCS 5/10-16.7, 5/10-20.47, 5/10-21.4, 5/10-23.8, 5/21B-20, 5/21B-25, 5/24-11, and 5/24A-3.

23 Ill.Admin.Code §§1.310, 1.705, and 29.130.

CROSS REF:2:20 (Powers and Duties of the School Board; Indemnification), 2:130 (Board-Superintendent Relationship), 2:240 (Board Policy Development), 3:10 (Goals and Objectives)

 


May 20153:50

 

Administrative Personnel Other Than the Superintendent

Duties and Authority

The School Board establishes District administrative and supervisory positions in accordance with the District’s needs and State law. This policy applies to all administrators other than the Superintendent, including without limitation, Building Principals. The general duties and authority of each administrative or supervisory position are approved by the Board, upon the Superintendent’s recommendation, and contained in the respective position’s job description. In the event of a conflict, State law and/or the administrator’s employment agreement shall control.

Qualifications

All administrative personnel shall be appropriately licensed and shall meet all applicable requirements contained in State law and Illinois State Board of Education rules.

Evaluation

The Superintendent or designee shall evaluate all administrative personnel and make employment and salary recommendations to the Board.

Administrators shall annually present evidence to the Superintendent of professional growth through attendance at educational conferences, additional schooling, in-service training, and Illinois Administrators’ Academy courses, or through other means as approved by the Superintendent.

Administrative Work Year

The work year for administrators shall be the same as the District’s fiscal year, July 1 through June 30, unless otherwise stated in the employment agreement. In addition to legal holidays, administrators shall have vacation periods as approved by the Superintendent. All administrators shall be available for work when their services are necessary.

Compensation and Benefits

The Board and each administrator shall enter into an employment agreement that complies with Board policy and State law. The terms of an individual employment contract, when in conflict with this policy, will control.

The Board will consider the Superintendent’s recommendations when setting compensation for individual administrators. These recommendations should be presented to the Board no later than the March Board meeting or at such earlier time that will allow the Board to consider contract renewal and nonrenewal issues.

Unless stated otherwise in individual employment contracts, all benefits and leaves of absence available to teaching personnel are available to administrative personnel.

 

LEGAL REF:105 ILCS 5/10-21.4a, 5/10-23.8a, 5/10-23.8b, 5/21B, and 5/24A.

23 Ill.Admin.Code §§1.310, 1.705, and 50.300; and Parts 25 and 29.

CROSS REF:3:60 (Administrative Responsibility of the Building Principal), 5:30 (Hiring

Process and Criteria), 5:250 (Leaves of Absence)

 

 

May 20153:60

 

Administrative Responsibility of the Building Principal

Duties and Authority

The School Board, upon the recommendation of the Superintendent, employs Building Principals as the chief administrators and instructional leaders of their assigned schools, and may employ Assistant Principals. The primary responsibility of a Building Principal is the improvement of instruction. Each Building Principal shall perform all duties as described in State law as well as such other duties as specified in his or her employment agreement or as the Superintendent may assign, that are consistent with the Building Principal’s education and training. Each Building Principal and Assistant Principal shall complete State law requirements to be a prequalified evaluator before conducting an evaluation of a teacher or assistant principal.

Evaluation Plan

The Superintendent or designee shall implement an evaluation plan for Principals and Assistant Principals that complies with Section 24A-15 of the School Code and relevant Illinois State Board of Education rules. Using that plan, the Superintendent or designee shall evaluate each Building Principal and Assistant Principal. The Superintendent or designee may conduct additional evaluations.

Qualifications and Other Terms and Conditions of Employment

Qualifications and other terms and conditions of employment are found in Board policy 3:50, Administrative Personnel Other Than the Superintendent.

LEGAL REF.:10 ILCS 5/4-6.2.

105 ILCS 5/2-3.53a, 5/10-20.14, 5/10-21.4a, 5/10-23.8a, 5/10-23.8b, and 5/24A-15.

105 ILCS 127/.

23 Ill.Admin.Code Parts 35 and 50, Subpart D.

CROSS REF.:3:50 (Administrative Personnel Other Than the Superintendent), 5:250 (Leaves of Absence)

 

 

May 20123:70

 

Succession of Authority

If the Superintendent, Building Principal, or other administrator is temporarily unavailable, the succession of authority and responsibility of the respective office shall follow a succession plan, developed by the Superintendent and approved by the School Board.

 

CROSS REF.:1:20 (District Organization, Operations, and Cooperative Agreements), 3:30

(Chain of Command)

 

Our third step in the #GoOpen Process

Click HERE to view the entire 3-step process we utilized to #GoOpen.

OER Adoption, Step 3. Desiging Engaging Student-Driven Learning Experiences. (11/16/15)

The following piece was authored by Mrs. Lori Secrist, one of our rock star teachers. Lori's Science classroom is a vibrant place where students passionately work to move skills forward. These are the steps Lori took on her personal journey from textbooks to Open Education Resources.

  1. As a Science teacher, my first step was to become familiar with the Next-Generation Science Standards (NGSS). Understanding the importance of providing students with three dimensional learning and assessment opportunities made me see the value of having flexible learning resources.  
  2. I identified the skills that students need to be college and career ready.
  3. I identified limitations with my curriculum.  I came to the realization that my curriculum was content driven, and all students studied the same thing at the same time no matter what their interests were.
  4. That realization led me to develop a new mindset:
    • I began to view content as a vehicle to help my students understand the concepts and gain the skills they need in order to be successful. This has allowed me to be more flexible in giving students the freedom of choice in the selection of specific content as long as students are improving their skills and building understanding.  
    • Outdated textbooks did not offer this type of flexibility, therefore, I needed to do something else. The textbooks were giving every child the same things in the same way and that did not maximize engagement for all of my students. My textbooks from 2007 lacked cutting edge scientific research that was relevant to my students lives. Very few things in my textbooks truly grabbed my students attention and inspired their curiosity. 
    • With the current quality Open Education Resources, I found I was able to move away from textbooks. This allowed me to spend more money on field trips to take my students out into the real world. It has freed up money for supplies to increase opportunities for investigation in my classroom. This is what captures a student’s imagination, inspires them to investigate the world around them and ask questions, and motivates them to want to learn so they can gain the knowledge and skills they need to make a difference in the world.
  5. I began providing more real world learning challenges for my students:
    • This has really allowed students the opportunity to drive their learning in the direction of their interests.
    • Challenges encourage students to look at problems from various angles and build understanding in a way that is meaningful to them. Students begin to see value in learning because it  helps them solve problems. Textbooks did not provide the depth that students needed to help complete these projects. Open Educational Resources provide them with the variety of information that they need from amazing sources from all over the world. In the end, the students build a much richer knowledge of the topic than if we would have just read about one point of view in a textbook, and in the process, they truly feel like they are making a difference by helping to solve a real world problem in their school or community.
  6. I redefined my role in the classroom. I have determined my job is to provide students with opportunities to develop their skills and to provide resources to build their own understanding of the world around them. This includes helping students become critical consumers of knowledge as well as helping them to evaluate their work and the work of their peers so they can learn how to continually grow and improve throughout their lives.  

I have found that allowing students to drive the direction of their learning can be very powerful. For example, Energy is a broad topic. Everyone in my class is not interested in just the basics of energy and electricity, but they are interested in making their school more efficient. In the process of finding ways to make their school more energy efficient, they needed to understand what electricity is, how it is made, how it is measured. When students saw the value of the learning, they were much more engaged, and they took pride in finding solutions to improve their school. Having reliable, up to date openly licensed resources that I can put at their fingertips makes this type of learning far less intimidating to plan for and to manage. It also fosters creativity and ingenuity in my students that may have been missed out on if we had simply stuck to the textbook.

Lori Secrist, Life Science Instructor and Pathway Lead
Williamsfield Schools
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Taking Steps to #GoOpen

Posting this has been a 3 week process. Here are the three steps we took to #GoOpen.

Immediately following the White House #GoOpen event, a reporter asked me what advice I would give other districts looking to trade textbooks for OER. My response...trust your teachers, trust your kids. That’s extremely important, and terrible advice. In an attempt to redeem myself, I am outlining 3 steps for leveraging the power of OER, transitioning out of textbook dependency, and creating engaging learning experiences for kids.

OER Adoption, Step 1. Establish Grade/Course Scope & Sequence. (11/2/15)

Textbooks provide structure. Unit 1 followed by Unit 2 and so on. Many teachers plan their year around that sequencing. Quality K-12 teachers are experts at planning “lessons” and working with kids. Few have background in developing cohesive skill sequencing. This is especially true when it comes to grade school mathematics. Looking to remove the textbook? Research and adopt a scope & sequence of cohesive units.

For math, Williamsfield Schools chose the Dana Center Scope & Sequence as our foundation and worked to embed components of the Illinois Math Model Curriculum. For ELA/Literacy we leveraged the Model Content Framework Charts from the PARCC Model Content Frameworks, then selected text exemplars from Appendix B of the Common Core State Standards to form the base of our curriculum. Step 1 complete.

At this point it is ideal in the OER adoption process to have teachers establish student learning checkpoints before they build daily lessons. However, it is important to acknowledge teachers and schools don’t always have that kind of time. For us, with district cohesive scope & sequence established, we gave our teachers autonomy to leverage a wide variety of learning materials, including OER, to move student learning forward. While they did, we began the process of establishing checkpoints.

OER Adoption, Step 2. Establish Student Learning Checkpoints. (11/12/15)

With scope and sequence established, and traditional textbook assessments gone, we had to find a way to measure student progress. To this degree we developed local "Snapshots" to serve as student learning checkpoints. Snapshots are designed to be engaging learning tasks that measure a targeted set of knowledge and skills. Each task is accompanied by an assessment rubric comprised of 3-7 criteria and 4 performance levels. Completion of each task generates an authentic artifact to display student competency. Snapshots are comprised of two components and come in two variations.

Snapshot Components:

  1. Performance Rubric - Each rubric is comprised of 3-7 criteria each with 4 performance levels. Each criteria must directly correspond with the knowledge and skills contained within the scope and sequence of the course/grade. For ELA & Math courses, our rubrics reflect the skill progressions that are the Common Core State Standards. Our ELA & Math Core Snapshot rubrics pay special attention to the key progressions and fluency expectations outlined within the PARCC Model Content Frameworks. Check out the Illinois State Board of Education's Skill Progression Tool for a strong visualization of these progressions. 
  2. Performance Task - These are engaging tasks that give students an opportunity to simultaneously build skill and demonstrate competency. Completion of each task generates an authentic artifact displaying student performance level. For ELA/Literacy we ask students to deliver a product demonstrating comprehension of an appropriately complex text or text(s). Written tasks, presentations, and research are examples of performance tasks we ask our students to complete. For Math performance task examples and ideas we leverage quality OER sites like Illustrative Mathematics and Dan Meyer's 3-Act Math Tasks

Snapshot Variations:

  1. Core Snapshots - These macro-level Snapshots take the place of traditional benchmarking tests, course pre-tests, and end-of-course exams. They are designed to measure "the core of the core" &/or the foundational knowledge and skills targeted within a course or grade. "Intermediate Core Snapshots" are also utilized with selective students to monitor progress toward student growth goals as part of our embedded RtI/MTSS (Response to Intervention/Multi-Tier System of Supports) process. 
  2. Unit Snapshots - These micro-level Snapshots measure student competencies and occur toward the beginning and end of each unit. The early unit Snapshot is used to inform student groupings, target in-class resources, and establish instructional approach. The end-of-unit Snapshot guides teachers, parents, and students to the "what next" of student learning and skill progression.

Strategic Snapshot scheduling throughout the school year establishes solid student learning checkpoints to inform instruction, target district resources, and inspire student growth. It also gives students ample opportunity to build skill and demonstrate competency. If you are going to transition away from textbooks and the comfort of traditional textbook/vendor assessments, student learning checkpoints must be established.

I will reiterate it is ideal in the OER adoption process to have teachers establish these student learning checkpoints before they build daily lessons. But remember, a person doesn’t always have that kind of time. I would love to see more people just scrap the textbook and dive into the world of OER in an effort to move student learning forward. There is no shame in backtracking to develop these checkpoints after the leap.

OER Adoption, Step 3. Desiging Engaging Student-Driven Learning Experiences. (11/16/15)

The following piece was authored by Mrs. Lori Secrist, one of our rock star teachers. Lori's Science classroom is a vibrant place where students passionately work to move skills forward. These are the steps Lori took on her personal journey from textbooks to Open Education Resources.

  1. As a Science teacher, my first step was to become familiar with the Next-Generation Science Standards (NGSS). Understanding the importance of providing students with three dimensional learning and assessment opportunities made me see the value of having flexible learning resources.  
  2. I identified the skills that students need to be college and career ready.
  3. I identified limitations with my curriculum.  I came to the realization that my curriculum was content driven, and all students studied the same thing at the same time no matter what their interests were.
  4. That realization led me to develop a new mindset:
    • I began to view content as a vehicle to help my students understand the concepts and gain the skills they need in order to be successful. This has allowed me to be more flexible in giving students the freedom of choice in the selection of specific content as long as students are improving their skills and building understanding.  
    • Outdated textbooks did not offer this type of flexibility, therefore, I needed to do something else. The textbooks were giving every child the same things in the same way and that did not maximize engagement for all of my students. My textbooks from 2007 lacked cutting edge scientific research that was relevant to my students lives. Very few things in my textbooks truly grabbed my students attention and inspired their curiosity. 
    • With the current quality Open Education Resources, I found I was able to move away from textbooks. This allowed me to spend more money on field trips to take my students out into the real world. It has freed up money for supplies to increase opportunities for investigation in my classroom. This is what captures a student’s imagination, inspires them to investigate the world around them and ask questions, and motivates them to want to learn so they can gain the knowledge and skills they need to make a difference in the world.
  5. I began providing more real world learning challenges for my students:
    • This has really allowed students the opportunity to drive their learning in the direction of their interests.
    • Challenges encourage students to look at problems from various angles and build understanding in a way that is meaningful to them. Students begin to see value in learning because it  helps them solve problems. Textbooks did not provide the depth that students needed to help complete these projects. Open Educational Resources provide them with the variety of information that they need from amazing sources from all over the world. In the end, the students build a much richer knowledge of the topic than if we would have just read about one point of view in a textbook, and in the process, they truly feel like they are making a difference by helping to solve a real world problem in their school or community.
  6. I redefined my role in the classroom. I have determined my job is to provide students with opportunities to develop their skills and to provide resources to build their own understanding of the world around them. This includes helping students become critical consumers of knowledge as well as helping them to evaluate their work and the work of their peers so they can learn how to continually grow and improve throughout their lives.  

I have found that allowing students to drive the direction of their learning can be very powerful. For example, Energy is a broad topic. Everyone in my class is not interested in just the basics of energy and electricity, but they are interested in making their school more efficient. In the process of finding ways to make their school more energy efficient, they needed to understand what electricity is, how it is made, how it is measured. When students saw the value of the learning, they were much more engaged, and they took pride in finding solutions to improve their school. Having reliable, up to date openly licensed resources that I can put at their fingertips makes this type of learning far less intimidating to plan for and to manage. It also fosters creativity and ingenuity in my students that may have been missed out on if we had simply stuck to the textbook.

Lori Secrist, Life Science Instructor and Pathway Lead
Williamsfield Schools
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

 

Remember, don't be afraid to start small, and don't be afraid to mess up. We are not doing it perfectly and we know we have a long way to go. But we can already see the positive impact the approach is having on our kids. If there's anything we can do to support your efforts to #GoOpen, please don't hesitate to reach out.  

 

 

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