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Looking Beneath the Surface: A Guide to Elementary Master Scheduling -- Practice Field Activities provide prospective leaders hands on experiences for dealing with the everyday responsibilities of a building administrator. At the beginning of the semester, prospective administrators were surveyed as to practical experiences that would be beneficial in the field. Simulated experiences included:• dealing with irate parent phone calls via Skype • creation of division policy directed to the superintendent• role play: the day in the life of a principal • role play: post-evaluation of a teacher observation• integrative thinking practice field activity- writing a letter to the superintendent to change the Standards of Learning (SOL) dates due to weather delays • creation of an elementary master scheduleAs a culminating activity our group of five prospective administrators collaborated on creating an elementary master schedule including the timeline, school demographics, potential constraints, and organizational and instructional priorities. Based on the data, we looked below the surface to establish an enrichment/remediation block to support the current learners as well as the changing demographics. “Look beneath the surface; let not the several quality of a thing nor it’s worth escape thee.”Marcus Aurelius

Introduction

Madison Elementary school is a fictitious, suburban elementary school located in Southwest Roanoke County in Virginia. Madison serves students in grades PK-5. For the 2009-2010 school year the enrollment has grown to 500 students. Students achieve at or above the county, state, and national averages and have met all guidelines for Standards of Learning (SOL) and Average Yearly Progress (AYP) for No Child Left Behind. The overall vision for the Madison Elementary is to continue to blend the cultures of a diverse and growing population, meet AYP, support the school community, empower teachers, and treat all children with respect. The beliefs and assumption of the school encourage all stakeholders to recognize a rapidly changing school environment. Madison faculty and staff are committed to creating a positive and successful learning environment despite current budget realities. Madison Elementary School’s beliefs and assumptions:

  • All children can learn
  • The individual school controls enough variables to assure all children can be inspired to learn.
  • A school’s stakeholders are the most qualified people to implement needed changes.
  • Individual change is the best hope for reform.

Recent trends include an increase in transiency rates and a large increase of students from diverse socio-economic and cultural backgrounds. Currently, the enrollment at Madison Elementary School has exceeded its designed capacity. With the increase and necessity to better serve a growing special education, and ELL student body administration Madison Administration has evaluated the use of their intervention, enrichment, and itinerant teachers. Current budget constraints have limited the number of special education, and ELL teachers serving Madison Elementary. However, with the use of Encore scheduling, the needs of all students will be met more effectively, promoting our belief that all students can learn.

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Source:  OpenStax, Nature and context of educational administration. OpenStax CNX. Sep 17, 2010 Download for free at http://cnx.org/content/col11214/1.3
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