Confront the Brutal Facts Yet Never Lose Faith

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Confront the Brutal FactsYet Never Lose Faith

• Whenyou start with an honest and diligent effort
  to determine the truth
• the right decisions often become self-evident.
• You absolutely cannot make a series of good
  decisions without first confronting the brutal
  facts.

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Brutal Facts

• School districts are struggling to attract and
  retain qualified candidates for leadership roles.
• There is a lack of qualified candidates coming
  from outside Frederick County.
• Employees in some classifications have been
  placed in leadership positions without adequate
  training.
• FCPS employee satisfaction survey indicated
  opportunities for advancement and promotion
  for field-based and support staff needed
  improvement.
• Professional development evaluations indicate the
  need for more leadership training.

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Leadership Development

• Taking off to new heights

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Superintendents Charge

• In light of these points, the Superintendent
  assigned the Deputy Superintendent to
• research internal and external practices in
  leadership development.
• make recommendations regarding leadership
  development for the Frederick County Public
  Schools.

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Investigation of Current Practices

• What is in place within and outside of FCPS.
  Sources included
• Literature and research
• Each cabinet member
• Principals and teachers at each instructional
  level
• Leadership from each bargaining unit
• Maryland State Department of Education
• Eight outside school systems from
• three states

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What is Leadership

• Mobilizing others to get extraordinary things
  done in organizations.
• Its about the practices leaders use to
• transform values into actions,
• visions into realities,
• obstacles into innovations,
• separateness into solidarity,
• and risks into rewards. Kouzes and Posner

Leadership is a choice not a position Covey
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Review of Literature and Research

• Leadership is
• considered the single most important aspect of
  effective school reform.
• important in setting the tone in a school.
  Climate is the best predictor if a school will
  have high achievement.
• positively and significantly correlated to
  positive working conditions.
• cause for employees to have an overall increase
  in satisfaction.  
• a predictor of adequate yearly progress (AYP)
  status.
• a powerful predictor of whether a school was
  included in top school designation categories.

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Evaluation ofLiterature and Research

• These points demonstrate that
• each FCPS employee needs to recognize him or
  herself as a leader.
• Each employee needs to understand their
  importance as a valuable contributor in the
  education and achievement of our students.

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Findings

• Differed by employee group.
• The findings are organized into three categories
  
• Administrative Leadership
• School-based Leadership
• Support Staff Leadership
• Under each category, information details
• FCPS Current Practices
• Findings

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Findings Administrative Leadership

• FCPS Current Practices
• No formal plan for developing the pool for
  administrative applicants.
• CASI offices provide induction opportunities for
  school-based administrators.
• Formal induction plans are not evident in other
  types of positions.
• Opportunities for leadership development are
  provided for CASI personnel, but there is little
  for others.
• Evaluations from book studies and leadership
  program last summer were very positive with
  request for more.

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Findings Administrative Leadership

• External Findings
• Many school systems
• have preparatory courses before entering the
  applicant pool.
• utilize both principal and assistant principal
  internships.
• employ retired principals to mentor new
  principals and assistant principals.
• have formal induction programs
• for new administrators, with
• specific curricula.
• hold annual leadership seminars.

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Findings School-based Leadership

• FCPS Current Practices
• No systemic plan for leadership development or
  ongoing training for team leaders, SIT members,
  department chairs, etc.
• There is not widespread clarity or understanding
  of responsibilities, job descriptions, etc.
• External Findings
• There was not a great deal of consideration given
  to preparation for school-based leadership
  positions.
• Many did hold annual trainings for the people
  serving in these positions.

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Findings Support Staff Leadership

• FCPS Current Practices
• This area was found to be the weakest.
• Due to multiple shifts and varied schedules, it
  is difficult to schedule trainings for support
  staff.
• Getting communications to support staff
  announcing training opportunities is difficult.
• Extensive technical training is provided.
• Many individuals are placed in leadership
  positions with no training in human relation
  skills, evaluation, etc.
• There is no systemic orientation before a person
  reports to work.

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Findings Support Staff Leadership

• External Findings
• Other school systems provide leadership
  development for support staff in leadership
  roles.
• Orientation combined with leadership development
  was a common feature of systems.
• Support employees are provided training
  opportunities in such areas as system policies,
  organization, customer service, embracing
  diversity, and workplace confidentiality.

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Action Plan OverviewA first class blueprint

• Objectives
• Leadership Development
• Strategies
• Unintended Findings
• Systemic Leadership
• Administrative Leadership
• School-based Leadership
• Support Staff Leadership

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Action PlanLeadership Development Objectives

• Provide programs for all employees that result in
  higher student achievement (Goal 1 Master Plan)
• Increase the number of employees who are aware of
  the expectation in specific leadership positions
• Increase the number of qualified internal
  applicants for leadership positions
• Increase and develop the leadership competencies
  of employees in leadership positions
• Increase the leadership capacity that is evident
  in performance evaluations
• Improve the results of employee satisfaction
  survey
• Increase opportunities of leadership training

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Action PlanUnintended Findings Strategies

• Develop
• the leadership competencies for classroom
  teacher leaders through training opportunities.
• a required orientation program for all new FCPS
  employees that communicates
• overall mission of the school system.
• the individuals role within the mission.
• organizational structure.

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Action Plan Systemic Strategies

• Create an advisory committee for each of the
  following three categories
• Schoolbased Leadership
• Administrative Leadership
• Support Staff Leadership
• The advisory committees will investigate a return
  on investment model and provide input and
  feedback.

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Action Plan Systemic Strategies

• Develop
• partnerships with local higher education
  institutions to collaborate on leadership
  development programs.
• an MSDE course that provides leadership training
  for teachers who want to be better leaders in the
  classroom.
• a position to organize and coordinate the
  development and the delivery of leadership
  development programs.

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Action Plan Administrative Strategies

• Develop
• and offer preparatory workshops for internal
  administrative applicant pool.
• an internship program for teachers preparing to
  be assistant principals and for assistant
  principals preparing to be principals.
• Continue study groups that analyze leadership
  theory and its impact student achievement.
• Hire retired former principals to
  mentor new principals and
  assistant principals.

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Action Plan Administrative Strategies

• Combine the CASI induction programs for new
  assistant principals and principals.
• develop a formal induction curriculum
• Provide annual leadership training for all
  administrative personnel.
• Align the leadership development program with a
  new administrative evaluation instrument.
• Use the Maryland Standards for Instructional
  Leadership as a basis.

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Action Plan School-Based Leadership Strategies

• For SIT members, team leaders, department chairs
  etc., develop
• and/or update job descriptions.
• job performance checklists.
• an MSDE workshop course on effective school-based
  leadership techniques.
• induction leadership training.
• and provide annual training on performance
  expectations.
• and provide annual leadership training.

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Action Plan Support Staff Strategies

• Provide
• leadership training during work hours or consider
  a means of compensation.
• regular study opportunities that analyze
  leadership theory and its impact on student
  achievement.
• Develop
• means of communicating training opportunities to
  notify all support staff.
• an optional future manager workshops.
• a formal induction program for support staff
  placed in positions of leadership.

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Budget

• Fully implemented
• Approximately 357,000.00 over four years
• Everything but internships
• 97,000 FY07
• 20,000 FY08

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• Leaders are not born, they are made!
• Lombardi
• An opportunity to soar
• Leadership Development