Week+3+Discussion


 * Review the article, "How to Survive Data Overload," by R. S. Thomas in this week's readings. What do you think of the tool titled "Team Dialogue Guide: Moving From Data to Classroom Instructional Improvement" and the "Reflection Guide" included in the article? As the principal, how might you introduce these tools and use them with your teachers? **

At our high school, we meet collaboratively in teams at least once a week. These tools would fit right in with the climate of our school and serve as useful tools to help facilitate collaborative meetings. The Team Dialogue Guide emphasizes that various assessment data should be analyzed and used — not just one form of data. This document also guides teachers through the data analysis process to identify strengths, weaknesses, and to summarize and generalize these conclusions to determine specific areas of growth. This document also provides guidance to help teachers reflect on what they have done or what still needs to be done to enhance student learning. The reflection process is also facilitated by the Reflection Guide which has guiding questions for each stage of the reflection process. On a single document, the most pertinent questions are referenced to create insightful feedback for teachers. As a principal, I would introduce these documents to the team leaders of each collaborative team and encourage their use in the planning process for analyzing and identifying areas of student weakness and areas for improvement.


 * Review the article, "Perceptions of Professional Learning Communities," by Jane Huffman and Arminta Jacobson in this week's readings. What does this study say to you about the style of leadership that is most conducive to developing learning communities? What implications does this study have on your personal philosophy of leadership? **

One of the most important pieces of information I took from this article is the great emphasis placed on the leader ’ s role as a “ change agent in reculturing the school ”  (Huffman & Jacobson, 2003). Further, this article states that a leader must be transformational instead of transactional. “ Transformational leaders deal with complex long-range planning, are more pro-active, provide authentic collaborative opportunities, and anticipate problems and changes <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','serif'; font-size: 10.5pt;">” <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 10.5pt;"> (Berg //et al//, 1999). It is important that a sense of community is established and a common vision is shared by all stakeholders in this community.


 * <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 10.5pt;">Visit the website, //Data-Based Decision Making: Resources for Educators//. The link is found in Resources: Helpful Websites. Tell how, as a new principal, you and your campus team might use this website. **<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','serif'; font-size: 9pt;">

<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 10.5pt;">Unable to link this website through courseware and through an Internet search.