Silver Lake College Teacher Leadership Program Comprehensive Exam

Jennifer Perry-Question 5
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It has been interesting going through the Teacher Leadership program at the same time as
starting the Educator Effectiveness movement at my school. I believe there are traits of a good servant
teacher leader that both coincide well with and differ from the Educator Effectiveness movement. The
specific model my school district is using is the CESA 6 Effectiveness Model which has a fusion of Dr.
James Stronge and still uses components of Charlotte Danielson. "Effectiveness is the goal, evaluation is
merely the means"-Stonge & Associates Educational Consultants, LLC. From the CESA 6 webpage
about why to choose their model over the others, it is pointed out the leading reasons for using the
model are that it is research based, multi-tiered, customizable to accommodate district culture and
initiatives, designed to include comprehensive training, feasible and equivalent to the DPI model. The
model is in its pilot year and we have completed most of the main areas already. In practice, the
components in action were to have first reflected, then created a student learning objective (SLO), a
professional practice goal (PPG), survey of students, and have been observed and given feedback, and
reflected again at the end.

First, I would like to state reasons how I believe the Educator Effectiveness model, at the heart of
its intention, align with the values of being a good teacher leader as discovered through the Teacher
Leadership Program. Based on the Educator Effectiveness model, the main intentions are to try to use a
fair process that judges a teachers implementation of their lessons and student success so that schools
have quality teachers with quality impact on student learning. From our district web page on the Cesa 6
model it states, The Education Effectiveness system will evaluate teachers and principals through a
fair, valid, and reliable process using multiple measures across two main areas: educator practice and
student outcomes. The goal of Wisconsin's Educator Effectiveness is to provide students with highly
qualified and effective educators who positively affect student learning. To a similar tune, the Teacher
Leadership program that we have gone through, at the core of its values also wants teachers who lead
the way in their schools, are effective in their classroom, and who have a positive impact on students.
The main focus of the program is to create quality educators who are committed to others, display
leadership characteristics and are reflective practitioners. From the Silver Lake College Teacher
Leadership Program website it reads, Each program has developed a specific set of
standards/competencies related to the three key areas or dimensions of Commitment to Others,
Scholarship/Leadership and Reflective Practice and aligned with state, national, and professional
organization standards for teachers or school administrators. Some main ideas of Educator
Effectiveness and servant leadership overlap then, as they both involve educators who reflect in several
areas of teaching and try to make student learning engaging and impactful.
The two things that I think overlap in a positive way from my perspective are being reflective
and setting goals for yourself and students. In the Educator Effectiveness model, I reflected in the areas
of: 1. Professional Knowledge, 2. Instructional Planning, 3. Instructional Delivery, 4. Assessment for & of
Learning, 5. Learning Environment, and 6. Professionalism. As a Teacher Leader, I reflected on the 10
competencies plus 5 created by me of: 1. Advocacy, 2. Communication, 3. Conflict Resolution, 4.
Evaluation, 5. Facilitation, 6. Integration of Curriculum, 7. Problem Solving, 8. Reflection, 9. Research 10.
Technology. In this way I feel I am being effective and a leader because I am taking
Silver Lake College Teacher Leadership Program Comprehensive Exam
Jennifer Perry-Question 5
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charge of my own continuous learning as a teacher. In both cases, having to justify how I did in these
areas not only through reflection but providing artifacts as hard evidence becomes potential concrete
proof of growth and success.
The other part that I found beneficial in the process of becoming a teacher leader and through
the educator effectiveness model was practicing goal setting. Coming up with a 1 year, 5 year and 10
year plan in the program was helpful to allow me to see the big picture. Coming up with specific
measurable goals for myself and students (PPG and SLO) in the Educator Effectiveness model was useful
for me to gage my own progress and student learning in a real way.


Next, I would like to give justifications on how the Educator Effectiveness model and being a
quality servant leader vary from one another. I would argue that going through the Educator
Effectiveness model alone would not make me a more effective teacher, while practicing the beliefs
taught through the program is making me a better teacher, a better leader and more importantly, a
better person. Educator Effectiveness does not transform me, rather just tracks what I choose to do.
Being a Teacher Leader, however, empowers me to make those specific choices that are transformative.
To me the biggest difference between the program that I have been a part of and seeing the
Educator Effectiveness model at play is I feel empowered from within through the Teacher Leadership
Program, and the Educator Effectiveness model seems less empowering and more driven from the top
down. Accountability is so important with teachers, yet, nothing was done to prepare us for the bigger
picture besides quick figuring out a goal that would work to get positive student data. An example of
this contrast in servant leadership in action is the variance between how we were supposed to come up
with our student learning objectives for the year (SLOs) versus how I came up with my final vehicle for
the grad program. In my school, we were strongly encouraged if not pushed from the top to come up
with a goal that was driven by technology. We are a one to one school and it makes total sense that we
should involve technology into our classroom and engage our students. I planned on finding strategic
ways to incorporate this throughout the year, but never wanted it to be my big goal. Luckily, I found a
way to spin it but only because of the experiences and discussions had through the Teacher Leadership
program about strength based learning, multiple intelligences, and sticking to ones why or purpose.
Otherwise, most people I know just came up with an easy goal that they were already going to do and
made it something that would generate good looking data to show administration, yet was not really
moving them forward nor had real value.
Taken directly from Enterprise Solutions for Schools-My Learning Plan, the management system
that our district uses to keep track of our Educator Effectiveness plan, I chose my SLO to be All 8th
grade Art I students will show personal growth in their ability to reflect about their art work through the
use of technology and communication skills by the end of the year which allowed me to put reflection
of art at the forefront and through technology secondary. My professional practice goal (PPG) is By
the end of this school year, I would like to take what I have and will learn about technology to produce
and integrate a variety of content and procedural videos in hopes of students having a greater
Silver Lake College Teacher Leadership Program Comprehensive Exam
Jennifer Perry-Question 5
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understanding of the information and more productive studio work time while in class which likewise
felt a bit forced.
On the flip side, in choosing what to do for my final grad project we were still instructed to be
reflecting before choosing, which was a nice part of the Educator Effectiveness model as well, but not
just about what was right for our schoolit was also what was right for us, as individuals. I was able to
come up with a project idea that I was passionate about; therefore, I put everything into it. Growing
Creativity as the theme for my project lined up with everything I cared about and yet still knew was
right for my students, my schools mission and my own beliefs.
The other part missing from the Educator Effectiveness model is the definition of servant and
facilitator all together. While I can find strategic ways to include it, it is not a top priority. The only
places I have really found to log some of my most important successes as a teacher is through the slot
called Professionalism which is the area least looked at. My ability to give back to the community,
teach my students to serve the community, and also the mark of student independence should be noted
for something, but since it is hard to put that into a score, it gets overlooked.
One of the biggest disappointments in Educator Effectiveness was a fellow teammates
observation of, in my opinion, a stellar lesson; it was facilitator led, student engaged, built community,
and had great learning, yet the response by evaluation was cant wait to see how much more engaging
this will be when you use technology next time and was so disheartening. This meant a few things
about the model to me: 1. It is not completely unbiased 2. It isnt always about best learning practices in
a well-rounded way from multiple viewpoints 3. The observations by administration and goals by
teachers are so detached in that it doesnt have any kind of real synthesis or connection.


In the end though, regardless of my opinion on the models true big picture, being a part of the
Teacher Leadership program has helped me function better as an effective educator serving me well and
will continue to serve me well with the Educator Effectiveness model for evaluation. The things that I
have done because of going through the program, I can use in my artifacts, reflections and end
evaluations. In fact, Educator Effectiveness has served as a device, to some extent, for me to prove the
worth of my accomplishments and creations because of the graduate program. I know that I would
have never felt compelled to understand my purpose, come up with purposeful goals, taken charge and
address administration, volunteer so often, promote community service projects, or change my
curriculum, without the program.
To me, seeing the bigger picture and purpose was a lot of what the Teacher Leadership program
assisted me with. I never really took the time to figure out the why or my direct intent personally or
professionally, and it made so many things more clear and connect for me. In class, we got the idea for
coming up with our why statements after watching a TED Talk youtube clip of Simon Sineks The
Silver Lake College Teacher Leadership Program Comprehensive Exam
Jennifer Perry-Question 5
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WHY video. It explains the golden circle as a tool for purpose. Simon Sinek illuminates for the
audience that all industries and individuals in the world know what their What iswhat they do or
what they are, and most even know How they got there or how to justify, but not many people
actually know Why. And the why is not a superficial reason, but a core belief, purpose and vision
that is the central point of everything. It becomes the focus and the How and What follow (Sinek).
Because of this, I am able to make more meaningful goals when I write them for Educator Effectiveness.
For example, the purpose statement I wrote for the class and have carried out since then has been to
Surround myself and others with positivity and creativity. I have made sure that this comes first in
what I do in my life and everything else seems to fall into place around it. From there, I was able to
come up with a list of goals that either meshed with my purpose or helped me achieve my purpose.
Both my SLO and PPG above link to this.
Among those goals were things like changing my curriculum so that students could be more
reflective (inspired from both Educator Effectiveness and the graduate program) in new ways like
through using technology, reflecting face to face, and also coming up with new projects that I felt better
matched up with the creativity I wanted to be around and instill in my students. I also made goals to
change things in the school. What I did from this I could use in the professional category of Educator
Effectiveness which was to meet with our administration about two main topics. I had two
presentations/proposals created; one was about shifting the mindset of staff to the bigger picture rather
than focusing on technology specifics and instead to be better at collaborating and engaging students as
a whole while the other proposal was about creating a Lighthouse Loungea space of inspiration,
collaboration and positivity for staff.
Since visiting the Pulaski School Districts pantry and experiencing the poverty simulation, I also
felt inspired to help at our own district pantry and give back. I have since volunteered several times, and
also empowered my home room students to come up with their own very cool pay it forward activity.
We did handmade cards and handmade rice crispy treats and then that money was being donated to the
Seven Loaves Project and United Way. The coolest part is the students added in that they hoped
students who purchased the cards and crispy treats were going towards making another persons day so
it was twice the giving back. This area of professionalism I feel made me stand out as a better servant
leader to the school and community and large.
While I feel the reflection goals and professionalism pieces are what I mostly developed in
the process of this program and will directly implement into Educator Effectiveness, I know I did many
other things inherently to complete artifacts for the 5 other categories: 1. Professional Knowledge, 2.
Instructional Planning, 3. Instructional Delivery, 4. Assessment for & of Learning, and 5. Learning
Environment. From research for the final vehicle project, to the facilitation model studied, learning
about various assessment opportunities, practice in building community and beyond I know that I will
have no problem filling in the Educator Effectiveness chart.

Silver Lake College Teacher Leadership Program Comprehensive Exam
Jennifer Perry-Question 5
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While at the end of the day I would rather have a system of evaluation than not, I do wish there
was a bit more freedom in the process of showing our successes much like we have been able to display
by going through the graduate program and truly demonstrating the journey of becoming a teacher
leader.