Jill Williams EDLD 5352 Instructional Leadership SP2 11 EA1202

Organization Chart:

Superintendent
Terry Grier

School
Director of
IHS@S Principal Improvement Technology
Chang Yu Officer
Arnold Viramontes
Mark Bedell

College Access District Training

Assistant Principal
Coordinator Specialist
Jennifer Kapral
Alice Reuter Kenya McIntyre

Technology Mentor Campus Technology

Teacher Liaison
Jill Williams Candice Johnson
Jill Williams EDLD 5352 Instructional Leadership SP2 11 EA1202

Dr. Terry Grier Superintendent of Houston ISD – Appointed in 2009, Dr. Grier is
“committed to preparing all students for college and career
success and attracting and supporting top talent in the district’s
schools” (HISD, 2011). Dr. Grier is responsible for setting the
vision for the district and provides funding and supports funding
initiatives to infuse technology into our campuses and classrooms.
Principal Chang International High School at Sharpstown Principal – Principal
Yu Yu is working to create a rigorous, college-bound school that
promotes global citizenship. He supports our school vision by
striving to integrate technology by implementing district plan and
allocating funds to assist with purchasing and staff development.
Arnold Director Technology Services- Mr. Viramontes will report to Dr.
Viramontes Grier and will be “tasked with guiding a major upgrade of the HISD
network security system” and will “also oversee HISD’s Research
and Accountability Department, a critical component in the
district’s effort to ensure that policy decisions, including those
affecting classrooms, are based on reliable data” (HISD, 2011).
Mark Bedell School Improvement Officer – Mr. Bedell’s responsibilities
include providing mentoring and leadership to all principals
assigned to him, aligning resources and support for teachers, and
to ensure that the district is providing equitable and quality
educational opportunities for all HISD students.
Kenya McIntyre District Training Specialist – Ms. McIntyre specializes in
Smartboard training on our campus and helps each core
curriculum department on a weekly basis by providing training for
the staff either via the district or on-campus to assist teachers in
integrating technology into their classrooms.
Jennifer Kapral Assistant Principal – Mrs. Kapral wears many hats, but her main
responsibility is to assist Principal Yu in handling discipline issues,
ensuring that technology standards are being implemented on the
campus, assist in creating the budget and find funding to support
technology initiatives.
Alice Reuter College Access Coordinator – Mrs. Reuter also wears many
hats, but her main goal is to help all juniors and seniors to be
college ready by registering for the ACT/SAT, mastering TAKS,
completing scholarship applications, and applying for college. She
is also required to assist principal in ensuring that technology
standards are being implemented on the campus.
Candice Johnson Campus Technology Liaison – As well as her teaching
responsibilities, Ms. Johnson is also responsible for helping our
campus in solving technology issues in our computer lab and host
Jill Williams EDLD 5352 Instructional Leadership SP2 11 EA1202

on-campus training for teachers to learn how to integrate

technology into their lessons.
Jill Williams Technology Mentor Teacher – assists new and veteran teachers
in solving technology issues both inside and outside the
classroom.

Teaching and According to the STaR chart data for

IHS@Sharpstown in 2009-2010, there is a
Learning significant need for professional development.
The round table interview conducted by Dr. Kay
Abernathy, Ms. Cindy Cummings, and Dr. Steve
Google Apps Jenkins, was very informative. As Dr. Jenkins
addressed all 5 NETS-A standards, Dr. Abernathy
and Ms. Cummings made some astute
observations. I agree with Cindy Cummings
statement that “staying on top of emerging
technology trends and research and the practical
uses for campus improvement” is extremely
important (Lamar University, 2011). I feel that our
campus leaders do an extremely good job at this
and our campus is leading the way for better
assisting our digital natives. Dr. Abernathy stated
that we must “emphasize our beliefs and lead our
teachers to resources like Project Tomorrow in
order to create digital citizens” which is definitely the
right idea (Lamar University, 2011). I am constantly
seeking out new and creative resources on the
internet and sharing/demonstrating my new ideas
with my peers.
In order to provide an easy to use platform for
our students to create a digital portfolio, I have
searched and searched and finally found GOOGLE
APPS! I have gained approval from my principal to
begin implementing this free online educational tool
offers free email, 7GB of storage, free online
training for teachers, parents, and students, and
allows teachers to track and follow online projects.
My goal is to have this system implemented for the
2011-12 school year.
http://www.google.com/a/help/intl/en/edu/k12.html
Jill Williams EDLD 5352 Instructional Leadership SP2 11 EA1202

Assessment/Data Houston Independent School District has

adopted the ASPIRE (Accelerating Student
Progress Increasing Results & Expectations)
HISD program in order to engage all HISD employees in
creating a culture of excellence to prepare all
ASPIRE students to be college /career ready. HISD is
EVASS pushing all school to use the new EVASS data
provided in order to improve/increase student
growth throughout their school careers. This value-
added analysis data is “used to measure the impact
of the district’s curriculum and instruction on
students’ academic progress from year to year”
(HISD, 2009).
Although teachers were required to take online
training for ASPIRE and EVASS data, I strongly
believe that further on-campus staff development is
required. Many teachers fail to use this data simply
because they do not even remember how to access
the information! I propose that this training is given
to each department so that it can be tailored to meet
the needs of each core content area and that they
can practice hands-on application to meet the
needs of their students.
Below I have written a professional development
plan in a previous assignment that helps our
teachers to better understand data driven instruction
by using www.myschoollife.com to help them create
assessments.
Applications In week three, I learned that on my campus,
technology is used to deliver and enrich instruction
in almost every classroom on our campus. Most
Smartboard core curriculum teachers are equipped with either a
smartboard/projector or just a projector. In order to
Flip Video Cameras support teachers with smartboards, our principal
Blogging has asked the Houston ISD Smartboard
representative, Karen McIntyre, to come to our
Digital Portfolios campus to train us during our GLC planning period.
This is extremely helpful because teachers can
learn in their own classroom in a hand on learning
experience. All of our teachers have access to Flip
video cameras which assisted the Chinese
language classes in creating some incredible
Chinese music videos last semester. I recently had
my students use the digital cameras and
photography editing software to create Claymation
Jill Williams EDLD 5352 Instructional Leadership SP2 11 EA1202

videos depicting scenes from the ancient Inca,

Maya, and Aztec cultures. I am also asking all of
my students create a blog which they will use as
their high school digital portfolio until their
graduation. This will be helpful for them when they
are asked to present their graduate portfolio in a
digital medium during their senior year. Some
students were hesitant in creating a blog, but once
they posted PowerPoint projects using
www.slideboom.com or photo story projects using
www.onetruemedia.com, they were hooked! Now
they can never use the “I lost my flash drive” excuse
again!
Each Wednesday, we have early dismissal
which allows our staff to meet from 1:50-3:15pm for
professional development. This is when teachers
from each department can share any new and
innovative use of technology they are implementing
within their project-based learning.

Professional Development Plan:

Session Purpose: For the staff to indentify and address deficits in instruction that might have
led to the Mathematics TAKS scores not meeting the exemplary standard in the Economically
Disadvantaged students. Approximately 84% of our Economically Disadvantaged student
population met the minimum standard on the math TAKS in grades 9-12. According to our CIP,
our campus goal for 2010-2011 is to increase our TAKS math scores from an overall 85%
passing rate to a 90% passing rate.

Learning Objective to Be Addressed: According to the Texas Education Learning System, the
students in the public education system should be able to demonstrate EXEMPLARY
performance in the understanding of MATHEMATICS. Also, according to the State Board of
Education, Chapter 28, the instructional program should prepare students to demonstrate their
knowledge and skills in all subject areas.

Approving Principal: Chang Yu Presentation Date: August 15, 2011

Grade Level: Facilitator: Location: Start Time: End-Time:

9-12 Mathematics Jill Williams IHSS 2:00pm 2:50pm
computer lab

Learner-Centered Estimat
Purpose Description Steps
Activity ed Time

Teachers will be To practice Provide Greet guests with light 2:00pm

Jill Williams EDLD 5352 Instructional Leadership SP2 11 EA1202

asked to logon to how to teachers with snacks and bottled water

www.myschoollife.co retrieve data the tools to to create a positive 10
m or campus online in order to gather and environment. Review minutes
and access a copy of better analyze data group norms. Teachers duration
the current AEIS data understand which shows will meet in the campus
in order to analyze the how our that students computer lab and access
data. HOW DID OUR current are not being www.myschoollife.com
STUDENTS students provided the and find the appropriate
PERFORM ON THE performed on tools they data files. Assign each
TAKS MATH? the Math need to department their own
TAKS. succeed. subject area to analyze
and elect a representative
to present their findings to
the rest of the staff.

Reviewing and Teachers will Teachers will Email the CIP before the 2:10pm
analyzing the CIP use the be emailed meeting to the entire staff. 10
goals. information the CIP in Teachers will create a T minutes
analyzed on advance, so Chart on giant post it duration
the AEIS they will log notes to compare/contrast
report and on to their the goals on the CIP with
compare their email the new goals created
findings to the accounts in from the data analyzed in
CIP in order order to view the AEIS report in the
to discover the CIP. previous step. They will
how Hopefully discover that TAKS math
instruction they will is our weakness.
might need to understand
be adjusted. that some
sections of
the CIP may
not be
addressed
inside the
classroom.

Teachers will To simulate Teachers will Teachers will complete a 2:20pm

participate in a mini the possible be presented math mini lesson by using 5
math lesson where strengths and with a simple the supplies/formulas minutes
they will work in weaknesses math mini given to them. They will duration
groups to complete our students lesson which be required to follow the
the assignment. have inside will be rules and work together
the prepared in throughout the entire time
classroom. conjunction allotted. At the end of the
with the math lesson they will be asked
team in to record their
advance. weaknesses and
strengths.

Using a guided This step, in Individual The group’s discussion 2:25pm

discussion format, the conjunction group will be guided by me to
Jill Williams EDLD 5352 Instructional Leadership SP2 11 EA1202

groups will be asked with the discussion maintain a flow throughout 5

to share some of the previous step over the remainder of the minutes
strengths and will hopefully complications meeting. Strengths and duration
weakness of their ensure that of math brain weakness will be recorded
group during the math the teachers teasers. Be on a poster in order to
mini lesson. better prepared to eliminate duplicates.
understand present top These will later be
the learning two reasons emailed to the
barriers our with group. participants.
students
might
experience on
a daily basis.

I will lead and facilitate To engage Each Each presenter will write 2:30pm
a consensus building our faculty to group/subject 1-2 bullet points on the 10
activity in order for the create ideas area will smartboard and try to minutes
group to discuss the on how to nominate a prevent repeat duration
main reasons they solve the low presenter to suggestions. The faculty
believe our students scores on our briefly share will vote on the 2 most
are not achieving math TAKS. 1-2 reasons important objectives.
exemplary status in why they Then the participants will
math. believe our be asked to share a way
students are to improve mastery as a
not mastering campus, not just in math
the math class.
objectives on
the TAKS.

End of session closing To recap and Provide an Answer any questions or 2:40
remarks and recap of confirm the open and comments; make notes of 5 minute
the information TAKS math honest forum any issues to be duration
discussed throughout objectives for discussion addressed via email.
the professional that needs to on the Request that each teacher
development session. be reinforced findings of complete the online
in order to the survey with the link in their
meet our CIP analyzation of email BEFORE leaving
goals and the CIP and the computer lab.
ways to AEIS report
accomplish dealing with
this task. Math TAKS
Complete scores.
online survey
to provide
feedback on
presentation.
Jill Williams EDLD 5352 Instructional Leadership SP2 11 EA1202

EVASS Evaluation Our teachers will meet each week in their

small learning communities/departments to
Teams review the common assessment data created
on www.myschoollife.com in order to assess
student achievement and learning. They will
compare missed objectives to the TAKS data
available through EVASS online. This will help
them target students who consistently fail to
meet objectives in their subject areas. Each
month they will compare the data of any
‘bubble’ kids to ensure that they are on target
to pass the exit level TAKS or EOC.
Campus Technology Our campus principal, Mr. Yu, constantly
pushes our staff to implement technology into
Team the classroom each and every day. Our main
technology goal is to ensure that each student
creates and maintains a digital online portfolio.
In order to support this goal, we have created a
campus technology team where each
department is represented, along with
administrators, and students. We will meet
each month after the Wednesday professional
development to discuss the progress being
made when the Google Apps is implemented
next year. We will then share our findings our
ideas with the staff each month during
Wednesday professional development. After
we detail our progress, we will share with the
SDMC. Students who wish to share their
progress of their online digital portfolio may do
so during the Thursday all school assembly so
that other students can gain a better
understanding of what is expected or what new
and exciting things can be accomplished!
STaR Chart Data According to the STaR chart data collected
in 2009-2010, our campus’ greatest strength
lies in the Leadership, Administration, and
Instructional support area. Within this domain,
the data showed that leadership/vision,
planning, and instructional support were the
strongest. I would agree with this outcome
Jill Williams EDLD 5352 Instructional Leadership SP2 11 EA1202

because our administration fully supports our

teachers in using and providing technology for
our classrooms. Each core content area
teacher is equipped with a projector,
smartboard, and desktop computer. All
departments have a rolling laptop cart and
there is also a new computer lab on campus.
Although our campus is too small to require a
fulltime instructional technology specialist, we
have easy access to the district help desk and
they are usually quick and helpful. Our school
leaders also organize outside trainers to come
to our professional development sessions each
Wednesday in order to help train us on new
technique or lesson plans that can be used
with other items such as flip videos or
innovative software. We are currently being
required to use the Houston ISD online credit
recovery software, APEX, in our classrooms as
tutorials for those falling behind.
Too many of our teachers, fail to
understand what the STaR Chart data is or
what it represents. Therefore, we should use
one of our Wednesday professional
development days to introduce the STaR chart
and its impact on our campus and district.
Jill Williams EDLD 5352 Instructional Leadership SP2 11 EA1202

A Guide for Parents & Families to Value-Added Progress Measures & ASPIRE Awards

(2009). In Houston Independent School District. Retrieved March 19, 2011, from

http://portal.battelleforkids.org/Aspire/aspire/about_aspire.html?sflang=en

Houston Independent School District. HISD, 2011. Web. 18 Mar. 2011.

<www.houstonisd.org>.

Houston Independent School District. (2010). District Improvement Plan 2010-11.

Houston, TX.

Kapral, Jennifer. (2011, March 7). Assistant Principal, International High School at

Sharpstown. (J. Williams, Interviewer).

Lamar University. (2011). Technology Round Table Discussion, EDLD 5352: Week 3.

Instructional Leadership. Beaumont, TX. Academic Partnership.

Texas Education Agency. (2009). Texas Campus STaR Chart. Austin: TEA.

Yu, Chang. (2011, March 7). Principal, International High School at Sharpstown. (J.

Williams, Interviewer).