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BENCHMARK: REVIVING THE PROFESSIONAL CULTURE

Benchmark: Reviving the Professional Culture

Lekisha Morris

Grand Canyon University: EAD 513

12/8/2020
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BENCHMARK: REVIVING THE PROFESSIONAL CULTURE
“School culture is important to successful school performance. School culture is the

underground stream of values, beliefs, traditions and rituals, built up over time that influence

daily behavior and actions of everyone at the school and set the context for student learning”

(Deal & Peterson, 2016). As an administrator, it is very important that connections are made

with every stakeholder to ensure that the school culture remains positive. “Culture impacts the

way teachers, students, and administrators think, feel and act. The key characteristics of school

culture are a shared sense of purpose, vision, history, people and relationships” (Deal &

Peterson, 2016). Currently, Maynard High School is struggling with maintaining a positive

school culture, but there is potential there to create a better atmosphere and overall culture. Here

is a plan that will help revive the overall school culture.

Scenario Summary

Maynard High School has been in operation for 2 years. It currently has grades 9 th -11th

with an enrollment of 1,100 students, but in the new school year when I am officially the

principal, it will add 12th grade and this addition will bring the total enrollment to 1,450 students.

There are 45 full time teachers and nine new teachers are projected to begin in the Fall. The

administration team consists of one principal and three assistant principals, but the principal and

one assistant principal resigned. Therefore, I will be coming in for the new school year. There

are currently 3 counselors and a new one is projected to begin in the new year as well. This will

bring the total number of counselors to 4. The office staff consists of a receptionist, an

administrative assistant for the principal and two administrative assistants for the assistant

principals.

Based on the information that has been shared, there are many issues that have not been

addressed, that will need to be taken care of once I begin my new position as the principal of
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Maynard High School. Some of these issues that are going on are that many of the teachers did

not receive their annual evaluations. Some were written, but there wasn’t an observation

conducted to go along with it. There is a standard curriculum available that should be utilized

but many of the staff are not using it. Very little professional development has been provided to

staff as well as opportunities to work in professional learning communities.

Mission, Vision and Outcomes

One of the first things that I feel that I need to do as the incoming principal is reach out to

all stakeholders to receive feedback as to where they want to see the school headed and what

type of culture they would like within the school. I would then develop a team that consists of

lead teachers, a counselor, a trusted representative for the parents and possibly a couple of

students to represent the student body. I would then meet with this team so we can share the

information that was collected and use this information to update the mission and vision of the

school. Once this is done, I would ensure that I meet with staff and the students to emphasize the

importance of the mission and vision statement. “Doing so means creating opportunities for

member of the school community to come together to discuss, explore and reflect on student

learning” (Redding & Corbett, 2018). Using the information that was collected and looking at

the past data, this will allow myself and the team to identify and trends as well as any areas of

need so that we can create a process to help in reviving the overall school culture. Taking the

time to ensure that the community is aware of the plan for changes will help aid in the

implementation of the changes that are going to take place.

While implementing the plan, there must be a set of short term and long terms goals that

should be in place. The first short term goal is to create or amend the school’s mission and

vision statement. I would then look at filling the staff needs as another short-term goal. Once
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this has been taken care of, I would then review the curriculum and work with master teachers in

each grade/department to prepare professional development opportunities for the staff. This

would be one of the long-term goals for the staff because once they learn the curriculum that

should have already been in place, they will have to learn the different areas of the curriculum.

The professional development and professional learning communities would be more of the

long-term goals. “Professional development programs are crucial to teacher job satisfaction; they

also play a role in teacher retention and attracting new teachers (Roellke & Rice, 2008).

Creating an ongoing plan that will be effective in the professional development of the staff. It is

important that PLCs are provided because it gives the staff a chance to collaborate with their

team. “In PLCs, teachers will focus on sharing best practices, being results oriented, and

focusing on strategies to aid in student achievement” (Davis & Sims, 2020).

Collaborating for Data

Being a principal comes with many responsibilities and taking the time to collaborate

with my staff is one of those important responsibilities. I will need to collaborate with my staff

in order to collect data that is needed in order to implement change. One way that I can

collaborate is by creating a leadership team. This will consist of classified and non-classified

staff. By involving staff in various decision-making processes, this will help to build rapport,

trust and respect among colleagues and will also aid in the reviving of the school culture.

“Sharing power and giving teachers a voice in school decisions helps to develop trust between

the leadership and staff” (Graham, 2018).

Another way of collaborating with staff is taking the time to receive feedback on their

areas of need. This will help aid in the professional development opportunities that will be
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BENCHMARK: REVIVING THE PROFESSIONAL CULTURE
provided to them. When staff know that they can share what they need improvement in, it

allows them to have more of a voice in how they can improve themselves.

Productive Family Relationships

As a new principal, it is important to get to know the families and the students that I will

be working with. Being present to meet parents as they drop off and pick up is important

because they get to see a face and get to interact with me during those important moments

throughout the day. Scheduling a Meet the Staff Night so that families can meet all the new staff

as well as the administration team is important in building connections with the families we

serve. Taking the time to host various events where students and their families can participate

will help in building a positive community within the school. “In order for school to be

successful, the school must have a good relationship with the parents/guardians and students who

have parents that are involved in their education show an increase in achievement, attendance,

and are less likely to drop out” (Murray & Claussen, 2018).

Productive Community Partnerships

Connections with the community is important. Creating partnerships within the

community can benefit the school in numerous ways. Taking the time to partner with

community organizations and agencies will give Maynard High School more opportunities to

give the students so that they can be successful. We will be partnering with the local hospitals,

banks as well as other businesses to help aid in internships for our 12 th grade students. This will

help them in planning for college and what path they would like to take once they graduate. We

also have College Night were local colleges and universities as well as technical schools come

out to show what programs they have for the students. Partnering with these organizations gives
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our students the opportunity to gain a little more experience in various fields before they

graduate.

Public Advocacy

Having open and honest communication with all stakeholders is important. This helps to

build positive relationships that are needed for the school to thrive and be successful. Everything

that we do within the school will be geared around advocating for our students and their needs.

Taking the time to hire qualified staff and providing curriculum that will not only challenge our

students, but it will also give them preparation for their futures. Students will receive a quality

education. Various programs will be created to help those students who have academic

challenges as well as any development or behavioral issues as well. With the help of the

leadership team, goals and expectations will be created that are inclusive of all students. “All

students will be represented s required through educational policies, state and federal laws”

(Education World, 2013).

Rational

Having a positive school culture is important. There were several meetings and surveys

given to help aid in gathering the data needed in order to plan and create systems to help in the

revitalization of the school’s culture. Maynard High School went through many changes that

weren’t so great and taking the time to regain the trust and confidence with families and staff

will take time, but with perseverance and action, I know that I can make the changes needed in

order to have a great school culture.

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BENCHMARK: REVIVING THE PROFESSIONAL CULTURE

References

Davis III, J. L., Sims, P., Safer, L. A., Manning, L., & Hornberger, R. (2020). The Perceptions

of High School Personnel and Their Expectations of Professional Learning

Communities. Lutheran Education, 156(2), 15-32.

Deal, T. E., & Peterson, K. D. (2016). Shaping School Culture (3rd edition). San Francisco, CA:

Jossey-Bass. ISBN-13: 9781119210191

Education World. (2013). Be a Student Advocate: Top 9 Tips. Retrieved from:

https://www.educationworld.com/a_admin/top-way-to-advocate-for-students.shtml

Graham, K. (2018). Effective Leadership in Education: A Brief Analysis. National Teacher

Education Journal, 11(1), 23-26.

Murray, M., Munger, M. H., Colwell, W. B., & Claussen, A. J. (2018). Building Capacity in

Special Education: A Statewide Initiative to Improve Student Outcomes through Parent-

Teacher Partnerships. School Community Journal, 28(1), 91-105.

Roellke, C., & Rice, J. K. (2008). Responding to Teacher Quality and Accountability Mandates:

The Perspective of School Administrators and Classroom Teachers. Leadership & Policy

in Schools, 7(3), 264.