Competency Reflections

Competency 001: The beginning principal knows how to establish and implement a shared
vision and culture of high expectation for all stakeholder, (students, staff, parents, and community).

I believe that I have a lot of experience in this particular competency due to the subject of my
project for both this semester, as well as last semester. As part of these projects, I created an equity
audit, and based off of the results decided to participate in many events and activities with the goal of
assessing school climate and of making sure that the culture remains high at our campus. To accomplish
this, I created a school climate survey and analyzed the results with my principal. Based off of those
results, we worked together to create forms to provide instant specific feedback during informal
observations, as well as created and implemented a “tag out” system that allows administration to
provide a short break for teachers (10 minutes), to take a break or to observe a colleague. I also helped
put together gestures of appreciation for our teachers. The knowledge, skills and mindsets that
successful leaders must have to be efficient in this competency are strong communication skills, the
ability to build relationships with stakeholders, and the belief that trust is essential in building a school
with a strong culture. I believe that I will be very strong in this competency, as I fully recognize and
believe that maintaining a positive school climate and culture is important to being successful. However,
I also recognize that creating a campus with a positive climate and culture takes more than a few tokens
of appreciation. When I become principal of a campus, I will have to spend much time working together
with stakeholders to create a campus that everyone can be proud to belong to.

Competency 002: The beginning principal knows how to work with stakeholders as key partners to
support students learning.

I was able to get some experience in this competency through the surveys that I created, and
through some parent teacher conferences that I conducted. This allowed me to get input from
stakeholders, and to work with parents in best supporting their child’s education. The knowledge, skills
and mindset that a new principal must have to be efficient at this competency is communication skills
and strategies, and the ability to build relationships with the stakeholders, as well as the belief that
input from others besides yourself is important. I did not get much opportunity to develop relationships
with other stakeholders besides teachers and parents. I know that as a principal I will need to develop a
relationship with members of the community as well.

Competency 003: The beginning principal knows how to collaboratively develop and implement high-
quality instruction.

Through this internship I was able to spend time working with my grade level to create rigorous
assessments to be used in our grade. I also am very familiar with the RTI process, and feel confident in
my ability as a future principal to use the data to help develop and implement high quality instruction.
The skills, knowledge and mindsets that an aspiring principal will need for this competency is to have an
understanding of the rigor and expectations of each grade level, the ability to break down and analyze
the test questions as well as responses, and the belief that assessment results should be used to drive
instruction.
Competency 004: The beginning principal knows how to monitor and assess classroom instruction to
promote teacher effectiveness and students achievement.

I was able to gain experience in this competency by analyzing the data on the most resent state
assessments and analyze gaps. I also created an equity audit that was used to find any gaps and to help
reduce the achievement gap. I also help several grade level meetings where we analyzed the
instructional data from out latest state test, and used that data to plan for our RTI small group
interventions. I feel that I have a strong grasp of this competency. The knowledge, skills and mindsets
that an aspiring principal needs to have for this competency is an understanding of different data
collection tools that exist, the ability to plan and conduct data analysis meetings, as well as the belief
that instruction that is driven by data can help students achievement.

Competency 005: The beginning principal knows how to provide feedback, coaching, and professional
development to staff through evaluation and supervision, knows how to reflect on his/her own practice,
and strives to grow professionally.

During my internship and my time as the lead teacher in my grade level, I was able to get
experience with this competency by conducting walk throughs with my principal, and helping him
compose feedback. I was also able to provide walkthroughs to the teachers in my own grade level, and
provide them with feedback as well. I also provided coaching to a teacher who was new to our campus.
To get even more experience in this competency, I would like to conduct some professional
developments for my grade level in the future. The knowledge, skills and mindset that a new principal
must have to be efficient at this competency is have an understanding of the standard criteria for
teacher performance, an ability to collect low inference data during observations, and the belief that
teachers deserve to receive consistent and specific feedback because that feedback is important for
them to improve on their teaching and to grow their confidence.

Competency 006: The beginning principal knows how to promote high-quality teaching by using
selection, placement, and retention practices to promote teacher excellence and growth.

I was able to be part of two hiring committees to hire new teachers to our campus.
Unfortunately this is the only experience I was able to gain for this competency. I definitely will need to
get more experience in this area if I am to be an efficient principal. Know how to choose and hire high
quality teachers, and knowing where to place them is a skill that is very important for the cohesiveness
of the school. I believe that I will be able to bet better in this area because I believe that I have the
proper knowledge skills and mindsets such as an understanding of what qualities a teacher should have,
an ability to communicate what the school expectations are and the belief that high quality teachers will
naturally be attracted to and wish to stay at schools that prioritize teachers and learning.

Competency 007: The beginning principal knows how to develop relationships with internal and external
stakeholders, including selecting appropriate communication strategies for particular audiences.

I received experience in this competency through having grade level meeting with teachers in my grade
level, and through helping create a committee that celebrates teachers though incentives and random
acts of kindness. I also was able to practice communicating with stakeholders by creating and analyzing
a survey on school climate. I was not able to gain a lot of experience in communicating with external
stakeholders, although I believe that I have strong communication skills, and do not anticipate problems
in this competency. The knowledge, skills and mindsets that a new principal must have in order to be
efficient in this competency is the understanding that communication skills are important to have for
the different stakeholders, the ability to build relationships and the belief that communication is vital
building school culture.

Competency 008: The beginning principal knows how to focus on improving students outcomes through
organizational collaboration, resiliency, and change management. This includes knowledge and skill in
conflict resolution, trust/consensus building, relationship building, and dealing with challenging
situation, (PSEL related.)

As the lead teacher in my grade level most of the experience that I attained in this competency was
through working with my grade level to complete campus goals and ways to attain student
improvement. This was done through analyzing test results and discussing ways to maximize small group
interventions. I was also able to analyze campus results on district benchmarks and create a data wall.
As a principal, I will need to be able collaborate with all grades and find ways to assist all grades in
attaining district and campus goals. The skills, knowledge and mindset that a beginning principal will
need to be efficient at this competency is an understanding of the characteristics the one must have to
be able to measure progress toward goals, and the ability to research the best practices that one would
need to read said goals, and a belief that it is the leaders responsibility to measure progress and make
adjustments as needed.

Competency 009: The beginning principal knows how to collaboratively determine goals and implement
strategies aligned with the school vision that supports teacher effectiveness and positive student
outcomes.

Most of my experience in this competency is through my participation as a member of my campus’ Site

Based Decision Committee. During this committee we were able to go over the campus goals, re align
our campus vision and make sure that the goals of our campus are being met, and make adjustments as
to our campus plan. The skills, knowledge, and mindsets that a beginning principal will need to be
efficient in the competency are an understanding of the phases that exist in a continuous improvement
cycle, an ability to collect and analyze both qualitative and quantitative data, and a belief that plans
must be effective and consistent to lead to results.

Competency 010: The beginning principal knows how to provided administrative leadership through
resource management, policy implementation, and coordination of school operations and programs to
ensure a safe learning environment.