Clinical Field Experience A: Strengthening Curricular Programs

Bridgett M. Bates

Grand Canyon University

EAD 520: Strengthening Curricular Programs to Promote Continuous School Improvement

January 18, 2023

 Clinical Field Experience A: Strengthening Curricular Programs

This field experience assignment required me to interview two instructional leaders from

my campus and my principal mentor. For my first interview, I chose our Career and Technical

Education (CTE) Coordinator, Sabrina Donato; she was in the classroom last year, and she took

over her current position towards the end of last school year. I selected to interview our

secondary Instructional Coach, Melissa Seltenreich, as my second instructional leader because

she was also in the classroom last year and is now leading the teachers on our secondary campus.

I felt that speaking to these two people would give me a better understanding of both aspects of

our campus mission. We are a college and career readiness school, so speaking to our

instructional coach and the CTE Coordinator seemed to make the most sense. After interviewing

these two instructional leaders, I conducted the same interview with my principal mentor, Bryan

Rudden, to gain even more insight into how our curricular programs are created.

Interview 1

During our discussion, Donato indicated that the school’s mission and vision are used in

making instructional decisions because our teachers are held to the highest level of

accountability to provide our students with top quality knowledge and education. She said that

her major functions as the CTE Coordinator are bound to specific standards that our teachers

must meet for our students to receive college credit. She works with the teachers to make sure

this is occurring and help in any way if there is a deficiency. Our CTE programs are audited by

the Department of Education every five years to maintain the integrity of the programs. It holds

the school and teachers accountable for the education they provide to the students. Donato also

says that the CTE programs have specific standards that they must meet which means that

teachers must adhere to those standards without any wiggle room on how the school’s CIP plan
is developed. With that said, there is at least one aspect of the school’s CIP plan that asks the

CTE program teachers in the aviation department to make some improvements to improve the

number of students that earn their credits (Bates & Donato).

Donato indicated that any changes to the CTE curriculum must happen with the Nevada

Department of Education. She was recently called on by the state to help revamp the state

standards that were put in place in 2014. She said that the standards needed a lot of updating due

to the growth in technology within the industries covered in the CTE programs. When it comes

to our specific campus, she says that typically in March or April our administrative staff will ask

the teachers what they need for the upcoming school year. Every year the curriculum is

reevaluated to make sure it meets the state standards and is still something we want to continue

to offer at our campus. When I asked her if she could change anything about the curricular

decision-making process or implementation what would it be, she indicated that she probably

wouldn't change anything since the CTE programs are audited to make sure that they fit the

needs of all the students. She also says that our CTE teachers and their programs are already held

to a high standard (Bates & Donato).

Interview 2

Seltenreich said that our school mission statement, “Pinecrest Academy of Nevada unites

the community to prepare students for college and career” (Mission Statement, 2016) and our

vision statement, “Scholars perform at the highest level on all academic measures” (Our Vision,

2016) align to good teaching in general, so teacher at our school use it in their practice. The

programs that are picked will support good teaching. She indicated that she feels that in her role

she doesn't do very much to design and develop the curriculum for our school. She says this is

because we purchased prepackaged curriculum. We do however offer professional development

opportunities for those curriculums so that the teachers can use them to the best of their ability.

Seltenreich also says that the schools CIP doesn't really affect the teachers’ day-to-day decisions,

but it does play into the administration’s approval for specific curriculums (Bates & Seltenreich).

According to Seltenreich, our curricular systems are changed by administration and the

people that work above them. Often, these changes are spearheaded by teachers on campus. She

says that the teachers put a proposal together and work with their administrator to finalize a

proposal and present it to the district leadership at a management meeting. After it's proposed to

the management team, it will be evaluated for approval. She does say that we have a person in

our management team that is responsible for data management. That person pulls all raw data to

give us an idea of which students need interventions. That information is disseminated to the

core teachers, and we use tools like i-Ready and reading intervention classes in addition to the

regular core English courses to promote academic success for all students. All our textbooks are

evaluated annually, and teachers and other stakeholders are given the opportunity to provide

feedback for each textbook. This feedback combined with the data from student assessments is

used by the management team to determine what if any changes need to be made to our

textbooks or curriculum selections. Seltenreich says that our system is working well, and she

wouldn't change anything because we already spend time annually discussing how things work

and how they don't work (Bates & Seltenreich).

Principal-Mentor Interview

During our interview, Rudden stated that we want to unite the community and prepare

students for college and career as well as get them to perform excellently on all assessments. We

want them to have a rigorous curriculum, and we want our CTE program to offer different paths

for our students postgraduation. He stated that he doesn't really have any major functions related
to curriculum design and development; however, development comes from a collaboration with

stakeholders, mostly teachers and staff, as well as surveys to determine gaps and needed

supplementals. We also use planning and feedback from our instructional model meetings at the

end of the year. Typically, right before summer or during the summer, we look at staff feedback,

program usage analytics, and our budget to plan for the next school year. Based on that and what

is driving instruction and growth, we look at quarterly/semesterly data to see if the changes we've

made have had a positive impact on the CIP. If they haven't, we must pivot or change our course;

we must think about what do we need to add (Bates & Rudden)?

Curricular decisions regarding intervention strategies that promote academic success of

all students are typically made after Dr. Barr dissects and evaluates all the available data from i-

Ready assessments, CERT assessments, and SBAC assessments. Then, we take the time to talk

about data, teacher observations, Instructional Coach feedback, CTE Coordinator feedback, the

district feedback, and staff ideas to determine how to best support our students (Bates &

Rudden).

Redden says our textbook selection and evaluation process could be improved. He says

we can trim our instructional model and adjust our best practices now that we have been open for

more than six years. He says we could do better in preparing our career bound students for life

postgraduation. All the curriculum utilized in our school is approved by our school board. He

does say we could do a better job of surveying all stakeholders about the curriculum when

making our decisions to update or keep curriculum (Bates & Rudden).

Implication for Future Practice

In reflecting on the two interviews with Donato, the CTE Coordinator, and Seltenreich,

the Instructional Coach, it is clear that both have a strong understanding of the role of the
school's mission and vision in making instructional decisions, which aligns with PSEL Standard

4 "Effective educational leaders develop and support intellectually rigorous and coherent systems

of curriculum, instruction, and assessment to promote each student’s academic success and well-

being" (National Policy Board for Educational Administration, 2015). Donato emphasized the

importance of accountability in the CTE programs, with specific standards that must be met to

ensure that students receive college credit. She also mentioned the role of the Department of

Education in auditing the programs every five years to maintain integrity. Seltenreich also

highlighted the importance of the school's mission and vision in guiding good teaching practices,

and how the programs that are chosen align with these statements.

One major difference between the two interviews was the level of involvement in the

curriculum development process. Donato indicated that she plays a more active role in this

process, working with the state to revamp the standards and collaborating with teachers to

reevaluate the curriculum each year. Seltenreich, on the other hand, stated that the school

primarily uses pre-packaged curriculum, with a focus on providing professional development

opportunities for teachers to use them effectively, which aligns with the PSEL Standard 4 of

developing and supporting intellectually rigorous and coherent systems of curriculum,

instruction, and assessment.

Another key difference was the role of data in decision-making. Donato mentioned that

the CTE programs are audited to fit the needs of all students, but Seltenreich emphasized the

importance of using data to identify areas where students may need interventions. This data is

then used to inform decisions around curriculum and academic support, such as reading

intervention classes and tools like i-Ready, which aligns with the PSEL Standard 4 of promoting
each student’s academic success and well-being " (National Policy Board for Educational

Administration, 2015).

Overall, both Donato and Seltenreich understand the importance of aligning instruction

with the school's mission and vision, and that they prioritize student success and accountability

in their decision-making processes, which aligns with PSEL Standard 4. However, there are

different levels of involvement in curriculum development and a different emphasis on data-

driven decision-making. Since I am hoping to stay within my school district when I become an

administrator, I can use the knowledge gained in these interviews to help me to better understand

our district’s process for evaluating and updating curriculums. I would hope to continue the

practice of collaborating with the stakeholders in tandem with the data we collect to make the

best possible decisions to ensure the success of all our students.

 References

Bates, B., & Donato, S. (2023, January 13). Clinical Field Experience A: Strengthening

Curricular Programs. personal.

Mission Statement. Home - Mission Statement. (2016). Retrieved January 18, 2023, from

https://www.pinecrestcadence.org/apps/pages/index.jsp?uREC_ID=287361&type=d

National Policy Board for Educational Administration (2015). Professional Standards for

Educational Leaders 2015. Reston, VA: Author.

Our Vision. Home - Our Vision. (2016). Retrieved January 18, 2023, from

https://www.pinecrestcadence.org/apps/pages/index.jsp?uREC_ID=294580&type=d

Bates, B., & Rudden, B. (2023, January 18). Clinical Field Experience A: Strengthening

Curricular Programs. personal.

Bates, B., & Seltenreich, M. (2023, January 17). Clinical Field Experience A: Strengthening

Curricular Programs. personal.