Running head: ACTION RESEARCH: RATIONALE PAPER 1

Managing Plan Paper

Kyle Johnson

EDD8420

Leadership Development in the Digital Age

Telephone: 678-477-2349

Email: [email protected]

Instructor: Dr. Ella Benson

Managing Plan Paper

Managing change in any environment can be a daunting task. In a school setting, many

variables must be considered to ensure all stakeholders’ needs and desires are met with little

negative consequences that affect the future culture of the organization. My school is a low-

income Title I school that that serves a wide array of ethnicities, cultures, backgrounds, and

religions. 87% of our students are on free or reduced lunch. The majority of teachers have been

teaching between 5-15 years and most teachers have at least a Master’s Degree in their content

area. Demographically, the majority of our student population is African-American, with the

second highest demographic being Hispanic. The majority of teachers are of Caucasian descent.

Although there is a disparity culturally and demographically, teachers and students have an

overall good relationship. There are many attendance and behavioral issues, but most attendance

issues stem from the Hispanic population and personal job responsibilities. Behaviorally,

students often get into personal skirmishes with other students. There are hardly ever any

student-teacher disruptions.

Academically, our school is on the lower end of the achievement spectrum within our

district. However, our district alone has 27 high schools and is the largest school district in the

state of Georgia. Teachers work extremely hard in collaborative learning teams and have

common planning to assess student data and reflect on professional practices. However, it seems

as though many meetings are wasted due to the over-abundance of professional development

sessions on how to dig into the data and deconstruct the standards. It is not often that teachers get

to actually plan and assess their own lesson’s rigor and depth of knowledge. With this disparity,

measures need to be implemented that provide teachers an avenue to express their needs to the
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administration as it pertains to time taken up during collaborative planning time. To do this, a

vision that illicits systematic change and a rationale that is backed by research is needed to

convince the administration to implement these changes.

Vision Proposal

In a perfect world, teachers would have time to plan their lesson and professional

development would be embedded either digitally, or in an after-school setting. However, it is

known that many teachers would not take the time to view professional development videos in

their free time and would not attend anything after school unless compensation was involved.

The need for continuous growth, however, is imperative for a teacher to hone their craft and

meets the needs of many twenty-first century learners today. Due to these issues, administrative

teams and districts have no choice but to take up otherwise valuable planning time from teachers

to ensure they are growing, as those in leadership deem necessary to promote academic

achievement and professional growth. To effectively impact teacher growth, however, and

eliminate teacher frustration, teachers and administrators need to better develop a relationship of

trust and transparency when it comes to creating professional learning opportunities for the

teachers. Due to the lack of classroom engagement, administrators fail to see the greater needs of

teachers as it relates to student engagement and teacher pedagogy. To solve this issue, setting

time aside at the end of the Fall and Spring semesters to develop professional learning

opportunities throughout the year would be an effective way to address the specific pedagogical

needs of teachers, both in the classroom and collaboratively as colleagues. In doing so, a culture

of trust and transparency can be established among school leaders and teacher leaders, which in

turn will positively impact the school culture.

Rationale

Research supports the need for trust in a professional learning community. According to

Hallam, Smith, Hite, J., Hite, S., and Wilcox (2015), trust is an integral characteristic of

developing a productive PLC because teachers need “…to sense each other’s caring intentions

and see their team commitment (p. 207). In forming a relationship of trust among administrators

and teachers, there can be a better understanding as to why specific professional development is

needed and growth can happen because teachers and administrators are on the same page

professionally. Not only is trust a key principle in having teacher voices heard and respected, but

being of a shared mind and understanding the intents of professional development is also key.

For many schools, and ours included, there seems to be a disconnect in the understanding

of why we implement the initiatives that we do. In other words, it is not communicated from the

leaders in the building as to why we do things, but it is expected that rules must be followed

because of what the research says. It has been said that leaders need to assess if the demands they

put on teachers are for teacher accountability or student outcomes. In assessing this, it gives

school leaders a better understanding of what is being asked of the teachers, and it can make all

the difference in teacher acceptance. As Wells and Feun (2013) state, “As building principals

work to implement PLCs in their schools their actions, communication, and expectations make a

difference in the change efforts (p. 236). To assist future professional development endeavors, it

is imperative that principals express the true meaning of the learning tasks and provide the

research that backs the initiative. Once trust and transparency are established, teachers will begin

to see the effectiveness of those trainings and not feel as though their planning is taken away; the
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knowledge that is gained from these sessions can be used to further enhance the planning that is

done as a team as time provides.

What Will Change

Organizational Structures

During teacher post-planning at the end of each semester, time can be set aside for

teacher leaders and the administrative team to discuss upcoming needs for professional

development. Currently, the same professional development is given to all teachers, regardless of

experience level and curriculum designation. Discussions can express the need for tiered

professional development that serves the varying levels of expertise within the school building.

Those teachers who need more advanced training can grow just as much as someone who is

attending an intermediate or beginner level training. Although this takes more thought and

preparation, it will speak volumes to giving teachers a choice in what they need to become better

educators. For those professional development sessions that need to be addressed to all teachers,

regardless of level of expertise, perhaps using veteran teachers to deliver the content would serve

teachers better than someone outside of the school. As Watson (2014) states, professional

learning communities need to have a shared vision (p. 26). With outside presenters, the vision of

what the expectations should be for the teachers in the building are not aligned. Therefore, the

likelihood of teachers adopting the practices or initiatives are slim. To circumvent these changes

and to have greater acceptance of professional development sessions, certain relationships must

also be changed.

Changing Relationships

From a growth perspective, the principal and administrators serve as coaches in giving

teachers the tools they need to be successful in delivering content and assessing data. To ensure a
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growing relationship among administrators and teachers in their overall understanding of

professional development and why it is delivered, Heineke (2013) argues that teachers and

coaches should engage in discourse and not conversation. Discourse can be defined as “…

professional discussions that take place in a school context from informal, casual conversations”

(p. 414). With this focus, professional development cannot be given to teachers based on district

or school initiatives, but upon the needs of teachers in the classroom. Additionally, with the

focus on discourse instead of conversation, growth is automatically the focus because teachers

and administrators are focused on the root cause of issues, not just the superficial issues that

frustrate teachers on a regular basis. Not only do teachers feel more empowered with the freedom

to engage in rigorous discourse, but administrators feel empowered with the level of expertise

that their teacher leaders have in providing insight into the needs of teachers.

When teachers are given the freedom to voice their opinions as they pertain to their

professional needs for themselves and their colleagues, administrators begin to gain confidence

in those they lead. This process naturally creates a healthy teacher/administrator relationship and

further impacts the development of trust and transparency. When issues arise that affect teachers

in the classroom, administrators will have more freedom to address the issues with those teachers

to help come up with a shared solution rather than an implementation that is proposed from

“higher ups”. With these relationships that are built on trust and transparency, the school culture

as whole is exponentially positively impacted.

How School Culture is Impacted

With a focus on shared leadership and decision-making, both teachers and administrators

can develop professional development that is beneficial for all teachers. Additionally, by using

the skills and talents of teacher leaders within the school, professional growth can be achieved by
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all in the building. By developing a culture of teachers that are aimed at continuous professional

growth, it impacts the overall school community. According to Wells and Feun (2013), if there is

no school community, student achievement and involvement in school can be undermined when

team structures are not well managed (p. 237). In other words, there is a direct correlation

between the success of students in the classroom and the overall culture of the teachers and their

attitudes towards the administrative staff. When administrators implement team structures and

give teachers a voice and choice that guides their own professional learning, it increases the trust

of those professionals in the building and creates a culture of transparency where all adults are

focused on the growth of others, which ultimately impacts the academic achievement of students.

Effectiveness of Plan

To assess the effectiveness of the plan, a Google Form can be sent out at the end of the

school year for teachers to assess their overall professional growth and their thoughts on the

professional development that was offered throughout the year. Given Likert-scale questions,

teachers would rate the effectiveness of the professional development, the sessions that were

offered and their relationship to their targeted growth areas, the presenter’s effectiveness, and

their overall feeling of having a voice in the development of those sessions being offered.

Additionally, teachers would be provided with short answer questions to describe if there was

any increased trust between them and the administration and teacher leaders. In providing this

forum for teachers to voice their opinions, data can be collected and evaluated as teacher leaders

and the administrative team meet to discuss the upcoming school year’s professional

development sessions.
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References

Hallam, P. R., Smith, H. R., Hite, J. M., Hite, S. J., & Wilcox, B. R. (2015). Trust and
collaboration in PLC teams: Teacher relationships, principal support, and collaborative
benefits. National Association of Secondary School Principals. NASSP Bulletin, 99(3),
193-216. doi:http://dx.doi.org.library.capella.edu/10.1177/0192636515602330

Heineke, S. F. (2013). Coaching discourse: Supporting teachers' professional learning. The

Watson, C. (2014). Effective professional learning communities? The possibilities for teachers as
agents of change in schools. British Educational Research Journal, 40(1), 18–29.
https://doi-org.library.capella.edu/10.1002/berj.3025

Wells, C. M., & Feun, L. (2013). Educational change and professional learning communities: A
study of two districts. Journal of Educational Change, 14(2), 233-257.
doi:http://dx.doi.org.library.capella.edu/10.1007/s10833-012-9202-5