WALLINGFORD BOARD OF EDUCATION
POSITION DESCRIPTION
POSITION TITLE: School Administrator
DEPARTMENT: Board of Education
GENERAL DESCRIPTION:
The School Administrator is responsible for the administration and supervision of all activities that deal directly with the building and program.
SUPERVISION RECEIVED:
The School Administrator reports directly to the Superintendent of Schools or designee.
EXAMPLES OF DUTIES:
The School Administrator:
¨ Serves on the following groups and councils as required:
1. Administrative Council
2. Curriculum Council
3. School Principals’ Meetings
4. Faculty Liaison Committee
5. PTAC
6. Management teams as assigned
7. Other groups as directed by the Superintendent
¨ Prepares reports reflective of the entire education program and its progress. This includes reports related to budget, staff performance, teacher assignments and other related special requests of the superintendent’s office.
¨ Promotes the success of all students by facilitating the development, articulation, implementation, and stewardship of a vision of learning that is shared and supported by the school community.
¨ Develops an understanding of learning theory and human motivation in teachers and parents, and uses that understanding to promote the continuous improvement of student learning. (i.e. Common Core of Learning).
¨ Uses a knowledge of teaching which is grounded in research and experience to foster teachers’ reflection on the impact of their professional beliefs, values, and practices on student learning. (i.e., Common Core of Teaching).
¨ Works with staff, parents and community to develop programs and instructional strategies that incorporate diverse perspectives.
¨ Engages members of the school community to establish goals that encompass the school’s vision of the educated person and develops procedures to monitor the achievement of those goals.
¨ Utilizes multiple strategies to shape the school culture in a way that fosters collaboration among the staff and the involvement of parents, students, and the community in efforts to improve student learning.
¨ Works with the school community to establish rigorous academic standards for all students and promotes the use of multiple assessment strategies to monitor student progress.
¨ Works with staff to improve the quality of school programs by reviewing the impact of current practices on student learning, considering promising alternatives, and implementing program changes that are designed to improve learning for all students.
¨ Works with staff to plan and implement activities that promote the achievement of school goals, while encouraging and supporting staff as they assume responsibility for their professional development.
¨ Works with staff to develop and implement an integrated set of school-based policies for staff selection, evaluation, professional development, and school improvement that results in improved teaching and learning for all students.
¨ Works with staff to review the school organization and resources, and develops and implements policies and procedures to improve program effectiveness, staff productivity, and learning for all students.
¨ Collaborates with staff to create and sustain a variety of opportunities for parent and community participation in the life of the school.
KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS AND ABILITIES:
The Educated Person
¨ Understands major social, historical, and technological developments, and their implications for the knowledge, skills, abilities, and dispositions needed by citizens in today’s world.
¨ Knows that the educated person needs to understand the relationships among the academic disciplines, and how the disciplines are applied to real-world settings.
¨ Knows that the educated person is able to apply knowledge and understandings in new contexts to assess intellectual stances, make decisions, and solve problems.
¨ Understands the need for the educated person to value diversity.
The Learning Process
¨ Understands how to transform research regarding learning into practices that are effective within the individual school context.
¨ Understands that learners play a highly active role in developing (constructing) their own knowledge and meaning.
¨ Realizes that knowledge results from student interactions with others, and that student understandings are influenced by the understandings of others.
¨ Understands that the motivation to learn arises from one’s internalized goals, needs and aspirations.
¨ Understands the considerable variation among learners both in their cognitive processing and in the time they require to achieve identified outcomes.
¨ Understands that intelligence is not a single construct and that students will often possess strengths in specific areas of human activity and will learn in those areas more readily than in others.
The Teaching Process
¨ Understands how learning occurs – how people process information, acquire skills, and develop thoughtful, inquiring minds – and the implications of the learning process for effective teaching.
¨ Understands human growth and development and its implications for instruction.
¨ Understands principles and techniques, along with advantages and limitations, associated with various instructional strategies (e.g., cooperative learning, direct instruction, discovery learning, whole group instruction, independent study, interdisciplinary learning).
¨ Understands adult learning and motivation theory (the role of needs, aspirations, and goals in stimulating action) and the implications o this theory for promoting teacher reflection and growth.
¨ Is familiar with research on teaching.
Diverse Perspectives
¨ Understands diversity to include special needs (physical, cognitive, social and emotional), linguistic, cultural, gender, generational and socioeconomic status, and its impact on learners.
¨ Understands the various cultural, ethnic, gender, linguistic, political, and generational perspectives of members of the school, community, state, and nation.
¨ Understands current social, cultural, and economic issues in society.
¨ Understands and anticipates issues of diversity and their impact upon the design of curriculum and strategies for instruction.
¨ Understands and anticipates the effects of curricular and instructional decisions for the various members of the school community.
¨ Understands the social and cultural backgrounds of linguistic minorities and the programmatic needs of these students.
School Goals
¨ Possesses a vision of the future state of the school.
¨ Understands the implications of the school’s vision of the educated person for the development of school goals.
¨ Knows how to write school goals that identify the discrepancy between desired outcomes and what is currently being accomplished.
¨ Understands how change occurs in organizations, and how to plan for the implementation of change.
¨ Understands how to identify and analyze multiple sources of data to determine progress toward school goals and to inform staff of actions that are needed to enhance goal attainment.
School Culture
¨ Understands the value of a vision of the education person and clear school goals for shaping a school culture that is focused on student learning.
¨ Understands the need to engage members of all constituent groups in the pursuit of school goals.
¨ Possesses current understandings of learning theory and teaching.
¨ Possesses multiple strategies to influence school culture, including goal clarification, reduction of teacher isolation, staff development, and the sharing of power and responsibility.
Student Standards and Assessment
¨ Is familiar with contemporary curriculum frameworks and current national and state discussions about standards for student learning.
¨ Understands curriculum design models, including how to plan and implement a framework for instruction and how to align curriculum with anticipated outcomes.
¨ Understands the implications of the school’s vision of the educated person for the identification of academic standards for students.
¨ Knows how to involve staff and community in the identification and development of standards for student learning.
¨ Understands that ongoing assessment is essential to the instructional process.
¨ Understands the attributes and applications of sound student assessment and possesses multiple strategies to monitor student progress.
School Improvement
¨ Understands how learning occurs – how people process information, acquire skills, and develop thoughtful, inquiring minds -–and knows how to use instructional strategies that promote student learning.
¨ Understands the major concepts, forces, and issues in program development, including the ways in which social, historical, and technological developments affect curriculum and instruction.
¨ Understands major curriculum trends in multiple subject areas, the reasons they have occurred, and the consequences for student learning.
¨ Understands the attributes and applications of sound student assessment and how all the assessments within a school fit together to inform school program effectiveness and student performance in regards to valued learning outcomes.
¨ Understands that ongoing assessment is essential to improving the instructional process and applies many different assessment strategies for that purpose.
¨ Is familiar with current research on school improvement.
Professional Development
¨ Is knowledgeable about pedagogy and current issues in multiple curricular areas.
¨ Is aware of a broad range of sources for professional development.
¨ Understands linkages and connections between and among events occurring in and outside of the school environment that enhance the learning process for teachers and students.
¨ Understands the need to create faculty ownership of school goals and to develop trust and self-esteem among staff.
¨ Understands adult learning and motivation theory.
Integration of Staff Evaluation, Professional Development and School Improvement
¨ Understands the interrelationships among staff selection, staff evaluation professional development, and school improvement.
¨ Understands how staff selection, teacher evaluation, professional development, and school improvement can support learning for students.
¨ Understands the need to create faculty ownership of school goals and to develop trust and self-esteem.
Organization, Resources and School Policies
¨ Understands how the school organizational structure and resource allocation affect student learning and staff productivity.
¨ Understands the policy process as having both official (formal policies) and unofficial (“hidden policies”) dimensions.
¨ Understands how district, state, and federal policies and regulations are translated into school policies that are responsive to the local context.
¨ Understands that district organization and resources of the superintendent’s office are important means of improving the teaching and learning process.
¨ Can anticipate how policy options affect dimensions of quality, equity, and efficiency.
¨ Is aware of the needs and characteristics of the various student subgroups, and understands how organizational structures, resource allocations, policies, and procedures affect each.
¨ Understands the change process in the context of developing new organizational and resource configurations, policies, and procedures.
¨ Knows state and federal laws and regulations related to education.
School Community Relations
¨ Understands that the role and interests of school and parents in the education of children can be both complementary and conflicting.
¨ Is aware of various levels of parental and community participation in the school.
¨ Understands the need and the means for building community support for the school.
¨ Understands the power relationships within the school community.
QUALIFICATIONS:
1. A Master’s degree, with a major in educational administration.
2. At least five year’s experience as a teacher and/or supervisor.
3. A valid state certificate in administration/supervision.
4. Such alternatives to the above qualifications as the Board may find appropriate and necessary.
SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS:
EOE
9/3/02