MTSD Aspiring Leaders

Goal-Setting and Professional Reflection

Part I: Reflection and Goal Setting for the Aspiring Leader

1.  What kind of leader am I?  
   • This activity should be completed prior to the first Aspiring Leader meeting on Wednesday, October 23, 2024.  The Harvard Business Review has developed some leadership style descriptors for you to consider.
   • To reflect on your leadership style, go to: Assessment: What’s Your Leadership Style?
   • Select a primary leadership style from the descriptions provided, and one or two secondary leadership styles that you believe fit your personality.
   • Print out the summary reports that you get for these leadership styles and bring them to the first meeting.

2.    Self-Reflection and Journaling:
Six one-page written reflections should be prepared from among the topics listed below. Each written reflection should be submitted to John Cavanagh, Superintendent, via email, one week prior to each scheduled monthly session.  Please start with the first one (a), and submit that by email, prior to our first meeting on Wednesday, October 23.  Then, prior to each monthly meeting, pick a topic of your choice to submit a week prior to each of the remaining sessions:
a.    Why am I considering an administrative role?      
b.    My leadership strengths and weaknesses are….
c.    What is effective leadership?
d.    What impact will a move to administration move have on my family and how will I manage time and day to day responsibilities?
e.    What are best practices in education today?  
f.    What does it mean to be an instructional leader?
g.    What do I know about current issues in evaluation and assessment?
h.    What do I know about Special Education, Student Support, Student Advocacy and the role of the LEA?
i.    How does an administrator manage district resources?
j.    How can I apply my skills in collaboration and team building?
k.    What do I need to learn about working effectively with families and the community?
l.    What are possible moral and ethical issues in leadership?
m.    What is the importance of effective communication for an administrator?

Opportunities for Experience and Leadership

Part II: Participation in Leadership activities and reflection as part of the portfolio journal

1. Select 3-4 of the following optional activities and reflect briefly in writing in the spring as part of your portfolio.
   • Attend monthly Committee of the Whole Board meetings (Instruction and Student Services, Personnel and Policy, and Finance and Operations). These normally occur the second Monday of the month at 6:00 p.m. and/or Monthly Board Meetings.  These normally occur the fourth Monday at 7:00 p.m.
   • Interview central office Core Team members to gain understanding of roles and responsibilities.
   • Shadow a building administrator for a day, observing and participating in daily activities
   • Assist Administrators in the planning and facilitation of in-service days at district and building level.
   • Develop an understanding of evaluation and use of data to improve instruction through facilitation or participation on a grade level and/or data team meeting.
   • Develop a working knowledge of building budgeting and accounting.
   • Develop a comprehensive understanding of MTSS (Multi-Tier Systems of Support – formerly RTI) and SWBIS processes.
2. Required:  Participate in a meaningful research project with a District Core Leadership team member.  Projects will be assigned under the direction of the Superintendent’s office. 
   • Business
   • Personnel
   • Technology
   • Curriculum
   • Pupil Services
   • Assistant Superintendent
   • Building Principal

Culminating Activity

Part III: Portfolio development, mock interview and presentation of portfolio.  The culminating activity will be a mock interview and presentation of the Aspiring Leader’s portfolio to a panel of administrators.

Portfolio Development

Overview

Students in administrator training programs often value clarity in their coursework and want the facts and procedures of educational leadership presented in unequivocal terms.  However, clear facts and procedures do not promote professional growth.  Only through the challenging of beliefs will professional growth occur.  The process of portfolio development provides the catalyst for such an undertaking.  Portfolio development generates questions that spark reflection and foster professional growth, leadership skills, self-assessment skills, self-confidence, risk taking, and professional dialogue.

Components of the Portfolio

The professional portfolio for aspiring administrators consists of the following components: 

• Cover letter and resume, 2 reference letters
• Professional reflection & journaling (Reflection topics, selected leadership activities)
• District Leadership Project summary/overview
• The entry plan

Cover Letter, Resume, Reference Letters

School executives in the selection process consider the resume useful over 90% of the time.  The resume should be developed to open doors to the job interview and should fit the job description as closely as work and educational history allows.  The resume should always be accompanied by a cover letter that specifically details the position sought and the candidate’s skills and experiences that match the job description.

Please also request and include at least two professional reference letters from supervisors with whom you have recently worked. 

Professional Reflection/Journaling

The opportunity for self-reflection may be the greatest benefit of the leadership framework.  Reflection takes the aspiring administrator away from a basic level of understanding of school leadership to a level of critical examination, self-assessment, and new visions.  Reflective principals “… do not accept solutions and mechanically apply them.  They do not assume that the norm is the one best way to practice, and they are suspicious of easy answers to complex questions.”

The five selected journaling written reflections should be included in the portfolio, as well as your interview summary from Roundtable session #3, in addition to any other reflections or notes you wish to include.

District Leadership Project Summary/Overview

The completion of your leadership project may be summarized in your portfolio in any meaningful way.   You may use data charts, a PowerPoint printout, photographs or other images, etc.  The point is to represent an overview of the significance of your project to meet district or building needs in a succinct, efficient, and professional manner.

The Entry Plan

The beginning principal faces two simultaneously occurring transitions:  1) the personal transition from teacher to administrator and 2) the organizational transition from one leader to another.  The transition from teacher to administrator is difficult enough.  However, failure to adequately manage the organizational transition can cause significant human relations issues for the new principal.

The Entry Plan may follow a format selected by the candidate.  There is no prescribed requirement for a specific style or content.  Be creative and show your insights by how you prepare your plan.