Justin Bouse, Okoboji Elementary Principal

A. YOUR RESPONSIBILITIES
1. Describe principals role in the construction of the schedule and supervision of instruction.
Mr. Bouse is in charge of the schedule at the elementary. They are making some changes to
next year to maximize literacy instruction and as a result he has enlisted the assistance of
their two instructional coaches.
2. Describe how the principal keeps staff and students up-to-date regarding new legal
requirements mandated by local, state, and federal agencies?
Mr. Bouse communicates changes through staff meetings, grade level team meetings, weekly
bulletins, and email. In his words, You can never communicate enough!
3. Respond to each of the following questions:
a. How are students scheduled into classes?
According to Mr. Bouse, at the elementary it is quite simple. All students take every
class with their homeroom teacher, minus the students that need special services. The
students are scheduled using Infinite Campus.
b. How are attendance, academic, and other personnel records kept?
All records for personnel are organized at the administrative office. One of the
secretaries at Okoboji Elementary focuses on personnel information. These record
are organized through the Infinite Campus online software.
c. How are programs for talented and special-needs children managed?
These programs are managed by the teachers in those areas with the cooperation of
the AEA. Mr. Bouse tries to assist whenever teachers have questions or when policies
in programs are up for discussion.
d. How is the student government organized and sponsored?
Okoboji elementary does not have a student government at this level, although Mr.
Bouse has strongly considered it.
e. What non-certified staff is under the principals jurisdiction?
Pretty much all the non-certified staff falls under the jurisdiction of the principal at
Okoboji Elementary. They do have a head custodian for the district who technically
oversees the district custodians, but other than that the responsibility falls back to Mr.
Bouse.

f. Examine and describe the written job description for the principals position.
All schools in the Okoboji Community School District have a building principal. Each
building principal will serve as the chief administrator of the assigned building.
Responsibilities include the school building, school grounds, employees, budget, and
activities in connection with the assigned school building. The principal is considered
the professional advisor to the superintendent in regards to matters pertaining to the
assigned building.
g. How, when, and by whom is the principal evaluated?
Mr. Bouse is evaluated yearly by the superintendent.
B. SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT PLAN
1. The student will examine the school and/or district SIP. What are its salient features?
The SIP for Okoboji Community Schools is broken into seven parts: 1) Vision, Mission and
Goals; 2) Collaborative Relationships; 3) Learning Environment; 4) Curriculum and
Instruction; 5) Professional Development; 6) Monitoring and Accountability; 7)
Assurances.
The Vision, Mission and Goals portion of the SIP contains goals for reading, mathematics,
science. These include both immediate and long-range goals for the district. Included in
these goals are the assessments that the district will use to determine if the stated goals are
met. The Vision, Mission and Goals section also specifically state methods the district has
in place to meet the goals stated in the plan for reading, math and science.
The Collaborative Relationships portion of the SIP presents the ways the district intends to
include input from the local community of the district in the decision making
process. Okoboji intends to do this through periodic meetings with the School Improvement
Advisory Committee. This section also includes learning goals the Okoboji School District
has for students.
The Learning Environment portion of the SIP incorporates the schools multicultural and
gender fair policy into the curriculum and educational programs. The other part to this
section is online courses that are offered by the district. Okoboji offers a single type of
online curriculum that they use for credit recovery in grades 5-12.
The Curriculum and Instruction portion of the SIP discusses the implementation of the Iowa
Core Curriculum by Okoboji Schools. This includes all processes for reading, mathematics,
science, social studies and 21st century skills as guided by the Iowa Core Curriculum.
The Professional Development section of the SIP details all processes of professional
development in Okoboji Community Schools. It also ties these activities into the long-range

goals of the district. The SIP also outlines the researched based practices that the staff
development processes are based on. This portion of the plan specifically addresses
instruction and curriculum. The SIP also ties the professional development model in the
district to the Iowa Teaching Standards and uses data to analyze goals and supports the
implementation of the Iowa Core Curriculum. This portion of the SIP formally
outlines professional development providers for the district. Okoboji provides in-house
professional development for their staff. This is offered in consultation with the AEA.
The Monitoring and Accountability portion of the SIP describes how the district will
monitor goals achievement for Individualized Educational Programs in the district. It also
includes evidence-based activities the district uses to improve student performance resulting
from special education. The evaluation of the at-risk program is outlined in this portion of
the SIP, along with dropout prevention and Talented and Gifted programs. The district is
also required to include a current ELL plan in this portion of the SIP. Another piece of
information in this portion of the plan includes needs analysis assessments for all state
indicators. Also included in the Monitoring and Accountability portion of the SIP is
descriptions of the district's evaluation of beginning teacher induction and mentoring
programs, evaluation of the effectiveness of instructional strategies implemented through
professional development, evaluation of the effectiveness of career development plans by
analyzing student data and the school's management of Perkins funds.
The Assurances portion of the SIP checks to be sure the the district is meeting the necessary
requirements outlined through Iowa Public Law. This is simply a true or false section
making note of which specific laws the district does/does not meet.
2. Describe how the SIP is developed, revised, and implemented.
The SIP is developed and revised yearly by the administrative team and implemented in an
on-going basis in our buildings. Mr. Bouse notes that the administrative team does not
discuss it as much as they probably should, however.
3. To what extent are professional learning communities (PLC) for teachers utilized?
Okoboji has not had formal training in PLCs, but they do use the basic premise in the
elementary with their grade level teams. Each grade level team created a goal in the area
of literacy and they have worked towards and reflected on those goals throughout the year
during these professional development days. The district has created a schedule to allow
these teacher teams to meet every other week on Wednesday afternoons from 2:30-4:00.
4. What is the principals opinion regarding the effectiveness of the schools SIP?
Mr. Bouse does not believe their SIP drives much of what they do on a daily basis. He says,
Either the requirements of the plan need to change or we need to make it more student-

friendly in language and refer to it more often as a district. They have been able to
achieve highly as a district but Mr. Bouse is not convinced it is due to their SIP.
C. CURRICULUM
1. How is the curriculum designed, evaluated, and revised? Describe any contemporary
curriculum models that are in use.
Mr. Bouse made specific mention of how the curriculum is the Iowa Core, so there is no real
design, evaluation, or revision. Okoboji Elementary continues to familiarize themselves
with the core and aligning their instruction and assessments with it to ensure all students
are achieving at high levels.
2. Explain the extent to which instructional improvement, curriculum revision, assessment,
acquisition of texts and instructional materials, and staff development are linked and articulated
with the school improvement plan.
Mr. Bouse cannot connect these items with the SIP. As mentioned before, he feels that as a
district, this is something that they should be working on.
3. Describe the procedures and practices for follow-up studies of students after their completion
of the various educational levels and the extent to which those results are used to improve
curricular offerings.
Mr. Bouse noted that, at the elementary level, their follow-up on students is done in a more
informal manner. He made note that they have fairly good communication with the middle
school regarding gaps in skills that the middle school observes. They also make specific
attempts to assist students with social-emotional concerns as they arise.
4. Describe the curricular activities of the school outside the regular classroom (e.g., band,
chorus, athletics, clubs, and gifted/talented programs). Who is in charge of supervising this
program and what are his or her major responsibilities?
Mr. Bouse suggested that these issues do not really pertain to the elementary level.
D. TECHNOLOGY
1. Describe the type and location of electronic technology available to students.
All of the PK-2nd grade students have their own iPad, with a cart assigned to each
classroom. The 3rd-4th graders have their own Chromebook. All classrooms are also
equipped with a LCD projector as well as a document camera.
2. Describe the type and location of electronic technology available to teachers and staff.
All teachers have their own laptop, but the support staff does not in most situations.
3. What types of electronic technology are utilized by the building and district administrators?
All administrators have laptops and iPads for conducting walkthroughs. They also have
access to other devices as needed, such as projectors, cameras, etc.

E. ASSESSMENT
1. Describe the elementary schools overall method of assessing student achievement.
Okoboji Elementary is really attempting to focus more on multiple forms of data to
determine level of achievement. They examine FAST data, fluency probes, unit assessment
data, and Iowa Assessment data to analyze achievement levels and areas of concern that
need to be addressed.
2. How does the principal determine that students are meeting minimum standards for
academic performance?
This is done through multiple data points, from student performance in the classroom on a
daily basis to formative assessments given by the teachers to more formal, summative
assessments. Okoboji Elementary is in the process of transitioning their report cards to
completely reflect the grade level standards.
3. How is the standardized testing program handled and by whom?
The school counselor assists Mr. Bouse in handling the ordering of materials and Mr. Bouse
works in collaboration with the classroom teachers to create a schedule for the assessment
week. He also meets with the special education teachers to review the students who have
accommodations and plan how those accommodations will be met.
4. Describe the principals role in preparing information for the school districts Report Card
in accord with state department of education requirements?
Most of the state reports are done as an administrative team, often collectively during an
administration team meeting.