Delroy Grant

July 9, 2016

Assignment #3
Vision Project

These ISLLC standards are guides to any person whose aspiration is to become an
educational leader. These standards are intensely demanding and require hard working
dedicated individuals to master each skill set forth in the ISLLC standards. As an aspiring
leader, it is this passion and dedication that I possess - that makes me a perfect candidate
for a position as a school leader. The most important factor to any school leader is
students' success, success to me - means learning holistically, not just for the standardize
test. However, for this to happen it takes great leadership with a comprehensive vision
and a guided mission that is clearly articulated and internalized by all stakeholders.
A leader in my estimation is someone who successful articulates and
communicates his or her vision and mission statement for the sole purpose of children
and the schools' community success. The success of the school reflects the community
and the community, in turn, reflects the school. If the school is in good standing the
chances are the community will grow as well.
As a prospective leader, my schools vision will be built on the needs of the
school and specifically the children in my care. The vision will consist and devoted to
developing human capital, in other words, I will invest in growing the teachers and staff
around me, by having a faculty that is immersed in a job-embedded professional
development and life-long learners. I will advocate, nurture, and sustain a school culture
and instructional program conducive to student learning and staff professional growth.
Emphasis will be placed on professional development for every teacher teacher
improvements will play an integral role in the schools' vision and improvement.

As teachers improve within their respected discipline, students will improve as

students improve, the better the scores and data of the school will reflect those
improvements. The more time I invest in human capital the better the teacher will be
and in turn, the better the students will become. It is my duty to teach my teachers to be
the best they could be the goal would be, to take teachers who are unconsciously
competent and make them consciously competent. Make them aware of the good things
they are doing, acknowledge them for their effort and development, and help them to be
conscious of the great approach they are taking in envisioning the shared vision for the
school community. It is the duty of every students and staff to know the schools vision,
{a vision that is to develop the human capital} improves students learning and bring out
the best in them.
Throughout this class we have spoken and read extensively about principal as
leaders and how important it is for a clear and concise vision that will determine the
guidance and direction of the school. According to the ISLLC standards - Principal/
school leaders must provide a vision that everyone must internalize conceptually. This
course has allowed me to reflect on what a successful school leader should look like, how
are they perceived by the community, teachers, and students and how they parallel the
ISLLC standards to their management of the school to ensure that all members have the
knowledge, skills, and values needed to become successful.
According to the ISLLC standards 2, school leaders must be willing to
continuously examine their own assumptions, beliefs, and practices set a vision of high
standards that will take the school from being successful to being significant, help

teachers go from having a career, to having a calling, and help students go from
learning facts to having values and principles, that will guide them throughout their lives.
The readings and discussion have also helped in enlightening me have to how
successful leader should operate on a daily basis, and how they should model a certain
level of accountability for teachers, students, and the community. The role of a leader is
to build trust, respect, and fairness and carry themselves with dignity. In order for me to
be successful, my staff must have confidence and trust in me to ensure success in the
schools' vision. I believe that when teachers know that you are trustworthy, fair, value
and care for them, they will work harder, they'll go above and beyond to help carry out
the school's vision and mission statement. If they feel that their contributions and
responsibilities are acknowledged, success in the school is inevitable. According to
ISLLC standards 2, when all individuals are treated with fairness, dignity, and respect
success is certain, the school will run effortlessly, and the leaders vision will be realized.
My perspective vision will be to create a school community of life-long learners
by investing in humans' capital. My perspective mission statement will be as follows;
members of Grant Middle School will function as a team, to improve students'
achievements by requiring high expectations for all stakeholders. Everyone will be
working for a common goal, which is to improve students' achievement and grow
teachers past where they are currently in their career. As long as all these common
principles are embedded in our core belief and value I believe students will grow.
As a future leader, I will be compelled to create both the vision and mission
statement collectively with my staff playing a supporting role. With shared commitment,
it will become a shared vision/mission statement that will be supported. All will

internalize these two principles of the school and incorporate it in all facet of the schools'
community. This is a task in which all will develop and strive to reach.
This course has unlocked profound thoughts and ideas of how a school leader
should manage the schools operation efficiently and effectively for the benefit of all. I
now have a clear understanding of what an ideal school should look, and feel like. The
tone, aesthetic, mood, and attitude of the building play a significant role in the success of
the building. ISCLL standards 1 suggested that a leader should promote the success of all
students by facilitating the development, articulation, and implementation of a vision of
learning that is shared and supported by the school community.
Parallel to this standard, as a future leader my goal is to understand how students
learn in this fast changing global society and develop and implement strategies that will
promote growth and success for them and my teachers and staff. I believe students need
to be taught how to learn; they need to learn how to think, learn how to adjust, learn how
to communicate, and learn how to live in a global society. Among other things, they must
become fully engaged in the entire production of the play, where they are the players, and
we are the coaches. We must prepare them to be contributing members of an everchanging global society, however, in order for this to be attained, they must develop a
vision for themselves and take ownership of the vision. This must be communicated
effectively at all times through the use of symbols, ceremonies, stories, and activities.
Reflecting on my many years as a teacher and observing several principals
management style, I now have a clear understanding of how an ideal principal should
manage a school and its resources to ensure a safe, efficient, and an effective learning
environment that promotes success for teachers and students. According to Matthews and

Crow p 54, when schools are managed efficiently and effectively, an environment of
success will emerge. A well-managed school will have a system in place that will help to
create the conditions for teachers and staff to work effectively together. I as the leader
must make sure my vision and mission are simple and clear for all that are involved in the
running and success of the school. Everyone will appreciate a simple, clear vision when
modeled clearly - the process in which to attain success should be effortless. In addition,
the more efficient a leader is, the more teachers and students will be able to accomplish.
The number-one determinant of schools success is the leader. I have to be
throughout the school. When people are on the school grounds, they have got to see and
feel my leadership in the lobby, to feel me, throughout the halls
- Baruti Kafele
This quote resonates tremendously with my aspiration of becoming a school leader. I
share the same sentiment as Mr. Kafele, principal of Newark Tech High School and
author of the best-selling book Motivating Black Males to Achieve in School and in Life.
He suggested that great leaders must a strong command of what they are doing, and must
always seek ways to inspire and motivate their students and staff. A successful leader
like Mr. Kafele exemplify how a strong leader should effectively communicate the
ground rules for everyone to abide by in order to improve the operations; they'll ensure
that a measure of consistency in approach and action across the school becomes a part of
the daily routine. My aspiration is to develop as a great leader with a strong ability to stay
focus, manage details and able to come up with ideas to improve my school and the
people around me.

Reflecting on experiences and approaches of other principals where the tone and
climate of their building are sheer isolation, negativism, and teacher resistance has
given me an advantage of things to avoid that create such environment. To make sure my
school is up and running in a positive and upbeat manner where all stakeholders feel
comfortable and welcome, it is my duty to develop an atmosphere of caring and trust
amongst all to improve the culture and morale of the building. My first and very
important initiative will be, to develop a supportive attitude towards my staff - which
will create a climate of hospitable working environment; second I will build a sense of
community with respect for every member of the school, and create a solution oriented
no-blame type building to foster a great working and learning environment for everyone
involved.
My plan is to work collaboratively to develop and boost morale on a daily basis
among teachers and administration - having weekly team meetings with teachers to
discuss students' works and data, encourage parents and businesses from the community
to participate in school events, celebrations, and ceremonies. Specifically implementing
extracurricular activities and clubs where students channel their skills and talent outside
of the normal school day curriculum. Celebrating students' achievements by posting the
student of the month picture outside my office or on a marquee, students honor roll list is
well defined and promoted, students art, writings, math problem of the day are all ways
of promoting a culture of students achievements that will be on display for all to see.
I will encourage the community businesses to support these extracurricular
activities to make it meaningful and purposeful for the students. I believe if you keep the
students active theyll have less time to be destructive and thus become more productive.

According to Peter Senge (1990) creating a good relationship between principal

and staff will motivate and improve teacher work settings and in turn improve classroom
instructions. Matthews and Crow p 46 suggested that the purpose of leading a productive
relationship among teachers and administrators is to give teachers a say at the table to
promote a nurturing environment and in return students benefit. As a perspective leader,
I'm willing to incorporate these principles that have been proven to have a great impact
on students and teacher improvements. I will urge my teachers to work with one another creating a leadership team with the administration on a variety of activities that will
develop and align curriculum.
Far too many principals speak of making changes within a building, however, not
many teach their staff how to effectively make the change. Once again observing the
approach of my current principal has taught me what not to be as an administrator.
Too many times ideas have been disseminated to the staff; however, a plan of action was
never materialized. I will encourage my team to continue professional learning (learn
form each other do not try to reinvent the wheels) and emphasize research-based
strategies to improve their teaching approach instilling the idea and having a firm belief
that all students can learn, with appropriate support. We will discuss and initiate different
instructional approaches that will benefit all teacher practice with a core understanding of
the schools' vision.
I have observed and experienced demoralizing principals in the past. Another trait
I plan to consciously be aware of when interacting with my staff. Many great teachers
entered and exit my current school like Grand Central Station. As a veteran teacher, I've
witnessed many great teachers with clear and concise vision and love for their students

came and become so frustrated with the management of the school they decide to move
on. Experiencing this high rate of turnover speaks volume of the type of leadership in
the building. Throughout this course, research, literature, and case studies, I've learned
how to become an effective and productive leader. I'm now conscious of what not to
become. As mentioned before, my vision is to invest in human capital. I strongly believe
that happy teachers, makes for happy students, and happy students present great results.
ISLLC standards 5 cited that a school leader should promote the success of all
students by acting with integrity, fairness, and in an ethical manner and to demonstrate
values, beliefs, and attitudes that inspire other to higher levels of performances. My
current principal does not believe in looping and usually gives teachers different levels
and classes to teach every year. This has created a divide among teachers in the building
certain teachers only teaches higher functioning students, while the rest struggles with
the lower ability and behavioral students, with limited support from the administrative
team. This, I find to be very disrespectful to teachers and make them less effective. It is
impossible to be an effective teacher in a poorly managed school, where principals spend
most of their time inside their offices and do not take the time to understand what it takes
to be successful with children. Research have shown that respecting the opportunities for
teachers to be effective in their teaching and giving them the opportunities to thrive and
flourished has proven to produce better schools and learners.
In order to create a highly successful school environment, I would make every
effort to make sure that all my teachers have the instructional resources i.e. textbooks,
computers, and a good curriculum they need to effectively affect learning. I would also
make sure teachers either loop with their students or stay at the same grade level for a

period of time to ensure mastery of the content and the opportunity to grow in their
desired level. Far too many principals do not respect teachers thus the reason for the
high turnaround in many schools.