FORM 2: REPORT OF EDAD FIELD-BASED EXPERIENCE

EDAD Fieldwork course # and EDAD 624A Professional Field Studies &
title: Practicum Beginning

EDAD 610(2) Leading School Communities in

EDAD Course # and title for current semester: a Pluralistic Society
Students Name: John Thornton Davis Semester: Fall (1) 2016
Sacramento Diocese North
School Site: Mercy High School District: Valley Cluster
Email
Site Supervisor: Paul Weber contact: pweber@mercy-high.org

Leadership Standard(s) Met:

Program Standard 6-- Visionary Leadership: actionable and sustainable vision of teaching and
learning that is responsive to the changing context of a given school.
Program Standard 9-- Professional Learning and Growth Leadership: model and facilitate PD,
including collaboration.

Integration of new techniques for instruction of ESL and International Exchange students at Mercy
High School

Project expectation: Briefly describe the field experience you had planned
Face to face open round-table forum with new/struggling ESL and International Students and
other current ESL/International students who have shown academic success at the school.
o Share ideas through open dialog.
o Record, assist and attempt to integrate into instruction the ideas and tools/tactics that
successful students have utilized in their education.
o Provide opportunity for struggling ESL/International students to voice comments,
concerns, and questions about their academic and language struggles at the school.
o Address issues of cultural and language transitions by international students including
what can be done by host families to support student(s) academic achievement.
o Utilize information gleaned from forum to pinpoint and address any areas of
improvement needed in overall classroom instruction at the school.
o Create brief report to be shared with faculty, staff, students, and families.
ESL Workshop for Faculty and staff (can occur during meeting) All teachers will receive basic
instruction/review in ESL techniques to utilize in classroom instruction. Teachers will review
information gleaned from student forum.
Put measures into place in classroom instruction and observe student(s) involvement and
progress
Data collection of academic progress of ESL and International students at end of semester
Follow up forum at end of semester to discuss what worked and what did not for both students
and staff.
Project outcome(s): Briefly describe the field experience you had if it differed from what you
planned

Due to unforeseen time restraints and scheduling issues the ESL/international student professional
development workshop for faculty and staff as well as the implementation of procedures was delayed
in occurring until Friday, November 4th 2016. As well, it was found that additional meetings with
international students were required to continue to appropriately provide them information and tools as
well as to ensure that said tools and information was accurately being processed and utilized.

Report of Implementation: Add attachments to verify your experience such as logs, agendas,
documents, etc.
The genesis of this project was in open and informal dialog between teachers on site regarding a
persisting issue of how to better academically support the schools international/ESL student
population. Informal plans were initiated at the time of the projects conception, and formal research
and planning began shortly thereafter. A meeting was conducted with the schools Spanish/ESL
teacher to discuss basic strategies and needs that could be incorporated. A formal plan with supporting
facts was presented at the next staff meeting at the end of September 2016 (Evidence 1: Agenda).
Faculty and staff were encouraged at the end of the meeting to email or otherwise communicate any
ESL or scaffolding strategies they were already utilizing in their classes as well as comments, concerns,
or questions about the project. Additionally, throughout this study research has been made of various
ESL strategies and techniques to be communicated to the faculty and staff during professional
development.
The first informal or round-table meeting of international/ESL students occurred shortly after
the initial staff meeting. As per the plan, this meeting consisted of an informal dialog of all
international/ESL students sharing ideas on academic success in a second language as well as
adjustment to new cultural and language demands that they may be encountering. Four international
students who have been at the school for two or more years and who have demonstrated academic
success and adjustment were selected ahead of time and asked to lead the discussion with suggestions.
The other students present were then given time to express their concerns, ask questions, and offer their
own suggestions for success. The meeting was observed by two faculty members and the information
provided by the four leader students was noted and incorporated into the planned professional
development for faculty. Two of the leaders were asked to submit their ideas via email (Evidence 2:
Email Transcripts). Notes were taken throughout the meeting (Evidence 3: notes) to assist in creating a
report on effective student initiated & constructed strategies to be utilized during the planned faculty
and staff workshop/professional development.
After the first student meeting, it was determined that additional and shorter meetings would be
beneficial for both the students and in moving the project forward. The next meeting was set for the
following week and consisted of a 20-minute introduction to skills gleaned from the previous meeting
as well as research. An agenda (Evidence 4: Student Agenda 1) was created and handed out which had
3 prompts:
1. Did you try any of the strategies from the last meeting?
2. Do you have any more questions?
3. What can teachers do to help you more?
Notes (Evidence 4: Student Agenda 1) were made on responses and dialog from the meeting. In
addition, a group of vocabulary and schema building graphic organizers were provided to the students
that were obtained from various ESL sources and websites (Evidence 5: Graphic Organizers). Students
were asked to utilize one of these by the next schedule meeting (Evidence 6: Student Samples).
A third student meeting was scheduled for the following week. Again, an agenda with notes
and prompts was provided (Evidence 7: Student Agenda 2). This meeting was to address what if any
advice or strategies the students had implemented. Students discussed what they found to be effective
and what was not. Students were asked to continue to utilize some strategies they had learned from
throughout the first quarter of school (8/15/16-10/14/16). The students were also advised to continue
to discuss with faculty and staff any strategies that might work with them. As well, students were
informed that their grades would be monitored and that another meeting would be scheduled in the
middle of second quarter to address progress and any new information.
Throughout this process, the information gleaned from the student meetings was compiled
along with content and resources from additional research from various sources (Evidence 8:
Resources). The bulk of this complied information was utilized to prepare for a professional
development to occur during the next faculty meeting scheduled in mid-October. However, due to
time, personnel, and scheduling constraints, this meeting and the professional development aspect of
the project were moved to Friday, November 4th 2016. The information provided in the professional
development portion of the project was designed to provide all current faculty with insight, tools, and
techniques to implement in their classrooms to better support our international/ESL students.
The professional development portion of the project occurred during the November 4th faculty
meeting. A packet (Evidence B: PD Packet), with an agenda, handouts, and resources was provided to
the staff and the information contained in the packet was displayed with a digital projector accordingly.
The professional development portion of this meeting began with restating the need for better
supporting the ESL and international student population at the school. Next the faculty were provided
with some student based ideas on what the students felt would help them. This was followed by a brief
examination of cultural differences in learning with a focus on Chinese international students who
make up the majority of our international student population. This was done partially in response to a
question presented by a faculty member during the initial faculty meeting where the project was
purposed, and partially upon the recommendation of the International Student Program Director of one
of the Dioceses larger schools who was interviewed during the research process of the project
(Evidence 9: P.G. Interview notes). This was followed by a brief description of tips and techniques to
include in instruction/the classroom, as well as some possible non-classroom oriented tips that may also
help with adjustment into the classroom, school, and culture. After the tips, techniques, and handout
materials were presented, the faculty were asked to choose 2-3 (or more) of the techniques listed in the
Professional Development Packet (Evidence B: PD Packet) as well as 1-2 of the graphic organizers
(also in the packet) to utilize in their courses/classrooms. The faculty was then informed that their
input on said materials would be requested at the next faculty meeting in December. This will be done
in continuation of the central goal of the project. Finally, in the interest of the facultys valuable time,
feedback in the form of questions, comments, or concerns regarding the professional development was
requested by email.
Self-evaluation and reflection: What did you learn about leadership for yourself in the context of
others?

I was frustrated with the progress of the study/project. Some of the plans and expectations of
this study simply did not occur in time due to various time restraints and scheduling issues. While I
believe that this project can and will be successful as I continue to move forward with it, I found that
my original plan was inadequate with regards to the time needed to demonstrate student improvement
as well as in implementing data from the study and other resources into classrooms/instruction. All this
being said, initial verbal reaction from the students in my study, data from grade tracking, and teacher
input is mostly positive.
Despite some small setbacks, the initial goals of this study have been reached, and a decent
amount of data has been compiled directly and indirectly from the students as well as through research.
This data was utilized in a professional development seminar during a faculty meeting to provide the
faculty of the school with some basic insight and ESL techniques and tools to utilize in the classroom.
With the help of administration and with the collaboration of faculty and staff these techniques will
continue to be utilized in classrooms, and be evaluated on their effectiveness. Those techniques that
teachers feel are effective can be incorporated into best practices, and those that are not to be found
effective will be reexamined and if possible/necessary reworked. Going forward, grades will also
continue to be examined with quarter marks being utilized as a standard and classroom assessment
grades being utilized for immediate feedback.
With regards to the Leadership Standards addressed by this study, I feel that Leadership Standard
6 (Visionary Leadership) has been demonstrated as I have designed and begun to implement a
sustainable vision and response to a changing context at my school site. Faculty and staff as well as
administration have all been extremely supportive of the project. I believe that the fact that a need for
change in practices was addressed from within our education team and was then supported by the entire
faculty, staff, and administration team is what will lead to a successful outcome for this project. This
affirms to me that the leadership style that I would prefer (team leading based on mutual respect and
trust) can be effective at the site. Additionally, my coworkers have been very supportive of this
project and have expressed that they appreciate that I took the lead on an issue that many of them were
seeing in their classrooms.
Program Standard 9 (Professional Learning and Growth Leadership: model and facilitate PD,
including collaboration) was also demonstrated in this project. Utilizing the information for the initial
portion of the project, I was able to develop a professional development which will hopefully have a
direct impact on best classroom practices and in addressing the needs of some of our students. This
could not have occurred without the support of the rest of the faculty and administration. I believe
that the professional development itself was well received, and that I utilized many techniques for
effective meetings and presentations. However, I also feel that I must continue to work on confidence,
clarity, and time management during professional development and meetings.
As the focus of this project will be ongoing, I believe that it will afford me many more
opportunities to continue to grow as an education leader. Communication, organization, team leading,
and the willingness to address issues as they are encountered are traits of a leader which I value and
which I will continue to develop especially as I transition into an administration role in the future.
Additionally, I have found that my research abilities and ability to seek out resources and people to
assistance with the project will serve me well going forward.