School Leader Internship

Developing, Monitoring, and Evaluating Your Leadership Experience

Gary E. Martin, Arnold B. Danzig, Richard A. Flanary, Margaret Terry Orr

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2021
• ISBN:
  9781000413595
• Edition: 5
• Topic: Éducation
• Subtopic: Leadership dans l'éducation

School Leader Internship, 5th Edition, challenges aspiring educational leaders and interns to better assess, prepare, plan, implement, and evaluate their internship experience in preparation for certification, licensure, and advancement into school building-level leadership positions. In this updated edition, the content is organized around the latest National Education Leadership Preparation (NELP) Standards and includes intern activities that develop skills in essential areas including ethics, equity and cultural responsiveness, curriculum development, community of care, support of teachers and staff, school partnerships, and continuous school improvement. This unique book provides step-by-step guidance for interns, their supervisors, and faculty on how to initiate an internship and evaluate interns' work and is a critical resource for leadership preparation programs nationwide and the thousands of school districts that support leadership candidates.

Special Features:

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• The National Education Leadership Preparation (NELP) Standards Assessment provides an understanding of the wide breadth of experience and demonstration of skills necessary for school leaders.

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• Self and Superior Assessment helps students to plan according to individual need, experience, goals, and performance expectations.

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• Internship Plans allow students to assess, analyze, and prepare draft individualized internship plans.

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• Professional Report or Portfolio encourages students to evaluate and reflect on their experiences and plan for the future.

The first step in developing the internship plan is to assess your current strengths and weaknesses (areas for needed growth in knowledge and skill) in regard to expectations from program, state and national standards, and other personal areas for leadership growth and development. This includes becoming fully aware of one's dispositions for leadership. As each intern begins to plan for growth in needed knowledge and skill through the internship experience, it is imperative to consider the goals and needs of the school which you will be serving. Thus, the initial internship plan should include goals and activities for personal leadership development and school improvement. This is the responsibility and opportunity for each intern to add to generic guidelines for an internship experience with the unique needs of the intern and school site(s).

In this stage of plan development, the intern must gather and analyze various personal and school documents. These include the National Educational Leadership Preparation (NELP) Standards self-assessment, dispositions assessment, school improvement and/or strategic plans, and NELP performance assessments. The following sections further explain the needed documentation. The final section provides guidelines for analysis and reporting.

1.1 Pre- and Post-Self-Assessments of the NELP Standards

The standards set by the National Policy Board for Educational Administration (NPBEA) include seven areas (NELP) that aspiring school leaders are expected to master as they begin to lead their schools. Although complete mastery may only come from extended experience in the position, interns are expected to be cognizant of these professional standards and use them as goals for continuous development. Complete the pre-self-assessment in Appendix A.1 and note particular standards in greatest need for focus in the internship plan. Reflections and documentation of progress toward all standards will be required in the final professional report at the end of the internship as well as a post-self-assessment.

1.2 Self and Supervisor Assessment of Dispositions

A critical part of each candidate's fieldwork includes the development of effective dispositions and interpersonal skills. According to Merriam-Webster online dictionary, a disposition is a tendency to think or act in particular way. Leadership experts agree that selected dispositions are critical for effective leadership practice, and that leadership knowledge and skills are insufficient without these (Bryk, Sebring, Allensworth, Luppescu, & Easton, 2010; Louis, Leithwood, Wahlstrom, & Anderson, 2010). Hackett and Hortman (2008) argue that dispositions motivate the application of knowledge and skills. In recent years, a variety of dispositions have been highlighted as critical for effective leadership practice, particularly those related to ethics, caring, social justice, and change-oriented dispositions (Brown, 2006; Gerstl-Pepin, Killeen, & Hasazi, 2006; Theoharis, 2007; Wagner et al., 2006). More recently, there has been attention to emotional intelligence (Goleman, 1998) and the emotional competencies that are positively associated with leadership and organizational outcomes.

Yet, developing dispositions for educational leaders can be challenging (Tishman, Jay, & Perkins, 1993). Several leadership preparation programs have adopted an experiential and reflective learning approach to developing leadership candidates’ dispositions, organized around those most essential to effective leadership practices (Creasap, Peters, & Uline, 2005; McKenzie, Skrla, & Scheurich, 2006; Rucinski & Bauch, 2006). Thus, there appear to be conditions under which leadership dispositions can be developed—when they can be defined and assessed to set learning goals and measure progress and when interns use reflective practices to question existing assumptions and consider and try out alternatives (Creasap, Peters, & Uline, 2005; Osterman & Kottkamp, 2004).

According to Osterman and Kottkamp (2004), reflective practice is an effective means of experiential learning for leadership development. It enables leadership candidates to develop an awareness of their habitual actions and assumptions and consider their effectiveness relative to intentions. Learning through reflective practice is guided by Kolb's four learning stages—having (1) concrete experiences; (2) analyzing and questioning one's assumptions and actions in these experiences; (3) considering alternatives through reconceptualization; and (4) active experimentation with new actions and approaches (Kolb, 1984). This cycle can be formalized in a learning plan to guide candidates’ learning. Drawing from their own experiences and a program's priority dispositions, candidates can analyze and reflect upon their dispositions—both actions and assumptions and consider alternative approaches.

Once identified, candidates can create a disposition-related learning plan on what the learning activities that they might use to try out new actions and assumptions. Specific, focused assignments can enable candidates to develop specific dispositions. Structuring learning experiences as part of the active experimentation phase can promote learning. Brown, for example, found that by participating in assignments requiring the examination of assumptions, values and beliefs, and competing worldviews, leadership candidates can transform their dispositions around social justice and equity (Brown, 2006).

Candidates begin with a self-assessment to select a disposition or interpersonal skill to strengthen or improve. They then discuss their selection with the advisor for feedback and strategy. The candidate and advisor decide on a relevant short-term goal, the evidence of progress toward it, and strategies for skill acquisition and mastery through the internship or other experiences. Finally, the candidate and advisor decide how progress is to be documented and how to use journal reflections to support skill/disposition development over the internship.

For example, using this approach, one intern wanted to improve her ability to speak up and take initiative in small group committee meetings. She measured her frequency as a baseline and set a personal goal to increase the frequency of her initiative taking and contributing to group discussions. She informed her committee colleagues about her goal and solicited their feedback on her progress, as well as logged her own efforts. Over time, she increased the frequency and at the same time became more comfortable with taking initiative and actively contributing to small group meetings.

As a preparatory exercise, we strongly recommend that interns engage in a leadership disposition self-assessment. It is important to know and understand your educational leadership dispositions. Gaining insight into your dispositional strengths and areas for improvement comes from self-assessment and feedback from peers and others. Thus, it is recommended that you complete one copy of the evaluation yourself and then ask your school supervisor to complete the assessment for you as well. Then compare the results of your self-assessment with the assessments made by your school supervisor. You can then use your results to assist in the development of your internship plan. A copy of the assessment is shown in Appendix A.2.

1.3 School Improvement Plans/Goals Assessment

The final assessment report must include current school needs. The intern should summarize and prioritize the major goals and needs for the school. These goals and needs can be gathered from current documents such as:

• School improvement plans and needs assessments
• Strategic plans
• Vision and mission statements
• Recent accreditation reports
• Action plans
• Other evidence of school needs and goals

1.4 NELP Performance Assessments

Demonstrating Experience and Proficiency across Standards

In preparation for the internship, the intern should know how standards-based evidence will be collected, as part of meeting program internship standards (NELP standard 8). This will include a listing of the major areas of significant knowledge and experience, as well as the major areas of limited knowledge and experience. The intern is advised to begin collecting documented evidence supporting strengths and performance that meet each standard. Evidence collected at the present time should be included. This can be done through logs or other internship tracking mechanisms, as well as online information management systems or portfolios.

In addition, a primary means for interns to gain skills and demonstrate competency is by undertaking and completing performance assessment tasks, projects, or other complex assignments that are aligned with standards and expectations for initial school leadership. These can include, but are not necessarily limited to, four primary performance assessment tasks that NELP requires be completed as part of leadership preparation. These four assessment requirements are outlined below as exemplars for internship planning to ensure breadth and depth of experiences and skill development. They can also be used to identify key projects or tasks for interns to undertake and the means of evaluating skill accomplishments.

NELP Performance Assessment Standards and Requirements

NELP requires that leadership candidates demonstrate leadership proficiency through completion of four performance-based assessments. While these may be completed through course-based assignments, they are more likely to be completed as part of the internship, because of the field-based practice opportunities. Interns should be aware of these four performance assessments, program expectations for their completion, reporting and scoring, and their alignment to and support from local school priorities. Throughout Stage 3 are a series of initial, substantive projects or tasks that align with these assessment expectations and can be used to meet the performance assessment requirements, unless other program-specific ones are required.

The four NELP performance assessment requirements and the NELP standards most closely aligned are:

• Assessment 3: Demonstration of candidate's instructional leadership skills, corresponding to NELP standards 1, 4, and 7. This assessment demonstration area encompasses the competencies and skills of leading a school's instructional core in curriculum, instruction, and assessment and the structures and supports for enhanced student learning.
• Assessment 4: Demonstration of candidate's leadership and management skills within a field-based setting, corresponding to NELP standards 1–3 and 6. This assessment demonstration area encompasses all dimensions of school leadership but can be focused primarily on work performed in relation to vision and priority setting, adherence to ethical principles and professional norms, developing an equitable and inclusive culture, and managing resources, systems, policies, and practices in support of effective student learning.
• Assessment 5: Demonstration of candidate's leadership skills in supporting an effective P-12 student learning environment, corresponding to NELP standards 3–4. This performance assessment demonstration corresponds most to the overall aim of the NELP standards, which is to promote the current and future success and well-being of each student and adult. To that end, this assessment demonstration requires interns to show their knowledge and skills in supporting and promoting student learning through an equitable, responsive, and inclusive school culture and effective, coherent system of curriculum, instruction, assessments, and supports. Such demonstration is intended to link the intern's work, such as through a project or task, to how it promotes an effective student learning environment.
• Assessment 6: Demonstration of candidate's leadership skills in the areas of family and community relat...