Action Leadership Project
RATIONALE—
In a year of restructuring with a new principal with teachers new to the campus, all of who have taught no more than six years, there were many challenges we, as a school staff tried to proactively address. Students and families had extreme reservations about the changes as they were now on their third principal in three years and all had fallen short of effective and transformative. As a teacher and leader, I worked closely with my fellow 8th grade team of teachers and quickly became familiar with the school culture, as it had been established prior to my employment at this site. My principal, whom I have worked with for three years, adopted this campus with the expectation that it would be turned around and the chaos and low achievement would finally cease. With this expectation, the teaching staff began the year anticipating challenges, but optimistically approaching the first days of the school year. As a staff, we constantly spoke about the concerning behavior, disrespect, and violence elicited from students. Understanding our students were not provided structure and consistency for the last two years, we regularly strategized the best ways to support positive behavior and discipline poor behavior. Our administrator provided numerous incentives for students, yet the academic performance and behavior of our students appeared to worsen as October and November approached.
In regularly shadowing and consulting my principal we both observed that one of the main results or reactions to inappropriate student behavior resulted in students being sent out of class to the office. 
There were many students wandering the campus as the dean is only stationed in one area. When students were referred, she would have them sit on a bench across from her station; however if too many students are sent, it was difficult for her to watch all of them at the same time. For the students, this was taking away from key instructional time and many of them were sent without work to complete. There was tension building in the office and with the dean as they felt some students did not behave in ways that should result in removal, however they are unable to talk to the teacher about it until he next instructional break. Tension was also building among teachers, as students they would send out for misbehavior would be sent back to class, causing an additional disruption. I chose to recreate the student referral protocol and process with the teachers, dean, and administrator as this issue was causing the entire structure of discipline to fall. After collecting survey data from teachers, which asked about their feelings about student achievement and behavior as well as school supports, I collected informal interview data of the same nature from the dean, office staff, and principal.
In analyzing this data, I based my short term, mid-term, and long-term goals on the changes in student academic and behavioral improvement and teacher morale.
- Short –Term Goals: 75% reduction in students out of class without a pass, 75% reduction in the number of students sent back to class following a referral, a 50% decrease in reported stress or unhappiness from teachers & administration, a 25% decrease in the number of daily referrals, the complete disappearance of students referred with no documentation.
- Mid-Range Goals: A 25% increase in the school’s proficient & advanced students on the CST exam, a 100% 8th grade graduation rate, a 50% decrease in the number of daily referrals, the complete disappearance of students referred with no documentation
- Long-Term Goals: Removal from Program Improvement, 0% of students referred to another teacher’s class, a 50% decrease in repeat (same student) referrals.
IMPLEMENTATION—
STRUCTURE—
The first part of this project began with the creation of a new student referral form as the first was not created by teachers and consequently, was not utilized. The first workshop opened with a brief PowerPoint of referral data and its effects on students. This was designed to provide space for 
teachers to share their opinions on what we experience and provide solid backing for these opinions. To engage teachers around inciting incidents in which they would personally send students out of class, we divided into groups to role-play as students, displaying common inappropriate behaviors. I then presented the survey data taken one month prior displaying teacher opinions and feelings on student achievement, the culture of respect, and behavioral expectations; 9 out of 10 teachers indicated extremely high dissatisfaction with student behavior and 10 out of 10 teachers indicated trying a high number of strategies to correct student behavior. To show the effect of this data, I also presented teachers with data from surveys taken with the principal, dean, and office staff. This allowed teachers to see the school wide data on student removals. On average twenty students per day were sent to the office for incidents from not having supplies to hitting another student. To address teacher feelings and concern, we had an open 5-minute discussion on the number of students who return to the classroom. This served as the catalyst for the creation of a new student referral protocol based on teacher and staff concerns. The first step, to ensure the concerns of the administrator and dean were met along with the teachers, was to categorize the referral locations; to the office or to another teachers class. During this part of the meeting, teachers worked in small groups, which followed by a facilitated conversation discussing which student actions should result in removal from class. In the conversation led to the consensus that all staff, including the administrator and dean should be present as they would be key parts to the effectiveness of this new referral process. After much discussion and examples, teachers agreed on which actions justifiably should result in referral to the office or to another class.
Immediately following this first workshop, I meet with the principal to review the new protocol form and set a date for the next workshop, which would include the entire staff. I also created a referral matrix based on teacher prep periods and grade level, which served as a reference sheet for teachers to know which class to send their student. During the second workshop with an office staff member briefly present and the dean present, I facilitated the introduction of the meeting much differently than the first as to ensure our final agreement on the referral process kept student success as the focus and the workshop remained democratic. Due to the possible tension between teachers and the dean, I began with discussion norms as to prevent one voice from taking over conversation and to ensure that all present felt able to contribute. To center teacher focus, I began with a brief overview of the last meeting and a small group reflection on why we entered education. The goals of this project ultimately lead to an increase in student performance; however this can only occur if teachers truly see themselves as agents of change within
such a marginalized community. Following this exercise, I shared community data displaying poverty & graduation rates of African Americans, as that is the demographic we serve. I then facilitated a brief discussion of the effects of poverty and the previous state of the school on our students’ actions and academic performance. Using this as the framework for finalizing the referral process, what originally was labeled the new student referral protocol was now considered the Minimal Referral System, as the goal was to keep our students in our classes for their own academic benefit. In facilitating this discussion and finalization of the referral process, the dean of discipline shared her concerns, and although apprehensive to add an end of the day follow-up to the original plan, teachers agreed.
PROCESS—
The second part of the project was the implementation of new student referral protocol system. The new process of referral is based on the following steps for each referable infraction:
- Teacher fills out referral form
- Student and referral escort leave the room. Student brings work with them if the lesson allows.
- Student and referral escort check in with the dean and sign-in on her referral sign-in sheet
- If referral form indicates student is to go to another class, the referred student and escort go to teacher’s class. If referral form indicates the student is the stay with the dean, the student stays and completes their work or writes a reflection.
- When student arrives in the proper class, they sign in on that teacher’s referral sign-in sheet and have a seat in the spot designated for referred students. They complete their work or write the reflections until the period is over.
- When class period ends, student takes reflection back to the referring teacher.
- At the end of the day, teachers follow up with the parent either by phone or email and submit writtenreport to the dean. These written reports are logged on the student’s PowerSchool for reference.
To ensure the fidelity of implementation, a series of surveys and regular feedback from teachers was used to gauge any need for adjustments or changes.
DATA & ANALYSIS—
Throughout this process I collected formal data in the form of survey’s and monitoring referral counts and informal data in the form of conversations with teachers and administration. The following information is a compilation of the most significant observations within the data collected:
- 80% of teachers indicated a decrease in the number of students they saw outside of class during class hours
- 73.5% of teachers indicated the new form has decreased the amount of class time spent on referring students
- 97% of teachers receive referred students with forms at least 90% of the time
- The dean indicated a “slim” decrease in the number of students referred daily with at least 90% of students having a referral form
- The dean indicated a high number of teachers using forms, but lacking in written or verbal follow up with parents
- Teachers noticed resistance of students who were referred without work to complete reflections if they had previously written them
- Teachers saw students correcting behavior if an orange referral form was pulled out
My main concern throughout this process was ensuring teacher follow up with the written or verbal reports 
to parents and to the dean. The dean is a central force in the structure and consistency of the referral process, therefore if she thinks teachers are not completely invested in that portion she may be more likely to send a referred student back to class. In analyzing the sign in sheets that showed which students were referred and during which class, I noticed many students being referred from 7th and 8th grade classes. Of the 7th grade names, I concluded that two teachers referred much heavier than the other two, and of the 8th grade names, I saw four names consistently referred to either the office or to another teacher. Upon looking up these 4 students grades, the data inferred that these students are struggling in each of their classes, which results in poor behavior. In seeing this I began to be very concerned with how we as an 8th grade staff were responding to these students academically as it could directly affect their behavior in our classes. In sharing this data, there was a necessary yet unplanned step of adding support in the form of aids to 7th grade classrooms which teachers indicated as most challenging.
CHALLENGES AND CHANGES—
I encountered a number of anticipated and unanticipated challenges throughout this project. The anticipated challenges include collecting feedback and attendance at future meetings as it can be difficult to get staff members to meet on a regular basis after school as each teacher is in a graduate program. An unanticipated challenge can in the form of student response to the reflections completed upon their referral. Teachers received a few sarcastic and even one demeaning reflection where students took their anger out on a teacher in their writing. The written reflections were not a part of the original plan, however I added them in based on a teacher’s suggestion when the question, “What will they do if they’re referred with no work?” was asked. Instead of taking the first suggestion that sounds beneficial, next time I will weigh options and seek additional teacher input to ensure that this type of new behavior problem is not created. One of the main unanticipated challenges were suggestions that countered the initial agreement
amongst the entire staff. These suggestions would come in the form of complaints, which I would address immediately, and remind the staff member why that part of the form or process was put in place. One of the main adjustments I would make to this project is the addition of a positive behavior support plan. I believe this new protocol, based on the data, has reduced the number of referred students overall; however the first step in truly reducing disrespectful behavior is to develop and maintain quality relationships within the classroom between teachers and students and student to student. I believe a minimal referral program must be coupled with strategies to support students in a constructive, rather than punitive way, which will result in referrals. If this was a focus, I believe the aforementioned issue of students writing rude and sarcastic reflections would rarely occur, if at all.
REFLECTION—
In taking on the role of school leader for the new, Minimal Referral Protocol, I began to see myself with greater responsibilities surrounding student achievement, teacher morale, school culture, and individualized supports for students. In creating and leading workshops, I saw conflict management as a first step to facilitation. A school leader must anticipate all challenges, especially conflicts when a consensus decision is required. I also learned that establishing genuine relationships with teachers through conversation is key to earning buy-in and support which is vital to the success of any class based program or protocol. I naturally feel a great sense of responsibility to my students as a teacher. In conducting this project, I felt an even greater urge to ensure that students outside of my class, across grade levels were experiencing this new system in the same manner. I see school leadership as an ever evolving, consistently challenging role as each day can bring a new challenge which may be completely outside of my range of control. However, if I am proactive, have great relationships with teachers, and consistent in my approach, the same will occur in classrooms, which will lead to a healthy school culture.
CONNECTION TO CPSELS
CPSEL 1
Facilitating the development, articulation, implementation, and stewardship of a vision of learning that is shared and supported by the school community.
- 1.1 Develop a shared vision
- 1.2 Plan and implement activities around the vision
- 1.3 Allocate resources to support the vision
CPSEL 2
Advocating, nurturing, and sustaining a school culture and instructional program conducive to student learning and staff professional growth.
- 2.1 Develop school culture and ensure equity
- 2.2 Guide the instructional program
- 2.3 Guide professional growth of staff
- 2.4 Create and utilize accountability systems
CPSEL 3
Ensuring management of the organization, operations, and resources for a safe, efficient, and effective learning environment.
- 3.2 Create an infrastructure to support an effective learning environment
- 3.3 Manage the school learning-support system
CPSEL 5
Modeling a personal code of ethics and developing professional leadership capacity.
- 5.2 Guide sound courses of action using pertinent, state-of-the-art methods
- 5.3 Sustain professional commitment and effort
