Instructional Leadership Team (ILT)
Rationale
I chose to be a member of the Instructional Leadership Team at my school because I wanted to immerse myself more in the world of curriculum and instruction. The focus of this team for the past three years has served more as a place to plan the calendar for the year, discuss bell schedules and discuss school-wide instructional pedagogy, with more of an emphasis on operational duties.
Action
As the year progressed, the ILT shifted to a much more effective focus and actually re-defined our goal and the purpose of this team. As a team, which consisted of six teachers, the Principal and myself, we decided to take an approach more focused on providing more instructional support to teachers. We discussed and reviewed our current Professional Developments offered to our teachers, and we discussed the various research that supports a more teacher-driven professional development and the need to provide teachers with more time to analyze data and develop lessons. Consequently, our Professional Developments did slowly become more instructional based and less operational. We reviewed our school's budget and provided our teachers more time for Professional Development throughout the year and also slightly increased the time we provided to our teachers to work together on developing lessons. A survey was also conducted of our teachers to gauge their thoughts on how and if they felt supported instructionally and we used those results to also drive our focus and realize that it was necessary to make a shift that was more focused on instruction, student data and lesson planning and development of the teaching craft.
Connection to CPSEL's
As mentioned previously, curriculum and instruction has been an area of growth for me professionally. Because I realized my need to grow in this area, I wanted to immerse myself as much as possible in it, so I chose to become an active member of my school's Instructional Leadership Team. Being a member of this team allowed me to engage myself in pedagogical dialogue with the expert teachers at my school. Additionally, I found myself throughout the year, able to actively participate in these conversations and also bring research articles to support my claims. The following are the CPSEL's covered as an ILT member:
Standards Met:
3.3 Establish school structures and processes that support student learning.
3.4 Utilize effective systems management, organizational development, and problem-solving and decision-making techniques.
5.1 Model personal and professional ethics, integrity, justice, and fairness, and expect the same behaviors from others.
5.5 Demonstrate knowledge of the standards-based curriculum and the ability to integrate and articulate programs throughout the grades.
5.7 Reflect on personal leadership practices and recognize their impact and influence on the performance of others.
6.3 Ensure that the school operates consistently within the parameters of federal, state, and local laws, u[
