Kimberly B. Lis, M.Ed. University of St. Thomas Administrative Internship II Dr. Virginia Leiker

TExES Examination for Principal Certificate Domain I: School Community Leadership (competencies ) Domain II: Instructional Leadership (competencies ) Domain III: Administrative Leadership (competencies )

Competency 001: The principal knows how to shape campus culture by facilitating the development, articulation, implementation, and stewardship of a vision of learning that is shared and supported by the school community. Throughout my internship, I was involved in several projects that helped me to achieve the skills necessary to become an administrator. All three of my projects corresponded with Competency 001, and the first project was to help mentor new and current teachers throughout the year and help provide them assistance regarding student performance, discipline, curriculum, etc. In addition, I created and facilitated training sessions for new teacher cohort meetings that helped develop the skills and performance of new teachers. Lastly, I helped evaluate teacher performance, including gathering documentation to support the effectiveness of their teaching, conduct teacher conferences, and, if needed, present low performing teacher documentation to legal advisors.

Competency 002: The principal knows how to communicate and collaborate with all members of the school community, respond to diverse interests and needs, and mobilize resources to promote student success. As a member of our Shared Decision-Making Committee (SDMC), I have been able to work with faculty and staff, as well as business and community members to enhance our school for the students. I have been a member of our SDMC for three years and have enjoyed being able to directly impact the decisions that influence the school, such as budgetary concerns, the school mission and goals, teacher performance, school remodeling, etc. Through my involvement, I have been able to see firsthand how the school goals are directly centered on student performance and achievement in education.

Competency 003: The principal knows how to act with integrity, fairness, and in an ethical and legal manner. During one of my projects as an intern, I was able to evaluate teacher performance, including gathering documentation to support the effectiveness of their teaching, conduct teacher conferences, and, if needed, present low performing teacher documentation to legal advisors. This was a great learning opportunity that enabled me to provide the necessary support and feedback that ultimately lead to stronger teaching practices in the classroom.

Competency 004: The principal knows how to facilitate the design and implementation of curricula and strategic plans that enhance teaching and learning; ensure alignment of curriculum, instruction, resources, and assessment; and promote the use of varied assessments to measure student performance. Over the past two years, I have served as a contributing member to our school’s district collaborative. The collaborative involves members of ten different high schools, which combine efforts to create effective strategies for teaching within the classroom. In addition, the collaborative utilizes student data to help guide instructional practices that will ultimately lead to student success.

Competency 005: The principal knows how to advocate, nurture, and sustain an instructional program and a campus culture that are conducive to student learning and staff professional growth. During the course of the year, I helped create and facilitate training sessions for new teacher cohort meetings that helped develop the skills and performance of new teachers. Lastly, I helped evaluate teacher performance, including gathering documentation to support the effectiveness of their teaching, conduct teacher conferences, and, if needed, present low performing teacher documentation to legal advisors.

Competency 006: The principal knows how to implement a staff evaluation and development system to improve the performance of all staff members, select and implement appropriate models for supervision and staff development, and apply the legal requirements for personnel management. Competency 003 aligns with Competency 006 of the Texas Principal Competencies. During my internship, I had to show integrity and fairness while implementing staff evaluations. During this time, I was able to evaluate teacher performance, including gathering documentation to support the effectiveness of their teaching, conduct teacher conferences, and, if needed, present low performing teacher documentation to legal advisors.

Competency 007 : The principal knows how to apply organizational, decision-making, and problem-solving skills to ensure an effective learning environment. Over the past two years, I have served as the leader for the Biology Subject Area Team (SAT). Our department meets weekly to review student data and to reflect on performance. These reflections help guide our team in curriculum planning to ensure high levels of student achievement throughout the entire school year.

Competency 008: The principal knows how to apply principles of effective leadership and management in relation to campus budgeting, personnel, resource utilization, financial management, and technology use. During the course of the year, I was able to attend campus meetings regarding budgetary decisions. During the meeting, I was able to learn the decision-making process behind school expenditures, as well as how budgetary issues are prioritized.

Competency 009: The principal knows how to apply principles of leadership and management to the campus physical plant and support systems to ensure a safe and effective learning environment. As a current member of our school’s SDMC, I was able to be involved in the practice of our schools crisis program. In addition, the school actually practiced the crisis program in the event that there was an actual emergency.

Goal Statement: Competencies 008 and 009 are two extremely important areas where I would like to gain more experience. Both competencies are difficult to obtain experience in, especially working in such a large high school where one or two people maintain these duties and not the principal himself. My goal for Competency 008 is to interview the Manager of our Business Office. In addition, for Competency 009, I plan to learn more about our other plans for safe school practices via the principal himself.