Political Influence and Governance

Sub-Competencies

  1. Exhibit an understanding of school districts as political systems, including governance models.
  2. Demonstrate an understanding of involving stakeholders in the development of educational policy.
  3. Understand the role and coordination of social agencies and human services to develop productive relationships and engage resources for the school community.
  4. Demonstrate an understanding of processes to align constituencies in support of school and district priorities.

Reflections and Artifacts

Summary: This artifact is the minutes of a school board meeting I attended, during which challenging comments and statements were made in the public comment portion.

Reflection: School leaders are responsible to the public that they serve. Part of that process is being willing to accept open criticism by the public at board meetings. During this meeting, I watched the leaders of my district receive criticism from public comments and learned two important things from the experience. The first is that leaders need to have thick skin and be willing to accept the criticism leveled against them. But the second, and more important, thing I recognized among the concerned community members is that their frustration is rooted in a love for their child, and that is a foundation on which to build. When I am criticized in the future by parents, I must recognize that these points come from a place of love for their child and that we both want to see the best for their child

Summary: This artifact was a presentation created to deliver the progress updates of our mentorship program to the district administration team. Part of this presentation focused on securing additional funding for the mentorship program through professional development efforts and training funds for teachers.

Reflection: School leaders are tasked with organizing data to communicate with a variety of audiences and stakeholders, building a meaningful coalition to allocate funds toward a goal. In this activity, with the rest of the mentorship leadership team, we created our district leadership presentation and agenda. I learned the importance of tailoring presentation materials to the audience. In this case, we presented an overview of the mentorship and peer-coaching program to the district leadership team for approval to continue the direction we are taking for the upcoming school year.

Summary: This artifact was created in my solutions-based leadership course and was a presentation on a solutions-based approach to a systems issue called the Continuum of Growth. Then this continuum was presented as a case study through the lens of the school district i completed my internship in.

Reflection: When school leaders design systems to meet learners' needs, large-scale changes are often required. These changes occur through time and are often guided by an organization's strategic plan. In this presentation, I explore a framework for developing and evaluating a strategic plan for the school district with a focus on stakeholder input. Built into this framework are the necessary steps to ensure that all stakeholder groups are identified and included in the planning process. I have learned how vital it is to include the community in the school process for schools to remain at the heart of their communities.

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