Anne's Administration Portfolio

1. Click on the hand prints throughout the portfolio to view the artefact or reflection Table of Contents Anne Beveridge~ Leadership Portfolio~Improving Student Learning in a Culture of Care 1) Philosophy of Education 2) Curriculum Vitae 3) The Principal as Curriculum Leader 4) The Principal as Instructional Leader 5) Assessment for, as, and of Learning 6) The Principal’s Role in the Student Support Model 7) The Principal’s Role in Teacher Evaluation 8) Facilitating Collaborative Practice 9) Communication Practices 10)Policy Development 11) Nurturing Positive School Culture References I believe that as educators, our mission is to improve student learning. This belief supports the development of a shared understanding of what we want our students to learn, when they need to learn it, and perhaps most importantly, why and how they learn. Our instructional practices, how we organize ourselves, and how we interact with each other all set the stage for student learning. I hope that this portfolio offers a glimpse of my beliefs about education put into practice. I believe in life-long learning – this record is a first step towards marking my journey and foray into administration. Click on the house icon to return to the home page Click on the arrow to advance to the next slide

2. As educators, I believe we should endeavour to prepare students for active participation in a global society; equipped with the skills to pursue their aspirations. Such preparation must be inclusive and target the whole child to address his or her intellectual, emotional, physical, and moral development in ways that help each student achieve his or her potential. The ability to apply multidisciplinary solutions to complex issues requires intellectual development, the ability to adopt a transdisciplinary perspective, and higher level thinking skills. I believe this necessitates collaboration among teachers, authentic inquiry-based, multicultural lessons, and adherence to high standards for all. The ability to maintain equilibrium, positive self-esteem, and confidence requires emotional development. I believe this is best fostered in a nurturing atmosphere that promotes risk-taking, cooperation, and responsibility. I also believe that physical development must be attended to within an educational setting. Maintaining good health better enables the pursuit of one’s goals and denotes a respect for the self. Finally, moral development must be developed to help create a more just, secure, and free society. This is best taught through the actions of adult role models, and a campaign to increase awareness of the value of a moral code to each individual, and for society. It is my hope the lessons learned in school provide the foundation for a lifetime of learning and positive contribution to the fabric of our society. Philosophy of Education

3. Curriculum Vitae This document briefly outlines my current administrative responsibilities, and highlights my teaching experience and educational background.

4. I believe that our primary goal as educators is to improve student learning; we must foster critical thinking skills and in partnership with parents, prepare students to become caring and participating members of society. Improved student learning is dependent upon a number of key elements, one of which is the curriculum. In my present role as the Primary Years Program (PYP) Coordinator, I am a member of our school-wide curriculum team which ensures consistency and coherency of program and practice from Kindergarten through to Grade 12. I meet regularly with grade-level teams and specialists to ensure our curriculum meets the program specifications of the PYP, which mandates a transdisciplinary and collaborative approach to planning, instruction, and reflection. The artefacts below offer a glimpse of some aspects of our curriculum in the Junior School. The Principal as Curriculum Leader Each Fall, the Junior School hosts a “Curriculum Night” presentation for parents. This is a copy of the PowerPoint Presentation I made at our last Curriculum Night in September of 2008. We made a number of changes in the Junior School that were implemented in 2008-2009 including Full-Day Kindergarten, increased PE, daily French, Specialist Art in Grades 1 – 3, and an 8-day rotation schedule. Sample of Specialist Planner (used by PE, Music, Art, Design and Technology, French). This planner was designed for an online curriculum mapping program called Rubicon Atlas. This on-line mapping system allows all teachers access to our PYP planners, and facilitates planning, reflection, and collaboration between grade level teachers, specialist teachers and administrators. Sample of Primary Years Program Planner – Grade 1 -All planners can now be accessed through Rubicon Atlas, an online curriculum mapping program.

5. Perhaps the most effective way to improve student learning is through instructional practice. What goes on in the classroom is crucial to the development of critical thinking skills and reflects what we value as individuals and as educators. I try to model a constructivist approach to classroom instruction where students and in partnership with parents, prepare students to become caring and participating members of society. Improved student learning is dependent upon a number of key elements, one of which is the curriculum. In my present role as the Primary Years Program (PYP) Coordinator, I am a member of our school-wide curriculum team which ensures consistency and coherency of program and practice from Kindergarten through to Grade 12. The links below show some of the Professional Development initiatives I have either spear-headed or helped plan. There is also a link to a synthesis of some articles on approaches to language and literacy, which helps frame my own social constructivist approach – indeed, this approach provides the framework for the PYP program. The Principal as Instructional Leader This is a synthesis of three models of language learning – the final of which I try to model as an instructional leader. I used elements of this synthesis for a parent information session on our approach to balanced literacy instruction. As part of our Language Review in 2007, and in preparation for a change in our Language and Literacy instruction and assessment practice, I worked with another teacher to bring in Lorraine Prokopchuk, a presenter for the 2008 “Reading for the Love of It” conference in Toronto. This artefact provides an overview of what we covered during this in-school professional development and the schedule for the day. With the assistance of our Primary and Junior Division Heads, I developed a schedule for our June 2009 Junior School Professional Development, which revolved primarily around working with Rubicon Atlas, our new online curriculum mapping program, and working with Garfield Gini- Newman, a leader in critical thinking at OISE. The critical thinking presentation and “shoulder-to-shoulder” work with Garfield Gini-Newman complemented our work with Rubicon – we had a great deal of positive feedback from teachers.

6. As an instructional and curricular leader, a principal should ensure that stakeholders – teachers, students, and parents – have common understanding of assessment practices. It is helpful to have an assessment policy to help guide teachers towards assessment for, as, and of learning. According to the Principal and Vice Principal Leadership framework that we discussed during the PQPII, the principal leads the instructional program which includes evaluating the effectiveness of instruction through a focus on student achievement using data to monitor student progress. 􀁹 􀁹 Assessment for, asand of Learning Link to Principal and Vice Principal Leadership Framework Draft of Literacy Assessment Protocol by Grade – This was implemented in September 2008, and is now undergoing revision. We have also developed a database of student achievement that will be carried over every year. In this way, we can analyze student data with an eye to looking for patterns that will help us better understand the needs of our students. A reflection on assessment practices at Branksome Hall from the PQPII online component.

7. I believe that a principal must have a strongly developed understanding of how to accommodate learners with diverse educational needs within the school community. Indeed, this is essential in helping teachers work with and understand how to accommodate and develop strategies to work with students within the regular classroom context. Working with special education policy and practice constitutes a large component of the principalship. I believe in an inclusive model of education that acknowledges what children can do, and scaffolds and supports them with the challenges of improving their learning. This is an area of education close to my heart - I explored the beliefs and practices of teachers who successfully included children with learning disabilities into their regular education programs for my Master’s thesis. Part of my role now is to work with teachers and students who require additional support. I try to use a “push-in” inclusive model of support wherever possible, but at times use direct instruction with individuals or “pull-out” with small groups. I also coordinate the paraprofessionals who come and work with students on-site – a speech/language pathologist and occupational therapist. The Principal’s Role in Student Support Models I began school-wide Case Conferences upon my arrival at Branksome Hall and developed a schedule to meet with teachers three times every year to formally discuss and document the progress of students identified with learning challenges.This link shows a schedule of teacher meetings from May 2009 – student names and last names are removed.. Our Learning Strategies Coordinator started a system to track our students using the shared drive. This link shows a record of contact – child is CM. This link shows a copy of a “Summer Letter” that is sent home to students we feel require extra help or skills maintenance over the summer. This is a program I put in place in 2008. This year, I sent home over 20 letters to parents along with resources and materials designed to support skills or preview texts and math concepts over the summer months.

8. The Principal’s RoleinTeacher Evaluation I find this aspect of my role slightly problematic as I am also the Primary Years Program Coordinator (Curriculum Coordinator) and the Learning Strategies Teacher and Coordinator at the Junior School. In both of these roles, I want teachers to feel comfortable coming to me to discuss challenges openly. I worry that some teachers may feel hesitant in doing so as I also work in an evaluative role. This part of my role was not communicated to me until close to the end of this school year, making it very difficult to complete all of my observations and evaluations. I felt I did teachers a disservice by not working through our evaluation process in enough time to give honest feedback that could help inform their practice. Next year, I will schedule in all observations and follow-up meetings for October, February, and March. Link to Teacher Evaluation Rubric Link to Teacher Observation Form Link to Final Report Form

9. At the heart of an ideal learning community is a shared understanding of common goals in a culture of interdependence. One element of an ideal learning community is a collaborative practice where teachers share ideas, support one another, and instruction is transdisciplinary, constructivist, and fosters critical thinking skills. Some systems do need to be put in place to facilitate collaborative practice. The most valuable currency in any school is time – teachers need shared time in order to plan and reflect on instruction and assessment. The links below demonstrate ways in which scheduling can help facilitate collaborative practice. Facilitating Collaborative Practice Master Specialist Schedule – Grade Levels organized by colour. Scheduling quickly became part of my portfolio upon my arrival at Branksome. It turned out to be very helpful that the focus of my practicum in the PQPI was fostering collaborative practice between classroom teachers, ELL teachers, and Special Education teachers by scheduling common planning time. Samples of schedules from 2008-2009 Reflection on Professional Learning Communities from PQPII– article by Kruse, Louis and Bryk (1994)

10. Effective Communication is the cornerstone to effective leadership. Communication needs to be overt, transparent, and readily understood and is incredibly varied – from formal presentations to daily, weekly, or monthly updates; from classroom newsletters to interactions with parents at pick-up; from reporting on student achievement to morning announcements – communication should be clear and easy to understand, should adapt to audience and should respond to and summarize information. The link below takes you to a reflection on Communication from the PQPII. Communication Practices Reflection on Communication Practices from the PQPII

11. In an independent school, there is a great deal of opportunity for involvement in policy writing and development. Below are links to different policies in draft form that I am currently in the process of revising. Policy Development When we first began our Language Review in 2007 (French and English), I initiated a re-write and re-thinking of our Language Policy. Our initial policy had been put in place the year before when we went through a self-study for accreditation as a PYP school. Upon review, we decided to re-work the original document. This is a draft of our Homework Policy which we hope will be ready for inclusion in the 2009-2010 Parent Handbook. I sat on the Integrity Committee this year. This committee work and the subsequent document formed the basis of a colleague’s practicum project for the PQPI.

12. This is an element of my practice that needs more attention. I have tried to nurture positive school culture in small ways, but I do believe that as a faculty, we need to work together to foster an interdependent and mutually supportive framework founded on an ethic of caring. The presentation by the representative from the OCT during our last weekend of the PQPII course underscored to me the importance of developing an ethic of care within an institution and dovetails with the Human Resource Frame outlined by Bolman and Deal. I do believe that one of the most important things a principal can achieve is to build relationships, foster teacher capacity, and develop interdependence within a culture of care, trust, integrity and respect. A culture of care models positive interaction, life-long learning, collaboration and respect within a school community. One of the first steps in helping children develop into caring, ethically-minded participants in a global community is to demonstrate to them every day the behaviours we purport to value. Nurturing Positive School Culture

13. References Leadership Framework: www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/policyfunding/leadership/PVPLeadershipFramework.pdf Minnesota K – 12 Principal Competencies: www.cehd.umn.edu/EDPA/licensure/comp-prin.html Bolman, L., and Deal, T. Reframing Organizations: Artistry, Choice, and Leadership. Jossey-Bass, San Francisco, CA, 2003. Kruse, Louis, & Byrk – Learning Communities (2004) Senge, P. Schools that Learn –A Fifth Discipline Fieldbook for Educators, Parents, and Everyone Who Cares About Education. New York: Doubleday/Currency, 2000.