EDUC 742
EDUC 742
Reading Summary and Reflective Comments Template
STUDENT NAME:
Rhamarcus Lee
Reading
Assignment
Reading Summary (Main Principles)
Reflective Comments
Reading Summary and Reflective Comments: Educational Leadership and Public Relations
Moore
According to Moore, Public Relations activities aim at improving the awareness and collaboration between the greater community and the school system within that community. Moore provides guidance to leaders on the way of creating relationships and building alliances that result in the improvement of learning for students while enhancing the teaching volume for teachers. Moore indicates that the Public Relations Society of America states, “Public relations help our complex, pluralistic society to reach decisions and functions more effectively by contributing to mutual understanding among groups and institutions.” Moore explains that three needs are crucial during public relations building programs. These are reaching large audiences, reaching particular constituencies, and connecting parents with teachers.
Collaboration between the greater community and school systems helps increase the school’s capabilities since it is also a force multiplier. It also creates natural durability within the school system. By connecting the school with its community associates, teachers can effectively solve issues presenting themselves in classrooms and create new opportunities that enhance students’ motivation and learning. Furthermore, by forming new alliances, the schools can increase the resources it has at its disposal. This is particularly useful at times when their school budgets are restricted. Building effective public relations also requires good communication skills. It would help if you convinced the community to buy into your project and invest in it. From a biblical standpoint, leaders can build relationships pretty much the same way Jesus built his relationships, that is, progressively. First, he built his relationships with his family, built one with his disciples, and finally, to the rest of the people in the community during his travels. Furthermore, Jesus was also a good communicator. He knew his audience very well and catered for their needs. By growing every layer of relationship, he grew his ministry rapidly, genuinely, and successfully.
Razik and Swanson
The authors discuss about the global political, economic, and social factors that impact our educational system. According to Razik and Swanson, our educational system has had its achievements and disappointments, affecting the greater economic system. The authors explain that there have been some federal level and state level educational reforms that have been instituted, with a degree of success to some extent. However, there has not been a comprehensive fix for our failing educational system. Our educational system churns out graduates who are less proficient in academic prowess compared to numerous other countries. As such, the United States’ economy has taken a hit since major corporations in the fields of technology and science are outsourcing to countries with more educated graduates.
With such minimal accomplishments and severe failures, it is clear that political involvement will not be the salvation for our flailing educational system. Politicians have had their chance at initiating reforms, but they have failed. They have had achievements alright, but they have been minimal compared to the efforts put in place to make those develop those reforms. Nonetheless, it can be said that the previous administration has done a lot in advancing education in the United States by encouraging corporations involved in science and technology to move back into the country. With those corporations setting up shop in the country, there will be an increase in the demand for highly skilled jobs. Thus, people would be incentivized to further their education so that they can meet the rising demand.
Several of these leadership approaches mirror biblical messages within the Bible. Most biblical leaders utilized the legislative process within the governments to achieve their goals or objectives. For instance, Esther, when faced with a predicament, used her relationship with king Xerxes as a governmental platform to save her people from the evil intentions of Haman.
Youssef
Youssef uses a model of Christ to describe leadership. According to him, several sources confirmed that Jesus was “called” to ministry. He then developed himself into the position of a great leader. Throughout his ministry, Jesus always conducted himself with humility. Youssef provides a warning to leaders against the effects of pride. Pride comes before a fall is the old saying, and he encourages leaders to follow in the footsteps of Jesus. Youssef further implores leaders to respect those who paved the way for them. He states that “leadership ability is God’s gift” to us and that it is not something that we can learn. He describes leadership development as a process that includes mentoring, forerunners, and shepherds.
Youssef paints an incredible picture of the development of a leader. I believe that in further readings, he will go into detail about the characteristics of great leaders. However, I do not share in his sentiments that leaders are “called” or that leadership capabilities are “a gift from God.” I believe that God can put us into a unique position and provide us with exceptional qualities and abilities suitable for certain roles in our lives. However, from my experience in several different settings, I have encountered many leaders who do not believe in God. Being non-believers, they surely cannot have received a divine calling to become leaders unless they received salvation, which is unlikely. I believe that great leaders develop with time through experience and education. Of course, there are those leaders who are born with innate abilities and qualities ingrained within them. This makes them great leaders and distinguishes them from the group of average leaders.
Reading Summary and Reflective Comments: Values and Qualities of Leadership
Moore
According to Moore, the most important values and qualities of a good leader are positivity, influence, vision, resilience, humility, understanding, liability, and honesty. Management involves people being persuaded to perform duties they don’t like; however, good leadership is where individuals are being inspired to perform activities they could not do. Moore elaborates on leadership by referring to the biblical model on how good leadership was provided by God. Jesus was a symbol of true leadership and that made him to act as a role model for many leaders. He had all the insight, wisdom, and powers more than any leader could think of, and therefore his ministry was all about encouragement and service to the people.
Having more attention to common goals will lead to leadership. Leaders will direct more energy towards people who are trying to achieve something as a union. There is always a mutual purpose between the leaders and followers. Paying more attention to common goals will give the leadership an ethical implication since it will stress the desire for the leaders to work together with followers to achieve the selected goals. Moore believed that a good leader will always engage their followers to achieve a common goal; therefore, working together between leaders and their followers is critical in creating leadership. From the biblical point of view, Jesus’ leadership was acting as guiding principles for his disciples, and it was full of servant hood, love, and compassion. His followers loved him due to the leadership qualities he had, all his disciples followed his character traits of leadership to perform their responsibilities. Therefore, leadership values and qualities are critical for any individual who wants to become a leader.
Razik and Swanson
The two authors have emphasized the school organization that requires leadership in terms of process stemming, improvement efforts, change, and reform to fill the gaps in performance and knowledge advancements. Most of the school leadership has been focusing on one individual’s belief, which is a belief of a private leader. This traditional model is now being challenged, and new organizational change is being considered. Therefore, instead of viewing leadership as one individual role, it is now being redefined as a practice which many individuals should share. From the biblical point of view, when Jesus was given leadership responsibility, he appointed his disciples to help him in the leadership role
From Razik and Swanson, it is clear that building leadership capacity should be broad-based, whereby there would be involvement of skillful people in the leadership work. Large numbers of skillful teachers are needed who will become leaders through understanding the school shared vision. The work of the teachers will entail conversations, inquiry, reflection, and focused action leading to professional behaviors that will form an important part of daily activities. A good leader will have skillful characters that will enable the teachers to capture the thoughts of their associates, thus allowing room for negotiation of important changes and solve any form of conflict that may arise within the organization. Building leadership capacity within the school requires experience, constructive knowledge and meaning, and defined beliefs and values. Students will also follow the leadership traits they are seeing from their teachers, and therefore if the leaders are portraying negative leadership values and qualities, their followers will also follow the same character and portray bad leadership in the future.
Youssef
Youssef describes the values and qualities of leadership in a variety of ways; he found forgiveness to be the number one quality of leadership, anger as the leadership temptation, and the places where leaders are coming from as the leadership future. Forgiveness means that an individual is forgiving and also wants God to forgive the individual he has forgiven. A good leader will forgive others for the mistakes they have done so that their relationship can continue. Leaders will often encounter anger, ego, and power during their leadership. Good leaders should not get angry quickly, and a Christian leader will channel their anger towards an issue in a positive way.
Individuals will only become good leaders due to observation and the mentorship they received from the already established leaders. Youssef is suggesting seeking out traits of character that are commendable by the leaders rather than using skills. Good leaders should use such character traits, including faithfulness, moral virtue, work ethic, and integrity. Leaders who are honest and faithful will succeed when they stick to their words, follow through, led by example, and live by their core values. Treat others with empathy and dignity even if you have differences. In the biblical model, Jesus did the same when he decided to call upon the twelve disciples to follow him and help him in his mission. Such disciples did not have leadership traits or education, but they possessed the character traits of Jesus. Youssef concludes by saying that a true leader must seek wisdom and faith in God so as to lead in the right direction by the spirit.
Reading Summary and Reflective Comments: Performance Assessment, ESSA, and Accountability
Moore
The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) is the main law of education for public schools in the United States. The law helps in holding the students accountable for how the students are making achievements. Moore believes that ESSA has helped the education sector because it has given an equal opportunity for even disadvantaged students, such as those getting special education. Quality education is needed for all the kids in public schools, and ESSA ensures that this program is implemented. Moore explains that there are students who have been disadvantaged in history, and those students fall in the key groups of students of color and students in poverty. Therefore, ESSA gives the state a central role in understanding how schools are accounting for students’ achievement.
From Moore’s summary on ESSA, equality has indeed been achieved in most public schools in the United States. Before this act came into place, education was left for able families. Students of color, those receiving special education services, and students in poverty were not allowed to get a better education. ESSA has helped many states develop an education plan whereby a framework is provided on how the programs are implemented. Moreover, the law has allowed the parents and caregivers to weigh on the plans that have been put in place. This ensures that academic standards in schools are achieved, school accountability is looked at, and struggling schools are supported and improved by all the stakeholders. From the biblical point of view, accountability starts with taking responsibility for individual actions and making the right choice, thus making God and others accomplish whatever is right. The schools must account for the funds given by the ESSA for the literacy programs. Through accountability, no child will be left back in education in the public schools since they are given equal opportunity.
Razik and Swanson
According to the two authors, a national movement took place in the 1980s championing accountability in schools. This led many states to start developing and implementing performance assessment programs on a large scale. There has been much confusion concerning educational accountability. The original initiatives by the state in the evaluation of performance in schools were extremely time-consuming, and millions of dollars were spent on such activities. The accountability dilemma has remained unresolved, and it has brought huge problems in bringing the schools accountable in terms of funds given by ESSA to support education programs. Performance assessment can be done through teachers’ evaluation. Evaluation of teachers should be accomplished for many reasons, including performance assessment since they are part of the school program.
It is clear that performance assessment in schools has been challenging, and no clear methods have been brought up to perform the evaluation. Performance assessment will come if the leaders develop some fundamental changes in methods, evaluative and supervisory assumptions. They should actively work to change the belief that teaching which is effective can be measured and quantified; this will enable them to come up with multiple approaches to assess the success of students, teachers, and schools. The leaders should also shift away from supervision to teachers, whereby they should come up with mentoring programs that would help support the professional organization of teachers. Issues such as promotion, tenure, salary, and hiring will also be relinquished through such programs. From the biblical point of view, performance evaluation is received from God. People will be shown where they missed it out and what could have been done better. Therefore people should do their best so that during performance evaluation, they are judged positively.
Youssef
Youssef has described performance assessment and accountability as two things that should go hand in hand. Accountability in school will be achieved if the public and the parents are regularly informed about educating their children. The assessment measures how the students apply their skills knowledge and their capability to identify a problem and solve it. There are key features needed in performance assessment, and the student will be required to produce report to perform the evaluation. Youssef has encouraged the parents to play a key role in performance assessment rather than leaving all the roles to the teachers. A positive influence in the classroom will be created through performance assessment, and teachers will also develop effective instructional procedures that give comprehensive information to the students.
Youssef has pointed out accountability and performance assessment to be the great pillars for the student’s performance. It is necessary for the stakeholders within the school, especially teachers, to be accountable for the performance and achievements of the students. Youssef has not painted out the actual role of the teachers in ensuring that the performance assessment is achieved. He has given the public and the parents a great role in the students’ performance; however, teachers’ role has not been spelled out clearly in his submission. Evaluation will help in setting standards at the academic level by helping teachers to plan and remain effective. By evaluating student learning, teachers will be able to channel instructions directly to the needs of the students. The Bible says that leaders should be held accountable and responsible for the people they lead. Therefore, teachers should be responsible for the achievement of the students since they are the leaders in school.
Reading Summary and Reflective Comments: Decision Making and Allocating Resources
Moore
According to Moore, when president Obama signed the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) in place of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB), he would bring about a system where states had more control over schools thereby bringing about a system that had inconsistent quality and there was too much accountability. This new piece of legislation opens the door to more profit seeking entrepreneurial organizations to enter the educational sector. This will be through federal funding through different programs such as the “Pay for Success” and through the expansion of charter schools. These programs are however still under heavy criticism by organizational experts.
From Moore’s perspective, the inconsistency experienced in public schooling leaves room for profit seekers to benefit from the system with little or no regard for student outcomes. This not only compromises the quality of education in the country but it also yields a generation that is inadequately prepared for the challenges of the country. The public school system would have significantly benefited from the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act as it would ensure that education is standardized across the country. Furthermore, as Moore states, profit making companies would not be able to take advantage of the system thereby rendering more funds available for the public school system. Teacher education programs on the other hand stand to gain from the passing of the ESSA. This is due to the fact that the law encouraged the undoing of high states testing as well as the test preparation mindset.
Razik and Swanson
The evaluation of teachers needs to be designed such that it ensures that the curriculum is appropriately delivered. This will work to promote the achievement of students. According to Razik and Swanson, apart from administrators evaluating teachers, students also need to be allowed to provide feedback that is a direct result of their experiences with their various instructors. This is because while an instructor may not be present throughout the sessions, students are able to provide valuable criticism to their teachers and how they deliver their lessons. An administrator can use information from students as talking points during instructor evaluations. Furthermore, the authors advise teachers to spend time on self-refection as well as self-evaluation of their performance so as to promote growth in their field. Administrators are also recommended to do the same. This is because they too are vulnerable to the complacency that comes with their line of work.
The recommendation by Razik and Swanson is sound in that it allows teacher evaluation to be approached from a more wholesome perspective. By allowing children to give feedback, teachers will be better positioned to understand what aspects of their curriculum and teaching methods are lacking and they can therefore plan accordingly on how to improve. The role of self-reflection is relatively the same. This, combined with evaluations by administrators and feedback from students will benefit the overall education system by ensuring accountability to student outcomes rather than focusing on student evaluation. Thea above approach will ensure that all stakeholders in the educational system not only give their best but that they are accountable to all other parties as well. In such a system it will not matter whether the schools are under the control of the federal or the state government as most accountability will be focused within an institution.
Youssef
Youssef talks about a philosophy of Total quality management (TQM) and the fact that it aims at not only meeting but exceeding the needs of both external and internal customers. The principle in question stated that organizational awareness is limited to only one for the multiple facets of total quality management. This principle becomes increasingly valuable as in the current era; quality does not vary thereby making time a more important metric in the assessment of performance and carrying out evaluations. The author argues that Total Quality Management affects both the quality of service offered and the ability for one to become a more time-based provider. Furthermore, TQM will also impact organizational readiness and responsiveness.
The concept or principle of Total Quality Management can apply to different industries including education. This is because as education becomes more paramount in competition and as more people seek high quality education, time becomes the main determinant of outcomes. If the system is able to implement Total Quality Management regardless of who controls the schools, students will likely experience better outcomes from a young age. Education will not only be faster but also cheaper. With TQM in place, teacher accountability will be to the extent to which their students are able to retain information. This will limit the need for continue assessment of students because the success rate of teachers will be visible from the start. School management is therefore left with the responsibility of deploying TQM and ensuring that teachers adhere to the standards of instruction that are provided by the federal government. In such a situation, uniformity across the country will be achieved.
Reading Summary and Reflective Comments: Change and the Future of Our Schools
Moore
Razik and Swanson
Youssef
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