Standard+2

= Standard Two: Instructional Leadership  = //School executives set high standards for the professional practice of 21st century instruction and assessment that result in a no nonsense accountable environment. The school executive must be knowledgeable of best instructional and school practices and must use this knowledge to cause the creation of collaborative structures within the school for the design of highly engaging schoolwork for students, the on-going peer review of this work, and the sharing of this work throughout the professional community.//

Related Coursework & Trainings

 * [|ASSISTments] training
 * Developmental Projects: Lower Elementary, Upper Elementary, Middle School, and High School
 * Distinguished Leadership in Practice Assignment: "Instructional Leadership"
 * Common Core workshops
 * Conducting formal teacher evaluations using the NC Teacher Evaluation Instrument
 * Crucial Conversations
 * Facilitative Leadership
 * Literacy workshop conducted by NC State literacy professors
 * Mathematics workshop conducted by NC State mathematics professors
 * Role plays of post-observation conversations with teachers
 * Understanding By Design workshop

2A. Focus on Learning and Teaching, Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment
// The school executive leads the discussion about standards for curriculum, instruction and assessment based on research and best practices in order to establish and achieve high expectations for students. //

Selected Experiences & Artifacts
// Staff meetings: // Throughout the year, I have collaborated with our administrative team to design professional development for staff that meets their needs. For instance, on November 28, 2011, I designed and facilitated a staff meeting where teachers identified students who had made significant progress and what strategies they had employed to lead to that progress. They then identified struggling students and trends in what was holding them back, and discussed strategies for moving each group forward. Principal Muriel Summers noted: //"// //Ms. Swanson is always so professional and carefully plans all events involving the entire faculty. This was one of our best faculty meetings of the year."// In addition, I worked with the administrative team and other staff members to organize opportunities for teachers to improve their literacy instruction.

2B. Focus on Instructional Time
// The school executive creates processes and schedules which protect teachers from disruption of instructional or preparation time. //

Selected Experiences & Artifacts
//Intervention Specialist Scheduling//: After the winter break, we hired two new intervention specialists – one to focus on math, and one on reading. I had the opportunity to work with the intervention specialists and our grade-level teams to create schedules for each specialist, and to re-design the schedule for the entire literacy team. In designing these schedules, our priorities were to maximize the specialists’ time with the students who needed it most, while also ensuring they had ample time to plan and collaborate with colleagues. 

// Special Event Schedules: // At A.B. Combs, we have a variety of large-scale special events throughout the year that require adjusting the schedule. I had many opportunities to work with the administrative team to adjust the schedule to ensure students and teachers reaped the benefits of the special events, such as Walk to School Day, while also maintaining and maximizing their instructional time. In addition, in the planning of Camp PACK, I worked hard to design a schedule that would enable students to meet with their mentors for an hour a week without missing more than five to ten minutes of instructional time.