Case Study #4
ELCC Standard 4:
Candidates who complete the program are educational leaders who have the knowledge and ability to promote the success of all students by collaborating with families and other community members, responding to diverse community interests and needs, managing conflict and mobilizing community resources.
Title: “Increasing Community Involvement in CTAE Programs”
Questions:
1. Did the administrator encourage family and community member involvement in school-
decision-making processes that had a positive effect on students learning?
2. Did the administrator respond to community needs by collecting data from multiple
stakeholders to inform CTAE decision-making?
3. Did the administrator mobilize community resources to solve problems of common concern
to the school and the community?
4. Did the administrator communicate student and school progress to stakeholders through a
variety of media?
Relevant Standards:
(4.1) Collaborate with Families and Other Community Members to increase involvement in school decision-making processes to have a positive effect on student learning.
(4.2) Respond to community interests and needs by collecting and organizing formal and informal information from multiple stakeholders to inform district decision-making.
(4.3) Mobilize community resources to solve problems of common concern to the school and the community.
(4.4) Communicate student and school progress, local policies, Georgia law, and other important information to stakeholders through a variety of media.
Situation:
Mrs. Case was recently promoted from her classroom position as a business education teacher to the position of Career, Technical, and Agricultural Education (CTAE) director for the county school system. As a new educational administrator, she learned quickly that being a CTAE director involved more than simply applying for grants and monitoring the copy machine. As a full-time CTAE director, one important aspect of her job involved building and maintaining relationships with various business leaders and community members. While working on her first local plan to secure CTAE funding from federal and state sources, Mrs. Case learned that the documentation and frequency of her system’s CTAE advisory committee meetings were not in alignment with state-level expectations. Realizing the importance of advisory committees, Mrs. Case immediately began the process of making the CTAE advisory committee an integral part of the education process in her school system.
First, Mrs. Case held a CTAE department meeting with her teachers to discuss the importance of advisory committee meetings. Next, each CTAE program (such as business education, agricultural education, and family and consumer science) was directed to form a program-level advisory committee consisting of at least two parents and three local business owners/community leaders. From each program-level advisory committee, program teachers recruited one parent and one business owner/community leader to represent their programs by serving as members on the overall CTAE advisory committee.
According to local plan guidelines, CTAE advisory committees should meet at least twice per year. To facilitate the first meeting, Mrs. Case planned a joint meeting for both the program-level and the overall CTAE advisory committee at the high school. At the first meeting, a meal was prepared and served by the family and consumer sciences teacher and her students. After eating, the business education teachers and their students gave an overview of their program and their student’s accomplishments to all participants. Next, there was a thirty minute break-out session where advisory committee members met at the program-level with the program teachers to discuss issues relevant to program needs, student needs, employer needs, and program goals. After program-level committee meetings, the appointed CTAE advisory committee met with the CTAE director, school principal, guidance counselors, and program teachers to determine community interests and needs that could be addressed through CTAE programs at the local high school. As a result of the first CTAE advisory committee meeting, business and community leaders, agreed to help CTAE teachers better address the need for work ethics training by providing guest speakers for CTAE classes and conducting mock interviews with CTAE students.
To communicate the efforts of the CTAE advisory committee, the CTAE director paid the local newspaper to run a story on the committee’s actions to improve student work ethics. The newspaper article included the names and pictures of local individuals and business owners who volunteered their time and effort in the service of students. As a result of the newspaper article, the CTAE director received phone calls and emails from other local community members and parents who were interested in donating their time and effort to the cause of helping students. The CTAE director also stated that the newspaper article benefited business owners because it created goodwill in the community towards their business.
Answers to Questions:
1. Did the administrator encourage family and community member involvement in
school-decision-making processes that had a positive effect on students learning?
By leading the CTAE advisory committee process, the CTAE director influenced parents, students,
teachers, business owners, and other community leaders to become involved in the process of
goal setting for CTAE programs. The first CTAE advisory committee meeting identified the goal of
improving work ethics in students. CTAE advisory committee members volunteered to help CTAE
teachers better address this topic with their students. As a result, the CTAE advisory committee
process had a positive effect on student learning.
2. Did the administrator respond to community needs by collecting data from
multiple stakeholders to inform CTAE decision-making?
The CTAE director determined community needs by organizing the CTAE advisory committee
meeting and encouraging teachers, parents, business leaders, and community leaders to work
together towards the common goal of helping students and the community. The dialogue between
these stakeholders determined the need to improve work ethics in the community. This need was
addressed as the CTAE advisory committee created a plan to help students develop positive work
ethics through guest speakers and mock interviews.
3. Did the administrator mobilize community resources to solve problems of common
concern to the school and the community?
The CTAE director was successful in mobilizing community resources to solve the work ethics
problem that was common to both students and other community members. CTAE advisory
committee members organized guest speakers and mock interviews to help students better
understand the demands of the workplace. After reading the newspaper article, other community
members volunteered to help as well.
4. Did the administrator communicate student and school progress to stakeholders
through a variety of media?
While the CTAE director did not use a variety of resources, she did use print media effectively (the
newspaper) to communicate students and school progress in addressing the issue of work ethics.
The printing of the newspaper article also increased goodwill towards the business owners who
donated their time and effort to helping students. As mentioned, other business owners, parents,
and community members contacted the CTAE director to donate their time and expertise in the
future.
Evaluation of the CTAE director’s leadership style:
Based on the information collected, I would rate the CTAE director’s leadership style as “Proficient”. Mrs. Case identified a need to increase advisory committee input in the CTAE programs in her school system. She organized a meeting with her teachers to communicate her beliefs on the importance of advisory committees. Next, she planned a joint CTAE advisory committee to address program-level needs and overall CTAE needs. As a result of this collaboration between the school and stakeholders, common community and school needs were identified and community resources were mobilized to address the need of improving work ethics. By placing an article in the newspaper to describe the collaboration between the school and the community to address the work ethics issue, the CTAE director made new community contacts with local stakeholders and rewarded her advisory committee members by recognizing their efforts to make a difference in the lives of students.