School Improvement: Tips for Parents and Teachers

Overview 

School internships help teacher-learners to exercise the various theoretical concepts learned through their class activities. In fulfilling this education requirement, I was attached to a district middle school as an intern. I could partake in various activities, fulfilling “Standard Ten” required by the American College of Education. Some of the standards enhanced through the internship include professional norms and ethics, cultural responsiveness, core values, management and operations, and school improvement (Epstein, 2019). Through the standard, I was able to participate in activities, which promoted students' general well-being and academic success. School improvement involves the integral system in which teachers use effective mechanisms to ensure that students have better academic outcomes and develop good cultural and social wellness. School improvement should also focus on teachers' well-being by ensuring that activities promote the peaceful coexistence of different stakeholders in the school. I completed various activities, which promoted school improvement. The first activity that I undertook was resource and fiscal management, whereby I was involved in the school's revenue, budgetary, and purchasing activities. I was also involved in the management of student programs. Finally, I also managed the student discipline office to ensure good behaviors for school improvement. 

Reflecting on School Improvement 

Learning this standard is essential for me as a future teacher. I will understand the processes and activities that I can use to ensure classroom, school, and district improvement in academics and social activities. One of my career goals is to become an education leader in my district or at the national level. Understanding this standard will be crucial in my leadership position. I will understand the right strategies to ensure good environments for academic success and social and cultural wellness (Schildkamp, 2019). For instance, I now understand how to modify classroom activities to align with the right management operations for improved learning and teaching among students and teachers. The model is also essential in understanding that students can only improve by integrating both internal and external elements of a school. In the internal aspects, school leaders must uphold good leadership, and effective resource management. According to external elements of school improvement, schools must create supportive environments for good relations with the community for students to succeed. In this case, teachers must understand a local community's cultural and social beliefs to ensure their learners' sociocultural well-being. 

Summary of Activity #1: Resource and Fiscal Management: 16 hours 

In completing this activity, I completed various tasks, which helped me understand how schools can effectively use their resources to enhance performance. The main activity that helped me understand resource and fiscal management in school improvement was grant request writing. Through this activity, I was assigned various roles, which helped me understand management operations, critical for upholding good school improvement. 

My first task about resource and fiscal management was defining the various components within professional values and ethics. In this case, I had to outline a professional code of conduct, which was a key requirement for funding the program. In essence, positivity, hard work, and honesty, as components of ethics and professionalism, are crucial in ensuring that teachers improve the performance of their schools. Writing the professional code of conduct and ethical values helped me understand how teachers can uphold professionalism and values to improve their teaching paradigms. With professionalism and ethical conduct, resources can be managed well, thus reducing wastage and improving the success prospects. For instance, teachers must maintain professionalism in using the available resources for accountability. The school has established practices and behavioral policies that guide how teachers and other employees perform their duties professionally to attain school improvement. Describing the various elements of the code of ethics helped me understand how the school reduces malpractices that could influence school performance. For instance, corruption in allocating school resources to various departments could interfere with the level of performance. In this case, the professional code of ethics helps the school ensure professionalism in distributing the available resources for equitable development across all the areas within the school (Askell-Williams & Koh, 2020). Good professionalism by teachers and other staff workers promotes good performance and motivation for teachers and students. For instance, students learn the importance of discipline through the good reputation of their schools, thus improving their social well-being. 

My second task in securing resources for the school program was to identify the various forces affecting the budgeting process and the components of the district and school budgets. Budgeting is a crucial component that determines school performance. In essence, schools that receive larger financial allocations from the state, federal, and local governments are more likely to perform higher than those with minimal budgets. Higher budgets imply that schools can easily afford the purchase of crucial resources for increased school performance. For instance, higher budget allocations can manage to hire and sustain qualified and skilled teachers, thus increasing success prospects. In this case, good budgeting ensures that schools have enough resources to enable students to undertake activities that promote their success (Askell-Williams & Koh, 2020). Practical exercises are more likely to be effective in schools with adequate resources to purchase relevant materials for the students. On the contrary, schools with limited budgetary allocations cannot purchase adequate materials for the practical activities, making it difficult for the students to get quality education compared to their counterparts in highly-resourced institutions. I also learned how student populations affect budgetary allocations within districts and in schools. For instance, departments with a higher number of students are more likely to receive more resources than others. 

I also completed the activity by examining the various sources of school revenue in the US. This exercise also helped me understand how schools spend their allocated resources to enhance their students' academic performance and social wellness. The federal government is a key contributor to public revenues in the US, with more than 7% of the overall school funding (Leachman et al., 2017). The remaining revenue is drawn from local contributors and state contributors. State governments are mandated to allocate significant amounts of school funding resources to schools within their jurisdictions. The main sources of state funding for public schools include lotteries, state sales, property taxes, and income taxes. Essentially, state governments are the main contributors to public school funding, as they influence the economic climate around the schools. Local governments also contribute more than 44% of public school funding from taxes drawn from local homeowners (Leach man et al., 2017). However, the federal government also contributes additional funding for schools by increasing incentives in regions with higher poverty concentrations of minority regions. The funding results in varying state, local, and federal governments' allocations for schools in different localities and states. In this case, wealthier school districts derive most of their funding from local taxes, while low-income districts are more dependent on federal and state budgetary provisions. The exercise also enabled me to understand how schools use the allocated money to improve their performance. The main areas of school expenditure include maintenance and operations. Schools also spend their resources on providing teachers' benefits and salaries, which accounts for the largest segments within school expenditures. Other areas of interest for schools include food and nutrition, debts, transport, providing instructional equipment. Better management of the allocated resources is key in promoting school improvement. 

The grant writing exercise also exposed me to collaborative practices in school management. In completing this task, I had to communicate with various stakeholders, including students, teachers, the administration, and parents. The grant required contributions from all the stakeholders, hence involving them in the writing process. In the end, I learned the various strategies for ensuring effective communication and collaboration between teachers, parents, community members, students, schools administrators, and other school employees. For student performance to be enhanced, all the stakeholders must work collaboratively. In this case, allocation of budgets requires the administration to understand the student and teacher needs. Therefore, the administration must contact all the stakeholders to understand their needs, which helps them identify areas that demand more budgetary allocations. Without communication and collaboration between the various stakeholders in the school, students cannot achieve success, as their needs are not understood and met. Through collaboration between various stakeholders in the school, the administration can understand areas that need maintenance and purchase of new equipment, thus contributing to improvements in students' performance. Collaboration is also essential in establishing community activities, enabling students to gain better cultural and social understanding. In the end, upholding communication in fiscal management results in school improvements due to the equitable and effective distribution of resources. 

Through this activity, I was also exposed to the roles performed by different personnel in ensuring school improvement. In completing the writing task, I had to consult various personnel within the school structure, which enabled me to understand their roles. For instance, a school principal is the most influential personnel within a school, and their decisions influence school performances. Principals must uphold educational policies by adhering to government guidelines on curriculum. Moreover, they coordinate parents, students, staff, and community activities for better performance. Teachers are also important personnel within the school, creating lesson plans and transmitting knowledge to learners. They must use diverse teaching strategies to improve school performance and uphold good conduct among the student population. Teachers must also identify and teach according to student needs and abilities, thus creating avenues for school improvement. Teachers are also expected to participate in career development exercises organized by the school management, which helps in improving the quality of education offered in districts. Another crucial function teachers must perform in enhancing school performance is maintaining discipline among students through reliance on effective discipline strategies. By writing the grant request, I understood how teachers contribute to the school improvement plan by performing their roles effectively. 

In writing the grant request, I was also able to identify the various issues, procedures, and regulations relating to purchasing, information management, risk management, health services, and transportation services within the school. In completing this task, I had to consult heads of the various departments, which exposed me to their contributions to improvements in school performance. In this case, I understood how the risk management department ensures contingency and resilience to prevent risks that could derail the learning process in the school. The department required maintenance of existing firefighters and purchasing new ones to ensure readiness for any fire outbreaks in the school. The occurrence of disasters could detrimental to schools, as it disrupts the learning process, thus resulting in poor performance. With a resilient team and resources allocated for such disasters, education activities cannot be disrupted; hence the quality of education in the school will improve. The health services department is also crucial in ensuring that the school performance does not drop. In this case, the department is involved in ensuring students' and teachers' health and nutritional well-being. In writing the grant request, I collaborated with the department to identify areas of need. Through this activity, purchasing information was also enabled, whereby I understood how the school purchases quality equipment to enhance learning and performance. Essentially, the school has a purchasing strategy that focuses on quality rather than quantity, ensuring that commodities last longer and offer the best experiences to students, thus increasing the prospects of success. The purchasing role also ensures school improvement by preventing any stoppages due to late poor purchasing decisions. In this case, making timely purchasing enables the school to ensure that activities run throughout the academic period uninterrupted. 

Completing the writing activity also enabled me to connect budgeting and resource management to school effectiveness and student performance. Through this exercise, I realized that good fiscal and resource management techniques are fundamental elements affecting school performance. In essence, good performance can only be achieved through effectiveness in allocating resources to all the relevant departments. For instance, allocating teachers adequate salaries increases their motivation, making them more interested in students' welfare. In the end, this contributes to good performance as teachers uphold enthusiasm in the execution of their duties. I also understood that good district funding enables schools to run their operations effectively, thus improving their performance. The exercise also enabled me to understand the role of systems thinking in decision-making and leadership. 

Summary of Activity #2: Managing 21st Century Programs: 6 Hours 

I spent 6 hours in the management of 21st-century community programs. In completing this activity, I organized various after-school fun programs, which helped students improve their learning and cultural experiences. I performed the tasks by promoting creating effective learning environments for the learners. In this case, I focused on presenting self-motivating tasks. By the end of the activity, I realized that more than 90% of my learners were more skilled in activities like communication, collaboration, and teamwork. I also ensured the completion of the 21st-century programs by encouraging students to collaborate in their activities. In this case, I would pair the students in groups, thus encouraging them to practice and develop their listening and speaking skills through interactions with others. The exercise also enabled the learners to understand the various ways they could collaboratively achieve their goals (Epstein, 2019). The activities also helped my learners gain crucial thinking, communication, creativity, and collaboration skills, evident in my final assessment. 

Summary of Activity #3: Managing Discipline Office: 6 Hours 

The management of the discipline office was also a key tool that helped me gain a wider understanding of how to help learners maintain discipline. In executing my role at the discipline office, I organized a law enforcement night. The 6-hour activity involved teaching students, parents, and teachers the importance of upholding good conduct at school and within the neighborhood. In this exercise, law enforcement officials visited the school and provided crucial security briefings, self-security training, and awareness information, thus helping the community become more resilient to crimes and discipline issues. The activity was also fundamental because it helped students understand how to uphold good conduct and avoid breaking the state, federal, or school laws. Through the enforcement night, parents were also educated on different ways to prevent indiscipline among their children. In this case, the enforcement officials focused on drug abuse, crime, homicides, and gun control (Epstein, 2019). They educated parents on the various ways they can keep their children from crime. The activity was fundamental in promoting school improvement as it touches on student's social well-being. In this case, avoiding crime provides learners with adequate time to participate in learning activities, which promote their success at schools. After the activity, I realized a huge change in school disciplines. For instance, the overall indiscipline cases by students in the school reduced by 60% daily. Consequently, this contributed to school improvement as students were more focused on their academics and social well-being. With this activity, I understood the integral role of discipline in student performance and social well-being. Upholding discipline enables learners to partake in learning activities, thus making it possible for them to improve academically. Socially, they can avoid colliding with law enforcement officials, thus improving the school's public image. 

Impact on Student Achievement 

Completing three activities contributed to the school improvement by changing the students' social, academic, and emotional wellness. For the first activity, resource and fiscal management, I wrote a grant request, enabling the school to access more revenue to run its operations effectively. In doing this, I consulted various stakeholders, enabling me to understand areas that required financing. Generally, this provision was fundamental for the student's academic performance. Before application of the grant, the school had run-out of crucial resources, affecting learning among students (Epstein, 2019). However, completing the activity made the school access resources for purchasing new materials and renovating facilities. In the end, students were able to gain a better understanding of their respective areas. For instance, the continuous assessment exercises conducted after the school accessed the resources indicated a 5% increase in overall academic performance. Management of a 21 st century program enabled me to educate students before and after the normal school routines. Through the activity, I was able to help students gain emotional wellness through relaxation from the normal schedules. Through interactions with other learners and in fun activities, I created a good emotional environment. Generally, I achieved improvements in the students' happiness, emotional intelligence, and communication skills. The final task was management of the school discipline office, which enabled me to create collaboration between law enforcement officials and the school community. In this activity, I improved the students’ social well-being, educating them on how to uphold good conduct. After the exercise, there was a 60% decrease in daily indiscipline cases reported to the office. With such positivity, students are more likely to indulge in their academics, thus leading to school improvement. 

Reflecting on Personal Growth 

Completing the various school improvement activities helped me develop a host of personal and professional skills. For instance, to ensure that the law enforcement night was effective, I had to schedule every element including speakers, venues, and time. The activities also enabled me to gain decision-making skills, whereby I realized that I could work collaboratively with others. For instance, when writing the grant request for the resource and fiscal management, I had to consult different bodies in the institution. The consultation exercise equipped me with teamwork skills, whereby I can now work effectively in different scenarios. I realized that I am a problem-solver as I can easily identify problems and develop solutions. For instance, when completing various activities, I had to develop real-time solutions, enabling the institution to benefit massively. I also realized that I am a mentor, guiding various students into changing their perceptions towards education. 

Reflecting on Mastery 

After completing the internship, I can confidently say that I have mastered Standard 10, "School Improvement". In essence, I now understand how to use various avenues to ensure that schools improve. Schools must integrate all the available resources including financial, leadership, teachers, and the local culture to achieve improvement. In this case, teachers must ensure discipline, good management of resources, and engagement in 21st-century programs. I know that I have mastered this standard because I can easily identify the main reasons as to why schools are not performing well. In this case, I can examine all the contributing factors and establish the main cause. My peers have already noticed a change in my behavior as an indicator of mastery. I have also explained to them what I learned throughout the exercise. They can observe behavioral, emotional, and social change through observation, reflecting the skills I gained through this standard. My instructor will be able to know my mastery by reading my responses to this assignment. 

References 

Askell-Williams, H., & Koh, G. A. (2020). Enhancing the sustainability of school improvement initiatives.  School effectiveness and school improvement ,  31 (4), 660-678. 

Epstein, J. L. (2019). Theory to practice: School and family partnerships lead to school improvement and student success. In  School, family and community interaction  (pp. 39-52). Routledge. 

Leachman, M. et al. (2017). A punishing decade for school funding.  Center on Budget and Policy Priorities ,  29 . 

Schildkamp, K. (2019). Data-based decision-making for school improvement: Research insights and gaps.  Educational research ,  61 (3), 257-273.